Yay! The official posters are complete and we’re getting excited about the upcoming Alphington Show!

Kalimna has been looking into booking the pony rides again (how cute were they last time) and we are firing up the BBQ and the CWA is cooking up a scone storm for devonshire teas …

If you are a local maker who would like to be part of the Makers Market you can book a stall here. Only $20 and we’ll have our fingers crossed for the weather (note it is an outside market).

And if you are skilled in the domestic arts (calling all jammers and preservers, bread bakers, flower growers and arrangers, sewers, knitters, crocheters, vegetable growers, olive harvesters etc.) PLEASE enter our show! The full list of categories is below. It only costs $1 to enter … and perhaps become a proud neighbourhood winner!

Download your entry form (with all the categories clearly listed) and see photos from previous years here.

We are so lucky to have such a generous community that is so conscious of recycling and reusing. And we regularly accept clean jars without labels. But unfortunately we have no more room to store any more at the moment - our cupboard is full (and overflowing).

We will begin some preserving for the upcoming Alphington Show but even so it is going to take us quite a while to make use of all the jars we have already received.

So could we please ask that you find another place to donate for a while - like Moon Rabbit cafe which is part of Bridge Darebin neighbourhood house in Preston. They make use of clean label free jars as take away coffee cups - which means they get through a lot of them quickly.

Thanks. We’ll let you know when we have space again!

This week we are starting planning for the Alphington Show.

We’re partnering with Alphington CWA to run this event that celebrates the ‘domestic arts’ … if you are into bread baking, jam making, preserving, knitting and crochet this is your chance to shine! The show also celebrates the home garden … admiring your most impressive vegetables, homegrown eggs and gorgeous flowers … along with celebrating your floristry skills … and cake decorating skills.

We’ll publish the full list of categories shortly,

But in the meantime … finish that beanie you started, dig out your family scone recipe and encourage your children to perfect their lemon slice (and cook their own snack for school lunch at the same time … win/win).

The Alphington Show will run on Saturday 26 March here at ACC.

Aww … how cute. And such a happy end to a Monday! I spotted this porcelain frog 🐸 in our seed library as I was leaving work - minding some new seed packets donated by an unknown lovely community friend.

Neighbourhoodliness is the best! Thanks Darebin Council for installing our seed library. We love ❤️ it.

Tonight (Sunday) ACC and Friends of Baucau catered the Music in Exile event at the Fairfield Amphitheatre that was put on by Yarra Council and Yarra City Arts.

ACC contributed to planning and made the main course - a grain salad with dolmades and dip and bread … and Friends of Baucau used catering from Taste of Timor for delicious Portuguese tarts and coconut steamed buns and samosas … and we also bought soft drinks and watermelon and zooper doopers … all the essentials for family summer catering!

It was a fabulous event with excellent music. Elsy Wameyo was particularly great (I thought).

Music in Exile is rolling across Yarra this month. If you are keen to attend you can find all the details here.

Thanks Olivia at Yarra Arts for organising such a great event and inviting us to be part of it!