NaBloPoMo: day 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27

How has it been five days since I last posted? I've had a friend visiting for a couple of days so I haven't been online as much, but five days?! I'm not doing a very good job of NaBloPoMo, am I? 

Here's some stuff that's happened. 

Kranski! 

I had dinner with my friends Lauren and Bertie at the Munich Brauhaus on Wednesday night. Yes, the German restaurant was my idea. Predictably, I had cheese kranskies, potato salad and sauerkraut. And a pretzel. Yum. The company was good too. Lauren had some wonderful news to share - she's finally leaving the firm where we all met years ago. Hurrah!

I got a new piece of jewellery. Many migraine sufferers say this piercing (known as a daith piercing) cured or relieved their migraines, so my friend Deliea (also a chronic migraineur) and I decided to give it a crack. There's no science to back it up and other migraineurs say it made no difference, but we thought we'd find out for ourselves. I'll leave the ring in regardless, because I like it.  

I have a back up plan to ease my migraines anyway. You know how I spent a day in hospital having a test done last week? Well, I had a cerebral angiogram so my doctors could get a better look at a mass in my noggin that was discovered because my neurologist wanted to check if I had any clots in my sinuses after I mentioned that I'd had a DVT. The mass is an abnormal tangle of veins (arteriovenous malformation) and it could be the cause of some of my migraines. I'll be having it treated in the next few weeks (probably in a similar process to the angiogram - i.e. a catheter inserted into the femoral artery). After suffering migraines since my teens, this development seems almost too good to be true!

Cheese avalanche

After the piercing (which hurt, but but not for long), Deliea and I had burgers at Parlour Diner - the place I had that super oozy cheesy burger a few weeks ago. I had the same burger and it was just as good. (That's a rather unappetising looking gluten-free bun, but it's surprisingly sturdy and held everything together well.)

NaBloPoMo: day 20

Have you seen this amazing footage from David Attenborough's Planet Earth II? It's heart-stopping! 

We had a fun day out for Luke's sister's surprise 40th birthday party today. She had no inkling whatsoever, so the look on her face was priceless. Her three-year-old daughter, who was in her arms when we yelled "Surprise!", had not long woken from a nap and she could not have been less underwhelmed by the whole thing! 

The food at the winery was tasty (Cheese! Slow-cooked lamb! Pavlova!) and the weather was warm and sunny, albeit a little too warm where we were sitting. I was well and truly ready for a nap by the time we left, but I haven't had one, which is actually a good thing because, after two bad nights' sleep, I need to maximise my chances of a good eight hours tonight. 

NaBloPoMo: day 13

Foreboding sky this afternoon when I headed out

I met my friend from uni days for afternoon tea in Camberwell this afternoon. We had a good catch up and over delicious treats from the Laurent French bakery (mine was a miniature lemon meringue pie capped with a perfect dome of meringue).  It was pleasant way to while away a few hours on a Sunday afternoon. 

(As I usually do after spending time with friends, I thought, "I really should make more effort to keep in touch with my friends," but I'm probably not going to get any better at it: I'm an introvert and, as much as I like my friends, I rarely feel compelled to spend time with other people.)  

I forgot to take my umbrella with me when I left home (which almost never happens) and it started to rain quite heavily while I was on the train home, but it stopped not long after I got off the train while I waited under cover. I timed my comings and goings well once again.

 We had cheese kranskies for dinner. Yum. Cheese is the best. 

Feline, Foddie's, strolling

I met a cat coming home

I forgot to mention our meal at the Foddie's on Saturday night! It was their opening night and we waited a while for our meals, but they were worth the wait. I had the pulled beef burger, with one of the best gluten-free buns I've ever eaten, and Luke had the lamb fatoush salad, which he enjoyed.  

I had picked out their dessert tapas for my second course, but I couldn't fit it in.  As a thank you for coming to their opening night and to apologise for the wait on our meals, they sent us off with some gluten-free, lactose-free chocolate brownies. Yum. 

I walked nearly all the way from work to my pilates class in Windsor, which took a smidge over an hour. I walked along St Kilda Road for most of the way. It's quite a pleasant stroll, despite the multiple lanes of traffic. It accounted for about half of my daily total of 14,000 steps.  

Short day, friendly food, crunchy

I only have to be in the office for three hours tomorrow because the firm's Christmas party starts at noon. Free food and drinks and a short working day. Awesome. 

Luke and I are going to a 100 per cent FODMAP-friendly restaurant on Saturday for dinner. I will be able to eat EVERYTHING on the menu at Foddie's in Albert Park (I will try not to order everything, however). Gluten-free stuff is fairly common these days - I've even seen gluten-free options in country bakeries - but meals without onion and garlic (which contain fructans) are much harder to come by.

Luke made the crunchiest ever crumbed chicken drumsticks for dinner. Delicious. 

  

November: day 20

Nail art of the day

I showed my latest nail picture to Luke and he's completely grossed out that I kept the 'nail', as if it's actually my real nail. He's a strange boy, but I like him.  Then I told him I bought the 'nail' home with me... I have a creative vision, dammit! 

I fell over crossing the road today and several lovely people stopped to ask if I was OK (I was). I've fallen over four times this year and have only suffered a few bruises and scrapes. Lucky...especially as two of the tumbles were at waterfalls. Stupid slippery rocks.  

Hunky Dory, the fish n chip place, is our new Friday night dinner haunt. I'm in love with their lamb skewers. They're so juicy and tender and flavoursome. We're often served by the same young woman and she knows what my 'usual' is now. 

Excellent and delicious

This made me chuckle 

Today I got the nine-letter word in The Age Target puzzle and I found all of the words...well, enough to score an 'excellent'. This is a very rare event...probably because the nine-letter word was 'horseshoe', but whatever!

I had lunch with some work friends. My peri peri chicken burger was deliciously tender and juicy. 

Weekend!!

Sunshine, botox, bridal binge

Yesterday's golden hour 

The last two days have been filled with glorious sunshine. I walked the 40 minutes to my osteopath appointment this morning for the first time in aaaaages to make the most of the warmth. I bared my pasty white arms and gave my vitamin D levels a boost. Aaaah...spring. The smell of jasmine is everywhere and magnolias are blooming, even though the trees are still bare of leaves. 

I had my neurologist appointment yesterday. I'm gonna get botox! As well as its cosmetic and other therapeutic benefits, the toxin is effective at preventing migraines in many sufferers. I have to keep a diary to show that I have 15 migraines a month before the government will subsidise the treatment, so for the first time ever I'm willing my head to ache! Fifteen seems like a lot, but I think I'll get there. The treatment costs $1,200 and lasts only three months so it's not an option if I don't qualify for the subsidy.  

It's weird that being injected with the most deadly toxin known to humankind feels preferable to taking medication every day. (No one has ever been poisoned by it during a treatment.) I didn't ask about whether the treatment will have cosmetic benefits, if you're wondering! 

I had a lovely dinner with the girls last night - a farewell dinner for a friend from my old work who is leaving to for an extended stint of travel, the lucky thing. The food was tasty and we had a lot of laughs.  

I've had a huge wedding show binge this afternoon. I've lost track of how many hours of wedding programs I watched*. I'd be watching Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta right now if I hadn't already seen the episode earlier in the day.  So annoying! 

(*Yeah, I know I should have been outside enjoying the late winter sun, but I didn't have the energy for it. I still enjoyed the sun shining in my big lounge room window and the gentle breeze blowing through my flat.) 

JBPM: day 20

Dan the nursery cat

He looks stern, but Dan was friendly and enjoyed my pats. His owner at the Glasshaus nursery in Richmond said a lot of people take his photo and post it to Instagram, so maybe he's tired of posing for the snaparazzi. It must be tiresome being a celebrity. 

I think it's funny and a bit odd when people give their pets human names. My family had neighbours once who called their dog, a collie, Kirsty. I wondered if they had a child would they call it Lassie. (They didn't. They had three boys.) 

I cooked three recipes from Pinterest for dinner tonight. Three! New dishes I haven't made before, too -  lime and coconut chicken, avocado and coriander rice, and a mixed berry cobbler. The cobbler wasn't quite right - it didn't rise much, for some reason, and it was a little well done around the edges  - but it was yummy, especially with a generous dollop of whipped cream.  

Speaking of food, I had the blueberry pancakes with lemon curd and creme fraiche at Moth to a Flame for brunch again today. SO good. It was accompanied by the perfect hot chocolate too.  

Luke is watching funny videos on YouTube and roaring with laughter. I have been laughing at him laughing. He has one laugh that goes "HAAA-HAAAH!" that I find particularly amusing. 

JBPM: day 13

 Brunch - crumpets with maple butter, creme fraiche

 and caramelised walnuts. Yum. 

 Old paint shop sign on Bay Street, Brighton

The city from Brighton

Yachts on the bay

Day 30: Kensington spider, Little Prince, Proud Mary

Luke and I visited the inner western suburb of Kensington for lunch today just for something different. 

We each bought a book at the bookshop next to the station. I got an old Puffin paperback of The Little Prince, which I've never read before. It has a handwritten message inside the front cover:

For L.P Isaac Ricardo 

With best wishes for this week, and next month, and next year, etc, etc 

Leslie Oct 1969

I've started reading it and I'm quite charmed.

We ate at the White Rabbit Record Bar.  I had a strawberry spider (icecream soda) with my panini. I first ordered a lime spider, but they were out of lime, and they were out of raspberry as well, so I had to settle for strawberry, which tasted like raspberry anyway. 

Then we took our cameras and wandered around a bit looking for ghost signs. This Velvet Soap sign was the best find. 

Can anyone make out what the white lettering - a separate sign - says? Bleached something?  There was an Empire Cocoa sign on the other side of the building.

We saw the 20 Feet from Stardom at the movies. It's a documentary about the back up singers to some of the biggest musical acts of the 21st century, including Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder.  It was a bit too long, but I really enjoyed it. It really iss a story that hasn't been told before. The singing is (not surprisingly) AH-mazing and the women featured are engaging and sassy. 

One of the singers featured is Claudia Lennear, who was part of Ike and Tina Turner's Ikettes. The doco included a bit of this clip of Ike and Tina doing Proud Mary. I've seen this numerous times before. I love it (the Ikettes appear around the three minute mark).

Spruced up, delightful company, score!

On my way to meet Bertie and Lauren for dinner last night I noticed the GPO was sporting a festive new look thanks to red lighting in its windows. I'm not sure how I didn't notice this before because I work on the opposite corner, although I do look down on the building, so that's probably why. I did notice the clock appears to have emerged from the building's recent refurbishment with a new face - or has it always been blue around the outside? Maybe it's just brighter and more eye-catching now. (Hard to see here.)

Bertie, Lauren and I ate at Ca De Vin, one the the restaurants in the alley beside the GPO. Sounds unsavoury, but it's not. It's quite lovely, and warm thanks to lots of overhead gas heaters. 

 The entrance

The view from our table 

(Camera phone = not very good pics)

There are quite a few old signs from the days when the GPO was an actual GPO (general post office) and the alley was a laneway servicing the GPO. I took some photos, but the lighting was very dim further in where the best ones were. I'll have to go back during the day. 

Oh, the dinner. The food was tasty and, as always, the company of my former work colleagues was delightful. I really miss working with people I'm genuinely fond of - people I consider real friends, not just work friends.  Sigh.

Today I ate a mandarin, one of those ones with two or three pips per segment. I dropped a pip on my desk and it bounced along it, fell off and landed in my bin. 

TWO MORE SLEEPS TIL SYDNEY!! 

A gleeful discovery

I bought a dress recently to wear to my friend Bertie's upcoming wedding, but when I tried it on at home I realised it was just a bit too squishy in the boob region, so I decided to get it altered. I did a google search for clothing alteration services in the city and one that came up was Circe. My heart leapt a little in my (apparently too ample) bosom. So that's what Circe does! They're located in one of my favourite buildings in the CBD, the old City of Melbourne Building on the corner of  Elizabeth and Little Collins Streets. I'd seen the name on a little round window of the building, but I didn't know if  it was still operating there, especially given the phone number is old (it has seven, rather than digits). 

I took my dress in yesterday and took a few quick photos before leaving. 

The quote to alter my dress was quite reasonable too. I was prepared to pay a little more to have a reason to be inside the building (and for a place that wasn't Alter-It). 

For anyone who's wondering, Circe, pronounced "keer-keeh" is a minor goddess/nymph/sorceress/witch from Greek mythology, described in Homer's Odyssey as "the loveliest of all immortals"...she did murder her hubby though.)

On day one of my extra long weekend, Luke and I had second breakfast at Yellow Bird on Chapel Street. I had a yummy macadamia muesli with fresh fruit and honey. We also bought a colour printer. Not a particularly exciting purchase, but handy. 

  

Recognised, cool change, mania

Still no Sydney update - I have to tell you about something else that happened on burger and gelati (burgelati?) night. After I left the shop with my blood orange and chocolate gelati and sat down at a table outside, a woman in the shop stopped Luke on his way out to ask if I was the owner of the Girl in Melbourne blog. He answered in the affirmative and then relayed this to me straight away. I was a little bit thrilled. I've been recognised! 

Then after she had finished her gelati, the woman came over to say hello herself! Her name is Brooke. She said she's a lurker at GiM. If you're lurking here too, Brooke, hello! You made my day. 

The weather in Melbourne was very cooperative today. The cool change came through in the afternoon, sending the temperature plummeting 10 degrees to 27 in 10 minutes, which allowed Luke and I to walk in comfort to Bridge Road. I think we're going to have to start planning our route to Grill'd and Fritz now because it's becoming harder to find 'new' streets. So soon! 

We didn't see much new this evening...oh, wait - we saw two nuns of Daughters of Divine Zeal on Church Street. The street name's not a coincidence - the imposing St Ignatius church sits high on the hill opposite the hostel run by the Daughters. I can't comment on how zealous they were. We didn't get close enough.

I also patted a friendly Russian blue cat that was sitting on the front porch of a blue house. I think his humans like blue. 

And I spotted this old sign on the back of the building Grill'd occupies. 

It says 'coke depot' on the upper right, but I can't make out the rest. Something ending in 'ggs' on the left maybe? 

When we were walking through Gosch's Paddock on our way home, there were dozens of bats flying overhead on their way to feast at the Botanic Gardens. I see them most nights - sometimes one or two flying right past our window - but I don't often see so many.  

My invention of burgelati above reminded me that I've recently come to suspect I have some kind of sickness characterised by a mania for making up portmanteau words. I can't help it. I just do it without thinking. For example, every time I see the 7Eleven ad for their Frozen Coke, inside my head I scream, 'FROKE! Just call it FROKE!' It's not a bad affliction. I quite enjoy it. Maybe I'll start a blog called Portmantopia... 

Friday night replay

This evening was a carbon copy of last Friday night for Luke and me: a balmy evening stroll through the backstreets of Richmond for a burger and gelati on Bridge Road. 

This time we walked there along Rowena Parade and The Vaucluse to have a look at the grand old houses in daylight. Before we turned the corner into Rowena Parade, we stopped to look at the strange new gate on the old building on the corner of Lennox Street. And then I noticed what I had never seen on the dozens and dozens of times I've passed by previously: very faint old signs. 

 General house repairs

There's a sign between the upper and lower windows, but

 all I can make  out is "& Sons Carpenters"

I'm usually too busy admiring the building's peeling shutters. 

Moving right along... there are some beautiful old houses at the top of The Vaucluse, which is possibly the most elevated spot in Richmond. All the better to look down on the heaving mass of working class people  around you, way back when. 

 Shady garden path 

 This is probably the grandest house. It's 

for sale if you  have a few million dollars

 spare to splash around

A window of St Ignatius 

A less grand home a few blocks away  on the 
corner of Mary Street

Lady Santa 

The evening's best sign find: 

Sack merchants! 

The building is now a dwelling 

Help me! 

We had burgers at Grill'd and then gelati at Fritz. I had blood orange as usual - it was a super zesty batch - and I also had a scoop of caramelized fig and roasted almond. It was as tasty as it sounds.  That reminds me, fig season is pretty much upon us! Yay. 

We walked back along Bridge Road then through the narrow streets between Church Street and Punt Road.  If we keep this up, we'll have traversed every street in Richmond before too long. Like last Friday, it was a very pleasant evening for a stroll - it was warm  and the scent of flowers and garden sprinklers were in the air. The smell of garden sprinklers reminds me of being a kid. 

As we headed along Goodwood Street towards Punt Road, I commented on a stern looking building and Luke (who obviously has better eyesight than I do) spotted a bunch of very faint old signs on the front. It was too dim for a photo by then though, so I'll go back again. 

 Pretty flower 

Bird on a wire

   

NaBlaPoMo: THE END

It was so warm last night - the hottest November night in 111 years, in fact - that we slept without even a sheet over us and with the blind up so as not to impede the little puffs of cool breeze blowing through the window. But when the blind's up and I'm lying on my right side (my preferred side) the light illuminating the billboard on the Nylex clock silo shines in my face, which annoys me. 

To solve this problem, I moved my pillow to the foot of the bed and slept up that end instead. But I'm not sure this was a conscious decision, or if it was just the latest odd act in the bizarre nocturnal theatre of my life. I also woke up to find my bedside lamp sitting on the floor beside the bed, which does suggest sleeping up the wrong end was an unconscious decision... Either way, it was an effective solution. 

Here are some photos from my walk home from work.

 Vesper 1, Little Bourke Street

 Vesper 2 - Degraves Street

(Vesper + Clementine = vespertine)

 Clementine's is next door to the Little

 Bookroom I posted a photo of yesterday

 The footbridge over the Yarra has its Christmas clothing on 

 Jacaranda in Queen Victoria Gardens

 (for Piggywhistles)

 The trees are outgrowing their bark

 (also for Piggywhistles)

Luke and I meandered up to Bridge Road this evening for a burger and...yeah, Fritz Gelato again. I'm a gelati junkie. 

We walked along back streets on the west side of Church Street. We saw some beautiful old houses, some grand but most more modest and nicely restored. There were also quite a few that looked as if a stiff breeze would blow them down. But you might already know I'm partial to urban decay. At least dilapidated houses have more character than the modern concrete boxes dotting the backstreets of Richmond.
  

For those times when you can't control yourself...

We decided to walk home again after our gelati. It was a lovely balmy evening to be out and about. The streets were lined with people enjoying their dinner and drinks al fresco and the cicadas were buzzing. There was a gentle breeze. 

We walked along The Vaucluse, Richmond's hoity-toity enclave, which was pretty even in the fading light. Closer to home, the bubble dome was lit up and twinkling. We could hear the crowd roar as we passed by. A group of girls paddling canoes passed under Morell Bridge as we crossed over it.  

There was lightning in the distance as we neared home. Not long after we installed ourselves on the couch, scarier lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled. It rained a little too.   A nice way to end the day. 

Speaking of endings, I finished reading The Horologicon at last. It was an engaging and chuckle-inducing read, although not quite as captivating as The Etymologicon, which had me riveted from start to finish. Even so, I'm looking forward to Mark Forsyth's next book. 

NaBloPoMo also comes to an end today. I've made it through 30 days and 30 posts. *pats self on back*   Thank you for reading. 

Thank you, das monsterschnitzel, laugh-snort

A reader posted a very lovely anonymous comment on my other blog today. I read it while I was on the tram home and got a little teary. It means a lot to me when people say my blog has lifted their spirits. I started Gleeful to make myself happier, so it's immensely gratifying to hear I've helped make others even a tinier bit happier, too.  I think I know who left the comment, but in case I'm wrong, thank you, lovely anonymous person. 

Luke and I went to The Hungarian on Bridge Road, Richmond for dinner tonight. We'd never been before. I think we both decided to eat there after seeing this dish on the menu displayed in the window: 

Das monsterschnitzel! Neither of us ordered a monster schnitzel though. I had lamb goulash with nokedli and Luke had roast pork knuckle. Pork knuckle! It had crackling on it and it was very crackly. We also had a couple of pickled side salads. I love pickled things. Luke had a Hungarian beer and I had a fruity cocktail.  As well as das monsterschnitzel, the menu contains many other humourous touches. 

The reason we went to Bridge Road is because I wanted Fritz Gelato for dessert. Again. There was a group of older people ordering when we arrived. They were quite a jolly bunch and someone did a laugh-snort, which made Luke and me laugh too. 

I had the blood orange again - I LOVE the blood orange - and raspberry rumble. Yum. 

More old signs! 

I've taken photos of this old building on Bridge road before, but I didn't look close enough to see the faint ghosts of old signs on one of the shopfronts.  I can't make out what any of them say. This is one shopfront in a row of about six. 

I saw a fishbone in the sky on my way home from work. Or an arrow. Or...does anyone else think it's a little phallic or is that just me?