Miracles of Spring - Jacarandas in bloom

Jacarandas are native to Brasil and Argentina, but can be seen in many countries like Zimbabwe, South Africa, (with Pretoria being known as the Jacaranda City) and some Asian countries, as well as Australia. Brisbane was home to the first Jacaranda trees in 1864, which were planted in the city's Botanic gardens.

In Perth, many of the older suburbs have streets lined with Jacaranda trees, which start blooming each Spring and well into Summer with their trademark purple blossoms.

At the blooming season ends, the grounds under the trees are carpeted with purple blossoms.

The southern suburb of Applecross, even holds an annual Jacaranda Festival in November, which happened today, the 21st. I didn't go as it was a very hot day and I was feeling a bit tired, maybe next year!

The Jacaranda festival is held in Ardross Street, organised by the Rotary Club of Applecross, and has many stalls selling food, honey, nuts, Christmas cakes, jams, plants, arts and crafts, candles and green products. Entry is by gold coin donation ($1 or $2) which goes towards charitable organisations.

There's also entertainment and activities for children like face-painting, bouncing castle, clowns, etc. 

Photo taken last week

Hope you enjoyed the purple blooms and hopefully next year I'll be able to pay the Festival a visit!
Tomorrow we'll be going to the World of Food Festival where there will be a Portuguese food stall!  Hope they have something nice...

NEIL you still ROCK

On Monday 16th November, hubby and I went to see Neil Diamond at Perth Arena.

We took the train to the city (transport is included in the ticket price) and we saw hundreds of "oldies" on the train and joked that we were probably the youngest "oldies" there.

From Perth Central station it's a 5 minute walk to Perth Arena, and upon arrival we once again noticed it was mostly an older crowd queuing up to go inside.

Neil Diamond was very much part of our musical culture and he's also one of my husband's favourite singers.

The stage with lit up with a diamond shape from which he emerged.

Neil Diamond emerging from the Diamond

Neil joked that he had last been in Perth for a concert in 1976 and that Perth had only 1 building back then, but it had grown a lot since and was a beautiful city.

Almost 2 hours of non-stop singing from his old favourites to a few songs from his newest album from 2014, from which he sang "The art of love" (below from YouTube).

I loved "Brooklyn Roads" about his childhood and with background pictures taken by his Dad.

Singing Brooklyn roads

The audience loved when he played "Red, Red Wine" and stood up to accompany him.
After almost 2 hours he introduced us to his 13 men (11 men, 2 women) band, thanked the audience and left the stage.
Hardly anyone moved and they all clapped and cheered and whistled....
He came back to sing another 3 songs, the second of which was "Sweet Caroline" for which the audience once again stood up and accompanied the chorus.

He didn't disappoint and although he's 74 he's still charming and still has that unmistakable beautiful voice. We loved the concert!

My husband and I (photo taken by the people sitting next to us)

Listen to "The Art of Love" from Neil Diamond's 2014 album (from Youtube), a really beautiful song.

                                            

Monday Mural - Rabbit face

This mural was in a courtyard of the State Treasury Buildings that were opened to the public during the Open House Perth last weekend.

I'm not sure if access to the Long Chim courtyard was through one of the many restaurants, but I spotted the mural through one of the many windows through the corridors.

It was painted by Thai street artist Patcharapol Tangruen, aka Alex Face.
To see more murals around the world follow this link.

Sunday Photo - Paris

My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of terrorist attacks around the world  - the latest one on Friday 13th in Paris.

The day before there had been an attack in Beirut, Istanbul is October, Cairo in August, Kenia in April ...

It's shocking how the world is changing so drastically due to radicalism!

We have to hope for a better future.

"I don't think there's greater respect than crying for someone you haven't met" -  Jose Saramago.

November 2011 (on my last visit to Paris when my daughter  was living there)

   

Council House, Perth lit up with the French flag colours  (photo from the net)

Open House Perth 2015 - Dream House

Another one of my Open Perth visits was to this architecturally renovated house in the suburb of North Perth.
This 1937 Art Deco 2 bedroomed bungalow was extensively renovated and extended both to the back and with the addition of a 1st floor to the back of the property to allow for a growing family and the owner's design practice.
It's now a modern energy efficient and light filled home while still maintaining the heritage characteristics.
It has won a Building design and Conservation award in June this year from the City of Vincent (council where the house is located).

Enjoy the visit, it sure was a dream home! Hope you don't mind the photo overload!

At the front of the house a corner of the garden is taken up by a tiny pool (to the left) and a small play area for the kids

Part of the corredor had a glass wall with a view of the garden (The mirror table was lovely too)

The en-suite bathroom had exquisite tiles, lots of mirror and overhead windows where the light streamed from

The round oval bath and round 3D tiles

The dining room/family room with brushed cement walls, wood paneling and lots of glass on the right, opening to the garden

The black kitchen had a mirror backsplash as well as some doors and the fridge were covered with mirror

 

The shaded tropical looking entertainment area to the side of the house next to the lounge area

Barbecue area

Another corner of the garden with a water feature behind the palms (you can see the mirror table behind the glass to the left)

The quirky metal staircase and the play room beyond

The three upstairs bedrooms -

 

The upstairs kids bathroom again with unusual 3D tiles

To the left you can see the original front of the house and the black painted to floor added to the back

 There are a lot of sustainable features in this house with only the top floor bedrooms having ceiling fans for cooling, while the bottom floor has a lot of ground level louvre windows which draw in the cool air.

I loved the living area to the back of the back which opens up to the garden/outdoor living area in summer or can be closed with the glass doors in winter making it a cosy living area.

Hope you enjoyed the house tour too.