More Christmas noseyness

A perfectly good Christmas tree, abandoned on Swanson Lane:


And a camouflaged reindeer is spotted nearby on George Street:


You might have to look closer to see it:


And you'll have to look very closely to see this, surely Newtown's smallest wreath:


At the opposite end of the spectrum is Pleasant Avenue in Erskineville, where most of the residents have gone the whole hog with their decorations:


Irene and Oscar have even had a Pleasant Avenue sign professionally made:


The owner of this house was out the front when I was there so I was able to congratulate her personally on this extreme Seasonal makeover:


I love it!

There's also a house which has taken an environmentally-friendly approach to Christmas lights:


Passers-by can light up the sign by having a go of this home-made bucket contraption:


Ingenious! Plus it makes all their neighbours look bad! A clear winner for Pleasant Avenue.

And on the subject of winners, I award the best shop window display to All Buttons Great And Small for managing to make buttons tie in with Christmas giving:


And one final festive winner: the 370 bus, which came first in the bus decorating competition judged last week by Sophie Delezio.

Photo from the STA site

"The Glebe" newspaper chose to feature the story on its front page with the headline "The good old 370 is Sophie's choice". Yes, I imagine choosing the winner from all those decorated buses was just like Sophie's Choice. And since when is the much-maligned bus route (see The Universe Would Cease To Exist if the 370 Bus Arrived On Time) the "good old 370"? All that tinsel must have gone to their head.

A very nosey Christmas

In that reassuring just-like-every-other-year kind of way, I was pleased to see King Street's Christmas lights go up without any surprises. In a word, I would describe them as "understated":


You could be forgiven for not noticing them.

Last year I actually saw the two Council workers who were responsible for taking out the normal lightglobes, putting in the festive ones, putting the lightshades back on, and then shifting their ladder over a little bit for the next one. It was quite tortuous, although there did appear to be the momentary excitement of choosing an alternating red and green globe from the box.

Some residents are putting the Council to shame by displaying some impressive wreaths (I won't tell you where they are because you'll probably steal them):


But I actually prefer the decorations which have been tailored to the particular opportunities offered by the house, like these valiant security grille baubles:


And this faux holly, which dresses up the standard-issue terrace fence:


Or this one-picket-short-of-a-fence display of multiculturalism:

Reading, Writing and 'Rithmetic

On Phillip Street:


On Charles Street:


And on the @Newtown mural:


And on the subject of reading, nosey book-lovers should check out the Better Read Than Dead website where you can find profiles on staff members. My favourite is Jane, who "came to BRTD through a convoluted swap with a bookstore on Sydney's leafy north shore. We sent them two old bookcases and a carton of used paperbacks."