Signs - Coffee

 For other signs from around the world please check Tom's blog:

Monday Mural - A pop of colour

Two murals from our November trip to Bunbury painted in the unmistakable style of Perth artist - Anya Brock. 

The first - the Ibis, can be seen at Graham Bricknell Sound Shell Bicentennial Square on Symmons Street, and the other - a female face, is among a dozen other murals in ShoeBeDoo Lane (isn't this just a great name?), just off Stephen Street.

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week.     Thanks, Sami. 

Signs - Love

We just celebrated Valentine's day on the 14th, and these signs would go well with the day.

The Love signs were part of a fundraising campaign for The National Heart Foundation. 

The first photos were taken in February 2014, in front of Glenelg beach in one of my visits to Adelaide (on the east coast) when Jose was working there.

For a $10 donation you would get a padlock with a heart shaped fob on which you could write a tribute or love note to your valentine or loved ones, which would then be attached to any of the 2mt high letters. Apparently the structure attracted more than 7000 couples and became a unique backdrop for wedding photo shoots.

The following year the Love letters came to the city centre of Perth where they were displayed from mid January to mid February in the Murray Street Mall, and the last two photos are from that event, where you can see the letters were already very much covered with love notes, while the ones in Adelaide were taken at the start of the campaign.

For other signs from around the world please check Tom's blog.

In Adelaide:

In Perth:

Monday Mural - Trio

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week.     Thanks, Sami. 

Three small and quirky murals on a wall next to the Friendship Chinese Restaurant in Symmons Street, Bunbury.

Painted in 2015 by Australian artists, from left to right - Martin E Wills, Daek William and what appears to be a Stormie Mills.

Summer vibes Dream Tonic

RIP Fluffy

Instead of the usual Wednesday signs meme, I'm posting a tribute to our lovely Fluffy.

Fluffy along with 7 other kittens came into our lives on the 17th September 2007, when Mommy and Baby gave birth to 4 kittens each, just outside one of our bedroom windows. The mothers weren't really our cats, they had pink collars, were well fed, but used to came around to our house just after we moved in, came inside, jumped on to the sofas....end even though I would put little notes on their collars to find out who they belonged to nobody ever owned up to them. The house had been empty for quite a while, as the previous owner had died, so they didn't belong to the old owners. Eventually they just moved in, and just a couple of weeks before they gave birth did I notice they were pregnant when I saw they were getting a bit fat .

Mommy with the 8 kittens - Fluffy to the right, Shelley next to him and Twiggy is the dark one squashed between the two cream kittens

We adopted out all but 3 of the 8 babies through an organization called "Safe - Saving animals from euthanasia" - my son Michael wanted Fluffy, and the other two girls Shelley and Twiggy sadly just didn't get adopted as they were the "ugliest" little kittens.  Mommy and Baby have sadly also passed away in March 2014 and February 2015.

Fluffy with Mommy, which must have been his natural Mom as he was very attached to her

Mommy, Fluffy and Twiggy, Fluffy sleeping on top of Mommy, Fluffy and Twiggy in a sandbox,
Fluffy found an egg box to sleep in.

As the only cat male in the household Fluffy was always the boss and a bit of a bully, but at the same time he was very loving, very social and when sleeping next to us on the sofa he always made sure he had one of his paws on top of us. If Jose did gardening he would be next to him and help him dig. He loved to lie on top of my desk at night when I was at the computer and he would go to sleep with his head on top of my left hand as I typed away, or would rest his head on the keyboard and send off a bunch of weird characters.

He was the perfect model too.

At 13 1/2 years of age Fluffy was put to sleep yesterday, 9th February. He was only diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease stage 4 on the 29th January. His diet was changed to low phosphorus kidney food and he was given medication for blood pressure.

I joined a wonderful Facebook group - Feline Chronic Kidney Disease that I came across when searching for info online. They have a wealth of information and lots of caring fur parents.

In the last 3 days he was constipated, and I was having trouble syringing food and water into him, he just closed his mouth and I had to force it into him. He didn't even want to lick a bit of cream which was a favourite before. I tried all sorts of foods, bits of liver, bits of boiled chicken...he would take a few licks, eat a bit or two and then turn away. All he did was sit in corners or hide somewhere, he could hardly walk he had lost so much muscle mass. 

I took him to the vet again on Monday 8th and she said his kidneys were highly enlarged, she suspected lymphoma and he had lost a further 400gr. In total over 5 weeks he had lost 700gr.  

Even though he was so sick, at the vet he would just purr away which was quite strange as most cats would be quite scared. She could hardly listen to his heart as he just purred.

She gave him fluids and constipation relief and suggested I either take him for an ultrasound and we would go from there with medication, but she thought this would only prolong his life by a couple months, and at a great monetary cost to us, or let him go which would be her option if it was her cat. She asked me to discuss the options with Jose and she would call me later that night to discuss, as whatever option we had to act quickly as Fluffy was really very sick.

As hard as it was we made the option to let him go, as we could see he was suffering a lot, and when she called at 8pm on Monday we arranged for an appointment for Tuesday 6,15pm after all her consultations, so that we could have some quiet time.

He was surrounded by me, Jose and Michael who also wanted to be present in Fluffy's last minutes.

In his last moments at the vet :(

I've been changing his two sisters diet from all dry to wet food and hope that they don't get this debilitating disease.

I will miss my computer buddy, RIP sweet Fluffy 😢.

 

Monday Murals - In Rockingham

I love murals and street art. If you like murals or have a mural you'd like to post, this meme is for you.  Just follow the Linky steps below.  Once you start looking you will find murals everywhere.  The "Monday Mural" meme goes live on Monday at 12,01AM, Perth,Western Australian time. Be sure to link back to this blog and visit your fellow posters. Looking forward to your mural finds this week. 

Thanks, Sami. 

Even though I still have lots of murals from Bunbury, I'm posting 3 murals I saw when we had dinner with our visiting friend from Tasmania on January 18th in Rockingham.

Outside the Bendigo Bank building: Painted by local artist Carol Clitheroe in 2018, whose art is always linked to the sea.

At the beach:  This Nyoongar (Aboriginal group in Western Australia) artwork was painted by Justin Martin, Biara Martin and Cheryl Martin in 2019.

At the Baskin-Robbins Ice-cream shop 

January Wrap-up

On the 1st of January Jose and I went for our almost daily walk around the neighbourhood and on the way home came across a beautiful sunset. I love sunsets!

We had a BBQ with our friends W and L on Sunday 3rd, at their house by the Canning River. We met the future in-laws of their daughter who just got engaged on Christmas day.  Feeding the ducks and black swans is always a highlight at the end of the day.

On Sunday 10th, we were once again invited for a BBQ, this time at the house of the newly engaged couple on the outskirts of Perth.

I took two weeks's leave from Friday 15th and returned on the 1st February.

Even though we had nothing planned I just needed some time off work as I've been stressed, and tired with training a new person, etc.  

The lady I've been training is due to finish her probation but sadly she hasn't been able to cope well with work, and that means we will need to hire someone new and start training again. With 3 months probation period, a young colleague back at Uni leaving her with less availability to work, I figured that I better take leave now or otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it until June or so...

As it was, I had loads of furniture in the garage awaiting to be painted, and that's what I mainly did.

I managed to finish 3 projects, have 2 half-way and 2 others sanded and awaiting to be painted, so I consider I did well.

Back in October I had been given two of these tables, one in a good state, the other needed repairs. So once Jose glued the crack on the table top and broken leg, it was ready for my magic. Because the top wasn't in such a good state I had to stain it instead of sanding and waxing it like I had done to the other table, but I think it came out well.

I can't even remember when Grace gave me this bookshelf, but it was ages ago!        It had trim on one side only which I had removed, but when I finished painting it I thought it looked too unfinished, so bought a bit of pine and asked Jose to cut some trim to fit the bottom and top on each side.

This rolltop desk was given to me by my boss, as she was demolishing her parent's house, to build a new house for her family.  She had seen a very similar desk I had painted so asked if I wanted it on the condition we had to collect it one or two days later, which we did. 

Unlike the other rolltop I had painted, this one was in a fabulous condition and didn't need many touch-ups during preparation.

Now it looks very cute and feminine I think, and I even found knobs to match the coral interior.

The still to finished pieces are - the pine corner entertainment unit, from the "Buy Nothing group" already looking much better in olive green and inside stained to look like a light wood, and the long entertainment unit, given to me by the Doctor who also gave me the two small tables (one above). The blue unit I want to put some feet and I've asked Jose to make me 2 doors for those open display areas, so it can be used as a dining room buffet. 

On the 15th I took Fluffy to the vet as he had been having an eye infection due to cat flu. He was just given eye ointment. Four or 5 days later his eyes were ok but the sneezing continued.

Jose is the treasurer for the Cod Fish Academy of Perth, and on Saturday 16th, we were invited to dinner at the house of the President of the Academy and his wife, and joining us were the Vice-President and his wife, to discuss the organization of the Association's 10th anniversary, which will hopefully be celebrated on the 13th March. 

I made two puddings, one for this dinner and another to take to lunch on Sunday 17th to a young Portuguese Mom and her Australian husband that I met at the Clinic where I work. They have the cutest 6 month old girl.

As we were near the area, after the Sunday lunch, Jose and I went to the South Perth foreshore for a walk. The place was full of young families relaxing on the lawn, others doing their daily walk next to the river...it's such a beautiful area with fabulous views across the Swan River to the city centre and lots of street art to admire.

On the right are temporary pieces from the Fringe World festival 

A giant rhino made of tools, car parts and metal by metalworker Jordan Sprigg

The gigantic yellow metal sculptures - the Numbat (23,5mt long, 6,5mt high and 5.6mt wide) and the Frilled neck lizard (21m long, 9.2m wide and 9.7m high) greet visitors arriving by ferry from the city across the Swan river, and acknowledge the nearby Perth Zoo's commitment to preservation of endangered species

The 3 Emus by artist Russell Sheridan and the family of meerkats, crocheted in polypropylene were created by artist Mikaela Castledine, at the piazza as well as a few of them along Mends Street help guide visitors to the Perth Zoo.

Numbat and Frilled neck lizard

3 bronze feathers, boat?, meerkats, emus and giant chair from where I almost couldn't get out :)

The meerkats with the city as a backdrop. To the left of the city is Kings Park

On Monday 18th, we met up for dinner with a South African friend who used to live in Perth but now lives in Tasmania. She came to Perth for a couple of weeks to visit her daughter, and she always tries to meet up with old friends.

We drove to Rockingham, about 40kms away and had dinner at "Steel Tree at the Foreshore" restaurant.

Before dinner was served Charmaine and I still had time to go outside and take photos of the sunset.

Steel tree restaurant is the corner building across the grassed area

Sunset at Rockingham beach, my salmon dinner, the beach, a rainbow towards the Kwinana refinery

The Christmas decorations and lights were still on in Rockingham on the 18th January

On Tuesday 19th I drove to Port Kennedy (not far from where I was the night before) to meet up with Jan, a former colleague who lives that way, so that we could buy our Fusion mineral paints at the "Upcycled Barn".  Afterwards we had lunch nearby and chatted for a while before I drove home. I managed to get a few photos for the "signs meme".

 On Saturday 23rd we went to the Portuguese Consulate in Fremantle to vote for the Presidential elections in Portugal. We went at about 4pm, with the idea that after voting we would then go to the beach in Fremantle and just sit, read and load up on some Vitamin D. 

We knew 2 of the 3 people there and when they were confirming our identities against their lists, they discovered that neither of us was registered to vote in Perth and upon consulting the website both of us were somehow registered to vote in Sydney ...we weren't the only ones apparently, as they had on the Perth lists, people from Sydney, and Brisbane.

Jose did work in Sydney for 18 months, and at one stage we both went to the Consulate in Sydney to issue our daughter with a Power of Attorney so she could sell our apartment in Lisbon (we had no Consular representation for about 2 years in Perth, when our Consul died).

The staff asked if we wanted to write a letter of complaint so that our names would be put under the correct Consulate, which we did and then instead of going to the beach and just stayed on and chatted the rest of the afternoon, and were even offered coffee and cookies. It was almost 7pm when we looked at our watches and realized how late it was, and they were meant to close the voting boxes at 7pm.

Needless to say no one else came in since we had arrived either...in fact voting was very, very poor with only about 65 votes out of the 1100 registered to vote, but we have about 10 thousand Portuguese in Western Australia...

On Thursday 28th, Jose and I drove to Kalamunda in the "Perth Hills" so that we could have a "Access Bars" 1h session each. 

A Christmas present from Karina, we had never heard of it, until she said that a Dutch friend of her's who she had met in the Philippines was back in Holland and was an Access Bars practitioner. The Nervana Chiropactic clinic had a community vegetable garden outside which was quite nice.

Access Bars is a hands on energy healing process that uses energy centres or bars located on the head, and unlocks them using gentle touch. The therapy will relax your body, soothe your mind and recharge your vitality. We loved our session, felt much more relaxed and the stress seemed to have evaporated. The following day we were both exhausted though, not sure if it had anything to do with it, but after that we felt great.

Nervana Chiropractic clinic and their community garden and flowers

Friday 29th - took Fluffy back to the vet, the eyes were cleared but he was still sneezing and seemed very listless, just sleeping and not too interested in food, would only eat the jelly food that comes in pouches.

The vet weighed him and said he had lost 300gr in the last 2 weeks and she thought he might actually be suffering from kidney problems.

She did blood tests and I brought home a special non-absorvent  sand and had him closed in the bathroom the rest of the day so that he could pee in the sand box so I could collect some urine. He only managed to do it at night so on Saturday I dropped the urine at the Vet.

Later that afternoon the vet called me to confirm it was kidney disease and that he would need special food and medication and I could pick it up on Monday.

I spent the weekend researching the problem and sadly it's a very debilitating disease... 

Saturday 30th was the Portuguese Australian Women's Association 1st Anniversary, an event that was held at the South Fremantle Football Club, the same venue where we had the 1st Gala in January 2020.

The event was attended by 120 people, the food and service by Benny's restaurant was top notch and the entertainment which included Samba, dancers from Timor, two female singers and a DJ, with plenty of dance music was fabulous.

31st - Sunday afternoon, we were just chilling at home when news came that there had been a security guard at one of Perth's quarantine hotels that was infected with Covid19 and Perth would go into a 5 days lockdown from 6pm Sunday to 6pm Friday. 

Locations and times where that person had been were broadcast and people that were in those locations were requested to get tested.  Just on Monday over 16 thousand tests were performed which was a record for Australia! 

Three days later we have had no further cases....so let's hope we can get back to normal soon.

I hoped to talk to the vet on Monday to ask her opinion about homeopathic medicines, about an appetite stimulant, etc, but due to the lock-down they wouldn't even let me inside the clinic, and was asked to stay outside. The nurse brought out the food and medication and the eftpos machine and that was it! Quite disappointed and sad. I also work in a clinic and patients go inside, we all have to wear a mask for the 5 days when outside and at work...