the running wave

Rather cool don't you think?  You can certainly see me coming in these!  

Sorry, more graffiti from today's wanderings around the back lanes of an area called Fitzroy.  It's all a bit hippie-ish round there and graffiti, which doesn't appear to be illegal in Australia (see here for Melbourne), is everywhere.  None of these belong to Banksy but I thought I would just show you a few more pieces, just for fun.  I have no idea what some of them are depicting but there is no doubt that it is an extraordinarily skilful art form and they are all one offs so let's just enjoy them for what they are! And I love this - it's corrugated iron!  

... don't hold back! and my favourite -

You would not believe the weather in Melbourne today!  It's real witches on the heath stuff - gusting winds and lashing rain.  Just awful!  We are supposed to be going to a rugby league match tonight, accompanied by The Little Princess, but it's really not weather to be going out with babes in arms, so her mum and I may just stay at home with her!  I could sit and watch her all day, she's just so beautiful!  And that's just not beauty in the eye of the beholder - she really is a beautiful wee girl! If The Little Princess decides to have a snooze (unlikely) I can spend my evening looking at my latest purchase - a book about cooking with chestnuts.  I love chestnuts and can thoroughly recommend Mr Gaucho's chestnut risotto.  It's delicious!  Anyway, I bought the book at probably the most amazing book shop I have ever been to.  It's all cookery books, old and new.   Books for Cooks is in Gertrude Street in Collingwood and has rooms full of cookery books stac

When we first arrived in Australia, just over three weeks ago, it was a bit disconcerting to be thrown back into Autumn!  We had just left home where longed for Spring was very much in evidence.  But it's a topsy turvy world down here where the sun shines in the north and water runs down the plug hole in the opposite direction.   Probably like many people in the UK I rather assumed that Australian weather was just one long Summer's day and although I had heard of Melbourne's reputation for having four seasons in twenty four hours, I took it all with a pinch of salt.  Well I can report that it isn't all heat and sunshine and we are having some very chilly weather indeed.  I have had to send for extra jumpers to be sent from home (cheaper than buying new here).  Winter seems to have come early and I have to say that when staying with old friends down on the Mornington Peninsula last weekend, their wood burning stove was a huge attraction!  I was properly warm fo

One day last week we 'did' Federation Square in Melbourne.  It's a sort of piazza which houses all sorts of things - an excellent tourist information centre, design shops, restaurants and bars, various galleries which are attached to the National Galleries of Victoria, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, the Ian Potter Centre and so on.  There is a big open expanse where people meet and mooch about and occasional markets are held.  If you feel like it you can just sit and watch an enormous screen which shows sporting events -  and they even provide a deckchair to sit in! There were various galleries to look round but the one we were drawn to most was exhibiting Aboriginal art.  I know absolutely nothing about this extraordinarily vibrant form of artwork so I am not going to try and write about it here, but these are some of my favourite pieces from the exhibition.   This was my favourite painting, Puntawarri by Dadda Samson.   Here are a coup

There is a delightful, tiny little shop next to the Coin Laundry cafe down the road from here.  It's called The Little Grocer .  The lady who runs it is a very friendly New Zealander and clearly a good cook.  Her shop was full of wonderful ingredients and things to eat and it was all beautifully displayed.    I picked up this. We had a delicious supper involving quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) when we stayed with our very special friend in Devon recently.  I hadn't realised it was quite such a super food and so when I saw this packet I thought it looked rather interesting with all the extra bits and pieces included on the top - pistachios and stuff .  The Little Grocer lady told me how to cook it - boil for 10 - 12 minutes and then dress it with olive oil, a little lemon juice and sea salt. She said you can then add all sorts of goodies to make a very delicious salad, bits of cold chicken, roasted vegetables, rocket, chorizo, parsley and other herbs, all sorts of