Red Christmas Bow

Red Christmas Bow in Napier Crescent, Essendon.

VR Signal Department

A nice solid looking steel box along the railway line in Moonee Ponds.  It was manufactured by AR & Co, Hebburn, England.  Can it have been in place since the line was electrified in 1918?  Still in use if the padlock is anything to go by.

Remnant tree from Fairview Farm.

This Moreton Bay fig is on the corner of The Avenue and Hotham Road, Niddrie, a remnant of the garden of the old farm 'Fairview'.  The original bluestone house stood opposite until the 1960s.  The tree has been placed on the Moonee Valley Council's Significant Tree Register, but it is cluttered with postal installations and a too-close planting of a cypress tree, not to mention overheard wires. 

Arts and Crafts for kids

Children at Essendon Primary School prepared these lovely mosaics for their school.








Brewster and Nicholson are two of the House names at the school.

Shaftesbury and Raleigh are the other two houses.  Well done kids and teachers!

Steele Creek and the Lady of the Lake

This new local history book by Christine Laskowski was launched last Friday at the Niddrie Library by MLA for Niddrie, Ben Carroll.

The book covers the early history of Niddrie, Airport West, Avondale Heights, East Keilor, West Essendon, Keilor Park and parts of Tullamarine.  Copies are $30 plus post and packaging.  See the index and details of how to get the book on this webpage.

The postie kicks a goal every time

I am very fond of individually crafted letter-boxes, and this fine example, combining utility, football and art, can be seen in Napier Street, Essendon.

In case of emergencies....

Barista on duty at all times

 At the Fix Espresso Bar, corner of Hall and Everage Sts, Moonee Ponds.

A great opportunity!

You can pick up the other two volumes of Fifty Shades of Grey at the Girl Guide op shop in Russell St, Essendon. 

One hundred shades hit the op shops

Volume three of the Fifty Shades trilogy is already in the opshops - not a keeper, apparently.  Available in grey only, at the Parish Bargain Centre in Racecourse Rd, Flemington.

Interactive Libraries

In the Flemington Library, Racecourse Road, readers can ask for suggestions of books to read from other readers. 

Saturday mornings at Cafedenaro's

Cafedenaro's in Napier St, Essendon attracts passing trade.

Tea for Two

Pretty as a picture, the tea table at the Austen Tea Rooms in Raleigh St, Essendon. 

Shopping for shopfronts

A shop in Union Rd, Ascot Vale, makes use of the charming 19th century window design.

You can see the decorative style of this shop above the awning, rather spoilt by the drab appearance of the 20th century makeover below.  I don't know what they sell in this shop, and I don't want to know.  Wouldn't it be nice if shop owners/lessors paid some attention to the streetscape when tarting up the shop-front?  This old shop has had a reasonable restoration job done.

We're all relieved

This is the new public convenience in Lincoln Park, North Essendon, opened a few weeks before Christmas.  There is no doubt this will be a welcome relief to residents and visitors, but the style seems to present a blank canvas for those vacuous wielders of spray cans.  We'll see how long it remains in pristine condition.

We raise our glass

Artistic glass tram shelters have been installed at the roundabout at Essendon Junction.  Noice!  Unusual! 

Cool idea for west-facing walls

Down at the Council depot in Holmes Rd, an enterprising team has tackled the problem of insulating west facing walls from the outside - a wall of drip-watered succulents and other plants shields the wall from the afternoon heat.

The side view shows how the arrangements works.  The succulents are gown in specially designed crates, the crates are attached to a frame bolted to the wall, and a watering system drips moisture from the top. Some plantings seem to do better than others.


This seems a great idea for a problem wall.