On Sunday 5th, I picked up two friends - Vina who is 84 and Idalia who is 87, and drove to the northern suburb of Quinns Rocks, about 1 hour's drive from my home, and 20min from the most northern suburb of Two Rocks. (Perth is a very long city, approximately 125km (78mi) and about 50km (31mi) from the coast to the east.
The occasion was an afternoon Tea for ladies only, held at the Quinns Rocks Surf Club and organized by the Portuguese Australian Women's Association (PAWA) of which I am the treasurer.
Ladies were encouraged to bring a cake to share and tea and coffee was provided.
When I got there, we had to set up the tables and chairs for the guests (luckily two husband's were present to help out) and put out all the cakes being brought in.
Considering that it was the first event organized by the Association it was very well attended by about 50 ladies. The Mayor of the City of Wanneroo (to which those northern suburbs belong to) the lovely Tracey Roberts was invited to the event, gave a beautiful and uplifting speech and even became a member of the Association.
We had a few things gifted to us to be raffled and the money collected was to be donated to a women's refuge.
The next morning when I woke up my daughter Karina had sent the family a message on WhatsApp to inform us that the Taal volcano which is 30km from where they live in the Philippines had erupted. People were being evacuated in a radius of about 10km, ash was blowing in their direction and they had to wear masks, but they were ok.
She was confident they would be ok and luckily they would be evacuated in case of danger by the company she and Thomas work.
Luckily the massive eruption that was predicted hasn't yet happened.
Saturday 18th, Jose and I and friends W and L attended a concert at the Crown Casino Theatre - The Beatle Boys - a young Sydney band who played Beatles songs. The "rheumatic brigade" was there in force...not us of course, we were part of the younger ones there 😉.
The boys were fabulous singers, the crowd participate, sang and danced. We loved it!
Monday 27th, was a public holiday because of Sunday's Australia Day, and somehow I managed to accept two invitations for the same day, as I didn't write one of them down in my diary.
Anyway, we solved it by attending a barbecue lunch at our friends W and L's house by the Canning River. The ducks were out in force, but no black swans this time.
When I got there, we had to set up the tables and chairs for the guests (luckily two husband's were present to help out) and put out all the cakes being brought in.
Considering that it was the first event organized by the Association it was very well attended by about 50 ladies. The Mayor of the City of Wanneroo (to which those northern suburbs belong to) the lovely Tracey Roberts was invited to the event, gave a beautiful and uplifting speech and even became a member of the Association.
We had a few things gifted to us to be raffled and the money collected was to be donated to a women's refuge.
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| The ladies at the event - Mayor Tracey Roberts (black dress) and Manuela, the Association's president |
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| The long table with the cakes and desserts |
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| Me and friends Idalia, Vina, Mena and daughter |
On Monday 6th, I returned to work. After 3 weeks at home it was hard...
Thursday 9th I restarted my French lessons. Not sure if I made any progress, during December, I tried my best to speak in French to the in-laws once in a while, but there were a lot of missing words in between. I still find I can read and understand what I'm reading a lot better than speaking. For the time being I will continue as it's also good for the brain.
On Friday 10th, I invited two Portuguese couples for dinner. One couple was visiting their daughter, who with husband and baby daughter stayed in my house for a month when they moved to Perth about 7 or 8 years ago, and the other couple are our oldest Perth friends.
In the morning my friend, the very sprightly 97 year old Idalia called me to go and fetch an apple cake she had baked me to thank me for my help with some paperwork a few days before. It came in handy to serve to my guests with their coffee after dinner.
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| Visiting friends on the left and our oldest Perth friends on the right |
It was almost dinner time on Saturday 11th, when it suddenly dawned on me that it was the 13th anniversary of our arrival in Perth. So I quickly rustled up a tray with snacks and we opened a small bottle of (real) French champagne, which had been given to me by Dr Y as a Christmas present when I returned to work on the 6th. No dinner then of course.
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| Lanson Champagne and snacks to celebrate our 13th anniversary in Perth |
The next morning when I woke up my daughter Karina had sent the family a message on WhatsApp to inform us that the Taal volcano which is 30km from where they live in the Philippines had erupted. People were being evacuated in a radius of about 10km, ash was blowing in their direction and they had to wear masks, but they were ok.
She was confident they would be ok and luckily they would be evacuated in case of danger by the company she and Thomas work.
Luckily the massive eruption that was predicted hasn't yet happened.
Saturday 18th, Jose and I and friends W and L attended a concert at the Crown Casino Theatre - The Beatle Boys - a young Sydney band who played Beatles songs. The "rheumatic brigade" was there in force...not us of course, we were part of the younger ones there 😉.
The boys were fabulous singers, the crowd participate, sang and danced. We loved it!
My Youtube video from one of their songs at the Perth Casino
After the concert we went to the Casino to have a coffee and found the pop-up Crown Cabana Lounge, decorated in pink, blue and white, bringing a touch of Summer indoors.
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| Crown Cabana Lounge |
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| Pink, blue and white decor at the Crown Cabana Lounge in the Casino |
For the first time since we arrived in Australia I didn't attend Australia Day's celebrations on the 26th, but just not keen on going out in the heat.
Monday 27th, was a public holiday because of Sunday's Australia Day, and somehow I managed to accept two invitations for the same day, as I didn't write one of them down in my diary.
Anyway, we solved it by attending a barbecue lunch at our friends W and L's house by the Canning River. The ducks were out in force, but no black swans this time.
Around 4pm we left and went to the other "late lunch" at Idalia's house, where we arrived in time for dessert and stayed until 8pm.
And so ended January :)
https://www.crownperth.com.au/summer-at-crown/cabana-lounge?fbclid=IwAR0mUCqv9EmjTM17X9MYJsN94tupiFvP4TLlVZVFKV9QtB_GnWJ2cpjLVy8
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| My 87 year old friend Idalia dancing after lunch :) |
https://www.crownperth.com.au/summer-at-crown/cabana-lounge?fbclid=IwAR0mUCqv9EmjTM17X9MYJsN94tupiFvP4TLlVZVFKV9QtB_GnWJ2cpjLVy8
...how do you fit so much into a month?
ReplyDeleteThis wasn't that busy Tom :)
DeleteOnce again, even for what you consider a "slow" month, you manage to pack a lot into it. It's so much more colorful than mine, that's for sure. NO black swans. Oh well, maybe next time.
ReplyDeleteThat ladies luncheon must have been unbelievable. I can't begin to imagine 50 or so desserts/cakes. Sounds like you were on a sugar high for days (GRIN)!
Not sure if we had 50 cakes, but there were a lot of them for sure, but I didn't taste them all, just chose the best :) Thanks Elizabeth
DeleteWhat a wonderful month. Lots of fun events.
ReplyDeleteHave a fabulous day and rest of the week. ♥
Thanks Sandee, enjoy your weekend :)
DeleteThank you for sharing your wonderful days with us!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cloudia for reading about my month too :)
DeleteYou have a busy and no doubt very enjoyable life, Sami, and it is interesting to share in it vicariously. I can see why you didn't need dinner after Champagne and those delicious snacks. I haven't had real Champagne in many years. Maybe it's time to splurge and treat ourselves. I am sure we can think of a good reason to celebrate - just being together for a start.
ReplyDeleteThanks David. I don't think I've had real champagne for many years either, but that small bottle was a present and of course we had a great reason to celebrate. Being together and healthy is always a good reason to celebrate :)
DeleteThat's quite a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Adam :)
DeleteYou were quite busy!
ReplyDeleteThanks William :)
DeleteDearest Sami,
ReplyDeleteThere seems to be a lot of spunk in that group!
What did you mean with the "rheumatic brigade" being there in force...?
Lots of desserts on the table and worthwhile for having to drive over an hour to attend.
You had me smile about the Beatle Boys, haha, on February 11, I will also mention a Beatle event...
Small world and lots of like-minded people in it!
Hugs,
Mariette
The Rheumatic brigade are the oldies, lol.
DeleteLooking forward to you Beatles event Mariette.
Haha, not such a nice way to make fun of a serious condition... 👀
DeleteJust a photo with a mention, not an event as such! We did not take any photos...
Rheumatic brigade, hahahaha. Very funny. The casino looks a bit interesting in the colours.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrew, when we get to a certain age we are the rheumatic brigade, lol.
DeleteI think the Casino changes those props once in a while, but those looked nice and casual, almost like a beach setting.
Wow, that looks like you had fun with the rheumatic brigade - and lots of cake!
ReplyDeleteAh, yes, I remember those two to the right :-)
(My avocado died btw, a couple of weeks ago.)
Congrats on the 13-year anniversary!
Oh, my, Karina sure lives an exciting life there! Glad nothing serious has happened.
Lots of fun at the concert.
DeleteOf course we went to their house together to see their garden :)
Our avocado tree also died, far too hot for it even though Jose put an old umbrella over it.
Thanks Iris, have a nice weekend.
Oh, sad about your tree. Here I think it was too dry due to the heating running (and yes, the humidifier was running, too!).
ReplyDeleteOh, concerts aren´t my "thing", too loud (yes, I sound like a Granma, huh) and too crowded, but great you had fun :-)
To a nice weekend!
Thanks Iris, it was a sitting down concert and once in a while the band would ask us to stand and dance :) Never too old for music, I love to dance too.
DeleteHello, the months are just flying by, especially when you are so busy.
ReplyDeleteWonderful event, beautiful ladies and photos. Enjoy your day, have a great weekend!
Thank you Eileen, have a great weekend too.
DeleteThe 'rheumatic brigade'.. oh Sami you made me laugh out loud 😄 Another fun filled month,looking forward to catching up on Friday to hear the finer details 😉 xox
ReplyDeleteThanks Grace, looking forward to our get-together too :)
DeleteIt looks and sounds a wonderful month.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Thanks Jan. Sorry about the late reply, but your comments have been going directly to the bin. Will have to check it more often.
Delete