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Today is a public holiday in Melbourne, for the Queen's Birthday, one of the few symbols of the fact that Australia is still a consitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth the 2nd the nominal head of state, represented here on a day to day basis by the Governor General.

Despite the fact that many Australians are now confirmed republicans, we're still happy enough to accept a public holiday to celebrate the Queen's birthday, and it's the last long weekend until November, so we will make the most of it. And what better way to celebrate than by going shopping in the shopping capital of Australia.

Meeting a friend on the steps of Flinders Street Station, and commencing a stroll in the Degraves St/ Flinders Lane Precinct, a stroll up to the Paris end of Collins Street, and then back to some of the iconic arcades of Melbourne- the Block and Royal Arcades which stand as a testament to the grand vision of Victorian architecture in the 19th century.

Lunch at a cafe in a city laneway, and some serious shoe shopping later, it was time to head home to the warmth of home.

I mentioned that we had been shopping on Sunday, and we have finally got some dining chairs for the large dining table that we've had for nearly twenty years. This table originally belonged to my maternal grandparents and when we first got it, I found that my mother had written her name in chalk underneath. There is a pencilled date underneath the table, a date in 1926, round the time my grandparents were married, I think. Just having this table in our house brings back happy memories of Christmas lunch around the table. This tradition will be renewed this year when we sit down for Christmas lunch around the table, but this time with our new chairs.

As our front living/ dining room is not that large, but we needed some chairs for sitting in, but something not too big, so we also bought some tub chairs, that will go with the dining chairs. Still to get, a rug, and maybe a small table.

The big department store in Melbourne has a "history making sale" on, so on Friday evening two of my work colleagues and I headed into the city to check it out, lest we miss out on something that we really had to have.

The other two happily parted with hard earned cash on items that they may not have wanted previously, but they were good prices, while to my despair, I just couldn't find anything that was a necessary addition to my belongings.

This is partly because a lot of the stock on sale was end of season, and in some cases, maybe even brought in especially for the sale, and in my opinion there was an awful lot of junk.

I guess I will just have to be thankful that the credit card will still be available for another shopping trip some other day.

Going to Ikea on a Saturday afternoon is a very bad idea…especially when there is no football match on, as it seems all the gals in town have dragged their menfolk out to look at what the Swedish furniture giant has to offer.

The traffic snarls started in Victoria Street near Nicholson Street, and continued right the way down to Richmond, making the journey which usually takes 5 minutes up to a 20 minute trip. I realise this doesn’t even hit the radar as un embouteillage (traffic jam) by Parisian standards, but it sucks when you’re in Melbourne.

Then when you get in to the store, there are people everywhere, you have to queue for everything: to sit on a piece of furniture you might like, to get a drink, to check out, and to leave the carpark.

Memo to self: Might be worth taking a day off next time you want to go there!

The manchester is 30% off, and I'm darned if I can remember the colours of the bathrooms in the house we have bought. Well that's not quite true, I can remember vaguely, sort of neutral, with maybe a greenish tinge to the tiles, but that's all. And if I am wrong, then buying new towels before I check could be a bit risky, I might end up with towels that go beautifully with a soft sage green, OR they might be totally wrong.

So I am going to have to wait...

Such a pity.

This Saturday's adventure: a trip to Lygon Street, to La Parisienne Patés, and here is a small sample of the delightful food available there:

They include saucisson sec, duck and orange paté, boudin noir (black sausage) and brawn made by a French charcutier who has been producing these delicious foods for some eleven years in Carlton, and who has recently opened a shop in Lygon St.

We also bought some delicious French washed rind cheese called Petit Livarot, made in Normandy and some Lescure Beurre des Charentes- unsalted butter from the Charentes-Poitou region. There were also condiments, dijon mustard and the like, as well as dried french forest mushrooms. Mmmm.

For work mates who are wondering why I am buying French butter? There is butter, and there is butter from the Charente. End of story.

Today was a normal sort of Saturday for us, except that the top temperature only made it to 10 deg C, which is a bit on the chilly side to my way of thinking. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, it is the coldest June day we've had for about eight years. G did the usual trip to Queen Vic Market, and came home with a beautiful piece of Australian washed rind cheese- Red Square, and some blue cheese, and some calamari hoods, as well as the usual supplies. This is the Red Square, just starting to ooze onto the plate. Mmmm.

This morning, I made minestrone- what else do you do but make soup when it's cold outside and you have vegetables that are looking tired.? (Nice minestrone, of course)

This afternoon, we went to the new house and measured the block up, so we could be certain that the description in the title was correct, which means that the paperwork for the solicitor will be finalised this weekend.

Then, a trip to local shopping centre to check out furniture displays to see what was available as we need some dining chairs and lounge chairs for the front living room. We got some good ideas, but we need to move first!

G had received instructions on how to cook the calamari which he had bought earlier, and the result was delicious- salt and pepper calamari rings, with a salad which we ate for dinner. C'etais magnifique!

I have to admit it, I am addicted to shopping for handbags. But I try to limit the actual purchase to one a year, otherwise it would become a very expensive habit. My latest purchase is a “big” black leather number which replaces the one I bought last year to take overseas. That one was great, because it had a lot of little possies for important things like mobile phone, glasses case, makeup, pens, keys, even a spot for my palm pilot. Alas, after 8 months wear, it was looking tatty, and the worst thing was that every time I put the Palm in it’s slot, the real player volume went down, and I had to take it out again to adjust the volume repeatedly. Obviously, this was a trait that could not be tolerated for the long haul, but it took some time to find another suitable bag.

The new one has an outside pocket under the flap which holds the mobile phone, and another for pens, and another for my train ticket, so if I need any of those things, I don’t need to grovel around in the body of the bag. Add to all of these benefits that the bag is large enough to hold “The Age” (carefully folded) and my lunch, and still have room for a book, and an umbrella. Any one who comments on suitcases will not be tolerated.

Unfortunately, though, I lost my sense of humour, at 6am on Sunday morning, when the airport security people detected a Swiss Card in the corner of my new handbag. The possession of which(the Swiss card I mean) is surely a key determinant of future terrorist activity, of course. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember exactly which corner of the bag I had deposited it in. This resulted in knowing smirks from G, C and Y, and the security person, as I grovelled around all corners of the bag looking for the Swiss Card. What seemed like hours later, but was probably only two or three minutes, after most of the contents of the bag were on open display, the card was retrieved, G was despatched to the car to put it away and I skulked away, feeling very traumatised, to the coffee shop to await C’s flight call.