Monday Murals - Willie Wagtails II

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

I recently gave a lift home to a new colleague and came across this mural at the Manning Bowling Club on the corner of Challenger Avenue and Griffin Crescent, in the suburb of Manning, just 5 minutes away from my work place.

It was painted by local artist Jordan Andreotta, as part of the Water Corporation's "Splash of Colour" program aimed at beautifying public infrastructure.

It features the beautiful birds Willie Wagtails, Eucalyptus leaves and blossoms, reflecting the local natural environment.

In the grounds I spotted a "blue tree". This is the story behind the Blue Tree Project.

"Blue Tree Project began in 2019, inspired by a heartfelt story shared at the funeral of Jayden Whyte, who tragically lost his life to suicide in 2018. The tale of the original blue tree began as a lighthearted moment between Jayden and his friend, Tjarda. Together, they painted a dead tree blue on Jayden’s family farm in Western Australia's Wheatbelt region as a playful prank back in 2014. What started as an act of fun and mischief has since transformed into something profoundly meaningful, sparking a global movement.

From that moment, the Blue Tree Project has grown into a movement dedicated to changing the way we approach mental health. The blue trees, once a symbol of laughter, have evolved into a powerful symbol of hope, connection, and awareness. Each Tree encourages open conversations, remind us to check in on ourselves, and stands as visual prompts to support those who may be struggling. 

The blue trees are a symbol of hope, not loss."

I love these feisty and cute birds that seem to be dancing all the time. Whenever we are gardening one or two will stay nearby hoping for us to move rocks or other stuff that will unearth a bug for them to eat :)

A few years ago a wagtail made a beautiful nest under the cover of our vegetable garden and 3 babies were born.

Last Spring a wagtail also nested but this time in a tree by our driveway in the front of the house.

In July 2024 I posted another Willie Wagtails mural painted by the same artist in the suburb of Bentley, not far from Manning :- 

https://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com/2024/07/monday-murals-willie-wagtails.html

October Wrap-up and Signs

With so many posts about my visit to Darwin and Kakadu National Park, I've been lagging behind on my October Wrap-up post. 

It was wettest month of October in the last 50 years, and probably one of the coolest too. Just didn't feel like Spring at all!!

Friday 1st - I met up with two now retired colleagues - Jan and Gill, and this time we went to Praline Cafe, a lovely French cafe. My hot chocolate was good, and the cakes we ordered were super pretty and delicious too.

Saturday 2nd - I joined the committee ladies from the Portuguese Australian Women's Association to set up the tables for a High tea event to be held the following day at the Scouts Centre, in the suburb of Salter Point.

The small event attended by just over 30 people was successful, and we had 2 guests who talked about women's issues in the workplace. As usual far too many sweets.

Friday 8th - I invited 3 ladies that I met through the "Buy Nothing" group to my house for morning coffee and cake, and we had a lovely time and also discussed our participation of our Harvest Group in the Canning Show to be held beginning of November.

Sunday 10th - We collected plants and fruit trees given to us by our friends Tony and Kei. They live in a retirement village with beautiful gardens, and Tony who has the best "green fingers in the world" takes care of the area in front of their unit - they have all sorts of vegetables and fruits there, all planted by him since they moved there about 6 or 7 years ago.  

Tony's garden

Flowers in Tony's garden

In the afternoon we had tea at the new house by the river of one of the Doctors of the clinic where I work.  I baked a Loquat cake, from a recipe I had recently seen, using the last loquats from our tree, and everybody loved it!

A view of the Swan River from Dr J's house

Loquat cake

Saturday 16th -  Finally a sunny clear day. We had breakfast with our friends pf 37 years, Wendy and Lido at the Kent Weir Cafe, with views of the Canning River, and right next to the Canning River Education Centre.

After coffee we walked a little bit in the park, and the mini library and a mobile charging station we found were new to me.

Charging station and mini library

Back home we spent the afternoon in the garden, repoting plants and planting the fruit trees and other plants that our friends Tony and Kei gave us. 

Tuesday 19th - Overnight the weather changed, with heavy rain and wind, and when I woke up we had no electricity. 

Sunday 24th - Went with our friends Wendy and Lido to the Castaway Sculpture exhibition in Rockingham (38km/23mi south). For lunch we bought fish and chips and sat down in front of the beach eating it. 

Castaways is an annual outdoor exhibition at the Rockingham foreshore, showcasing artworks created from repurposed materials. It started as a community project to raise awareness around discarded items washing up on local beaches. It now provides an opportunity for emerging and professional Western Australian artists, schools and local businesses to be a part of the regionally-recognised arts program that continues to promote sustainability values.

The no-vaxers had a little tent by the beach but not many adepts... and it's been years since I saw a Citroen CV, look at that number plate - Deux CV.

Some were simple, others more complex and imaginative like the "Banjaxed" by Peter James, but my favourite was The Sad Pair, by Tuinna Blackie, a New Zealand born artist, made with copper and aluminium.

The sad pair - just look at the curly hair, the slingshot in her pocket, the spider on the lamp post.

Next we drove on to Mandurah (32km/20mi) further south to attend the Caravan and Camping Show.

Friday 29th - joined Grace (from Perth Daily photo) for coffee and a chat at the inauguration of the newly renovated Karryinup shopping centre, (32km/20mi north), now the largest shopping in Perth. From the full underground parking I thought half of Perth had the same idea we had, but because it's a huge place it didn't look as full inside.

I had noticed a Lego store, the first in Perth when I entered, and before I left to return home I visited the store and bought a couple of boxes for Christmas gifts for the kids.

Saturday 30th - The month ended with a dinner & dance to celebrate the 52nd anniversary of the Portuguese Social Club. Members eat for free, and this year each table was given 2 bottles of wine too.

The birthday Cake, prawns for starters, and roast meat, chicken leg, rice, potato and green beans

Our almost 90 y old friend Idalia, Jose and I, our table and our Honorary Consul in front of the cake, the Club committee members on the right, and to the left the Mayors of Fremantle and Cockburn

This is the only painting project I finished in October, having started it in August.  It took quite a while, having dismantled the whole mini kitchen to paint it, then struggling to put it all together!

I added a new wooden top, a remnant from another project, which then involved a lot of adjusting of the stove burners, tap, washing bowl and the rod holding the shelves... anyway I found solutions for everything.

I also added a backing board with a look alike black and white tile with peel and stick paper.  I bought the mini appliances on Marketplace for $15 and they compliment the kitchen very well. Ready for a Christmas present.

Mini Kitchen before

A Spring miracle in the garden - 3 wagtails were born in a nest the mother made in the rotary dryer which we use as a cover for our veggie patch , and we saw them take their first flight.

I first noticed the nest on the 30th September and they flew off on the 24th October. That day I checked on them before leaving to go to Rockingham and Mandurah, and 2 of them were already sitting on the fence. The smallest one was still in the nest.

When we returned in the early evening, the last one was on the floor, but when we approached it, the bird climbed the nest and managed to fly off.

Aren't they so cute? The baby birds stay in the nest 13 to 14 days before flying, and the parents are very fierce and territorial birds.  Even though they are tiny they manage to scare off crows or any other animal that are in the area looking for nests.  

I made 5 jars of  Tomato jam from Roma tomatoes gifted to me from the "Buy nothing group". Not the ideal tomatoes because they should have been peeled and seeded but I just used the whole fruit and sieved the jam before putting them into the jars.

Other birds in the garden: 

Galah, magpie-lark eating seeds with the doves nearby, magpie eating nuts, honeysucker, rainbow lorekeets on the neighbour's palm tree

A trip to the op-shop yielded 4 pirex dishes ranging in price from $4 to $8. A couple of them were a bit dirty looking but they've been cleaned with a paste of vinegar and bicarbonate and they look almost new again. I'm keeping the yellow and the red one and giving the other two away to my friend Kei who is always looking for old pirex. I have a big collection mainly with blues, yellows and reds... 

I also got a couple of books, which were library books.

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.