Second win, second wind, new leaf

Stopped by Hosier Lane on the way home 

I solved the Target puzzle again! Twice in a week. I've been making myself persevere beyond the "very good" word count and this time I reached the word limit without really noticing (the word was "sentenced"). Still no confetti shower. 

One of my pot plants got a bit droopy because I forgot to water it. Until it wilted, there was a long thin flower thing pointing towards the ceiling, but lack of water had it pointing to the floor. It was still drooping long after I watered it and I thought it was doomed, but when I got up this morning it was pointing up again! Yay! I saved it!

One of our other indoor plants  - a palm of some description - has sprouted its first new leaf since we bought it a few months ago.  I was worried it was failing to thrive. 

More wandering

I had an appointment in Prahran this morning then I spent the afternoon wandering about the streets, as I am wont to do. I took a lot of photos of stuff and things. 

Trio of verandah seats, Prahran 

Skull and bricks, Artists Lane, Windsor

Rainbow Tea, Artists Lane again

Well, hello there. Naturalist mann-equin at Chapel Street Bazaar

Ha-haaaa! T-Rex tapping out witty retorts on Facebook

Shady, leafy Davis Street, South Yarra 

Gorgeous house and garden on Davis Street

Blooming 

Rusting

In the front garden at Botanics on Punt Road

Inside Botanics, florest, nursery and giftshop - aka paradise

I bought a stem of gorgeous purple orchids

  

And some chrysanthemums (fittonia on the right)

My mantelpiece 

More 'mums and spathiphyllum with a trio of flowers

Orchid close-up

I walked about 16,000 steps and was plum tuckered out when I got home. I had a nice hot bath and am very much looking forward to getting into bed. I don't plan to emerge from before lunchtime. 

Sunday wanders

Walking across Morell Bridge this morning I spied a man and a small boy picnicking in a spot out of the gusty wind. They sat close together on one side of the blanket, the boy's head resting on the man's shoulder. I wanted to take a photo of this sweet little scene, but I couldn't do it discreetly. 

I took a tram into the city and when I was crossing Collins Street, I passed a little girl in an orange tracksuit, blowing on a harmonica.  She had a mop of dark hair. It made me smile. 

I went to Melbourne Central, where I discovered a gorgeous little flower shop called Morning Flowers (it's probably been there for ages - it's me that hasn't). 

 Succulents, terrariums, tiny posies, and wee pot plants galore

Such a pretty shop

I bought three of the aforementioned wee pot plants, which I'm too tired/lazy to take photos of right now. 

I did some wandering about the laneways. 

 Union Lane

Street heart, just off Degraves Street 

So much to look at on Presgrave Place

 Off Degraves again

Off Degraves again 

This piece above is great and I love the huge curve of colour that surrounds it, but it makes me wistful for the fantastic mosaic that used to be there which said, "Random acts of gentle anarchy". I loved it, and now I miss it even more after discovering its history (because I couldn't remember the exact wording and had to consult the Google). 

The work was created by Sayraphim Lothian during a workshop with a visiting UK "craftivist and rebel ceramicist" Carrie Reichardt. Sayraphim describes herself as a "public artist, investigator of guerrilla kindness [and] craftivist". I love the idea of guerilla kindness - leaving "tiny handcrafted artworks out on the street for people to find and take home, injecting tiny, unexpected and magical moments in passers-by’s lives. They aim to remind people of the niceness of life, as rewards for those who take the time to stop and look around them once in a while" I like to take the time to stop and look around me all the time. So, yeah, I miss the mosaic. I will keep an eye out for her tiny handcrafted artworks now. 

I went to a couple of art and craft shops to get supplies for a few projects I have in my mind as a result of spending too much time on Pinterest (still). I'm feeling very creative lately, although I haven't actually created anything thus far; I just lie awake thinking about what I'm going to make. I wonder if this has to do with being off the anti-depressants (a surge of creativity, I mean, not lying awake thinking, although that could be too)? 

 Happy button is happy (despite being trapped under tape)

I have an extra long weekend coming up in a couple of weeks (I'm taking the Monday off before Melbourne Cup Day so I have five days off. Wooh!) so I'm planning to immerse myself in arts and crafts then.

 Crossing Morell Bridge on my home this evening

 As above

Cool clouds

* All these pics and more are on my Instagram feed. 

Spicy, decluttering, greenery

Ghost sign on Victoria Street, Albert Park

I made a tasty chicken curry from scratch for dinner tonight. I had most of the spices already (including fenugreek seeds, of all things!) so I thought I might as well make the curry powder rather than buy it. I used a coffee grinder that a friend gave me to make the powder - much quicker and easier than trying to make a fine powder in the mortar and pestle, that's for sure.  I love the smell of all the different spices. I made enough powder to make several more curries.  

I cleaned out my bathroom cabinets and laundry cupboards this afternoon and got rid of quite a lot of stuff. Well, all the half-empty products I no longer use are sitting in a box while I work out where to dispose of them. Although they aren't strictly hazardous chemicals, I don't want to empty them down the sink. Next weekend I plan to do the kitchen, including that one draw full of random crap that everyone has somewhere in their house (the one with duct tape, sparklers, a cigar cutter and widgets with no readily discernible use.) 

We bought some new indoor plants yesterday to replace the ones I bought years ago that eventually gave up and died a while back. We got a spathiphyllum (aka peace lily), a syagrus and a fittonia, which is the prettiest little thing.  A bit of greenery always brightens up the place, doesn't it?