I have been over-indulging on spiders again. The one whose empty web I showed you previously has today caught a huge fly. I photographed the feast in progress.

Heavy rain over the last few days afforded some photographic opportunities. Everything is dripping wet.

Even the resident spider decided to seek shelter elsewhere, leaving her web glistening with raindrops.

This year, we decided to cook our own Valentine’s Day dinner, and eat it in our own house.

Apéritif: Australian Sparkling wine. Brown Brothers.

Entrée: Mango and Avocado Salad with a mustard dressing. Yes, apart from mangoes and avocados it also contains crispy bacon and cashew nuts. Oh, and lettuce. Delicious!

Main course: a traditional beef rib roast.

Accompanied by an excellent Pinot Noir.

And for dessert, all the ingredients for an affogato: ice cream, espresso and frangelico.

Sunday morning pancakes.

A 10-min train ride from here is a large park, Roma St Parklands. For some reason, until today I had never been there — Roma St station is more associated with the morning commuter rush than pleasant surroundings. How wrong I was. The parklands are lovely. A botanical garden right next to a busy traffic interchange, covering acres of well-tended plants and flowers on the edge of the CBD. Here’s a taste.

Chilli , coriander and butter chicken, à la Gordon Ramsay.