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Our fast growing olive tree has this year yielded several hundred edible olives. Not bad considering they are usually grown in a Mediterranean climate.

Last year I prepared them in brine before bottling, and have spent most of the last couple of days picking the olives and starting the brine curing process. People might say that it's a lot less labour intensive to buy them from the supermarket, but there's nothing like home grown produce. And the comparison between digital and film photography also applies in this case. Of course one is more convenient than the other, but you know which process produces the most satisfaction.

So let me share with you my recipe for brine-cured olives.

1. Pick the olives, choosing the fattest darkest ones.

2. Wash them well and remove any olives that may be damaged.

3. This next stage is very important to remove the bitter "milky" liquid inside each olive. Taking a sharp knife, slit each olive to allow the water (and eventually salt) to penetrate faster and remove the bitterness.

4. Soak the olives for two days in plain water, changing the water each day. It is important to keep each olive fully submerged, so I float a plate on top of the water and olives in the bowl.

5. Now prepare the brine solution. 10 parts water to one part uniodized salt.
Completely soak the olives in this brine solution for up to six weeks.

6. Change the brine solution weekly as this will remove the bitterness faster. After six weeks taste the olives, and if they are no longer bitter then you are ready to bottle them.

7. Prepare an apple cider vinegar and brine solution for sterilised jars. I use a 2:5:20 ratio for my vinegar brine (e.g. 40g uniodized salt, 100g apple cider vinegar and 400g of water).

8. Fill each jar with this solution and make sure the olives are completely submerged. Top off each jar with a thick layer of olive oil to stop oxidization of the olives.

9. As long as you store them in the refrigerator they will keep for up to a year.

Have fun!

Here is a large bowl of our homegrown Kalamata olives. Given that these olives originated from the Peloponnese in Greece, and are best grown in a sub-tropical or Mediterranean climate, you may be surprised to see that we grew them in the temperate climate of Launceston, Tasmania (41 degrees south). Right now in Launceston, overnight temperatures are approaching zero Celsius.

About 8 years ago we planted not much more than a seedling in our back garden. Last year we collected and cured our first crop which yielded a number of jars of brine cured olives. They are great on pizzas. But this year (although the crop was a little later than expected) we have at least doubled the yield we got previously. This will keep us in olives until next year now.

Kalamata olives are ideal for the table (once they have been cured), or for oil, and even soap has been made from them.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamata_olive#/media/File:Kalamata...

An artistically arranged set of busts in the window of a shop in Fitzroy. Can you spot the philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650)?

This fascinating workshop in Easey Street, Collingwood shows a flair for vexillology (flag collecting).

Easey Street also has a dark history in Collingwood. In 1977 it was the location for a double stabbing murder of two young women. This cold case remained unsolved until 2024, when DNA evidence linked it to a person who has since been extradited from Rome. www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-03/suspect-in-victorias-easey...

A strong shadow emerges from those shoes.

I found this 3D portrait of a local boxer in the lobby of the camera technicians, Imaging By Design in Collingwood. This company repairs Nikon and Leica cameras.

The gentrification of inner working class suburbs like Collingwood and Fitzroy continues. Sociologists describe this process as taking place when housing and rental values rise, forcing the old working class out to be replaced by cashed up people looking for the convenience of inner city living. Many of the old houses are torn down and replaced with modern town houses like this one. In this case the owner has a fascinating taste in street art.

I started this series with comedian Guy Montgomery's remark, "I've noticed so many things, it'd be unfair to keep them to myself."
Well, here is a good example.

Have a close look at these license plates. What are the odds of having Barbie and Elvis in the same street?

This pub has been around for a very long time.

Artists and chess players are attracted to Fitzroy. Anyone who knows the history of chess understands that the greatest chess players are also creative artists in their own right.

Fitzroy is also a place with plenty of good food options. Here one can even sit on a Deborah Halpern sculpted seat.
deborahhalpern.com/

Busts for sale.

Some interesting patterns on the surface of the road.

The Centre for Contemporary Photography was closed when I was there, but a new exhibition has just opened. ccp.org.au/

But not far away in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, Walkens Film Lab is booming. This is where I currently have my films developed and scanned, though the waiting time has ballooned out from 2 to 5 weeks because of demand. This has been Walkens' biggest year ever for film sales, and when I visited the store in person it was filled with young photographers looking for the latest film stocks.

Digital fatigue is one of the main reasons for this surge in popularity of film photography. Speaking to a few of the youngsters, it was clear that, (1) they love the challenge of using different kinds of older film cameras, and (2) that extends to experimenting with the wide range of films available now. But, (3) the most compelling reason seemed to be that digital was too easy now and that AI has blurred the line between photography and art. They felt that somehow film offered a more creative and genuinely hands on experience that truly related to the long history of photography.

The wisdom of youth.

Is the shark designed to keep people away from the electrical dangers of this power substation?

The iconic trams that run through Melbourne streets also travel down busy Brunswick Street in Fitzroy.

Like their suburban neighbour Fitzroy, the Collingwood Football Club joined the VFL in 1892 wearing the black and white stripes (like Newcastle and Juventus) and taking the nickname of the Magpies. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collingwood_Football_Club

This surviving historic grandstand once rang out with the cheers of football fans most Saturday afternoons. Although Collingwood has long since vacated this suburban ground, moving to the 100,000 seating Melbourne Cricket Ground, it is still used for their women's football competition and some local sporting organisations.

The landscape of Australian Rules Football has changed dramatically in the past 40 years. The once thriving local grounds would be packed with 30,000 spectators each Saturday afternoon. But as the game became more professional it became more of a TV sport and that demanded flexible fixture slots to include night games (most games are now played at night in primetime slots).

By the time the national AFL was formed in 1990, Collingwood had already won 13 premiership titles, and they then became the first team to win an AFL premiership in its inaugural year. But with the growth of the national competition, the supporter-base for most teams grew rapidly as well, and soon Collingwood was to outgrow its home at Victoria Park. Although it moved out in 2004, it was by then playing most of its home games at the MCG.

In 2002 and 2003, Collingwood and the Brisbane Lions (ex-Fitzroy) played two epic finals, but the Lions won them both, (after also winning in 2001) to record an historic threepeat. In 2010 Collingwood finally broke through with a victory against St Kilda (though it took a drawn grand final before the outcome was determined a week later).

In 2023 the two old suburban rivals met again in a grand final, and this time the Collingwood Magpies defeated the Lions in a very close game. This gave Collingwood a record equaling 16 premierships.

www.collingwoodfc.com.au/

In 1859 the newly formed Melbourne Football Club published the rules of a totally new football code which became known as Australian Rules Football. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football

In 1883 the Fitzroy Football Club was formed and joined other teams in a growing Melbourne suburban competition. They played here at the Brunswick Street Oval until 1966, when the club outgrew these facilities. All that is left today is this historic grandstand, but the playing fields are still used by community organisations and the continuing Fitzroy Football Club. www.fitzroyfc.com.au/

The Fitzroy Lions (one of their original names was "The Gorillas") played in the Victorian Football League until 1996, when they were declared insolvent. One of the reasons for this was the formation of the national Australian Football League (AFL) in 1990, which substantially increased the financial burden on clubs from their original state-based competitions. An agreement was reached with the then fledgling Brisbane Bears Football Club to merge their football operations and become the now successful Brisbane Lions, based in Queensland. In the AFL this club has now won four premierships including 2024. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Brisbane_Lions

This is such a picturesque sporting field, and it is a lovely touch that after each of their premierships since the merger, the Brisbane Lions have returned to their "spiritual home" here at Brunswick Street on the morning after the Grand Final.

After returning to Australia from Papua New Guinea in 1970, the biggest question I faced in primary school was, "Who do you barrack for?" Supporting a suburban football team in the Victorian Football League was mandatory. Football cards were very popular then too, and the first one I remember getting in my Scanlens gum pack was of Collingwood football captain, Des Tuddenham. So from that moment on I had my favourite footballer and a team to support.

One Saturday afternoon that winter my father took me to a game at the home of the Collingwood Magpies, Victoria Park. In that panoramic view I've provided above, I stood to take the photograph almost exactly where we stood to watch the game. Most of the stands have gone now, and where the scoreboard was there is now a memorial sculpture. But that ticket gate we went through is still standing. Collingwood was trailing badly at halftime against St Kilda and I wondered whether I might have made the right choice of team. But in the second half this great team stormed home to a win.

Collingwood was clearly the best team that year, until in the grand final they met their match in arch rival Carlton - a memory that still burns to this day. It was the reverse of that earlier season game. Collingwood led by 44 points at half time, but their best forward had been concussed and Carlton ran over them in the second half.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Park,_Melbourne

This is one of the largest and most interesting public sculptures in Australia. Three old Melbourne electric trains sit atop the End to End building in Easey Street, Collingwood.