My Monthly Chronicles: July 2026

July weekends were more busy than midwinter ought to be.  So much good stuff: a vegan Sunday roast dinner, an 18th birthday party, a Marilyn Munroe film festival and Open House Melbourne.  It was pretty overwhelming with a job offer and family history research as well as lots of meals out, bike rides and markets.  I am way behind on my blogging with all the job changes and research but I will write more about them soon in my August post.

Above is a photo of the Collingwood Town Hall next to the library where I have had a few rides to read out-of-print books that had some information on my great grandfather.  I was gobsmacked that a book published 20 years ago was already out of print.

Brooklyn 99 Trivia Night
Moon Dog Wild West, 54 Hopkins Street, Footscray

We are big fans of Brooklyn 99.  Jake's boyish foolish grin and Captain Holts deadpan delivery and the swagger of Doug Judy are hilarious.  So we went along to the Brooklyn 99 trivia night at Moon Dog Wild West for the quiz not the tacky mechanical bull!  Sylvia has seen the series umpteen times but had a refresh of more than half of it.  This helped us (our team name the Ebony Falcons) to do okay among a lot teams.  We had eaten a small meal before coming out as the menu was not a drawcard for us so we just had chips and juice for a snack while we pondered some pretty challenging questions.  Good fun!

Not so sushi
334 Smith St, Collingwood 

I have written about our visit to Not so sushi for deep fried sushi.  This was sushi unlike any we had experienced before and I highly recommend.
 

Alimentari Kitchen
304 Smith St, Collingwood

We enjoyed wandering around some shops after Not So Sushi.  There are such beautiful displays in shops these days.  Above is the gracery and kitchenware display at Alimentari Kitchen.  We did not buy but we were tempted by the groceries and talked about coming back to have their great salads.

Christmas Vegan Bakeoff
Welcome to Thornbury, 520 High Street, Northcote

Welcome to Thornbury had another Vegan Bakeoff, this time with a Christmas theme.  Last month we went late and there weren't too many people there.  This month we got there early and joined the long queue.  Soon we were before amazing bakes and had to make some hard decisions about what to buy.  We learnt from Faye the wisdom of taking a tub instead of all those boxes.

We bought rather a lot.  Sylvia was delighted to have the vanilla slice from The Kindness Echoes because last time the person in front of her got the last one.  It was magnificent but I was not as impressed with the rumball. My favourite was Yule Log from devine eggless treats: rich moist chocolate cake, tangy raspberry filling, topped with a chocolate Swiss style butter cream.  The Ginger Snap black forest entremet was a feateher light mousse on a thin biscuit with a cherry filling.  The gingerbread cupcake from Groovy Cakes.  

Not photographed was also a gingerbread man and a vegan burger with mock turkey slices, gravy soaked sage and onion stuffing, roast taters, cranberry sauce and rocket.  Sylvia loved these but I wasn't bothered by them.  Better Now Bakes won the bake off with their mulled poached pear pavlova.  I was really impressed with this because the pavlova had a bit of a chewy middle that is a sign of a good pav as well as beautiful swirled meringue presentation.  And the fruit was delicious.

Friends of the Earth food co-op and cafe
312 Smith St, Collingwood 

On a ride to Collingwood Library, I stopped at Friends of the Earth co-op on the way home.  I bought myself a most delicious Tempeh Roll with peanut sauce, roast pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, corn and kraut salad and garden greens and I took home for Sylvia a Kimchi Toastie with roast potato, vegan cheddar, tofu cream, and silverbeet.  They were so good and each was perfect for our preferences.  I loved how we could purchase a half sandwich for $7-8 instead of a whole for $14-16 because they were pretty big.

18th Birthday Party, Geelong 

I had a trip to Geelong to spend time with my dad talking about family history.  I love hearing all his memories.  It was a good weekend to be down because my nephew Cooper had his 18th birthday party at the local cricket club and I was able to drop in before driving back to Melbourne.  I caught up with some family, listened to the speeches and enjoyed the chips from the Halal Snack Pack that was served for tea  but did not stay long enough to sample the gorgeous chocolate cake.  I can't believe he now has his licence and is driving around town but he is a lovely kid.

Sister of Soul
73 Acland Street, St Kilda

We stopped on our way to the Astor at for a quick meal Sister of Soul in St Kilda.  It is a vegetarian restaurant with mostly vegan food.  We were there too early for the lunch menu so chose brunch items as we didn't have time to hang about.

I had the Smashed avo with house-made almond and cashew feta, sun-dried tomatoes, black sesame and basil, on a bed of garlic hommus and sourdough toast ($21) with scrambled tofu ($4) on the side.  Sylvia had the Sister's One Big Brekkie with with scrambled tofu, house-made smokey baked beans, roast tomato, potato and sweet potato rosti, wilted spinach and sourdough toast ($27.50).  

We both loved our meal.  I liked having the scramble with my avo but prefer the scramble with less liquids in it.   I also loved my hot chocolate (extra strong as I like it) and Sylvia loved her iced chai tea.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
The Astor Theatre, Corner Chapel Street & Dandenong Road, St Kilda

At the Astor we saw the classic movie, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes as part of the Marilyn Monroe 100th birthday festival by the Palace Cinemas.  The Astor is one of the grand old dames of cinemas and still has its single big screen. We sat up in the dress circle with about 50 people up there and more in the stalls.  It is such a fun movie and so great to be in a cinema where everyone applauded at the end.  

Daniel's Doughnuts
Northland Shopping Centre, 2-50 Murray Rd, Preston  

We had a clothes shopping trip to Northland Shopping Centre and stopped for a doughnut.  I had a Dubai chocolate doughnut which was excellent with a thick chocolate glaze and filled plenty of pistachio cream with katafi.  Sylvia was very impressed with her vegan cream and jam doughnut.

Market Fair
Tenancy 7, 85 Chifley Drive, Preston

During our shopping we went to Market Fair for the first time.  It had many stalls by different vendors with a huge range of goods: artwork, books, tea towels, candles, crafts and bric a brac.  We both loved thes beautiful ceramic houses.  

Ballards
915 High Street, Thornbury

We were excited to have a Sunday roast dinner at Ballards after enjoying a fantastic meal there in summer.  It was sold out within hours of announcing this roast.  I am lucky that Sylvia is a digital native who seems such announcements.  We arrived 10 minutes late and as we arrived were served our meal.  It was odd not to be checking the menu and ordering a drink first but they were tight with time.  

The roast dinner was superb.  Sylvia thought it as good as the meal you would ask from a genie on your last wish.  We each had a huge plate of Lions mane mushrooms, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, glazed carrots, green beans, cauliflower cheese, dill coleslaw and pepper & red cabbage followed by Sticky date and banana pudding with butterscotch, ginger almond praline and vanilla ice cream.  I loved it all except the lions mane but Sylvia was happy to have that.  The crispy roast potatoes and the red cabbage jus were the best.

Melbourne Cat Cafe
512 Swanston Street, Carlton 

I accompanied Sylvia to a school excursion to the Melbourne  Cat Cafe.  They started with lunch at a Melbourne Central food hall and I had soup, roti and samosa which was yum.  Then there was some confusion in which cat cafe we were headed towards.  Finally we got there and the cats were gorgeous as always.  Favourites were Gaston and Churro.  All the kids loved it!

Oliva Spring Cafe
637 Mount Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds

When in Moonee Ponds for an appointment, we had lunch at Olivia Spring.  I was delighted with my Tom Yum Soup with Sweet Potato Noodles served with sweet potato noodles, tofu, button mushrooms. enoki mushrooms, snow peas, cherry tonatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, and fresh coriander.  I often wish I could order Tom Yum Soup in a restaurant but it is rarely vegetarian.  I loved the slightly sour, slightly salty soup with lots of veg and noodles.

Sylvia had Cơm Tấm: traditional Vietnamese broken rice served with grilled vegan pork, tofu omelette, vegan shredded pork, shredded lettuce, tomato, cucumber, pickled carrot, kimchi, and vegan fish sauce. She was excited by this as it is hard to find a broken rice dish that is vegan and peanut free.  And she loved her meal with lots of veg and great flavours.  I think all that pork was a bit much but the whole bowl was amazing.  Both our meals were vegan with GF options.  There are lots more dishes packed with many vegies at Olivia Spring we would love to try.

Better Now Bakes at Coburg Farmers Market
92 Bell St, Coburg (entry via Urqhuart Street)

We visited Coburg Farmers Market because it was the last time Better Now Bakes had a market stall before setting up a cafe in Brunswick East (Yay).  As always their gorgeous bakes tasted as good as they looked.  We bought a square of tahini brownie, a pickle chive and dill scone, a huge Japanese curry focaccia (with potato and furikake), a slab of yuzu white choc and coconut cake and a gorgeous apple maple and pecan cake. See a photo of them at my In My Kitchen: July 2026 post.

Brew Tower Museum at Tribeca, Open House Melbourne
412 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne

Open House Melbourne weekend is a great opportunity to peek inside buildings that I have passed by so much and never really thought about.  I really enjoyed the chance to go into the former Victoria Brewery building.  Most it is now residential but they have kept a tower as a museum.  We had to walk up 99 stairs and then travelled from the top where the malt was milled and then travelled down through the hopper, being mixed to mash, boiled in a kettle, fermented and cellared.  I was there with my friend Jo and we were too busy chatting and reading the information boards so we seemed to be the last to leave each floor.  Afterwards we had a quick cuppa and slice before riding home together.

Former Fitzroy Woolworths Supermarket building site
243-255 Smith Street, Fitzroy

It was fun riding home together through Collingwood and Fitzroy.  When I stopped to show her the old terrace house where I lived as a student, I was shocked to see the Woollies supermarket where I used to shop is now no more.  It was always a bit odd to see the grand 3 story facade of the 19th Century Collingwood Coffee House with the fluorescent-lit, one floor supermarket and its concrete parking lot stuck behind it.  Now it is a building site with plans to restore the facade with apartments behind it and a supermarket on the ground floor.  I never liked the dull modern building but I am sad it has gone because it is one of my memories of my time living there.  

Melbourne Town Hall, Open House Melbourne CBD
90-130 Swanston St, Melbourne

I have visited the Melbourne Town Hall once before at Open House Weekend but I did it again this year.  Last time I remember it was really busy as it was open to anyone who wanted to visit.  This time it was a small number of people in a tour that required booking.  I learnt a lot more about the building this way.  Above is a picture of the impressive heritage Council Chamber.  We were only allowed to take photos in the rooms but not in the hallway (where I loved the photos of the Moomba kings and queens - so many memories).  One of the best experiences was having plenty of space on the balcony to enjoy the views.


NAIDOC Week
Royal Women's Hospital foyer

I took this photo while going to the Royal Women's Hospital pharmacy and thought the whole wall was to celebrate NAIDOC Week.  Instead I found it was a "Born at the Women's" fundraiser where new parents paid to have their babies name on the wallR.  I loved the design on the banner which remind me of graphics we used at a former workplace.  Also on display but not in the picture was a magnificent possum skin cloak which were traditionally made by Indigenous people in South Eastern Australia.

Luthers Scoops
796 High Street, Thornbury 

We love Luthers Scoops ice cream which we usually buy in the original Brunswick store on Blyth Street by the corner of Sydney Road.  Sylvia was excited to finally get to Luthers' recently opened Thornbury store.  It had a bit more space and the same great ice creams.  I had a scoop of the tahini brownie ice cream on dark chocolate ice cream.  Sylvia had lemon slice and strawberry and mint sorbet.  We were very happy with our choices.

Sylvie's Corner

Some of the best (vegan) food Sylvia has eaten around Melbourne.  She finds lots of the amazing meals we eat out but these are her favourite ones from cafes she visited with other people in July. 

Top row: Goje, Yarraville: frozen yoghurt, Nico's Deli , East Brunswick: vegan schnitzel sandwich, Smith and Deli, Collingwood: S'mores hot chocolate.

Middle row: Taquito Bar, Carlton: vegan taco flight (mock beef, fried brussels sprout, mushroom and blue cheese crema, black bean), Midori by Tao's vegetarian sushi train, Balwyn North, caterpillar roll Sinjeon Korean street food, CBD: tteobokki with fried tofu.

Bottom Row: Smith and Deli in Degraves St, CBD: matcha doughnut,  Smith and Deli, Collingwood: Schitts Creek Focaccia, Billy Van Creamy, Brunswick: sour plum sorbet and strawberry crumble/iced vovo ice cream.

Died: Anne Widdicombe, Sam Neill, Brenda Fricker, Derryn Hinch, Bill Oddie, Glen A Baker, Glen Hansard, Bonnie Tyler

In the News: 

Suspecting AI cheating, Ivy League prof ordered an in-person final; scores fell 50%, Ars Technica, 9 July 2026.

Victoria's Big Build: Corruption, Crisis and Convenient Nonsense, the Snarky Gherkin Substack, 5 July 2026.

Dr Mo. Gaza doctor in Australia on consequences of AHPRA decision, Michael West Media, 4 July 2026. (on the adoption of IHRA definition of antisemitism for medical practitioners creating fear about speaking up about the genocide in Gaza.)

Nigel Farage's only by-election challenger is self-proclaimed space alien Count Binface CBC, 10 July 2026. 

The MSO and Lattouf rulings are seemingly at odds. Where does this leave free speech at work?, The Conversation, 14 July 2026.

A timeline of the Iran conflict and talks aimed at ending it, The Associated Press, 15 July 2026. 

How Manchester created Manchesterism: from music and culture to political power, The Conversation, 18 July 2026. 

Andy Burnham becomes prime minister after Keir Starmer leaves Downing Street for the last time, The Conversation, 20 July 2026.

China's EV industry now leads the world ABC news, 21 July 2026.

Duo sails toilet to Kangaroo Island on homemade barge, ABC News, 21 July 2026 

Ben Carroll replaces Jacinta Allan as Victorian premier in bruising leadership spill, ABC News, 28 July 2026. 

Listening, Reading, Watching

We watched Homebodies, a tv mini series on SBS.  A show about a trans man returning to his home town where he comes to terms with his past and his mother gains an understanding of his transformation.  It was a compassionate and insightful show on the experiences of trans people and their families.  The Conversation described Homebodies as "bold TV about a trans man, his mother and the conversations they never had".

Sausage-addicted kookaburra too fat to fly, news.com.au, 29 May 2026.

I finally looked up what Hamburger helper in the USA is after finding the Hamburger Helper recipe among the Kitchn's Nostalgia meals of the 80s and 90s.  I has been so sure it was a seasoning for minced beef to make hamburger patties but turns out it is a box of pasta and seasoning to add to browned minced meat.

We watched The Darjeeling Limited by Wes Anderson.  Another film of gorgeous design and odd characters.  If you wanted to reflect on it being set in India, you might be interested to read a review through a Saidist lens.

How council housing saved my family by Daniel Hewitt on 6 July 2026 on substack.  A reflection on the good old days when social housing made a huge difference so many vulnerable people.

You know what, I don't think we deserve to see Taylor's dress, Mama Mia, 15 July 2026.  There was much written about Tay Tay and Trav's wedding, despite not a lot of information available about the details.

How to know when sourdough starter is ready and at its peak from Somebody Feed Seb, 26 July 2026.  I love seeing leva's sourdough creations and found some great tips in this post.

We finally got into the cult classic, Schitt's Creek.  I've tried to watch the sitcom before but it just didn't grab me.  People say that it takes a few series to love it.  I agree.  If Sylvia had not wanted to persevere, I would not have wanted to continue that long.  Life is too short!  It was very good once we got through to the good and often hilarious bits.

I loved reading Kate Atkinson novels, especially her Jackson Brodie series.  So I really loved Death at the Sign of a Rook, which like the best murder mysteries, is more focused on the small details of village life; in this case a into stolen paintings, an amputee ex-soldier, a mediocre troup of actors and a crumbling grand country manor.