Nine years ago today...

I've lived in my beloved South Yarra flat for nine years today. Nine years! It's the longest I've lived anywhere in my adult life. In some ways it feels as if the time has passed quickly, but when I think about all that's happened in that time - I've had four jobs and four relationships (counting the current ones); I lost my dad (four years ago next April); plus I finally went overseas and I've been again since then. 

This flat - our fabulous sunny flat, so close to the city and the Botanic gardens, with its lovely views and free heating - has been one of the few constants in my life and one of the key sources of my happiness over the years. I love this flat. I love living here. 

I found this on Pinterest today: 

I've clearly been unconsciously abiding by this rule. For Christmas I bought TJ - the boy who loves The Octopuppy - a book called The Boring Book. It's about something else I love - words.  

Three working days until holidays...

Not destroyed after all!

Happy news! The Bournville Cocoa sign in Armadale hasn't been destroyed! Turns out I was there before High Riser and the bit I thought was the ruined sign is actually part of the wall of the building that's been demolished. Hooray! The partial has knocked down after my visit, revealing the whole sign. I'm SO relieved! I will go back to take a photo of the complete sign soon...hopefully they don't actually destroy it or build the new wall before I get there.

The Octopuppy

I bought my quasi-nephew TJ a book called The Octopuppy for his birthday in September. I spent ages choosing the right one, and it's no surprise that I thought a book about an octopus was the right one. I chose well because his mum told me yesterday he loves it and gets his brother to read it to him "all the time". 

I was so taken with The Octopuppy that I later bought a copy for myself. It's cute and makes me chuckle, plus it has a lovely message. It's about a boy called Edgar who wants a dog, but he gets a very clever octopus called Jarvis instead. He tries to train Jarvis to be a dog, but things don't go to plan. When he commands Jarvis to play dead, this is what happens:

When Edgar tells Jarvis to sit...

...he thinks things are looking up (that's him jumping for joy with his head chopped off), but it's all to no avail... If you have a 3-5 year old (or a 40-something who likes octopuses) in your life, I recommend The Octopuppy. 

Only five working days until holidays. If this week so far is any indication, it's going to be a very busy five days. I smashed my to-do list today and left the office feeling pleased with myself. That doesn't happen as often as I'd like. 

A shop assistant at Dangerfield said my boots (the ones I bought recently on ASOS) were awesome. 

Bird in the city

I passed a rainbow lorikeet having an early evening snack on some exotic blooms in the Alexandra Gardens on my home.  When I first saw it, it was on a branch only about a metre from me and I pulled up suddenly to take a photo. I expected it to fly away, but it only skipped to a branch a little higher up and kept nibbling. 

This was about 20 metres from St Kilda Road, not far from Prince's Bridge. I think it's pretty amazing to see birds like this so close to the CBD.

Going...going...

You know the old Bournville sign I got excited about on Saturday? It turns out I missed out by mere days on seeing the full sign. Yes, part of it has only recently been destroyed. *sad face* I saw it in all its faded glory on Andrew's Higher Riser blog tonight. I'm glad someone got a photo of it. It was a brilliant sign. 

Stick football man

I didn't erase the picture of a stickman footballer that Luke drew on the Etch-a-Sketch a couple of weeks ago. When I got home tonight, he'd put it out for me again to let me know he was going to kick the footy.

Jacarandas, golden hour, 12 days

The jacarandas are flowering in Melbourne. So, so pretty. The one above is in my street. I love the purple against the cream bricks.

The jacaranda trees down here tend to be more spindly than their northern cousins, but on Saturday when Luke and I were at the intersection of Toorak and Orrong Roads, I spotted a tall jacaranda growing in a tiny park beside the road. I looked up to see its broad purple canopy spreading out against the clear blue sky. Beautiful. I wish I'd stopped to take a photo. 

You'll have to make do with this photo from Google streetview. I used google maps to confirm we were at the Orrong Road intersection, and whaddya know? Google was there when the tree was flowering too. (I would have taken a better photo.)

I love walking home through the park after work when the sun is shining and the grass and trees are so bright and green. My photo doesn't really capture the glowiness. 

Twelve working days until I'm on leave. 

Sign excitement, toy store fun, crunchy only

I nearly peed my pants with excitement when I spotted this ghost sign in Armadale this afternoon. I had half an hour to kill so I wandered along High Street looking for old signs. I saw a few relatively unremarkable examples and then BAM! I spotted this brilliant Bournville cocoa sign. It's one of those extra special ghost signs which have been revealed to the world again temporarily by demolition works. 

We went to an ace toy store, Honeybee Toys, in nearby Malvern to buy Christmas presents for Luke's niece and nephews. We had fun playing with the the musical instruments and finger/hand puppets - they had tortoises, a hairy spider, a big brown bat, a little black bat, a bumble bee, and a T-Rex with hilariously feeble arms that were just flaps of fabric. We bought Space Hoppers and a music box. 

I'm addicted to peanut butter on toast at the moment. Thick, melty, delicious peanut butter. Crunchy only. 

I got my leave!

I got approval  today for my 19 days' leave over the Christmas/New Year period. Hooray! I cannot wait. Only 15 working days and I'm there. I'd better get started on that holiday to-do list, and get a wriggle on with planning our road trip, too. 

The element of surprise

The other book I was waiting for arrived today. It's Mark Forsyth's new one, The Elements of Eloquence, which is a departure from his previous works because it isn't a collection of odd, interesting or amusing words. This one is about stringing words together well - that is, the figures of rhetoric. 

I was pleased when it arrived, but I was thrilled when I got home and opened it to find that IT'S AUTOGRAPHED!!! I gasped and sat there, mouth agape, for about a minute. Now I don't feel so bad about ordering it online from Book Depository, which I only did because it isn't available here yet and I had to get my mitts on it. 

I can't start reading it until I finish my current book, and The Little Prince, but it's going straight to the top of my still-to-read pile. 

Another NaBloPoMo in the bag

That's my third - or is it fourth? -  NaBloPoMo over and done with. It has had the intended aim of getting me back into the groove of regular blogging, although I would have done a better job of it if I wasn't plagued by fatigue and headaches, and hadn't left it so late in the day to write my posts.  (I will get to that word nerd post.)

I was half-expecting no one would still be reading after my absence, so thank you for not forsaking me, and for taking the time to comment (especially you, Lindy!). I'm still terrible at replying to comments, but I do read them all.