Un Secret and eating at the Shakahari Cafe

While I was changing the ambience in my house I had hours to kill before I could go home again and walk on the floors. As it is mid-winter here I took myself off to the pictures. I saw Un Secret at the Nova Movie house in Carlton. It began at 10.30 -such a good time for those redecorating.

I have read and heard good reports of Un Secret but I found it hard to follow the shifts in time from past, present and future. At the beginning the story was engaging with the suggestion of a family mystery. At the end when the mystery was disclosed it fell flat with me. I also found it hard to understand the mother who took an action that was to ensure not only her death but her son’s as well.

I came out from the movie into a cold drizzle. A phone message said. “The floor isn’t dry yet”. So I trotted off to Faraday Street and the Shakahari Vegetarian Restaurant.

It is the best Vegetarian Restaurant I have been to and it is an institution in Melbourne.

The gas-log-fire was going and the room was cozy and I was lucky to grab a seat by the fire as it was vacated by an early eater.

The menu is interesting and I ordered ‘Croquettes Fululu’ – I have had them before which makes me very boring. Next time I’m there I am going to go for the ‘Stay Legend’
They also have the most stunning dessert ‘Black Rice and Sago Pudding’ It is a dark grey colour which could be a bit off-putting but the taste is to die for. I washed my meal down with an Organic Sauvignon Blac from Richmond in New Zealand. For an organic wine it was fine at the price of something like $7.50 per glass.

If you are our dining out give the Shakarahri a go. http://www.shakahari.com.au/

You don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy the food. The menu is labeled for vegans and if the dish is gluten free.

Painting cork tiles

My house is taking on a new atmosphere. I have painted the cork tiles in the entrance and hallway an off-white. I love the change in dynamics. Before I did this the house had a river of drab and dreary, brown cork tiles running from the front door through the hall to kitchen and the back door.

The tiles are easy to paint. So why all the cautionary advice I got from friends and professionals?

When I was in New Zealand, Resene Paints told me it would be a ‘piece of cake’ and they gave me a pamphlet on their Super Sealer. With this product as an undercoat you can paint on stainless steel – in fact anything!!! There is no need to sand or do any other surface preparation. Just paint this on as an undercoat and you are away.

In Australia there is a product more readily available than Resene products called ESP (Easy Surface Preparation)

I was going to do it myself but then I got my friendly painter to experiment with it. He was apprehensive. He’d never painted cork tiles before.

One sealer and two coats of low sheen paint and it was a breeze. The effect is a little different from painted wood. Denser I think would describe the difference. And if I want to change the colour I can give it another coat myself.

The only problem was the length of time it took the ESP to dry. The tin said 90 minutes but it was more like 12 hours before it was dry enough to paint over.

Entering the house now is like entering another house.

The change from a dreary brown to a light grey-cream has changed the whole area.

The change does require different pictures, another hall table and new rugs. Something that looked okay with brown isn’t so successful with off-white. Clear colours and possibly stronger colours are needed. I’m looking forward to doing this and creating a new feel to the house. And I’m also looking forward to hiding the rest of the cork tiles under a coat of paint. I just have to decide o9n the colour.

Bag Moth

Living close to the CBD and as close to my neighbours as I do I don’t expect to find a lot of wild life around the place. It could be argued that this caterpillar is not actually wild life but it is certainly alive and it’s wild.

It was hanging from my front rose bush when I left for NZ. I decided He-she had settled down for the winter.

I was even surer of this when I returned and it was hanging in exactly the same place.

I decided I would take He-she inside so I could see what sort of moth would appear from the cocoon.

It was easy enough to detach it from the rose and I carried it in and put it on the mantelpiece. A couple of hours later I found He-she didn’t like the mantelpiece and was crawling along the floor. It was suggested to me that it was hungry and looking for food. I supplied a few branches of lavender from under the rose and some rose leaves and put He-she in the middle. This wasn’t suitable and the caterpillar continued walk aroud the kitchen.

I felt guilty. A creature living in my house that could starve to death! It wasn’t a nice thought. So I have taken it out to give it the chance to eat. I now find it hanging from a lavender branch not far from where I left it. Outside is obviously better than inside if you’re a bag moth.

Bag moths? I have learned that they can live up to two years inside their bag before turning into a moth. As yet I haven’t seen a picture of the moth they turn into. Does anyone know?

There is other wild life alive and well and round here. The top of the parsley has been eaten off by a possum and we have the first daffodil ready to come out. Last year possums nibbled away at them. I hope last year they found that a yellow flower made them sick. A nibbled daffodil is a rather sad sight.

Wellington, Red Rocks and Mt Victoria

I have just returned from spending a short time visiting my mother at Raumati Beach in New Zealand.

I read in Viv’s Blog http://strollingplayer.blogspot.com/ about retrieving old memories. (I think that is what she was saying) This thought came back to me as the plane tipped onto its side as it made it’s approach to Wellington Airport.

There was a sudden break in the clouds we got a glimpse of the Southern Coast line at the base of the North Island and then the houses on Mount Victoria as the plane turned to make the landing.

As we circled around the barren and wind swept Southern Coast I could see the path we used to walk in the winter to visit the seal colony that wintered-over in the area known as Red Rocks.

It was a wonderful trek on a clear frosty morning. There is a flat area, about the width of a two lane road, between the steep jagged hills and the rocky coast line. The sun is there in the early morning and disappears behind the steep hills about noon - 8.30am isn’t too early to start on a winter’s morning.

The sun glistens on the spray as the sea throws itself against the rocky out-crops, bull kelp lies in heaps on the shore and swirls in great brown swaths at the edge of the sea. The only sounds are the sea, the screech of sea birds, an occasional plane overhead and at the end of the journey the bark of the seals.

That was then. Nowadays I’m told there is no need to walk carrying a pack with lunch and drinks. Tour buses charge along, followed by SUVs and any other vehicle whose owner thinks it can drive off-road.

If this is true the days of relaxing as you walk this rugged route with children who explore and energetic dogs that chase sea gulls, with no thought of a passing vehicle, have gone.

I guess this is the modern tourism dilemma. More people get to explore the area, see the seals in their natural habitat and experience the exhilaration of that starkly beautiful landscape. To allow this something is lost.


The quick glimpse of the Mt Victoria was nostalgic.

Wellington is ranked number 12 in the recent list of the world's "Most Liveable Cities". I didn’t know this ranking when I flew into Wellington and as we swept over Mt Victoria I got a view of the houses in Shannon Street. I have spent some wonderful evenings in a couple of these houses with the city at my feet. Memories flashed across my mind in a sort of an emotional and visual kaleidoscope. Memories of great meals, hours of conversation and wine, the breath taking views of the city at night, of the wind hitting and bashing at the houses and the sway giving a feeling like being in a storm at sea.

It was windy that afternoon and the bumpy landing at Wellington Airport could be an equally good description for a storm experienced in a house in Shannon Street.. It rocked and bumped until finally we touched down on the tarmac.

Wellington has charm and character and those old wooden houses with stunning views are stunning places to live especially if you enjoy experiencing all facets of the weather. They catch the late afternoon sun on a cold winter’s day and are the envy of all those people who have been in shade since early afternoon.

My home now is in the 17th "Most Liveable City". I am happy with that but there is something unique about the 12th city – the most Southern Capital City in the world. It does seep into your soul and leave its mark.