Changing seasons

The golden hour from work

We still have some warm days to come this week, but our glorious Indian summer is coming to an end. There was a chill in the air when I set foot outside this morning - partly due to the end of daylight savings on the weekend - and I wore a jacket most of the way to work for the first time all year.  It was much more comfortable than the very humid weather we've had recently. 

It was nice to be greeted by the yellow morning light, rather than remnants of darkness, when I got up and I love seeing the golden hour settle on the city from my 38th floor office, but I'm a little sad about getting home in the dark (I finish at 6.00pm). I'm not at all sad about cooler nights and being cozy under the blankets again though. Swings and roundabouts.  

I can't wait for the autumn colour to start appearing around Melbourne and I'm hoping the trees will be putting on a show when we go to the high country for Easter. 

Halfway home 

One week down...

Shady...my walk home

My first working week of the year is over! Wooh! OK, so it was only two days...and I didn't have a lot to do...but I feel as if I've worked a full week. I'm still not grumpy though, just exhausted. Now for three days off. I don't have anything planned, except for movies with a friend on Sunday. Oh, and planning my goals for the year ahead. Yes, I'm planning to plan. I need to get some shit sorted this year. 

I forgot to mention in my last post that I achieved my initial no-shopping challenge: to go from 1 June to 31 December 2016 without buying shoes, clothes or accessories. Yep, I did it! Go, me! In the end, it wasn't a particularly challenging challenge, so extending it for a full year (which I decided do a month or so ago) was an obvious next step. I have a few more challenging challenges planned for this year!

The cool breeze coming through my loungeroom window is delightful. Summer has finally arrived, but I won't complain about the heat (especially because today wasn't that hot).  

Weird word, Winter Wipeout, summer breeze

Park Street, South Yarra. I love this place. 

(I think I've posted a pic before) 

I had some blood taken this afternoon and when I got home I mentioned to Luke that I'd recently learned a person whose job is to draw blood is called a phlebotomist. I'd seen someone on Facebook the other day who was a phlebotomist and I looked it up. 

Then when I was cooking dinner Luke called me into the loungeroom to tell me one of the contestants on Winter Wipeout was a phlebotomist. How freakish?!

Related: Winter Wipeout is back on! I thought it was on old series, but apparently it's new. Either way, I'll still watch - I can't get enough of seeing people getting whacked in the face or bouncing off big red balls. (Don't tell anyone I'm watching a silly game show instead of 7.30.)

It was a hot day today, but there's now a lovely cool breeze blowing in the window opposite where I'm sitting on the couch. 

Round and round the garden

I wandered across the road to the Botanic Gardens this afternoon for vitamin D and photo taking. It's my first visit in months, partly because of our non-existent spring, but the sunshine today was splendid (my attention to re-applying sunscreen isn't so splendid...)

I saw a paddling* of teeny tiny ducklings, plenty of busy bees, a couple of caterpillars and some butterflies and moths. Also lots and lots of flowers. 

Strange bud 

One of only two poppies left in the herb garden 

Bananas in the glasshouse 

Tiny pond in the centre of a bromeliad

Purple

Munch, munch, munch  

The living and the dead

Succulent

Coming in to land

Bzzzzzz....

....bzzzzzz

Spent

*That's one of the collective nouns for ducks on water.

No more NaBloPoMo

Well, my NaBloPoMo efforts didn't even end with a whimper, let alone a bang. I only published 19 posts, but I'm too too bothered. 

Today is the first day of summer and, as if on cue, the cicadas have just started singing (or whatever you call that noise they make).  It looks as if we've finally - thankfully - left the winter weather behind. Spring? What spring?! I saw on the weather report last night that it was Victoria's coldest spring for years (I forget how many. Eight maybe?).

I'm so glad it's my weekend now. I've been busier this week than I have for a month or so and I'm clearly not used to hard work because I'm very weary. I'm very much looking forward to putting my head to pillow and keeping it there until well into tomorrow morning.  

I had to do some maths today. It's end of month billing and most calculations are done automatically by the software, but I needed to use my brains for one particular bill because the tax-inclusive total had to add up to the same amount of money we had in trust. I worked out the pre-tax amount on my calculator then typed the figure into the computer and BAM! It all added up perfectly! Go, me! 

November: the last day

The last day of November means the last day of my unofficial NaBloPoMo efforts. I've enjoyed blogging again. I might not be here every day from now on, but I will be here more often.

It also means only 16 days until my holidays! 

Today was very warm, but a cool change has arrived. A refreshing breeze is blowing in my window as I write.

I thought I'd lost a brooch while out and about the other day because I noticed it was gone as I was on my way home. But when I was cleaning on the weekend I found it on my bedroom floor. I can't explain it - there were no pockets on my clothes or bag for it to fall into. Odd, but good.     

Cool

Melbourne had a late burst of summer warmth today, but a cool change blew in as I was walking through the city. Aaaah, so refreshing. 

I cut through Hosier Lane on my way home and took some photos of the street art.   There's always plenty to see. 

 Creepy

 Monstery

 Intensity

 Gaze

 The eagle and the bear

 Bike and bunting

 Solemates

Bike and boy 

Shady

A very pleasant sight on a very warm afternoon 

(click to enlarge)

This is the old elm at the corner of Punt Road and Alexandra Avenue. It's in my Australia's Remarkable Trees book, but isn't on The National Trusts' Register of Significant Trees. I think I'd rather be remarkable than significant anyway. 

Cool, coincidental sign find, cheezlova

Ghost city 

After a record-breaking number of days over 30 degrees and uncomfortably warm nights, this weekend has been cool. Cool enough to snuggle under the doona at night and cool enough to wear tights and boots (not to bed). And it rained again. It was fabulous.

This afternoon

Hardy hydrangea survived the heatwave

I spotted a ghost sign on Malvern Road in Hawksburn yesterday which has been revealed by the demolition of the neighbouring building. I climbed up on a retaining wall to try to  get a photo of the full sign, but no luck. 

Perdriau Master Cord Tyres

Coincidentally, it's just across the road from Beaurepairs, where we were headed when I saw it. 

We went for a wander while the tyres were being seen to. We hesitated in front of My Bookshop because we each have a pile of unread books, but we couldn't resist. I bought another word book with a very wordy title: Let's Bring Back...The Lost Language Edition: A collection of forgotten-yet-delightful words, phrases, praises, insults, idioms, and literary flourishes from eras past.   While flicking through it in the store, I found a funny word for canoodling (funnier even than 'canoodling'), but now I can't find it. I'll be sure to bring it to your attention when I locate it again.  

It's a cute little book with a hard, embossed cover and a ribbon to keep your place. I do like a book with a ribbon bookmark.

We went to The Astor last night to see Hitchcock's North by Northwest with Cary Grant, which I hadn't seen before. I enjoyed it, especially the meldodramatic music. It's always nice to visit the old art deco cinema, and fitting to take in an old flick. I had a choctop and Luke had a beer.

I invented a dessert today. I call it cheezlova - meringue nests with vanilla cheesecake filling, served with fresh raspberries. I made the filling, but not the nests. It was tasty, but not really an improvement on pavlova or cheesecake. At least I won't die wondering...

Introducing...cheezlova

Ghost sign hunting, decluttering, muddling and sipping

There was a story in The Age yesterday about the Ghost Sign Hunters seminar I'm going to tomorrow. I've never really thought too much about why I'm a ghost sign fanatic, but Stefan Schutt's comments in the story resonated with me, particularly the bit about it being a response to rapid urban renewal.  

As you probably know, I love the aesthetics of urban decay. I get excited about rusting roofs, weathered wood, crumbling houses, peeling paint and old brickwork. They have so much more character than modern gleaming glass towers and boxy buildings. My obsession with ghost signs sprang from that, but I also like that old signs are a link to the past. They're survivors!  It's almost a minor miracle so many old signs are still around.  

And of course there's the thrill of the discovery, which is probably akin to a collector finding a fantastic new addition to their collection while poking about in a second hand shop - only you can't take old signs home with you.  

On the hunt

I went to the Camberwell Market yesterday, but it was too hot and too crowded so I spent the rest of the day wandering about hunting for ghost signs.  Burke Road in Camberwell was quite a disappointment, but I found a few gems along Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn. I also spotted this one: 

This isn't a great example of an old sign - the building isn't a health food shop anymore, but the sign isn't that old and it's still in pretty good nick. I'm only mentioning it because the Staff of Life was owned by Julie Stafford, who was my art teacher in my first years of primary school. She also published a book of the same name. I think she was one of the pioneers of the health food movement in Australia. (Stay tuned for my next post with photos of all my recent sign finds.)

Look! Up in the sky! 

I saw another circumhorizontal arc (rainbow clouds) on Saturday, only a few hundred metres from where I first saw one two years ago. I was sitting outside at my friend Lauren's engagement party at a Docklands bar when I looked up and saw it. "Oh, look! A circumhorizontal arc!" What a nerd.

Declutter

I spent this afternoon cleaning out my wardrobes. Yep, I know how to make the most of a public holiday. I do love a good declutter though. It's not that long since I last did it, but there were lots of clothes I hadn't worn since my last declutter (or the one before that or the one before that etc), so I decided it was time to get brutal. In the end I wasn't quite brutal - I couldn't bear to part with a couple of things - but I was certainly harsh. My underwear and socks/hosiery drawers are so neat and organised! I'm particularly pleased with my efforts at categorising my socks, tights and stock--- yeah, I should probably stop there. Moving right along...

Homegrown

We're in the midst of a heatwave (Autumn? What autumn?). I've been coping by sipping on tonic with fresh muddled* lime juice and mint leaves, picked fresh from our little herb garden. Deliciously refreshing.  * smooshed with the pestle from my mortar and pestle.  

I made yummy pizzas for dinner topped with tomato, bocconcini and basil also from our garden. Apart from the coriander, our herbs are thriving. 

We had raspberries, strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. Nothing homegrown in that, but also delicious.

Ghost sign hunting, White Night, welcome rain

I got a comment on an old Girl in Melbourne post yesterday that has me a little excited. It was left by a fellow fan of old signs, and alerted me to an upcoming event in Melbourne called Ghost Sign Hunting ('ghost signs' is a much more evocative name for fading old signs. I shall steal it). The commenter, Stefan Schutt is one of the presenters and maintains a blog on ghost signs, which I'm keen to explore (along with the blog Ghost Signs Melbourne, which I found via Stefan's). 

The seminar will explore "what ghost signs can tell us about how we live with and experience diverse cultures and histories of place and image".   

It starts at 4.00pm on a week day (March 12th), but I think it will be worth arranging to finish work early to rub shoulders with a bunch of other people who are obsessed with ghost signs. It's pleasing to discover there are plenty of other people into something you like that you thought was a little bit obscure - like being part of a little community. 

If you're interested, click the 'upcoming event' link above for details.

That reminds me, I have photos of a bunch of old signs from the past few weeks, but I've been too lazy to post them. I'll get to it soon.

White Night

Luke and I went to White Night - an all-night festival of light shows, music and performance art  - last Saturday (no, we didn't stay until stumps at 7.00am). It's the first time Melbourne has held the event and it was a huge success, if the hordes of people who descended on the CBD are any indication. It was a perfect balmy summer's night for being out and about and the vibe was buzzy. 

Among other things, we visited the State Library, which a hosted a number of musical performances under the dome of the wonderful La Trobe reading room. To be honest, the performance we saw was a bit of a snooze, but I got a kick out of lining up at 11 o'clock on a Saturday night to go to the library, and the dome looked pretty. 

Sir Redmond remains impassive amid the light show 

out the front of the library

 Inside the dome

 The steps of Flinders Street Station became a concert stage, 

entertaining the masses

The Forum Theatre

Also Flinders Street

You can check out some good videos here and here, which show it off better than my photos. 

Rain, rain, glorious rain!

We've had a lengthy run of hot, dry weather in Melbourne the last few weeks - a record- breaking spell of 15 days over 30 degrees C in fact. Even the nights have been uncomfortably warm, with temperatures in the low 20s. But it's rained the last few days. Yay!  Some proper rain, too; not just that depressingly useless drizzle we often get. How wonderful it was to go to sleep listening to the rain and wake up to rain.  It wasn't raining when I walked  home last night, but everything was still damp and I could smell the eucalyptus trees beside the river when I passed. Aaah...lovely!

Other good stuff: 

Our herbs and lettuce are still alive! 

We got a new TV - a digital one. We've finally entered the 21st century! Our SBS reception is still poor, however, which is disappointing. We also bought a new entertainment unit to replace our rickety old one. It's nice having new stuff. Our new furniture - entertainment unit, dining table and bookcase  - all match too, even though we bought them at different places. 

I found a cool word Tumblr blog called Otherwordly via Pinterest. Continuing the theme of words ending in 'bund' (as in 'pudibund'), 'aspectabund' is an adjective meaning 'letting or being able to let expressive emotions show easily through one's face and eyes'. I think I'm going to need to take a day off work to churn through all these new blogs...

Scorching, tennis, long weekend

Pretty clouds yesterday morning 

Yesterday was searingly hot - a top of 40 degrees C (104F) - but I still walked home. I'm grateful for shady trees and a Calippo for making the trek slightly more bearable.  

I'm off to the Australian Open tennis tomorrow. In the eight years I've lived walking distance from the stadium, I've never been to the tennis. I was much more of a tennis fan in my teen years than I am now, but I'm sure it will be a fun day out. If nothing else, it will be a new experience. (Thankfully, it will won't be anywhere near 40 degrees.)

I'm having an extra long weekend for Australia Day on 26 January. I've taken off the Friday as well, giving me four days off on a row. I can't wait. 

Hot chips are ace, but I especially like the really crispy ones that have probably been through a few fry ups before making it onto your plate. They're probably about 90% oil. They're bad, but they're good. 

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. 

Droopy, icy treats, little reader

Even the daisies were droopy

It was stinking hot today. It hit 40 degrees C (104 F) in the city. My boss left the office in the afternoon saying he'd be back in a little while. When he came back he had icy treats for everyone - Icypoles and Frosty Fruits. What a champion. It really hit the spot (not that it was hot in the office).  

I took a break from exercise today because of the heat...but I still walked to and from work. I was a puddle of sweat when I got home, but thankfully my flat was still relatively cool. I stood in front of the fan in my undies for about 10 minutes to cool down. 

I walked through Degraves Street on the way home and spotted this little fella in front of The Little Bookroom. 

Several people stopped to let me take the photo so they wouldn't photobomb it. It's nice when that happens. 

New friend, vrooom, cooler

I can't believe I haven't written here about the joy of having a new friend!  Well, I have a new friend  - "my friend" of recent posts. We've been hanging out for about a month. He's awesome and fun and gives great hugs. My life is better with him in it.

Today we went for a wander in the backstreets of Richmond. I kicked up leaves on the path as I walked (yay for leaves!). We saw this fabulous old building off Church Street, near Swan:

And this old sign on Bridge Road:

We went looking for eels in the gardens again and saw several (or maybe the same one several times...). It's ace being with people who get excited by the little things like I do.

The Formula 1 Grand Prix is on this weekend. I like being able to hear the cars from my flat. The track is only a couple of kilometres away. Vrooooooooooooooooom!

I'm glad of the cooler weather. I'm enjoying getting back into tights and boots and being able to sleep under the doona every night. I'm looking forward to wearing my fat, puffy parka again (when it gets much colder than this). 

The transition from summer to autumn is one of my favourite times of the year, especially the way the sunlight softens to a hazy gold and the leaves turn to red and orange before they fall.