Dog Greetings

Come Home Soon, We Miss You is a photo of our dog Missy in the White and Black

Fluffy outfit. Buddy is my Mum's two year old poodle that we have been dog sitting. They

are both waiting with wagging tails doing overtime when we get visitors at my house.

I made this into a card for someone special who is in Hospital and appreciates lots of

wagging tail attention.

This is Buddy who is my shadow at the moment while Mum is away.

I am trying to take some photos of the new pink flowers but he is keeping

a close eye on me at all times. So this turned out to be such a sweet snap

for Mum to keep when she arrives home.

Hi to everyone, be back soon.

Sue

Beach Weather

There is a Old but lovely photo of my two girls busy at Stansbury Beach in South Australia.
I just love this quiet little beach. When our children were growing up we lived here just next
to the beach and even if the weather wasn't sunny and warm we still enjoyed lots of fun
family times.

Because I don't live so close to the beach but in the city I still like to think of it often

I saw this lovely old illustration for sale on a delightful Etsy Store called Paddyridge

Vintage in Chicago but easy to find online at http://www.paddyridge.etsy.com/.

What a great find and I new it had to be mine. I will put it in a nice frame and day

dream of fun and sun at the beach.

On not so sunny beach days especially! The little girl looks familiar, probably a good

mixture of similar looks to the beach girls in our family.

We are having a very busy family week with lots of coming and going. Family visiting from

the country and a quick trip from my daughter from Darwin, Northern Territory. She has

a busy time planned with finalizing lots of Wedding Plans all ready for September next year.

All being well she will get some time to relax a little in the middle of all the running around.

This great sunset photo was not take on some tropical location but from the back of our

home in South Australia! Last night the sunset was so beautiful and peachy looking that

we couldn't resist a quick photo shoot. The palm trees are in a yard two doors down.

The little Tropical area we have in our garden isn't quite so fantastic, the palms are

struggling at the moment. But the rest of our garden is springing to life with lots of flowers.

Yesterday the new bottle brush native bush finally flowered and soon it will be covered

with flowers. Or should I say bottle brushes as that is why they are named that.

Hope everyone has a great weekend just like I intend to enjoy all the special moments

with all my family.

Sue

Beautiful Western Australia

Last night I happen to catch the new show Iron Chef Australia and was excited

to see that they were featuring a WA Chef contestant who runs a beaut restaurant

in the heart of Perth. Sorry I did not run and put pen to paper and get the name

of the restaurant but I know exactly where it is and since this is only our second

trip there as a couple. We were staying close to the city centre and came across

this unique little restaurant that caught our eye mainly because it had a netting

frame around the brick walls that accommodated 1000's of pots full of fresh leafy

green herbs of all types. It was amazing to see. Because we were just doing some

shopping we had a quick peek inside and decided it looked very interesting and

alternative. Something to explore another day. You could see that they had a

roof top garden too, that concept of a country style garden in the middle of a

busy city really intrigues me.

When we visited Perth in May on Holidays we had a great week relaxing and

enjoying some late sunny and warm weather before Winter kicked in. This

time we just pottered around and did our own thing. Last time we did lots of

tourist trips here, there and everywhere. So we tried to find new things and

revisit other fav spots more leisurely this time around. We walked our legs off!

Wandering for miles. The Swan river surrounds Perth and all the pretty

gardens.

The photo of the Gum nut babies was taken late one afternoon on our way

back from the wharf. We had just spent the most relaxing time on a Captain

Cook Cruise down river to a Winery. It was a Luncheon Cruise with wine

tasting on board as well as later at the Winery. This is my type of Cruise, no

packing, no customs, no seasickness on the open sea. Plenty of scenery to look

at, good company, excellent food and a very talented crew who entertained

us back into Perth. Next time we go we will invite our friends who live there

to come along and enjoy.

Kings Park in the central park lands overlooking the water views is something

we love. Lots of Native plants and trees. We got to see the seasonal difference

as last time it was spring wildflower season. The last photo shows the huge

Boab Tree transplanted from the Kimberley area. It is much bigger than it looks

in the photo. In Australia the boab is found only in the Kimberley and the

neighbouring area of Northern Territory. Really something to see. When you

hit the road to outback WA it is fantastic to see them doted along the landscape

all the way to Broome and beyond. Truly Magical!

We venture to Fremantle for the day by trail. Nice new and speedy. Everything

is so easy to see without having to drive. Bus trips around the city are FREE.

Plus if you do book a bus tour you usually get a Welcome to Perth tour of the

city FREE to! The day we went to the Art Gallery it was closed but we did the

Museum that is big enough to keep us busy for ages. Perth has two Malls for

shopping and one of the arcades are very old world English. Lots of old

buildings and architecture to look at and appreciate.

Next visit we hope to Fly/Drive so that we can see some more of the coastal

towns and treasure hunt without worrying about excess luggage! The good

thing about traveling is you can always plan to do all the things you missed

next time and reminisce often.

Here is to lots of happy travels to everyone!

Sue

Welcome New Baby

Welcome to our family dear little Isaac. Proud parents Mat and Elisha and big sisters

Cheyenne and Dakota make one lovely happy family. Our already BIG family is getting

larger this year with a lovely Great Neice and Great Nephew. Last year was a busy year

for babies too. I look forward to getting to know them.

Since we moved back to South Australia from Darwin, Northern Territory we are lucky

to be able to see much more of our extended family and enjoy catching up often.

Another thing we are enjoying is creating a garden at our new home and watching it

spring to life with the great weather we have had lately. Plenty of rain after the dry

Summer. The flowers in the picture are from our garden and have all just started

flowering.

Hubby is a fantastic gardener. He enjoys pottering around and did all our landscaping

himself, so he is very talented and a handy person. I on the other hand love giving

plenty of input into the design and picking out of plants. Our garden is small but has

plenty of character and since we started from scratch it has been lots of fun.

Missy our dog and I get to check out whats happening around our area when we go for

long walks. The variety of homes in our area range from very old to brand new.

One minute an old home is minding its own business and then its goodbye to make

room for 2 or 3! new homes on the one block. Anyway some of the older homes have

cottage style gardens and some old fashion types of plants. I get to see just what will

do well at our place. One day we will run out of room, not too soon I hope!

Getting ready for another busy weekend. Another big birthday in the family and a

get together to attend. We are dog sitting my Mums 2 year old poodle for a bit.

Hope he settles, fast! He cried most of last night, next to our bedroom window!

We will have to close off that area or we will be very tired soon.

Hope you all have a great time this weekend.

Cheers, Sue

Philadelphia here we come!

My dear Hippos in top hats and bow ties are headed off on a big trip OS to Philadelphia

USA! WOW are these shy guys excited. I know they are going to a nice home. I will

miss those beautiful eyelashes and smart attire though. Beau and Hugh are country

guys from SA so they make friends easily. I can see them dancing the night away at a

smart dinner dance.

The boys have been hanging around my Astrachic Studio Etsy Store for a bit.

Make sure you don't miss out on any other fun finds by clicking on my link

http://www.astrachic.etsy.com/ Remember to tell your family and friends about it.

Bye,

Sue

PS Just downloaded my nifty little pocket shop here on the right side of the page.

I love it! Thankyou to the CraftCult team for making it so easy for everyone to view my

etsy store.