Oxford 130

One of my favourite Leederville establishments is open again for business.  It was sorely missed whilst it was closed for renovations.

Some passers by may wonder what the renovations were, as at first glance nothing seems different.

Regulars will, however, notice that the ceilings have been replaced, some new lighting has been installed and some retro pink/purple wall decorations introduced.

Thankfully, one of the things that hasn't changed is the terrific coffee.

Harnessing the Wind

Wind farms seem to generate not only energy but also controversy.

The Albany wind farm is at the top of a high cliff with a magnificent beach at the foot of it.  It is a popular surfing spot, although known for the presence of sharks.

We went out there on a windy day so the surf was running and the wind was whistling through the giant propellors of the turbines.

To me the wind farm seems quite majestic, but others seem to think it is a blot on the landscape.

A Garden in Albany

We have had so little rain in Perth since last winter that gardens are starting to suffer.

Almost everyone I know has had at least one casualty in the garden.  We had a 2 metre high well established viburnum that just upped and died without any warning

It is wonderful to come to Albany and see so much lush greenery, as well as the deciduous trees losing their leaves.  I took these pictures in Dolly's garden.

Happy Easter

I did my Easter shopping at Koko Black which has just opened in Claremont Quarter.

It is the first Koko Black to open in Western Australia but I have been a frequent visitor to their stores whenever I am in Melbourne.

This year they commissioned special artwork for their Easter packaging.  I particularly liked the rabbit on their boxes of milk chocolate hazelnuts.  The chocolate covered hazelnuts were pretty scrumptious too.

Autumn in Albany

Even though Perth is still basking in summer sunshine it is lovely to see signs of Autumn arriving in Albany.

Happy Easter everyone!

Protea Light

This is our wonderful Protea light designed by Tim Whiteman of Cooee Contemporary Objects.

 

Although you can't see from this picture, it casts the most amazing shadows on the walls.

I first met Tim a few years ago when we both had market stalls at Fremantle Bazaar in the grounds of the Fremantle Arts Centre and he was making beautiful wooden cache boxes which looked like seed pods.

The following year he had lots of Protea lights suspended out of the huge trees in the Arts Centre grounds and they looked fantastic.

I love the clean lines of his designs.

A Party of Parrots

There was a veritable parrot party in our garden down south at the weekend.  And so noisy!

A Western Rosella

A Gaggle of Galahs

 

A Native Budgerigar