March Wrap-Up

It was a public holiday on the 1st and I met up with two work colleagues for breakfast at the Coffee Club in the local shopping centre. We don't usually get much time to chat at work, so it's nice to be able to solve the problems of the world over a nice breakfast.

Flowers given to me on my birthday

March is a month full of family birthdays. Jose and I went to dinner at a Japanese restaurant on the 2nd to celebrate my birthday. Because the day fell on a Tuesday I opted for a small afternoon tea celebration in the backyard patio with family and some friends on the 7th. 

My daughter Karina celebrated on the 8th which is also International Women's day, my Dad celebrated his 88th birthday on the 11th, my sister in law on the 13th.

My neighbourhood verge collection done by the Council twice a year started on the 8th. We didn't have much this year, but it's amazing the quantity of stuff some people throw away that has still got some life in it and could probably be given or donated to a good cause. As it is Jose brought me a nice pine chair and 2 director chairs for me to paint 😉. (see below)

A few streets away from me...

On Friday 12th, I met up with Grace to go and visit the 17th annual exhibition of Sculptures by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach. It's always a fun and very popular outdoor event, that took place from the 5th to the 22nd March. and this year 70 artists from 13 countries including Australia exhibited their work.

Afterwards Grace and I had lunch across the road from the beach.

On my return home I spotted a modern house on a corner that had 5 red figures in the garden. These appear to be the work of Chinese sculptor Chen Wenling who often exhibits his red sculptures at Sculpture by the Sea. (Probably from a few years ago)

Further down the road and then in Fremantle as mentioned in last week's Monday Murals and photographed a few murals.

Saturday 13th we went to the local primary school to cast our vote for the Western Australian State elections. Voting booths closed at 6pm and 43min later the ruling Labor Party was overwhelmingly re-elected.

I find it strange that at voting stations and there are posters about the candidates and almost right to the door there are people handing you pamphlets about their parties and candidates.  Will they make anyone change their minds at the last minute?

I took Shelley to the Vet on the 19th as I noticed she had vomited her food 2 days in a row. She had last been to the vet in 2016, so she had blood tests to check for diabetes and kidney and liver problems and she got the all clear. Might have just been some food she didn't like or the fact she tends to eat too quickly.

Twiggy also went to the Vet on the 24th as she's been limping a bit from one of her front legs. She has a bit of arthritis and she's now on some medication for a few weeks and the vet suggested she take Green lipped mussel oil capsules. The vet indicated there should be an improvement in a week and I can see that she's not limping as much and seems more keen to walk around the house and go into the back garden, and not just eat and lay in bed the whole day.

Twiggy is a "scaredy-cat", hates to be picked up, and was never a fan of the cat-carrier, but maybe because she hadn't been in it for years she must have forgotten, as a day or two after I took Shelley to the vet, and I left the carrier in the kitchen, I found her sitting inside the carrier. She wasn't happy to go into it when it was her turn, and miaowed the whole way to the vet and then back!

On Saturday 20th we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Perth Codfish Academy with a dinner and dance event held at the Portuguese Club hall, which was attended by 130 people. Jose is the treasurer, so we had to go at 4pm to help the other Committee members to hang balloons, distribute cakes into plates for each table, etc.  At 6,30pm the doors were opened and Jose and I sat by the door with the guest list, and while I took payment from those that hadn't paid online and crossed their names off the list, Jose gave them their tickets and told them at what table they were sitting.

The Academy's President opened the event with a speech in Portuguese and Jose repeated it in English.  The Portuguese singer Chantal and her band Carbon Taxi livened up the party with songs we could all chant and dance to, from 8pm to 11,30pm.

The dinner prepared by the volunteer ladies and a few men that work for the Portuguese Club was delicious. For dessert each table got a fruit platter and two plates of small cakes.

During one of the intervals the celebratory cake was cut up, the Academy's hymn was sung and everyone could go and get a slice. The dinner/dance finished just after 11,30pm and the committee members plus kitchen staff helped clear the tables and leave the hall in order, which meant we left the club at 1am.

Saturday 27th I went into the city to visit the Perth Home Expo - displaying new products for home building, decoration, garden, etc, and right next to it the Every Woman expo showcasing services for women. I enjoyed seeing the 3 tiny homes, but don't know if I could live in them long term. But I was hoping to convince Jose to install a hot tub in the garden 🤣.

Me (the angel) at the Everywoman expo, a hot tub and a tiny house

Afterwards I walked a couple of blocks to the city centre and roamed around and found a couple of murals I hadn't seen before, one "freshly painted". 

I quite like the mix of old building facades and modern buildings behind

An art exhibition being announced in this newish tower at Yagan Square and 2 pretty doors

This month I didn't do much furniture painting - just finished painting a pine chair Jose had picked from the verge in our neighbourhood.

The pretty chair needed some glue and Bondo in the joints of the seat, so after that done I sanded and painted it.

The director chairs  were in good condition just needed to be varnished and the canvas needed replacement, but instead of that I painted the canvas which was quicker. Do you think Linda and Peter would approve? I'm actually going to donate them to the Buy Nothing Group, as we don't need them.

I prepped and painted the vanity unit in our guest bathroom. Over the years the white vanity had yellowed and it was time for a make-over. I used a mix of Ash and white for a lighter shade and even though it could probably be a bit lighter, I'm happy with it.

From our garden we ate the last of the mangoes, they were fragrant and sweet.

As for the figs, because of some early rain a lot of them opened up and dropped to the ground, the lorikeets ate lots of them too even though we put a net over the tree, and this year I only make 3 jars of fig jam when I usually make about 10 or more jars.

Birds in our garden - the wagtails that came and sing in our patio, the lorikeets that come and steal the fruit, the doves and the magpies.