Evolution

My home is evolving.  For years I've been following Desire to Inspire blog and keeping a file of looks I like.  When I'm in Wales I commit to a cottage theme.  But then I also wanted a Japanese / Vietnamese theme.  And it's a small house...  And, perhaps inevitably, what's emerging is a coastal / sea vibe.  But then there's references to former houses.  So perhaps a bit boho, wabi sabi.  But more and more like home.  I now have everything of mine from the Triabunna house.  So this is it.  Let's see how it all shakes out.  I shall keep you pictorially informed but for now things are still finding their place.

As I've mentioned in a previous post I'm using gifts previously kept 'for later on'.  A lot of these gifts feature caravans - coasters, tea towels, cushion covers -

like this coaster which just makes you want to travel.  Annoying when  you're so happy at home! But think ahead.

I came across this book in my Evandale cottage and now have it from the library.  Will I ever get to the enticing place on the cover and walk up those stairs?????

But on a slightly different tack from homes, travel and caravans, I keep meaning to post this photo from my stay in Adelaide a while ago:

This image confronted me every time I caught the bus.  The irony and pathos of a homeless person camping outside this huge luxury caravan sales centre.  How lucky I am.

While there's been a lot of cleaning, thinking, changing and re-arranging, there's also been a lot of reading.

I finally read this one and better understand the title now.  The title refers both to the friend who died by suicide and the dog he left behind.  The book explores the mystery and misery of suicide to those left behind but also has a lot to say about dogs and their devotion to humans.  As a former teacher with writing ambitions, I was also intrigued by the description of the attitudes of students of writing courses.  Perplexing and worrying.

Nothing perplexing or worrying about this one, except why did I choose it?  Well, the cover of course, but also because I've been amusing myself with a seal stamp I bought in St Davids and now, when I remember, place it on the back of an envelope with a multicoloured kiss.  You'll have to wait to get a letter from me to see what I mean.

This is not one for the Floosie.  It is fantasy with a bit of mild horror thrown in.  However, as you may have guessed, it's the later adventures of Alice, now in her thirties.  It has made me want to re-read Alice in Wonderland.  I don't remember experiencing any particular horror in my reading of it (although "Off with their heads!"?????), only fascination with Alice's adventures.  Perhaps the author was influenced by the current perception of Lewis Carrol's relationship with Alice Liddell.

This one was great fun for me.  It moves from a Guest House in Cornwall to Barcelona and (spoiler alert) back again in the late 1930s.  It allowed me to retrace much of my travel through France in the 1980s.  I didn't realise at the  time how close I went to Spain and where Rosa Norte now lives.  I think the Floosie will like this one.

I am still captivated by the Perveen Mistry Murder series.  There is so much to learn here as we make our way through the challenges of race, religion and gender in India in 1921.

The weather here has been sun and showers with lots of rainbows.  I was aghast the other day to see where this one ended:

The house next door that is to be demolished and replaced by 8 conjoined units.  A pot of gold for the developer.  Today's photo looking down from the same window:

In other garden news:

looking out to Alexandra Esplanade

much the same but featuring wholesome muffin made by Hudson's Mum

the house-warming daffodils from the Floosie

Speaking of whom, a beautiful tree in the The Floosie's  garden in her former Bellerive home and when she was Mrs History.  The Big News is she'll be here in October to speak to the Bellerive History Society on its 35th Anniversary!!!

Bellerive today, Evandale yesterday

I walked to the shop to get bread, milk and baklava* but mainly to observe footy fever in Bellerive.  Some team was playing some other team at Bellerive Oval and the streets have been chockers with parked cars.  The game must be over as now there is a traffic jam outside my window!  Similarly exciting, the tide was very high at the beach.

Yesterday I returned from my overnight trip to Evandale in the midlands.  It was like a lightning trip to an English village.

main street Evandale

the reason - a mission to buy a besom from The Village Store

The Stables - my accommodation behind the Village Store

 

first view of my cottage upon entering

There is parking and a huge garden at the back of the cottage.  Just my sort of late winter garden -  violets white and purple, daffodils, winter iris, a hyacinth or two, camellias and japonica in blossom and blackbirds galore.  There is a lane to Pioneer Park, an alternative way to walk to Russell Street, the main drag.

this is the back of the cottage.

Note that it's named Sasha - the reason I chose this particular cottage.

view of the cottage from the back door

It was a splendid place to stay:  furnished in the style I like with heaps of books and magazines.  I only used the telly to listen to ABC Classic and kept it on all night long - an indulgence I've long promised myself.

I took this book but got waylaid by all the magazines.  I finished it today and highly recommend it. Charmian Clift tells stories of her life on the island of Kalymnos in 1954.  She writes so well and so thoughtfully.  It was the perfect read as I emerge from a Tasmanian winter and eat baklava.

* If you search hard enough, you can discover the health benefits of baklava online.

Ron is here

The sad news is we have withdrawn our appeal against the building of the 8 units next door after planning advice that we were unlikely to win and to proceed would cost thousands more.  So I have been trying to adapt with help from the New York skyline sent by Sandrine.

possible future outlook from my bedroom window

it was quite exciting early this morning - thank you Moon

I have started using other gifts that I was saving for later,

including the set of coasters from the Floosie that I intended to use sometime when I lived in small accommodation.  The time is now.  And I had not noticed previously the pointy eared black dog.

I have been basking in culture now that it is a short bus ride away.  I have a season ticket to the Van Diemen's Band lunch box series.

last week it was the excitement of the baryton - the only one in Australia

This week it was a pianist from Melbourne.  She played gentle music but  it still seemed a bit shrill to me.  Perhaps it's the piano.

note the bare feet.  She was the sort of person you wanted to befriend

A friend had told me about an exhibition of aurora photos in Salamanca Place, so seize the day.

They were amazing photos but I can't really accept them as real.  I need to be there bathed in those improbable colours.

being a balletomane I was enchanted by this

and Miss Haidee Millinery

just a photo to show the Floozie the wedge shaped building

then to the waterfront

remembering some people have to work...

 and get ready to catch the ferry home

This is  not the Bellerive Ferry.  Last Thursday I met the Weily Fox for lunch at the Eastcoaster and then cruised on to a soiree at Anne's.  The Foxy One has just returned from cruising Iceland and is finding the concept of night difficult.

Of course, there's more to life than gadding.  There's reading.

To be honest I haven't started this one yet but I have seen the film!!!  It's got a dog in it and its set in NY so of course I enjoyed it but I didn't quite get the friendship and suicide themes.  Perhaps they'll be stronger in the book.

I have also seen Bride Hard with Rebel Wilson which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the corny American sex jokes.  I expected to see a send up of the tough boy movies, and that is what I saw.  It's been panned by the critics who, apparently, rate Ballerina highly.  Well I think they're pretty line ball in being ridiculous but Bride Hard is fun.  Ballerina seems out to destroy everything in her path - though I have  no idea where her path is leading - whereas our Rebel is out to save a rich American family and her best friend, all the time wearing her bright red bridesmaid dress and still eluding and defeating hundreds of bad guys.  Far more noble and edifying.

These books I have read:

a good read set in places I know

wordy and overly descriptive but clever idea to have Julia Child as part of the team

This I found a difficult read and am still not quite sure of some of the storyline.  But it is hugely thought provoking and presents a view of the community of people who are deaf which I've read about previously but had not seen it so strongly championed.

And now I'm off to seize another day.

Gentlewoman's concerto

Joaquin Rodrigo's gentleman's concerto /  Fantasia for a Gentleman is one of my favourite pieces of music.  For me it evokes genteel living, and that's what I've been doing lately.  Having no commitments is a wonderful thing and something I don't think I've had the luxury of before, apart from in St Davids and when in covid quarantine in a Launceston hotel room for 2 weeks.  I have always lived by lists.  I still do, just to keep me on track, but am beastly careless if I'm slow to action them.

living with the Earl  

Sashi Babe sent me 3 jars of organic teas:  Serenity, Digestive and Earl Grey.  I  like them so much that  I indulged in this infuser cup from the Japanese shop I found recently in Hobart.

Sashi also sent me this New York outline.  I'm still looking for its perfect place.

My immersion in the Ela of Salisbury series reflects my mood for grand living.  I have read all three that are available from the State Library.

I have always been intrigued by life in Medieval Europe and am curious as to whether Ela could have lived the life depicted.  The author's American language slips in occasionally which I find jarring but Ela's search for justice in the Thirteenth Century makes for thought provoking and gentle reading.

I have also fallen again under the spell of Alexander McCall Smith.

One of the things I love about McCall Smith's and Donna Leon's detectives is that they ponder wide philosophical questions and simple truths.

Beyond borrowing books, the libraries are providing me with other entertainment.  The State Library has an exhibition of banned books.  I learned about this at an evening lecture by an archeologist with a fascination with Tasmania's convict history.

the names of previously banned books have been struck through

I've made this one extra large so you can see some of those naughty banned books.

After the convict archeology lecture, I raced to catch the bus to get to Bellerive Village in time to dine at Cugini.  I had eaten there once before, trying their spaghetti marinara.  I noticed that they served veal marsala and resolved to treat myself one day.

And here it is.  A lot of meat, with some a little pink for me, but very satisfying with a glass of South Australian Red and a table overlooking Bellerive Boardwalk.

Another culinary goal achieved when I met Rob in Sorell on some FoTR banking business and suggested we lunch at the Tasmania Golf Club.  I'd heard that the food was good but the views were outstanding.  Rob and I agree.  I had their Christmas in July menu so have now had the full glory of turkey, ham and roast pork with Christmas Pud to follow.  I happened to notice that their cocktail list looks tantalising.  Perhaps I can get the Weily Fox there when she returns from cruising around Iceland.

I have also been invited to attend a meeting of the Bellerive Historical Society Committee.  It was lovely to be sitting around the big table at the Watch House where Mrs History and I started the Society.

This postcard was presented as a donation.  As the committee said, we have many copies of it in our collection but it was the reverse that made it so special.

Bellerive indeed looking very pretty [and please put the year on all your correspondence].

And here is my Bellerive view the other day after an overnight snowfall.  I am so going to miss this view from my bedroom when the monster 8 conjoined units replace the red tiled house.

gather ye rosebuds...

Jilly Pup came to stay with me for a couple of days but just prior to that this little fellow came for a short visit and made himself comfortable.

My neighbour had been taken ill in the night and the ambulance guys had to break her door down to get to her.  They had to close little Hudson in the bathroom so he could not wander.  He was very distressed when I found him.  Now happily re-united both seem to be returning to normal.

And finally, I have achieved one of my life ambitions and bought myself a suncatcher.  Many years ago Mrs History's daughter gave me a Dragon's Tear which I loved dearly but which eventually fell and broke.  Now my glass pendant catches the morning sun and sends rainbow flashes all over the living area and kitchen.  It's like living with fairies.