Update on our Cutie Pie

Here are some hot-off-the-press pictures of our puppy Belle, I only took them tonight. I gave her a bath today, she smells so much better now. She's a real cutie and we constantly shower her with cuddles.Can you see her pink collar? She looks so much more girlish with it on, even though she doesn't like it on.

Mounted Police

Recently I was once again impressed by a close-up sight of four mounted police on duty in Geraldton where we visited my mother-in-law. It was a pity I didn't have my camera with me. It's also not unusual for us to see policemen/women on what I think are the most good-looking and usually tall (at least 16 hands) steeds in the metro area of Perth, my heart simply skips a beat when I'm in the presence of these awesomely built animals, they look so smart marching down the streets. Sure we've seen show horses which are perfect at Royal Shows and special events, but somehow these horses on patrol have a special place in my heart. You can check out some pictures here: http://www.police.wa.gov.au/AboutUs/SupportServices/MountedSection.asp

Tea Talk (Part 1)

"I'm glad I was not born before tea." -- Sidney Smith I love teacups and saucers. I like to mix and match them for tea service. There are the dainty pretty ones. The more bold looking ones. The striking blue and white ones. The plain coloured ones........... They all work together for a "common purpose". They are a good team, don't you think ? Now, a little snippet from the series "Anne of Green Gables" by L.M. Montgomery which I read when I was much younger and have since re-read. "I can just imagine myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea,"

said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically, "and asking Diana if she takes sugar! I know she doesn't, but of course I'll ask her just as if I didn't know."

Shades of Blue

I love the blue of Lavender, especially the "Lace" range of lavenders bred in Australia. Their ruffled heads are simply superb. They have a lengthy flowering season and begins earlier than most other lavender types. They are such eye-candy to behold when they are in flower!

Winter Blues

Not the unhappy kind of blues. I love cutting these aromatic and blue blooms and bringing them inside the house in winter, they provide me with plenty of pleasure and fragrance in the house when the roses are "resting" in the cold season.

Snippets of Recent Events

Well, it feels like it's been ages since I last posted. We've been away, we went down south to Bunbury and then up north to Geraldton. Down south was to attend my mother-in-law's sister's funeral. She was a dear lady who died at a good old age of 86, there was a special bagpipe number at the funeral as she was born in Scotland and came out to Australia when she was five. The music was awesome and extremely moving, especially played at a funeral. We took the opportunity to visit our friends who live in Bunbury while we were there, had lunch with them and took a brief tour of the city. We saw two look-outs which were perched high up above the city, first one we saw we wanted to climb up and have a look, I could see the majestic-looking Catholic Cathedral from low down. But our son didn't feel up to such a climb, so we got back in the car and decided to drive around. When we got to another side of the city, we spied another look-out! This time it didn't look as daunting and steep as the last one. So we quickly got out of the car and started the ascend. The trip was rather interesting especially when I saw my classmate from University days (1989) at the funeral. I was sure I knew the lady as soon as I saw her sitting in the opposite church pews. We got talking after the funeral service and lo and behold, I found out she's actually even related to me by marriage. She's my mother-in-law's sister's son's niece, it's a "complicated relationship". Believe it or not, I was so thrilled to see her I forgot to get a picture of her. I managed to fit in a little project in the midst of all the busy-ness and visits and everything. I painted a partition which I created and decorated out of the back of a bookcase to give hubby a bit of privacy in his study on one side. Then there was the trip up north(41/2 to 5 hours' drive) to visit my mother-in-law. This trip was different to other trips in that we had a little "girl" waiting for us to adopt. She was given to my sister-in-law and needed a home badly. So considering Leo, our cat went missing and we'd love the kids to grow up with a pet, we took her in. We named her Belle and she's the smallest and cutest thing! Now we've got a dog(a puppy)!!!!!! She doesn't look like my favourite dog West Highland White Terrier, which is beyond our budget to own at the moment. She is very intelligent. Can you identify what breed she is? We were guessing long-haired Jack Russell cross, or she might have Chi hua hua in her? We can't be sure! We visited the Museum(for the ten thousandth time, it's become our family ritual as the kids insist to do every time we go to Geraldton), which showcased among others, this Gateway with an artificially but nicely created under-the-sea atmosphere, the blocks were retrieved from the sunken ship Batavia. There is quite a story to what happened to the people on that ship. The bonus of this musuem visit was in the Gallery, there was a display of the winners' and highly commended pictures from the Amazing Nature and Landscape Photography Competition, I thoroughly enjoyed the display and completely fascinated by the beauty and intricacy of God's creations. I also have to show some pictures which I took on the way up north. The scenery of the countryside is simply breathtaking. I love looking into the distance of green hills/meadows with horses, cows and sheep and blue skies as far as you can see and ....dream......! The photos don't do justice to the vastness and the dreaminess of the real thing, as they were taken as the car was moving........ Now, last but not least, who's ready for a cup of tea and some sweet and juicy strawberries? I am!........ Ah! Refreshing!

Leftovers

I didn't get time to take more 'afternoon tea' pictures, but here are some leftovers. (We certainly did well eating!) We had a lovely dinner as well. Everyone had an enjoyable long game of Scrabble while I was cooking. Now the party is over, it's beddy-bye time. Ho-hum!.......We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow........ (We're attending my mother-in-law's sister's funeral in a country town two hours' drive down south)

Afternoon Tea

I'm preparing afternoon tea, my mother-in-law is my guest. I haven't finished yet, but I took some pictures, thought I'd share them.

Just a picture of some of the last winter roses in an old-fashioned vase my mother-in-law gave me and a few pictures from the little nooks and crannies of my garden today.

Vistas

Here are vistas through the windows of our suburban nest, no oceans, no rolling hills, but I appreciate them just the same.

Birthday Cake

Above are pictures of the finished birthday cake (Blackforest and cherry) with chocolate confetti I baked today. The red roses are the same lot as the ones I had when I did the Calligraphy post! They've lasted well.

Winter Vacation

Life has been extremely busy and I'm taking a tiny bit of time-out from my dinner-cooking for our guests tonight to post this. I'm cooking up a storm - it's going to be great, and I'll need to bake a birthday cake as well. Looks like another busy day ahead of me. There has been rain everyday intermittently still, fortunately rain here seldom goes for days on end, there's always "dry patches" in between, which makes it easier for living, even though "experts" say we do need more. I took my three kids to gymnastics on Monday afternoon around 5.30, it was quite an experience driving while waters were pouring out of the heavens, literally. I could barely see ahead of me with the curtain of rain pelting down hard on the windscreen while I was trying to "inch" the car forward on the road. Many mothers admitted they wouldn't have bothered to take their kids to gymnastics on that day if it wasn't for the "all-important" (to the kids) colour-award day when the kids would get assessed for their level and progress onto the next level according to gym standards. We stayed in the car to wait for the heavy downpour to pass when we got there, as we knew there would be no use in trying to hold our umbrellas up in this storm. Sure enough, after about five minutes, everything was calm again and we could get out of our car and stay dry without an umbrella. That night hail was forcasted, but I didn't get to see it. During this rainy and windy stretch, I also noticed the tree roses (Standard Roses) in front of this particular house in our neighbourhood which we pass by everyday have bent over in all directions and the weight of the "mop-top" keeps pulling them loose from their stakes. One good look at the stakes and I realised they are a bit too short for the height of the tree roses. I cringed as I was watching the wind beating on the skinny stems, almost praying for them that they wouldn't snap and for the owner to quickly secure them back. This is a classic example of not laying the good foundation right from the beginning. Often people want to save money and so they opt for the shorter stakes, but in doing that you end up spending more in the long run. These tree roses are not cheap, it would be a pity if they snapped. However, I know sometimes it is because we didn't know from the start what we needed to do, we make mistakes and learn from them, and some of these mistakes cost us. Either way, I hope these tree roses will survive. They are "Fragrant Plum" roses if I'm not mistaken, gorgeous and distinctive colour! Below are some photos of more roses. They are all David Austin Roses. The top two pictures are of Radio Times . The first one I took in Oct (Spring) last year and the second one, yesterday. The interesting thing is apart from the difference in the intensity of the colours, they almost look like two different kinds of roses, well, just about. Have to admit the roses in the second picture had been battered in the rain and wind, in both cases, they are still beautiful, but just different. So beware when you pick your roses just by looking at Catalogue pictures. These two pictures above were taken in January this year, the one below was taken yesterday, all of them are of Tamora, a very floriferous apricot beauty, they look different at different times of the year.