Walking with a good friend.

When I finished work this morning (only having had one early morning job), I drove home looking forward to a lazy day, stitching, reading, having a nap. Then I remembered what my doctor said about my cholesterol creeping up, and how she told me to start taking long walks every week. So when I got home I phoned Val (ex blogger who lives nearby) and asked what she was up to. She was reading the paper, and was still in her pyjamas...at 11 am! I told her to get dressed, cut some lunch and come for a walk! So she did. We met at the Heide Museum of Modern Art - a place not far from us that I have been intending to visit ever since we moved here nearly 30 years ago, but never got around to doing.

This museum started life as the residence of a pair of Melbourne's many bohemian artists who were around in the 1930's. They lived in a farmer's cottage which they renovated

but eventually built another house on the same property. The second home is now a gallery, as is the third more modern building adjacent to it. Heide is located on its own grounds that are part of the Yarra River Trail - a series of parks that follow the Yarra River through the northern suburbs of Melbourne.



Val and I walked along the river banks for about an hour before finding a nice spot to have our lunch.
We were joined by a hungry young magpie.


This place has some weird art in the grounds...

As well as some interesting old buildings:


It also has a historic eucalypt

that is on the register of significant trees because it was important to the original inhabitants of this land.

When we'd eaten our lunch, we continued our walk and ended up at the Art Gallery, which is currently showing an exhibition by a brilliant but relatively little-known Melbourne artist Rick Amor. We had an artistic coffee before viewing the exhibition..

In the foyer of the gallery was a mural, where visitors were invited to have their photo taken for posterity. My face is at the bottom, with Val's just above and to the right of me.



Val is one of the good friends I have met through blogging. We always have such fun when we go out somewhere, even if it is just for a walk. You'll be hearing more about our jaunts in the near future, as we explore more of Melbourne's beautiful parks and gardens!