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. 

March Wrap-up

The month started with my birthday on Monday the 2nd. 
As it fell on a public holiday, we had a picnic in a park by the river in South Perth, with our son, daughter in law and 2 grandkids. It was lovely to play with the kids, little J loved the kids play area and we had a great time.

A bunch of flowers from a colleague and the other from my son & family

Afterwards Jose and I drove around the river, stopping at Bayside Kitchen in Matilda Bay for a take-away coffee for Jose and an iced-chocolate for me.
We sat down on the grass watching the kids enjoying a splash on the river, adults on their canoes, the black swans gliding past...

Matilda Bay, with the Royal Perth Yacht Club in the distance, kids swimming, canoes, boats, black swans

Back to the car we drove to City Beach, which was almost deserted.
In the car park two vehicles caught our attention - a well cared for Valiant and a very stylish VW kombi, with red leather interiors, which had a sign on the back window "Wolfsburg bus crew" .
Wolfsburg is where VW's are made and it's just about half an hour's drive from Braunschweig, the city where we lived in Germany in the 80's, and where my children were born.
Our blogger friend Iris also lives in Braunschweig.












We observed a crow trying to get some food out of a discarded packet of crisps that was inside a cup which he pulled out of a bin. They are such clever birds.

On the way back home we drove past a few sculptures that have been in past "Sculpture by the Sea" exhibitions. Various Perth councils usually buy a few sculptures from the exhibitions and display them around their suburbs.

At night Jose and I had dinner at Super Tetsudo, a Sushi train Japanese restaurant at Carousel shopping.  And they really have a cute little train that delivers drinks and A la carte dishes, in case you don't any anything coming around the food carousel.

The white train with a bucket where Jose's wine was delivered 

On Wednesday 11th, I arranged with another committee member from the Portuguese Australian Women's Association to finally hand over a cheque of the funds raised during the Gala dinner in February to Zonta House Refuge Association for victims of domestic abuse.

Isabel and I hand over the cheque for $1323,35 to a Zonta House representative

My birthday party was planned for the Saturday 14th, when we would also celebrate my daughter Karina's 35th birthday.
She was expected to arrive that morning from the Philippines. 
Due to travel restrictions imposed to some Asian countries, she had already changed her previous flight via Hong Kong, to a longer flight via Sydney.
But the day before she was meant to fly, she called us to say she had bad news - Manila was being put in lockdown from Sunday 15th, and the airport would also close for 1 month, which meant if she left she would be unable to return for 1 month. (In Australia, self isolation for 14 days for any traveller entering Australia also came into effect on the 15th).

That night a few friends also cancelled worried about being in a group - there were no self isolating restrictions yet, or crowd restrictions, just travel restrictions from some Asian countries.
I carried on with the food preparation,although I cut down on a few things, and with Jose's help prepared the tables on the deck.
The weather had also suddenly changed and the prevision was rain and even storms....nothing was going to plan, lol.

I had made a board with photos with the most important events in my life, from birth until now, which I hung outside by the drinks table.

photo board over drinks table, outdoor area prepared and the table with food in the dining room

On Saturday morning a few more friends cancelled, and eventually from an expected 30 people we had a total of 16.
It drizzled, but not during party hours, I set up the food indoors, but we ate outside on the covered patio, and we all had a great time.

The cupcakes were make by a young lady from our local "Buy Nothing Group", as she has a cupcake home business. I just asked for pink themed ones - they were Velvet cake with pink icing, raspberries, a pink sugar flower and a pink mini biscuit. They were dainty and delicious.

To my birthday party came a family friend who had arrived from Portugal beginning of the month. She's known my parents even before they were married, met Jose when we were going out, attended our wedding....but we hadn't seen each other in many, many years, as we moved around the world and she also moved from South Africa to England and after our move to Australia, she moved to the south of Portugal after the death of her husband.

It was Elsa's first visit to Australia, she came with a friend and they were staying with a couple I had met shortly after our arrival in Australia. It was so nice to see her.

Elsa with Jose and I

Elsa brought a few gifts from my parents and sister in Portugal, and among the ones for the great-grandkids was my Mom's 2nd children's book, published in November last year, with a dedication to all her 5 great-grandkids.  (Nicolau's journey through the world of fantasy)

                   

On Wednesday 18th - after my half day at the Clinic I picked up Elsa and her friend and took them around to see the statue of Eliza, the swimmer and the Crawley Edge Boatshed (also known as the Blue House), Perth's most instagramable place.

Eliza, the swimmer in the Swan River and the Crawley Boat Shed and me, Elsa and her friend Esmeralda

Then onto Cottesloe Beach to see the yearly Sculpture by the Sea exhibition, which they thoroughly enjoyed. 

The Homer lookalike blowup was made by Australian Portuguese collective Cool Sh**.

The sun was setting when we left the beach and went across the road for a hot drink before I took my friends home. 

We planned to catch up the following week so I could take them to Caversham Wildlife Park so they could see and interact with dozens of Australian wildlife.

That just didn't happen, because just a few days after strict measures were put into place, and people were asked to avoid congregating and going out as much as possible.

They eventually departed to Portugal last weekend as all their planned travel to Sydney, Melbourne and then New Zealand had been cancelled, and apart from their first two weeks of sightseeing they had been staying home...

This month we were meant to celebrate my granddaughter's Christening and 1st Birthday, but that was cancelled due to the new guidelines issued the Government on gatherings.
So we had to contend with a Whatsapp video call to see the grandkids and sing Happy Birthday to little E. 
And sadly that is the only way we'll see the kids for a while...but we all have to play our part to stop this pandemic!!

                                                           * * * * * * * * *
I'm still working, and busier than ever as we had one colleague that after 4 weeks holiday had to go into quarantine after she arrived from overseas, another one got a sore throat and the clinic's manager told her to stay away for 2 weeks too, even though she felt fine after 3 or 4 days...that meant that we were down to 4 staff instead of the usual 6, and somehow I always feel I have to volunteer for more hours...

The Government has instituted Government paid telehealth consultations and I find that probably 50% of patients, mainly the older ones have taken that up. 

With all that is happening, I find people to be very stressed, anxious, grumpy, some even rude...the phone doesn't stop the whole day, the flu vaccines arrived last week and we've already run out, next batch hopefully arriving end of next week, as everyone wants to have the vaccine yesterday!

Even though I'm usually a very positive person, I've been coming home exhausted and sometimes close to tears as I'm so stressed, with work, worry about my parents far away, and I need to stop listening to the news, as the 6 months predictions has me worried about  the future...   
Luckily Jose has been doing the cooking and tidying up of the house.
Next week it will all go back to normal at work, as both colleagues are back at work, phew!

In the waiting room, chairs have been removed to make a barrier by the counter so patients wouldn't come close to us. That didn't really work too well as some obviously haven't heard the news and would try and get through between the chairs...
So our manager bought plexiglass screens and the only opening is where the eftpos machine is.
We also encourage patients to sit outside, or stay in their cars and we give them a ring when it's their turn, so we have the minimum number of people indoors.  

Changes to the work envirnoment

To relax and when I have a bit of energy I've been doing some furniture painting.

The roll top desk cost me $20 but looks so much nicer now. The chairs were given to me by a neighbour and one has been painted to match the desk in blue and mustard, the other is in tones of lilac

On weekends I enjoy spending a little time in the garden even if it's just to pull out a few weeds, and to get a bit of sun as well...
We changed the bamboo screen around the whole garden, as the old one installed maybe 7 or 8 years ago was falling apart. It looks so much tidier now. 

A dove on the garden fence and the new bamboo screen

Flowers from the garden

The doves still come around to get their daily dose of seeds. 

If there are no seeds in their feeder they've learned to come to the patio if Jose is sitting outside and then he goes and pours some seed. One day I was hanging out the washing on the side of the house and they hadn't been fed that day and suddenly I saw them come close to me as if to remind me they needed their seeds. So cute 😊.

Luckily the cats are too old and can't be bothered even if they come close to them.

Dove in the nest, the noisy Lorikeets, dove sitting on the feeder, doves in patio, doves by front door of house

I presume not much will be happening socially in April...

Keep safe, keep your distance, wash your hands and stay home as much as possible 💗💗

Sculpture by the Sea at Cottesloe Beach

Around 250,000 visitors visited the 15th annual Sculpture by the Sea which was held at Cottesloe Beach from the 1st March until the 18th March.

With over 70 sculptures by local and foreign artists it's Western Australia's biggest free event. Sadly due to the lack of sponsorship this event is in danger of being the last one.
I hope not, as it is a fabulous and popular event and brings a lot of tourists to the area too.

If you follow Grace, you might have seen some of the sculptures when she posted about her visit in early March.

These were my favourites in no specific order.

                  

Some of them looked familiar and looking back at my photos of the Bondi in Oct/Nov 2018,
I managed to match a few of them.
The Sydney photo on the left and the Perth photo on the right (or top and bottom).

  

                                        Cottesloe Beach with some of the sculptures scattered on the sand

Across the road inside a pop-up pavilion there was an exhibition with the maquettes or scale models of some of the current and past sculptures, which were for sale.
They were beautiful and dainty, something you could have on your bookshelf if you had a bit of money to spare.

I look forward to seeing a couple of the statues scattered around Perth, as usually a few councils buy statues to put in their parks, new developments, etc. 

Which was your favourite?