Coffee by the river

On Wednesday (2nd Aug) after work I met up with two former work colleagues for a coffee at the Lo Quay Cafe on Fern Road, Wilson.
The Cafe is ideally located next to the Canning River, surrounded by a grassed area with a playground for the kids and a covered seating area with tables and benches.









As we sat down with our drink - I tried a Turmeric Latte for the first time - a cheeky Willie wagtail hovered around us, flying onto an empty chair, or the wall surrounding the corner where we sat. They are such cute birds, and I love to see them in our garden too.







The seagulls also hovered around waiting for the people to leave their tables before jumping on the tables to steal food remains, then flying on to the grass and fighting over the scraps.

After a record 24 rainy days in Perth during July and another record of 12 consecutive days of rain, it was nice to finally experience a beautiful sunny day with a maximum of 16C (60F)
It was the perfect day to be out and about near the river and to catch up with friends.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Canning River views from the Lo Quay Cafe 

Monday Mural - Bus Stop 3

This blue toned bus stop concludes the trio of bus stop murals in Hayman Road, Como.

(See previous Murals post 2 and post 1 ).

Painted in December 2012 by Perth artist Dan Duggan and students from Collier Primary School, with the purpose of reducing graffiti on the concrete bus shelters.

Another Saturn like planet is visible on one of the sides.

Which one was your favourite - the red, green or blue bus stop?

For more murals from across the world please click on this link.

Monday Mural - Bus stop 2

The second of the 3 bus stop murals in Hayman Road, Como, this one painted in greens and blacks. (See previous Mural post).

Painted in December 2012 by Perth artist Dan Duggan and students from Collier Primary School, with the purpose of reducing graffiti on the concrete bus shelters.

I can spot an owl perched on a branch, and something that looks like Saturn.

For other murals from around the world follow this link.

Light Revamps

Our house was built in the 70's, so when we bought it 10 years ago we had to do a bit....or rather a lot of renovations to get it into the 21st century.

But of course our expertise doesn't stretch to all areas, and under Australian law mere mortals can't touch electrical stuff, it's got to be done by qualified electricians.

So we left the old wood and metal chandeliers in the lounge, dining room and corridor, with the intention of changing them sometime in the future...but of course then we just get used to these things and they get forgotten.

Originally I had just spray painted the chandeliers with white spray paint, so they could just blend in, but a couple of weeks ago I noticed a chandelier in a shop that was covered with a large lampshade and I liked the idea and thought it would suit our chandeliers, I just had to find large enough lampshades!

On a recent visit to Ikea, I found what I was looking for - the Nymo and the Jara lampshades - and with a bit of white metal chain and fishing line I managed to attach the shades to the chandeliers. 

Not too bad I think.

Over the dining room table - the Nymo lampshade

Inside the shade with the chandelier and metal chains

The first revamp with spray paint

The original chandeliers - they used to have glass bowls around but some were missing

For the 3 chandeliers in the corridor I chose a simple shade - Jara - and used the same method with the metal chain and fishing line to attach the shade.

I also bought this 2 piece bamboo shade - Jassa - that was highly discounted, spray painted it white and hung it in the sitting room next to the kitchen.

Another spray paint job was done with a leaf shaped metal dish that was going a bit rusty and I thought it would make a good candle holder for the patio table. Of course it had to be in turquoise as my house is mainly decorated in turquoise and orange.

From rusty platter ....

... to turquoise candle holder

 And that's all for small renovations for now. I've still got a few more painting jobs to do, but have to find some time to do them.
Enjoy the rest of your week.

Monday Mural - Bus Stop 1

Not far from my workplace is Curtin University, and recently driving through a street behind the university that I don't normally use - Hayman Road - I came across 3 brightly decorated bus stops.

After some investigation I found out these bus-stops were painted in December 2012 by Perth artist Dan Duggan and students from Collier Primary School, with the purpose of reducing graffiti on the concrete bus shelters.

For other murals from around the world follow this link.