COLOURFULWORLD

Wednesday 1 June 2022

May Wrap-Up and Signs

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

On Thursday 5th, Jose and I went to a movie premiere of the hilarious film "How to please a woman". It was filmed in the suburb of Fremantle with mostly Australian actors. The main actress is Sally Phillips, a British actress which I had last seen in the movie "Off the Rails" in March. 


Bottom- Sally Phillips (the main character) and Q&A with the directors, writer and Hayley McElhinney (red jacket)

I don't think I had ever seen a movie house so so full of people and such a vibrant audience that clapped, laughed and cheered all the way to the end.

Before the session started Jose managed to get a box of nibbles that was being given to the audience, and he bought 2 glasses of wine. There was a short presentation and at the end no one left the cinema until the end of the "Question and answer session" with the Australian producers Tania Chambers and Judi Levine, director Renée Webster and one of the main actors Hayley McElhinney, who is actually from Perth, and which I knew mainly from Australian TV series.


On the morning of Saturday 7th, Jose, I and a young couple who we met through the "Buy Nothing group" and also part of the "Community Harvest Group"  went to pick olives.  After lunch Jose and I went to the house of neighbour who had donated olives that had been requested via the "Buy Nothing group". In total that day Jose and I collected about 80Kg.

In the evening we attended Mother's Day dinner at the Portuguese Club. Dinner is free for female members.

Dinner at the Portuguese club

Monday 10th - At work, the receptionist who had been there for just 8 weeks didn't show up to work during 2 days and no message or phone call to justify. Eventually after many calls and messages from our end, she messaged the boss to say she was resigning! 

That is now the third receptionist that leaves within the first couple of months, and with the huge lack of workers around, I'm getting worried that by the time I go on my overseas holidays we will be down to 3 staff members when we used to be 5 or 6. 

The following day one of my colleagues who had just returned from a short holiday and was meant to start back at work on the Wednesday, called in sick with Covid, plus one of the Doctors was diagnosed with covid too! So you can imagine how crazy it got!

Friday 13th - Two members of the "Community Harvest Group" came to my house and we loaded our cars with the buckets of olives and drove to and olive pressing place - Tarralea Grove in the suburb of Jarrahdale - 45 min south-east of Perth in the Darling Ranges also know as the Perth Hills.

Just as we rounded the corner from my house, the passenger window dropped into the door with a loud bang. We returned home and with some semi-transparent plastic and tape I covered the window and off we went hoping it was enough to drive all the way there and back and hold up against the rain threatening to fall from very dark skies.

As we were having lunch it started pouring, luckily I had put the plastic to the outside of the window, so no rain got inside.

The olive grove, our olives in the press and my "plastic" window

After weighing the olives we were surprised we had 109kg (240lb)!  The lovely couple invited us to check the start of the olive oil process, then the three of us went for lunch and returned 90min later to pick our cold pressed olive oil - 15,5lt  (4.09 gallons) of it!  The oil is now in a metal canister we brought from Portugal, where we used to put the home-made olive oil we would buy every year. It needs to stay there for 6 weeks and then can be decanted into bottles.

Saturday 14th - I took my car to a windowscreen shop, where a friendly chap managed to pull up the glass, put some rubber stoppers at the bottom, ordered the part and sent me on my way. 

I returned on Monday after work, to have the new part installed and it just took about 1 hour.

Friday 20th - Met up with Grace , (who some of you might know from the "Perth daily photo" blog) at Ikea for lunch and a chat. While having lunch a Portuguese friend of mine who I hadn't seen for a couple of months walked past and we asked her to join us, and we had a lovely time.

Welcome to Ikea
"Kindness is Free"

Saturday 21st - The dinner/dance event for the election of the WA Portuguese of the Year - to be held at the Portuguese club was cancelled due to a lot of guests having Covid. It has been postponed to mid August.

Sunday 22nd - Federal elections, voting at the local school. Voting is compulsory and this year they even had "telephone voting" for those at home with covid.

Thursday 26th - we went out to dinner for the first time to a Korean restaurant not far from us. It is a BBQ style restaurant - you got your meat, chicken, prawns, calamari, either raw or marinated and grill it at the table grill. There were various salads, rice, potatoes and other accompaniments. To end the meal we helped ourselves to ice-cream and fruit and a few small cakes.



One of our female Doctors/friend who was going on holidays, gave me and another colleague a bunch of sunflowers to thank us for our work. So lovely to feel recognized for a job well done.



I finished two furniture projects and have started a big one...
A plain white bedside table now sports a jeans like style paint and a 1950's sideboard that I started painting in January was finally done.


The old sideboard

I also upcycled a bicycle that was "verge shopped" - the handlebar had a bit of rust and I spray painted it silver and the beige bits were painted in black. Looks more modern now I think.

                      

Until the last week of the month we have had great Autumn weather with temperatures up to 26C (78,8F) with a few rainy days here and there. But of course at night the temperatures drop and Twiggy loves to snuggle under a blanket.

Twiggy is feeling the cold. A dove and magpie on top of the postbox eating seeds

And I end this post with one last sign, seen in front of a carpet shop.

                  


Trailer of "How to please a woman". Enjoy it 😉



36 comments:

  1. ...Wayne's looks like the place to. I wish that we had an Ikea close to us, Thanks Sami for stopping by.

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    1. They provided good and fast service. I love Ikea, even if just for a walk around the display floor.

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  2. There are many Portuguese people in Hawaii!

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    1. I had no idea Cloudia. We have about 10 thousand in Perth, but a lot more in Sydney.

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  3. Dearest Sami,
    Having terrible problems with commenting... even for writing a reply on my own blog.
    Don't know what is going on with Blogger...
    I'm under the weather, so I leave you some hugs here,
    Mariette

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  4. I got stuck on the food and the cats. So typical of me.

    Have a fabulous day and rest of the week, Sami. ♥

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    1. Thanks Sandee. Food is essential and a great to enjoy it with friends. And cats are special of course :)

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  5. I'll have a close look at the film you mentioned. It sounds funny.
    80 kilos of olives. Wow! It sounds like the whole experience was fun.
    Yes, experienced dropped windows a couple of times. Not fun.

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    1. Thanks Andrew, your comment had gone to spam! First time with a problem with the car window, not fun indeed.

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  6. O mobiliário e a bicicleta são bestiais.
    Feliz mês de Junho

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    1. Obrigada Pedro. Ontem ja comecou o inverno, mas ainda com lindos e solarengos dias :) Um bom mes para si tambem.

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  7. A couple of years ago in Croatia I watched people harvesting olives to be taken to a communal press and I found it all very fascinating. The whole process seemed timeless, unchanged in centuries.

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    1. Your commend had indeed gone to spam. Where I lived in Portugal, people that had olive trees, also picked their olives and took them to a communal press. They would take the olive oil they would use for the year, and whatever was extra would be sold.

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  8. Dearest Sami,
    Guess my comment from yesterday vanished, due to Blogger commenting problems. Today all is functioning well again.
    You had a productive month again, as usual.
    That Community Harvest Group is a great thing.
    Twiggy sure knows how to be comfy.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Mariette your comment appeared above but without your photo. I seem to find some of the comments from regular readers going to spam, and the proper spam messages get published!

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    2. Blogger is having lots of problems again!

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  9. I always leave hungry when I visit your monthly updates. Your work situation sounds drastic and stressful.

    I wish we had compulsory voting, or at least the day off to vote. One party is making it harder in some states to even vote. They are outlawing voting on Sunday, the one day most people have off work and CAN spend time in voting lines. One state is now forcing anyone over the age of 62 to re-register in order to vote in either the primary or general election, even though they have voted in previous years.

    Nice to see Twiggy doing so well.

    What a great way to keep people after the credits have been run. I always stay to watch the credits, when most people rush out as soon as the show/film ends.

    I thought the wood on that one piece was beautiful. I could NEVER have painted over that beautiful wood that looked inlaid to me. To each his own, though.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth, I also like to read the credits after the movie. The "wood" on the doors and drawers was just a veneer, just the top and frame are real wood.

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  10. I can imagine the cinema full and with happy, proud people like that!
    80 kilo?! I´m impressed! Reminds me of the huge mustard-pot Ingo came home with ;-)
    How nice with the free dinner.

    She just didn´t show up and then quit?!
    When will you be here, 10th of July, right?
    Oh, no Covid is back?!

    The window dropped inside?! How scary!
    Hmmmm, that sounds like great olive oil. When we were in Tuscany at such a farm we bought two bottles. I was mad at myself - we should´ve bought 10! Yet I gave one to my Brother, gah! Sooo yummy!

    Hope Grace is well. Hmmm, haven´t seen my T in ages. Neither been to IKEA.
    So, you work at a restaurant now ;-)
    Nice Doctor-friend you have indeed.

    Great jobs with the furniture! You would cry if you saw the jobs I did here...
    Maybe you can come over and fix it on your visit to Braunschweig ;-)

    Wow on your temps. 18C here. 5 in the morning. In June!
    Sweet pics of Twiggy. And the Magpie!
    And a fun sign.

    If that movie ever makes it here, I sure will watch it - fun!

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    1. Thanks Iris. Yes, hard to believe a new staff member just doesn't show up, and she was actually doing well... We will be in BS on the 10th July.

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    2. FB or e-mail me, if you like, how to meet, that would be wonderful.

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  11. How delightful that you met up with Grace! I think your sideboard looks terrific.

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    1. Grace and I meet up once in a while. Nice that you liked the painted sideboard Linda.

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  12. Film trailer makes me wish to watch the movie "how to please a woman."...
    Thank you for sharing

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    1. I'm sure you will enjoy the movie Tanza, quite funny.

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  13. That movie sounds delightful. I haven't heard of it over here. And so much fun to meet up with Grace. A good month, this half!

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    1. Thanks Jeanie. I think the movie has been sold to the States too, so it might be coming shortly.

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  14. Glad I caught this post . kindness is free, and freeing!

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    1. Thanks Cloudia. I like that it's also "freeing" :)

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