Mad March days

What a difference a year makes....this time I was in Perth, Western Australia. Long hot days by the beaches staying with my youngest son, who was in his second year there.

It was a wonderful month.While he worked I would go to my favourite beaches...

Cottlesloe

and Coogee..

I would dream, write, watch the waves, watch people and swim. Being able to walk into the water without squealing in shock , without every single part of of my body erupting into goosebumps - the end of an Australian summer is a joy.

I'm on holiday again for a few weeks. Staycationing? Well, that's too grand a term for it.....I'm staying at home....resting and relaxing. Or so I thought.

The first few days the sun shone and it was bright...actually bright, and warm enough to take off my jacket as I worked in the garden.  But March isn't a marvellous month here weatherwise...and the last few days have been grey...with today being particularly misty...more like November.

 Boo and I went for a walk in the nearby countryside dodging the puddles and mud ....

It's hard to believe that these were taken a few hours ago  - at two o'clock in the afternoon.

I couldn't help comparing and contrasting....this month with this time last year. And this time three years ago...when I was also in Western Australia with my daughter

And six years ago when I was with my eldest son too.....

Yes, I'm getting itchy feet....and yes Australia, I'm addicted to you. You're an expensive habit though ....I don't think I'll be seeing you this year .

In the meantime I need to see some sunshine....but I'm not holding my breath this weekend.There's an amber warning for snow,frosts or heavy rain....

Happy Holidays!

Today's track is from a band I managed to see in Freo last year at the Fremantle Arts Centre. I was on my own on a baking hot Sunday afternoon...I saw that the Stillsons were playing in the Courtyard there.
The stage was shaded .the audience moved around to avoid the sun , sitting under
 the trees and drinking ice cold beers to stay cool.

A lovely, laid back afternoon watching them play... vocals and gorgoues guitar work from Justin Bernasconi , Cat Canteri on drums and backing vocals with some beautiful pedal steel guitar from Ben Franz.  This is one of my favourite tracks  of theirs ...

 

 

the birth day of this blog

Was it really a year ago I tentatively dipped a toe in the blogging waters?

Yes! And what a year it's been ...with thousands of hits on the blog, hundreds of comments, virtual friendships  made with other bloggers from all over the world,  and quite frankly my dears, I've had a blast!

Here's the very first post
http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/thinking-of-days.html

I had no plan of what I would write....just documenting the world around me...things, people and places that interested me whether at home or at work.

One thing I did know was that I had to have music in every post...because , if this blog is a reflection of my world and thoughts...then you would have to listen to the soundtrack of my world too!

Working in radio, I write every day as part of my job and concentrate on sound, the interviews , the background noises, the atmosphere through listening.

But through writing this blog, I've learnt how to think visually too....and from being a complete ignoramus when it comes to taking photographs, I've become confident and enjoy snapping away on my i phone.

My most arty shot was unintentional though - i fell over!

http://thinkingofthedays.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/day-of-snow-and-birds.html

Writing this blog has given me wonderful reminders of very special days at home and further away...


The most popular blog posts have been about the Chelsea Flower Show, one of my favourite bookshops, the University of Leicester Botanic Garden, and posts from Australia .Mind you with posts of  pictures like this...

no wonder everyone liked vignettes from the land of sunshine back in a windswept , rain sodden English March.

Looking back at posts over the last year , I realise just how much I value the simple things in life...like lying in the garden with my dog Boo on a sunshiny day

So what's new for the blog  over the next year? Well more of the same, and many of you have told  me you like the tracks on every post....it's always good to share favourite tracks  don't you think?
I'll be doing some more travel posts too........but what would YOU like to see more of ?


Anyway, it's Friday ...I'm off to the pub for the weekly ritual of having a few glasses of wine with my favourite people , but in the meantime , I'll leave you with one of the best artists ever...one who I've loved since I was twelve years old....the one and only, the wonderful..... Jimmi Hendrix and "Happy Birthday"  

Local food rules ...in Australia.....

You may have wondered  - or perhaps you haven't, why I've not posted since the beginning of March. Well, I've been in Australia, and as you can imagine , finding food from Leicestershire and Rutland to eat there was rather difficult. In fact it was impossible.Not even a slice of stilton ....

So, I decided to eat only food from Western Australia....and it's a much larger region than our two counties. It's the largest state in a huge country, one so large you could fit Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland into Australia thirty one (yes, thirty one!) times and still have a bit left over.

So there's huge tracts of farmland, and Australia exports an incredible sixty per cent of the food produced, mainly meat and grains.

But Australia now imports more than  a third of its fruit supply and almost 20 per cent of its vegetables.In fact ninety five per cent of the garlic in the shops is imported from China, yet can be grown all year round in Australia. Now that sounds worrying to me.

Visting Margaret River though, about a two and a half hour drive from Perth, there's lots of reasons to be cheerful though. The area is famous for its winegrowing, and wherever you go , there are estates selling wine from their cellar doors(more about those in another post)

You can also stop and buy lots of other produce from growers of avocados, olives, olive oil,  fruits, and berries ...and a simple drive to a winery becomes an adventure.

We stumbled on a hidden gem one lunchtime after a particularly enjoyable wine tasting on the Caves Road north of Margaret River. It was about half past one, and we were hungry.Correction, my son was starving. With capital letters. We came across Olio Bellio ...yes , they grow olives...right next to the car park

Their Extra Virgin Olive Oil is grown and pressed at Cowaramup Creek Farm, a 320 acre property

But they also make lots of other tasty treats....such as lemon or lime pressed olive oil,and  a wonderful mandarin and fig chtney as well as other condiments.And they serve lunch.

So we hoovered up quite a few samples dipped in bread and crackers...and then stayed for lunch. I ordered a delicious walnut, pear and feta salad with their own honey and mustard dressing , my son ordered pizza.He said it was the best pizza he'd tasted for a long time.....and I agreed. Well, I had to have a few slices didn't I? Oh, and as well as force feeding him some salad we shared some potato wedges roasted with rosemary and olive oil.

 Such a lovely lunch, all locally grown and produced....

And to drink, a local lemonade....served in a fully degradable bio cup.

A quiet spot under a shady tree for a lazy lunch ...with all  produce grown or made within a few miles.Local food rules -in Australia as well as Leicestershire and Rutland.

days in paradise

I haven't posted for a while. I've been distracted. Busy and beguiled by life down under.

Yes I'm in Western Australia..I arrived on 5th March ..escaping dull grey skies and cold weather to sun and heat. The first ten days were quite frankly very hot.And when I say hot I' m talking meltingly and swelteringly hot. Don't get me wrong,I'm not complaining ...but 41 degrees celsius every day for over a week is pretty  disconcerting.to say the least.

I'm staying in Freo....Fremantle lies south of Perth. Not far away is the wonderful Cottlesloe Beach ...I.love it -especially North Cott as it's known.

Walk down that path and white sand awaits.....

But I didn't come eleven thousand miles just to see the beaches. I came to see the boy.....who also enjoys being at the beach at anytime...

My youngest son is spending his second year over here , and I can understand why he love it so much. The weather, the chilled atmosphere, and after  a day at work, an hour or so on the beach for a quick swim  is the perfect start to the evening.




I'm on holiday...but the boy isn't so I'm also spending quite a bit of time here on the beaches by myself.....without him or the crowds.....just a few birds. and me....





 
 
 




Further up the beach at Grant Street, it's even quieter.There's something quite different about sitting on a deserted beach. Just the cry of the birds,the relentless crash of the waves on the sand, and really having the space and time to really look at what's in front of me.

And when it gets too hot, A  solitary swim in a warm sea.....

But  yesterday morning, I had company.....

 

 

What did you do yesterday?

Today's track is something we 've got on repeat in the car....and we singalong to...ou est le swimming pool and Dance the way I feel...