coffee, scones and a playground

This morning I had to be organised.  DH car had to be taken to the dealer for some 'recall' work, so I was to pick him up.  There were a few things we needed to get done whilst we were out, which included a trip to Fremantle or 'Freo' as locals call it.


Freo is a vibrant multi-cultural port city south of Perth.  It boasts a 19th century port street scape with world famous heritage buildings and a fascinating maritime and convict history.  Along with old dockworkers' cottages, warehouses converted into trendy apartments, there is a strong creative streak.  The cappuccino strip is as famous  as the Fremantle Markets and you can't beat fish n chips fresh off the boat at Fishing Boat Harbour!

Cappuccino Strip

Dockside eating at the Fishing Boat Harbour

I love Freo, so we just had to stop awhile to chill out for coffee, scones and jam for me and a meat pie from the Fremantle Bakehouse for DH.  


What a nice start to the day, we certainly don't get to do this too often.


We went our separate ways for a few hours, I dropped DH off to get his car and he went to work for a while, DS4 and I went home, let the chook children out - he calls them bok boks cos that's the sound they make - and did a few other necessary jobs.


When DH arrived home we decided to go to the park at our nearest town.  Sometimes its nice to do things that you don't usually do, it was really lovely .... and we all  had fun.

We were the only ones there surrounded by these beautiful gum trees.

Hope you had a great day :)


PS  I've rushed through this post cos I'm sooo tired and just want my bed!

time to chill

After what seemed like the maddest few weeks before Christmas, it was so nice to just get away from it all, if it was only for one night.  

Usually we head off on a 2 - 3 week holiday following Christmas but this year decided to stay home, partly for financial reasons and also to get stuck into a few jobs we've been putting off around the house.

One of our favourite spots close to home is 'Whitehills'.  Its really just a long stretch of beach that used to be a great fishing spot.  Sadly, it's been quite some years since we've caught anything decent.  These days its more about the experience than what we catch.  Having said that though, we love fish but refuse to buy it, so if we want to eat it we have to catch it!

Here's a sneak ..... be warned, there's lots ....


DD21 got a little frustrated with her fishing when ....

DD4 caught more than her!!

A selection of cold meats, salads, pickles followed by Christmas pudding and custard, mmmm.

I sat up here in the sand dunes, just watching

loving and never forgetting how lucky we are to have the opportunity to do this ...

all while witnessing another spectacular West Australian sunset ....

this is how I like my beach time, private ....

We threw our swags out where we wanted ....

there's still a big lump in one of them, how she can sleep that long on the beach I'll never know ....

the scene that greeted me when I finally stuck my head out .... it's one of my favourite things, to wake up on the beach, listening to the water

DH had been up for hours fishing again .... 

we even made a special beach 'snowman' for DS16 over in Germany ....

we watched dolphins feeding and surfing in on the waves (no pics unfortunately), had so much fun playing in the surf and sand, before heading home with our catch .... 

no biggies, but enough for a few meals ... which is enough!

Hope you're finding some time to wind down and relax :)