Today I spent a pleasant morning with my parents in South Melbourne. It’s a lovely part of town with stunning homes built at the turn of the century, tree lined boulevards and parks where the trees were all planted many years ago that sprawl casting lots of shade. People were out and about enjoying the lovely weather and enjoying brunch at the many cafes and restaurants. Now that everything is outside, areas seem to have a distinctive European feel. Part of me is not looking forward to winter….

We headed first to the South Melbourne market. Great stalls of fresh produce, delicatessens, seafood, butchers and fromageries. We walked through and looked at the displays of food from all around the world. Spanish, Greek, Italian, French and lots of Asian too.

We bought some nuts and fresh fruit but the funniest thing was we needed bottles of water. I found a place that sold water in glass bottles and my dad offered to pay for them. Imagine his surprise when the two bottles cost $10. ?

We then drove to the nearby St Vincent Gardens and sat opposite the above view eating our figs, strawberries and blueberries as well as drinking our expensive water “from the highlands of Victoria” (yeah we doubted that. We figured they were filled with ordinary tap water). Regardless, I kept the glass bottles as they’d make excellent vases for single stemmed roses. Not that I buy roses, but you know, just in case.

They enjoyed the morning out and seeing people, colours, sights and sounds. It provided something out of the ordinary and routine and it made me think that such little breaks in the day go a long way in helping our mental health and well being. We returned home in good spirits.

After coming home (welcomed by Pud in a box) and organising the tomatoes (my parents grow organic tomatoes of different types and there’s always heaps of them), I sat down with a cup of coffee and a pain au chocolate (otherwise known as chocolatines in some parts of France).

The day was finished with a remedial massage to soothe tension in my back and shoulders and then into the early evening knitting and Netflix (watching Inventing Anna) with a glass of red wine which I’ve not had for months.

Overall, a wonderful day.