Glimpses of the Hatton

I have written about the Hatton Hotel before  - it's my favourite place to stay in Melbourne.  Here are some glimpses of the room we stayed in at the weekend.

More from Melbourne

Just back from 4 days in Melbourne where Spring is making a real effort to shine through.  I don't usually spend much time in the City but this time I went for a wander down the lanes and through the arcades.

The Block Arcade

Inside the GPO Building

Hopetoun Tea Rooms

Journal Cafe, Flinders Lane

New (Old) Doors

Two weeks ago my husband and I went to an auction viewing of a deceased estate house contents and absolutely  fell in love with a set of old oregon bi-fold doors.  We rushed home to measure the door frame of our bedroom and found that it almost exactly matched the size of the doors so we went to the auction and waited patiently until lot 907 was called.  It must have been fate because there was only one other bidder and we ended up getting the doors for a really good price.

The doors are now installed and look truly splendid.

Of course now we want to rip out all the other doors in our house and replace them too!

Sayers' Sister

Another great place to go for Sunday breakfast has just opened - Sayers' Sister.  It is up the Hyde Park end of Lake Street in what used to be a gallery.

It is owned and run by the same team  that own Sayers in Leederville - a hugely successful cafe, but one that is now so popular it can be difficult to find a table (let alone a parking spot).

The decor is quite different to the parent cafe in Leederville - much more pared back and industrial.  The food and its presentation are of the same impeccable standard.

Winter Colour

There is a riot of colour in my garden at the moment - the thing I am most proud of are the poppies that I planted in an old copper tub.  It's the first time I ever planted poppies and they are absolutely perfect!

I bet you have never seen.....

A house on legs as big as these:

This is a construction site on the corner of William and Aberdeen Streets.  The developers have been required to retain a heritage house which fronts on to Aberdeen Street, and in order to do so they have performed an amazing engineering feat of excavating the entire site around (and under) the house whilst supporting the house on four enormous concrete legs.

Cool Cafe

Following on from yesterday's post about cafes, parks and 1 year olds we have found a new gem.

It isn't near a park but is very family friendly.  On Sunday we ended up with someone else's 1 year old sitting under our table while we chomped through a wonderful home cooked breakfast.  We were fine with that, and so was the 1 year old.

It's a really quirky place and is so small that the winsome chef engages in conversation with all the customers whilst she is busy in her kitchen.

It's a well kept secret so I will leave you to find out for yourselves where it is!

PS.   They use Darkstar coffee - a local boutique brand.