Week 2 already …. and it really is good to be back! It had been super to catch up with so many of you already, and to have wrangled the leaves (oh the leaves, the leaves) into order and gotten the rest of our organising (that we didn’t get too at the end of last year) organised.

And yes, our brochure is finally out. Check it out here.

And so it is the perfect time to book in online to our programs for this year!

AAA Art (Friday 1pm) and Artful Painting and Drawing (3 classes on Monday and Tuesday) will both be starting back this week with the wonderful Clare. You can contact her directly to book into Artful Painting and Drawing on 0423453160 and call our office on 9499 7227 to find out about AAA Art.

Book Clubs are back! There are still some places available this year - so book in online. Our Thursday evening Book Club starts this week. Get in quick as these groups generally fill up fast!

And this Saturday at 8am we will also be running our first Men’s Breakfast for the year - you can book in on our website or call John on 0439899352 for more information. See the post below for more details …

Also running this week will be:

• CWA on Monday night at the Gleeson Centre in Darebin Parklands

• Alphington Playgroup and Toy Library both Wednesday and Thursday mornings at 10am-12pm.

• Line Dancing at Alphington Scout Hall on Wednesday at 10am-12pm.

• U3A Armchair Theatre on Wednesday at 1-3pm.

• Alphingtones Choir at St Andrews on Thursday at 7.30pm.

• Our Community Morning on Friday from 10am, and Community Lunch Friday at 12-1pm.

Looking forward to seeing you here at ACC.

Cheers Leanne

Over the last 18 months we have launched and been running two new and very tasty programs: Garden to Plate and CRUNCH (Creative Lunch).

This year they are both back with a bit of a variation - they will be running on alternate Thursdays!

So, Garden to Plate will start next Thursday the 12th of February from 11.30am-1pm, and Crunch will start the following Thursday the 19th of February from 12.30 to 2pm. Each program will run for 4 weeks per term. The cost is $10 per week and places are limited so you will need to book in if you plan to attend.

At Garden to Plate we cook a meal together using fresh seasonal ingredients (including from our Community Garden when possible!) and then sit down and eat our creations (admiring what we made and chatting about life). And at Crunch we eat a lunch cooked by Leanne and then get into the creative spirit with arts and craft activities led by Lee! Both are lots of fun and very social. A real highlight of the week.

See some of our favourite things we made at Garden to Plate and Crunch last year are in the photos below … and don’t forget to book in online here for our first sessions!

Why hello!

I hope you have had a lovely summer break. A pretty crazy one hey, weather wise? Not so warm … very very very warm … fires and floods (sorry if you were affected - so much loss across the Victorian community - houses, farms, cars and caravans. My sister drove through the Streatham/Skipton fire aftermath just the other day and was quite shocked and couldn’t get over how scary it must have been for that community).

I have been down at Aireys Inlet and was in a dilemma whether to stay or leave on the hot day when the fires started, then impacted by the smoke from the Otway fires (it was quite overwhelming for a bit there before the wind changed) … and no sooner had that ended and I got stuck in Lorne due to the floods there (we even had to go to the Emergency Relief Centre for a little bit which was a surreal experience).

The fires from the Otways spreading smoke to Aireys Inlet.

Pretty amazing how quickly the bridge got de-mudded and the shops affected were cleared of water and they started the process of drying out with big fans/heaters.

But then (on a happier note) we saw the Aurora Australis. So spectacular. We just wandered down to the local beach and looked south … and there it was!

The Southern Cross in the sky. We were looking out from on the hill (where the toilet block is) just at the inlet at Aireys Inlet.

From the car park at the inlet … looking out over the bit where the river meets the beach at Aireys Inlet.

I am back in Melbourne Monday, and I am hoping my tomatoes have ripened up and my zucchini have not yet turned into marrows! And that my potted plants have somehow managed to survive …

I know that both Corrado and Jenny have been popping into ACC over the break to keep the garden alive (big thanks to you both) - and Project Stationery have been making the most of all the spaces at ACC (I saw on Instagram a photo of people sorting textas outside under the front pergola). And as they haven’t had to contact me for any emergencies, I am assuming all is well at our home base, and I am looking forward to getting back to work and catching up with everyone!

We’re back in the office from Wednesday this week, and we will kick off our first Community Morning for the year on Friday - gardening, craft and chats from 10am and lunch at 12pm - perhaps tomatoes and zucchinis will be on the menu!?!

Looking forward to a great 2026 and hope to see you at ACC soon.

And look after yourself Tuesday - 45 is just way too hot.

Cheers Leanne

Hi everyone,

Wow it is December ALREADY and not long before the summer holidays begin (how quickly has this year flown by?!) - and we have a couple of last events to look forward to. This Thursday we are off on another of our Op Shop Adventures for our fellow shopaholics on a budget. We’ll go to Preston this time. Book in online here and don’t forget to bring your myki as we will be travelling on public transport!

The final Men’s Breakfast run this Saturday, 6 December at 8am. $10 for breakfast and good company. Read on for more details!

We will also be hosting our Christmas Lunch at 12pm next Friday 12 December. If you are part of the ACC community - a line dancer, book clubber, musician, artist - we’d love to see you for our end of year celebration! Just contact us if you are not a regular community lunch person so we can provide the right amount of food! We look forward to seeing you and perhaps one more friend will be joining us (hint - he wears a LOT of red and white).

Otherwise this week we will be running:

• Garden to Plate this morning from 11.30am-1pm

• Toy Library Collection Tuesday from 1-3pm and Wednesday from 10am-12pm

• AAA Bowls at Alphington Bowls Club, Alphington Playgroup here at the centre and Line Dancing at the Alphington Scout Hall all on Wednesday from 10am-12pm

• Armchair Theatre Wednesday from 1-3pm

• First Wednesday of the Month Book Club Wednesday evening from 7.30-9pm

• First Thursday of the Month Book Club Thursday morning from 10-11.30am

• Community Morning Friday from 10am-12pm

• Community Lunch Friday from 12-1pm

• AAA Art Friday from 1-2pm

Cheers, Leanne

Well summer is arriving and it is exciting to see stone fruit back in our lives isn’t it? On Monday at Garden to Plate we bought the most delicious ‘fireball’ apricots - and will be hoping that we can harvest them soon from the garden. So super to have such delicious early varieties now available to grow and buy!

And we made this recipe. It is really good and makes a great appetiser (served with goats cheese) or dessert (served with ice cream), and you can even give it a try with dried apricots if fresh are not in season. Apricot trees are nearly indestructible (if my garden is anything to go by) and so I am sure there are lots of people in the neighbourhood with a home supply of apricots over the next couple of months who will appreciate this quick an interesting way of using them.

We ate these apricots with ice cream for dessert on Monday. And then I made it for Crunch with goats cheese on Thursday. And with ice cream again on Friday for Community Lunch - it really was good, see! Highly recommend. And so simple …

Fresh Apricots with Thyme, Honey and Nuts

Ingredients

·       6 apricots

·       1-2 tablespoons honey

·       1 teaspoon thyme (fresh or dried)

·       ¼ cup walnuts or macadamia or hazelnuts, lightly toasted and broken into easy to eat pieces

Instructions

·       Cut the apricots in half and remove pip and stalk.

·       In a bowl mix together the honey, lightly toasted nuts and thyme.

·       Fill the hollow of the apricots with the honey nut mixture.

·       Serve by themselves or with a smear or sprinkle of goats cheese for an appetiser or with vanilla ice cream on the side for a dessert.