Morning sights

When I got up this morning I went to check my little window sill garden in the loungeroom to see if anything needed a drink and something caught my eye...

So close! It sank quite low and I thought it was going to land in Gosch's Paddock across the river, but then it rose up over the city. Such a captivating sight. 

Then sSomething else caught my eye...

The chain of hearts plant I bought Friday has sprouted a flower! A strange little flower, but a flower all the same. 

Top to bottom, just in time

The view from the top...almost

I went nearly to the top of my building today - level 53 of 54 (I work on 38). It's currently vacant and it was used for fire warden training. It's a great view. 

I also went to the basement of the building. It's in the midst of a major redevelopment and the Flinders Lane entrance has been closed off, so we need to exit via the basement carpark. I found the short cut, which must have puzzled the woman who got out of the lift ahead of me. First I'm behind her and then there I am, out in front! Hahaha, I'm magic! 

I caught the wrong tram home tonight (I've only been catching the same tram for 11.5 years). Fortuitously, I realised it wasn't my tram just as it arrived at the intersection where the bus that runs past my place stops. I didn't have to wait very long for the next bus either. 

   

Dark and stormy

There was some wild weather in and around Melbourne today. We didn't get much, if any, the city, despite some ominous clouds. I love being able to see the changing weather out the window at work, especially when it looks stormy. 

 Looking east - despite appearances, these clouds 

only produced light rain 

Looking south - the bay is so dark!

We've had a very warm autumn so far, which I've enjoyed even though it feels a bit wrong to enjoy the effects of climate change, but I'm happy it's getting cooler now because it means I can finally wear my new winter boots. Yay!

Shadow

That's my office making that shadow

Mt Buller weekend

Sunset near Yarra Glen (taken from moving car)

We stopped at a fish n chip shop in Yarra Glen for dinner. The burgers were delicious...I'd go so far as to say mine was better than a Grill'd burger. It's a bit far to go for our regular Friday night burger though. 

Rainy afternoon - the view from the lodge we stayed at 

It rained in the afternoon both days, with thunder and lightning on Saturday. We could see the forks of lightning while sitting in the living area of the lodge.

 Trees killed by bushfire 

We set out to walk from the Mt Buller to the peak of Mount Stirling on Saturday, but it was hard going (for me anyway). The track was rocky and difficult to walk on and steep in parts, and it turned out to be a longer trek than we expected. I pulled the pin when faced with a long, steep incline that I just didn't have the legs for. (You know that mental note I made after walking up Mr Oberon in January about going to the gym more often? I have been exactly twice since. Still, considering I've had so little energy lately, I was pleased I managed as well as I did.)

 Very tall/long fallen tree (hard to see the scale here) on the walk to Mt Stirling

 Eye of the tree

 Dead trees, purple undergrowth

 The beautiful snowgum

 A female mountain katydid...

We spotted this large insect (body about 3cm long) on the track on the way back home. It wasn't keen on posing for photos and kept turning around to try to get away when we stuck our cameras in its face. If you look closely at the photo below, you can see it has a faux face on its back end. Didn't scare us!

Bumface 

I found out what kind of creature it is by coincidence. Very early on we'd seen another unusual large insect on the path with vivid blue and red stripes on its abdomen, which it was pointing at us, obviously agitated. I googled 'insect red blue abdomen' and the first picture I saw was of the insect above! Turns out the stripey one is the male mountain katydid and the brown one is the female.   

 Rocky whirlpool

 Raven and dead trees

 Raven and lichen

The view from near our lodge

 Mailboxes beside the road between Mt Buller and Mansfield

 Another beautiful tree

Storm clouds and dry grass

Golden, gift, flying solo

I finally got a decent photo of 'the golden hour'

 from my office window

My boss was back in the office today after a week in Hong Kong for business. He brought back a little souvenir for me, which was unexpected, but pleasing. 

The other secretary in my group is on leave all week, so I'm on my own. So far, so good.

I spotted a great white egret hunting in the shallows of the Yarra on my way to work this morning.  It was standing still as a statue and staring into the reeds along the river bank. It's the second time I've seen it in that spot in the past few days. Unfortunately I couldn't stop to take a photo either time because I would have been run down by stream of cyclists (they get very cross when you get in their way).

Golden, dumplings, warm

I had a beautiful view from my desk late this afternoon. The sun was low in the sky, reflecting off the city buildings against a backdrop of grey clouds. It was so golden and glowing. I took a photo with my phone, but it didn't come close to doing justice to the scene, partly because of the reflection from the lights in my office. 

I made lamb stewp for dinner - a cross between soup and stew. This is the third time I've made it in the past few weeks and it was the best batch yet. I made the stock with lamb shanks last night and tonight threw in a heap of vegetables and the meat from the shanks. I also made parmesan and chive dumplings which I plopped in the pot to cook in the stock. They were yummy. Good, hearty winter fare. There's leftover too. 

The heat has come back on in my building and it's nice and warm around the clock again. Aaaaaah (not so 'aaaaaaah' for the environment, however). 

Dandenongs, Silvan Dam, old signs

Luke and I went for drive up to the Dandenongs this afternoon. I don't know that it was much cooler up there than in the city, but the green, ferny shadiness made it seem cooler. There was a lovely breeze up at the top of Mount Dandenong too (as well as a posse of Buddhist monks with what looked like very expensive cameras). 

We then took a drive on an unsealed, winding and mostly deserted road through the forest of tall eucalypts and tree ferns. Luke thought it would bring us out at Silvan Dam. And it did! Go, Luke.

We wondered about the grassy grounds (and saw a man with the most ridiculous comb-over in the universe). There's a disused overflow area (or something) at the bottom of the dam wall which was full of murky water, but it had tiny little fish swimming in it (well spotted by Luke). There was some odd old machinery.

Then we took a stroll along a shady bush trail. There was a little creek and a fungus.

We stopped in Belgrave on our way home for snacks (very tasty sushi at Sushi Express) and slushies, which were just what we needed after being out and about on such a warm day.

Earlier today...

Last weekend in the car with Luke I spotted a fantastic old sign on the side of a building on Commercial Road in Prahran. Despite visiting that area regularly, I had never seen it before because I usually walk on the same side of the street, which is covered by verandahs. I went to check it out on my way to the osteopath this morning.

Looks like an ad for the old laundry whitener Reckitt's Blue

Further along on my walk, I was waiting at the lights on High Street and I looked up and saw what appeared to be old paint on the side of a building behind the Lucky Coq. I wandered up for a better view and - sure enough! Another Maples Pianos signs. It looks like it says Maples Furniture and Pianos. Maples sure left their mark on the inner eastern suburbs.

New view, flowers, warm

Nice wispy clouds tonight

My department moved offices over the weekend. I'm still settling in to my new workspace, but I have an even better view than before.

The partners gave the each of the secretaries a bunch of flowers and a Myer gift card to say thanks for all our hard work during the move. I got tulips with purple flowers I think I should know but can't name (some kind of bulb - a little hard to see in the photo). Pretty. I wasn't expecting it, but it's a lovely gesture.

Speaking of flowers, the little black and yellow daisies have sprouted in the grass along the river banks. It's spring! Warm weather is forecast for the weekend too. Yay! I want to get out and fly my kite.

Red balloons, new socks, tender lamb

Yesterday afternoon at work we were surprised by a flock of red balloons floating up past our 47th floor windows. There was a chorus of delight as they wafted upwards. (I think it was the launch of Red Nose Day). And no, I'm not sure if there were 99 red balloons.

New sports socks - the kind with full terry cushioning all around - are rather pleasing. So white. So soft. So cushiony.

I ate a delicious Hungarian lamb stew today. The meat was fall-apart tender and seasoned with exactly the right amount of spice. Very hearty and warming. Yum.

One of my online friends sent me an email this week with the most breathtaking black and white photos of African animals. While googling a link, I read that the photographer, Nick Brandt, doesn't use zoom or a telephoto lens. Woah! You can see a few of them here.

Word nerdery, fog blanket, tender

I got a little word nerd thrill when I saw the name of the exhibition at the City Gallery now. Crepuscular! Awesome! It means pertaining to or resembling twilight - in this context it refers to animals that are mostly active at dawn and dusk. And because I'm a super word nerd, I must point out that, specifically, animals active at dawn are matutinal and those that come out at dusk are verspertine. I love the word vespertine. It gives me goosebumps.

The last couple of mornings have been foggy in Melbourne. Unfortunately the fog  cleared by the time I surfaced (I like foggy mornings), but yesterday when I looked out the window of my 47th floor kitchen at work, I could see a thick blanket of fog still covering the eastern suburbs. It was strange and beautiful.

I cooked my chicken to perfection last night and tonight. Tender and succulent. Yum.

Fungii, night lights, skywheel

Look at all this fungus! I've seen numerous varieties on each side of the path walking to work beside the river. Lucky I took photos when I did, because they've all been lopped by the council mower man now. (Mushroom murderer!) 

Yesterday (when I was on late shift) was the first time I've been at my new job when it's got properly dark. It's so nice to look out and see the city lights all around. It really does help to ease the gloom of shorter days. There's too much reflection to take a photo unfortunately. Here's one of tonight's setting sun.

The Skywheel is back in town! It seems odd to bring it back for the cooler months, but I'm glad it's here.



The Gleeful Omnibus. Vrooooom!

Artwork atop the Sportsgirl building in Richmond.

At last the interwebz have told me what this is!

Tsk tsk. I haven't blogged in nearly a week, but it's not because there's been a lack of glee in my life. Not at all. There's been loads of glee. LOADS of it. I'll start with today.

I went shopping on Chapel Street with the intention of buying some quirky homewares for my flat. I ended up buying three original My Little Ponies (one wears a tiara! Another has little pink glasses! Just like real ponies!), a giant bubble blowing wand, rainbow gel pens, the cutest notebook, a beautiful postcard by an artist called Art and Ghosts, a gorgeous colouring book and coloured pencils. Yes, ALL for me!

The colouring book is called Lolo isn't Lonely Anymore - "When Lolo's house is sold, she must move far away from her beloved city to the country. Everything is different, and at first she is very lonely, but soon she learns to listen and look, and finally starts to notice all the great things that were there all along".  The story speaks to me (it's a little bit like this blog really) and the illustrations are lovely. I hope I don't mess it up when I colour it in!

A trio of cats sunning themselves in a bookshop window

I walked home from Chapel Street along the river. I don't often walk along that stretch of the Yarra, but it offers some great views of the city, including this lovely vista. I just happened along at the perfect time of day.

And then I noticed a fairly well-concealed rough path heading down to a jetty on the water so I went down there and it was beautiful - the view of the city at sunset and the almost-full moon and Our Magic Hour sign reflecting on the water. I love you with all my heart, Melbourne.

Secret spill

I have been wearing new ankle boots all week. They're very comfy and I love them...although I did fall over in them at work BUT NO ONE SAW ME! How 'bout that, eh?! 30-odd people in my department and I fell over out of sight. Go, me! (If Frisky falls in the office and nobody sees her and nobody hears her, the bruise on her kneecap shall be proof that it did happen!)

Speaking of work, there's been a re-shuffle in my group and after Easter I will start working for one of my favourite people in the department. She's awesome - very funny and so lovely. I'm very happy about being her minion. Our first task shall be to work out how to buy gin on her corporate Amex.

The not-very-early birds 

For the last week or so on the way to work, I have passed Mr and Mrs Plover hunting for their breakfast on the same stretch of riverbank. I like seeing them every day. They're another addition to my free- range menagerie of birdy pets. I've seen them catch a few worms too. This proves that the saying about the early bird is wrong. You heard it here first.

I've also seen possums, two scampering rats, and a native water rat (rakali) swimming in the river (at night, not on my way to work).

We've had some very damp weather this week, but I find it hard to be glum about it when I can look out my office window and see a huge blanket of dark grey cloud suspended over the city, waiting to dump its load. It looked quite apocalyptic, but fantastic (sorry, no photo).


MORE comedy!

Luke and I went to see comedian Mark Watson last night (at the Forum again). I loved it. There wasn't a lot of discernible structure to his stand-up, but he's face-hurtingly funny, the crowd interaction was great and, like David O'Doherty, he has such a likeable stage presence. And five minutes before the show was due to start he was sitting on a couch in the foyer chatting to punters and having his photo taken!

Cute Satan

I saw Satan in the city last night when I was waiting for Luke. Two Satans in fact. A man-sized devil and his mini-me devil sidekick. MIDGET SATAN! (yes, I know midget isn't PC, but it's funnier than LITTLE PERSON SATAN!). Midget Satan was tiny and adorable. He chased a girl with his pitchfork and she ran away squealing. What a sook. (I think they were promoting a Comedy Festival show.)

The leaves are starting to turn colour and fall. Yay, autumn!

Tomorrow I'm having brunch with a friend I haven't seen in ages and then we're going to Daiso, which I'm told is like a Japanse $2 shop. Can't wait!


Sneaky important bit hidden at the bottom

There's a boy that I like and he likes me too!

River reflection of Our Magic Hour

Giving and receiving

I sent off my mix tape to my Twitter friend Jason today and then  I arrived home to find a package from another Twitter friend containing a book and CDs about meditation, which I'm interested in learning about. Ah, it's the circle of giving.

Wordless

I have a Pepsi Max habit which sees me buying a 600ml bottle every lunch time from a place near my sushi outlet. In three months I have reached the point where I don't need to ask for what I want - or even open my mouth at all. They see me coming and reach for my beverage. It's ace.

Permanent

Oh, I forgot to mention that I have been made permanent in my job. It will be nice to feel like I properly belong somewhere again.

Crunch, view, stapler joy

Last night I had a bowl of vanilla icecream sprinkled with Rice Bubbles and topped with generous layer of Ice Magic. It was delicious. Just like a Crunch bar.

I was the first person to a training session in my building this morning and I had time to snap a picture of the view before the others arrived. (My new phone has an 8 megapixel camera!)

I've worked a full week in my job. I still like it a lot. The people are SO friendly. Oh, and I have the same kind of stapler as the ace one in my last job. Yay.

The sea, the moon, the music

I saw the sea from a city building again today. The sea and much more besides, since I was on the 42nd floor this time. I could see tiny people kicking a ball around on the grassy flat in Birrarung Marr, lines of cars glinting like mica in the midday sun as they stretched into the distance and a wee yacht on the bay near the St Kilda pier. Oh, and my house. At least I thought I could pick out the tiled roof of my building anyway. I will never tire of saying, "I can see my house from here. No, really!".

A girl serving me in a shop told me she liked my glasses (I was wearing my new purple specs).

When I was walking home in the twilight I looked up and the full moon hit my eye like a big pizza pie. Very light rain started to fall as I walked along the river. I liked it. AAMI Park sparkled like a very large jewel.

I have downloaded two new albums (new to me). The John Steel Singers' LP The Beagle and The Dove, which is great,  and also...Lisa Mitchell's debut Wonder. I hesitated there because, as Aussies reading this might know, Lisa was a contestant on Australian Idol a few years back. I'd not paid her debut album much attention due to music snobbery, but really, there's a reason why she's not being held back by the Idol stigma. Her album of sweet, quirky, catchy folk tunes is truly lovely. It's a nice surprise when you discover your preconceived ideas were ill-founded. Opening your mind rarely ends badly.

It's hard to pick a favourite, but here's one that has whistling in it:

Street art and the sea

I took this photo on Saturday in Caledonia Lane in the city. It's the first work by this artist I've seen and I  really like it - it's playful, mysterious, but also slightly creepy. Then today - thanks to a link tweeted by Hidden Secret Tours - I found out there are many more works by the same artist in the city and inner suburbs. I'll be on the look out now.

If you're wondering about the words on the bottom of the picture above and the rest of the work, here's another photo and a link:

I see the sea!

I was early for a meeting on the south side of my office building today and while I waited, I looked out the window and I could see the ocean in the distance. I thought "I see the sea!" because that's what I always think at first sight of the ocean - it's what my brother and I used to say when we were kids and the sea came into view as we drove to Warrnambool (I grew up near there).

I could also see a tiny slice of the beautiful old Rialto building on Collins Street from my building.