March Wrap - Up & Signs

Taking part in Tom's signs - please check this link

Tuesday 1st - We celebrated Shrove Tuesday in our French class. One of the ladies took pancakes and I took strawberries and cream and the teacher provided the tea.

Wednesday 2nd - My birthday - because I didn't get a chance to bake a cake the night before I drove by a nearby Cafe and bought an apple pie to take to work. When I arrived at the Clinic one of my lovely colleagues had baked me a delicious Chocolate cake, Jose and another of my colleagues gave me a bunch of flowers.

Chocolate cake and apple pie

Flowers for my birthday

In the evening Jose took me to dinner at Kailis Fishmarket Cafe in Fremantle for a seafood dinner.

From midnight of the 3rd of March the Western Australian borders were opened to the world!  

Covid had already entered the State, but luckily up to date it hasn't been as bad as predicted.  The State has a very high triple vaccination rate, which could help.

Saturday 5th -  We had invited a few people for dinner at Ambassador Chinese Restaurant to celebrate my birthday, and we had a great evening.  I baked a pineapple cake to take and after our meal we all had a slice.

Sunday 6th - Jose and I went to Cottesloe beach to visit the 18th Sculpture by the sea, the world's largest free public sculpture exhibition.

This was my favourite sculpture depicted the Indiana Teahouse at Cottesloe beach (see photo below)

Indiana Tea house and NO sculpture

                

The last sculptures were already seen with the sun setting behind them. 

We then got our cooler box from the car and sat down on the grass enjoying a sunset picnic. (no photos of our picnic)

Thursday 10th - I took Shelley to vet, as I noticed she'd suddenly lost a bit of weight and wasn't eating much either. From her last visit a year ago she had actually lost 1kg (2.20lbs) which is a lot for a cat.

She had blood tests and urine tests and a week later the vet called to say there was no sign of a kidney or bladder infection. But because she was still not eating much, the vet suggested I take her for an ultrasound.

I took Shelley for her ultrasound to Waves Pet Hospital on Friday 17th.  She had to be anaesthetised as they had to shave her belly and apparently they press hard on the belly. Sadly it showed she had a mass around her organs.  The radiologist called me into a room to give me the news and suggested he could do a biopsy to find out if it was cancerous, which would be handy to know if she was going to have chemo...   I didn't want a biopsy as I wouldn't put a 15 year old cat (or any animal of any age) through chemo. It's bad enough for humans, never mind a tiny animal, plus I can imagine it would cost heaven and earth!!

I had a bit of a cry at the radiology, while the radiologist went to wake her from the anaesthetic, and then brought her home. I bought a few different pouch foods which are softer, moister and probably better tasting than the normal canned food, but one day she might eat well, the next day she will turn up her nose at the same food.  She's eating 5 or 6 times a day, a tiny bit at a time. If and when she stops eating we will have to make a decision...

Shelley on the way to the vet. Being brushed after coming home and relaxing in the patio

Sunday 20th - Went to the baptism of our friend's grandchild and saw a lot of murals in the area.

And look at the dark skies when we left....and a lovely metal sculpture. We've had a few dark skies but still no real rain, and it's been quite humid which is unusual for Perth.

Thursday 24th - I had a movie voucher that had to be used up by the end of March, so we went to the movies - "Off the rails" , the last movie with Kelly Preston (John Travolta's wife) who died of breast cancer mid 2020. It was a feel good movie with music by Blondie and was quite enjoyable.

Saturday 26th - dinner at home with some friends. Because of a Covid rule of only 10 people at home we decided to eat in the patio, even though we were only 7. The night was still warm, so it was a great night. We made Roast meat, and roast potatoes and vegetables and I made an easy cheesecake and one of my friends brought a fruit salad.

Patio and table set-up. The sun set seen from our back garden was magnificent. 

Our suburb had the bi-annual verge collection, and a lot of people throw out perfectly good stuff, so I managed to pick up 2 chests of drawers, 6 bedside tables, and a small side table - most of it in perfect condition.

I only managed to paint a chair I already had and the small side table (on photo above right) and have started preparing 2 side tables to paint.

Our fig tree has been fruiting well and I've made 2 batches of fig jam. Gave a few jars away and I'm keeping a few to take with me to give to the family in Europe.

We enjoyed eating the 3 very delicious mangoes our tree gave this year. Sadly it would have been the trees best yield had it not been for the intense heat we had in Summer that burned all the tiny ones to a crisp!

                

Sunday 27th - And... drum roll🥁🥁....we booked flights to Europe for July. 

Flying via Singapore to Frankfurt, spending a few days with our daughter and son in law and then flying to Portugal (our daughter is coming with) to be with my parents, sister and nieces who are also travelling to Portugal around that time.