Bingo and Bunnings.

Brian has beeen in Singapore for the last 3 days. We've been to Bunnings (/B&Q) in his absence and bought a few more plugs, a lawnmower and a lemon tree with large pot. Well, to be precise mum and Dad bought us the lemon tree as a sort of housewarming. It's a dwarf tree called "Lots of lemons" and apparently it produces just that- and even better they're normal size, it's only the bush that's dwarf :o)
I must say they've got the right idea for keeping the children happy too. There's a childrens playground area actually in the store which allowed me to drop them in and leave one or other grandparent sitting watching over them. It makes life far easier from a shopping point of view and I'm sure it makes sound commercial sense too. I have before now had to leave a trolley load of stuff in B&Q and just leave when I could no longer control my childrens desire to run (and I guess my own).
It's been distinctly cooler here and indeed it rained and blew on Wednesday both day and night. We joked about needing to make our own entertainment as the boys couldn't go out, and they had great (albeit fruitless) fun chasing a fly round with a newspaper for about 20 minutes.  Apart from the light relief afforded by the trip to the DIY shop we actually made and played bingo as Alfie absolutely loves it and it's great for his familiarity with numbers. I also decided we'd make some "letter" bingo so that he gets good practise with his alphabet too.

Homemade bingo game. Numbers 0-20.

Lower case letter bingo. More than just a fun game (but don't tell the boys!)

Yesterday too was much cooler, although the monsoon style rain showers had stopped. The boys were delighted to get back out on their bikes and scooters and work off some energy and Alfie is getting used to his stabilisers being much looser as Brian altered them last weekend. He really needs to do some straight runs to get his balance as mainly here he's doing circles which does make it harder. Down to the cycle path along the river at the weekend I think.

Last night I made a Thai green curry for our dinner. The boys loved it and came back for more which is a true compliment for my boys who are by no means fantastic eaters. I used a bought paste as the base I must admit, but added extra kaffir lime to the mix which made it smell really amazing. This was courtesey of Brian's cousin and her partner who live in the hills to the East of here and have lots of citrus trees in their garden. I must admit it had never really occurred to me that a kaffir lime was a fruit tree, it was just a name for a recipe ingredient. They're funny looking things though, and you don't eat them but can use the zest as well as the famed leaves. I did both and the kitchen was filled with an incredible lemon-grassy aroma.

A fresh kaffir lime. Wrinkly as a bulldogs face but full of heavenly scent.

Thank heavens it's been much warmer today, to the point that Alfie even went for a dip in the pool. Ru was less brave and made his own sport filling a bucket and tipping on Alf as he swam underneath. I waited with bated breath for war to break out but Alfie thought it was great fun so they played that way for a while. Later when Mum and I went to the supermarket we invested in some baking ingredients so that we can bake some fairy cakes and bread in the next few days. Can't wait I must say.

Doing time.

Easter monday we headed off down the Canning Highway to Fremantle. Fremantle is the port city for Perth and has loads of history and lovely old style buildings, not to mention massive container ships with big cranes for the boys to enjoy. Mum and Dad got new hats and then we took a guided "tram" tour to see the sights. We'd done this before but it was a good way for the new arrivals to see round and this time we also included a tour of Fremantle prison. It was a scary place and although really rather beautiful on the outside it certainly looked a pretty desolate place to have to spend time.

The Prison Gates from outside....

...and from inside....

Just like in the movies.

The excercise yard. At the far end were the washbasins and loos-outside in the yard itself.

It was a fascinating but rather disturbing insight into a place that must have been really desperate to inhabit. Although built by convicts in 7 years the 1850's it was astonishing to find it was only decommissioned in 1991. The cells were originally just 7 feet by 4 and as many as 50% of the convicts died overnight by simply suffocating. Eventually the authorities cottoned on to why so many deaths were happening and the cells were widened and given ventilation which solved the problem.
After our tour we were lucky enough to be let back out and went for some very welcome tea before hopping back on the tram and seeing more of the city. The war memorial was decked out in flowers as the Anzac day service had taken place during the morning, and the views from there are beautiful.

The top of Alfie's head dwarfed by the obelisk.

Alfie was so tired he fell asleep for the rest of the tram ride, poor thing, but woke in time for an ice cream at the end.
Probably because of this nap (I don't know what Ru's excuse was) the boys were still full of beans when we got home so B took them out on our newly reassembled bike trailer. My bike has the best gearing for pulling it so he took that, but heaven knows I don't think I'd be fit enough to pedal those two hefty monsters around!

Where did they go but yet another playpark?!

By the time they got back it was nearly time for dinner and soon bed beckoned both adults and children alike.

Today was still bank holiday here ( Officially Easter monday as yesterday was Anzac day) -so we headed for the beach. Hillarys harbour to be precise with its lovely safe inner beach which is great for the kids. Both boys were very keen to get in the water and see if there were any fish to be caught. Sadly there weren't today but they still enjoyed splashing about. Then Alfie set about making a sand castle, which turned into more of a fort, and I helped a bit to get the moat dug. Before we knew it there were 3 other boys asking if they could join in the fun cos the castle was "really cool" and Alfie, who's incredibly sociable, was thrilled with himself  :o)

Brian decided he'd make the most of the opportunity for a dip too and headed out to the deeper water for a swim. He came back more quickly than expected and it turned out he had found a different sort of fish on his travels- he'd been stung by a jellyfish across his face!! Fortunately it wasn't too serious and he put some vinegar on it at the fish and chip shop as we had lunch later, which helped a bit. As we walked along the quay afterwards we saw lots of  tiny jellyfish, only about an inch or two across and I guess it was one of those that got him. Poor Brian- he was only just getting over the tummy bug I'd given him!
Also on the quay was a special Thomas the Tank engine "train" ride. It only took about 3 minutes around the quay but the boys were entranced. When we asked it turned out to be free -so on they hopped!

Sitting in the troublesome trucks.

Choo choo, off we go!

Even better, they got a Thomas stamp on the back of their hand, and were allowed to keep their ticket, one of Alfie's treasures which he'll keep safe.

We got back home in time to iron a shirt or two as Brian's off to Singapore in the morning. He'll be back Saturday but it's still a shame when he has to go. It'll be lovely for me to have some company here on this occasion though.

Easter Weekend.

The Easter weekend this year is 5 days long here. Good Friday and Easter Monday were stretched further by Anzac day falling right at the same time and adding an extra holiday into the fray. So we've made it through the first few days quite well really. And despite mad panicking at the supermarkets due to the number of days they'd be closed for, we didn't even run out of food. Friday was a lazy one as Mum and Dad were still a bit jetlagged so we strolled up to the local pirate ship and had ice creams (as is our habit these days).

Ruairi did some running...

and some jumping.

Saturday our friends came over for a BBQ bringing the boys first Easter gifts- beautiful baskets with chocs and gifts which they had made and decorated themselves.

Then overnight the Easter Bunny sneaked into our house and garden and left colour-coded trails for each of the boys. Alfie had blue arrows to follow and Ru had yellow.

Each of the boys had his own basket to collect a few mini eggs along the way...

Alfie had made his of papier mache at school.

Both lots of arrows led to a fab table and chairs which just happened to be very cheap in a sale last week, and their eggs were waiting on top. Sadly both children and eggs were were long gone by the time I got to take a photo!

Next stop after Easter Mass was a trip to the zoo. We met a very friendly kangaroo who was quite happy for the children to stroke her. Never before have we seen them closer than about 5 meters away so this was a real treat.

Honestly, that's just a bit of rope behind them, not a fence or anything.

After a picnic lunch we wandered down to the elephant enclosure just in time to see a daily talk and display they do with their two female elephants. They take the older, steadier one walking round the park often in the day, but the younger one can only go out when it's not open as she gets spooked more easily- and one thing you don't want in a crowded zoo is a spooked elephant on the loose!! They do lots of tricks and excercises to keep them agile and to keep them from getting bored and it was amazing to see them painting with their trunks. Apparently they seem to love it and if they try to have only one of them painting the other one tends to try to pull over to get to the paints, so both were at it yesterday..

Grandma asked Ru if he could do what those elephants were doing and he looked at her as if she was completely mad. "No. I don't have a trunk" he explained.
We saw loads of other beautiful animals and Ru decided to try to be as tall as a giraffe by going up on his Grandad's shoulders.

By the time we got home I was feeling more than a little tired. In fact I was feeling distinctly sick and poor Mum ended up doing the vast majority of cooking of our Easter lamb roast. Turned out I had a bug and was very poorly for the night- and I hadn't even had any chocolate yet!  Upside is it's only a 24 hour thing and I'm pretty much over it now. Downside is that, as of this afternoon, I think I may have given it to Brian. Ooops. :o/

They're here! (just so you know)

I got to the airport 40 mins after my parents' flight landed and bought a cup of tea and a muffin in the full belief I was in for a bit of a wait. No sooner had I started dividing the muffin between myself and the boys than they appeared through the arrival doors. The boys ran to greet them and after a quick hug Mum grabbed my cuppa and downed it! She had been in transit for a whole day and with the added stress of the "interview" by immigration she deserved it mind. It seems they couldn't have been nicer or more sympathetic at this end. It's all to do with electronic visas -apparently tourists shouldn't have them but it's not their fault. Don't know the full details but all is well and they even let her keep all the tea, calpol and bottle of vodka she had stashed ( and she brought enough tea to set up a tea shop so I'm glad they were distracted by the visa debacle). Even better their bargain Thai airlines business class flights were excellent with yummy food and drink a-flowing, lie flat seat/beds and staff that couldn't be more helpful. Marvellous outcome all round I'd say :o)

Today was warm so Alfie and Ru were busy showing off their new house and their skills in the pool to Grandma and Grandad. While showing them that we have an orange tree they discovered one of the fruits had fallen off. It was ripe!! and it turned out to be delicious too.

 Also Alfie raided the recycling bin again and made a robot from all the things he found. I have to admit it's a bloomin good job, although I had to help a bit with the sticking of sellotape to hold limbs on.

Note that he already signs all his artworks so that we can sell them at huge profit in the future ;o)

It shouldn't happen to a Grandma....

Mum and Dad are coming tomorrow for 5 weeks. Their flight is around midday but the taxi was picking them up at 5am (!!) in case of hold ups on the M25. They said they'd rather be sure they got to Heathrow in plenty of time than be rushing at the last minute. I, of course, said something along the lines of  "Nobody ever gets there the full 3 or 4 hours ahead of time, you must be crazy", but parents being as they are were not to be put off.
I'm so excited that I couldn't wait so decided I'd ring them at the airport to make sure they'd checked in safe and sound -thank you skype for making international mobile calls so cheap. I caught them in the Thai airlines business class lounge (if you don't mind !) waiting to board. Mum sounded distinctly subdued and I was worried they were already disappointed with their splash out on business class :o(
Turns out she was nearly turned away at check-in. The travel agent applied for their visas for them when booking their tickets, but although Dad's is fine, there's some irregularity in the way Mum's was put through and it came up "invalid" on the computer. They honestly thought she was going to be turned away from the flight but, as they were checking in hours early, the airline had time to put a call through to the Aussie embassy who told them to let them board but she'll have to be interviewed by immigration at this end. Poor thing - it's really taken the wind out of her sails, and she was so excited to be coming. I'm seriously hoping all will be fine. Western Australia is abbreviated to WA and it's nickname is the "Wait Awhile" state cos they tend to be pretty laid back. I'm hoping their immigration dept will live up to that and give a 69 yr old woman a break. Worse still she's bringing all sorts of "contraband" in the form of 2 types of tea and some calpol for us. She was always going to declare it anyway, but what's the betting they'll take it all off her now and she'll have wasted her money. Really hope their holiday can only improve from here. I'll let you know what happens, but in the meantime, remember she only got on at all cos she got there in loads of time. I might change my check-in habits in future.

Living in a time warp.

The thing I've noticed about the climate over here is that things tend to age more gracefully. Not all things of course. Some of the people probably age fairly disgracefully and others have leather where their skin once was, but many more look very well on the sunshine and outdoor life. It's really the inanimate items that have come to my attention. We've been passed on the road recently by an absolutely immaculate Sunbeam Alpine and an Austin Healy (classic cars for those wondering), both looking like they were fresh off the production line rather than 50-plus years old. The same is true of lots of cars from the seventies and eighties. When did you last see a smart looking Ford Capri for example? They're here and going strong, and even the VW campers have managed to dodge the rusting process.
Mind you, it sometimes feels like being in a bit of a time warp. The radio presenters still call women "love" all the time and I have without a word of a lie heard Kim Wilde sing "Kids in America" at least 5 times this week. Eddie Grant and "A Flock of Seagulls" have been heard on more than one occasion, Tracey Chapman's still Talking 'Bout a Revolution a fair amount too, and I've come to the conclusion that Dire Straits must have a sponsorship deal with our local station as the whole of their back catalogue is played ad infinitum. Mind you, it was almost a surprise to remember that it was Yazoo who originally sang "Only you" (3 times in the past couple of weeks). I used to really like it first time round. Only trouble now is I find it hard to resist doing the Flying Pickets' "Ba Da Da Dum" version over the top. Must be showing my age...

Surf City

Today B had made a plan to go with a friend to the beach and finally get his surf board in the water. In contrast to the recent cooler conditions (only mid 20's this past week) it was up in the 30's again today so we decided we'd all go and enjoy the beach and the company. It was a stunning blue sky day and the boys had so much fun in and out of the water. The sea is a beautiful temperature, the like of which I have never experienced in the UK and Ireland despite all our talk about the warm gulf stream. I paddled, watching over the kids as there was quite a swell even in the shallows. At one point Ru got knocked down by a wave, dropped his beloved bucket and his hat got washed off his head. I grabbed him and ran after the hat, he wailed after the bucket and two ladies who were taking a quiet stroll got roped into the palaver thinking something truly precious had been lost. Heaven knows the surf rescue people who watch over the beach must have been laughing.
Unfortunately I allowed B to talk me into wearing a bikini. "You look great. Besides, everybody wears them" he said. This, in fairness to him, is true( the everybody wears them bit, not the looking great bit). You look more odd in a full one-piece here, whatever shape or colour you are - and I am that slightly fluorescent shade of white that marks me out as a Brit. I had my hat on too, being sun aware, but foolishly I applied my sun cream with my shorts still in place. I now have a line of bright red about 2 inches high across my low back, thus failing for the first time since arriving in my "trying not to get sunburnt" motto. By the time the men finished surfing the boys were starving and our friends offered a bbq lunch back at their house. Great food followed by scrummy homemade chocolate cake. Over lunch I mentioned the helicopter that had flown along the coast when the guys were in the water. Its job is to keep an eye out for sharks and send a warning down if one is spotted. On hearing this Brian blanched slightly and told us in amazement he had thought it was a pleasure flight. I'm not entirely sure whether its presence is a comfort. Although it is good to know that someone is watching out, it's a rather stark reminder that somebody needs to be! In all we had a lovely afternoon and the boys were exhausted by the time we left.
Having slept on the way home Alfie did a jigsaw with Brian in the evening, and Ru took to his bed. We've been trying to cut out the telly and it's so apparent that the simplest things are the best for them. I don't know when I last saw them laugh so much (and not be fighting) as when we were in the water today, and this evening there is a bright, round moon which they loved.  "Daddy, Daddy come and see the full moon, it's so beautiful" called Alfie when he saw it. "It's breathtaking." !!  Gorgeous.