Skulking about Richmond

I didn't go to yoga this morning because I woke up feeling very body-weary. Later in the morning I took the bus to an 11.30 appointment in Richmond because I didn't have the energy for a half-hour walk. But then I wandered for eight kilometres* around the back streets of Richmond taking photos before walking almost all the way home. 

If you saw someone in red boots skulking around between Bridge Road and Victoria Street taking photos of things on people verandahs and in their front yards, that was me. 

I posted my pics to Instagram when I got home and was amused and a little creeped out when I noticed I was being silently watched while taking a photo of chairs on someone's verandah! 

This photo is a little blurry because I rushed to get a shot of the dog while it was still sitting on the seat. 

It started wagging its tail when it saw me and I assumed it was going to come for a pat, but it got down off the seat and headed straight for the open front door! 

Some more of my photos:

 Snail lunch

 Closed up

 Love the shutters and entrance. Near Richmond West station 

 Shutters and statue

 Verandah seats, also near Richmond West station 

 As above

 Pretty garden and cottage on HighettStreet 

 Verandah bike, Lennox Street 

 Buttery yellow and blue 

Verandah couch 

 Conformity is overrated

 Verandah seat with wine glass

 Lovely lavender

 More verandah seats 

And couches

  * according to my VivoFit

Bargains, compliments, muffins

I love these facades on Bridge Road

I did a spot of shopping on Bridge Road in Richmond this afternoon. Nearly everything I tried on fitted and everything was a bargain. That's shopping nirvana, that is. 

The shop assistants were very chatty and complimentary. One liked my boots, another liked the print on my dress and another one liked my "style". (I was 'girly with an edge' today: a B&W sort of floral/paisley/damask print dress and full-skirted red trench, with boots and studded bag. This isn't a fashion blog so I have no photos.) 

I had a conversation with one shop assistant about the sorry state of retail on Bridge Road, which used to be Melbourne's mecca for discount fashion shopping, but it's verging on being a ghost strip these days. Every time I go, it seems as if more 'for lease' signs have gone up. I feel like I'm doing something to help by shopping there when I could find the same shops elsewhere...which helps me justify buying stuff I don't need! 

English muffins...why are they so tasty? I had them grilled with cheese and Vegemite for dinner. 

JBPM: day 12

While I was waiting at a bus stop this morning I looked up to see a small dog staring intently at me from an open car window. Even when I met its gaze, its stare didn't waver. It was funny, but slightly unsettling. The lights changed and the car took off so we'll never know how long the dog would have stared at me. 

How many times have I walked along Bridge Road in Richmond over the past 10 years? Many, many times. But I've never noticed this splendid old mirrored sign with gold lettering before. It says 'Famous Reynella Wines'. Yes, that's my reflection. And a bonus Golden Gaytime ad. 

Luke's parents gave me a bunch of lilies for my birthday. The first bloom opened on Friday and now the sweet aroma has perfumed our flat . I love that smell.   

Day 10: Not Monday, pink trunk, Richmond adventure

I thought it was Monday when I woke up at 6.00am and heard Luke getting ready for work. I groaned and rolled over and then through the sleep fog I realised it was Sunday. Woooh. That is one of the best feelings. (He works every Sunday. )

Look at the colours in the trunk of this eucalyptus tree a few blocks from my place. I haven't edited it in any way. It's pink!

It caught my eye when we drove past yesterday and I went back today to take a photo on the way to the supermarket. It was going to be a quick trip for cheese for a dish I planned to make for dinner, but I ended up roaming the backstreets of Richmond with my camera for well over an hour. I just can't resist wandering down streets I haven't been down before.

Upside down, Miss Jayne 

I found some old signs and since I haven't started my ghost sign blog yet, I'll share them here.  These are from several buildings comprising the old Rosella Preserving Co factory on Balmain Street, which is now a corporate complex. I've never been in this part of Richmond before so I was rather thrilled to unwittingly find it.  

The eponymous bird

 The main building

 I love how badly peeling the paint is

[Something] Pty Ltd Engineers on Goodwin Street

Excellent street art

I watched the Bill Bryson lecture this afternoon. A quote:

What a wonderful and wondrous place [Earth] is. What a lot we have done with a little atmosphere, some water, a warming sun and a few other healthful ingredients. Look around you next time you are out of doors in the open air and marvel. I beg you. Marvel at the staggering inventiveness, the elegance, the beauty, the utility, the exquisite...glory that is life on earth. It is hard to believe that anything could ever be better than this.

Oh, a quote by English novelist Margaret Drabble that I found on Pinterest, which captures what I was saying the other day about the appeal of my uncertain work situation:

When nothing is sure, everything is possible.

Catching up: part III (ghost signs)

Here is an assortment of ghost signs I've spotted while out and about over the past few weeks. 

The Big Store, Wattle Street, Prahran (off Chapel)

The Big Store again 

I think this is the building opposite The Big Store on Wattle Street

An accidental reveal on the verandah of Dragonfly Flowers 

on Chapel Street, Windsor

Billiards

Sands & McDougall Pty Ltd, Printers and Lithographers, 

Spencer Street, West Melbourne

I went for a walk on my lunch break on a sunny day this week and found these old signs. There's signs on the back of the building, which I've photographed before, but I don't think I've passed the front of the building in daylight before. 

The side

Painted over signs on an old shop front, Bridge Road, Richmond 

An old paint shop, most likely. This side says "Butrex full gloss"

And this side: "Revelite flat, semi gloss, full gloss

My Anzac Day sign hunt

Finally, here is my haul of ghost sign finds from last Thursday. I originally planned to use the public holiday for a gym session, but a Twitter friend had told me about a sign she passes on her way to work, so I decided to go and have a look at that instead. I travelled on foot to capture other signs on the way. I ended up walking for about 5 hours almost non-stop. It was an expedition. 

Unfortunately, my supposedly fully charged camera battery expired very early on in the piece and I'd left my spare at home on the charger, so I had to rely on my phone camera. Better than nothing, I suppose. Anyway, here they are:

Bridge Road, Richmond, near Hoddle Street intersection

Stark's Manufacturers. Spotted from Hoddle Street, 

Richmond, behind Hungry Jack's carpark

Islington Street, Collingwood. Not a painted sign, but it's old

At first glance I thought James was a Malteser. 

Maltster is still amusing. You don't meet maltsters

 at parties these days

Further along Islington Street

A closer look at the right end of the above sign reveals 

another old sign* - SHOE

And again...'manufacturer' or an abbreviation thereof

Islington again, but only a fraction

This is the Robur Tea sign that started it all, on the corner

 of Michael Street and Park Parade, North Fitzroy

Close up. Dairy Produce on the top left

The Robur Tea sign was a great find (not that I actually found it), and a little further along I came upon this gem on the corner of Albert Crescent and Grant Street. How easily I could have gone down a different street!

TOE & BALLET SHOE MANUFACTURERS!  J. Imbesi & Sons  

Also a two-in-one - T Peters made some other kind of shoes. 

Were basket shoes a thing? 

This one is the side of a building on Queens Parade, which I saw from (I think) Grant Street. There was a high degree of difficult in spotting it - it was a 'blink and you'll miss it' thing. It looks like it says BLAND. 

Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North (the bit north of Alexandra

 Parade). Not sure what it says

A closer view...Looks like 'Chek....y'  and second word

 ends in S. Any ideas? 

This is in Fitzroy...I forget which street

Collingwood (forget where...I did take note of street names, 

but not which sign was where. Der) 

Collingwood

Collingwood again

Also Collingwood (Vere Street, maybe?)

Collingwood yet again

Wattle Poultry, I reckon.  Alexandra Parade,

 I think near the corner of Wellington Street

This was Brunswick Street, Fitzroy North again

 (Yes, my photos are out of order and I'm too lazy to re-order them)

Corner of York Street (obviously) and Brunswick Street -

the same building as the one above 

W Parkin & Co Engineers, Fitzroy Street, Fitzroy 

Independent Hall, also Fitzroy Street

Strath Knits, Manufacturers of Fashion Knitwear. 

I think this was Collingwood too

* What I've been calling a two-in-one sign, other ghost sign hunters call a 'palimpsest', but I'm not sure I want to go there...