Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner?
Occasionally, I like to invite a hard working Pastor for dinner. The Pastor in the church we’ve been attending here is from the USA originally. I thought it might be nice to have as guests our first Americans, the pastor and his wife. I decided on a Spanish dish for...
Wildflower Festival 2014
Kings Park has a Wildflower Festival each year. Everlasting flowers were so last year I kept telling myself. This year would be about the exotic orchids. One peak of those paper daisies in the wild just made me long to see them again at the Wildflower Festival, as well as...
Black Cockatoo
John gets excited to see black cockatoos, so when one came very close to me as I was taking out the trash, I figured I should get excited too. I was almost fearful, because it IS a very big bird and it was coming so close to me. I nearly...
Double Date in the Country
We went back to look for wildflowers, but this time Jamie and Naomi went with us. We did come across these inch ants… And later we met this little critter, a Bobtail Lizard. There is hardly a way, even in photos to describe how many everlastings there were and their...
Everlasting Love
So titled for the flowers, and the SONG . Last weekend we went again, doing orchid and wildflower hunting. We were hoping that the Everlasting Daisies would be open to photograph. Then we drove a little longer…. It was a shame that it was so late, we were losing light....
Chittering Wildflower Show
So when you take to the country in search of wildflowers and the clouds hide the sun and make the flowers you want to see close up, you make a U-turn and go back to Bindoon to the Chittering Wildflower Show. Or at least that’s what we did for a...
Escape to the Country
We enjoyed last weekend so much, we made another escape back to the country. (Click on images for a larger view)
Road Trip Saturday (Part six)
So last year about this time we crossed a place called Gabby Quoi Quoi Creek. I took a photo of the name, because it was just so different. This time we made a turn and went to the Gabby Quoi Quoi Lookout. Then the ride home began in earnest, in...
Road Trip Saturday (part five)
The next part of the day trip took us to Wongan Hills. “Wongan” is derived from the Indigenous Australian name “wangan-katta”, “wanka” and “woongan”. “Katta” is known to mean “hill”, but the meaning of “wongan” is uncertain. It may be related to “kwongan”, an indigenous word for sandplain, or “whispering”,...
Road Trip Saturday (Part two)
One of the most wonderful thing about Australia is the amount of public toilets there are. Unlike any other place I have ever been; each town, or non town, no matter how big or how small, have public toilets. They might not look like much on the outside, but they...
Road Trip Saturday (part one)
The weather predicted for the whole week was for rain. We decided to take the day and hunt for wild flowers anyway. So we packed the car and we were off to the Western Australian Wheat-belt.
Koondoola Orchids
Our house is close to a lovely piece of bushland, and it was an extra treat for him to come home early and we got to take a walk there together. This particular day we went in to find some orchids.
Lookout and Sunset
After our walk around Lightning Swamp, instead of going home as planned, John decided we had time to get to the beach for what might be a good sunset. As we got close to the beach, we were a little early, so John looked for a lookout which gave us...
Lightning Swamp
My husband sure knows how to show a girl a good time. After our outing to Brookton Highway Nature Reserve, the next day we went to Lightning Swamp Bushland. It was a sweet day, and I was delighted to have a romp in the swamp.
Brookton Highway Nature Reserve
I was in Perth last year for wildflower season, and John and I went to a lot of places hunting and taking photos of wildflowers. This year we decided to perhaps direct our search for Orchids. I joined a Facebook group on Western Australian Orchids to help us locate them...
Red Wattlebird
The red wattlebird is a large (up to 35Â cm) grey-brown honeyeater with red eyes, distinctive red wattles either side of the neck and white streaks on the chest and belly, which reveals a bright yellow patch towards the tail. Now I LOVE Australian birds. A visit to our yard...
A Zoo Quickie
Still very tired from my trip, and a birthday party to go to at the zoo, we took advantage of being there to take a quick trip around the zoo.
Sunrise, Sunset
Often when I am in Perth, John takes me to see the sunset. We usually go on days when the sky looks like it has potential for a dramatic sunset. There was potential on this particular evening. So my first week back, staying awake and staying asleep BOTH have...
Winter in Perth
My first day back to Perth I couldn’t wait to stretch my legs after all those hours in the plane, and suggested a walk in the bush. Now I left summer and it’s winter here in Perth… A big contrast to our winters in Maryland!
If My Cell Phone Told the Story: Traveling to Perth
This trip to Perth was a little different. It was the first time I had a smart phone (like the rest of the world seemed to have on my past trips), and in a way it helped me feel more connected with my family for as long as I could....
Candy’s Castle
Another Castle Rock? Every so often I put mom to work digging up old photographs and writing on the back of them to tell us who the people are in the picture. Often she doesn’t know, but she gets excited when she finds one with her Mama. This particular photo,...
Who Do You Think You Are?
A part of me is a Fletcher (on my mother’s side), and as I have been digging into my past, I found out the Fletchers go back to England a long way. One resource I found, doesn’t go back as far as I have but picks up in 1568. Henry...
Nana Day with Silas
Miranda was trying to think of ways to encourage Silas to continue reading during summer vacation. She had a great idea to have Silas pick some things he’d like to do, and after a certain amount of reading completed, he would get a coupon for those selected activities he wanted...
The Past is a Foreign Country
The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there. ~Lesley P. Hartley, The Go-Between, 1953 I guess I could have known if I dug into my past, it would lead to a foreign country…it has actually led to a few. I have JUST started a family tree and...
Mary Elizabeth Foreman Carpenter
Those boring begats of the Bible. You know them. In our daily reading, John and I learned there are a few good reasons to put and keep them in there. One reason is the accuracy and details of them puts the Bible scientifically right in the middle of history. They...
A Visit to the Horses and Pool Time
We live down the road from a house that has two horses and some smaller horses. Often the smaller horses are away from the road but the two horses they own can come close to the road. When they see us, usually they stop what they are doing and come...
A Box From the Past
Digging around in our barn, we found a very old looking box with very old photos in it. Inside were last names I recognized, but not many faces did I know. On mom’s side of the family I know there are Fletchers, Browns, Lees, and Buckwalters. Even though the box...
WoW Children
Even though it’s hard to say what is normal these days…I know I qualify as not being a normal Nana. As mentioned in another post, I let Silas and Rubi create their own World of Warcraft toons. What has been interesting to see is how it has manifested into everyday...
WoW With Silas and Rubi
While some Nanas are happy and busy reading fairy tales to their grandchildren, and it’s something I support and enjoy completely, however, I guess you can say I am no ordinary Nana. They sit on my lap or in the chair next to me while we have adventures on World...
Memorial Day 2014
All the fun was followed by good food cooked on the grill by Yaya. She’s feeling a lot better!
After The Flowers Have Gone
It used to be that the florist would send amazing flowers in a box…It was up to you to find a vase, a tall glass, whatever you could find to put the flowers in. These days, Florists give you the vase. My question is, what do you do with the...
Rubi’s Birthday Continued
Birthdays at our household get extended, that’s just the way it is. This day however, was Rubi’s actual birthday. Rubi has more celebrations planned this week. More presents and an outing with Tia Laura. Love our birthday girl so much!
Tennis Lesson with Uncle Meek
Took Mom out to a local park to watch Miquel give the children a tennis lesson. They are precious to watch … They have a sweet uncle.
In Charge of the Wind
Rubi is just so fascinating to watch. Her hands, her gestures, she is so expressive. Here, she is putting me ‘in charge of the wind.” Later I figured out she wanted me to tell her when the wind was going to blow next.
