miski's outfit for the millions of paws walk-a-thon!

how cute is she!  we got the little raincoat for her in freo with this event in mind. i made her this little fire chief hat to go with it today. can't wait to show it off tomorrow :) it's to raise money for stray animals.  we had a really successful garage sale shopping day today...got loads of stuff. i even got a bike - finally!  jose started his new job yesterday and is very happy with that.  good weekend.  got a cookup planned after the walk tomorrow too. yum  more photos in the Derby 2011 Album

back in broome, on the way to derby

said goodbye to perth and emmett today. he leaves for europe on sunday on a great adventure! we will miss him! it rained very hard this morning and our ride was rather bumpy to broome, but otherwise uneventful.  got into broome and went for lunch at kool spot. i loved my moroccan salad and jose enjoyed his chicken burger.  drove up to derby and picked up poor little lonely miski. poor thing growled at me when i first got to where she was boarded. she didn't recognize me, which makes me nervous about what happened there.  as soon as she smelled me she went into a fit of excitement.  we took her to the oval for a romp and then gave her the cookies we got her. she is now sleeping peacfully on her soft bed with a full belly and a happy heart.  and yes i am obsessed.  i miss perth and the end of the vacation but i am happy to be home again.  all our perth trip photos here.

wine, beer, chocolate tasting in swan valley

a great last day in perth! i wish it could have lasted longer. we took a tour of swan valley with out and about tours and had a ball.  we went to 5 wineries (pinelli, lancaster, windy creek, sitello's, jarah ridge) and then 1 brewery (elmar's, a german brewery), and 1 chocolate factory (margaret river chocolates)! we got to try 45 different wines and had fabulous cheese platters, chutneys, sausages, a lovely lunch buffet, yummy beer and incredible chocolate.  what a decadent day! and this was jose's first wine tour of course and i think he was rather impressed.  we got some wine and chutney to take back to derby with us.  caught the train home and cleaned up the place, packed quickly for tomorrow and then went out into leederville to meet his friend from the detention centre.  he no longer works up in derby and is in perth full time. it was nice to get to meet one of his colleagues and friends.  claire met up with us and we had a great time until i could no longer keep my eyelids open.   jose has really loved perth and since it is so much like california i think both of us could imagine settling here someday.  we both wished we had at least another week.  can't wait to see miski though!  more photos in the perth 2011 album

street arts festival, markets and beer in fremantle

another fantastic day in beautiful, sunny perth! we grabbed muffins in leederville then caught the train at 10am to freo. wandered down the beautiful, old streets towards the markets, shopping all the way.  i loved the markets, they were full of wonderful things from handmade jewelry, wall decals, produce, cupcakes, food, wood and other crafts, etc. we shopped a little bit in there and jose got some japanese soup.  we also got miski a cute little raincoat and some peanut butter doggy cookies. can't wait to give them to her.  we then found a nice painting outside that we got and wandered around to various street art acts. we watched breakdancers from the USA...not that good though..., chalk art, acrobats, stilt artists, etc.  it was very fun but it was also extremely hot. we walked across the park to little creatures, a local (huge) brewery with legendary beer.  we sat outside overlooking the port and sampled most of their beer. my favorite was their bright ale - jose's too. i also liked the white rabbit dark ale.  we had bruchetta and then pork chops with apple chutney and potatoes and a beet, pumpkin, feta, walnut salad. it was SO good!  we wandered about a bit after, got cupcakes, and then headed on home. we were exhausted by the time we got back and pretty much just vegged out watching movies and documentaries. more photos in this album

happy easter!

happy easter everyone in the us...a day ahead anyway.  today was more of a day of rest for us which was nice. got up and had a stroll at lake monger across from where we're staying. it is a beautiful lake with lots of wild birds and a lovely walking track. only 3.5k but still a nice walk.  then emmett came by and we walked into leederville and saw some of the shops (very quaint) and had coffee, tea and milkshakes at a place called green & co...although the picture shows what some inspired artist turned the name into :)  see photos here  then i went across the street and had my first frozen yogurt in about 10 months!  it was an american company and it was so nice to have my favorite treat after so long. then we went into subiaco (another suburb) and walked the mostly closed shops there.  but it is a very cute area, much larger than leederville with more cafes, etc.  we went to the markets there again and looked around and ate vietnamese food again (jose's choice).  very yummy but not as good as the day before.  jose found a clothing store he really liked and bought his first hoody ever! looks great on him. then we headed home, relaxed, watched documentaries online, had another lake walk, ate fabulous open faced sandwiches with wine and watched punch drunk love.  a nice day :)

central perth shopping spree

today we took the very nice train to the city centre in search of some fun things to buy.  we walked around the several malls all within a few blocks, found a few good purchases and enjoyed seeing the big buildings.  lots of the stores were too fancy but there were some really nice ones.  after doing a bit of shopping we walked away from the river a ways to go to a very fancy cake/sweet shop...sadly it was closed.  instead we happened upon a crime scene with police everywhere and the street blocked off. apparently there was a man with a gun wandering around. we went around it and ended up eating at a vietnamese place called lodi i think.  this was jose's first experience with vietnamese food and he loved it! we got amazing spring rolls, veal and fried rice and i had an incredible beef dish with vermicelli noodles. it was heavenly.  walked by the police barrier again (they apparently ended up shooting the guy in the leg to get him out) and back into the city centre.  i bought some chocolates at a really nice grocery store (akin to gelsons) and then we continued to shop for a bit.  then we went to a little picadilly movie theatre and caught the 4pm show of Rango!  loved it. took the train back home where we ate left overs and watched social networking with emmett's brother's fiance.  many more photos in the Perth 2011 album.

beaches and kings park, good friday

we had an amazing day! it was incredibly hot and beautiful out. started off the morning going to the markets in leederville.  they were incredible. there was so much fresh fruit and veggies, things i haven't seen in forever! there was also an incredibly bread bakery and a french pastry shop.  lots of other shops and eateries too.  we got a few things, and jose got to try his very first asian pear! yum!  then we went to city beach, emmett's hangout.  went swimming in the absolutely frigid, yet incredibly clean, clear water.  i had a lovely swim and jose went swimming in the ocean for the first time ever and had a ball.  then we cleaned up and went to kings park which was beautiful. walked around monuments, the botanical gardens and looked out at views of the city on the swan river.  we saw a kookaburra and rainbow lorikeet.  then drove through the fancy suburbs of perth (very posh, or shmick as they say) and then wandered around cottesloe beach.  had a snafoo with the train, wasn't running that day, and eventually got back to our place around 4pm.  had a shower, nanna nap, and then good friday dinner with emmett and his 3 brothers, and his mom.  food was incredible! his brother cooked it all b/c his chef fiance was really ill.  we had prawn risotto, salad, homemade focaccia bread and then amazing prune brownies with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert (those made from Bourke Street Bakery).  his mom kept pouring me so much wine.  what a great evening!  more photos here Perth 2011

flight to perth

woke up lazily on thursday and had a walk on cable beach, which was gorgeous. then ate a lovely breakfast at ra ra's.  it was jose's first time there, my fourth. he got the mexican omelette and i had eggs bene. so yum!  he also got a milkshake, which was fantastic. then we went to the tiny airport and got on our 2 1/2 hour flight to perth.  uneventful and rather nice.  we had a beautiful view of broome as we departed.  got into perth and emmett picked us up which was so nice! we went to his brothers house where we were to stay. lovely place and his family is great!  we went out to a place called the flipside and the stanley in wembley. it's a great burger joint next to a pub.  we had great beer (white rabbit and some belgium stuff) and to die for burgers. heaven!  slept like a log. more photos here Perth 2011

staircase to the moon, broome

officially on vacation 20th april.  hooray! went down to broome after work and got to see the staircase to the moon...a full moon over the mangrove marshlands. first we hit the markets at town beach and had some food and yummy frozen fruit and ice cream. then we went to mangrove inn to watch the event. there was an amazing musician playing the didgeridoo.  it was an incredibly beautiful sight. i got some decentish photos of it but nothing like the real thing.  tomorrow off to perth! more photos in the Perth Apr 2011 Album

peruvian night!

so we prepared a feast for a few friends and had a really amazing peruvian night! we made a yummy, light salad, green rice with chicken (very peruvian), salteñas bolivianas with lime juice, papa a la huancaina (potatoes with a spicy sauce), and then i baked some sinfully dark chocolate brownies with cookies and cream ice cream on the side!  talk about food coma.  we listened to peruvian music and chatted and drank lovely australian wine.  a friend even brought over a lovely dessert wine. i was in heaven until this morning when i had to get up at 6 for a "fun run" 5k.  started out a little rough but the walk/run made me feel better despite the cobwebs. More photos here at Derby 2011 Album

running through the sprinklers

what a great saturday! jose went to quiz night on friday (to raise money for the animal welfare group here) and i stayed home sick and read a book cover to cover. bliss.  then saturday, thankfully i felt better, we got up bright and early and hunted for nonexistent garage sales, and then got ready for our peruvian dinner that evening! we cleaned the house, dog, etc top to bottom, and cooked all day. while we waited for the store to open to prepare we took miski to the local oval and she got to run through the sprinklers and play with the water. it was super fun!

sarah's visit (her pics)

sarah's visit was great, as mentioned in an earlier post.  she took some seriously amazing photos while here, using her new SLR digital camera! since i have been whining about wanting one i was very excited to see her pics!  and now i am sold...can't wait to get one!  more photos under the Derby 2011 Album.

salteñas!

yum and i mean yum.  i have been missing these little yummy juicy pockets of goodness.  jose got a recipe from home and i looked up the bolivian version because that's my very favorite. we had most ingredients so jose made the dough and i made the filling.  it wasn't exactly like the ones i used to get in cusco before going to watch jose play soccer but man were they good!  he was in heaven and it was nice to see him so happy :)  i think he's been missing food from home a lot.  anyway we'll be making these again today i think!

forum in broome

so after my wonderful, indulgent week off i eased back into work with a week in broome for our allied health forum.  it was very interesting and useful, though did dredge up some ill feelings about work issues. but that is to be expected at such an event.  we stayed at a so so place and got to mix with the other region site co-workers. i also went to breakfast a few times and got to see the camels on the way to the beach!  had a lovely walk on the beach too. but i missed jose and miski and am very very happy to be back home now :)

golf course walk

this is one of miski's favorite places. the golf course is beautiful. well maintained, nearly always deserted, and full of boab trees, plants and fun insects to chase.  the sunset on the way home was also spectacular.  sadly my camera doesn't do it justice but i think we've decided to get one that will capture the amazing skies and other things we see around here :)  more photos here Derby 2011