Ballarat and Daylesford

At some point, Lindsey said that she would be going to Ballarat after work on Friday, returning on Saturday afternoon. Did I want to go too?

I happened to be at the clinic on Friday so thought I might.

I was reminded, on the trip from Reservoir to Mount Helen, as the temperature outside dropped noticeably, of one of the reasons I moved from Mount Helen to Docklands. It is a long drive at night in the winter!

It was about 3d when we arrived at the house.

Fortunately, the heating is effective, and especially in my bedroom, where there is a heater and which is relatively small.

I slept well.

It was still cold when I got up on Saturday morning. The sun was shining. It was a beautiful day.  But it was indisputably cold.

We had thought that we night go to the Bridge Street market, or to Tim's toasties, or to the former mushroom farm. Instead of all that, we drove out to the Avalon nursery in Haddon. I wanted to see if they had a dwarf lemon tree and have a potter around. As we drove out I thought: this is all very beautiful; it is familiar to me; I know where I am and how to get to where I want to be. Perhaps I had been a bit hasty, selling up and moving to the city. 

Avalon had the dwarf lemon tree I was after. They also have dwarf yuzu, lime, mandarin and orange trees. I don't have room for them all. Yuzu would be tempting, were it not for the ferocious thorns that yuzu trees have which would not be entirely desirable in a small space. I'll see how I get on with the lemon tree and might then pick up a mandarin. The mandarin tree that I left at Lindsey and Ian's place has produced some lovely fruit.

We had breakfast at the coffee shop, bought the lemon tree, failed to find any parsley plants and went to Bunnings to look for them there. We might have had a sausage sizzle sandwich as breakfast dessert. We found parsley plants and then went from Bunnings to the IGA in Mount Clear to have a look around. I do miss the Midvale shopping centre in Mount Clear. An excellent bakery, a fabulous butcher shop and the very excellent IGA. Then we went back to the house, packed the car and drove back to Melbourne.

It was about 7d warmer in Docklands than it had been in Mount Helen. I walked into my light-filled, sun-drenched flat, looked at my view with little boats bobbing around on the water - and remembered why I had moved to Docklands.  Also, Ballarat is not out of reach. If I want to go and visit, I can.

I met Freyja, Simon and Lindsey at the Alphington market on Sunday, earlier than usual. Lindsey had gone in her car. Freyja and Simon had gone on the train. Lindsey drove them home and took me back to her flat, where I took possession of the car and made my way to Daylesford for lunch at Gillie's place. Chris, John and Irene were also there.

You may wonder why I had gone from Ballarat back to Melbourne, only to head to Daylesford the next morning. It would have been more sensible to stay in Ballarat on Saturday night and gone to Daylesford from there - if I had had my own car with me. It is very difficult to get to Daylesford by public transport. and I don't think it can be done from Ballarat on a Sunday.

It was a beautiful day for a drive through the countryside. I enjoyed it a lot, although I had to keep a close eye out for potholes, of which there many. I was, however, a bit disconcerted to watch the outside temperature drop from 17.5d in East Melbourne, to 10.5d in Daylesford. Still, the sun was quite warm and Gillie's house was lovely and warm so all was good.

It was a good afternoon. Gillie provided delicious food; Irene a lovely quince pie. We all had good conversation and exchanged news and views. Then I had a good run back to East Melbourne. From there I went with Lindsey to Clifton Hill, where Lindsey had to pick something up, then she took me back to my place.

So all in all a good weekend. 

The new lemon tree, sitting in the little planter I made. I will need to put it in a bigger pot at some stage but in the meantime it might as well sit in the planter

Pretty Kitty Kats enjoying the sunshine on the new bed

It is 12 months today since I handed Tani@Eilish to its new owner. It hardly seems possible that it is a whole 12 months already (and would anyone care to explain to me how it comes to be August again?)  

Melbourne Star

 The large ferris wheel in Docklands first opened, I think, in late 2008 - and then almost immediately closed again, possibly because it "melted" in the summer heat or because of structural defects. Or possibly both!

It was rebuilt and opened again in late 2013.

It continued to have structural defects, although it wasn't completely rebuilt.

Then covid happened and it was temporarily closed for the lockdowns. In 2021 it was declared to be permanently closed.

But it wasn't taken away and sat there, immobile, large, still a landmark. But dark and immobile.

Someone built another, smaller ferris wheel near the convention centre on the other side of the river.

Sometime last year the Melbourne Star was bought by someone who set about restoring it. I have watched them setting up and testing the lights over the past few weeks. I can't see the whole wheel from here, there's a building in the way, but I can see the top bits, on either side of the building.

Yesterday, the launched the newly installed lights, with a brief firework display. It had been widely advertised and there were lots of people there to watch the lights come back to life. Lindsey and I went round to have a look.

From the car park, the wheel is waiting for its
time to shine

The firework only lasted for a minute or two but the light display continued overnight. People have been complaining that it was a bit of a non-event but the advertising did say the launch would go for around 15 minutes. I enjoyed it. Mind you, I only had to walk round to the District shopping centre, which takes less than 20 minutes. And Lindsey and I had dinner in the Docklands Pantry on the way back to my place.

The wheel isn't ready for passengers yet. It's due to take passengers sometime in the summer - although its history suggests that the timeline may slip. We'll see. But I will make the effort to go on it if/when it does start taking passengers. I have had opportunities in the past and haven't taken advantage of them.

Food

 So much food!

A couple of weeks ago Freyja said that she and Simon were going to a pop-up vegan degustation menu at Farmer's Daughters in Exhibition Street and did I want to go?

Of course I wanted to go. I love degustation menus. Lindsey would have come too but she was at a conference during the day so was unavailable.

The pop-up was a collaboration between the chefs at Farmers Daughters, which is not a vegan restaurant and Yellow from Sydney, which is. There were several service times; we were too late to book the lunchtime and mid-afternoon services so went at 5:45.

This was the menu, which showcased produce from Gippsland:

And this was the food:

We had the potato bread and pickles to start

And we had the snacks

More snacks

They were very careful with my food allergies
My noodles had an olive oil based dressing

This was my least favourite course.
I am not a big fan of
smoked carrots.
I did like the tiny carrot shards though

They made my pumpkin dish with
cauliflower

because the mole had nuts in it.
Freyja said it was very complex in flavour

The main course - showcasing potatoes
I really wish I could make
potato crackling like this
It was amazing!

My very pretty, nut free dessert

Freyja and Simon's nutty dessert
to share

It was a lovely evening. The food was fabulous. I hadn't previously been aware of Farmer's Daughters. I am very tempted to go one day for their regular menu. Their usual vegan offerings aren't very exciting, and they had invited Yellow to come to play so they could make their vegan options more enticing.  I, however,  am neither vegan nor vegetarian and their omnivore menu does look interesting. 

There was one more service after ours so we left just after 8. I went back with Freyja and Simon in a taxi. They were meeting Ross at the stadium for the football. Ross had been there for the first half; Freyja and Simon joined him for the second. I just went home.

I went to the Alphington market on Sunday morning for the first time in several weeks. I definitely needed some vegetables. My fridge was down to one, very sad looking spring onion. Lindsey came too and we met Freyja and Simon there. It was a lovely morning and the market was very busy. We managed to grab a table in the coffee area after doing the shopping and had drinks and shared a vegetable focaccia, then Freyja and Simon took us to Clifton Hill station - we had just missed a train and two lines run into the city at Clifton Hill.

I joined Lindsey and Ian in the Quarterhouse for an early dinner on Sunday evening.  I had their Sunday roast and brought many of the vegetables home with me. So my fridge has gone from a vegetable drought to a vegetable bounty. I may have to deploy the freezer at some stage this week. And make stews and soups.

Thursday

From time to time I get emails advising me where you can go to get a Sunday roast in and around Melbourne. A little while ago a "British style" pub in St Kilda, called The Lion and Wombat came to my attention - largely because of its name. I tried to book for a Sunday in June but they were all booked up online. This seemed odd, so I rang them. Ah. They do a Christmas in July menu on Sundays in July, which were all booked up. People had booked up June to get in before July. The first couple of Sundays in August were also booked up.

This suggests that their food is good. I put them on my list of places to go and eat. 

Lindsey wasn't working on Thursday and suggested we go out for lunch rather than dinner. Lunch is my preferred meal out but Lindsey has been busy on the past few Thursdays and we have been out for an early dinner instead. She suggested we go to "that pub in St Kilda". I pondered this and then remembered the Lion and Wombat. So we hopped on a tram and out we went.

It's very cute. Also it was quite empty when we got there at 12:15 but it doesn't open until 12 and more people came in after us

I enjoyed my cheeseburger and chips - the chips were especially good. Lindsey very much enjoyed her lamb pie and mash. It was easy to get to. The staff were friendly and helpful. I will consult the others and organise to book a Sunday lunch there.

We came back via the Bunnings in Collingwood, which is an easy stroll to Lindsey's flat and an easy tram or train ride to mine. I had intended to get some new handles for my long abandoned Kitchen Cupboard Handle project but then I thought that perhaps it would work if I bought some differently sized screws, which would be considerably cheaper. I had screws which were slightly too long or slightly too short. I took one of each with me and found some which seemed to be in between. Then Lindsey went to collect a package and I went to the nearby station to catch a train home.

The train arrived. I got on. The train went on to the next station. And stopped. For ages. Then a rather tetchy driver came on the intercom to tell us that the train could not proceed because "There are VANDALS holding a door open towards the back of the train and spraying graffiti. We cannot move until that door is closed!"  Not what I was expecting on my way home! Shortly after someone obviously sorted them out, or they got bored, or whatever, the doors closed and the train moved on.

The new screws were a perfect size and so finally, finally, finally - I have completed the Kitchen Cupboard Handle project. It took close to no time, once I had the right sized screws to work with

Much better than the manky, slightly rusty, very sorry for themselves silver ones that I replaced.

Now I might do the handles in the bathroom as well. There are only two of them  but I don't have any more here. I'll have to go back to Bunnings!

I had a quiet evening and went to bed fairly early. And that was Thursday. It was a fun day

What I Have Done Lately

I've been quite busy lately. I have done my usual Japanese classes, online on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, and in person on Wednesday evening. 

I went into work on Thursday to cover a gap in the reception roster. I needed to be there quite early. It was still dark when I left home 😩

I had dinner with Lindsey in The Quarterhouse on Thursday evening.

The mattress people came on Friday morning and I did useful things in the afternoon.

Sunset on Friday evening:

Wendy came by on Saturday and we went to the Docklands Pantry for lunch, enjoying the winter sunshine

Sunday was the Melbourne half marathon, part of which was run along Harbour Esplanade. I did not participate! But I did watch from my window. I forgot to go to the market, remembering only when it was too late. I did clean and tidy the flat, which doesn't take long, and wandered over to the outlet centre in the afternoon.

I was carefully watched by the Docklands Giraffes while I was busy at home

Brandy was also carefully watching something on Sunday afternoon. Something he was not happy about. He was yelling at it in the way he would do if there was some sort of monster, or other cat, or possum outside the window, which seemed unlikely given that we are on the 6th floor.

And this is what it was:

It's caught in a web and blows around in the wind. I can't get to it to move it. I am hoping it will blow away when next it rains properly. But it does look as though it's alive when it flutters about. I can see why Brandy was displeased by its presence.

Chris came to visit on Monday. We went over to the food hall in the outlet centre so she could indulge her wish to eat dumplings. I had intended to go to the dumpling cafe round the corner but it has closed (somewhat abruptly). It's a pity because it made exceedingly good dumplings. The Dumpling Chef in the outlet centre does ok dumplings.  We had coffee (Chris) and hot chocolate (me) after the dumplings and then went for a look around the shops before Chris caught her train back to Macedon.

The rest of this week is looking fairly quiet. Just the regular stuff, which isn't very demanding

Mattresses

If you look closely at the "before" photos of my bedroom, you will notice that there is a mattress propped up alongside the bed, next to the wall. There was also, of course, a mattress on the bed. Once I dismantled the bed, there were two single mattresses that were surplus to requirements.

If we had had the time on the Sunday when Freyja and Simon came to assemble the new bed, we would have taken them down to the hard rubbish cage but you can only do that while the concierge is there to give you the key.  There wouldn't have been time to get the key, go down twice to the basement with the mattresses and hand the key back before the concierge left on the Sunday. So we propped them up against the dresser in the living area until someone came round at an appropriate time to help carry them down.

I was a bit sad about the Koala mattress. They are quite expensive and I had only had it a few months and it was in good condition. It seemed a pity to send it to landfill but I definitely don't have space to be storing extra mattresses, especially when I really don't need them.

Then Facebook brought to my attention the Mattress Recycling Company. I looked into them, did a bit of investigating and booked for them to come on Friday, between 8 and 12 to take the Koala mattress away. If they can refresh and recondition the mattresses they send them to people in need. Otherwise they strip them down and send the component parts for recycling.

They turned up on Friday at 10:00, exactly half way in the time slot. They asked if they were taking both the mattresses. No, I've only paid for one. Was the second mattress being thrown out? Eventually, yes. Then they were happy to take two for the p[rice of one because they were short of single mattresses and would take any they could get hold of.  And so, my living space was unexpectedly free of mattresses. Excellent!

I have moved some more of the furniture around. Freyja and Simon had put the bedroom chest of drawers by the front door while we thought about things. I quite liked having something in that spot but the drawers were slightly too deep and it was difficult to get in and out of the front door. So I swapped the drawers with the bookcase that had been in the lounge area

I am very pleased with the result.

Bedroom

On Thursday morning, my bedroom looked like this:

 Then on Thursday afternoon, these arrived:

On Friday, I opened the box labeled "armchair" and assembled this:

It did not take long for the cats to find it!

On Sunday morning, my bedroom looked like this:

I can't say that I really used any of my new DIY skills, such as they are, assembling the chair. It was relatively simple. I did use some of the confidence I acquired to dismantle the bed. I also found the little tool set I bought when I started the kitchen cupboard handle project (which I really must go back to!) It  came into play when Freyja and Simon came round later on Sunday afternoon to build my new bed. 

(Let it be clearly understood that the tools I inherited from Jim are stronger, more robust and much better quality than the ones in my little tool kit. They are also much easier to use. But I do now have the smaller tap hammer that I have wanted for some time.)

On Sunday evening my bed looked like this:

And today my room has transformed into a proper, grown up bedroom:

The view from my new reading chair:

Now, if anyone would care to come around and help me restore order to my living/dining room, I would be very much obliged 😄