Also joining Tom with signs, please check his post here
Thursday 1st - Due to a couple of Drs being on leave, I had the day off work and joined 3 of the ladies of our "Community Harvest group" and went to pick olives from a rural property on the outskirts of Perth, belonging to a friend of one of the members of the group. In the next property there were cows, horses and emus.
On Friday, 4 of us went back to pick more olives for about 2 hours. In a total of 4 or 5 hours we picked 118kg which yielded 22 litres of oil, which was apparently a very good yield.
We also picked macadamia nuts, peppercorns and oranges.
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| The view from the olive grove, the 4 olive pickers, pepper corns and macadamia nuts, hot chocolate and pie |
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| Cows and Emus next to the olive grove |
On the way home, Maria and I stopped at the Railways Markets (my first time there) to have a bite to eat - a pie for each and coffee and hot chocolate for me - and I saw these two train fronts on display.
Sunday 4th - WA day (Western Australia day) - In the morning we drove to Mandurah (a suburb south of Perth) to look at a "Forward folding camping trailer" that Jose saw advertised. He's keen to start travelling a bit more, to prepare for an eventual trip around Australia once we retire. The camper has a bed on one side, a sitting area/bed on the other side and an outdoor pull-out kitchen.
We got the camper at a good price, although it needs some improvements, one of them painting the brown cupboards of course!
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Camper trailer
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| The wife of the camper van owner was South African and her number plate was Ouma (grandmother) |
That Sunday afternoon or maybe on Monday 5th, which was a public holiday, we had intended to go to Burswood Park to watch the concerts, fireworks and drone show, but Sunday afternoon turned out to be awfully wet and cold, so the show was cancelled.
Monday 5th - A public holiday, but we stayed indoors as it was the wettest day since 1986! In just 1 day we had 1/3 of the normal Winter rainfall.
Tuesday 6th - I had an appointment with the optician to check my vision. I seem to be having more difficulty reading small print close to me. Up to now I only wore glasses to drive and to see far away. I was prescribed progressive glasses, and have adapted easily to them.
Sat 10th - Portugal Day - dinner & dance at the Portuguese club.
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| Cod fish and cake |
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| The Portuguese Club hall, me and 2 friends (the older lady is 91 and always ready to party!) |
Close to the stage, there were 2 tables full of typical Portuguese things and goodies, which was a nice touch.
Wed 14th - Twiggy's blood tests didn't show anything out of the way, and even though she was still not eating much, and had lost 1kg in 2 months, the vet couldn't figure out what was wrong and suggested she have a scan.
Sadly, it was discovered she had 3 tumours - on her liver, one kidney and bowel. She was prescribed a steroid tablet which has been helping with her appetite and while she is eating, drinking and still doing her normal things like cleaning herself, enjoying lying in the sun in the garden, etc...she is ok. Once she stops eating we will sadly have to let her go.
Friday 16th - The members of the "Community Harvest group" came to my house to divide up the olive oil from the olives the group picked in May. The oil had to settle for 1 month before being bottled up. Afterwards we sat around the dinner table and shared the goodies everyone brought.
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| Some of the olive oil bottles |
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| The lunch table for the group |
Saturday 17th - my 12th blogging anniversary!
Including today's post, I've written 1167 posts, and the blog has been visited by people from 159 different countries, with 44% coming from the United States, 16% from Australia, about 20% from various European countries and the final 20% is shared in very small percentages for the rest of the world.
Thursday 22nd - I went for an endoscopy because I've been coughing on and off for a long time due to reflux. The Gastroenterologist prescribed tablets for 3 months and has sent me off for a Barium swallow, which has been booked for end of August and then I'll return to see him.
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| After the endoscopy I was served a tea, crackers and cheese and a nut bar |
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| Sign at the GI Clinic |
Friday 23rd - My mom was discharged from hospital, where she had been since the 7th after a bad bout of shingles over one eye and forehead, which left her with double vision on one eye, which is slowly getting better. She had a scheduled appointment with a neurologist who was worried about her and sent her off for a spinal tap, where it was found she had bacterial meningitis. She was discharged after an MRI was clear.
Apparently shingles over the eyes if the worst kind and any shingles is very, very painful! I'm hoping to be immunised once the vaccine becomes available for my age group.
Our Community Harvest group has advertised a "melt and pour soap workshop" and I'm the one presenting it, because I make them often for us and to gift, so I made these to put on the advert photo, as I wanted to work out how many soaps I could make with a 1kg bar of soap base.
Tuesday 27th - Perth woke up to the coldest morning in the last 7 years with 0.1 °C (32F) measured at Perth airport. The windows of my car that stays in the driveway were covered in ice!
Friday 30th - met up with Grace at Ikea for coffee, cake and some shopping.
On the way home I popped in to visit another friend who is recovering from a knee replacement.
When Jose got home we went to dinner at Yuki Japanese Restaurant.
Other signs:
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One of the Ibis that has started to come around to eat the seeds I put out for the doves.
They are a bit of a pest and not very common in Western Australia either...
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