just another blog

It's a long overdue update. Hah, I should probably stop making comments like that, and apologising for it 'being so long' since my last post etc...it seems this is 'normal' now.

The long weekend in Margaret River was fantastic!
We drove down on Friday (20th April) morning, had coffee/morning tea in Australind and lunch in Busselton (I had one of the best burgers ever!) before making it into Margaret River about 2:30pm where we picked up our keys and headed to 'Bin 63' (the house we rented for the weekend).
The house was pretty cool (Simone fell in love with it), a mix of new and old, rustic and funky. Sander and I had the main bedroom upstairs near the tiny shower/toilet room and Simone and Pascal had the bedroom downstairs which was in close proximity to the main bathroom (yes, it had a big bath).

After unpacking and hanging out for a while we headed down to the beach (only a few minutes away). We watched the ocean and then the sunset before we went into Margaret River again for dinner at Settlers Tavern (where Simone and I had the best dessert EVER - Chocolate Brownies with icecream). When we got back to the house, we were amazed to see the stars so much brighter and clearer than we'd seen before. The photo below doesn't do it justice, we were all just in awe.

The next morning we went to Calgardup Cave where we worked up a thirst and made up our minds to head to Colonial Brewery, where the boys both enjoyed 'tastings boards' of the various beers on offer. Next stop/stops were the wineries...we ended up at Howard Park/Mad Fish and then Vasse Felix where the others did some wine tasting (I don't drink wine and actually ended up having a 'dry' weekend)

After enough wine had been tasted and bought, we headed to Gracetown where we went for a walk along the coast, admiring the scenery and watching all the surfing. As Bin 63 was in such a quiet bush location, we thought we might see kangaroos at dusk (kangaroos are particularly active just before sunset) so we headed 'home' to see if we'd spy any...and we did! I spotted two in the bush to the side of the house but they quickly disappeared...however not too long after another lone kangaroo made it's way into the 'backyard' and stop to check us out for a few moments before making it's way back into the surrounding bush. It was quite lovely to see. Dinner at Leeuwin Estate followed. It was a very nice dinner, even if a little fancier/more expensive than we'd originally anticipated. Let's just say we may have packed some dressier clothes if we had of realised, hehe.

The next day was Sunday and that meant we had to head home. Along the way  we had coffee in Yallingup and then did some sightseeing in Bunker Bay and Cape Naturaliste. We headed to the Bush Shack brewery for lunch and Sander did some more tasting (unfortunately Pascal ordered a pint before realising they had the tasting option!).

It really was a lovely weekend with good friends. I think we'll have to head back there someday.

Since then, last weekend we went to a Dutch fete (at a retirement community) and the movies (Simone and I saw 'Becoming Jane' and Sander, Pascal and Maarten saw 'Shooter') and this weekend we are having a quiet weekend at home doing housework and relaxing.

Work has been pretty busy this week, I worked late two nights.
Not much other news to share really.

Though, I do want to say congratulations to my good friend Kate...well done on your new job gorgeous, it's wonderful to hear everything is coming together for you! Miss you my friend.

So even though there was no Dave, we still had a good time!
We did however get a refund for our weekend tickets (Dave was the main reason we were going on Saturday) and then bought Sunday only tickets.

You can more about the event at the 'official' Sunset Events site.

I was mainly interested in seeing Missy Higgins, John Mayer and Ben Harper...

...so of course see them we did! *grin*

Sander has only recently become a fan of John Mayer, his music being introduced to us by Pascal and Simone, and he's been listening to him quite a bit over the last few months. Before the festival I hadn't heard that much of John's music but had liked the stuff I had. I'm another convert now, John Mayer was excellent!

I was really looking forward to seeing Missy live, as her album 'The Sound of White' is one of my favourites. I was very impressed, her voice sounded fantastic. Ben Harper was also great...he was the headliner act and therefore played for approx 2 hours. Again, I hadn't seen him live before either but he did not disappoint!

Someone I'd hardly even heard of before was Ben Kweller and, apart from his dodgy fashion choices (tight denim and red flannelette!?!), he was also very good.

There was obviously other artists playing and I'd say that most of what we heard/saw was pretty good - some were just more to our tastes than others and some we may have given more of a chance than others (Amos Lee sounded pretty good but I admittedly wasn't paying as much attention as he probably deserved).

I also spent some time collecting cans around the festival as part of a 'green initiative' which enabled you to earn 'green dollars' for every bag of cans you took to the recycling stand. They were surprisingly not very big bags and you got 5 'green dollars' per bag. I made 35 green dollars all up and therefore only paid $5 (real Australian money) for a groovy John Mayer tee (admittedly the John Mayer tee was not my first choice - I wanted an actual 'Blues and Roots' shirt but they were all sold out - but I do like John Mayer and the tee is pretty nice, ESPECIALLY for $5!). I'll post a pic of the tee later probably. It was pretty easy work and didn't really interfere with my festival experience. People were also pretty helpful by approaching me with cans and a couple (of strangers, as well as my hubby and friends!) even helped collect them! I had fun, helped out and earned 'money'.

It was a long but fun day hanging out with our friends and listening to some very talented musicians. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday really.

I should probably also give a general update (as I haven't lately).
Although, all here is pretty much as it always is really (maybe that's why I haven't updated?!).

Work is fine, I'm off today because I'm not 100% well but *shrug* it's nothing serious so I won't bore you with that. Sander and I are doing fine *loves on the hubby*. We haven't really got any plans for the Easter long weekend (tomorrow = Friday the 6th to Monday the 9th) that have anything to do with Easter. We are headed to a BBQ at my parents for my Dad's birthday tomorrow and then on Monday the 9th it's our 1 year wedding anniversary so we are hopefully going to be having dinner at the place we had our family dinner on the 'big day'. I say hopefully because the place isn't sure it's going to be open!! We may also hang out with our friends Simone and Pascal too.
In fact, speaking of hanging out with Simone and Pascal, we have organised to go to Margaret River with them a for a long weekend on the 20th of this month! We were originally hoping to do that over Easter but of course it's all very busy and very expensive over that peak time so we decided to go later and save ourselves some money and stress, hehe. It should be great.

Hmm, not too much else I can think of right now. Leave me a comment or something if there's anything else you think I left out.

ooh yes, as you might be able to see in the photos, I have also dyed my hair again - this time it's 'red planet'! you like?

Dave Matthews Band is no longer coming to Perth (West Coast Blues and Roots festival). Their whole Australian tour has been rescheduled and they won't be making it here.

It was my first real chance to see Dave live and now that's not going to happen. We don't have the money to fly interstate and see them there. I'm very upset.

Now, I don't know when I'll ever get to see him/them...

Show us love.

THE kiss

Yes, THE kiss...as in "Sander and Michelle, it gives me much pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife. Sander, you may now kiss your bride!"

sunset kisses

And despite the fact I was a bit unwell AND it was really windy & a bit cold AND the photographer was 'instructing' us...I still remember enjoying (very much!) kissing my gorgeous husband. What a beautiful setting huh?!

Show us what's in your bag.
Submitted by Pants Party.

So, Australia Day was great! Too damn hot but an enjoyable day nonetheless.

We ate lamingtons and anzac cookies (such good little Aussies) and a delicious BBQ. I hadn't been swimming for SO long and the water felt great too. Simone and Pascal always seem to put on an enjoyable gathering.

Work has finally slowed down a little so I left work early today and am taking the day off tomorrow...so it's ANOTHER long weekend for me! Yay! Sleeping in on a Friday - aaah bliss. I've been pretty tired lately with all the long hours and busy days. It'll be really good to be able to relax tomorrow.
Knowing myself as I do, I'll probably only do some housework, watch some TV and hang out online but still, a day off is a day off, heh.

Got another member for the Dave Matthews devotees group but no one's posting yet. It's quite depressing really! *pokes all the Dave fans* I'll have to post again over there soon, maybe that will stir things up a little.

My last few posts here have been pretty uninspiring. So general and random and just generally blah. I think I'm going to have to do something about that - but I'm not sure what. I'd like to be able to entertain anyone who happens to read these blatherings and also, I guess, make myself more satisfied with what I'm 'putting out there'. *ponders how to do this*

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm tired and I'm trying to watch a 'Lost' special on TV as well.

Want to know what's happening in and around Perth?

Visit:

Enjoy Perth dot net (any and all types of events in and around Perth)

Well, I wasn't sure I'd make it in here to update this week...
Work has been crazy busy! I'm technically employed as a Customer Service Officer but I am currently a temporary Recruitment Officer (till June) and we have a HUGE recruitment going on at the moment. I have been conducting telephone interviews all day for the last two days and there's more to come. Getting in to work early and leaving late.
I'm tired but it's also really good as I enjoy the work/challenge. I really hope this becomes a permanent position (and that I get the job if it does, hah).

Tomorrow (Friday 26th Jan) is a public holiday here in Australia (for Australia Day) and, therefore, we have a long weekend and that's always good...
I'm especially looking forward to celebrating Australia Day this year actually. My husband and I (along with a few other people) are heading to our close friend's - Simone and Pascal - house. They have a pool so we are going to hang out in the water, have a BBQ, a few drinks and listen to the Hottest 100 on Triple J. *contented sigh* It should be really great (even though it's forecast to be 39 degree celcius  = 102.2 degree fahrenheit!!!!). There is always fireworks in the city on Australia Day and this year there are some planned for Fremantle too (as well as various other places) but we decided this would be more fun and easier!

I made a Dave Matthews fan vox group the last time I was here. Got about 7 members almost immediately (which is great) but no one has posted, uploaded anything or commented as yet (which is disappointing). I hope it picks up in there sometime soon. So if you are reading this and you are a Dave/DMB fan, or you know one, then get yourself/them on over there! Dave Matthews devotees group

*yawn* think I'll be heading to bed very soon - need to start relaxing for my strenuous long weekend, haha.

What is the greatest compliment you've received?
Submitted by Maraschino.  

Technically I'm not sure it's the greatest, but it's certainly one that has stuck in my head:
I was living in The Netherlands and was out shopping with my husband (then fiancé)...
A man approached me and I was a little concerned about what he may want (as I didn't speak Dutch) and he just said (in english) "May I just say how lovely you look in that hat, very sophisticated. You rarely see people wearing hats any more and I just wanted to tell you how nice you look".

I was thrilled. I love my hat (I get to wear it even less now I'm back in Australia) and he was so sweet about it. He was probably in his late 30's/early 40's so that was unexpected too (more the kind of comment you'd expect from someone a bit older).