Stylish modern house - Beaconsfield Pde St Kilda

There is a strip of Beaconsfield Parade that has the homes of my dreams. I first saw these houses on a clear winter's evening when I first came to Melbourne. The dusk was turning to night and the lights in these houses were coming on and lighting them up like magic. The drapes weren't drawn and the houses looked stunning and I wished to join those people living in those spectacular illuminated rooms.

Since then a number of the houses have had a make-over. This one was recently finished and I walk this way often and Im delighted with the result from the road. It is as if I had some choice in what happened to it, I want it to look spectacular and it still fits in with the houses on either side of it - the original magic is still there.

Roses are blooming in St Kilda

This beautiful old fashioned rose was giving pleasure to the passers-by in Fawkner Street, St Kilda. The roses are beautiful around Melbourne this year.

Turkey Cock in St Kilda

This turkey is filling a window in Barkly Street, near the corner of Acland Street, St Kilda. As you pass the turkey jumps into view. I wondered if I was looking at a sporting goods shop. But, no! This is a barber shop of the old kind - not your modern unisex hairdresser. Why a turkey? I couldn't see the connection.

WikiAnswers (here) tell me that the male turkey is called a 'tom'. This bird is definately a male with all his plumage on display. Then I looked in 'The New Collins Concise English Dictionary' and they told me that the male of the species is known as a 'turkey cock'. I knew then that the barber shop is the right place for this handsome and puffed-up turkey to find a home .

St Kilda is always fun and the streets full of surprises

I passed by a block of apartments in Robe Street and thought someone was waiting to open the gate. A few steps on and "What the??"exploded in my mind and I retraced my steps. A statue waiting to open the gate?!

It's an amusing statue - a bit of fun that brings a smile on a cold grey day. He looks rather like the people who cover themselves entirely silver and then stand perfectly still in Bourke Street.

This 'person' is entirely covered in white plaster.

He is so clean I am guessing that he has just arrived and got into position.

St Kilda is never Dull!!

Results of painting Cork Tiles

I have been cleaning my house and I washed the painted cork tiles in my foyer. I thought I should write an update-post on the success of the venture as my original site is getting a lot of traffic. See here

It hasn't been the success I wanted although the effect is exactly what I was looking for.

The paving paint gives the surface a slight texture - not quite smoothe. It feels good with bare feet.

We put a sealer on for the first coat - recommended sealer from the local paint shop in Prahran 'ESP Easy Surface Prep' it says it is a product made from penetrol. My original choice was a Resene sealer but it was too hard to find in Melbourne.

The blurb on the ESP says that it avoids chipping and there is no need to de-gloss or sand before you paint. It took ages to dry far longer than it said on the can.

I have now given the floor 4 coats of paving paint ( I thought paving paint would be harder and wear better under foot). After the first 2 coats I found it chipped so I darkened the colour a little and gave it two more. The darker colour was because I thought the original colour too stark and glaring. Now it seems more durable but then I am more careful and treat it delicately.

I still have the old worn cork tiles in the kitchen which is a much larger space and I would like to paint them but I need a method that can withstand heavy duty traffic. If you know of anything or have painted cork tiles yourself, please let me know how it went. Any info would be helpful.

Passing by a house where I lived once and was happy.

I lived in this terraced house a few years ago. It was a sunny house with good vibes and it is sad to see it run down and in want of repair. It is a rental property and while I was there they renewed the roof which showed that they took some interest in the place. They didn't bother with the guttering in the front at that time and looking at it now that was a mistake. Green slimy mould is growing on the wooden veranda below where the rain pours through the large rust holes. The veranda may improve when it is summer and we have the expected months of dry sunny weather. The house faces south and it is a nice place to sit and sip a beer or a wine at the end of a hot day.

I was tempted to 'rose-nap' the standard rose when I left. You can see in the picture that it has fallen over by the front steps. I pruned the rose and nurtured it and it rewarded me by blooming every year - small pale pink flowers clustered around the top. It looks as if it is bravely producing leaves. If it flowers it may get someone's attention.

To give it a friend I planted a yellow rose in the centre of the garden. I took this with me. The standard was there when I arrived and I believed that by removing it I would be in breach of my tenancy contract and the cost of a replacement would be taken from my bond. When I look at it now I wonder if anyone would have noticed.

In the other corner there was a beauiful blue hydrangea. I pruned that every year, too and it produced an abundance of blue flowers. There was variegated ground cover and some blue bells that came up in spring.

At the rear of the house is a very useable back yard (yard rather than courtyard I think) where I grew tomatoes, rhubarb, silver beat and climbing beans. One of the delights of the back yard was its privacy which prevents me from seeing in and checking it out.

It was a pretty house then; old and in need of a paint but now it looks derelict as if no one loves it.

St Kilda History - Christ Church

A feature of Acland Street, St Kilda is this old church. It was consecrated in 1863 making it almost 150 years old.

The beautiful warm sandstone comes from Point King and Sorrento. The architectural style which is so striking against today's architecture, or for that matter the architecture of the 1970s (there is a lot of that in St Kilda), is the Gothic revival style that was so popular in the mid 19th century.

The side door of the church has had so many notices attached to it, it is covered with tacks, pins and blue tack. There are no notices at the moment which may mean that no one has any instructions to pass on.

Gargoyle is such a wonderful word and I have always wondered how such a delicate decoration could be made out of stone - however soft it is.

A mist hung over the St Kilda Bay - cold and romantic

The mist added to the view seen from Station Pier, in Port Melbourne, on Wednesday this week. The smoke from the ships at the port hung in the air. It was a strange eerie kind of day and beautiful.

Shifting sand at low tide at St Kilda Beach

Nine o'clock on a weekday morning. It's good to know the council is looking after our precious beach. It is amazing how sand shifts from one area to another just with the movement of the sea.

St Kilda Living

This is one of my favourite apartment blocks along the St Kilda Foreshore. I have only see the block from the road. I have never had the opportunity to go inside. I keep hoping to go past and find there is an Open for Inspection.

Nothing is perfect and when you get up close you can see that cracks are beginning to form and some of the concrete is chipping away . Nothing some maintenance couldn't eliminate but none the less the design looks better than the construction.


Next time you are passing have a look and see what you think of it.

Tree Art in St Kilda

It is never dull living in St Kilda. This morning while I was walking I saw this decorated tree. It is outside a development site and it is tempting to thing that the Tradies on the project have filled in some down time by adding the pots.

A further look and I can see that the Port Phillip Council have spotted the tree and added their notice to the trunk. As I wandered on I wonder whether the Tradies had cut the tree to this raw state to make their on-site job easier.

It's a mystery! And it's unlikely that anyone will come forward to solve it.

A touch of spring in mid-winter

Daffodiles are in the shops again. Not in my garden but it is lovely to see their bright blooms on the edge of the grey footpath on a grey day. It is very wintery here in Melbourne and now spring has come to my hallway.

Winter - Veg Out Community Garden - St Kilda

The Veg Out Community Garden can be fun but this morning this dear old bullock was standing, looking more forlorn than usual, as he watched the world through his wire cage - any moment he is going to give a heart rendering Mooooooo.

He has a purpose. He is succesful in scaring off the possums - the Silverbeet growing around him is flourishing. These beautifully healthy plants haven't a nibble between them.

Look at it. Ready to pick and cook

In my backyard garden, further down the road, the local possums have eaten all the leaves from my silverbeet, leaving the stems as a reminder of what could have been. But then I haven't got a bullock.

Pigeons taking a liking to Cafe Food

A cold day in South Melbourne and the pigeons have their eyes on the outside tables at Gas Cafe on Coventry Street. The diners had only just stepped away when these three descended.

Is the standing pigeon being polite or is he making a judgement call as to whether the food is to his liking??

Pink Blue Gum flowers

It is very wintery here in melbourne with misty days and grey skies. In the suburb where I am working these beautiful gum flowers break through the morning fog in a glorious pink burst.Mid winter would seem an unlikely time for them come into flower but it is wonderful that they do so. They are incredibly beautiful and such a contrast to the weather.

Summer Hours - movie review

The Siblings in Summer Hours

We saw the movie ‘Summer Hours” last week. I have decided that I need to put up an outline of the story before I discuss it. Reading this synopsis doesn’t spoil the film because most of it becomes clear in the first fifteen or twenty minutes but it does give an idea what all the interactions are about and this film is a film about working through events – ‘a slice of life’ if you like
For her 75th birthday, Helene's (Edith Scob) sons, Frederic (Charles Berling) and Jeremie (Jeremie Renier), bring their wives Lisa (Dominique Reymond) and Angela (Valerie Bonneton) plus their respective children, and her daughter Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) flies in from America. The widowed Helene lives in the country house of famous artist the late Paul Berthier, whose works and collection of antiques has to be passed on appropriately after her death. Indeed, it's not long before the siblings have to face this reality, made complicated by their differing needs. Carving up the estate, especially the house, brings out their different lifestyles and wishes. Teenage granddaughter Sylvie (Alice de Lencquesaing) comes to understand the importance of her late grandmother and the role the house played in her life.
This is a very French film; at least I found it so. I have read that it has been described as a mature film by an accomplished director. I am happy to believe this and I am happy to believe that the characters all behave in a very French way. Their reactions to situations are reactions that I wouldn’t expect to find within a New Zealand or Australian family. This made the film more interesting but less satisfying as it was hard to identify with them. Looking at another culture is always interesting and of course the French are fascinating.
To show just how little we do understand the culture there were times when some the characters laughed out loud. Neither my friend (a good Australian) and I could see the joke. For example Frederic and Lisa were in the café of the Musee d’Orsay discussing their children having a party when they both burst into ‘rolling around the floor type’ of laughter.
If anyone knows what was so funny do tell me.
At the end of the film I felt I had had a very beautiful visual experience and on a chilly late autumn evening that is a pleasure in itself. However I felt let down at the end and I can only put that down to all the people being so civilized and nice that they were unreal. It would not be stretching it to say they were bland. Maybe it was the culture
Another cultural difference I found interesting was the attitude of the two siblings who were planning to make their lives overseas. Not once did they say “of course France will still be home” or “I’ll always be French” or words to that effect. I believe Australian and New Zealanders would have needed to state that out loud to prevent themselves feeling guilt about leaving their country of birth; perhaps it just an unfortunate habit we have.

Microwaves and Blackbirds

Christmas and New Year have passed and so has January and I worked. Well I worked for all those days that aren’t public holidays. Now I am on holiday. It is a great feeling to label time off as a holiday. It takes away the need to do anything constructive.

Today my microwave died. The sticker on the back tells me that I purchase it from L V Martin on the 6th of May 1989. It was a Mitsubishi. I believe I need to make that point because these days nothing is expected to last for 20 years! During that time it has moved countries and has been in use everyday. I have bought a Panasonic Microwave with a
two year guarantee but I bet the makers aren’t expecting or even wanting it to last 20 years. I didn’t see any Mitsubishis which may mean they are not available any more or they are marketed under a different name

I sat outside to read the microwave instruction booklet – 20 years has made some changes but not as many as you would expect. The local retarded bird joined me.

There has been a family of black birds around here who love sitting on the TV antenna singing. Dad is a beautiful black with an orange beak and Mum that dull brown that tends to make her invisible. They hold their own in this inner city area dominated by the squawk of Miners and the cooing of Pigeons.

Recently a brown adolescent bird has hung around them squawking. He opens his mouth and lets out what can only be described as a high bleat. These come at regular intervals. I have listened to see if there is a rhythm. But just when I think I have discerned one, the bleats change in tempo. There is stamina there. He can stay in the same place for up to half an hour with his mouth opening and shutting and the pathetic sound coming from it.

I thought he was one of the black bird family. He is quite large, bigger and older than a fledgling which is why he seems retarded. Yesterday evening I noticed a very slight white tip on his tail and I can see he is going to grow into a miner bird. I have become fond of him. He has become part of the local ambience.

This is one of the most striking gum trees I have seen in my local area. It is the grey of the branches that hold the nuts that make it a stand out – quite beautiful. I am continually amazed at how many varieties of gum there are.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire

Am I the only one who was shocked at the brutality and torture at the beginning of this movie?

I read a number of reviews before I went to the movie and more since I have seen it. None of them mention the physical shock of seeing a quiet gentle man brutalized in the first few scenes.

People where I live are singing the praises of the movie. They delight in the use of the two languages, “It makes it more authentic,” they say. “And the scenes in the slums are so realistic you can almost smell them,” these are aspect that score points.

The acting is to be admired and the beautiful expressive eyes, especially on the children are heart melting. No one mentions the scene where horror takes over and one set of beautiful eyes is blinded so the child can better earn money as a beggar.

Are these two events: the torture of a person from the slums and the blinding of a child from a low socioeconomic group so common in India that they don’t require mention?

I would like to think that both episodes were part of the film because the director Danny Boyle wanted the world to be know that that is how life is lived ( and suffered) by the majority of Indians.

I believe that his 1995 movie, ‘Trainspotting’, helped introduce many of us to the horrors of the world of drug dependency. In Slumdog Millionaire the Slumdog (Jamal Malik) appears to accept that he should have to put up with torture from the authorities – perhaps put up with any cruelty that comes his way. As he has success after success on the Indian version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ he becomes a national hero but this makes no difference to the police and the brutal tactics they use to try to get him to admit he is cheating.

I really wonder why people don’t comment on this aspect of the award winning movie? Perhaps we don’t want to focus on such a negative aspect and it certainly is a great film?

If Danny Boyle gets an Oscar I will be the first to cheer.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ Woody Allen’s new film is (in brief) about two American girls spending their summer in Barcelona.

They go for different reasons. Vicky is taking a break from her impending, conventional marriage and is a student of Catalan culture. Cristina is a free spirit searching for love, a purpose to her life and experience.

They stay with Vicky’s cousin, an establish American family, living in the city, who take them to an art opening where Cristina spies and eyes up the gorgeous local painter Juan Antonio played stunningly by Javier Bardem. Juan notices them too. How could it be otherwise?

He oozes a sort of bohemian sex appeal. Watching him chat up both the girls (he is equally taken by both of them) it is impossible to imagine him as the sociopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, in ‘No Country for Old Men’. Both sociopath and seducer are wonderful performances and equally believable.

The story moves along with Vicky being faithful to her fiancée back in the states but she accompanies Cristina on a weekend away with Juan.

There is no way either girl could resist his charms? The three become romantically and sexually entangled and then they are joined by Maria Elena (Penelope Cruz) Juan’s mentally-unstable -ex-wife who is reported to have tried to knife him afact that intrigues Cristina. For me this is probably the best part of the film – the interaction between Juan and Maria Elena is funny, slick and taught with tension.

The film is funny, beautiful and sensuous. The skies are blue; the sun is golden and the weather balmy. It’s thought provoking about love, duty and our own happiness and fulfillment.

I fell in love with Barcelona, the sensuous laidback painter, Juan Antonio and the beautiful Maria Elena- Penelope Cruz - who was superb in her part.

Go to the movie – it’s a good experience and the ending gives us all a moment when we look at ourselves and reflect and wonder what decision we would have made.

This dramatic photo is of Maria Elena posing for Cristina who is finding her creativity in photography.