Hi all it has been lovely to be back at work and see lots of people this week. We’ve been getting very organised - programs, admin, supplies, ideas … all the things! And thank you so much to Akimbo Bakery for their awesome donation of bread dropped off this week.

We’ve got one more week until all our short courses and such things kick off. So please enrol. Here’s some things to think about …

• Cardboard Playgroup - Thursdays 10.30am-12pm. Lee is in the process of making some cute things from cardboard for our Thursday playgroup session. Each week she plans to add something new - at least for a while. Come along and check it out.

• We’ll be doing printmaking this term at CRUNCH … how fun! All welcome. Join us on Thursdays for lunch at 12.30pm before we head out to the Community Shed for some creative fun. Only $75 for 6 weeks, including lunch - what a bargain! Book in online here.

• Cook by the Book - this term we are going to explore Charmaine Soloman’s Complete Asian Cookbook. It is a favourite of mine and has great recipes, many of which were written back when ‘all the things’ were not readily available in Australian supermarkets - so the recipes are delicious but are often made with a handful of staple ingredients and include ideas for how to swap things out if you can’t find them easily. Her recipes are sorted by country - so we’ll explore a different one each week. It is going to be super! And delicious. YUM. Book in online here.

• The Momentum to Write - have you got a story brewing in the back of your mind? This a great opportunity to begin the writing process, or if you have already started something, to get a bit of a boost. Fran is lovely and very talented. Book in online here.

Also of note … we’ve got Preserves Group coming up this week on Tuesday at 1pm … and with a donation of lemons from Wendy’s tree (thanks so much Wendy) we’ll definitely be making some preserved lemon. If you have any produce you could send our way please let us know … we love thinking that our preserves come straight from neighbourhood gardens! If you’d like to join in Preserves Group please come along!

Also … we’ve opened up the artist registration form for the Alphington Winter Art Salon at this link here. If you are an artist please enter some works! It’s a fun and friendly event open for anyone, and it showcases 2D and 3D artworks.

And we’re asking for donations of tiles for a new mosaic project (read the post below for the details of what we are after).

Hope you have a great week. See you soon I hope.

Cheers Leanne

Do you know someone who needs a meal, morning tea, groceries and/or is interested in building social connections through food?

Check out the Darebin food map … it includes our Community Lunch on Fridays at 12pm … along with lots of other free community lunches, morning teas and pantry services that are offered across the municipality.

Thanks Annie (from Your Community Health) for sending this through! It is always lovely for us to connect our hyper-local programs into the bigger picture of services delivered across the inner north of Melbourne.

Project Statiionary is back these holidays.

They have a clear list of what they are and aren’t taking. So check it out and drop appropriate stuff off if you like. Such a great idea - we love supporting it in our community. Here’s the info they sent us …

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Join us for our next FOUR day Pop-Up Collection Event at Alphington Community Centre from 10am -2pm, Sunday 5 July to Wednesday 8 July.

We are collecting:

• Stationery (please check our accepted items list in the graphic below carefully)

• Reusable shopping bags

• Gift bags

• Balls of wool (untangled, please)

• Christmas gift bags and wrapping paper

• Wrapping paper and ribbon in good condition

• Reusable keep cups with lids

We can't accept:

• Folders of ANY kind

• Files of ANY kind

• Document wallets of ANY kind

• Used exercise books, notepads or notebooks of ANY kind

• (New, unused exercise books are welcome.)

Help us keep useful resources in circulation and out of landfill while supporting local schools, kinders and community groups.

We look forward to seeing you.

Does your fur baby need a walk? If you own a dog in the Alphington area, are over 65, and for some reason (health etc.) can’t walk it as much as you’d like … or if you know someone in this boat, check out this program below!

Sarah at Council has contacted us because she has volunteer walkers already lined up, ready to make connections and take a dog for a walk regularly in Alphington.

Just contact the positive aging officer at Council … details in the flyer.

What a super neighbourly community service hey? Thanks Yarra Council for contacting us … and organising this terrific program.

Hi everyone,

Ooops, I wrote this message last week but forgot to press publish … so our newsletter last week looked a bit different from usual, but I am more organised and on the job this week (hopefully).

Our big news is that Kalimna has resigned. After 9 plus years she is hanging up her neighbourhood house hat. I am sad. She is happy to have more time to dedicate to her family and her photography. This is her last week and she’ll be in Tuesday and Wednesday, so please pop past to say goodbye if you’d like to, and you can sign this ecard.

Onto more mundane things …

The Sewing Machine Maintenance workshop on last Saturday was full once again! Always popular. We love Gordon. Thanks Darebin Repair Cafe friends for roping us in to share this event - great to be working together on great things like this. Don’t forget the Overlocker Maintenance version is still the come in July (if you have one). You can book in at this link - it is on at 9.30am on Saturday 11 July.

Last week we had Preserves Group on Tuesday and Alphington Arts in the evening - both very productive. At preserves we made lime marmalade with limes from Megan’s garden, feijoa chutney with fruit from Kevin’s friend and greengage plum jam (I think perhaps using fruit from Fiona’s garden … but this could be incorrect as I wasn’t there right at the start as things were being discussed). Anyway … we have loads of preserves on offer if you need a little gift for someone or a little treat to pick yourself up! Only $7. Beautifully decorated with a fun little label written by Rose this time.

And we made some cute little weavings in Alphington Arts which was excellent - thanks Corrin from Work Play House for running this mini workshop for us! If you are interested in learning to weave Corrin runs courses - for kids and adults (visit the link to find out more).

And, we are coming up to the end of Term 2 and looking ahead to next semester. Our new brochures will be available soon and in particular we’re looking forward to running a new 4 week course nest term for people who might be interested in writing a novel … or already have one on the go and need some inspiration to keep on going! Fran Cusworth is a local author who has approached us to share her skills at the community level, and it should be terrific - she has previously taught writing at RMIT and LaTrobe university and has lots of expertise to share and is generally a super nice person! I’ll publish a post next week with all the details.

In the meantime, we hope to see you at our upcoming Ukulele Singalong!!! at 3pm this Sunday 28 June (should be fun - with afternoon tea included). Suggested and run by the talented members of our uke group The Flukes. Book in here and see the post from last week for further details.

And … this Friday, if you are into the World Cup (soccer) you will know that Australia is playing Paraguay at 12pm smack bang at Community Lunch time … soooooo … we’ll be having a suitable community lunch and a screen to watch the big game! Come along if you want to share in the excitement (and wear your green and gold!).

And then it’s holidays for two weeks … And then semester two starts. Yikes time flies.

Cheers Leanne