Gymea Lily

 The Gymea Lily has been promising to put on a show for a while now.  The flowers are finally open.

Big Boy Toy

 Adam's old (and well worn) mower has annoyed him for the last time.  He is now the proud owner of a new (powerful) zero turn mower that will be able to turn his grass into lawn!

Cooper's Last Day of School

 Cooper had his last day of secondary school on Friday.

In the evening the Year 12 Valedictory Dinner was held at "The Round" theatre complex.

Fremantle

 Fremantle and Perth could not be more different.  It was (and remains) a shipping hub and the real estate was not seen as valuable as Perth and consequently the old buildings remained and are now being preserved.  We stayed in "The Esplanade Hotel", an original that had been extended in the old style,

The city is a wonderful mix of old and new.

For his birthday, we took Murray and Judy to a restaurant that was built over a Surf Club.  We had a magnificent dinner and were able to watch the sun set over the ocean,

Perth

 Brett, Adam and Kate flew back to Melbourne following the birthday meet up.  We planned to be in Perth for a few days seeing the city and Kings Park before travelling to Fremantle (by Ferry) to stay for a few days and see Murray on his actual birthday.

Unfortunately we could not make full use of our time in the west as Claire became very ill and needed recuperation time.  The ferry trip to Fremantle gave us wonderful views of Perth and its setting on the Swan River.

Perth For Murray's Birthday

 We planned a trip to Perth to celebrate Murray's birthday.  It turned out that Adam and Kate had already planned to be in Perth at that time then Brett decided to join us as well.

Murray and Judy decided to host at their place for an afternoon and evening catchup.

Murray was the Chef for the evening.

It was a fantastic opportunity for a family catchup as I had not seen Murray for his birthday since our early 20s.

Lachlan Starts a New Season

 Lachlan has a new team for the next basketball season - new team but old mates.

Introspection

 My father was fond of a quote from the Scottish poet Robbie Burns.  "O, wad some Power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as others see us!"  Chat GPT sees me as a Hermit! I might have to look for a cave.

Flourishing Exotic

 The Gymea Lily planted seven years ago is finally putting on a show (very slowly).  The flower stalk has taken months to grow and the flowers are finally being revealed.  It is a native of the Sydney area and was commonly used for fibre and food by the indigenous locals.

In Pursuit of the Strange

 Musing on the waste of power and water it took to boil an egg, I looked for alternatives. I found this (Japanese) gadget.  Add about 50 ml of water, an egg then close and cook at low power in the microwave and, much to my surprise, the egg is perfectly cooked.  It's now part of the morning routine.