whale world, shark fish n chips, dancing whales, and whisky distillery

more photos here 

after all the hot and sunny sightseeing we were starving so headed down the road to whale world.  whale world is where the old whaling station was. they've turned it into a bit of a tourist trap and charge way too much for a tour (too bad) but their restaurant is good and we had fish-n-chips that was made of a kind of shark. wish i could remember the name - it was really good!  one of lauren's friends put on the whale suit and danced around - very funny and then we went to a local whisky distillery called limeburners.  i'm definitely not into whisky but it was fun to try a few tiny sips.  the owner also had me try some plum liquor which was great but then added gin, vodka, absinthe, and a splash of lemonade - yuck!  but i had another cocktail there that was pretty tasty.  but the bottles were beautiful and they had great art and this really cool bottle of whisky with a crystal boat inside selling for 800 bucks!  i am very sun drunk after today and plan to totally blob out tonight :)

torndirrup national park - the gap, natural bridge, salmon holes

more photos here 

 after the wind farm we went to torndirrup national park just down the road. passed the albany regional prison - they sure have a lovely spot and gorgeous views.  we went to see some very touristy spots here and there were lots of people out because it's a 3 day weekend and the weather has been stunning.  saw the gap (a natural gap between huge rocky cliffs), natural bridge (exactly what it sounds like), and then the salmon holes (a very well loved local fishing spot and one of the most beautiful beaches here and right next to bald head hike).  i also caught a very cute lizard on camera while he was sunning himself.  it was such a great day out!  i got a lot more sun than i've been used to though and so now i am exhausted.  and poor moo missed out on her walk today but we'll have a nice long one tomorrow - supposed to be very hot!

albany wind farm

went out with friends to the wind farm in albany. i had no idea how huge they are!  they are absolutely massive and apparently power 80% of the city which is pretty incredible. only about 7 days a year are calm enough that they don't spin - today was one of those magical days.  it was a beautiful day - nice and hot and sunny.  see more photos here

putting up photos

finally hung a few paintings and photos. but i ran out of nails! grrr.  will continue with some more when i have time to pick nails up.   looks ok so far.  i need a level

playing at ledge beach

 

had a really lovely long nap yesterday and then decided i was really lazy and poor miski was in need of some fun so took her to ledge beach.  a few other people had the same idea but most were just leaving as i got there so miski could stretch her legs a bit. she had an absolute blast!  she went flat out for over an hour as we walked to the end of the beach and back.  she even went into the water and swam a bit.  i took some photos and video of it and there are more here at the end of the album.  stupid blog won't upload videos so check them out in the album. i dressed for cold and windy weather because that's what it was like there last time and it turned out to be hot and sunny! oh well.  i might take her back there tomorrow because today i am going to the gap and natural bridge just out of town with some friends.

Cute mooshoo

Just a post to show how cute Miski is. She misses jose and so do I. It was freeeeeeezing yesterday so today I got her a new camo coat... pic above. Today was a bit better but still chilly. My neighbour has been using his chainsaw ALL day. It's driving me insane. Thank god it's a long weekend and is supposed to be warm. This week has been totally crazy. Scuze the grumples

Cyootness!

Well the sunset is just plain pretty Miski is soooooo cute! She's getting away with murder while jose is gone. I think she really is a little rambunctious person inside

Katanning trip

Went to katanning (2 hrs north of albany) to have a meeting and though it was a very long driving day, it was so beautiful and the meeting was nice. It's spring now and the fields are golden. And I passed by a crazy pink lake too! Lots of happy cows out there today. Poor Miski was bored today but at least it was nice out.

looking for jose

miski has been very sad since jose left. she just sort of wanders around the house looking for him and i can tell she really  misses him. when i wear one of his sweatshirts she gets really excited and madly sniffs me and runs around barking. poor thing. i wish i could explain to her that he'll be back soon and not to worry. she even looked for him in the printer - just kidding - she was excited about the printer noises.  anyway as much as she misses him i miss him much much more.  it's amazing how short 3 months sounds until it begins and how easy it is to take someone for granted when you see them every day. i think we both have a renewed sense of appreciation for each other now that we're having to spend some time apart.  can't wait for december!

roses and gardening

well we have some very pretty roses popping up. i'm not a fan of rose bushes because they are ugly most of the year and briefly have pretty flowers but these sure are nice.  ripped up a lot of plants today because the garden was very choked, so it looks a lot better and the plants have room to breathe.  we're hoping to someday do away with this area all together and either level out the yard or put in a deck or both.  more photos here

beautiful sunset tonight

got to spend some time with jose today - he leaves tomorrow :( we did a lot of gardening and enjoyed a beautiful sunset...complete with pink rain! pretty awesome. miski made a new doggy friend from down the block and we all enjoyed patches of sunshine (weather today was very weird...rainy, sunny, rainy, sunny, both).  more photos here

jose's early birthday celebration

we celebrated jose's birthday a week early this year because he'll be away in derby on his actual bday next year. we had tacos and a great bottle of new zealand chard farm riesling wine we brought all the way back from nz last year.  then for dessert i got jose his very first ice cream cake ever! it was decadent chocolate ice cream with chocolate surrounding the cake and coconut candy pieces on top.  crazy good.  got him a few shirts and jackets for his bday which i think he liked :) spent most of the afternoon gardening because it was a nice day and we have a lot of overgrown garden going on...

gallavanting around ledge beach

more photos at the end of this album 

because i was laid up most of the weekend with a sore back we went out to a new beach after i got home from work today. it's a rather pristine, untouched part of albany - called ledge beach.  it was very very windy which made it kind of cold and not super pleasant but it was incredibly beautiful. nobody else was around so miski had run of the place. you can see in the pics how much fun miski was having, tearing around at breakneck speed. a beautiful afternoon!

de-jungling the yard and fruit trees!

well we've done so much work on the yard and still it's a semi-jungle and needs lots more work. at least we've made a start i suppose.  once we get that hideous pond feature out of the middle of the back patio we'll be able to pave the whole thing and it'll look so much better.  our fruit trees are doing so well.  the fig tree and peacharine trees are really thriving. in the two photo at the bottom you can see the tiny figs just starting to grow. our avocado (teeny tree) is just starting to bloom and our kaffir lime tree seems to be clinging to life ok so far.  planted our new chili plants today and generally have been enjoying the sunshine in the back today. i pulled my back yesterday and am moving rather slowly and ungracefully. bleh.  more photos here