April Randoms

Hi everyone, it has been a few weeks since I last posted and it seems like life has been speeding up for me during April, and doesn't look like slowing down over the next three or four weeks. There has been beautiful sunny days but with a slight chill in the early morning and late afternoon air as Autumn comes on us in the south west of Western Australia. Perfect for getting out and about.

Before the busyness descended on us we went camping and bush walking for a couple of days at Potter's Gorge at Wellington Dam near Collie. It is a WA Department of Parks and Wildlife campsite. So peaceful, especially if you go early in the week (not school holidays or public holidays). Autumn and spring are the best time for bush walking. More about Potter's Gorge in a future post.

A couple of weekends ago visited my sister and her family in the wheatbelt, where they have started seeding their grain crops.

 And visited the resting places of my mother and father, and a quiet country church

On our last night we enjoyed the yabbie catch fresh from their farm dam.

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon the first weekend in April we enjoyed the Ferguson Valley Music Trail presented by Philharmonic South West. We watched their performance at Green Door Winery along with lunch and wine tasting. Nicole and Susie from Sol y Sombra Spanish Dance Company joined in their piece Boccherini's Fandanco for Guitar, Strings and Castanets. 
A perfect way to spend a sunny autumn afternoon.

Over the last month or so I've been experimenting with eco-dyeing with Australian eucalypt leaves inspired by my friend Jane Flower from Folios and Fibre. I am starting to get some good results. So exciting when you unwrap the bundle after a couple of weeks "curing" and see this!  I'm sure there will be more of this as time goes by.  These are printed on silk scarves.

Six things you should know about eucalypts

 We also were invited out to a friend's vineyard in the Ferguson Valley to pick olives last weekend. This is a first for us. So now the long processing begins. Wish us luck! Does anyone have a good recipe with the "preserving" after the salt and water process?

 In between all this I am reading Stories from a Suburban Road by T.A.G. Hungerford. Stories from his childhood in the 1920s-1930s in semi-rural South Perth. I am really enjoying the read, as my parents lived in South Perth for about 40 years and it certainly wasn't semi-rural with bush, gravel roads, and cows and horses in suburban blocks!

 He mentions buying vegetables from the Chinese Gardens and here is a pic I found on the net at Picture South Perth collection

 That is Perth city you can see dimly in the background on the other side of the Swan River.












Especially I am grateful for precious time spent this Easter weekend with family, and the welcoming of my sister's first grand-daughter. After three sons and three grandsons for her and two sons and two grandsons for me, it's a girl! 
 

How is your April shaping up? Perhaps you'd like to tell us about it in your comments. 
I hope those of you who celebrate have had a very happy Easter. And for all I wish for peace in the world. 

Thank you so much for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. I will try to visit your blogs in return. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to the link-ups below. Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!
 

Mosaic Monday  
Our World Tuesday
Through My Lens 
Image-in-ing
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
Travel Photo Thursday 
The Lovin' Life Team over at Lifestyle Fifty
The Weekly Postcard 

Lazy Sunday Vineyard Lunch- Flutes, Brookland Valley Vineyard, Western Australia

On Sunday we enjoyed a lovely lazy Sunday lunch with friends at Flutes Restaurant at the Brookland Valley Vinyard in Western Australia's south west corner Capes wine region. 

Our friends traveled down from Perth on Saturday, and on Sunday morning we took a leisurely drive down through Busselton, Dunsborough and Yallingup and then along Caves Road to Brookland. 

Along the way we could see that the grape vines are starting to sprout

  
The "Verse" range of wines from Brookland Valley Vineyard have been a favourite of ours for some years so it was lovely to visit them again.  Can you see the statue of the flutist in the middle right of the collage below? He is featured on their wine bottles.

10 things to do in Yallingup without going to the beach! - Western Australia

Some people would think it would be impossible to go to Yallingup without going to the beach. But trust me you can.

The Yallingup-Margaret River region in Western Australia's south west corner is well known internationally for the great surf.

In fact in April  "The top 32 ranked male and top 18 ranked female surfers in the world will descend upon the Margaret River Region to surf its world-class waves in April for the Drug Aware Margaret River Surf Pro. The event is expected to see thousands of spectators flock to Surfer’s Point in Prevelly to watch the world’s best surfer’s take on the famous Margaret River Mainbreak". Click here to read more -  Margaret River Surf

But what if you are not into surfing? I know I’m not. I never did master being comfortable in big waves. Give me a quiet sheltered cove like Meelup Beach any day.  

Please click on "read more" to keep reading and seeing more

Summer fruit and salad days

It's summer here in Australia and while the land is baking it is often too hot to bake, so fresh summer fruits and salads served simply with minimal preparation and cooking is the way to go.

Where I live in the south west of Western Australia we have an abundance of fresh summer fruits this time of year - apricots, peaches, plums, nectarines - as well as grapes, cherries, strawberries, mangoes, pomegranates - the list goes on. It is absolutely my favourite time of year for fresh fruit, just waiting to be quickly prepared and served fresh and juicy. 

How about fresh fruit with musli for breakfast on the patio? I don't know why I don't have this more often. So delicious. Just chop, layer, serve and enjoy!

These collages I have made with "PicMonkey" on-line photo editor. I have only just heard of it - Have you tried it? It's free on the web and lots of fun.

How about a fresh tossed salad for lunch?  Pomegranate adds a yummy zing. 

To keep reading and seeing more pics, please click on "read more"....

Weekend of lunch, gardens, music & dance

What a wonderful weekend we have had -

Lunch in the cappuccino strip in Bunbury.  There is a variety of restaurants, some of which are housed in lovely old buildings. Trees which are lit up at night with fairly lights, line the street. It really is a lovely place to go for coffee or lunch.  There is a variety of restaurants - you can go from a simple sandwich to Chinese to pizza to fish and chips to a top class Italian restaurant. Take away, dine in, tables along the footpath, and the cakes are devine! and the people watching - the place to be seen. The cappuccino strip certainly has a lovely feel about it. It is a great place to go and meet up with friends, or just go for a stroll!

On Sunday we went to the 16th Annual Nannup Flower and garden festival - They have had 4 days of garden and floral displays, quilt & craft displays, stalls, art  exhibitions, choir singing, workshops and entertainment.  As you can see in the collage below it is tulip time. I love the "beetle" car covered in grass and run by solar power! And I might have to dig out some old boots and plant flowers in them!

And a beautiful quote from Buddha on the display from the high school - 

"The perfume of flowers travel only as far as the wind

but the fragrance of goodness travels throughout all worlds

The garlands woven from a heap of flowers

fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds" 

On Sunday late afternoon-evening a friend and I went to "Concert and Cocktails" at the Koombana Bay yacht club. 
This was a fund raising event for the Stirling Street Arts Centre, going towards renovations and additions to their facility. 
It was a wonderful evening. Performing were the South West Opera Company (with songs from Carmen), South West Philharmonic Orchestra, Bunbury Musical Comedy Group (with songs from Fiddler on the Roof), Bunbury Catholic College Girls Choir (with songs from the Beetles and the 60s), Bunbury City Band and South West Jazz Enzemble, and a crowd favourite, the Soly Sombra Spanish Dancers. 

In the mosaic below in second from bottom left, and on the far right of the top right photo, you can see my daughter in law in the bluish gypsy dress.  Don't they all look so beautiful dressed in their gypsy costumes? I joined the dance group earlier this year, and my teacher says next year I will be dancing..... I don't now about that.......

Thank you for stopping by. I look forward to hearing from you. I am linking up with Mosaic Monday at Little Red House. Click on the link to see the work of other wonderful contributors. - Mosaic Monday at Little Red House

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Spanish Flamenco Dancing 

Cappuccino at the grand

Busselton Jetty & the Equinox Cafe, Western Australia

We had the most fabulous Saturday lunch at the Equinox Cafe on the beachfront in Busselton recently. The restaurant has always been a favourite of ours.

Years ago when both arms of the jetty ran right out to its full 1841 metre length, we used to go to Busselton for late afternoon fishing off the jetty, and then squidding in the early evening. Finishing with buying chips at the fish and chip shop in the shed at the end of the jetty, before the drive home.  And even before that, my husband and his family holidayed in Busselton every summer, and the boys would ride their bikes out along the jetty for a day of fishing. Over the years it has been a favourite place to take friends holidaying from Perth or for day trips with our children - only half to three quarters of an hour from our home in Bunbury. You could just about always guarantee you would catch something off the jetty!

Busselton Jetty is the longest piled wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. Built in 1865 to cater for shipping for both goods and tourists, several subsequent extensions were added up until 1911. A final extension was added in 1960, and the jetty was closed to shipping in 1972.

In 1978 when Cyclone Alby swept through the south west, the southern arm of the jetty was washed completely away, leaving only the railway jetty.  Since then the "Boatshed" interpretive centre, just off the beach, and the Underwater Observatory, 1.7 kilometres from shore, have been erected. You can jump on board the jetty train to reach the Observatory. 

Or you can just take a picnic or buy fish and chips and sit on the grass or under the huge Morten Bay fig tree, and enjoy the views and the promenade of people walking by.

Or you can have a meal with a view at the Equinox Cafe as we did. We chose two of the day's specials. My husband had the Thai Style Chicken Curry - medium hot chicken breast pieces coconut curry with naan bread, salad, rice and raita.

Whilst I chose the Babotie - a mild fruity cap Malay minced lamb curry served with fruit chutney, naan bread, salad, rice and raita.
Both were absolutely delicious and so beautifully presented.  And the service was warm and friendly.

What a lovely way to spend a leisurely lunch overlooking the ocean, or just go for coffee or morning or afternoon tea. They are also open for dinner. To find out more - click here - Equinox Cafe

The local community have put a lot of time, effort and resources into restoring and maintaining the jetty and ensuring this piece of Busselton heritage will remain for families in the future.  A trip to Busselton isn't complete without visiting the jetty.

To read more about the Busselton Jetty - click here -  Busselton Jetty