The Melbourne Magic Festival is once again being held 3 – 15 July at the Northcote Town Hall and beyond and I think this would be one fun school holiday activity with the kids. The Wind in the Willows is also being staged 14 – 15 July at the Darebin Arts and Entertainment Centre in Preston with tickets available now. I’m planning on taking my children to the Van Gogh and the Seasons exhibition at the NGV before it closes on 12 July. There are a number of other arts activities both indoors and out, which I’ll post about later this week.

I ate my first pie and donut for the winter season over the weekend and have noticed a couple of new local places to try over the next few weeks. Proof Pizzeria has opened recently on Burgundy Street in Heidelberg and I missed a dinner there the other week when I was ill but it looks good. I was also speaking to some Austrian friends about the Austrian Club in West Heidelberg and if goulash doesn’t take your fancy, the sound of some of the desserts like apple strudel and chocolate cake might!

It’s a good thing I’ve managed to make it to semi-regular classes at Cinch PT in Macleod and I laughed on entering last Friday as my trainer Nikki Ellis always keeps things interesting – last week we did the ‘Olympics’ which was a circuit of running, rowing, long jump, high jump and archery tailored to an indoor studio environment while recent months have included being soldiers in the army and tradies week complete with tool kits to exercise with. It’s been a lot of fun! I think Nikki and her husband secretly like planning their themes and creating their exercise equipment and other props to suit.