Spring has Sprung for Fathers Day

Friday night had us once again sharing time with friends from Pinjarra High School. The annual fund raiser for the chaplaincy was lots of fun. They held a trivia night at the local church in Pinjarra. So Mike & I headed out with Richard and Phillipa for dinner at the hotel in Pinnie and then spent a mentally stimulating evening where we managed to beat out the other teams from the school. However we still failed to score high enough to place in the top 3! But the real highlight of the evening was the many treats brought for sharing - we had a very fattening evening of chips, candies - including the best licorice I have ever tasted, nuts, chocolates, wings, trifle and more. We hardly had to eat for the rest of the weekend!
With September 1st, we are now officially experiencing Spring in WA. Anyone who has done research on Western Australia is probably aware that the area is renowned for its wildflowers. I'll leave it the wildflower website to give you all the details, but we'll try to include some visual display here thanks to Michael. We will likely make a trip into the country to experience them in the wild, but to start with we decided to check out the full variety at King's Park.

The Red and Green Kangaroo's Paw is the official flower emblem of Western Australia, so naturally I need to include them. Also at right above is the Black Kangaroo's Paw. It is a bit rarer and less 'flash' but still delicate and unique.

One of the most spectacular displays of mass colour comes from the everlastings. These are the ones I want to see in their natural state! They are a carpet of colour in a range of shades from whites, pinks and mauves and also yellows. The bees are everywhere and seem to be quite content in their garden of Eden!

And not only the bees enjoy the wildflower season, but the birds are also thrilled with the new selection of treats. The Red Wattle Bird (at right) is very aggressive in claiming it's territory and can be quite vocal in keeping other birds away. This however is one of my favourite birds for another reason. We have a few around the house in Mandurah since Theresa has several bushes that attract them. But these birds also like the occasional insect to eat. They routinely make the rounds of the house snatching up all the insects in the corners - primarily spiders. They are amazing to watch as they hover deep in the corners to snatch their prey. The best pest control going!

There were many more native WA wildflowers, but also in bloom at this time are the South African flowers. Since we won't see them in the wild, we've included them here also. The wattle bird above is resting on an Aloe Vera plant. One of the most familiar is the Bird of Paradise. It is impressive to see the large displays which grow year round here. This flower at left is also from South Africa, and unfortunately I cannot remember the name - any one who knows please comment!

And once again, although we have now been to King's Park several times, we found a new trail to follow and this is one of the path side plants in the bush we encountered. I believe this one is one of the many orchids which are found native here, although I am not positive.

Sunday brought Father's Day (finally!), and the weather this weekend was much nicer. Kyle and Mike were able to visit the local field to kick around the footie, and we were able to take a nice stroll along the beach. And even though he had Father's Day last weekend, we tried to make the day relaxing for Mike and didn't make him do anything too strenuous.

No, It's NOT Fathers Day just yet

We had a proper lazy winter weekend. Friday evening was our only activity as Mike & I joined the Pinjarra staff for a social evening of bowling and dinner - lots of fun despite the fact that I still have not beaten Mike in a game.

We spent the rest of the weekend lounging around as the weather was rainy and very windy, and Mike was feeling a bit under the weather. And somehow in the laid back atmosphere I managed to mix up my dates.....

As mentioned back in June, Fathers Day is not celebrated on the same date here - it is on September 2 this year. I managed to get my weekends out of sync, and we ended up celebrating Father's Day this past Sunday. Kyle made Mike a very respectable Western Sandwich a la Montgomery style along with Irish Coffee. It wasn't till into the evening after we had catered to Mike for the day that I realized I was a week off on my dates. So despite the attempt to ensure Mike only got one Fathers Day to match my one Mothers Day, it looks like he may have lucked out in the end!!!

And on a semi-related topic, we are as mentioned earlier, one son down now here in Oz. So it's time to update the family photo again. And no, it's not just an optical illusion - Kyle really is taller than Mike now, even without the giant mop on top of his head.

Happy Fathers Day from our Seascapes Escape

Well we are actually here for Michael to work, so we had a weekend at home here in Seascapes (our subdivision) as Michael marked assignments for the upcoming report cards. While teachers do have to put in lots of extra hours planning and marking, at least it is generally predictable - as was this weekend. We've known for a while that this would be a weekend for Mike to work, so the rest of us were all set with our own leisure activities to keep us occupied. The library here loans out puzzles as well as books - great concept!, and Kyle is quite content with his computer companion.

Patrick has been missing his guitars immensely, and we have been looking for a solution almost since he arrived. We've tried renting, buying used, and even buying cheap all with no luck. Any guitar we could consider, he really did not like playing.

Our last chance was to check out the store near Perth where the school music teacher buys their guitars. We were extremely lucky and found that they rent guitars, and Patrick immediately found one that he liked. So I drove home serenaded as Patrick played in the back seat of the car, and he has hardly stopped since. His fingers are raw and his hand muscles are sore, but he's loving every minute of it. We even managed to get a hard case so he is trekking it back and forth to Gingin on the bus with him!

We still managed to fit some R&R into the weekend for Michael - We were back to the dog races on Friday evening for a Pinjarra H.S. staff social. A fun way to spend some cash - or gain some cash as a couple of lucky folks managed. It turns out that betting on dog #1 in every race will make you some decent cash! There seems to be some secret at the gates it looks like.

On Sunday the boys headed over to a local computer gaming outlet (you play on their computers) with a bunch of Kyle's school friends. Mike & I took a nice long walk along the local beach as a break from his marking. The local limestone formations all quite spectacular, and with winter approaching, there seems to be less sand on the beach (maybe it was just since the tide was out, but it does seem more rocky).

So Michael was still able to get his photography fix for the weekend despite the lack of travelling :-)

And last but certainly not least....

HAPPY FATHERS DAY !

to our Dad's. Although Mother's Day is shared with Canada, Father's Day down under is on the first Sunday in September. Now since I only get one Mother's Day, we (or at least I) decided that it is only fair that Michael also only get one day - so we will celebrate locally here on September 1. But for both of our Dads, and all our other Fatherly friends and family members back in Canada (and Argentina) - Hope you had a Fully Fantastic Father's Day. Love you all.