Hi all, as COVID becomes endemic and lots more prevalent in our lives, I personally feel very fortunate that everyone at my house is already eligible to get vaccinated.

My eldest child will join Clive and me and be fully vaxxed ✅ this week and I am very pleased this has happened before she has to return to school for the GAT (General Achievement Test) on 5 October.

The younger two have to wait 6 weeks at the minute between shots, so although they’ve had their first they won’t be fully vaccinated until the end of October … I am hoping that with Pfizer supplies for October confirmed and Moderna now available, the 6 week gap will drop back to 3 weeks so they can have full protection before they head back to school mid October.

We haven’t heard any official word, but I am expecting that our neighbourhood houses 🏘 will be part of the ‘vaccinated economy’. Expert guidance in whatever form it takes will be very welcome. We have so many vulnerable people here every day (whether older, or with a disability, or younger and ineligible) that I find the responsibility of decision-making about how to keep everyone as safe as possible now that we are at the poky stage where COVID is here, quite nerve-wracking all round.

All our staff have already had the jab. Kalimna and I had ours back in June I think it was … it feels like a lifetime ago now.

Anyway, it will be lovely to see you all again when we can get back on site regularly, and we’ll keep you up to date with any advice we get about the details and requirements for opening up.

Here’s me getting my second jab.

It’s school holidays again and we’re scaling back and taking a few days off work. So apologies that our news is a bit light on this week.

We’ll be back in deck on 4 October.

Some nice pics from our garden beds today.

We’re hoping to build up our gardening program over the coming year and make the most of our garden space.

If you enjoy gardening you might like to think about joining us on a Friday morning? We’d love to see you when we reopen.

Local artists collective Alphington Open Studios is hoping locals who use Instagram will follow their site … and are having a ‘giveaway’ to encourage you to do so … a series of lovely cards and some delicious chocolate are on offer.

Click here to both ‘like’ the giveaway post and ‘follow’ the page … then you’ll be in the running! Something positive we can all easily do at this time to support other locals who do neighbourly things in the neighbourhood right?

We’ve still got our fingers and toes crossed that the Alphington Open Studios weekend (currently scheduled for 27-28 November) can go ahead.

And did you know that we’re planning to host a small works exhibition at ACC as part of the event? If you are a local artist who would like to participate (you’ll need around 2-4 small works) please email your interest here. Thanks Yarra City Council for supporting this local arts initiative.

And good luck in the draw everyone!

You could win these gorgeous cards made by artists from Alphington Open Studios.

Time is passing us by … and it is pretty nice to be marking it with this series of local neighbourhood walks.

The third walk is through the northern streets of Alphington, and whilst lots of the houses that are talked about have disappeared, it’s still pretty interesting to understand how this area developed, and how it has changed. Who knew, for example, that Yarana Road was once a long driveway to a fancy house …

To find out more you can pop past ACC and collect a physical map from the box on the side of the seed library, if you have a printer you can download and print your own here and of course you can also just download it and follow along on your device.

We hope you have a lovely time exploring the northern part of Alphington this weekend!