Anna Buckley

For those of you unfamiliar with Melbourne it can be a grey, drizzly and sometimes ‘Portlandia’ type of place. In spring we’ll get bursts of sunshine and make grand plans to do Sunny things. But the light and the warmth can be very fickle, the clouds and rain quickly returning to send a park full of picnickers scrambling back to their cars for shelter. The photo above was taken in Edinburgh Gardens a magnificent park at the end of our street. You may be familiar with it as it’s often used in the TV series ‘Offspring’.

So far this weekend it has stayed sunny and these are some of the things things we Melburnians did to celebrate it.

Very risky first project was to hang the sheets outside to dry. We live on a small terrace block and have converted the roof to a deck where I can peg up a load of washing, plant a few things and sit in the sun and read. I love the feel and smell of sheets dried in the sun.

My roof garden consists of pots of lettuce, spinach, herbs, not that much really but enough that I can always find a handful of leafy greens to put together a salad when the fridge is bare. This spring, to my complete and utter delight, the lettuces have self seeded and are now thriving. Thanks Ceres for that little gift.

Re-edit, re-edit, every time I get a new print copy there are always mistakes. I can’t believe I miss them. My editor and I are convinced there are evil gremlins in the system, changing things around, fucking with our heads.

On Sunday mornings the citizens of Brunswick Street Fitzroy emerge, blinking, pale skinned, into the light and fill the outdoor cafes. I’m reminded of the scene in True Blood where the vampires briefly become immune to the normally killer sun and they romp and play about outside, set free from the confines of darkness.

In book one Christina meets up with Paul at the ‘Hot Cat Cafe’. The place I had in mind was the ‘Black Cat’ on Brunswick Street and this is what it looked like at 11 this morning.

Perhaps the biggest risk one can take is to invite friends over for lunch. I always have a plan B and ask the guest to bring a coat just in case. Luckily on this day the sun shone and much food and wine was had.

What is it you do when the sun comes out?

Love you to read my books The Lost Woman series follows the sexy adventures of Christina as she makes her way through a world of new media, design, fashion,  travel, and … men. The complete series is available now at Amazon, Kobo, Google Books, Barnes & Noble and iBooks, both as eBooks and print books. They can also be ordered from any book store, or by mail order on the BOOKS page.