Community News
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Reconciliation for Hepburn
Hepburn Shire Council is officially launching its Reconciliation Action Plan INNOVATE (RAP) as part of NAIDOC Week celebrations, marking a significant step in its commitment to truth-telling, respect and meaningful change. The launch event will be held on Friday, July 11, from 1pm to 3pm at Hepburn Pavilion, Mineral Springs Road, Hepburn Springs. Community members…
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Cow manure. Great, if you can get it
Cow manure is one of the best manures for our compost pile and many early compost recipes recommended cow (dairy) or cattle (meat) manure as one of the major ingredients in a good compost recipe. The question is, can we still get our hands on a good source of it? Sir Albert Howard, the father…
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Conversations about life, death and dying
The monthly Good Grief Lounge returns to the Northern Arts Hotel in Castlemaine this Saturday. This month’s special guests are lawyer Vesna Pocuca of Robertson Hyetts and arts therapist Marita Jacobsson. Vesna will explain how to make a will and Marita of Thresholds Art Therapy will lead a poetry writing experience using pre-cut words, block…
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Feasting and daring to believe
For 12 years, Mohammad (not his real name) lived with uncertainty and dread. Now, he can at last dare to believe. In 2013, he fled Afghanistan in fear for his life. Targeted by the Taliban, he was forced to leave his wife and children behind. The distress he felt can barely be imagined – all…
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Keeping warm in winter
With temperatures plummeting at the arrival of winter, tenants of rented homes can now access a video on how to make their home more comfortable and cost effective. The video was developed by the My Home Network Tenants Rights Working Group and the West End Resilience Energy Group following a well-received workshop on how simple…
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New chapter for book store
Lancefield residents are so fond of their local bookstore they have hatched a plan in a bid to keep it open. Red Door Books’ owners announced in May plans to close the much-loved store they introduced to the community 18 years ago. Yesterday marked their last day behind the counter, but in their final weeks,…
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Lancefield Neighbourhood House enters new era
Lancefield Neighbourhood House’s ‘townhouse’ has relocated and entered a new era. The community asset has provided the town with social connections, support and services for more than three decades, and will continue to do so from its new site at 5 The Crescent, Lancefield. Team members celebrated the move last month, to a townhouse better…
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A one hundred year lesson
What is the lesson a father, poet, farmer, black jack player and WWII veteran learnt in life? At Bupa Aged Care in Kyneton, Rachel Hewitt and Rob Shaw of the Woodend Warblers hold the attention of silent staff and the non-sleeping residents. They sing Danny Boy. Their sounds are interrupted by a resident who croons between…
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Local identities headline event
Several special guests were featured at the Kyneton Mechanics Institute on Sunday June 15 as Macedon Ranges Shire Council and the Kindness to Elders Initiative presented a free afternoon of film to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day. Despite the cold, grey day, a good turnout came to show support for the event, which was…
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Big ideas for small business
Artists, makers, creative entrepreneurs and arts-focused business owners will get a boost for their business skills at Mount Alexander Shire’s Micro and Small Business Day this Friday June 27. This free, full-day event taking place at venues across Castlemaine this Friday features more than 20 practical workshops, expert panels, mentoring sessions and a vibrant Business…
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Does your compost pass the Pub Sniff Test?
You may have heard of ‘The Pub Test’, a conceptual check of a political idea with people down the pub. You might have also heard of ‘The Sniff Test’, an indicator that an idea might be ‘off’ or ‘on the nose’. Today we’re asking “does your compost pile pass the Pub Sniff Test?” Mikaela Beckley,…
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The three axes
In previous compost conversations we have looked at the importance of carbon/nitrogen ratios, getting the moisture levels of our compost right and getting the density of our piles (bins or bays) in that sweet spot between too heavy and too light. Training our YIMBY composters in our ‘continuous hot composting process’ we use the above…