This year we’re running Playtime in the Garden on Wednesdays from 10am-12pm out in the front yard - making the most of the new cubby house, pergola and sandpit.

This week at least 8 families came past for a play whilst it was on. Some met up with existing friends, others came by themselves. There were mums bringing their kids and grandparents bringing grandchildren for a play. And a few families also borrowed toys from the Toy Library whilst they were here.

It is just so lovely to see our community making themselves at home at ACC and utilising our play-spaces and resources.

If you’re home with children on a Wednesday morning you might like to pop in too!

Thanks to everyone who came along for Christmas lunch. It was a funny old day - sunny ☀️ one minute and cloudy ⛅️ the next - but we shared a lovely meal together - cold meats and salads, including lettuce from Sandra and Jim’s garden, nasturtium flowers from ours, pickles made by our preserves group and a delicious Gusto passion fruit sponge kindly donated by Anne.

Manu came along early to help us set up - thanks Manu! Jim won the lucky door prize and shared his chocolate winnings.

Win. Our longstanding friend Win (who also purchased a ticket for Bev) was the lucky winner of our raffle.

We dropped off the prize to her on Tuesday … and forgot to take a photo. But she was pretty chuffed!

Thanks Nelson Alexander for your long-standing support of our neighbourhood house with advertising boards for our events and raffle prizes etc. along the way.

Well it’s nearly December and the season is suddenly upon us. So … do you fancy a round of Jingle Bells or have a hankering to belt out Good King Wenceslas alongside your fellow neighbours?

Join us for Community Carols on Sunday 19th December at 7pm at the Alphington Bowls Club.

The Alphingtones Choir might be a little rusty after two years of mostly Covid zooming … and will probably be part of the audience rather than up the front this year. But it will still be very nice to get together for a sing-a-long … and I am 100% sure Santa will pop past!

A date for your diary. Bring the whole family along to this long-standing and low-key cross-generational community activity. Always on the last Sunday before Christmas 🎄.

Well that was fun! And exhausting!

Thanks to everyone that came along to the Alphington Open Studios opening on Friday night, our Christmas Makers Market on Saturday, and/or popped in to the Open Studios salon show at ACC right across the weekend. We had great weather and it was just fabulous to see such a cross-section of our community enjoying our facilities.

I will quickly add some pictures below … and include some more next week, with some detailed thankyous etc. then.

But don’t forget the studios are all open this coming weekend as well! Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm. You can collect a map from ACC this week (or when our salon show opens again on Saturday morning). Isn’t it just great to collectively celebrate our lovely, creative, arty community … it warms the cockles of the heart!