Happy 20th Birthday to the Blog

Ten years ago I wished the blog a happy tenth birthday and then said:

I wonder if the blog will still be going in another ten years.  And if it is - I wonder what it will be telling us

And here it still is, trundling along. 

Ten years ago I knew we were heading back to Australia later in the year. I had absolutely no idea that ten years on I would be living in a flat in Docklands with a water view. Whenever I had come to visit Docklands I had thought it would be a lovely place to live (ignoring the scoffers who said it would be a dire place to live) but assumed that it would be well out of my reach, especially with a water view.  Turns out it wasn't out of reach and that I was right; it is a lovely place to live. 

I hadn't expected to be living on my own, although Jim and I knew that it was very likely that he would die before I did. We had had lots of discussions about it so when the time came there was a plan which could be put into action. I absolutely hadn't expected the dementia. Fortunately we had had the discussions before it became impossible to discuss serious things with him and, again, I more or less knew what he would have wanted had he been able to say.

So I think what the blog is telling us is that we should seize the day, have the discussions, get the paperwork in order, Be Prepared but be flexible as well. And above all - have fun.

Shall we aim for another 10 years? A celebration of Meanderings' 30th birthday in February 2036.  

Time

Today marks six months since I picked up the keys to my New Life in the City.

Monday will be six months since Brandy, Whiskey and I moved in and had our first night sleeping here.

Tomorrow will be twenty years since I wrote my first entry on the Meanderings blog. A Sunday afternoon shift at the Psalter Lane library, sun shining, few visitors and me looking to see what this blog thing was that I had been invited to explore by the computer system. (I didn't know then, really, what a blog was.)

If I am surprised to note that it is already six months since I picked up the keys to the flat (and I am) I am astounded that it has been twenty years since the genesis of Meanderings, both that the time has passed and that I kept at it. My attention span doesn't normally run for two decades.

Time is a funny thing. It has been passing at speed this week. Whole days have been vanishing without me properly noticing them. 

I did very little on Sunday. I managed to stagger out of the flat to go to the supermarket for some cat food and that was pretty much it. 

I went to work on Monday, which was more challenging than it ordinarily is. Trams aren't running along Spencer Street for two weeks while they repair the tracks.  So I took a tram up Collins Street and changed to the 86 at Gertrude Street in Fitzroy. I intended to  change in the city but I got on a tram which I knew intersected with the 86 at Gertrude Street, so figured I might as well stay on. 

Yesterday I finally gave in and went and bought a carpet sweeper for my two rugs. I had a carpet sweeper in Eilish Court. I didn't bring it because I knew the flat didn't have carpets. I did not want to buy another one. I really didn't. Moving is expensive enough without replacing things that you absolutely DECIDED you weren't going to need and now find that you do. My broom does sweep up the cat fur but it doesn't do a very good job of cleaning the rugs. The carpet sweeper does - and picks up quite a bit more cat fur. Money well spent, I suppose but if I should ever be foolish enough to move again I am going to take absolutely everything with me and sort it out once I am settled 😂

I met briefly with Freyja while I was at her end of the city and came home on the City Circle tram. If you catch a tram which was primarily intended for tourists, it should not be surprising that tourists use it. It does surprise me, though, how many people use it. I wonder if there will be as many visitors over the winter.

And now today is also in serious danger of disappearing on me. It is only mid-morning but I am still not dressed, nor have I yet done anything particularly useful. I had better put myself into gear and get myself moving!

Yes? Did you want something?

I am busy.
I am watching my favourite TV show

Food

 I've had quite a foodie couple of days.

Julia and Travis gave me a gift token for Dokutoku for my birthday last December. I deployed it on Thursday evening.

Lindsey came around and we had an early dinner. Even at 6:30 it was very busy (it's not very big) so I was glad I had booked a table. And we had their wagyu sukiyaki menu to share. It is thinly sliced wagyu beef, with a plate of tofu, mushrooms, cabbage, carrots and konjac noodles, with rice on the side. You cook all. this in a simmering bowl of a soy sauce based broth and it is very delicious. It also comes with a raw egg which you are supposed to beat in your serving bowl and use as a dipping sauce.  I did not do this. I didn't really need to. Lindsey did but gave up after a while. The food was saucy enough with the cooking broth.

I have experience eating in Dokutoku (it is right next door to the front door of Victoria Point, the building I live in). I did not wear one of my best shirts to dinner!

Lindsey almost never seems to spread
Japanese sauces over her clothes

Yesterday I went to a cooking class in Abbotsford that Freyja and Simon had bought me for Christmas. It was a cooking with native ingredients class and we made damper with river mint, barramundi cooked in a banana leaf with samphire and lemon myrtle and garnished with finger lime,  then kangaroo with a pepperberry salt and vegetables. The chef made a Davidson plum sauce to go with the kangaroo. We made a sesame paste to have with the damper flavoured with saltbush and samphire. Everything had garlic or black garlic. I don't think I learned very much, although I have never cooked kangaroo before and I hadn't cooked with fresh lemon myrtle leaves. But it was very interesting and I had a good time. And, of course, delicious food to eat.

We were supposed to cook in pairs but there was an odd number of participants and they got me to cook alone to accommodate my nut allergy. This meant that the second chef came to help me with chopping things while I was using the mortar and pestle. My very own sous chef, with excellent knife skills 😊 It also meant that I had double portions of food, because everything was organised for two servings. I didn't eat both portions. I brought the extras home (by invitation, I didn't just help myself).

I was very pleased with my cook of the kangaroo. It was pretty much perfect. Although let me assure you that I will never do it that well again. I don't eat a lot of kangaroo, it not being one of my favourite meats, although it must be said that kangaroo that is lightly smoked and then gently fried with rosemary, garlic, olive oil and butter is rather nice. We had it with purple potatoes, taro and mushrooms also gently fried in oil, butter, garlic and rosemary.

Our ingredients came pre-prepared.
This is the dry ingredients for the damper

lemon myrtle, samphire and lemon zest
for the barramundi

vegetables to accompany the kangaroo

banana leaf parcel

revealing lovely barra

damper flat breads

cooking the vegetables

Perfectly cooked kangaroo
(to my surprise!)

The afternoon was enlivened by one of the participants collapsing while the chef was demonstrating how to cook the damper. Her partner and another participant (who I assume was a nurse or a doctor - she knew what she was doing) sorted her out and all was well.  But it was a bit disconcerting - the chef nearly burnt his damper!!

I came home, got changed and pretty much immediately went out again to meet Freyja and Simon at Hamer Hall for An Audience With Tony Robinson (Blackadder, Time Team, amongst other things). It was very funny, very informative and very entertaining - although I could have done without the angry, white, racist man/men heckling from the bleaches whenever indigenous history or culture were mentioned. No need for that at all.

I bailed at the intermission, not because I wasn't having fun but because I was getting very tired. I wouldn't normally engage with a day that starts with an online 8:00 Japanese lesson for an hour, contains a 2pm cooking class for 2.5 hours in Abbotsford and then finishes with a 7:30 theatre engagement in the city for another 2.5 hours. Very poor planning on my part, I agree, but that was just the way it was. Only having the first half of an audience with Tony Robinson was better than having no halves.

Freyja tells me that there was no further heckling in the second half. I surmise that he/they had taken the chill pill that the host had suggested they take, or that they had buggered off home or to the pub, or that perhaps they had been invited to leave

The river from Princes Bridge,
a little before 9pm

I don't often go into the city in the evening. It was very busy. The trams were packed. There were people everywhere. There was an Indonesian (I think) festival in Fed Square and Freyja and Simon went to a different part of Fed Square to watch a footy match on a big screen after the show. It was, of course, Valentines Day and there were obviously other things happening around the place. It was all quite buzzy.

I started writing this at 7:30 on Sunday morning. It is a beautiful morning. And I am looking at a very rare day when there is nothing in my calendar, nothing I have to do, nothing urgent that I should do. There are, of course, lots of things that I could do, that need to be done. But nothing that absolutely has to be done today (Though I should perhaps iron my clothes for work tomorrow)

Back at Ghost's Place

So this week has been more or less a "rinse and repeat" of last week.

I came to Ghost's place on Saturday afternoon. Bourke Street was nearly as busy as it had been the previous week. It might be weather related - it was a lovely day for a trip to the city. I'll have to check in autumn and winter and see how many people are about.

I met Wendy at the Alphington market on Sunday. It too was quite busy. I couldn't buy very much; I was in the car but I wasn't taking the car from Northcote to my place. Anything I bought, I had to carry home on the bus and tram and I didn't have my granny shopping trolley with me. I could, however, buy vegetables for this week.

Wendy and I tried to have lunch in Kissaten but the kitchen was closed because of a power cut. So we went into Clifton Hill and had lunch in Rubber Duck, which I haven't been into before. I would definitely go again. My eggs Benedict with a side of mushrooms was very big and very tasty. I didn't need anything much to eat for the rest of the day. Just a tuna and cucumber sandwich in the evening.

There were two potato rösti under all that

I am planning, after the public holiday in March, to take my long service leave, with a view to retiring after that. Obviously, if I am not going to work twice a week, I need other reasons to leave my flat. Garden club - tick. In person Japanese classes once a week - tick. Sunday and other lunches out, from time to time - tick. What else? Someone suggested Lions or Probus. Tony was a member of his local Probus in Mornington and really enjoyed it. He and Stella went on lots of outings and adventures. I looked into Probus in Docklands and discovered there is a group that meets in the Docklands Community Hub by the library. I sent in a membership application, was accepted and yesterday went to my first meeting. There were several other new people. They meet once a month, followed by lunch. They do lots of other things - walking group, book club, film group, other things. I have registered to go on a day trip to Beleura House in Mornington in a month or so.

We'll see how this goes. Everyone was very friendly but I'm not really a meeting person. I'm not fit enough to head off on 5-10 km walks around the city, although that may change now that the local physio has me under control. I have absolutely no interest in films or card games. I do like food, you will be amazed to hear. I could perhaps be persuaded by the monthly Sunday lunch. I'll give it a proper go and see how I get on.

I didn't go to the lunch after the meeting. I came back to Ghost's place. The tram trip here was enlivened by a small truck blocking the tram tracks near the museum. The tram turned right and was brought up short by the small truck, thus blocking the intersection. We were stopped for around 10 minutes, which was enough to cause a considerable build up of traffic along Nicholson Street. I can't imagine that the truck driver actually intended to cause afternoon traffic chaos. Tram drivers are quite scary when they're annoyed - and our tram driver was definitely annoyed. It didn't really bother me. I wasn't in any hurry and I figured the truck would move eventually. Which it did.

And now this morning has settled in. I will head back to my place later, sort my cats out and then head to my Wednesday evening Japanese class.

Freyja and Simon are due back on Friday evening. My plan is to drop around on Friday morning to play with Ghost. But I think that this will have been the last overnight stay. For now.

Good morning, from Northcote

Ghost's Place

You find me this morning at Ghost's Place in Northcote.  Her people are in Aotearoa / New Zealand and I am sharing cat sitting duties with a friend of theirs. Ross is not available - he has gone to Aotearoa with Freyja and Simon.

Sunrise over the Dandenongs

I wonder if I can push the door open
far enough so I can go out?
Spoiler: Not this time

I came over on Saturday, more or less at lunchtime. I have no idea why but the tram was jammed and Bourke Street was packed. Gertrude and Smith Streets were unexpectedly busy. I had intended to get off the tram at Queen Street and take the bus to Northcote but there were too many people for me to get off with my (little) suitcase. This wasn't a major problem. There are plenty of options for getting off the tram and connecting with the bus. I got off at Clifton Hill, by which time many of the people had gone.

Ghost was very pleased to see me - or, more accurately, the supply of cat treats. She had plenty of biscuits in her bowls but she was impatiently waiting for cat treats.

I was reunited with Ziggy the car and drove to Station Street for a visit to Oasis, the Lebanese cafe and grocery store. Chicken shawarma for lunch, spanakopita for dinner.

Lindsey came over mid-morning on Sunday and we went to the Alphington market, which was also on the busy side. Mind you, the weather was very pleasant all weekend. Sunny, warm but not too hot, light breezes. There had been some rain overnight so everything was fresh. We had lunch at Kissaten and then went to the Bunnings in Fairfield. I needed a new toilet roll holder and, while I was there, I picked up a mature tomato plant, plus a mint and a thyme plant. The tomatoes in the community garden are finished and it is possible that I might get some tomatoes from a plant on my Sunset Strip. It's called a "winter garden" on the floor plan and it gets very warm. I'll test it to see how well it does as a "winter" garden. Mind you, it is still summer and March is often reasonably warm. See how we go.

I went to work on Monday. I am working on Mondays and Thursdays for five weeks while Mike the Practice Manager is away, then I am planning to take my long service leave. It is VERY confusing for my poor brain, working on Mondays and Thursdays after so many years of working Wednesdays and Fridays. I am struggling to remember what day it is and where I am supposed to be. This is further complicated by my overnight stays at Ghost's Place twice a week for two weeks. I am paying very close attention to my online calendar.

Tuesday morning view from my place:

I came back to Ghost's Place yesterday, this time catching the bus from Queen Street. It was a real (bus) trip down memory lane. The bus goes through so many places that I have lived in, hung around in, studied in throughout so many different stages of my life. 

There is a bus stop right outside Ghost's Place, which is very convenient. 

I must remember that today is Wednesday and that I have a Japanese class in the city at 5:30. I need to get back to my place and sort my cats out before that. But it's only 8:00 so there is plenty of time. I shall have a cup of coffee and ponder the day ahead.

Ghost, pondering the sunshine: