'Behold the turtle..

 

... he makes progress only when he sticks his neck out'. Turns out West Perth is a treasure trove of excellent street art as I discovered last week. Painted by Blank Walls Collective, their mission as a collective 'is to make a difference through art, painting our unique interpretation of life on blank walls around the world'. Looking from across the road, last shot, the beautifully painted turtle is absolutely making a difference, creating a colourful splash on the corner of an otherwise ordinary street corner. Happy new week, take care and stay safe..

 Visit Sami to see more Monday Murals from around the world..

Boats, beaches and bubbles..

 

Still having fun with the lensball :) but thinking I could have even more fun with the added maneuverability of.. the flexarm! What do you think, worth it or not? Harbour and beach views caught in a bubble at Hillarys Boat Harbour. Chaos reigns here for another week, have been assured that fit out day will be next Saturday, let's hope, three weeks for a small bathroom seems.. a lot! Happy weekend, take care and stay safe..

Visit James to see more Weekend Reflections from around the world..

Boola Bardip.. Many Stories.

As you can see the skies were blue and the sun a bit too bright for the official opening of the new WA Museum Boola Bardip, there is a fabulous overview pic on this link, last Saturday the 21st November. Having had a sneak preview inside the week before I was pretty happy I didn't have to stand in the long queues waiting here to explore the new museum. Its name, Boola Bardip, means 'many stories' in Whadjuk, the Noongar language..

Just as it sometimes is with historical facts the lines between past and present architecture can also be hard to align, the spectacular blend of old and new works so well here because although it may look like it, the wonderful old original buildings refuse to be dominated. Will take more photos when we are there next to highlight this point..

With the upheaval of renovations going on at the moment I haven't had time to go through the photos I took on that earlier visit, hopefully soon. Meanwhile a sneak teaser of what's to come :) Happy Friday, take care and stay safe.. P.s. The reason no one is wearing masks is because we haven't had any community covid here in WA for the past several months.. P.p.s. still trying to catch up :)

I dropped the ball!

 

What a week! To be unwell/sleep deprived in the middle of a major renovation should be avoided. To say I 'dropped the ball' is an understatement :) The reno looks not much different to the pic I showed you last week but at least the concrete floor is in.. I forgot for a moment rule one and two in the tradesman's handbook, add at least a week on to the schedule and a bit more cash to the budget.. it's all good 😉 Spotted the cheeky mural here in West Perth, hopefully, or not, the young lady here won't drop her ball :) Painted by Perth Visual Artist Jerome Davenport back in 2014. BIG catch up tomorrow and thanks for the get well wishes, much appreciated. Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

Visit Sami to see more Monday Murals from around the world..

OK I give up!

 

I haven't mentioned it before but this week we are a few days into a full bathroom renovation, this is the current state of my main bathroom, luckily there is another but you can imagine the dust, the noise etc. Our house is of the older variety, on first sight the plumber threw his hands up in despair before setting to and replacing all the piping. Plus I seem to have caught a bug, no not THAT bug :) the medication is giving me a mega headache so I think I will have to give up and have a few days off. The bathroom will take another week, hopefully the headache not so long! Catch up early next week and show you the progress. Take care and stay safe.. 💙

Downsizing successfully..

 

The Grumpy Sailor.. still the best name for a cafe in a port city :) last seen HERE on the blog. While many small eateries have struggled to keep afloat during this extraordinary year of covid The Grumpy Sailor has downsized and moved, not far from it's original spot but much closer to the traffic flow from Freo's High Street. Gone is the quirky decor, the shelves of books, couches and armchairs but the important things are still the same, excellent coffee and delicious bagels.. a huge favourite with locals and visitors to the port city, a move that has passed with flying colours. Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe.. 

A different view..

 

Applecross is a pretty suburb with it's river views over to the city, jacaranda tree lined streets, especially lovely at this time of the year. I wish I had also taken pics of the streets lined with plane trees, equally beautiful maybe even more so. A sprinkling of wonderful Art Deco treasures like the Tivoli Theatre and Applecross District Hall below, built in 1934 and still used today by the Tivoli Theatre Club of  WA  and just around the corner the Raffles Hotel which I have shown before. Art Deco and jacarandas.. nice :) Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe..

A pretty pair of topknots..

 

The startled look of the coiffed photo bomber above made me smile big :) Had a nice surprise early yesterday morning.. a visit from a pair of crested pigeons also known as topknot pigeons because of the erect feathered black spike atop their head that looks like it has been well lacquered up :) Not easy to tell the difference between male and female as their colouring is similar, the pink and orange around the eyes tres joli. I have many feathered visitors for breakfast and although the crested pigeon is not uncommon, it is the first time they have landed in my garden.. the word is getting out, the food is good at No 47 😉 Aren't they pretty. Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe..

One thing leads to another!

 

This is definitely an example of how one thing can lead to another in the time it takes to hit the Google button! When in Mrs S Cafe in Maylands a while back I was delighted to come across this super gorgeous mural by WA artist Mikaela Miller, the lovely green eyed beauty surrounded by the coffee blossoms, roses and chrysanthemums which adorn the iconic Mrs S cakes. To be honest I hadn't ever thought about the coffee blossom before but on reading that there is such a thing as 'coffee blossom tea' (tisane) it has become supremely important for me to find and try it, it could be the first step in winding down my coffee intake, I drink far too much :) Anyone tried it? Hope you had/are still having a good weekend, happy Monday, take care and stay safe..

Visit Sami to see more Monday Murals from around the world.. 

"There is a super hero in all of us..

 

... we just need the courage to put on the cape" 😉 As the man himself went flying past me on the freeway I couldn't help wondering where on earth this week has gone, to be honest this whole year, despite the dreaded virus has flown by, is it the same for you? I'm heading off early this morning to a super special event unfortunately I won't be able to show it here until after the 21st.. top secret! I'm pretty excited :) Have a good weekend, take care and stay safe..

Isn't it ironic..

 

Sorry for the possible earworm, I dare you to watch :) I couldn't believe my eyes on a walk along the shore and under the Canning Bridge in Applecross earlier this week. Only last week Tom put up photos of a shoe tree he had come across and Amy in New Zealand found a teapot tree, I know right, odd as! How surprised was I to find nailed onto the beautiful heritage listed jarrah, karri and wandoo pylons shoes of all descriptions. As far as I can find out it is a one man protest against the litter that is dumped into the Swan River.. well isn't that ironic 😉 Happy Friday, take care and stay safe..

Remembrance Day Service..

 

I hadn't seen the emu plumes in the slouch hat before, the story goes like THIS. I was so pleased that we did make it to the Remembrance Day Service in Kings Park yesterday. Not surprisingly a much smaller crowd than usual and although WA is lucky to be free of Covid at this point, social distancing to some degree is still practiced. The kookaburras in Kings Park were raucous but can you believe at 11am during the minute of silence, they also fell silent.. you might not believe me but it happened :) 

 

Below the big guns were out, made my Olympus look a wee bit puny :)

As well as Remembrance Day yesterday it would also have been my father's birthday, always remembered and very much missed. We take great care to remember the young men and women who die in battle but we often forget those who come home. To experience the horrors of war is something that most of us couldn't even begin to imagine and must leave a profound effect on those once happy, carefree young souls, one that many can sadly never forget . Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

Remembrance Day..

 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields. John McCrae..

The Darling Scarp..

'Here you stand on the Darling Scarp at the edge of the Darling Plateau'..

The Darling Scarp is the surface expression of the Darling Fault. The weather was perfect early on Sunday morning for a walk in Lesmurdie National Park. The extensive views here looking out over the foothills, across the Swan Coastal Plain to the city skyline. The grey granodiorite rocks around the falls are 'some of the oldest in the world having formed deep within the earth around 2.6 billion years ago'. It's an amazing feeling standing on the bridge looking out over and down at the waterfall, a bit of a trickle on Sunday after some dry weather, probably much more impressive after the heavy rain we had all day yesterday :) Happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe.. 

 

Enhancing the basics..

 

Art pops up in the most unexpected places these days. Now well used to seeing utility boxes beautified by art I spotted the waste bins here while we were walking somewhere alongside the Swan River, also adorned appropriately for their waterside situation. It is a fact that street art has many beneficial effects in the community, the delightful trio here made me happy for a few minutes as I clicked :) Happy Monday, take care and stay safe..

Visit Sami to see more Monday Murals from around the world.. 

Distorted..

 

'The act of twisting or altering something out of it's true, natural or original state, the act of distorting a distortion of the facts'..

The old street mirror here looks like it has been through a tough time.. distorting the high rise, palm tree and streetscape into something slightly unworldly. Almost like an analogy, a reflection of the state of affairs in the world right now.. or it could just be a beat up old mirror :) Happy weekend, take care and stay safe..

Visit James to see more Weekend Reflections from around the world.. 

Purple, blue with a flash of red..

 

It's a bit hard to hide when you have a bright pink/red wattle hanging down on each side of the head :) The jacaranda trees are beginning to bloom around Perth. The jacaranda is a tree that some people love and others love to hate. I think they are so pretty when in flower, très ordinaire when not, also I don't live on a jacaranda tree lined street so don't have to put up with the mess they cause and apparently every part of the tree is poisonous to humans.. not so to the red wattlebird, one of the larger nectar feeding birds, they were most impolitely gorging themselves, twisting this way and that to suck the nectar with their extra long tongue, the tip a 'brush like structure with over a hundred bristles to soak up the nectar'  I did not know that did you :) Happy Friday, take care and stay safe..

Middle of the road?

 

Not just to show that the skies in Perth can be other than blue but more to ask a question.. does your city have its rail line with the freeway running back and forth on either side? I read an article HERE that pointed out the cons re the railway line here in Perth, but noticed that it was written in 2012, we've come a long way from then :) The white construction above centre is one of the many railway stations along the line, the crossover giving access to each side, every suburb has a bus service that goes to the nearest station, negating the absolute necessity for a car.. to me it is a brilliant, efficient use of space but I am interested to hear what do you think?  Happy Thursday, take care and stay safe..

Wet and wetter..

 

A bit of dodgy weather over the weekend, it rained steadily all day Saturday and most of Sunday also.. was luvverly :) might cancel a fete or a market, but never a surf activity! The Sorrento Surf Life Saving Club is the venue for an art show two or three times a year and with my birthday money burning a hole in my pocket :) I was eager to have a look.. only to find we were a few weeks too early. No art but lots of beach activity in the 2020 SunSmart WA Endurance Championships. A typical WA weekend beach scene. Happy Wednesday, take care and stay safe..