friday frivolities

an indian feast with friends on friday night. and it happened to be trish's birthday - so happy birthday galpal. the new restaurant was a little flasher than expected, considering brad turned up in thongs. the good food was worth the wait.

trish and chris.



don't ask me why they do this, they just do. tim started it, i'll blame him.










yep, all grownups here. :)


and we all have devil eyes - still learning the functions of my camera - yah for the self-timer.

one weekend goneth, the other cometh

meant to post before now, i apologise - i've been busy with work. but here i am - with photos even.

having a largish friday night, always gives me an impression of a long weekend so my first weekend back in australia felt like 3 days instead of 2 - or is that something to do with jet lag? i don't know much of anything anymore. ha!!

anyway, after the party on friday night i had another catch up with friends i haven't seen for a few months. and this was for charity. a purple twilight walk through kings park for the breast cancer foundation of w.a. remember folks, it's pro-healthy breasts, not anti-cancer... ;)


there is quite a bit of purple here, be warned.



me 'n melis 'n marija...


the above plus ang.




lovely angelica.


a marija sandwich. (and thanks to marija for some of the cooler pics from the twilight walk).


drinks at the subi hotel after this then the sadness that was the world rugby game between australia and england. don't concern yourself, i haven't turned. :)

sunday reverted to type and sat in the hyde park (north perth of course) over croissants and papers. beautiful day. started playing around with the functions on my camera - something i probably should've done before my travels.






i think hayfever has landed on me. never had it before. damn you spring.

like sand through the hour glass...

friday was gail's 40th b'day and she had gathered a few friends together at the local for drinks and nibblies. a good time was had by all. first up, the birthday girl.




here's adrian and meg.


marija and stuart.


jen from melbourne stayed with us for a week leading up to the party - great gal.


and these ladies (i use the term loosely) are ones i shared a couple of years with during my mining days at bronzewing. we tend to get together every two months or so for a lunch and a catch-up.


happy birthday gail. hope your holiday in tasmania is a fun one.

moodle, verb.,

to allow procrastination to take over to the point where your imagination is fully engaged and does whatever it wants to.

hi, my name is leisa franklin. and i am a moodler.

post-holiday blues

and being back at work on a public holiday doesn't help either. nor does not sleeping, but i guess i'll get back into the swing of things. afterall, there's only 85 days til xmas. :)

have a party this weekend, something to look forward to. now off to buy an ice coffee, poor w.a. substitute for a grande mocha frappacino, no whipped cream.

another suitcase in another airport...

oh woe is me... i am headed back eastward and to perth. i can hardly believe it's over. almost anyway. enough that it counts. :)

and i think that london is weeping with me as it's been raining all day, so i didn't get the things done that i had planned. no hyde park or portobello road shopping. but i did manage to take in a couple of sights, so i'll share them with you, as you commiserate with me.

started out at the enbankment station this morning. wanted to get a "doctor who" shot of the london eye. for you fans out there, you will recall first episode, first season with christopher eccleston and billie piper.


walked a little way along the other side of the thames, sprinkling rain. this side had griffin benches instead of the swans.



not even close to the tardis i know, but i love that the uk still has these sort of public telephones about the place.


went looking for downing street and came across the horse guards.


when i did come across downing street i had to take stock of all the changes that have happened in the intervening 30 years. my dad went to the uk in 1978 - you should see the pictures of him in a burt reynolds moustache... ha... anyway, he has a picture of himself standing next to the guard by the door of 10 downing street. (oh, for those of you who don't know, 10 downing is famous because it houses the british prime minister). so dad could actually knock on the door if he had a mind too and now nearly 30 years later we can't even get into the street.


this is the back of the houses of parliament and big ben before i got to westminster abbey.



and the abbey is still beautiful. i wasn't in the mood to put up with the crowds inside so didn't go in. i think i'll come back in a winter to avoid too many people.




after this i caught another tube to knightsbridge.



now for some interior shots. mostly from the food halls.









and xmas comes early at harrods. already there is a christmas department. it could be there all year round for all i know, but it is very lovely.


i went all the way to nottinghill, braving the downpour but it got to be too much so i hid in a pub called the prince albert. a burger followed by rhubarb crumble and custard.

now i sit at heathrow airport, over my last starbucks frappacino for a while....sigh.... this'll be the last digital postcard from these lot of holidays. but you never know i might be back to share tidings from perth. afterall, summer is on it's way - the city might just be waking up.

a BIG thankyou to my generous hosts while travelling, julie and vince in los angeles. trish and stuart in west ealing. louise and lorne in chelmsford. whenever i have a home you are more than welcome to kick me out of my bed.

i'll be back!