The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

Today was party time in Izzieland. We saw the welcome return to civilized weather. Sunny but crisp and crunchy and a respectable maximum temperature of 27 celsius forecast and delivered
All the weeds are looking happy, lush and green. It was such a relief not needing to water them after last night’s rain
It was time for celebration. Got all snaked up and wore a most special emerald green hat for a visit to the old lurking grounds of a certain old lunatic asylum in Fremantle. It would be a day spent ruminating, plotting, planning and doing a whole pile of squiggly stuff that should have been done yesterday.

The rituals would begin with a detour to Buratti art gallery which presently has an exhibition of Aleister Crowley paintings and other esoteric art work.
Visited this place for the solstice only to find that it was closed over Christmas and would not reopen until Wednesday 2nd January 2013. So instead of gawking at assorted beastly art works had to make do with second best - a certain deck of cards.
But the lure of Wednesday 2nd being the very first opening day of the new year, I figured it was just too auspicious to resist. After all this is a day that has been devoted to matters concerning the invisible worlds for the last eleven years and that would be just the perfect entree before the main course in the Garden of Insane Delights

( The map is not the territory )

Ever since the demise of the Village Cafe in Aberdeen St, the serpent has been on the search for a decent lurking ground. It is not necessary to have seriously good coffee. Izzie is not particularly fussy as long as it is not bitter. But the must haves are easily accessible loos, at least one daily paper (preferably “The West Australian” than the usual alternative Murdoch rag) jugs or at least glasses of free water (the colder the better) and opening hours that extend beyond the pathetically early 4pm

The 4pm closing time rules out a ridiculous number of coffee shops. Most seem to be aimed at the 9-5 office workers and if you want later than that you better plonk yourself at a bar.
It turns out that the Dome cafes are the most likely to fulfill all of these requirements. They are fairly predictable and reliable but not really exciting. The standard decor of lots of brown and green and proper old fashioned coffee shop chairs plus their talent at picking many magical locations makes them the first choice when the craving for casein strikes. Yesss. Izzie is one of those critters who likes her coffees mild and milky. No macchiato or double shot espressos for this wimpish serpent

It was only when venturing off the beaten path that it became apparent that not all coffees are created equal. Never did get this whole buzz thing that folks talk about. These sorts are so addicted that they will pay five silver sickles for a coffee in a paper take away cup.
This talk of 'double shots' make caffeine sound like some seriously suspect and illegal substance. But after finding a few places (Pony Express comes to mind) that serve this sort of stuff, one cup will have you crawling the walls. Scary stuff they sell there. A most potente potion indeed

The whole point for Izzie is to have a proper coffee cup and sit down, unwind and watch the world go by without the distractions on offer in the Lair.
The inability to squiggle at home except on a screen goes back some twenty years from the darkest days in D’land when sharing a house with two oldies who would constantly interrupt thinking that the Izzie was their 24/7 servant. (The three bedroom apartment belonged to a nursing home and Izzie got to live in the third and smallest bedroom while working there)

One of our favorite and most sacred lurking grounds got nominated as Nano Cafe Central for the south of the river folks in 2010. But there were no group get togethers last year there or anywhere. They have toilets, unlimited warm and cold water on tap as well as the daily papers. But the Secret Garden Cafe closes at 4.30pm and has lost some of its magic ever since they got rid of the little rue plant lurking near the wishing well not to mention a magnificent Angel’s Trumpet tree. The nanny state has banned brugmansias since January 2011 so maybe they got rid of it for that reason

Did rediscover the gorgeous and delightful Tarts on Lake Street which now has extended opening hours and was a regular lurking ground last November.

Went to see the movie Coriolanus at the old art deco cinema in Leederville last month and discovered lots of quirky kitschy cafes. Will most definitely be adopting Cafe 55 this November
But today it was the turn of the Old Bakery Cafe on 8th Avenue. They have now resurrected the old oven and some German artisan baker now uses it to produce organic/ biodynamic loaves. Resisted the temptation to indulge as part of the grand plan to slash spending and to rely on the serpent stash in the larder. Got some olive ciabatta bread yesterday so there was no justification for buying more bread while that loaf still sat on the table untouched

This was the place where Izzie started reading the first chapter of “The Hunger Games” back in March. Had no idea at the time just how appropriate it was. At 4pm closing time then slinked up the hill to The Lady of Martyrs church to continue reading.

Did much the same thing today along with a bit of Camp Nanowrimo plotting and planning with the Bright Ideas tarot deck. Finished chapter seven at the church when there were little bits of raindrops here and there. Izzie has a nose for ‘sacred sites’ and there is something so spooky about Maylands. The yuppies are eying it up now and plotting and planning all sorts of awful redevelopments. Making the most of the place while it still has the old ambience

But there is one big problem with the place. There are lots of cute and quirky cafes but they all seem to close around 4pm with the exception of Dome which closes at 7pm. It used to close at 8 and was the meeting place for a discussion group that the Izzie belongs to. That was the original reason for visiting this strange and spooky old suburb. Kept coming back as it was so fascinating. Gotta love a second hand book store specializing in romance and detective / crime fiction that goes by the name “Love and Hate”

Then there was the crappy deli on the street corner near the creepy old church. That would make a great location for the Pranger Games. It is just scary watching the hoons and rev heads and the ridiculous risks they take crossing Seventh Avenue which is intersected by one seriously busy main road. Amazed that the deli is still standing and has not been knocked down by some Hummer on a road rage rampage

Must find some way of getting this strange place into a story. The burqa girl fashion store across the road providing ‘modest attire for girls and ladies’ has closed and the shop remains unoccupied. Leland Gaunt should take up the lease and open a “Needful Things” franchise store
Whoever said that Dursleyville is a boring and dull city just needs to get out a bit more. There’s plenty of interesting and strange paces to be found and the Izzie has a knack for sniffing them out