My Monthly Chronicles: August 2026

In August life got really crazy with ending one job and starting another.  In between we had an overnight trip to the Goldfields region in Western Victoria and I was busy writing up some research on my great grandfather.   I had less time for getting out and about but we had a few amazing meals as well as our travels.  I hope to write more about the places we visited but in this post is a taster of a few places we stopped.  You can read more about my month at In My Kitchen August 2026 post.

I made a trip into the State Library which had a magnificent 19th Century domed reading room.  I am so often the tourist in these sort of places but I was there to find information on my great grandfather.  I looked up ancestry.com to find the date he moved to his home where my dad lived as a kid.  The website disappointed me by being even further from the date than me.  I then went to look at a book that mentioned my grandfather and tried to avoid all the rubbernecks taking photos. As I left I could not resist a photo or two.  See above doorway to the dome!

Collage workshop, Balam Balam Place
33 Saxon Street, Brunswick

I accompanied Sylvia to another collage workshop - Sylvia made two collages but I was pleased I managed to finish my collage in the workshop.  Everyone was very friendly and there was a lot of swapping magazines for scraps of pictures!

Big Elma: Rice Table Night
138 Nicholson Street, Coburg 

 

We went to the special Rice Table night at Big Elma's.  One of the owners has a grandmother who used to make this Indonesian style meal for her.  She held this night in tribute to her grandmother.  The tables were pushed together and it felt like a wonderful intimate community meal.  I spoke to a couple who said they had been to other rice table meals but they are not held often in the cafe.  You can see the chunks of rice on a plate, corn fritters and a tofu dish in the picture.  Great food and great ambience.  (I hope to find time to write more about this cafe soon.)

My office corridor

 

I am sneaking in a photo of one of the corridors at my job I have just left.  I really loved the archival photos of people at work that adorned the interior office walls.  These offices did not have a view out the window but they had these photos that gave them privacy but were transparent enough to let the light in.  (I was in an open plan office with a great view of the gum trees and occasional birds.)

Super 8 Cafe
305 Grattan Street, (Peter Mac) Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Parkville

I had a few work lunches from Super 8 in August.  They have such great salads.  My lunch above was Roquette and Pear Salad, Roasted Vegetable Salad, and a Beetroot Salad.  I was most impressed with the beetroot salad which had peach, strawberries, goats cheese and walnuts. 

The Pancake Parlour
2 Grenville Street S Central Ballarat

We stopped at Ballarat on the way to Beaufort.  Our favourite place to have a lunch break is the Pancake Kitchen and we were interested to try the vegan menu.  The vegan versions of Cheese and potato pancake with salad and the Alice pancake with vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and sprinkles were found to be nice but not as good as the originals.  However Sylvia was wowed by the Swiss Mountain Shake which she judged to be far better than the diary version.  I got tempted by the non-vegan Dubai Chocolate pancake which had too much marscapone and not enough creamy katafi in the filling but had great fudge chocolate sauce.  Sylvia had tried this before and said her one had much more katafi filling.  

Cyrill Callister Vegemite Museum
23 Neill St, Beaufort

One of the reasons we went to our our road trip was to visit the Vegemite museum.  Who could resist such a niche collection.  I've eaten vegemite since I can remember and I found the museum quite nostalgic - all those old vegemite jars, including the ones that we reused for drinking glasses.  I also loved some of the fascinating Vegemite art including school kids painting pictures of local buildings using just vegemite and water.

The American Hotel
90 Albert Street, Creswick

We stayed the night at The American Hotel in Creswick.  This town has a rich gold rush history.  I enjoyed seeing the splendid heritage buildings, including a museum in the former municipal offices.  It was fortuitous that we were there on a weekend that the farmers market was held.  We wanted to have dinner at the lovely Odessa in one of the oldest buildings in town but it was sold out because Ella Hooper was performing there but found a fine pizzeria.

Clunes, Victoria 

Clunes was the other place I really wanted to go.  It is the town where gold was first discovered in our state of Victoria in the 19th Century.  My great great grandfather come there from Wales as one of the miners and my great grandfather was born there.  The heritage main street was amazingly intact with some great vintage shops and a little further away is the bottle museum which we really enjoyed (far more than I expected).  We had a great lunch at Cafe 52.
 

Better Now Bakes 
130 Lygon Street, Brunswick East

On the same weekend of our trip out of town, Better Now Bakes  made the move from farmers market stalls to opening their own vegan bakery cafe in Brunswick East.  We love their bakes - all vegan - and were excited to visit soon after we returned home.  We heard that the opening weekend had been really busy but it was quieter on a week day.  It was so exciting to check out the set up and purchase potato and crispy chilli oil focaccia, pickle chive and dill scone, pecan pie, choc chip cookie to eat in.

And Bodega
340 St Georges Road, North Fitzroy

Another new vegan cafe is And Bodega in North Fitzroy much further north on St Georges Road then where we usually go.  We had an amazing meal served by an enthusiastic and friendly couple.  The price for 2 meals, 2 drinks and 2 baked items came to a very reasonable $59.  We loved the food, the drinks and the vibe of this unassuming cafe.

Sylvia had the Ollieflower toastie with a great name.  It was a crispy baked buffalo cauliflower, seasonal greens, housemade ranch on a 'Baked for Sofia' brioche, which was the only sandwich left after 1pm on a Saturday.  It wouldn't have been her first choice but she was pleasantly surprised by how amazing it was.  I had the Seasonal Bowl of quinoa, sautéed kale, tofu puffs drizzled with chilli sauce and a creamy ginger peanut dressing.  This was a great healthy bowl, a bit spicy for me with the chilli dressing but I loved the sate-style sauce.  

Sylvia was delighted with her birthday iced matcha latte that came with vegan cream and sprinkled.  It was not on the menu but she requested it because she had seen it online.  I had really good Natural Cola from the Ordinary Beverage Company.  These low calorie soft drinnks are getting better.  As well as a lovely flavour without the cloying sweetness of the big brands, I was interested that it was lo-cal without any artificial sweeteners in the ingredients.

We also had a fantastic lamington which came with a generous dollop of wonderful raspberry jam on top of the little cake with cream piped around the edges.  It looked very attractive.  I was interested how the vegan cream held its shape so well and asked about it.  The secret was to add custard to the cream.  Sounds simple but if you know vegan cream, you know it can be very soft so it seemed like alchemy to get it right.  And we had a superb Vegemite tomato & cheese escargot to take home.  It was such fantastic soft pastry that demonstrated their fine baking skills.  Apologies for all the superlatives but it was really good food and a great discovery in a month where I mostly visited known cafes.

Green Man's Arms
418 Lygon Street, Carlton 

It has been too long since I have got out to the cinema so I was really happy to see Colours of Time at the Nova with Heather.  Afterwards we went to Green Man's Arms, after the alarm at hearing they pub was to be sold.  It was reassuring to hear the pub is for sale but the lease of the Green Man's Arms will continue.  I was delighted that the special was a vegan Roast dinner of nut and lentil loaf, roast potatoes, roast pumpkin, roast carrots, peas, yorkshire pudding, gravy and mint sauce.  It was a really lovely meal with the highlight perhaps being how light and fluffy they made the vegan Yorkie.  I was a bit unsure about the mint sauce but loved the generous amount of gravy over a lovely soft slice of nut and lentil roast.  The serving of peas as the green veg made me very happy because I love how my mum always serves them with a roast but it is less common in roast dinners I have when dining out.  I washed it down with a very pleasant Willie Smith's Tasmanian non-alcoholic cider and Heather enjoyed her Massaman Curry.

Sylvia's corner 

Some of the best (all-vegan) food Sylvia has eaten around Melbourne.  Unlike me, she visited quite a few new places with other people as well as a few faves.  She finds lots of the amazing meals we eat out but these are her favourite cafes in August. 

Top row: Beautiful Jim Key, Brunswick: Mushroom Congee, Masses Bagels, Fitzroy: Pickled Green Tomato Bagel, All Day Donuts, Brunswick: Blackberry Lime Glaze Donut.

Middle row: Smith & Deli, Collingwood: Gingerbread Latte, Gong De Lin, CBD, Sweet'n'Sour Vegan Pork, Smashed Cucumber, Marinated Tofu, Green Tea, Miss Moses, Brunswick: Vegan Chicken Burrito Bowl.

Bottom Row: Lui Boss, Brunswick: Japchae,  Tyler's Milkbar, Preston: Blueberry Crumble Cake, Eat Cannoli, Preston: Vegan Pistachio Cannoli and Cheesecake Cannoli.

In the News

Died: Johnny Young Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, Yayoi Kusama

Power, distraction and the price of political failure: From the antisemitism Royal Commission, Trump’s political theatre and Victoria’s new Premier to ICAC, in New Politics, 3 August 2026

Petition to save Roy Grounds building amasses over 1,400 signatures, in Architecture,Au, 13 August 2026. (Melbourne University's plans to demolish the John Medley Building where I studied as an undergrad.)

Clacton byelection: Farage's pyrrhic victory convinces no-one by Ian Dunt on his Striking 13 Substack, 14 August 2026.  

Jason Arday, ex-Cambridge professor accused of plagiarism, found dead a week after resigning, NBC News, 15 August 2026. (aAso see reflections by Nature editorial and Toyin Falola: When a black scholar becomes a symbol)

Hundreds of the Albanian Diaspora Expected in Tirana for Day 76 of Flamingo Revolution Protest, Pressenza, 15 August 2026.

Labor is facing an insurgent One Nation. The path it takes on immigration will define its identity for years to come, Frank Bongiorno, The Guardian, 16 August

Long‑awaited gambling reform bill is an improvement, but does not go nearly far enough to reduce harm, The Conversation, 18 August 202

NSW judge says anti-Israel graffiti case went ‘haywire’ when vandalism was labelled antisemitic, The Guardian, 18 August 2026.

Australian football must reckon with its culture of entitlement (about the Sydney Swans sexual assault case), by Tarang Chawla in DeepCut, 22 August 2026. 

Political cartoonist Cathy Wilcox leaves the Sydney Morning Herald, “She has cocked her skeptical eyebrow and poked her inky nib at pretty much any subject you care to name.” MediaWeek, 23 August 2026.  (Her insightful cartoons will be missed!)

Head teacher evacuated 900 children minutes before Nepal floods hit school, BBC News, 30 August 2026.

Listening, Reading, Watching 

Listening to Set list by the Frames.  It is ages since I listened to this brilliant live album but with the recent death of frontman Glen Hansard.  When I listened to it often I would like to sing along loudly to the line "I want my life to make more sense" in the song Pavement tune.  It always resonated but years later I am trying to accept and embrace the chaos that is my life.  Mostly!

Another return to a different period in my life is watching tv series Malcolm in the Middle.  (Have not got to the new episodes yet.)  This tv family is complete chaos and hilarious.  I find that the mother is seen through a different lens now I am a mother than when I watched a couple of decades ago.

The Colours of Time that I saw at the Cinema Nova was a charming film set with a bit of bizarre comedy mostly set in 1890s Paris at a time when art and photography were changing rapidly.  It is the story of present day descendants discovering their ancestor who as a young woman left her rural life for the city in the late 19th Century to search for her mother and finds herself making friends with young artists.

Clue was another show we watched after a celebrity death - this time Tim Curry!  It is based on the game Cluedo (that is called Clue in the USA) and involves a classic situation of various characters in a stately manor house and a series of murders.  Tim Curry is hilarious as the manic butler and the film gets so silly at times but is a good laugh.  It was interesting to read that when it came out in cinemas, they had different endings so people seeing it in different cinemas saw different characters as the murderer!

Of course my daughter Sylvia bought Oh Dear Silvia by Dawn French because of the name.  I had high expectations of the novel given Dawn French's hilarious comedy on tv but it was less rollicking than I expected.  All I could think was Oh Dear Dawn, as I made my way through quite a plodding text despite the good characters and an interesting plot twist.  Leading up to the twist, and after, I just found it so slow as it meandered through the reminiscing and updates of family and friends at the bedside of a woman in a coma reminiscing and updating her on their lives. 

Thanks to Nupur, I discovered The Bombing of Pan Am 103 on Netflix.  It was a fascinating series that started with Lockerbie in 1986 as the plane fell on the town after the bomb exploded.  It followed the advocacy and mourning by the victims families, and the forensic work of a team of investigators into how it happened.  It ended with the 2001 conviction of the Libyan terrorist, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi who was found guilty on 270 counts of murder.  It made sense of the story for me.  I had heard news reports about it over the years but never put it all together into a coherent narrative,

In My Kitchen: August 2026

With the end of August, comes the end of Winter.  The past month has given us some wild weather but ended with a few blissfully sunny days that are perfect for hanging the washing on the line and heading out for a bike ride.  It has been a crazy month.  I finished up my previous job and for the first time ever I was sent an exit survey.  I did not mention in my survey how weird it was to have a team meeting in the middle of my farewell lunch!  We had not even finished eating.  I had a week between jobs where we did an overnight road trip to the Goldfields regions of Victoria.  And now I have had about a week in my new job which is going to be busy but interesting with good people!  

There has not been much time for blogging but I will give a round up here (and also in My Monthly Chronicles August 2026 post which will look at getting out and about.  We have had some amazing meals both at home and eating out.  Above is a noodle soup that was excellent and felt a little fancy to have condiments such as chilli oil (for Sylvia), fried shallots (for me) and daikon and carrot pickle (for both of us).

 

You can see a lot of the ingredients here: a mushroom mix of enoki, oyster and king oyster, fried tofu puffs, broken dried soya sticks, Chinese broccoli, wheat noodles and vegan fish balls.  The soup was amazing with the condiments but for one thing: the fish balls were disgusting.  I say that as a vegetarian who has never eaten seafood (other than flake and fish fingers as a kid).  They had a very odd texture and neither of us liked them.  The rest of the soup was slurpilicious!

Sylvia was very keen on making the dailkon and carrot pickle  which was from RecipeTinEats.  We simply added vinegar, sugar and salt to the veggiees.  The hardest part was chopping the carrot and dailkon very thinly, which Sylvia did in the front of the tv.  It was quite stinky but so delicious on all sorts of meals.
 

The main reason we made the daikon and carrot pickle was for a Bahn Mi.  I bought the bread rolls from our local Vietnamese "Crystal Bakery".  We had a tub of vegan pate from Fresh on Young to spread on the rolls.  We stuffed them with braised some tempeh, lettuce leaves, cucumber batons, daikon and carrot pickle and a garnish of parsley leaves from the garden (we don't like coriander).  It was amazing and messy and so so good!

These are the Miso Maple Braised Tempeh that Sylvia made.  The recipe was unlike our usual way of frying tofu or tempeh.  The chunks of tempeh were fried and then cooked in a glaze for about 30 minutes until glossy and sticky.  They had lots of flavour with quite a bit of fresh ginger and were quite saucy!
 

A complicate meal was a vegan roast at home in August.  She bought a Veggie Delites vegan roast and braised it with cranberry sauce glaze.  I am not so keen on them but it worked with all the trimmings.  We made it a weekend when we had lots of time to potter in the kitchen.   The facon wrapped brussels sprouts looked quite impressive.  We roasted potato, carrot, parsnip and pumpkin.  I also made gravy and cauliflower cheese using the same recipes used in my recent Vegan roast dinner pizza.

A simple meal was what The Kitchn called 20 minute Coconut chickpea curry.   It was a good way to use the nice laksa paste we have.  I probably took longer than 20 minutes especially with sides but it excellent served with brussels sprouts, red capsicum, spinach, leftover sticky rice, scalliion pancakes from KFL supermarket, spinach and the last lime from our tree this winter.  

A summer meal: vegetable fritatta from Smith and Deli and slaw we made a home.  I bought the fritatta and a chai flavoured vanilla slice while out on a ride.  I took a plastic box for my purchases.  The vanilla slice came in a cardboard tub that fitted in my box and the fritatta went straight in the box next to it.  I used octopus straps to secure it to the back of my bike and then merrily went on my way.  

I stopped at bike shops - the first because my bike had an odd sound and the second because the first bike shop had not fixed it.  But the minute I arrived at the second bike shop, the sound disappeared and I felt stupid trying to tell  them there had been a weird whirring,  It has not been heard since!  I also stopped to take photos.  At first my purchases seemed to be travelling well but by the time I got home the vanilla slice was such a mess I am not sharing any photos.  It was amazing with fantastic chai spices and the fritatta with lots of pesto on top was also a joy to eat after my long ride!

We had a new winter warmer.  This pot pie from Sweet Simple Vegan was perfect for the wild rainy weather we had in the middle of the month.  It was a gorgeous vegan creamy filling of onion, celery, potatoes, carrots, peas (and I thought I put in a tin of lentils but am not so sure now I look back at the recipe) and broccoli.  The puff pastry was cut into squares and arranged on top of the filling (which was cooked on the stovetop and oven in my cast iron pan).  I really loved this because it was much easier than dealing with a big sheet and I was able to use up some scraps of puff pastry from the freezer.

We also had an old winter warmer: Bean and beer stew with dumplings.  I had made it years ago (2010) and loved it.  When I made it again this August, I wondered why it had taken me so long.  It was great comfort food with lots of beans and fluffy wholemeal dumplings steamed on top.  Must remember this next winter!

While I was quite tired and not up for lots of new ideas, Sylvia found quite a few great new recipes.  This cabbage pasta is a fave new dish with mainly fried cabbage and seasoning in the pasta sauce.  I really like it with a coleslaw mix of veggies we have been making.  Sylvia found the idea online but ended up not following a recipe.  For the sauce she added miso, pasta water, nutritional yeast flakes, soy sauce, sesame oil and maple syrup.

 

I really loved these Creamy gnocchi with Crispy seasoned tofu.  This was another new recipe from Sylvia.  It was her favourite vodka tomato pasta but instead of adding cream, she added a tin of butter beans pureed with the bean water (ie undrained).  I liked it more with the beans but she preferred the sauce with cream.  The mellow creamy sauce went well with well with the crispy tofu which was seasoned with soy sauce, maple syrup, thyme, smoked paprika, onion powder and garlic powder.  So good!
 

We've continued to make rice on Sunday nights so we can have it on Monday nights to make an easy meal.  One night Sylvia wanted to try soaking, marinating and frying some dried soya chunks.  The marinade was great but the soya chunks are not really my sort of thing.  They were fine when mixed with lots of vegetables and rice. 

We even had a salad night with this Roasted cauliflower, pearl couscous and chickpea salad.  It was a warm salad but by the time I got home had cooled down and was delicious at room temperature.  We added in pickled onions, of course!  And had lots of the tofu and avocado dressing leftover.  I think it would be a great vegan dressing for coleslaw but we had it on toast instead.  This was a great salad that just might be back on the menu as the weather warms up.

Continuing the theme of food in our fridge magnets, Kerin brought a lego style magnet kit back from Vietnam to make a sushi magnet.  It was fun to do but the magnet fell apart within a day so is now on the fridge with parts missing!  What a shame because it is a fun idea.

This photos shows a lot of things we bought on our trip to the Vegemite museum in Beaufort, the Creswick market and a smattering of op shops and vintage shops in Beaufort, Creswick and Clunes.  The postcards are of paintings of local buildings by Beaufort high school kids using vegemite and water.  The spiced cider and bread are from the farmers market.  I got a green and white striped jumper in an op shop and Sylvia found a colourful skirt at the same place.  In the top right hand corner is a green glass bowl with a curved handle (like a basket) that she bought in an antique shop in Clunes.  We had a lovely trip that I would love to find time to write about!

Also at the Vegemite museum, I bought a stick of vegemite fudge for E who had looked after Shadow in our absence.  It was very nice - yes I had a taste.  Very smooth and not too intensely vegemite.

The whimsical green card was bought in Clunes at a shop with the wonderful name: Opsessed.  I also bought a pen and magnet at the Clunes Bottle Museum, a magnet saying "My keyboard must be broken.  I keep hitting the escape key but I am still at work".  Is it too soon to take this to a new workplace!  And some camomile, honey and vanilla tea to drink in our hotel room.

Sylvia was delighted by all the coloured glass in the bottle museum and bought this lovely green bottle.  She found some fake grapes - just the sort of thing she loves - in an op shop.

While at the Creswick Market I tasted a warm alcoholic spiced apple cider from Daylesford Cider.  I told the stallholder that I would buy it if it was non alcoholic.  He miraculously produced a non alcoholic version and I bought a six pack of the cans.  The heated taster was really good but we have drunk it cold and fizzy.  It is so wonderful, I wish I had more of it.  We really enjoyed it with our roast dinner!  It would be brilliant chilled in a warm Aussie Christmas.
 

We went to KFL supermarket and bought a vegetarian fish sauce and a plant based tonkotsu ramen kit.  I am curious to see the ramen kit but it is not opened yet.  

At Woolworth's supermarket Sylvia bought brown sugar porridge sachets - because it was winter, gluten free oreos and LCMs (accidentally vegan) marshmallow flavoured cereal because it was novel and on special.  I was pleased to have the oreos when a gluten free friend came over for a cuppa.  They were pretty good!  Sylvia really liked the LCMs cereal for a change but said it was very sweet.  

We had an electrician over for a couple of issues.  One was blue stuff leaking out of power points.  Urgh!  More exciting was having him install the light shade that I bought for Sylvia's bedroom last October when we went to Daylesford.  It is so gorgeous.  I have one installed that is like it but not quite as nice.  The electrician had to change the fittings so we could get the new shades up.  I am really pleased with the change because the light fittings that were removed were a glass bowl that was flush to the ceiling and it was quite awkward to unscrew it to change the light bulb.

At the end of my first week of work - my first full week in the office for years - I was tired and forgot to feed the starter for pizza dough.  Instead we ordered pizza from Shop 225.  When I arrived to pick up - after a text message - the pizzas were ready but they were still doing the dessert so the pizzas were not very warm by the time I arrived home.  The place was really busy and had a cosy vibe.

We had the From Nonna's Garden pizza with pomodoro stracotto (stewed tomato), eggplant, zucchini, onion, basil and parmigiano reggiano.  It came with the thin and crunchy Roman style base and by the time it got home it was really floppy but the flavour was amazing.  The other pizza was called 2807 (why??).  It had a puffy thicker base and was topped with fior di latte, mushroom cream, pork sausage, porcini, parsley, parmiagiano reggiano and "finished with truffle oil".  I was less keen on these because pork sausage and creamy sauce is not really my thing.  I loved the puffy crust!

It was good to finally try Shop 225 pizza which were very good.  This Italian restaurant prides itself on its inclusiveness.  They cater for vegans and celiacs.  Most pizzas can be adapted from both diets.  For dessert we had fried gnocchi with nutella.  The gnocchi was like doughnut balls.  They were tossed in sugar and excellent with the nutella.  I double checked that the nutella was vegan and it was.  We would love to go back and eat in.

Last weekend, I had a great leftover lunch.  The night before we made a great vegan pizza with some leftovers.  It had backed beans, chopped baked potato, mushrooms, olives, dollops of cashew tofu cream and crispy tofu bacon.  On the side was some slaw with a pickled onion brine based vinagrette that worked ok.  Lastly I had a mug of tinned tomato soup; this is my comfort food.

The other dish we had on the weekend that I loved was a Rhubarb and strawberry crumble.  I don't make many desserts but I love to make at least one baked dessert over winter.  It was a weekend of lazy food and a crumble was easy and comforting.  A great way to see out the winter.

I am sending this post to Sherry of Sherry's Pickings for the In My Kitchen event. If you would like to join in, send your post to Sherry by 13th of the month.  Or just head over to her blog to visit more kitchens and enjoy her delightful spring greenery hand drawn header.  Thanks to Sherry for continuing to host this event that brings together some wonderful bloggers who share glimpses into their kitchens.   

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.