Alphington CWA is joining in the broader CWA birthday celebrations with a scone drive for pick up on Saturday 13 March from the community kitchen at the Alphington Farmers Market (between 12-1pm).

You can order 6 scones for $9 or 12 scones for $18. Just click here to email your order through and one of our CWA friends will get back to you.

Note that you can also order lemon slice and other things (you’ll find all the details below). We’re so lucky to have a local CWA branch in the neighbourhood!

Yum.

Ruth Maddison, Box Hill Over 90s Club, from the series Women Over Sixty 1990-91, pigment print

Hi all, Leanne here.

This is a bit of a complicated story, but my mum plays tennis at North Fitzroy (Edinburgh Gardens), and was chatting to Professor Martha Hickey’s partner (I assume he plays tennis there too). And they talked about this upcoming exhibition at The Convent in Abbotsford that Professor Hickey conceived out of concern that the message to younger women about menopause ageing was almost exclusively negative and did not reflect the capability, diversity and achievements of older women.

Professor Hickey is a clinical psychologist and gynaecologist. She is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, Director of Gynaecology Research Centre at the Royal Women’s Hospital, Head of Menopause Service at the Women’s and Visiting Professor at Harvard University.

And mum thought it might be interesting to share. And I think she is right. So here we go!

Flesh after Fifty - changing images of older women in Art is running at the Abbotsford Convent from 7 March -11 April.

The exhibition will explore and challenge negative stereotypes of ageing while celebrating and promoting positive images of older women. It will bring to the fore images that need revisiting or have been overlooked, plus 10 new commissioned art installations that explore social issues, health and empowerment of older women.

It is accompanied by curatorial discourse and community engagement in a series of forums, events and essays by key academics, artists and community leaders exploring the politics and social impact around the construction of images of older women, addressing this topic in the pursuit of a new visual dynamic and appreciation of the older female form.

A list of artists involved in the exhibition can be found here.

And the full program of events that sit alongside the exhibition are here. They include a host of movies, a women’s dinner hosted by Denise Scott, a writer’s panel including Melanie Cheng, Donna Ward and Catherine Deveney, a gogo dancing for over 50s workshop and other extra fun workshops including (the unique chance ladies, to make your lady parts out of icing!? in) the Hotham Street Ladies workshop.

Sounds pretty edgy and fascinating right? Just like all of us! And it’s right on our doorstep. This is an event that was delayed for a year by COVID, so it might also be nice to support the artists now that we can get back to things again.

Last Friday Anne (our chair) and I were delighted to show Cr Gabrielle de Vietri, Yarra’s new Mayor, around the house and talk to her about all the exciting and neighbourhoodly things we do here. Gabrielle came along with Kathy who is our main contact and lovely colleague at Yarra Council and Elly who supports volunteering across Yarra.

It was a great morning to visit as it was Brett’s birthday and we decorated him a pretty fancy cake. We’ve attached some photos so that you can admire our efforts and wish you too were here to partake of the sugary delight!

So, if you would like to eat cake and coffee with nice people in the neighbourhood any Friday during school term, just pop past at 11.30am. Alternatively join us from 10am for art, craft and gardening (and possibly some cooking/cake decorating). We hope to see you soon!

We’re very lucky to have such a generous community here in Alphington, willing to share their skills and talents. Our local friend Manu grew up in India, but has lived in Australia for quite a while now and she is super keen to share some of her cooking knowledge. She is starting off with a chai tea making workshop.

It will run on Sunday 9 May from 2pm. In this workshop Manu will take you through the properties of ingredients of masala chai tea, and will show you how to make the basic mix and also give you some options to customise the flavour. You will make and try a number variations and then take home a jar of your favourite blend so that you can make it at home yourself.

Just click here to find out more and book in.

A few ideas to further your gardening knowledge today.

Did you know that Yarra City Council is part of the My Smart Garden program? The program is a multi-Council collaboration that supports residents to adapt to a changing climate and to resource scarcity by turning outdoor spaces into productive, functional gardens.

The My Smart Garden program promotes ‘smart gardening’ through workshops, events, online resources, incentives and community connections. It takes a holistic approach to sustainable home gardening across five elements: food, shelter, waste, water and habitat.

Just click on the link above to access the wide range of great resources.

In addition, you may also be interested in the free webinars that Council is running …

Love your soil! – Tuesday 2nd March 6:30 – 9:00pm

Understanding soils and how to build their health and fertility, increase their water and nutrient holding capacity and balance pH, and nutrients is the most important step you can take towards a continual good harvest! Join Kat Lavers as she discusses why soil health has many implications for the health of your plants, levels of pest damage and even the exposure to heavy metals. This is a free online workshop, however registration is essential. Book in here.

Seed saving and propagation 101 with Kat Lavers – Tuesday 9th March 6:30 – 9:00pm

Join passionate gardener and facilitator Kat Lavers and be guided through the basics of seed saving and propagation. This webinar will explain how to save your own strong, locally adapted seeds, discuss methods of effective storage, and also outline a few ways to propagate plants easily at home, including growing from seed without spending a cent on seed raising mix! This is a free online workshop, however registration is essential. Book in here.