Ruby Tuesday

In the absence of any red photos I wandered down to Union Lane, of course, to see what street art was around.


There were a few new things but nowhere near as much good stuff as usual ... and very little had any red, except this little darling.


I'll just share a few more because I was there, not because they're red.

Do you think this is the cowardly lion?


This girl's so stylish and elegant.


This bird's very cute ...


and this girl's gorgeous too.


This girl looks a lot like a Debs ... but she's not! I'll check out the name next time I'm there.


For more ruby redness ... visit Mary at Work of the Poet.

Ruby Tuesday

Union Lane in the city is an interesting place.

For a start it's right in the centre of town running between one of our premier department stores (David Jones) and other stores. It's narrow and awkward since it doesn't really have a purpose in the way as it once would have.

But I love the way the building walls act as an art canvas and the lane as the venue for performance art.

And so it was one quiet lunchtime as I walked down the lane on my way to my favourite yarn store.

What I was faced with was a pile of balloons filled with water and glitter sitting on upended milk crates ... and several more stacks of crates and balloons along the lane.


And was it all about? Performance art ... with balloons to throw at the walls and add glitter to the street art.


Or to throw at each other. It didn't really matter much.


It was fun either way.

Interested in more red ... visit Mary at Work of the Poet for more.

Ruby Tuesday

My Ruby Tuesday posts are starting to look as if I spent my time bouncing between graffiti and the second hand store Lost & Found … because this week we’re back to Lost & Found again to admire the numerous examples of red to be found.

This most recent visit to Lost & Found happened after an amazing lunch with friends at the Napier Hotel. I’d been lucky enough that day to spend a very pleasant morning with a couple of friends touring second hand stores in the Fitzroy area, and after lunch I promised them the treat of scouring through Lost & Found to admire the vintage goodness.

So what did we see … because I didn’t buy anything?

Would you like ice with your whisky? Or maybe a boiled egg?


We seem to have salt and a lovely kettle to make a nice cup of tea.


And our choice of teapots and tea cosies to keep the tea warm.


We could always fill a thermos full of tea and have a picnic.


Especially if I was able to bake a cake ... it looks as though we have flour and sugar and maybe there's a little butter, eggs or milk somewhere close?


If I can't find any I could ride my bike to the store.


In my favourite red hat.


And something red to wear ... of course.


But I can't decide whether I should bring everything home in this red bag,


or maybe eggs would be safer in this red basket.


Of course I can't go to the store without making sure I have the right accessories ... and everything's neatly displayed on a red background to best effect.


And when we sit down and relax under this beautiful red lamp,


we can enjoy our cake and tea, and watch the children play on this gorgeous rocking horse.


Thank you for visiting and I hope you'll come again ... go visit Mary T for lots more.

Ruby Tuesday

I met up with a friend for dinner last week at Hu Tong dumpling bar in China Town and after a sumptuous dinner of dumplings (I love the chilli dumplings), Jo and I took a wander along Paynes Place and Croft Alley to view the street art.


I've made mention of Melbourne's embracing of street art and I'm proud ofliving in a city that understands art in its widest sense.


Not only understands it but embraces it.


So much so the City of Melbourne allows building owners and other to register street art.


I think this really encourages street artists to do their best, and for their art to improve in quality and scope.


You can see all the street art here registered at STA25 ... and it's in the tiniest space.


And another Debs ... a little light for red but it's still there.


And what could be more fitting to close this post: don't ban the can ... except for those annoying taggers!

Lots more glorious rubyness over at Work of the Poet ... check it out.

Ruby Tuesday

Yesterday I met friends for lunch in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy and it was the perfect place to find red stuff for Ruby Tuesday.


Like Abbotsford from a couple of weeks ago, Fitzroy is also an inner city suburb ... even closer to the city than Abbotsford. To put it into context Fitzroy is only a 20 minute walk from work ... it would take about an hour to walk to Abbotsford.

Fitzroy is Melbourne's smallest suburb in term of area ... it's approx 100 hectares in size. Fitzroy was also planned as Melbourne's first suburb in 1839.

There are some impressive shops along Gertrude St. I particularly liked this building with flats above, although it's now has been converted to a boarding house. Those little red squares you can see on the first floor balcony are bathrooms.


The area was surrounded by factories and industrial sites in adjoining suburbs, working class homes were built during the 1860s to 1880s. Somehow or other I managed to switch my camera on to B&W (who knows how) but this is one of the earliest homes in and the oldest on Gertrude Street (and you'll just have imagine the red lidded bin outside).


Despite being such an established suburb Fitzroy was always primarily a working class suburb, although it's undergone waves of both urban renewal and gentrification since the 1950s. At some stage around the 1970s, many of the working class homes were knocked down and those awful multi-storey monstrosities came into being. Fitzroy wasn't the only suburb to suffer fromthis particular problem ... but the flats in Fitzroy are the closest to the city.

Many of the buildings along Gertrude Street are original ... with less of the shop modernisations (like new windows) that have happened in Abbotsford. I think that's one of the things I really like about Fitzroy. This is a good example of the lack of sprucing up in the area ... a hairdresser in what looks like original condition from the 1950s.


And another of the shops I remember from the 1980s (at least) is this costume hire place with loads of red in the window ... and can you see the bike with red plastic milk crate. Double red whammy!


Fitzroy is the centre for Melbourne's Aborigines, with a number of services in the area. The Melbourne Aborginal Youth Sport and Recreation centre ... across the road from where we were lunching.


... and located in this unrenovated building.


And Melbourne's only Aboriginal restaurant Charcoal Lane is located in Gertrude Street. It's located in what was a bank from the 1850s and it has the most delightful outside eating area ... with gorgeous red and yellow tables and wooden benches. It's one of the places on our long list of eateries to try.


But the area is starting to change and there are lots of examples of gentrification and yuppies moving in ... ooops, I guess that's me!

Funky hair dressing salons ... with cute names.


Hand crafted items.


Interesting shops.


Amazing and avant garde jewellery.


Snazzy boutiques ... with trendy clothing.


And my favourite type of store with the most appropriate name ... of course, vintage clothing.


Do you like red stuff as much as me ... visit Mary at Work of the Poet for more glorious redness.

Ruby Tuesday

A couple of weeks ago I met up with my youngest Miss C and my blogging friend Phil for lunch at a North Melbourne eatery called Di Bella's Coffee Roasting Warehouse.

It wasn't the best place we've eaten at but nor was it anywhere the worst and what was great was it filled with lots of red stuff:

Lots of coffee machines for sale including this gorgeous red machine.


Burgers topped with luscious roasted red capsicum.


Red covered menus on glass topped tables.


And my favourite ... this gorgeous red lamp shade. I'd love me one of these!


Are you loving red too ... visit Work of the Poet for lots more.

Ruby Tuesday

It’s Tuesday again already ... where has my life gone?

Over the weekend I met up with a friend Phil for breakfast at a trendy inner city café called Three Bags Full in Abbotsford. My review of breakfast is elsewhere but it led Phil and I to attempt to burn off at least some of the calories earnt sharing a chocolate brownie (yes … sweets after breakfast is an acceptable way of eating) by wandering around the area. (It was such a miserable day I think I burnt off more calories shivering than walking .. but that’s another story).


I love Abbotsford … if for no other reason than it’s where Mr H lived when I met him almost 30 years ago.

It's so cosmopolitan. Where else would you see elderly Vietnamese woman squatting on the pavement selling greens and Vietnamese sweets?


I love Asian food and Victoria Street is like a mini Vietnam with restaurants everywhere.


Abbotsford is so inner city but still "ungentrified" ... just off the main street is this bright red fridge in a scrap metal yard.


I love finding signs written in red paint instead of the usual black … so much more in your face.


What about a little fresh fruit (red of course) from many of the small shops along Victoria Street?


How much more interesting is it to find the building in red and the door in black when it’s usually the reverse.


I love the menus in the window … and so nice to see one in red instead of the usual white.


Or maybe a relaxing massage ... I could do with right about now.


And right at the end of such an obviously Asian area is this pizza shop … I guess everybody loves pizza.


So much glorious red ... and I haven't shown everything I saw!

If you’re interested in even more ruby redness … check out Work of the Poet.