29 June - Day 130

We had a great weekend away in York which is a small town less than 1.5 hours outside of Perth. We stayed at a very cosy stone cottage - The Nelson Cottage! The wood burning fireplace was just what we needed for the chilly evenings and it was nice to soak in the claw foot bathtub. The cottage was furnished with antiques but also had some modern touches. Mike enjoyed visiting the alpacas and pony in the wee hours of the morning while I was still in bed. We went to the York Food & Wine Festival on Saturday. We enjoyed sampling the food and also went to two cooking demonstrations where we learned how to make the perfect omelette, garlic prawns, bruschetta and barramundi. The best part was that we got to taste the dishes. We were also given 3 free cooking magazines. The drive back to Perth on Sunday was beautiful. It's been awhile since we had a lazy Sunday drive. Back to reality this week - until next time!

21 June - Day 129

We had "M's" parents over for lunch yesterday and had a great day. "M" cooked a delicious lamb tagine and made a mozzarella and tomato salad with rocket leaves from the garden. This was the first time we had picked something from the garden. For dessert we had yummy cupcakes.

19 June - Day 128

I've decided to change the rules of my blog. While I still plan to post 365 entries, I won't necessarily have a posting or picture every day. For the first 127 days, I have shared some of my favorite highlights and will continue to do so as "M" and I have new experiences or just have something we want to share. Hopefully, I will still be posting several times a week. Thanks for continuing to read!

18 June - Day 127

In July last year, we spent a weekend in Fremantle with our friends "J" & "C". We stayed at a self-contained unit overlooking the water but the highlight was our degustation dinner at Harvest in North Fremantle. I was reminded of this today because my friend "C" and her partner "S" are going to Fremantle this weekend and will enjoy the delicious degustation at Harvest tomorrow night. Harvest is in a converted house with funky decor. The staff are friendly and we were very impressed with the food.

17 June - Day 126

Perth might be one of the most expensive places to live but when you look at some of the characteristics of this city, it starts to make a bit more sense. Perth is one of the most isolated metropolitan areas on earth. The nearest city to Perth with a population over one million is Adelaide in South Australia, which is 2,104 kilometres (1,307 mi) away. Perth is geographically closer to Dili (East Timor), Singapore and Jakarta (Indonesia), than it is to Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. While isolated, Perth is a very desirable city to live in and has been ranked 8th on the 2010 world's most livable cities list. While the list was based on stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure, it's also worth noting that Perth has the highest number of average daily sunshine hours of any major Australian city. Something that I am very thankful this winter!

16 June - Day 125

Veggie garden update! It's been 4 weeks since we planted our vegetable garden and it's amazing how quickly things are growing. The broccoli, lettuce, cauliflower and coriander are all doing very well. Sadly, our tomatoes aren't pictured as they're looking a bit unhappy. Hopefully they can make it through the winter and will start to thrive in the spring. In a few weeks, we should have enough fresh vegetables to feed the suburb : )

15 June - Day 124

"M" and I visited a wine festival in McLaren Vale last year when we took a trip to the Adelaide area. The winery looked like a fort and was on a beautiful piece of property. They had a band, wine tastings and a variety of food options. I thought of this picture because we will soon be spending a weekend in York for their annual food and wine festival.