Parties in Perth

Well it's been a few years since I have celebrated my birthday in Perth but as our holidays coincided with my big day what else could I do but party. Though my birthday fell on the Monday it seemed like we had many celebrations during our 2 week stay. What can I say, I had to make up for lost time.

After arriving late on Friday night we headed straight to Anne & Pauls where we had a refreshing beverage to get things started (mine was tea). On Sautrday we joined Debs, JT & Carol for a lovley afternoon in the sun with nothing more addictive than coffee. How's that for a good start. Saturday night was all about family & friends catching up with everyone at the Redback's game. Also my first meeting with Amelie, our new little granduaghter. Bill had been over a couple of weeks earlier. It was lovely to have a cuddle and also gets lots of hugs & kisses from Corbyn as we became reaquainted again. They are both so cute. Not such a good result for the game but these things happen. Sarah, David, Gareth & Taegan shared us with the many friends we have not seen for a long time.

Sunday was really birthday time with a picnic at Wireless Hill park in Ardross. We had a lovely day and I was suitably spoiled by the kids and especially my yummy birthday cake from Anne & Paul, complete with candles which Corbyn helped me to blow out. Parks are great fun for kids, both big and small and Taegan's dogs loved it too. Thanks everyone for making my birthday really special. That night the partying continued with dinner at Marg & Peter's place. A great night catching up with Lorraine, Hans & Ali as well. Steve had left for a golf trip so he missed out on all the good food & wine.

On Monday it was time to take off for a few days R & R at Jill & Rob's place in Pemberton. The verandah was superb as usual though very much quieter with only Bill & I in residence. Thanks heaps for letting us stay. Pemberton turned on 3 beautiful days for us though was very chilly at night. Still thats what fires are for. We had a great time wandering around the town, the Gloucester Tree, (no we didn't really climb it), Big Brook Dam & Goblin Swamp (still no water). The pancakes for breakfast at the Lavender & Berry farm was one highlight of the trip and another was the Donnelley River Cruise we did on Tuesday afternoon. The boat takes you down 12 kms of the Donnelly River to the sandbar that separates the mouth of the river from the Southern Ocean. The area is just beautiful and can only be accessed by boat. A real hidden treasure in the South West. Cambray Cheeses at Nannup another and we came home with a variety of sheep cheese to try. Delicious!

On the way home from the SW we stopped to meet Sarah, David & the kids at their new home. They were doing the pre handover check so we were able to go in and have a look. It is a lovely house and we can't wait to see it as their home next time we are over. Corbyn was very excited about showing us his bedroom and also the bathrooms where he could wash his hands. We celebrated our return to Anne & Paul with dinner at Noels, a great little Japenese place in Applecross.

A early morning start on Friday as we got up and went back to Wireless Hill Park to watch the sunrise. It was very pretty and worth the effort. We continued to eat & drink with coffee at the Baker's, lunch later and then we joined Taegan & Gareth for dinner at the Rivervale Hotel before we all went to the B'Ball where we watched the Redbacks have a good win against the Wolves. And the real winner was...Rhossie. I won first prize in the raffle and took home a huge leg of pork and all the trimmings. And 2 bottles of Red Wine. Dinner next week is sorted.

Brunch with Sandra & Vicky in Mt Lawley started our Saturday and it finished with another get together at Lorraine & Hans new home in Madeley. It was great to see everyone again and breakfast the next day was excellent. Thanks, you guys are great. Can't wait to see you again in July.

So with a week of partying over, exhaustion beginning to loom it was time to head to the zoo for some Nana & Poppa time......

The 80's are alive & well

in Melbourne at the moment with the musical Fame playing at the Regent theatre in Collins St. We went along on Saturday night and had a ball. From the moment the kids burst on stage we were transported back to the telly in the lounge, circa 1980's, where we used to watch the show each week. It is a great production and for those of you who get the to chance to see it, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

We had started the day off with a walk to South Melbourne Markets where we met Ron & Barbara Romero who were stopping to have a coffee with us before going on to airport to fly home to Perth. They had just spent two weeks touring in Tasmania and it was lovely to hear all about their trip. They certainly sounded like they had a great time.

On Friday night we had met Sara, Nigel and their two little girls Hayley & Ella in Lygon St where we had dinner at Sale e Pepe's. It was lovely to catch up with them and meet the kids for the first time. Bill & Nigel have worked in the same field for many years both in Perth & now Melbourne. They have caught up occasionally but it was the first time I have seen them since their return to Melbourne about a year ago. We had a great night and look forward to many more. The girls are a delight.

And of course today was Mother's day, so we joined Maree & Aaron at her place to help Mum celebrate her special day. Rem's Mum, Amelia & and her partner Laurie came along too as Rem, Faye & Ethan are still overseas. We all had a lovely day and enjoyed our lovely pumpkin soup, lamb roast, cheese board & chocolates to follow. As usual we all ate too much but none of us were really complaining. I hope all the Mum's reading this had a wonderful day too.

So now it's only 5 more sleeps until we are off on our holiday to Perth. I'l leave you now with my sneaky photo of the stage set from last night. Almost got caught taking it but I was not letting a pesky usher stand in the way of rhossietalk. Looking forward to seeing you all again.

until next time................