Time for a walk through the garden......

It's been awhile since I took you for a walk through the garden.  Where we live we really don't have an autumn, in fact not much winter either!  This year everyone is hoping for slightly cooler weather as it makes the very long summer more bearable.  I shouldn't complain though as we really do live in a beautifully spectacular part of the world.
So let's go for that walk.

The Gladioli are just starting to flower.  I usually cut them and bring them inside as they make a beautiful floral arrangement.

The Jade Vine continues to put on a splendid show.

And would you look at this Tibouchina! My favourite shades of pink...

Talking of pink, lets also talk about these orchids.  The one above is the last little bloom from the Cooktown Orchid and the one below is one that I picked up on a Bunnings "throw out" table.  It just needed a little love!

And then we have the shades for orange both in the Bird of paradise and the tree loaded with oranges in the background.  Anyone want some oranges :-)

The lemon tree is also loaded.  Lucky for me I use lemons in a lot of my cooking.  A little lemon zest in a dish can take it from Yummm to YUMMMMM!

The Plumbago is also showing us how pretty it is.  It's sticky little lilac flowers make a nice foreground to the pool in the background.

I thought that I had lost this white rose because I shifted it from one part of the garden to the other.  It died back dramatically and then.....Wow!  It found it's feet.

I can never have enough  Gerbras.  I also have a deep red that is not flowering at the moment.

And can we now take about these Dianthus! They are such a pretty plant with their cluster of delicate little flowers.

I hope you enjoyed this little walk through the garden.  Next week I will show you the new vegetable garden that is giving us heaps of lovely fresh produce.

I'm a Royalist

Yes, I love all the Pomp and Pageantry of the Royal Family and doesn't a Royal Wedding have it all! All the speculation!  Who made the dress?  What Tiara will the bride choose?  Who will walk her down the aisle? What will be the wedding vows?  What will the groom wear?  What will the Queen wear?  On and On!  But gee, wasn't it a star studded affair will all the main cast from Suits.  Wouldn't have a clue what there real names are.  Just know them as Harvey, Jessica, Mike and Lewis!
Then we had the Clooneys - didn't Amal look spectacular - and the Beckhams - does Victoria ever smile?  Such an assembly of the worlds glamour set!
Then the moment when Meghan stepped from the car.  The gasps of approval at her beautifully simple gown, and that 5 metre veil held up by two pageboys who almost stole the show!  I was just so excited for Meghan as she walked down the aisle to Harry.  And.....they held hands the whole time!  What a gorgeous show of love.
Then we had Bishop Micheal Curry deliver his 15 minute sermon.  It started off well with words of love from the Late Martin Luther King and I thought this is going to be great.  But then it went on, and on and ONNNN.
I read this on the ABC news website:
"A copy of Bishop Curry's address was distributed in advance, but he immediately went off script, barely glancing at the tablet in front of him on which his prepared words blinked patiently".
I loved the twitter caption by Shane Morgan of a photo of Princess Beatrice with a bemused look on her face during the sermon and the caption saying "I'm so booking Michael Curry for my wedding. Boom!"
It was a lovely simple wedding service and who didn't enjoy the gospel choir singing "Stand by Me".
Now, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be enjoying time together away from the crowds and paparazzi and they will forever look back on this day when two hearts became one.

Arabella's Port Douglas

Last weekend - Mothers Day - Philip made reservations at Port Douglas's newest addition to the restaurant scene, Arabella's.  We had been to this restaurant previously when it was called Bistro H and the food then was always delicious so we had hopes that it would still be the same quality with new owners.  We need not have worried.  From the moment we were seated by our charming waiter and handed our menus we new we were in for a treat.  As we pondered over our menu choices we were quietly serenaded by the harpist who had set up not far from our table.  She politely asked us if it was too loud, to which we responded NEVER!  I love the mellow sound of a harp.

It was hard to choose from the extensive menu but I ended up with the Sashimi for Entree and the Organic Chicken for Main.  Philip went with the Prawns for Entree and Sirloin for Main.  While we were waiting for our Entree we munched on "straight from the oven" bread and oysters.  They were delivered to our table with amazing speed.  We washed this down with Champagne (for me) and beer for Philip.  Our waiter kindly took some photos for us.  It was such a laugh as he moved around the table like a pro telling us to tilt our heads this way and that....

I won't go into detail about the food as it would just be boring but I can tell you that this was one of the best meals I have ever eaten.  Everything was so fresh and full of flavour and it is a restaurant we will return to as often as possible.  Here are some photos of our meal.  I think they speak for themselves.

Grilled Prawns

Sashimi

Organic Chicken Breast

Sirloin with crispy chips on the side (not in the photo)

We decided that we wouldn't have any dessert but our waiter insisted that we should, after all it was included in the price.  I'm so pleased that he enticed us because both our choices were beyond fabulous.  Neither of us could finish dessert and next time we will skip the bread so that we can properly enjoy dessert.

I, of course, had to end the meal with an Espresso Martini.  It was good but the one that Philip makes me at home is better :-)

If any one is looking for a top notch meal in Port Douglas I highly recommend Arabella's.  Don't forget to book though as it is becoming very popular.

Happy Mothers Day.....

To all the wonderful mum's out there in cyber world, I want to wish each and everyone of you a very happy mothers day.  You are all amazing in each and every way.
I am lucky enough to celebrate mothers days twice this year.  My son came for a visit last weekend and we spent a lovely five days relaxing and chatting.  The time goes all too fast but we always look forward to the next time we are together.  Today Hubby has booked us a table at a new restaurant in Port called Arrabella's so we are having a Mothers Day Lunch there.  From all accounts the food is amazing so I will post photos on my next blog if I remember to take them.
So, getting back to last weekend we decided to have a game of golf down in Port at the Mirage Golf Course.  Marco loves golf  and Philip is always keen for a bit of a hit.  I want to learn how to play but until I take lessons I am happy enough to sit in the golf cart and take photos.
This golf course is beautiful and the men tell me it was a pleasure to play on it.  It was well shaded, perhaps a few too many trees as the men did lose a few golf balls.  There is also some well placed sand bunkers that take a bit of manoeuvring to get around, but it was all good and the men had many laughs.
Here are a few photos from the day.....

After Golf we drove into town to the Courthouse Hotel for lunch.  This places never fails as far as food is concerned.  The servings are huge and the food is excellent.  I ordered Fish Tacos, Marco ordered a Seafood Platter and Philip had the Calamari.  

This past week has been very busy and every day we have been in the car driving somewhere.  We had a business trip to Brisbane on Friday (down and back in the one day) and check this sunrise from 30,000 feet.....

I still try and walk each morning and when you have a scene like this it makes me wonder why I put it off some mornings.....

The pool is finished, well almost, and we are enjoying it very much.  I am so pleased that we budgeted for a heated pool. We set the temperature at 31 degrees celsius and it is just so lovely in the evenings to be able to take in views like this.......

The builder will be back this week to finish the Rotunda and erect the glass pool fencing, then it will be the landscapers turn.  I have some great ideas for this area - thanks to Pinterest, so stay tuned.

xx Judi