September Wrap-Up

My husband celebrated his birthday on the 5th. This year we didn't do anything special to celebrate, I baked him a simple cheesecake and we went out to dinner with another couple who we've know for 36 years.

The cats celebrated their 13th birthday on the 17th. Fluffy seems to be going deaf, Twiggy has arthritis and limps when she jumps out of bed after her long naps and Shelley who has always been overweight seems to be the healthiest at the moment.

Shelley, Fluffy and Twiggy

    One of doves that visit our backyard nested in our Bottlebrush tree. A couple of weeks ago two babies hatched, and just today after a few days of climbing around some of the branches, they have taken their first flight.  Mother Dove still eats the bird seed we put in the feeder, so hopefully the babies will follow suit.

    I finished painting a table and chairs for a lady I met via my suburb's "Buy Nothing FB group", and she was thrilled with the result. Her room seems so much brighter now. 

She eventually would like me to paint the rest of her dining room furniture. She has now bought fabric to reupholster the chairs, and I've offered to help her with it.

The bedside tables I bought on Marketplace at the end of last month were painted in pink and sold the day after I finished them.

And this is what the bedside tables and table and chairs looked like... What do you think?

          

I managed to score a lino floor for free on FB Marketplace, and now I have a "wood-like floor" to stage my pieces before advertising them for sale.

The wood like free lino to stage the furniture

Mid month I took the train into the city to meet up with two ex-colleagues.  We walked around Perth's Cultural Centre and to take a peek into the new WA Museum Boola Bardip, which is reopening to the public on the 21st November after 4 years of renovations and building.

  In the area there is a Community Garden, which is very well looked after, with lots of herbs, some veggies, fruit and being Spring some wildflowers.

   

Community garden

Plenty of colour in the city - an orange racing car, a piano covered in Aboriginal art, the colourful pavements leading to the Technical college, a pink food caravan and a rainbow    table and seat.    

            

We had a simple lunch at Yagan Square and the three of us caught the train home.

Yagan Square

   On the 27th, the Western Australian Portuguese Australian Women's Association hosted a High-Tea event for women only at the Scarborough Life Saving Club in the suburb of Scarborough.

The event sold out in the first or second week it was advertised, and it was attended by 77 ladies, and we had a couple of guest speakers - a Portuguese psychologist who talked about Mental Health issues and Domestic Violence and we had a young lady who talked about her personal story about suffering emotional abuse and how she got out of the relationship.

We had a door prize and sold raffles for a few goodies donated to the Association.

The day before the event, while some of the Committee members set up the room and decorated the tables, I was in my kitchen making mini-sandwiches, using 9 loaves of bread.

By golly, I had no idea of the amount of hours I would be spending making sandwiches for that crowd... but I will remember it for the next events and ask that the work be more fairly shared.

Anyway the event was a success and so was the food - far too many mini-cakes, sandwiches and quiches. 

At the end of the event, a lot of people helped us clean up the hall, wash dishes, etc and the left over food was taken home by the Committee members.

When we locked up the sun was setting over Scarborough Beach.

Hope you all had a great month too 👩.

Participating in Feline Friday and Saturday Critters.

On their 12th birthday

My cats, Fluffy, Twiggy and Shelley celebrated their 12th birthday on Tuesday 17th September. 
I can still remember the day both their mothers gave birth to 8 kittens (4 each) just outside my son's bedroom window. Because we had a few days of rain and cold nights, two days later I brought them inside and put them in a box with a blanket.

You can read how they were adopted by us here.

Linking to Sandee's blog for Feline Friday and Eileen's blog for Saturday Critters.

Just a couple of days after their birth

 And here is Fluffy, just a couple of weeks old and now:

And Twiggy a couple of weeks old and now:

And Shelley, a couple of weeks old and now:

 

Have a wonderful weekend 😉.

My cats in winter

Just over 1 week to Spring and even though yesterday the maximum temperature went up to 27C (81F), today it has dropped to a maximum of 16C (61F) minimum 6C (43F) and the rain has returned.
Still good for winter temperatures if you compare them to European or North American winters...but I do prefer warmer weather.

Of course cats know just what to do when it's cold, and our cats, Fluffy, Twiggy and Shelley are no exception. Sometimes they will be curled up on top of a blanket on the sofa, in their little igloos in our bedroom, but most of the time they prefer to sleep in our bed.

Linking to Sandee's blog for Feline Friday and Eileen's blog for Saturday Critters.

Fluffy in his do not disturb me position

Twiggy in her do no disturb me position

  Shelley and Fluffy play musical chairs, when Fluffy decides to bully Shelley out of her igloo. Then she just climbs into the blue bed next to it, which none of the cats usually use.

Shelley sleeping in her igloo next to the bedroom window where she gets the morning sun

Fluffy has taken over the igloo from Shelley

Fluffy in our bed

Twiggy in our bed

Around the Central Coast (part 1) - Day 4

On Saturday, 8th June, our second day in Berkeley Vale, I drew back the curtains and peeped out to the cosy patio when I got up, to find 3 cats staring at me. When I opened the patio door, two of them ran away and hid under some bushes, but one accepted my pats.

The lovely patio and outdoor area of the Airbnb

The 3 shy cats from the Airbnb

We showered, had breakfast and left the house for our day trip around the area. 
It was a gray and wet day, but our first stop - Shelly Beach, was full of surfers.
On to the next beach, Toowooon Bay just to see the views. 

Top photo - Shelley Beach, Bottom photos - Toowoon Bay

Back in the car, we drove further north to Norah's Head to visit the lighthouse. 

It was the last lighthouse to be built in State of New South Wales. It has a 27 metre (89ft) high tower, and was completed in 1903, with funds from Edward Hargraves, an English born gold prospector who bought land in this area to build his residence, Norahville. 
After a considerable number of shipwrecks on "his" coastline he decided the area needed a lighthouse.

I'd never climbed to the top of a lighthouse, so for a $6 entry fee I joined a small group with a lovely elderly gentleman as the tour guide, who explained all about the construction of the lighthouse,  the numerous shipwrecks in that coast, and the jobs of the keepers, who had to be men, married and short.

We climbed the 96 narrow steps all the way to the top, going past the window with the red light and then further up to where the optic prism light is located, and climbed out onto the surrounding balcony to enjoy 360 degree views of the spectacular coastline.

We learned about the duties of the lighthouse keeper, how the light was originally moved by 
kerosene that the keeper had to carry all the way up. The lighthouse light has been electrified
since 1961 and automated since 1995. 
Before then the 700 lenses of the optic prism also had to be regularly cleaned due to the 
kerosene fumes.

The former Lighthouse keepers cottage has been converted into two fully equipped 3 bedroom 
cottages for holiday rentals, and the lighthouse is also popular for wedding parties.

The Lighthouse keepers cottages (bottom right)

Views from the lighthouse balcony. You might spot Jose  in a black jacket waving to me to the right of that white shed

The dark skies over Norah's Head Beach

When we left we drove back to The Entrance about 15 min away to watch the Feeding of the Pelicans held at 3,30pm at Memorial Park. The town of The Entrance is  known as the Pelican capital of Australia and the town gets about 200 thousand visitors keen to watch this spectacle.

                  

We arrived half an hour before and there were lots of birds already waiting near the shore. Closer to time they started making their way to the feeding platform.

The feeding started in 1979 when a guy who worked at Clifford's fish & chip shop started feeding them during his lunch break. The birds soon got used to it and if he was late they would waddle across to the shop and wait. 
Later the town management took over the feeding with the help of sponsors and donations. During the 30 minute show they also collect donations and sell pelican soft toys.

Almost time and the Pelicans are on their way

We managed to get a front row seat and noticed the birds weren't scared of the tourists.  
Jose was sitting next to the gap where the feeders walked past, and a couple of pelicans would come and go following the feeding lady, flapping their wings and trampling on people's feet.

Waiting time.....

This one was next to me before Jose took his seat where the bird is now

The volunteers who feed them are also on the lookout for pelicans injured by fishing line and tackle. 
The volunteers explain facts about the pelicans, such as: the Australian Pelican is the only species found in Australia (there are 8 different ones around the world), is also the largest and has the longest beak. It can hold 13 litres of water and they need to eat 1 to 2kg of fish/crustaceans/frogs a day.
They weigh about 4 to 8 kgs (8,82 to 17,64 pounds), and can glide on thermals as high as 3000mt for about 24 hours and can travel hundreds of kilometres.
There are about 300 to 500 thousand pelicans in Australia with about 500 living in this area (Tuggerah lakes) and about 80 coming to the daily feeds.
The ones who attend the feeding don't migrate as they get free fish year around 😉. Clever aren't they?

Can you see the beak laden with fish?

Fish going down the throat - can you see the lump?

After the show we went across the road to the Fish & Chips shop for an early dinner (or very late lunch). There was a long queue so we presumed the food was good, while the fish & chip next door was empty, so we ordered a mixed seafood basket for both of us, but were disappointed with the food.
When we finished we bought an ice-cream cone in a nearby shop.

The boardwalk where we ate under the big pine tree, the fish & chip shop and the ice-cream shop

The sun was setting and we walked back to the parking lot and drove back to Berkeley Vale.






 There didn't appear to be anyone at the house when we arrived, and we went into our room, put the heater on and while Jose read his emails I sat in bed downloaded my photos and then read my book.
A few hours went by and we both commented how relaxed we felt, with no tv or other noise in the background, just sitting there quietly.

It was about 10pm when Jose said he was feeling peckish and went to the kitchen to make us a few slices of toast with cheese and a cup of tea, before we went to sleep. 

                                                  My youtube video of the Pelican feeding

Berkeley Vale to Norah's Head and The Entrance

Hope you enjoyed meeting the pelicans as much as I did 💓😊.

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