Cartel Coffee

There is a coffee cart on Adelaide St that has often tempted me.  Cartel Coffee has that Havana vibe, I think from the little motif of a hat.  Clever.  I had never bought a coffee from there though, I'm not quite sure why.  So when Aidan said on Sunday that the coffee place outside his work does pretty fantastic coffee, and my brain put together his workplace and the coffee cart that is Cartel Coffee, I was excited.  We arranged to meet for coffee today.

This is really good coffee.  They certainly live up to their mission: good coffee, good service, good ... um... I forget the other thing.  But it was good.  I even broke with tradition (I know, right?!) and ordered a cinna-cino.  Yummy, but I think I'd stick with regular cappuccino in future.

Apart from having a very cool "I'm in Cuba" vibe (yeah, not the actual cartel association), it's organic, and it's Fair Trade.  I like.  And you get bonus feet in the photo.

Monday's photo:

First thunderstorm of the season.  I love summer storms.  This wasn't the most amazing, but it's still getting into the groove so I can deal.

Today's photo:

Early morning sunlight plus kangaroo paw (plus spider web strands).

Ordering Running Shoes Online

A few months ago, I was in need of new running shoes.  Having bought the same pair 4 times in a row, I thought buying online might save me a few dollars.  I had some recommendations from people in the know, and had a look.  This was going great until I realised I had no idea of size conversions.  Strangely, the internet did not provide me with all the answers.  So I didn't buy any, and shortly after the need was dire.  I bought in-store.  A different sort, incidentally.

I'm approaching the new running shoes time again.  Probably next week it will be dire, so today I ordered my first pair of running shoes online.  This time, I was prepared.  The box in which the last pair came also listed what size they were in other systems.  Phew.  The only name I could remember for ordering was wiggle so that's where I went.  And discovered they have free delivery for orders placed this month.  Score!  They should be here by the middle of next week - I can't wait.  Oh, and price - it's so much cheaper.  Like, $90 cheaper.  The rate at which I go through running shoes, this will add up considerably.

Today's photo:

The new Kangaroo Paws are beautiful.  The fuzziness catches the sunlight beautifully.  This is the first of, most likely, many more photos to come.

Ordering Plants Online

Monday morning, and I wanted to buy a small tree.  After recent gardening endeavours, I've been left with a much nicer and neater courtyard.  Much more sunlight is encouraging me to plant edibles.  No privacy, though, is rather disconcerting.  I can see right into my neighbour's rooms.  Obviously, they can see right into my living room, too.  Hence the desire for a small tree.

Instead of wandering into local nurseries and finding out what they have (or not), I went online to find nearby nurseries, intending to phone them and find out their small tree stocks.  I found, however, online nurseries that deliver.  Perfect!

I spent quite some time checking out different providers, and different plants.  There were quite a few from interstate - not so keen on that, despite their assurance of quality.  When I found nursery direct online (find them here), I was much happier.  They service South East Queensland only, and include free delivery.

Eventually, I decided on a Lilly Pilly - fast growing, screen plant, native, full or part shade, suitable for pots - yay!  They require a minimum order amount so they can keep the delivery free, so I kept looking.  One bit that is bare but gets lots of sun is against the fence which has the clothes line, and I picked some kangaroo paws for there (although they won't stay there, I didn't think that through); I also bought a 12-pack of herbs.

The Lilly Pilly

They arrived today.  So exciting!  I had a call earlier in the week to check something, and the driver this morning was lovely too.  And I had forgotten how beautiful kangaroo paws are.  My grandparents had some in their front garden so this made me all nostalgic.

Kangaroo Paws

I'm going with pots for a couple of reasons: I want to keep them when I move; and the soil in the borders is fairly poor.  These photos were taken immediately after they arrived, I've been stocking up on pots and soil over the last few days.  My local gardening supplies place is probably getting suspicious.

Herbs!

The herbs looked so bright and enthusiastic in the morning sun - they reminded me of kindergarten kids.  I'm not going to the extent of naming them though.

Today's photo:

From the garden, of course.  I removed some excess garden stuff, some weeds and some - I don't even know what it was.  It was covering a stump, and (I discovered) a big fat worm and some new aloe growth.  Which looked like some sort of alien growth.