Breakfast at...

Armadale's Coin Laundry... sun, eggs, fritters, roesti and a rather good hot chocolate.

So Melbourne. Soon he'll be wanting a skinny double shot latte.

Book thoughts...

Have I mentioned yet that I love Melbourne? It has an indefinable something that just makes me feel quite happy to be living here. It's not stunning like Sydney or filled with beautiful buildings and oozing history and charm like many European cities, it's not even easy like other smaller cities. There are too many cars, rather average beaches and it's pretty darn flat but it has a really great feel, really great food and really great shops. 

God that's shallow... See? Undefinable.  I'll work on that and come up with a better reason or perhaps a list one day.  

One place I do love is our local Readings Bookshop. This is the sort of place that make you want to forget that Book Depository exists. The walls are lined with an amazing array of books, their kids selection is good, the staff know their stuff and it's alive with shoppers and browsers. It doesn't feel like a bookshop that's dying a slow retail death.

I popped in today and spotted these. Handbag queen Orla Kiely is now doing kid's books for uber cool mid century styled up bambinos. 

Pop into your local bookshop and have a flick through the beautifully muted pages.

While you're there stay awhile, buy something, we need them to stay open. This week we learnt that an entire swathe of Melbourne's South East (population 140,000) has no access to a local bookshop after the demise of the big book chains, Borders and Angus and Robertson.  I don't like the idea of a suburb without a book store. I also don't like to pay too much for a paperback so perhaps I'll order online and buy some locally too and enjoy the experience.

It did occur to me that if you cut these Kiely books up they would make the most fabulous nursery wall art. I know, a thought like that could get me banned from bookshops.

Hello again...

I'm back. Back that is sitting at my own desk in front of my own computer. It's only taken a record 8 weeks (and I don't mean a great Guiness Book of Records type record).  Luckily for you, dear reader, you have been spared the ranting and raving, sighing and slumping that has characterised my approach to moving this time.

But we're here, fresh start and a new life to sort out. And many, many thoughts to share. I have quite missed writing and although now there is no villa there is still a life and lots of small thoughts zinging around in my head looking for a home on a page. So My Villa Life shall remain. The serial mover tag must go. I need a new blurb 'About Me' and I really must update my reading list. There is a list longer than my arm for all the rooms and cupboards in this house too.

Do bear with me.

(And yes you may have guessed by the picture that I now have an iPhone (friends have already branded me a hypocrite and so they should but hey, I'm human). And of course hipstamatic was the second app I bought.  Nice pictures and surely less time wasting than Angry Birds.