Anniversaries

This week has to do some heavy lifting.

Today is Freyja's birthday. Happy birthday, Freyja 🎂🎈🎉

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of me collecting the keys to my flat.

Thursday is the third anniversary of Jim's death.

Friday is the 10th anniversary of my return to Australia.

And Sunday marks a year since the cats and I properly moved into the flat and stayed overnight.

I do not have plans to mark any of these anniversaries (but I will note them).

I need to go to Richmond today to pick up a bedside lamp from Ikea. I had been wondering why I only bought one - and then remembered that when I bought it I only had a single bed, pushed against the wall, and there was only room/need for one. I now have a double bed with a table on either side and often find I am on the wrong side of the bed when I want to turn the lamp on. I had an online voucher for Ikea so got the lamp for free and only paid for some lightbulbs for it. I just need to go and collect it. I will also go in to work for a couple of hours on Thursday and I go back to my Japanese lessons, both online and in person, this week after a short break. Otherwise, my calendar is clear.

I went into work twice last week, on Tuesday and Thursday, which managed to confuse me rather a lot. When I do go in it's usually on a Friday and occasionally a Wednesday. Seldom Tuesday and practically never Thursday. I hope it won't be as confusing this week because I am going in on Thursday morning and my in person Japanese class has moved from Wednesday to Thursday. I have set alarms to remind me to do both these things!

The Docklands market was on yesterday. I don't think it was quite as busy as previously, although I went with Wendy and she came earlier than Freyja, Simon or Lindsey would usually come and it may have picked up later.  This is not to say that it was quiet. It was busy enough but not absolutely rammed full. That made it a much more pleasant experience wandering around. Mind you, It doesn't help that it gets cancelled when there are marathons and fun runs happening around the harbour on market days. It wasn't on last month and I do wonder how much that deters people from coming. 

Wendy came back to my place for lunch and we made good use of some of the market purchases.

There are worse places to walk,
on your way to the tram stop
to get to work

Steam Trains, Snow Leopards and Smoke

The weekend was very people-y.

I was at work on Friday for some meetings and training, which naturally involved there being people.

On Friday evening I went to a small drinks party in the North tower (I live in the South tower). There were three other people, plus me, which wasn't particularly people-y and was very pleasant. We are members of the Garden Group and it was good to catch up over drinks and nibbled for a general chat, rather than in the garden for a garden-specific conversation.

I had a Zoom Japanese class on Saturday morning. The class was almost full and was fun and interesting. I had done the material before but it's not something I need to use all that often so a refresher was good.

I was doing some of my regular morning Japanese study when I heard what sounded remarkably like a steam train blowing its horn. But where would there be a steam train so close that I could hear it? You know - maybe at the very large station out in my backyard? Maybe?

I checked and there was indeed a steam train at Southern Cross, due to go out just after I was due to meet Lindsey to catch a not-steam train. So I wandered over a bit early to have a look

The train was going on a day trip to Seymour and there were lots of people boarding for the trip, plus people on the platform taking photos and wandering around. I took a few photos and made my way to the platform I actually needed to be on.

Lindsey and I took the train out to Melbourne Zoo where we were meeting Freyja and Simon. Simon was going to a "Prepare lunch for the spider monkeys and feed them" experience. Freyja, Lindsey and I went for a wander around while he was doing that and then met up when he was finished. The zoo was quite busy. It was a beautiful winter's day and families had come out in numbers. Plus, there was a child's birthday party in one of the function rooms. It was all a bit busy and noisy for me, but I hadn't slept well on Friday night, had been awake since mega-silly o'clock and wasn't in the best of moods. Also my back, hip and knee were very grumpy. We did, however, see the snow leopard cubs which was a great pleasure.

 

We had morning tea with the giraffes

We saw some dinosaurs

We saw some lemurs

And we saw lions and a wombat and seals and penguins and lots of other things. We were there for the seal talk, which was very interesting and also fun.

Then we all went to the Cornish Arms in Brunswick for a late lunch.

It wasn't such a nice day yesterday but we four went to the Alphington market anyway. It was drizzly and rainy but not too bad and there were still quite a few people there. My kitchen is now adequately vegetabled up. Lindsey came round to my place around 2:30 because brother Matthew was in town visiting William and they came around for afternoon coffee and a catch up.

They had just left when Matt rang to tell me that "The North tower is on fire!!!" On fire? Really? Can't be too bad; they haven't evacuated the building. I went out to have a sticky anyway. There were people stood around on the Marvel concourse watching smoke billowing from a balcony (and perhaps also the flat) fairly low down. There was a lot of smoke. Matthew, Lindsey and Will were stood back, watching. The host of Friday's drinks party was also stood outside. The Marvell security people wouldn't let her back into the building. Fire engines came, Lindsey, Matthew and William went away and E and I went down the stairs from the concourse to Harbour Esplanade and came in through the front entrance.

It is alleged that someone had put a piece of brisket in a smoker, gone inside and inadvertently fallen asleep, burning the brisket and producing Very Much Smoke. It will have been an expensive nap. Not only was the brisket rendered inedible but they will almost certainly have to pay for the fire brigade to turn out which will be expensive. Plus, barbecues are not permitted on people's balconies. The OC regulations say nothing about smokers but I wouldn't be surprised if smokers are considered to be a form of barbecue, in which case the unfortunate dozer may be fined by the OC committee as well.

It is raining quite hard today. I will still need to go to the supermarket at some stage. And I am supposed to be heading out for dinner later. But for now I am inside, in the dry with a warming cup of tea. No extra people in my flat. Just me and two felines.

Tram Challenge #109. Collins Street/Southern Cross to Box Hill

Lindsey and I did the Collins Street to Port Melbourne section of the #109 route back in April. Today we did the section that takes you to Box Hill.

The #109 runs for 19.2 km. I think the section from Southern Cross Station to the Box Hill terminus is probably around 15 or 16 km.  It wends its way out through the leafy (and affluent) Eastern suburbs to the end of the line. Box Hill is also an Eastern suburb, and reasonably leafy, I suppose. However, it has developed into a high density, high rise commercial, retail and living centre with a very diverse cultural profile, primarily East Asian with a significant proportion of Chinese speaking families. It is not as affluent as its neighbours such as Camberwell, Deepdene, Balwyn and Auburn but equally it is not amongst Melbournes least affluent suburbs. It is certainly busy.

I have taken the tram as far as Victoria Gardens in Richmond several times, if only because there is an IKEA there. I have also been as far as The Skinny Dog in Kew, where we had the work Christmas party for a couple of years. But I don't remember ever having taken the tram as far as Box Hill. I haven't even been there for many years.

Lindsey and Ian lived in Box Hill early in their relationship and I later did some casual shifts in the library after I had finished at Moonee Valley Library Service and before I went to England. It was much smaller, quieter and more homogeneous in the 1980s  and 90s than now. The then shopping centre (I think The Whitehorse Plaza) was smaller and has since been swallowed up by the two-tower Box Hill Centre. I remember going there for lunch sometimes and finding pies, fish and chips and sandwiches. My memory, which may well be misleading me, says that it was really quite a dull place.

Not now!

Lindsey and I mused upon how some of our more, erm, insular politicians would have coped with the food hall. We were more than comfortable, although I expected to hear Japanese spoken, rather than Mandarin, Cantonese and Vietnamese. 

We had a bit of a wander around the shops but not for long. And we came back on the train, partly because the station is inside the shopping centre and partly because neither of us could remember having taken the train from Box Hill before. Box Hill may be the end of the tram line, but it is only half way along the train line. When I have finished with the trams, I may have to do the suburban train lines.

So, after quite a hiatus in my Tram Challenge, I've completed Route #109. I must pick up the pace if I want to get the challenge finished by the end of the year.

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