Day out

Today we took a drive down to Busselton to have a look at the house Janelle will be staying in next year and visit Mum and Dad J. After a nice chat with them we headed on down to Dunsborough to find Samundra. Samundra consists of 2 yoga studios, an eco clothing store and a vegetarian cafe. It is set in bushland and offers various retreats and workshops. Today we were just going for the food!

Love all the recycled seats... 

 Looking inside the cafe which opens out to outdoor eating area...

 Our lunches - raw pizza, chickpea burger and vegetable wrap -all very nice especially the pizza...

 For dessert we indulged in raw carrot cake and raw lemon cheesecake - yummo...

Followed by Chia and hot chocolate...

One of the huge yoga studios

 They have a very large vegetable garden as well...

We then did some shopping in Dunsborough before driving home. We had a lovely day out and Nicole crossed something off her bucket list - taking a sickie when not sick :) 

My new toy

After many years of using my trusty Sunbeam juicer I have decided to upgrade. I spent many hours studying up on the different models and types available and decided to lash out and go for the Angel brand with all its parts being made of stainless steel as opposed to so much plastic in the cheaper models. So I hit the "buy" symbol on the website of their American company and couldn't believe it when my new juicer turned up just 4 working days later!...

 We were instructed to run a few carrots through it first to clean it...

 And then we made the first official juice...

 It extracts so much more juice from the vegetables and fruit resulting in a much nicer tasting juice...

Cleaning up is easy as well. I am very happy with my new toy and looking forward to trying some new juice combinations.

Upmarket

Today Janelle and I drove up to Perth for a day out at the "Upmarket" held quarterly at UWA. It was so busy when we got there we had to park on the verge and hope no rangers were wandering around. The first hall we looked in was mainly baby and toddler stuff but so beautiful to look at and marvel at the talent of some of the crafters...

Janelle couldn't resist a cupcake and we had a rest under my favourite tree in grounds of UWA and shared it... 

 We then moved into Winthrop Hall to look at all the inside stalls and had a photo booth session...

 Janelle was most excited to see the door to the upstairs balcony on Winthrop Hall open (has never seen it open in 4 years) so we had a look out there..

 We then drove down to Fremantle and met 2 of Janelles friends for afternoon tea at the Raw Kitchen, this time sharing the yummy cheesecake and buying a few Florentines to bring home..

A nice day out.

Happenings

A few things that have been happening over the last few weeks. We moved Janelle home after 4 years at Trinity. Now she has a bit of sorting out to do!...

 The fence men finally came to fix our fence from the big storm we had way back in June. They have been flat out fixing so many fences in town since June so we were grateful to finally get it done and we can plant our vegie garden again...

 It was time for a big sort out in the kitchen and part with some old junk. Its amazing how much more room I now have in the cupboards...

 Sweet tooth Janelle who has always loved to bake us cakes and muffins has had a change of heart and been studying a lot about raw food and nutrition. Inspired by this lovely book she has been experimenting with lots of different healthy recipes - raw and sugar free...

Raw brownie

Chia porridge

Egg and avacado salad with fresh tumeric

Maca nut balls

Paleo apple porridge

Janelle and Emma did their last trip to Geraldton to do 2 presentations on their studies and findings on Aboriginal Women and Menopause. With a bit of free time they were also tourists enjoying a few sights...

Chia tea at the Salt Dish cafe

 Sarah finished her first year exams and had one day home before heading off to New Zealand. She is doing a 3 week Contiki tour. Just before leaving for the airport...

Weekend away

Last year Peter was kindly given a voucher by a client for 2 nights accommodation at the Duxton in Perth. As it was getting close to expire we thought we had best use it. We met Janelle in Fremantle after her very stressful morning of having to do 8 physical examinations and be assessed on them as part of her yearly exams. She had met the founder of The Raw Kitchen at a food and wine convention earlier in the year and we were both keen to try it out. Basically all the food served is classed as raw as it has not been heated past 46 degrees...

 There was so much choice on the menu - Janelle and Peter both had the raw pizza while I had Nachos. The chips are made by dehydrating not cooking. It was all very yummy...

 Followed by smoothies, raw chocolate cheesecake and the most delicious florentine...

 We then went shopping at the Fremantle Markets...

 After a lovely afternoon we took Janelle back to Trinity and we checked into the Duxton. We then went out to dinner at our friend Jan's house and caught up on 6 years of happenings.
Next morning we decided to have a walk down to the Bell Tower. We found Nicole and Janelles names which were inscribed about 12 years in tiles with thousands of other school children. We then had a look in the new Convention Center then did a bit of shopping...

 After a bit more shopping we sat in Kings Park and had a cuppa. That night we went to a lovely French restaurant with Peter's customers...

Peter's dessert

view over the Swan River from our room

 After another yummy breakfast we went to the Burswood Golf Course and played 18 holes with Peter's customers. It was a long and very hot 5 hours and we even got caught in a thunderstorm and got called into the clubrooms when the lightning came too close.

 Peter had a good day and this is where his 2nd shot landed on a par 4 hole - he was very impressed and managed to sink it for a birdie...

That was my first attempt at 18 holes and with the 36 degree temperature I don't think I would have made it without the cart but it was good fun.

We then drove to see Janelle and loaded up our car with a heap of her "stuff" to take home. Then we were greeted by 2 excited doggies and it was off for walkies. 

Willy Wagtails

Mum and Dad J have spent the last few weeks watching nature in their backyard. A little male willy wagtail has been very busy building his female partner a nest. He has done a great job but not without her approval and satisfaction of the completed project... 

She must have been happy as she laid her eggs and out popped 3 little chicks...

 Eventually making it very crowded in their little home - so cute...

 And Dad still protecting his family from anyone who gets too near...

Great photos by Dad J!!

Nicoles birthday

Nicole turned 24 today. WOW how time flies. She was very happy to receive her fancy camera lense that she ordered overseas turn up on her special day...

As always we celebrated with a Freddo cake... 

And a kiss from her man - sorry boi... 

Janelle was stuck in Perth studying for exams but joined in the celebrations via skype... 

Happy Birthday to our beautiful eldest daughter - love you xxx