First week in blue house, exploring Old Maitland.

Had a sore tired back for over a week from heavy lifting but I think it's getting better now.
Did a really big supermarket shop so my fridge and pantry are stocked and I can now cook meals.

 

Did Jillian with R!

Did some washing!

There are things I can't find. A bunch of summer shirts are annoyingly not turning up yet. Sometimes I wander into the mess room but I can't find anything useful so I give up.

Had a good time on Saturday morning walking through old Maitland, which has several huge op shops. Didn't buy anything except a $25 DVD player from Kmart, which I will return, because it makes a lot of noise spinning the disc. Here are some things that caught my eye but I didn't buy. I was kind of looking for bird cage table, desks and tables and an armchair I can put in the sun.

The pedestrian shopping mall is being redone, opened up to cars again, and they are knocking down a couple of shops on the left there to let people go through to the river. The river is currently sadly wasted. I think it will be a great improvement, and I think the shops are quite good and the area has potential, but the construction looks terrible. It is a depressed and declined old main street CBD that currently cannot compete with Greenhills, which is new and indoors and has all the boring chain clothes shops, Big W, nice supermarkets, and a lot of jewellers. But it could potentially be a pleasant place to look at independent shops and eat and have a nice river to look at.

When I walked along the whole street I noticed some interesting places, bars and shops and cafes, but they are scattered here and there along several kilometres with empty shops or boring shops in between. They would do a lot better if they were densely clustered so you could stroll easily. Personally I like to go to a location and then look around for a place to eat, like The Spot or Dixon St or Anzac Parade or, the local equivalent, Morpeth (not really open at night). I find it annoying that in Maitland I have to choose a specific restaurant in advance and go there directly and usually book in advance as well (eg King Bill bucket o chicken), it's just not easy to be spontaneous and explore. If you do turn up at a certain one and they are full, there is nothing much else nearby so it's really inconvenient to change your plans.

Here is some beautiful beeswax from work.