COLOURFULWORLD

Friday 21 September 2018

The first half of September - Part II and some happy news

Part I - https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-first-half-of-september-part-i.html

On a sunny day daughter Karina and I wondered what to do and decided to take the train into the city to go to Kings Park again. This time we managed to see a lot of flowers and some cheeky birds.

             

Amazing trees, a glass bridge and city views

When we entered the glass bridge in Kings Park we saw two ravens posing for a photographer. When we approached they didn't fly away and stood there posing and "chatting to each other, or to us". When we reached the end of the bridge and looked back they were still there posing for another set of photographers. It was very funny 😊 
On the boab tree there were two Rainbow Lorikeets standing inside a hole in the tree, but they flew away before I could take more photos.

Rainbow Lorikeets, Ravens and Honeyeater sucking pollen from a flower

The city on one side of the river and the suburb of South Perth on the other side 
The city centre can be seen through the mass of purple flowers

On another day we drove to town of Kalamunda, located in the Darling Scarp on the eastern limits of the Perth metropolitan area. People usually refer to that area as the Perth Hills. 
Kalamunda is a Noongar (aboriginal language) word meaning "a home in the forest". (kala=home, munda=forest).

I parked in a small shopping centre with murals on two of its walls 😉. After some photos for my Monday Murals we went inside searching for a coffee shop.
The Coffee Club was the only one available and we ordered coffee and hot chocolate (for me) and a slice of carrot cake.
Just across the road from the shopping is the local Kalamunda library where they have a fabulous 25 mt wide stained glass window, the largest in the Southern hemisphere, so after our coffee break we crossed the road to the library for some photos.

Panoramic photo of the mural at the Kalamunda library

The library glass windows from outside and the inside view
I wanted to drive to the Mundaring Weir (dam) and check the water level but the clouds were getting darker, so I took the scenic Zig Zag drive down the hill, from where I would eventually reach the freeway and home.
The Zig Zag drive is a 2,9km narrow one way road through the Gooseberry Hill National Park, between rocks and trees, steep falls and lots of hairpin turns, but starting at 450mt above sea level there are impressive views of the city, the airport, the forest area...

There are a few spots to park and take photos on the way down, but sadly because it was overcast the visibility to the city wasn't at its best, but we could see the airport area (to the right) and the airplanes landing and taking off.

Part of the road, dark clouds, the city in the distance

Perth city in the distance

Panoramic photo taken from the hills



 

















































And remember the shoe cupboard that I set up in my bedroom? 
All the shoes went in, but because I squeezed 4 or 5 pairs per shelf, they don't have the neat and tidy showhouse look and looked a bit untidy to be left without doors...
ordered some doors from Ikea to be delivered, and Karina helped me install them... I'm glad as I wouldn't be able to do this one on my own!  Bedroom is all sorted now!


The shoe cupboard and hodge podge inside

When Jose was here the three of us also did some gardening in the narrow and long strip of garden in the small townhouse we have near Curtin University, that we rent out to a couple of students. 
I had last pulled out weeds there before winter and the rains started. When I went past a few weeks ago I noticed how the strip of garden was covered in high weeds and the succulents I had planted there were now invisible!
But this was too big a job just for myself, so with Karina and Jose here it went much faster, even though we spent about 10 hours in total over 2 days pulling out weeks which filled two bins!
After weeding I took a lot of succulents and natives from our garden and planted them there.
Jose then went to get a trailer of mulch to spread over the area, which will hopefully deter the weeds and protect the plants from the Summer sun. 
He also took a couple of cement pavers we had laying around in a corner of the garden, that were formerly where our patio is now, and put them near the water meter to make it easier for the water company to read the meter instead of having to trudge through the mini forest in that corner.
The neighbour from the townhouse behind ours saw us working in the garden, came to chat to us and said he now felt he had to do his little patch to match ours. His bit starts from the short bush, and you can see on the photos the green area of weeds (top right and middle bottom photo).


On the left - the corner full of weeds, and same area with the pavers. The strip of garden planted with succulents and with mulch. The hard workers, Jose and Karina after the job was finished












And so two weeks flew by, and Karina flew out to Manila via Hong Kong on the early hours of Monday. The flight was meant to depart Perth at 11pm Sunday 16th, but due to the typhoon in HK the flight was delayed to 2am Monday. Then instead of just 1 hour layover in Hong Kong, she had a 6 hour layover due to the airport having been closed for 24 hours and the huge amount of passengers and planes that had been retained there.
Because she's a frequent flyer she had access to the Airport lounge where she could eat, have wifi, and she even managed a shower and massage which left her refreshed for the next short leg of the trip to Manila.

And hopefully we'll see each other in December, this time on her side of the world.

And it's official!! We've known for a few weeks, but last week my daughter in law had her 12 week scan and the pregnancy was officially announced. Grandchild #2 will arrive beginning of April. I'm hoping for a girl this time 💟💟.


Official announcement with the photo of "big brother" that we got when we were first told a few weeks ago.
(parents don't want his face divulged so I did my best to cover his eyes)







27 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the good news!

    The ravens are a marvel, and I really like that library glasswork.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks William. The ravens were cute and the stained windows fantastic!

      Delete
  2. I really do love your ravens! Ours are so "boring"!
    Clever guys they are.

    Hehe, we visited that library with G & P :-)
    So beautiful, is it!
    Oh, my goodness, three people weeding 10 hours - that is tough!
    I just took my avo inside, it´s sadly getting cold(er).
    Always nice to have such neighbours.
    Oh, shoot, I remember ho we got stuck 10 hours on airport in Greece.... on the floor as all seats were taken (we were young :-)...).


    WoHoo..... great news, your family is growing!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Iris, so great you have visited the library. Yes, family is growing :)

      Delete
  3. Gostei de tudo o que vi minha amiga mas algumas daquelas árvores são de uma grande beleza e imponência.
    Um abraço e bom fim-de-semana.

    Andarilhar
    Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
    Livros-Autografados

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obrigada Francisco, as arvores sao muito bonitas. Bom fim de semana.

      Delete
  4. I feel like the neighbor when I look at my own neighbor's garden. I'm such a slacker!

    What a fun trip with you -- you're a great guide. I loved the purple flower shot and the one where it looks like the ravens are chatting but so much to love here. I'm glad you had such a wonderful time with your friend. I hope you don't have to wait too long to connect again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeanie, those ravens were cute posing for such a long time :)
      Karina is my daughter, and hopefully we will see each other again in December :)

      Delete
  5. Que postagem tão bem elaborada e apresentada! Ah e parabéns pelo baby #2!

    :))

    ReplyDelete
  6. The ravens and the stained glass are stand out photos for me, and of course who could ever tire of seeing photos of and from King's Park. Good effort on the gardening front. If I was the neighbour, I would have tried to bribe you to just keep weeding along the fence. And congrats on being a granny again soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Andrew, Kings Park is always beautiful and of course the views from there too :)
      I actually thought of offering to do some weeding for the neighbour as he's a bit older than us, but after all the hours we spent doing ours, not sure I would want to carry on...

      Delete
  7. Beautiful photos, those windows are amazing. Congratulations on another grandchild. That is a cute announcement.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kathy, I thought the announcement was cute too :)

      Delete
  8. Wow, I was most impressed with the glass bridge. It was beautiful and the ravens were fun to see and photograph.

    Haven't you shown the photos from the library before? I know I've seen those windows, and I was sure it was on your blog. Regardless, they are still beautiful and I would hate to have to clean those panels.

    Your patch looks SO much better now. I bet the neighbor will tidy his area soon, too. You three did a great job. Coingrats on those doors, too. Your daughter is worth her weight in gold (and silver, too)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Elizabeth. Yes I have written about those windows before, we visited when my brother in law and sister in law visited us last year. Good memory!
      Oh yes, Karina certainly was amazing with helping us out on her two week visit :)

      Delete
  9. That is good news, congratulations with the new grandchild in the making :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Mariette :) Have a nice weekend.

      Delete
  10. How exciting Sami, much better when it's officially announced now you can openly be a super proud Grandma, I know you already are ☺ Enjoyed part two of Karina's visit to Perth, lots of fab shots of the flowers at Kings Park, love that window in the Kalamunda library xox

    ReplyDelete
  11. Kings Park deve ser um local espectacular.
    Sami, muitos parabéns para si e para toda a família pela futura chegada do seu netinho/a.
    Se Deus quiser também vou ser novamente avô em Fevereiro do próximo ano.
    Boa semana
    Beijinhos
    Maria
    Divagar Sobre Tudo um Pouco

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kings Park e fabuloso. Obrigada Maria e parabens para si tambem :)

      Delete
  12. Congrats on grandbaby 2!
    I enjoyed this fun post of your day. That stained glass window is incredible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jackie. The stained glass window is huge and fabulous!

      Delete
  13. What a fabulous post, loved all of your photographs.

    But the best bit was the end bit!!!
    Congratulations on the good news, grandchild number two!

    My good wishes to you all

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  14. Congratulations to you and your family!! They are very lucky grandchildren :)

    ReplyDelete

I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment.