Market days

It has been a few weeks ago now since E and I checked out the Christmas markets on offer. I was late meeting her for the Subi market - our original plan was for me to go to her house around 4.30pm and then we would walk down for the start of the festival at 5pm. Our plans were thrown out of the window as C and I needed to meet a man about a retaining wall for our new house. These things happen and eventually he dropped me in Subi at 7pm to catch up with my sister.

We popped into Mr Sparrow, a shop with an eclectic mix of old and new and all things beautiful. It was then onto the Subi Festival and Subi Upmarket for a power shop! There were many beautiful items but I had no excuse to buy many of them so I was in admiration mode. See here for my purchases.

We tried to find a restaurant to eat dinner at, unfortunately for us they were all packed due to the festival and so we ended up heading away from the crowds and into town to eat! It ended up being our first of three Chinese meals in the space of a week. Not that I was counting.

The Sunday afterwards E and I went to Fremantle to check out the Bazaar at Fremantle Arts Centre. It was a fairly mellow event, with a mix of familiar and new stalls! The flavour was definitely Fremantle. We also browsed through the Home Open exhibit. It features selections from the private collections of a range of Fremantle artists, and the display was fascinating. I definitely recommend a look if you're down that way.

We topped off our day with a visit to the new B&M Store, where they stock a delightful range of all things felt and beautiful objects. They are another reason now to visit that part of High Street Fremantle.

Sleeping well while camping

Chad and I are off camping in the new year for a few days. Last time that we both went we borrowed his parent's camp bed. This year he wanted our very own!

Here 'tis. It looks much more comfortable than a mattress on the ground, and comes complete with a valance to make it look more homely. There is a bedhead too so that our pillows do not fall off the end!

To be honest I always thought that camping was about doing it rough, but apparently it is all about the comforts away from home. We have two car fridges to take with us (40L and 60L) and will be running one as a freezer and one as a fridge. Last time we went one couple even brought their deep fryer. I thought that was taking it a bit too far...

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This picture is my wallpaper at work...

This week I went back to work after taking time off for our wedding and honeymoon. Everyone was interested to hear how the day had gone and whether or not we had a good time in Bali!

I changed the wallpaper on my computer to a wedding shot. It seemed the appropriate thing to do. Usually my wallpaper is a scenery shot that I have taken on my travels, to remind me that once in a while I get to leave Perth.

I quite like this shot, even if the boys at work said that it was taken in the "boob garden", due to the naked nymphs in the fountain that you can just see in the background.

Image C Photography

New Edition

E and I attended the launch party - "an evening of fun and frivolity" - for the New Edition Bookshop on William Street in Northbridge.

I have been a fan of New Edition in Fremantle for a while, ever since I wandered in one day and saw the prominence that they placed on Booker Prize nominated books and all things literary. This was while they were still on the main drag (Market Street).

My sister E, usually sharp on all of the trendy stores in town, initially believed that it was a religious bookstore (due to the name!) but has since revised her assessment.

Never judge a book by its cover!

They really know how to put on a party, with the wine free flowing, yummy nibbly things and live entertainment.

We were both keen to buy a book but the press of the crowd was too much. I like to browse well before I make up my mind on what to buy, so we will definitely be back later when there are less people and more room to move!

We also wandered past the newly opened Fox Hunt and tu. C was with us by this stage so we saved those stores for another occasion.

Go Gorillaz!

E and I went to the Gorillaz concert last night at the Burswood Dome. It was AWESOME!! The concert itself was such good fun, the music flowed for a couple of hours and there were some awesome special guests.

I was curious to see how they handled the fact that the Gorillaz are cartoon characters, and it seems that a massive screen and huge band were the way that they coped! We were treated to Little Dragon and De La Soul as the support acts, and both acts made it back on stage during the Gorillaz to join in the fun! De La Soul in fact are part of the Gorillaz performance group and it was awesome to see songs being performed live!

Damon Albarn, the main voice behind Gorillaz, was in fine form and he bounced his way around the stage and tried to get the crowd enthused. At one point he commented on our "weird" venue - I cannot remember his exact words - but what he said rang true! Getting into the Burswood Dome is fairly straightforward but exiting through the airlocks is a pain in the rear, as the crowds bank up behind the revolving door bottle neck.

It was such good fun and E and I were buzzing as we made our way home! I half joked that we should fly to Adelaide tomorrow for their next concert. Woo!

Locked out

I managed to imitate my sister today and lock myself out of the house!

I grabbed my keys and pulled the door shut... then realised that the one key that I needed to unlock all of the doors was still inside the house! I had taken it off my keyring this morning to take with me to the gym (rather than lugging the 7 keys plus torch that I usually carry), and hadn't managed to put it back on my keyring.

Thank you to my father who kindly drove over to let me back in!!

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To market!

E and I are off to the Subi Street Festival including the Subi Upmarket tomorrow night. It should be a blast! We went last year and I ended up buying three pairs of shoes. Hmm... anyway we will have our eyes open for Christmas gifts! I have not been thinking too hard about what to buy people but with less than four weeks to go I shall have to get my thinking skates on!

On Sunday we are planning to head to Fremantle to check out the new B&M Store and I think that a visit to the Bazaar at Fremantle Arts Centre will also be on the cards!

Almost forgot - I must put up our Christmas tree! Tradition has it being put up up on the 1st December, do you think that anything bad will happen to me if I defer it until tomorrow morning?

WWotW: Marriage

I thought that today's word was topical on a few fronts, given our recent wedding (yay!), the current debate here in Australia about same-sex marriage and the recently announced royal nuptials.

I find it interesting that the dictionary definition specifies a woman and a man, part of the wording being debated with respect to same-sex marriage.

Marriage noun a legally accepted relationship between a woman and a man in which they live as husband and wife, or the official ceremony which results in this =

Domesticity

We bought a new iron today. Yay! I have been using a second hand one that I acquired about seven years ago, along with a clunky ironing board.

My sister described the ironing board as "hardcore". I would describe it as "heavy" and "every time I pull it out it marks the wall".

So, a new iron has to call for a new, lighter, and non-marking ironing board, right?

Or at least a new ironing board cover.

Dandi have some lovely covers, they are very tempting but I will resist until I have a new ironing board!

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Getting back on the track

I like to exercise but I struggle to keep the momentum going on regular* sessions. When we got back from our honeymoon on the weekend I had not done anything for two weeks, and was feeling flabby and unfit. I have managed to motive myself to run on the last two days.

On Monday I felt slow and unfit and it was a struggle to finish 23 minutes! Yesterday I fared better. I ran my summer circuit in a reasonable time of 35 minutes and my foot feels fine so it is all good!

We have been threatened with hockey preseason timetables so I am expecting the mad exercise to begin in earnest again soon.

* By regular I mean maybe five times a week. I can usually manage once or twice a week but that is not enough!

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Wedded bliss

We have been a bit busy on the home front recently, with franctic organisation leading up to our wedding! We were married on the Swan River Foreshore and had an awesome lunch reception, followed by a party at our local pub and honeymoon in Bali. What larks!

We are now in the closeout stage of wedding shenanigans with thank yous and photos and christening of wedding gifts still to sort out, and life should slowly get back to more normal proportions!

Although... Christmas is coming so maybe it will just get even madder.

Image C Photography

Green tea cupcakes

The large quantity of tea that I received as kitchen tea gifts has inspired me to make green tea cupcakes. The link is somewhat obscure, but I got there in the end.



I started looking for some inspiration. Recipes are not that common so here are the top three for later use and experimentation.

• Not Quite Nigella


• Betty's Bites


• Daydream Delicious

Abalone love!

The abalone season here in Perth runs for one hour on a Sunday morning over five weeks. Yep, there is limited opportunity to bag your catch. In previous years it has been a six week season - this year it has been reduced to five due to an increased number of licences.

For various reasons (wedding, honeymoon, work) the first weekend of the season is the only one that C will be home and able to fish for the abolone; he made sure to go out and get his quota. Yum! I have never been as spoilt as I am with C, he makes sure to keep me happy with fresh fish and seafood.

Pretty flower

My knowledge of botany is limited, so I do not know what this flower is. That does not stop me from enjoying it. This speciman is in my front courtyard and I admired it on the way to work one morning. I see it around the area, many people also must admire its beauty!

WWotW: Procrastinate

Procrastinate verb to keep delaying something that must be done, often because it is unpleasant or boring =