It’s been a busy couple of weeks here with school holidays and outings including to Perth Zoo (always a perennial favourite which I’ve blogged about before here and here) and yesterday we headed off with our elder daughter and 2 young granddaughters to another of our favourite places, the Swan Valley (previous visits here and here).
Unfortunately the weather gods put paid to our planned trip to an animal farm with the brooding clouds suddenly giving way to a heavy thundery downpour. We did, however, manage to have lunch at the charming Taylor’s Art and Coffee House, a first for us though our daughter has been a couple of times before.
The setting is charming – an old vine clad courtyard with flower pots and casual table settings, the olde worlde feel enhanced by the adjacent art gallery and a whimsical pre-loved goods store. The owners serve fresh organic seasonal produce often grown in their own garden (I had a wonderfully simple pea and asparagus risotto and our granddaughters a kids’ tasting plate including fresh fruit and vegetables). Family friendly, it’s the sort of place you can pop in for just a coffee or something more substantial. Although not normally licensed we’d come on the right day as there was a temporary pop up wine bar from a local producer Corymbia Wines (another new discovery for us in the Swan Valley).
Taylor’s also happens to be next door to the Chocolate Factory which naturally caught the kids attention! In the end we were able to get away without too many complaints from the girls (probably helped by the fact they were worried by the crashing thunder and flashes of lightning).
Spring is a bit hit and miss here in Perth at present but all the rain has been good for the gardens and nature reserves.
Our younger daughter arrives for a quick visit from London this week so we are hoping for some lovely sunny Spring Perth days!
Copyright © 2018 Rosemary Thomas Le Chic En Rose. All rights reserved
Le Chic En Rose 
Looks a lovely place for ,inch, particularly helped along by wine and chocolate!
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Yes always helps Anabel! I must say their chenin blanc was quite superb! We had a cooler summer than usual last year and a lot more rain – it’s apparently very good news for the 2018 vintage! 🙂
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Ah, my comment worked then! Apart from the typo in lunch, obviously. I am having terrible trouble at the moment, WordPress keeps asking me to sign in then (assuming I can) loses whatever i’ve typed. Blogger is just as bad 😟
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Yes your comment worked fine Anabel though sorry you’re having so much trouble. I have had a few glitches too but thought it might just be my computer. I’m finding photos take ages to upload then they seem to disappear from my post draughts but when I put them in again I often have doubles so have to delete and redo. Anyway it took me ages to do the short post I published today as things kept disappearing and reappearing or not loading properly. Not sure exactly what is going on but I have definitely noticed some changes in the last few weeks 😦
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I know they are working on a new editor so maybe they aren’t maintaining everything else as they used to. I don’t usually have trouble writing posts, except one that I corrected a typo in via my iPad and then it repeated every photo from the post in every gallery, so that might be connected with the problem you had. Commenting has been a pain off and on for a while, but it’s worse now. It might be an iPad problem – its software has recently updated. Sometimes I can’t even get the Like button to work. Very frustrating.
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That is so frustrating! It might explain the problems I had as it happened when I tried to make an alteration by removing a photo I didn’t want then it seemed to upset the whole system! The photos in the gallery appeared to disappear then reappeared in duplicate! I do have problems commenting on some people’s sites (often the non WordPress ones) but it seems to work on most of the blogs I like at least for now! Sometimes there can be problems after software updates if you’re using an iPad though shouldn’t affect the desktop computer. I once had to uninstall WordPress on my iPad and then reinstall it as the new software update didn’t install properly and froze the WordPress app completely (so I had to email tech support). Technology is wonderful when it works but so annoying when it doesn’t!
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I know! Very frustrating. I have more problems on the self-hosted sites, but it’s spreading.
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Yes I’ve always found problems with the self-hosted sites too but now there seem to the more glitches on the other ones too. It is very frustrating as you say!
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It’s such a lovely part of Australia and your photos always show it really well.
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Thanks Coral! I’m glad you like the photos as thinking about getting a new camera for Christmas. I need a better zoom – really noticed that on our recent travels in Alaska trying to get wildlife shots! We always love the Swan Valley so close to the city yet you feel right out in the country 🙂
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Now this looks just like the sort of place I would be happy to visit, a shame that my son has moved back to Sydney as I was looking forward to exploring Perth and its environs. Sydney doesn’t appeal so much anymore.
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Yes it is a pity that you don’t have an excuse to come to Perth! I’m sure you would love exploring the Swan Valley area and others. Maybe the non stop Qantas flight to Perth would be an excuse then on to Sydney (think we’ve mentioned this before?!) 🙂
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We have, and yes that is a good idea. I shall have to speak to my son and see if he can get me a discount since he now works for Qantas! They tend to be for immediate family though and for some odd reason parents aren’t in that bracket!
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Hmm that doesn’t seem fair especially when parents live far away! Our daughter is arriving here tomorrow for a quick 11 day visit (she’s a bridesmaid at her friend’s wedding next Saturday) – she’s coming Singapore though as that was the best deal when she booked.
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