Um. No. One of John’s frustrations is how few people in Australia know about their own native plants. The region is rich in amazing and wonderful examples of God’s creation in an abundance of a variety of flowers. So we were at Bunnings (like our Home Depot in the U.S.A,...
Back in Maryland in the freezing temperatures, John and I get the invitation via Facebook from Georgie: Christmas Party combination birthday party for her granddaughter Louise. “Yay!” I think. “We get an extended Aussie Christmas!” Back in Perth. The present. 108° F . “Ick,” I thought. “Can I even go...
Once again, the heat welcoming us back from winter with a passion, we managed to go for a walk in the bush before it was going to be too hot to do anything outdoors. I always loved walking the the woods back home when I was little, I never dreamed...
Overnight the heat went to record highs and the next two days weren’t looking very promising either. So on the early side we decided we would get out of the house before it became too hot for me to do so.
With Christmas and New Years done, we had to start thinking about going home to Perth. I suppose most couples have obstacles in their marriage, ours is definitely all that it takes to BE together. The travel is not easy; the expense, the time…if nothing else, we are a testament...
John and I had been invited to Elise’s wedding and she had it on a date that we both could attend! (Almost missed it by one day!)
The children already having opened their presents, now it was our turn. It was another Christmas to treasure with my children and grandchildren. Even though we changed the day, it didn’t matter, it was as wonderful as always.
Since part of the family was away at Christmas we held our traditional Christmas Eve on New Year’s Eve. Delaying it didn’t take away from how special it always is. More Christmas Eve/New Year’s Eve to come…
Yay! The children came home! The upstairs part of the family went away for Christmas to Wisconsin, and we missed them very much. So we enjoyed them so much the very day they got back! All these lovely moments, I treasure in my heart always.
Some people have wine tasting, cheese tasting…on Pop Pop’s return from Australia, we had mint tasting around our table. Silas and Rubà are mint connoisseurs at this point. My grandchildren will be your best friend for a bag of mints. 🙂 So we took the children outside.
The wave of my hand must have far reaching powers, for John has showed me that our chairs are now a completed project. He is now moving on to cleaning his model ships he put together. (A request of mine). Looking nice, don’t you think?
With only a short time left to my stay, John and I headed out to the Indian Oceanside for one last sunset together in 2013. We tried out our new video camera on the sunset:
Making Mud Cake with John? On kind of the spur of the moment, we invited the boys to dinner. I had mud cake for the idea for dessert. I wanted to ice it, but John said he’d like something simpler. Icing sugar on the top, for example. So, I thought...
John takes me to Caversham Wildlife Park almost each time I am in Perth. I never get tired of going there. This time there were some new displays. So I grabbed my cell phone and got a movie of it: We were told they are very communicative and that...
John has been extremely diligent in making sure I get to see as many Indian Ocean sunsets as possible. Given this time to Perth there has been a lot of rain and clouds, there were days there just wasn’t any sun. This day, we were taken by surprise and decided...
So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ~Genesis 1:21 I feel like, in Australia, I guess because so many animals...
Last time we went to Bells Rapids, there was no water. Not a drop. It’s hard for a Marylander to understand this. However this visit, where it may not have been as much water as John was expecting, given the amount of rainfall we had been having, I surely got...
Early Saturday morning, we went on our guided bush walk in Koondoola Reserve.
Some scenes of what there is to see, driving through the Wheatbelt of Western Australia. We even got to see some Everlastings. The hills were colored with Patterson’s Curse. The setting sun put a glow on the Salmon Gums. A perfect end to a perfect day together.
Leaving Rica Erickson Reserve and headed east along the Wheatbelt we came across this likely little known place called Lake Ninan. Lake Ninan is situated just 10 kms west of a little place called Wongan Hills, in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. Stepping into this salt lake area, we felt...
We went to the Rica Erickson Nature Reserve before, but John thought there might be more flowers this time out. So back again we went.
The Wildflower show event was still going, but we saw some flowers on the paths outside of the main event.
In the night, we knew there would be fireworks, but John kept warning me not to expect much. (I was so impressed by the fireworks on Australia Day). The evening’s activities were so much fun, Oz Rocketman and Horsepower, that it didn’t matter to me if the fireworks were good...
Like any state fair, or any carnival, or any trip to Ocean City, the Perth Royal Show had rides. They label this section of the show, “Sideshow Alley.” Now it’s well known that I don’t DO rides, I get dizzy, nauseous, and am basically no fun at all at an...
Sometimes what is old is new to young people. In the Heritage Hall section of the Perth Royal Show, there were several things I can remember seeing growing up and others I wasn’t old enough to remember. Great section to the show. John and I went through a few times....
What I know about sheep I could count on one hand. Australia they say, has more sheep than people. So the Perth Royal show was a good place to see and learn about sheep. This is a cute news story on the sheep herding at the Perth Royal Show. ...
Or not eat cake, because most of these were too beautiful to consider eating! Like our state and county fairs, the Perth Royal Show has a food competition. Some of them are: Patty Cakes Biscuits Slices Cakes Muffins Macarons Preserves Jams Pesto Chocolates Decorated Cakes The Jams and Preserves Small...
The first time I was ever in Australia, Laura and I missed the opportunity to go to the Perth Royal Show by one day. It was a shame, as John had talked about it to me well before we were married, and it always sounded like a fun event. Now...
(For Silas and RubÃ) For ages now, I have spoiled my two grandchildren with mints. Even my last trip back from Australia, I was sure to bring back lots of mints as well as left a pile of mints on my desk for them. On the occasion when I got...
I guess as soon as a little girl gets her first dollhouse, she starts to appreciate the world in miniature. So when John suggested we go to the WA Scale Model Expo, I was happy to go. Here are some photos of the event that I took that turned out....
Did you know that each year, Perth witnesses the biggest whale migration on the planet? Every year the whales follow an ancient system of oceans paths that circle the planet called the Humpback Highway. Ever since John took Laura and I to the Southwest Coast and we spotted whales from...
Another weekend, another flower show visit. Any why not? The variety of flowers seen here is not to be believed. So many representing all over Western Australia, which really should be another wonder of the world. (Someone needs to get on board with that). Today’s visit we also took in...
I am starting to really appreciate the Sunday morning before church routine John and I have of going to the markets. Some times we go on a Saturday, like this day.
