Bedspread

I can't imagine why someone tied a pink bedspread around a traffic light pole, but there it was, fluttering in the breeze!

Backyards: a rant (and more than one photo)

A while back some research claimed that "oldies" (ie baby boomers) are responsible for vanishing backyards, and lack of a suburban backyard play experience for modern children.

In essence, it said that baby boomers should sell their family homes on big blocks to the next generation with young kids, and the oldies should move on to smaller premises. Read article here.

Well, that really got my ire (being as seeing as how I'm one of those boomers....without a large backyard, I might add).

I grew up in a suburb about 12 kms from the centre of Sydney. It was mainly developed post WW2. The "Depression-era" parents raised their baby-boomer children there. We had a modest, 2 bedroom fibro house on a large block.

Well, 10 years ago, Mum and Dad sold that house and moved to a smaller, multi-unit dwelling (in Sydney parlance a 'villa' - in some places called 'cluster housing'....7 single-storey houses on a double block....the medium density developments of the 1970s).

And here's what is being built on that block and next door TODAY at 36 and 38 St Georges Rd, Bexley.

When "the oldies" move out, the current generation of kids don't get backyards to play in. The backyard disappears under acres of brick and concrete.

So these photos are from my childhood, and that of my son in the 1990s, and the bricks today.

1. Dad working in his veggie garden in the early 1970s. This part of the yard was a chook run when we bought the house in 1968. Over the back fence are early villa homes.

2. My sister tending backyard lemon tree, about 1971

3 & 4 My son also enjoyed "grandma's backyard" 

Here's what's being built today on that suburban backyard that is supposed to be sold to Generations X & Y for their kids to play on. Tell that to the developers!

Milk Bar

The great Aussie Milk Bar! This one in Bexley used to provide lunches when I was a pupil at Bexley Public School in the 1960s. They are disappearing fast in favour of trendy cafes and fast food places. The milk bar was a staple of Australian life, selling some basic staple food items, snack foods, and the classic ice-cream based milkshake. They made cut sandwiches, sold pies and sausage rolls, and flipped the classic Australian burger. 

Read more: 

One photographer, Eamon Donnelly has been photographing milk bar iconography around Sydney. 

Shallow water

taken on iPhone4S

I do so love to swim into deep water!

My local pool

My local municipal swimming pool means a lot to me; I swim there as often as I can. However, it is reaching the end of its life, and needs a complete upgrade. The Council has a brilliant plan before it, and it will really make for a magnificent community facility. Of course, as with any far-reaching proposals, there are detractors.

A local newspaper is runnign a poll on whether it should be upgraded in the manner proposed.
To have a look at the plans, click here.

You can read an article in the local newspaper, and vote by clicking here. (You don't have to live in the local area - it's just a newspaper poll!)

Lilac tree (maybe?)

Update 30 oct 2011: Fionie the Green Thumb and font on all things horticultural has provided the answer - these are Cape Chestnuts: calondendrum capense, natives to Cape Town. The Cape Floral Kingdom is both the smallest and richest floral kingdom on Earth. They usually grow incredibly well in Australia (Gondwanaland and all that....)

Last Sunday, a beautiful day in Sydney, I was swimming at Bexley pool. I looked up and saw these magnificent flowering trees.

Apart from the beauty of the blossoms, they had the most magnificent scent.

I wasn't sure what they were, but googling seemed to suggest they are lilac trees. I'm still not sure though, so if anyone knows, I'd appreciate help!

Further investigation indicated lilacs are cool climate trees, liking frosty conditions.

That doesn't fit too well, cos the suntrap at Bexley pool doesn't speak of frosts.

Purple lilac flowers are supposed to symbolise the emotion of being in love; white lilacs represent youthful innocence.

Bexley Park

Late autumn sun

There's nothing like some gorgeous late autumn weather to lift the spirits. The water temperature at Bexley Pool yesterday was 25 degrees, the air temperature hot 23. I took advantage of the benign conditions for a swim. A great way to iron the crinkles out.

Missing you already

With the rainy, cool weather in the past few days, I haven't been able to swim outdoors for a while. I miss it. An inside "gym swim" just isn't the same! He4re's hoping for some nice sunny and warm late autumn days to come - just like this one.

The future of Bexley pool is under a bit of a cloud. It urgently needs a large investment, as it is leaking 20 000 litres a day, and though open year round, needs some indoor facilities for lessons and leisure swimming over winter. So far Rockdale Council has not committed the necessary funding. As well, the current management has been replaced....all very murky indeed.

Read more here:
Prospects for Bexley pool remain a mystery
Bexley pool operator sacked
Bexley pool users back operator

Stretching out

A  long week, so I went for a swim on the way home today. Bexley Pool. As I lay on my towel in the late afternoon sun to dry off, I was reading a favourite book, Haunts of The Black masseur: the Swimmer as Hero, by Charles Sprawson.

He tells us that in ancient Rome, swimming was associated with sensuality and, eventually, as Emperors built ever more luxurious pools and baths, decadence. The Christian church filled the sea with imaginary monsters.

For Pliny the mermaid was a exciting proof of nature's diversity, her song an irresistible celestial harmony.

For the medieval church her siren song became the lure of fleshly pleasures to be feared and avoided by the godly. Swimming, like sexual pleasure, came to be associated with the devil and was almost suppressed during the domination of Europe by Christianity. Not until the beginning of the 19th century was its popularity revived.

Times change

Back to the pool again, this time with my underwater camera. A beautiful, bright warm (about 29 degrees max) day. And when I arrived there was only me and a family there.

Times change. A bright sunny, summer day in school hols & the local pool almost deserted.  When I was a kid we spent all day at the pool.

Suspect a few factors are at play here:

1. The prevalence of the backyard pool
2. Culture shift - newer residents not so enamoured with swimming play
3. "Stay out of the sun" messages
4. Kids under 16 no longer allowed in without adult supervision - oh&s, fears of litigation & the fear of teenage & adolescent horseplay has pushed kids out of spaces. Public pools now much more serious places with lap lanes prevalent.
5. Anxiety about the safety of kids who no longer seem to be able to disappear outdoors at dawn, to reappear for food sometime late in the day!

 When I was 8 or 9 I used to be "the responsible one" with the local kids at the pool. It was the norm for kids to walk or ride their bike to the pool & spend hours there. I used to love the 1 & 3 metre diving boards - they've pretty much disappeared too except at "out of bounds" competition pools.

What has changed since you were young?

A very Sydney Saturday

(photos taken on my iPhone)
Nothing obsesses a true Sydney-sider more than real estate - the price of their own property, the amount their neighbour expects for theirs, the value added by a "water glimpse", or their feigned disinterest in it all (ha! don't believe it for a moment!). One way to spend Saturdays is out tyre-kicking, looking at open houses, and attending auctions. Now you might think that because the world is in the middle of an economic meltdown that housing might be off the boil in Sydney. And there you would be wrong. It has gone down a bit at the top end (the multi, multi million dollar places), but in the middle and lower markets, it's still bubbling away. (Australia, by the way, is the only G20 country NOT in recession).

I thought I'd meander along to have a look at this rather nice place not far from where I live. Auctioneer, Tony Gardner has been selling houses in Bexley and surrounds for 30 years (and I reckon he could do a nice sideline in Kevin Rudd impersonations). He sold my mum and dad's place.

So to business. The bidding opened at 750 thousand, and then the bids went: $800k, $810K, $820K ...nice and steady. Then a confident bid of $850K, seeking to blast the opposition out of the race. OK, so at $850, it was called "on the market...which means it has reached the reserve price and will sell. Someone decided to slow it down...$851K, then $870K, $871K, $880K, $881K, $900K, $901K ....the cat and mouse game was on. Confidence reigned and the bids went $910K, $920K, $930K, $940K, $950K, $965K, $970K, $975K, $980K, $985K, $990K, $995K, $1 million, $1,005,000, $1,006,000, $1,007,000, $1,008,000 and, finally it was knocked down at $1,010,000. There were 16 registered bidders, and I think about 4 took part.

So there you are, property moguls, that's what one million and ten thousand dollars could buy you on a sunny September Saturday in a middle-distance bog-ordinary Sydney suburb, under the airport flight path. A nicely renovated 1930s house, with 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a new kitchen/family room and second living room. A garage and carport, and a couple of sheds, on an 803 square metre block. (There's another shed at the bottom of the yard. And don't forget you get the Hills Hoist as well :- In fact, houses in Australia are usaully sold with light fittings, curtains, carpets, oven and cooktops and rangehoods and frequently dishwasher as well if it is fitted and not worth moving).

Lane etiquette

One of the delights of summer is being able to do my daily swim in the local outdoor pool. It's important to follow proper lane etiquette to avoid any collisions. Like driving in Australia, you must keep left - up the left side of the black line, and down the other side. It's also nice being able to stretch out in a proper 50 m pool, instead of the indoor 25 m one. Not so many turns... Psychologically it seems easier to complete "half" the number of laps!

In the mornings, 4 lanes are reserved for lap swimmers, and 4 for leisure swimmers - plenty of room for everyone.

PS Iam away from home for a few days on a very slow connection, so apologies for not visiting other sites very often.

Optometrist's window

This rather creative display in an optometrist's window caught my eye....

Von Stauffenberg's Stamp

'Two Twisted' was a TV series of half hour shows, each with a mysterious twist at the end. An episode called 'Von Stauffenberg's Stamp' (Von Stauffenberg was the military officer who tried to assassinate Hitler) was filmed using both the exterior and interior of the Bexley Stamp Shop, which I went to today for some collectors' supplies.

The story involved a stamp dealer, and a barber, whose shops were next to each other. The real stamp shop owner told me they used a barber shop in another suburb, and melded the two together on screen, because this barber didn't want to take part.

Three of my favourite actors - Sam Neill, Roy Billing, and Wendy Hughes were in the show. So, a small local 'Brush With Fame'.

Summer's coming!

The main pool and the babies' pool

I love suburban public swimming pools. To me this is a "real pool" - the Olympic size pool, the sort I learned to swim in, the sort I spent my summers in as a kid. Nowadays, like this one, they are often heated, and open year round. The outdoor Olympic pool is really iconic Australian. Nearly every country town, many suburbs and city areas have such pools.

Despite living in a beach-culture city, I've always preferred pools for swimming in (and the surf for playing in). Maybe it comes from growing up and learning to swim in Melbourne? Anyway, on such a beautiful spring day, my son and I headed off to our local "real pool".

After swimming all winter in an indoor, 25 m pool at the gym, I revelled in swimming 50 m without a turn. Psychologically, it does amazing things, seeming to swim "half" the distance (counted as number of laps!)

You can get here at 5.30am and stay til 8.30pm, all for the bank-busting price of $4.50 ($3.50 concessions and kids). And tomorrow, we're off to another suburban pool.

Lots of pool pics here, including more of this one: Swimming Pools Blog