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 😄

A (not entirely) Busy Week

As you know, I went to the IMAX on Monday, had lunch with Freyja and came home so the vet could come and visit Whiskey.

On Tuesday I went to my afternoon Japanese class. I have swapped back to the Wednesday evening from this week. Not so much because I had done the class material several times before. I do not mind doing things over again. It's good for reinforcement and understanding. Many of my online classes are repeat performances. The difference is that in the online classes the other students are also mostly doing things again and are more or less at my language level. In the face to face classes the students are doing it for the first time and are not quite at my language level. I felt as though I shouldn't say anything in class so as not to intimidate them. There is no point going to a language class if you don't feel as though you can say anything! The Wednesday evening students are not intimidated by me! I still am not going to enjoy leaving my flat in order to be in town for 5:30, but I do enjoy the classes so am just going to have to get on with it.

Wednesday was reasonably quiet. I did a bit of shopping, a bit of tidying, a bit of useful stuff.

Thursday Lindsey came round in the afternoon for a cup of tea and a natter. I made a pumpkin, miso and ginger gyoza filling and prepared the vegetables for Friday. 

On Friday, Robert, Susan, Rod and Freyja came round for lunch. Simon was working so couldn't come. We had the aforementioned gyoza, followed by chicken katsu curry (tofu for Freyja) with the vegetables and rice, followed by chocolate mud cake. It was a good afternoon but it definitely threw my day-awareness out of kilter. It had the feeling of a Sunday but nothing Sunday like was happening apart from at my dining table.

The Docklands Firelight mid-winter festival kicked off at around 5pm. I watched it from my windows.

Saturday I went to Collingwood for the planter box workshop. I had thought I might go down to the food trucks to grab some dinner but they were very busy and my back, hips, knees and feet were protesting loudly at having been made to stand up from when I left the train at 2pm until I got back on a train at 6:40. I stayed at home, wearing my nightshirt, dressing gown and slippers and had rice and leftover curry sauce and chicken instead.

Yesterday I went to the Alphington market with Lindsey, Freyja and Simon. In the afternoon Lindsey came round to check out the Firelight Festival. You could  see some of it from my windows, but not all of it. It ran along Harbour Esplanade from Collins Street to La Trobe Street and there were loads of things happening, for children, teens and adults.  Lindsey and I really enjoyed it

The weather was kind on all three evenings and the event was packed. Absolutely no chance of getting anything from the food trucks unless you were prepared for a long wait, so we went round to the Newquay Promenade, where the restaurants were also doing a roaring trade but where you could get a table. We went to the Docklands Pantry which only opened a few months ago. I've been in once before, just after it opened. Last night I had a linguine carbonara with supplementary chicken. It was very tasty.

This was the view from my bedroom window at 8:30 yesterday evening

The event ran until 10:30 on Friday and Saturday and until 10:00 last night. At EXACTLY 10:00 the music, lights and activities stopped. I know this because I happened to be sitting on my bed watching. by around 10:15 almost all the people had gone. By 11:00 the food trucks had gone and many of the light installations had been taken down. They are dismantling the rest of it this morning.

It is a glorious morning, although a touch on the cold side. At 8:00 my watch said it was 2℃ outside. My clock said it was 12℃ in the bedroom. And peace has returned to Docklands

It crossed my mind late last week that the Firelight Festival started last year on the day that I very first came in to inspect my flat. A year ago. A whole year. This is a somewhat surprising thought!

This week is not looking quite as exciting as last week. So far there is nothing noteworthy on the calendar - although I must remember to go to the Japanese class on Wednesday AND that it has moved to Level one in their building and isn't on Level two any more

Channeling Jim

Before Jim got sick he was a carpenter. He could build book shelves and cupboards and cabinets. He could build houses. He could certainly turn his hand to most DIY projects. He had all the builder's tools he could ever possibly need, including scary electrical saws and multiple drills and hammers. He had huge sets of screwdrivers, spanners, and drill bits and all sorts of things.

I can wield a hammer and a (manual) screwdriver. I can use pliers and spanners. But you could not say that I am proficient in matters DIY and I have never used anything other than a small manual saw and definitely nothing powered, apart from a whippersnipper in the garden. I can operate garden tools relatively competently but that's about it.

I decided that I really needed to learn how to use a small drill when I tried to replace the kitchen cupboard handles (a project which remains abandoned). But how? I don't have an electric drill. Jim's all went to live with my brother Matthew and in any case were too big and cumbersome for me to feel confident using them. I have a small box with basic tools in it and nothing else.

Then I saw an advertisement for a Handywoman's beginners' class in Collingwood. Come and learn how to make a small planter box.

So I did.

These things were all familiar to me. I can use a square and clamps, although I don't have Jim's any more. I also don't have his carpentry pencils. I do have two of his proper measuring tapes. He had several and gave me one well before he got sick. After he died I kept mine and one of his, one in the garage and one in the kitchen with my secateurs and a small garden trowel. It was easier to have them in the kitchen if I wanted to nip out into the garden. They had doubles with the rest of the garden tools in the garage.  The trowel, secateurs and one measuring tape are in my "tool box". The other measuring tape lives in the kitchen drawer.

But I digress. The tools on my bench at the workshop were familiar. I was a bit more disconcerted by the arrival of a jig saw. Electrical saws are scary. But we were shown how to use them safely and how we should stand and hold them in order to avoid sawing off our fingers. I cannot say that I am now competent in the use of a jig saw and my sawn pieces of wood would not pass muster if I were an apprentice carpenter. But I did have six pieces, more or less the same size and very nearly with square edges. Nearly.

We were shown how to use the electric drill to make holes for both screws and nails. We were shown how to use the drill as a screwdriver.  And then we were shown how to take all the various bits of wood and assemble them into a planter.

In the spirit of full disclosure, most of the pieces of wood had been pre-cut. We just made six of the twelve boards for the planter sides. The class was already 4 ½ hours long. If we had had to do everything ourselves we would still have been there at midnight.

Jim would have made a much better fist of making a planter box. Mine has jagged edges and is a bit, erm - rustic. But it is square and it is level and it hasn't fallen apart. It will function as a planter box when I put together my (tiny) indoor garden in the spring. But I don't think I am ready to embark on sheds or cabinets or houses just yet. I think they would definitely blow apart in Docklands windy moods.

Not bad for a first attempt
although it is tempting to
even up the edges a bit.
If only I had some sort of saw 😂

The description of the workshop invited us to discard heteronormativity and to pick up a hammer to smash the patriarchy. I don't think I am quite ready for such an ambitious insurrection -  but I might now be able to use a small drill to help with my kitchen cupboard handle project

IMAX

People who know me fairly well will be aware that I am not the world's biggest Film Fan. I find movie length films a bit tedious. Happy to watch the first 15 minutes and maybe the last 15 or 20 minutes but I find the middle bits of films largely unnecessary.

I almost never go to the cinema. I don't remember the last time I went although Freyja and I think it might have been when I went with her and Jim to see Beowulf in 3D in Sheffield at the very beginning of 2008.

So when I announced that I had bought a ticket to the IMAX in Melbourne, it generated a bit of interest amongst my nearest and dearest. To be fair, though, it wasn't strictly a movie. It was a 45 minute documentary. I thought I could probably manage a 45 minute documentary.

Freyja decided to come too - perhaps to make sure I was actually going and wasn't somehow hallucinating 😂

I have been to the IMAX in Bradford, on a work visit, a very long time ago. As I said, I had seen Beowulf in 3D. I had completely forgotten that you need special glasses to watch these films. They worked better once I took my distance glasses off. I had also forgotten exactly how LOUD movie theatre sound systems are.  Freyja was wearing her noise cancelling headphones to lessen the impact a bit. I didn't notice until she mentioned it later. I had my headphones with me. I could have done that.

I also hadn't realised until Sunday evening that the winter school holidays had started. I was a bit disconcerted by the number of young children who were there with their parents. But on the whole, all was good. It wasn't quite what I was expecting but I enjoyed watching it and also learned quite a bit (I hadn't, for example, realised just how much impact the Himalayas have on the surrounding landscapes and ecosystems.) My very favourite animal made an appearance (I love snow leopards) and I had never previously heard of the plateau pika  or the long eared jerboa with its minute body, enormous ears and long tail with a pompom at the end. They are very cute.

I shall keep an eye on the IMAX schedule and see if any other interesting documentaries come up.

We went to Lygon Street for lunch after our brief visit to Asia.

Freyja's lunchtime serve
of pasta (it was huge!)

My much more sensibly sized pizza

Then Freyja called me a Didi to get me home in time for the vet visit I was expecting for Whiskey who remains constipated. I have threatened to trade him in for a Ferrari. I'm sure it would be cheaper in the long run!

a Quick Round Up

Last week was fairly quiet.

I went to the Japanese class on Tuesday afternoon, which I rather enjoyed. It was nice getting home late in the afternoon instead of during the evening. There were two other students, one of whom I have briefly run across before. I did miss the students from the Wednesday evening class but I'm sure I will learn to enjoy the new students just as much.

The rest of the week was not very exciting. I did some useful things at home. I made a lamb and vegetable stew to use up the vegetables in the fridge. I did a bit of organising and a bit of tidying. I have dug out my Japanese learning materials and am sorting them out. Austin and Tatsuki had their birthdays during the week (in Japan). 

Saturday found me wandering around the city centre with Lindsey, checking out the East Asian supermarkets and grocery stores.

Yesterday I went back to the Alphington market - for the first time since the very beginning of May. I met Lindsey on the train and then Freyja and Simon at the market. I have sorted out the vegetables and organised the kitchen for the week. Then I met Lindsey in the Quarterhouse for an early dinner. Often we share a Sunday roast because they are ENORMOUS. However, yesterday we had one each and took leftovers home with us. I now have lots of vegetables for the week. The Quarterhouse does not stint on the veg and they are very well cooked.

So it was a quiet week, but I quite enjoyed it.

This coming week is not going to be quiet at all!

Preparing for the busy week ahead, in the pub:

Market and Lunches

So I did go and collect my picture frame from Kmart on Friday. I went to Daiso and the pharmacy while I was there. The picture frame is going to be more complicated to use than I was expecting and hanging it is going to be - erm - difficult.  I shall ponder.

Saturday was cold, gloomy and slightly damp. I went to the supermarket and to the library to return a book and to collect another one.

Sunday was lovely and sunny. It was also the second of the most recent iteration of the monthly Docklands Farmers' Market. Lindsey, Freyja and Simon came over to inspect it. We went over at about 11 and it was very busy. It has much the same sort of stalls as the Alphington market with a few extra things and more food trucks. They do need to sort out the queue control. Trying to get past very popular stalls to their neighbours was quite hard. I had to practically push out the way people who were queuing for the pie stall so I could get to the cheese stall. I came home with mandarins, apples, lemons, potatoes, lots of vegetables, flowers, dried apricots. My Granny trolley was full.

Then we took the train to Brunswick, where we met Ian and had lunch in the Cornish Arms. This is a good pub for us because it has full omnivore and vegan menus. It's also easily accessible to all of us by train, tram or bus.  Freyja and Simon introduced us to an interesting little tofu shop in a back street near the pub. They make their own tofu and tofu derived products. I think we enjoyed the black sesame tofu donuts the most, although my slice of black sesame chiffon cake was also delicious.

And then we all went back to our respective homes.

I had a fairly quiet day yesterday. Wendy came around at lunch time and we went to Rana's bakery which is next to Dokutoku and sells Middle Eastern bread products. And I caught up with some Masterchef episodes in the afternoon. I started watching it when this season first started and then went away and got busy and life happened. I have lots of episodes to catch up with.

I have a Japanese class this afternoon. You may remember that I started going to classes on Wednesday evenings, from 5:30 to 7:40. I enjoyed the classes but I did not enjoy going out at 4:50 for an evening class. I remember when I was a teenager  being told that older people prefer not to go out in the evening if they can do whatever it is during the day. I scoffed at this. I was definitely always going to be an evening person. And I suppose I might well have stayed an evening person had I not married a builder and perforce turned into a morning person. I get up between 5:45 and 6 most mornings and I no longer fire on all cylinders in the evenings, especially when it comes to learning things.

The school has a class at 2pm on Tuesdays so I arranged to transfer to it. It does mean that I drop back two terms worth of learning but that doesn't particularly phase me. It absolutely doesn't hurt to do things several times. All the classes at this sort of level are at about the same level as my online classes anyway.

The view from outside the library on Saturday

In contrast, the view from the market on Sunday

Docklands' industrial giraffes waking up
on Tuesday morning
(They live in the shipping container 
docks in the Port of Melbourne)