Laundry renovation

Linking up with the regular Friday feature at Rhonda´s Down to Earth, "On my mind" are the renovations we are planning for our laundry.
Our good friend Tony will come on Sunday to help change the plumbing, so my very clever hubby and son can install the new laundry sink and new front loader washing machine and counter.
Then Michael, our son will do the tiling, I will do the grouting and painting .... 
I will post pictures when finished, right now this is what is looks like.

Laundry when we bought the house

We now have a broom cupboard and wall cupboard, wall tiles removed, but no sink yet

This is how our laundry looks after the renovations.

Weekend SMILE - photos of my cats

I´m always photographing our cats - they bring a smile to my face, whenever I find them in a funny position.

I have probably taken more photos of them than of my children during their growing years.

Of course digital cameras help the process...before we had to finish the film of 24 or 36 photos, then take them to the photo shop to be developed, where we found a few of them would be useless, and there was no turning back to that moment!!

So smile, as I smile, while you look through a few of the funnier moments of my cats.

What makes you smile about your pets?

Have a great weekend!!

Twiggy, Mommy and Shelley sleeping

Mommy, Twiggy and Fluffy entangled in the wicker chair

Mommy and Fluffy watch the world go by...

It´s cold out there - Mommy and Twiggy keep warm

Twiggy on top of a ladder where I hang potplants in the garden

Early morning visit to the Dentist

This morning I went to the dentist to finish the crown procedure that was started two weeks ago.

The first time the dentist had to anesthetize my mouth to prepare the tooth -  he removed some of the outer surface, made a mould of it to go the lab, chose a colour to fit with the rest of my teeth, and then fitted a temporary crown. This was all quite painless of course and I just had to refrain from eating or drinking hot things for a couple of hours until I regained feeling on my gums.

This is not me of course, just to show the rubber mat!

Today, after sitting on the chair, being fitted with the blue plastic goggles and the bib, the dentist removed the temporary crown, fitted the final one, and then it was adjusted by biting, moving the teeth back and forward, to check it is the right height, etc.
But because I had two fillings to be done as well, midway through the procedure he administered some anesthetic into my gum and then continued working on the crown fitting.

After he was satisfied that all was in top shape, he proceeded to fit the latex green mat over the area where he would be working. The dentist cuts a little hole to fit over the tooth where he will be working and it apparently is better for the patient, as it protects us from swallowing the debris of the drilled tooth, or from breathing in any chemicals used in the fillings and protects our gums and tongue from harm from the drill.

Even though it´s meant to be good for us, I really hate when the rubber mat is fitted to my mouth, I can´t stand the taste of the rubber! I can´t even chew bubble gum for over 10 minutes as I start to feel nauseous.
The rubber mat has the same effect on me, so I really have to try and float away into an island dream holiday to take my mind away from  it.
I hadn´t been to the dentist for about 2 years, and luckily now he has a big TV screen on the ceiling, so while the patients lie there, they can be entertained with the shows.
Last week I watched the Morning show, but this morning they had a boring music concert that wasn´t doing the trick for me!

So I really had to try hard to imagine my dream island and its transparent blue warm waters....while my saliva was running down to my neck...
See you next year Dr!! (I have to say to his credit that he is a very nice young dentist and I never feel pain)

My dream island holiday in Bora Bora...

What are you thoughts on this latex rubber mat? Does your dentist also use it?

Carnac Island

Sunny Sunday and we are off to Fremantle to join our boat owner friends at the harbour.
Laden with picnic baskets, fishing rods and snorkeling gear (our friends are certified divers), we jump on the beautiful yacht and settle into a seat for our trip to Carnac Island.
Carnac Island is just 10km away from Fremantle, a nature reserve full of seals, sea lions and birds.

You can go ashore, which I didn´t as I don´t enjoy swimming in cold water, but hubby and our friends ventured inland and walked close to the seals.
Be careful, because they are wild animals, although they do look so cute. Some of them swam close to the boat and I wish I had a better camera to take close up photos of them.

I stayed on the yacht reading the newspaper - silly me, after 10 minutes I had a massive headache because the boat was rocking, and didn´t feel too well the rest of the day.

Everybody came back, we had our picnic and then the fishing started - but the fish caught was far too small and they threw it back in the water.
It was a fun day, the only downside being my headache, so I know not to read next time!
We are lucky to have an island so close to Perth, where you can go for free and still see beautiful wildlife.
And of course we are lucky to have friends who own a boat as well, don´t you think so?

On the way to Carnac Island

This one came close to the boat!

Hello friends!!!

Arriving at Fremantle Harbour, with restaurants and bars near harbour

Another yacht on the way back to Fremantle

Putting the boats away on their "shelves" in Fremantle Harbour

A day in the garden

After a sleep in, I woke up to a beautiful sunny day - the maximum temperature was 23ºC, and in just over 2 weeks we will be starting Spring.

People are already wearing shorts and T-shirts. Oh, I think they were already wearing that throughout winter, I was one of the those that had my arms and legs covered.
But today I put on my jeans and T-shirt, and after breakfast went shopping, made lunch and then went out into the garden to pick weeds.

Weeds? Yes, boring job, but unfortunately with all the rain of the past weeks they seem to have sprouted everywhere.

Our front garden is once again lovely and green after so much rain, but the weeds compete with the grass, so don´t know if there is now more weeds than grass, or vice-versa. Of course, the fact that the neighbours on either side have not cleaned their weeds does not help, as any wind will blow seeds our way!!
In Summer, on the other hand, because of the lack of water we don´t water our lawn, so our front garden is reduced to brown grass with bare patches everywhere.
I´m seriously considering removing all the grass and making some sort of native garden with lots of gravel and stones, mulch, succulent plants, cacti....
I´ve been looking at online photos for inspiration and I think it will be a lot better than wasting time picking weeds out every winter or having an ugly brown patch in summer!






In our back yard I have already planted a little patch with succulents and I really enjoy looking at it through my kitchen window.

The roses were pruned as it´s pruning time....and I picked the last 6 nectarines from our nectarine/lemon tree.

The last bunch of roses picked before pruning

Nightfall came and the wind started picking up, black clouds covered the sky, and suddenly it started to rain heavily.
I´m glad I picked those last nectarines, otherwise they would have fallen to the ground and been wasted.

It was a productive day as well a a very enjoyable day out in the "springy" weather.
For someone who never enjoyed gardening I think I´m doing well. I can´t say I have green fingers, still too many failures, but at least my succulent garden is holding up well.
Now, the veggie garden is hubby´s domain; I really don´t seem to do too well in that area, but because he is working interstate and is only home on the weekends, the veggies have been a bit neglected...

                                                         

View of back yard from the sink by the kitchen window 

What do you think of my backyard view through my kitchen window?
Dishwashing with a view!!