We are delighted to feature the whimsical drawings of Marianna Marx on the fence at ACC as part of the Alphington Neighbourhood Gallery.

Marianna runs Gloworm Studios down in Fairfield (on the south side of Fairfield train station) and it is wonderful to be able to showcase and support her artistic endeavours in our local community.

You can find further information about her and the works in the ANG exhibition here. And then … take a walk past ACC and check them out on our fence!

I saw this video being shared this week on the Alphington Facebook page, and I thought I’d also share it, because the Be You T Fool street art on the Chandler Bridge is just so wonderful … and it is so interesting to learn the story behind it.

I hope you enjoy it too.

Some nice pics from our garden beds today.

We’re hoping to build up our gardening program over the coming year and make the most of our garden space.

If you enjoy gardening you might like to think about joining us on a Friday morning? We’d love to see you when we reopen.

In the face of big issues we all naturally feel a little lost and helpless. But here are some practical things you can do to change the filter and/or make a difference:

• Sign up and petition for regular arts industry stories on the news! How great would it be to see one story a night about creative people doing their amazing things. This is a movement to make the arts more visible and to tell more good news stories.

Image from local Northcote artist @taisnaith.

• Speaking of which, choose to read Good News on the ABC news app. For example this week you can read about Zarna Carter, a non-Indigenous landholder, who freely gave the Nukunu Wapma Thura (NWT) Aboriginal Corporation her 12.1-hectare (30-acre) property in the Flinders Ranges here. Or check out some hilarious videos from a prep teacher called Mr Jackson in NSW (they call it kinder there) who is well and truly keeping his class and the parents entertained during lockdown here.

• Contribute to Australian artist Ben Quilty’s fund to raise money for the UNHCR efforts in Afghanistan. He leveraged some big donors to match small donations, and $1 million donated became $4 million. His campaign is still going.

• Donate food like rice and pasta, tinned tomatoes, lentils and honey along with essential everyday items like toothpaste, shampoo and deodorant to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and support refugee families here in Australia. We’re a collection point. Andy is here on Thursday mornings from 10am to 12pm to receive your donations, before driving them over to Footscray. Note you can leave your donations in the dark grey roller shed just inside the side gate anytime if no one is here!

Hi Kalimna here. How lovely are the APS lizards? I will be keeping a look out for them while I go for walks with our dog.

And to add to our collective community toolkit, I thought I could share a post from a dear friend who has a daily list for isolation wellbeing!

Imagine the following handwritten with little boxes beside them to tick off as you go :-)

• shower

• meditate

• drink water

• clean one thing / space

• tend to something growing / living

• be mindfully present to: a sound or song; a sensory feeling; something you see; a spiritual practice

• reach out to a human outside your home

• do one thing to get your heart rate up

• do one thing you will be glad you did later

• do one thing just because you want to

• get in at least one good laugh

This list reminded me of the happiness poster, gifs and video that Lee created last year when lockdowns were new to us all and we needed some good advice on how to care for ourselves and others with the new landscape of being at home all the time.

While not attempting to do everything on the list everyday (showering excluded) … I feel that this list is quite helpful … especially as we face this latest extension of our current lockdown.

Good luck everyone. Stay fit, stay happy, get laughing, get growing in your garden and talk to friends and neighbours when you can.