As I have mentioned previously, I love Altona. I love Saturday mornings especially, walking down the street and having breakfast in The Apricot Tree and looking at all the locals. There are some real characters.
A couple of weekends ago, Claire and I went to breakfast, and on the way home we were standing at the crossing at Altona railway station waiting for a train to pass. All of a sudden we heard this scary grunting noise behind us. GGGRRRRRrrrrrrr. We both looked sideways at each other and turned around. Behind us was a little old man dressed in a creamy grey cable knit jumper with a matching hat.
He was only tiny and had a screwed up face with Father Christmas red cheeks and little round gold rimmed glasses. Coming up behind him was another small old man dressed in grey. The man approaching said to the other man "nice hat" and he responded "yes it keeps my head warm". Claire and I both turned the other way so they would not see us laughing.
We then crossed the railway and started walking along the landscaped area home. The landscaped area is like a fairy grotto, it has a Lilydale rock path that weaves through gum trees with red flowers and other seaside shrubs are planted there.
We could hear a shuffling noise coming from behind us and the second old man was walking on the footpath on the other side of the road. I said to Claire, both those men are Garden Gnomes, they come to life during the day, but they have to keep moving or they turn back into concrete. That is why they are dressed in grey and why the man was grunting when the train came. He was grunting with the effort to stay in human guise.
Since then, we have noticed how many old people dressed in grey live in Altona. They are everywhere. Claire and I were in the chemist today and Claire said, "Garden Gnome 12 o'clock", I looked and they were everywhere. I sat beside one with a walking stick and he was watching a lady garden gnome buying hair colour and he said, "if it looks good I will get some too". All the garden gnomes around started chuckling, so Claire and I backed out of there quickly and went home.
A couple of weekends ago, Claire and I went to breakfast, and on the way home we were standing at the crossing at Altona railway station waiting for a train to pass. All of a sudden we heard this scary grunting noise behind us. GGGRRRRRrrrrrrr. We both looked sideways at each other and turned around. Behind us was a little old man dressed in a creamy grey cable knit jumper with a matching hat.
He was only tiny and had a screwed up face with Father Christmas red cheeks and little round gold rimmed glasses. Coming up behind him was another small old man dressed in grey. The man approaching said to the other man "nice hat" and he responded "yes it keeps my head warm". Claire and I both turned the other way so they would not see us laughing.
We then crossed the railway and started walking along the landscaped area home. The landscaped area is like a fairy grotto, it has a Lilydale rock path that weaves through gum trees with red flowers and other seaside shrubs are planted there.
We could hear a shuffling noise coming from behind us and the second old man was walking on the footpath on the other side of the road. I said to Claire, both those men are Garden Gnomes, they come to life during the day, but they have to keep moving or they turn back into concrete. That is why they are dressed in grey and why the man was grunting when the train came. He was grunting with the effort to stay in human guise.
Since then, we have noticed how many old people dressed in grey live in Altona. They are everywhere. Claire and I were in the chemist today and Claire said, "Garden Gnome 12 o'clock", I looked and they were everywhere. I sat beside one with a walking stick and he was watching a lady garden gnome buying hair colour and he said, "if it looks good I will get some too". All the garden gnomes around started chuckling, so Claire and I backed out of there quickly and went home.
The Garden Gnomes on parade in the Bayside festival.
Claire was off today with tonsilitis. She woke up during the night with a bad headache and a fever. I don't remember her being that hot ever before, gave me a bit of a fright, but panadol, a tepid bath and curling up in bed with mummy seemed to bring it down fairly quickly. She has got antibiotics and will be going back to school tomorrow.
Well thats it for now. Will send something out again shortly.
Well thats it for now. Will send something out again shortly.
