RECOVERY AND RE-CREATION IN CROYDON

Yesterday was dentist day in Croydon. 

So I thought I would cover some of the things I like about Croydon.

 After coming out of the dentist I did recover with some

hot chocolate and some soup which I have written about here.

A browsing essential is The Red Parasol, 163 Main Street, Croydon.

At the moment, it is a purchasing essential.

Red Parasol is in Sale mode.

But let's take a look inside.

Beautiful dressing rooms.

Vintage clothes are the specialty here

and to have somewhere lovely to try them on
is a great bonus.

Myers and Target don't give you this.

But it is not only clothing.

The Red Parasol has all sorts of interesting...

things, bits and pieces, treasures.

At Mister Picture, 89 Main Street,Croydon

they are displaying in their window

these marvellous drawings by an artist 

called Phoenix.

Needless to say, these pictures are much better

when seen in person without the reflections.

Julia Gillard.  Current Prime Minister. After to-morrow?

Tony Abbott.  Current Opposition Leader. After to-morrow?

And finally, I paid a visit to Vinnie's.

Vinnie's at Croydon is one of my favourites.

And I purchased these cork-backed floral mats for $2 (for the three).

There is a whole shelf full there of cookery books

which includes the original Margaret Fulton Cook Book

and

Toward Self-Sufficiency: country skills for city dwellers

by Bill Connor

I think both these are worthy of consideration by Trad Padders

so please hie ye hither.

And there is much more to Croydon.

A side street filled with boutiques for you to discover,

for a start.

For pretty much the whole story,

please go here.

Friendship - good ones hold across time and geography

Dear Trad Padders, you will note the picture in the post below of Gray. His son is Josh who has just become my Facebook friend and sent me a beautiful newsy letter to bring me up to date with the doings of his own family.  Browsing through an old post I found this poem and I thought how apt - so here it is for Graham and Pauline; for Josh and Helaina and family and for Gemma.

The Best of Friends

© Jill Wolf

When friendships undergo a test

It's often found old friends are best;

The sampler on the parlour wall

Has these few lines which say it all;

The best of friends can change a frown

Into a smile when you feel down.

The best of friends will understand

Your little trials and lend a hand.

The best of friends will always share

Your secret dreams because they care.

The best of friends, worth more than gold,

Give all the love a heart can hold.

A bikie/biker friend - well, just call him a speed hog!

I had to record this on the blog.  This is my old mate from Tennant Creek days, Graham Buxton.  The story that goes with it is here.  Please note that Gray is no teenager himself!

Remembering Burke and Wills

To-day a memorial plaque will be officially launched to commemorate the departure, 150 years ago, of Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills on a journey of exploration.  The Burke and Wills saga is well embedded in the Australian consciousness - not least because it was an unmitigated disaster and an example of how not to conduct exploration in Australia.

I live in Melbourne and Burke and Wills are big here.  I sort of knew that before I came to live here.  However, I am frequently confronted by the mass adulation of the B&W pre-expedition and their memorialisation post-disaster.  There are statues here and there but I was really gobsmacked by a very, very large artwork at the State Library of Victoria which portrayed the adulation of the crowds of Melbourne as they farewelled these yet to be heroic men.

I hate to be a party-pooper but I am a North Australian living in exile in Melbourne and where I come from Burke and Wills are regarded as prize dills.  We don't think they knew very much.  We don't think they needed to perish.  We think they were amazingly arrogant and ignorant.  While they were doing a perish not too far away Aboriginal groups were thriving.

If any memorials are being built to Burke and Wills to-day they should be done in the context of the ignorance and arrogance of the post-1788 white settlers.

The State Library of Victoria is entering into the commemorations with an ongoing exhibition which began in  May and will run through to October this year under the title of Burke and Wills: Terra Incognita.  To-morrow and Friday there are workshops related to the exhibition from the Curator's viewpoint. Gerard Hayes will discuss items on display including contemporary portraits of Burke and Wills, their last notes and firearms used on the expedition.  Bookings for the workshops are essential.

And for everything you ever wanted to know on the B&W 150th, please go here.

GIRLS' DAY OUT AT MORNINGTON : BAY HOTEL : POMME: MORNINGTON ANTIQUES CENTRE

Herself and I had a girls day out to-day. We drove to Mornington. First of all, we stopped for lunch at the Bay Hotel.  You can see the bistro section - which was beautifully warm and toasty - on the right of the collage above.

We checked out the menu:

We had certainly picked our day because we were able to avail ourselves of the Monday/Tuesday Special which meant that if we picked a "starred" item we got it for $15 with a complimentary glass of wine.  I know I don't dine out often these days, Trad Padders, but I hadn't come across a cleverly marked menu such as this.  Along with the stars, the menu sported tiny 'v's for vegetarian and 'gf's for gluten free.  I am vegetarian and I appreciated this thoughtful touch and I am sure the gluten free brigade would too.

I ordered Mediterranean Pappardelle which, ordinarily according to the menu, has chicken.  I asked for the dish without the chicken and they were happy to oblige.  So my pappardelle came with roasted vegetables, pan seared with olive oil, tossed through the pappardelle and sprinkled with feta and toasted pine nuts.  Herself - who is a carnivore - ordered the Hopkins River Beef Burger.  I didn't have the wine.  Herself had mine and I had a coke.  She seemed well pleased with her vino.  I noted that The Bay promotes local Mornington Peninsula wines with other Australian wines bringing up the rear.  So, as you can see, we had good provender.

Our real purpose for the day was to visit the Mornington Antiques Centre.  But before we set off for there, Herself wanted to make a visit to the local Bed Bath and Table.  We couldn't find close parking in the main street and had to turn out of the main street only to find ample parking and more shops, including major chains like Target, behind the main street shops.  We got out of the car and Pomme caught my eye.  I figured in could do BBT back home any time.  And off I went to Pomme...

The chairs at the front of Pomme are bright and cheery

and the store will cover these chairs to the fabric of your choice.

 Display of art and design, jewellery and homewares

is beautifully done at Pomme.  Go see for yourselves.

 These delicate hanging pendants are filled with tiny treasures.

Behind them, are enchanting artworks of Belted Galloway cattle.

I purchased something for my sister's forthcoming birthday -

but I won't let out the secret here.

Then we were off to browse the Morninton Antiques Centre...

And we did walk away with some goodies.

Herself bought a beautiful print of pink roses.

I brought home a chest of drawers which I hope to transform

and two wooden cutlery holders for pens & scissors & etceteras.

Perhaps that will be the subject of the next post.

Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza ! 13 and 14 August 2010 - #2

Yesterday, dear Trad Padders, 

I told you about the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza.  

Well, to-day was move-in day. 

Don't ask me if Tamara (who is organising all this) and her dearly beloved Matt slept last night.  I know that Herself was over there until well after midnight helping put up wonderful white tissue paper balls on the rafters of the Ashburton Scout Hut in High Street Road, Ashburton.  The Scout Hut is still a Scout Hut but now it is a Scout Hut with pizzaz and quite a large helping of swish.

To-day, I saw wonderful stuff being unpacked and displayed.

There are ten stalls but a cornucopia of variety.

Shabby is there in spades

with all that would gladden Rachel Ashwell's heart.

Vintage and retro is there in all shapes and colours.

Wonderful linens and handcrafted stuff -

that would delight not only the modern woman

but her mum and grandma - are all over.

And junk is there as its glorious self

and re-jigged in marvellously creative ways.

Talk about re-jig, re-use, recycle.

And for those of you who love your food,

I have singled out for special attention

Mrs Beeton's Cookbook

which comes complete with

handwritten recipes and etcetereas.

Just look...

So please come to-morrow and Saturday.

8am until 5pm Friday

8am until about 3pm or so on Saturday.

There are not many opportunities like this to purchase

from a multiplicy of specialist stall holders.

Please ecourage the efforts of 

Tamara, Alicia, Sam,

Shelley, Andrea, Robyn,

Callee, Jane & Kaz

See you when you are shabby shopping 

at the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza

Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza ! 13 and 14 August 2010

I have been sporting a sidebar badge for the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza for quite a while now, as you can see.  It is on this weekend and the redoubtable and indefatigable (don't you luv the way they trip off the tongue) Tamara is all talk about it over at Shabby Vintage Junk.

Things are on the go here as Herself has been organising since way back when.  And things are still on the go.  The handles and knobs above will be there. As will some of the stuff below.

One whole living room is jam packed with stuff and has been for quite a while.

But my guess is Herself will be coming down to the wire
with some things......

See you there Friday and Saturday!

MISS EAGLE CUDDLES A DINGO AT ELTHAM

Miss Eagle 

snuggling with Barrowless Boy

- one beautiful domesticated dingo

~~~~

Miss Eagle was over at Eltham on Saturday -
as Trad Padders will note from the wattle below.

Enjoying relaxed refreshment in Eltham Square

was Julie Fechner of Dingo Care Network

with Barrowless and Shiralee.

I had heard about these people and their dingoes over at Eltham and the controversies surrounding Australia's own native dog so I got into conversation with Julie.  I asked if I could take Julie's photograph and she agreed.  She then insisted that she take one of me.  I was most reluctant since the dog didn't know me.  I was a stranger.  But that was no problem as you can see.  Beautiful, beautiful animals.  And as you can see, Julie and friends do a lot of work to restore confidence in the the beauty and value of the dingo.  

Related Reading:

Montsalvat Guide: A Guide to the Place and Its Founder 

My story: tales from a pioneer of Montsalvat. 

(Montsalvat is a significant Eltham landmark)

Dingo: Australian Natural History series

 

SEASONS: THE WATTLE IN BLOOM

This tree was photographed in Eltham, Victoria on 31 July 2010

One of the things that annoys me is that we post-1788 settlers, don't pay sufficient attention to the seasons.  Decades ago, when I first visited, Kakadu in the Northern Territory and heard that the Aboriginal people of the area counted six seasons not four, I began to wonder about this.

I know that farmers and keen gardeners notice local differences.  I once listened to a group of old fellows from my church talking about gardening and the differences between planting and growing at Box Hill and Upper Ferntree Gully.  But do we rationalist, mechanistic modernists take this sort of knowledge seriously.

Spring, in the Southern Hemisphere, is listed for 1 September but how arbitrary that is.  The wattle is listed as a winter flowering plant.  And yet Australia has a special day, Wattle Day, on 1 September each year - past the flowering time for wattle but - surprise, surprise - marking the first day of spring.

So you see, I think we have things quite wrong.  Wattle Day would be better celebrated on 1 August - and Australia would be better placed to mark Australian Spring as commencing on that date too.

So let's give a thought to where we live.  We might have to centralise certain dates for the whole of the country - but lets acknowledge Mother Nature at work where we live and the different seasons and time zones of weather she has made for us.  It might just be the beginning of a whole new way of thinking about  Australian ecology.

New Gluten Free Bread at Sharon's place this coming Sunday

My friend Sharon has written to me as follows:

Could you please advertise by word of mouth or sending on this email as a Community Health announcement:

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease. It is a permanent intestinal intolerance to dietary gluten. The will be a free demonstration of a new Gluten Free Bread which is fructose friendly too this coming Sunday at my place.

This picture of gluten

free bread from here.

Now Trad Padders, I don't want to plaster Sharon's address and phone numbers publicly so...if you want to go to this could you please email me at misseaglesnetwork(at)
gmail(dot)com for the details.

This week I was in Turner and Lane and discovered an idea that was new - at least to me.  It was one of those "why didn't I think of that" moments.  The idea was in T&L's children's room but the idea, IMHO, could be adapted in other ways.  A "My Kitchen" version could be natty and cute.

These boards come in two sizes.  These are the large size and there is a smaller one.  The "boards" are painters' ready stretched canvases.  They could be painted over in a range of pastel colours to suit and still be as sweet.  Across the top are narrow gros-grain ribbons and some light two-ply string to which is attached those little clothes pegs usually used for hanging cards.

The bottom left has little nic-nax like covered buttons glued on.  Clearly, the choice is the decorator's.  Bottom right has the names.  Now, my only query is how does one cut out fabric letters sharp and neat?  Will someone please tell me how?  Because I think if I am to replicate these cute items, this is the one place where my efforts would fall down.

Grow your own heirlooms, organically and simply - with Belinda's help

That friend of mine Belinda from Belinda's Place is something.  This organised, organising, methodical woman  is in the category of Urban Homesteader.  She does it all from the Mud Palace at Ferny Creek in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia.  You can follow her doings and don't-ings in the aforesaid blog.  So for all you need to know, the contact details are above.  For the rest follow her on her blog.

Meet Bert the Bloke - one beautiful puss.

An introduction is warranted!

This is Bert the Bloke - one beautiful cat.

Peppered through this blog are photos of

Rose the Spartacat

and

FootFoot the Miniature Fox Terrier.

In recent times our two beloved friends

left this world - just six weeks apart.

Rose went first, aged 6 years, due to kidney tumours.

FootFoot died of old age, aged 16 years.

Increasingly, in the months prior to his death,

I cuddled him to his end and so did Herself.

Finally, one night while sleeping with Herself,

he breathed his last and was gone from us.

Our decision was not to rush 

to replace either of these beloveds.

However, after a couple of months, 

Herself decided we would get a cat.

No ordinary kitten, mind you.

She was determined to go to the RSPCA

and get an older cat whom no one wanted.

There was such a cat - Bert.

He is about 5 years old 

and needed to go to a home

where he would be the only one.

He came to the RSPCA because

in his original home other cats picked on him.

We don't know why.

He had been ill and in the RSPCA clinic because of cat flu.

Otherwise he lived in a cage with three others.

He has settled in well here.

He is reserved but interested

in the household's peeps and doings.

He is so pretty and poses beautifully.

His fur is the silkiest I have ever touched.

He is well at home

and we love this man about our house.

Earth's loveliness

Michelangelo by Daniele da Volterra

Picture from here 

My soul  can find no staircase

to Heaven

unless it be through

Earth's loveliness.

.