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

Crazy frog

This frog - the desert rain frog - is an actual real creature, not a squeaky toy. Really. 

Dark and drizzly, golden hour, even better best

Sunset is over there ---->

It was dark and drizzly when I got up this morning. It doesn't raise the spirits like getting up to a flat flooded with sunlight, but there's a coziness - or something - about it that appeals to me. I like having a shower in the dark. (I should note that my building is always warm in the cooler months so rising on cold mornings isn't such a shock to the system...and I don't get up until around 8.00am).

It was cold and drizzly all day. The sun only showed up as it sank towards the horizon. I can't quite see the sunset from my office at the moment, but I get to enjoy the golden hour every afternoon. Around the time I took the photo above, the bay was a calm icy blue and a container ship was lit orange by the rays of the sun. It looked very serene. 

I've had an aching back for a little while and today I remembered I had a heat pack in my drawer, so I gave it a spin in the microwave and stuffed it down the back of my skirt, which was fine when I was sitting down, but when I was walking to the kitchen it fell out the bottom of my skirt onto the floor as if I'd laid an egg. 

Speaking of my skirt, it's one that I haven't worn in a year or more. I held it up to myself and didn't think it would fit, but it did. 

I was wrong about my bed-to-desk personal best! I'm down to 50 minutes now, not 52! I predict it will never be bested.  

JBPM: day 19

Luke and I got quite a few chuckles from this map of "vaguely rude" place names of the world. Imagine telling people you come from Shitterton or Anus or Vagina or C**t (that's in Sweden. It's not at all vague in its rudeness.). Oh, how we laughed, like the middlescents we are.   

I took a few photos on my walk home this afternoon. I never get tired of these views. 

Corner Chapel Street and Alexandra Avenue

The city from the Caroline Street landing on the river bank

And from the Hoddle Street bridge

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.

Day 24: Funny fox, little pops, perfect choc

Luke and I have been watching the documentary Wild Planet: North America on Sunday nights. Although the narration is cringeworthy at times, the footage is amazing and tonight's scenes of a red fox hunting rodents in the snow had me chortling. This isn't from the same documentary, but it's the same hunting technique.  

The foxes can hear a mouse in up to one metre of snow and, even more remarkably, they are far more successful in finding a mouse in snow when facing north. The foxes use the Earth's magnetic field to help pinpoint the location of their prey. Isn't nature amazing? 

Little pops

We had corned beef for dinner tonight and it was delicious. We had it with wholegrain mustard. I like the way the mustard seeds pop gently between your teeth as you eat them. We have enough leftovers for dinner tomorrow. 

Muffin Break at Australia on Collins does 
excellent hot chocolate