An April day with a wafting warm breeze as I sat under this cork oak, Quercus suber, drawing and just enjoying the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens.
Katie snuffled around nearby, vigorously digging a small scrape in the grass from time to time.
Katie and I weren’t the only ones taking in the delights of the gardens during the school holidays at the end of first term. The gardens were well populated with cyclists, dog walkers and adults strolling with children. There was plenty of activity in the playground and Barbeque area as well.
St. John’s is the only remaining church in Chewton still used as a place of worship. It is part of the Anglican Parish of Castlemaine. It is typical of a small country church.
Nothing fancy, as the stone slab for a back step demonstrates.
The church is set on a hill among gum trees and overlooks the township.
I like the coloured glass windows which give me the feeling of being inside a jewel box.
I like watching the play of light as the sun streams through the windows when…..
…………I attend the concerts held in the church in the afternoon of the last Sunday of the month during autumn and winter.
The concerts are informal affairs with local singers, poets and musicians donating their talents to help raise funds for the maintenance of the church.
The Castlemaine district is home to a wealth of makers of stringed and wind instruments. Here Michael Sweeney is about to play his lute. People with a keen eye will note that Michael who is left handed, has made a left handed lute.
Dave De Hugard is a well known folklorist and musician who has been collecting and researching Australian bush dance tunes for years. He is playing Australian old time dance tunes on his piano accordion and concertina.
Solway Nutting is playing Bach with her husband on violin and friend on keyboards in harpsichord mode.
With afternoon tea provided, the concerts are a very pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Richard Yates, sculptor, has been busy carving and whittling away since my previous post on this subject, as two more life size sculptures have been added to the Chewton streetscape.
Robert Penney, ‘Bread and Biscuit Baker, Confectioner and General Grocer’, stands ready to serve customers in his shop.
Robert who was born in Bath, England in 1848, accompanied his father to the Chewton goldfields in 1854. He established his bakery in the 1870s and operated the business until 1923. Robert and his wife, Ann Maria, had 10 children.
The yellow tins of Barnes Castlemaine Rock are still sold today.
The building with the peeling white paint housed Robert Penney’s bakery.
Outside the Chewton Senior Citizens Centre, Alice Dennis waves cheerily to passers-by.
Alice, 1923 – 2004, was one of those community stalwarts who help to make small communities function.
She started early, raising funds for the war effort during World War 2. Together with her 4 sisters, they formed a dance troupe, The McLennan Sisters, who performed through out local communities.
The sculpture honours Alice as a Life Time Member of the Chewton Senior Citizens. She served on many local committees including the Chewton Primary School’s Mothers Club.
The containers Alice is holding are a reminder of her famous baked treats.
The Senior Citizens Centre is a former Sunday School.
I was interested to read in the local press that the sculptures created by Richard Yates have attracted some controversy. There are local regulations relating to preserving Chewton’s historic streetscape. These sculptures of Chewton identities are seen by some as being at odds with those bylaws.
When it comes to posting, I have not been very well organised lately…….so I dug deep into my archives to find this crayon drawing of a sprig of daisies.
The drawing was made in August 2008. I remember sitting in the car holding the daisies in one hand whilst I drew them.
In my last post about my recent visit to Mica Grange on Easter Saturday 2017, I concentrated on the garden. This post is about the autumn exhibition of sculpture and garden art.
There’s new work to see and new artists – as well as the work of artists who have previously exhibited here.
The fairy realm has been extended – fairy houses were for sale.
The work of local potter, Ellen Hansa-Stanyer, featured strongly this year.
Her work is very playful.
I don’t know if the plastic fish came with the water feature.
Hmmmm…..not sure about the red.
This sculpture was intriguing. The figure is working out how to stick a wing back on the aeroplane.
Does anyone fancy replacing their children with this life size pair?
For our local regional city, Bendigo, Easter means the Bendigo Easter Festival and an essential feature of the festival is………..dragons. Chinese dragons to be exact.
The Easter Festival began as the Bendigo Easter Fair in 1871. The highlight of the Fair was the Gala Parade. The local Chinese community first participated in the parade in 1879 and in 1892 provided a dragon for the parade….thus began a long standing tradition.
IÂ headed up to Bendigo Easter Sunday to observe the celebrations outside the Golden Dragon Museum as the Chinese cultural component of the Festival prepared to join the parade.
I arrived there early so I could be in the front row behind the barriers.
The initial proceedings were colourful but relatively low key.
Banners which are stored inside the museum were brought out and participants stood around until they were given the signal to move off
Helllllooooo…….I believe that is Lisa Chesters, Federal Member of Parliament for Bendigo.
The men with the bright red sleeves are part of the fireworks brigade.
The pace really began to pick up when the lion dancing troupes arrived. These young people are from the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne.
Alert!! Who is coming??????
This is who is coming!
By now the fire crackers are being let off, the drums are beating and the cymbals are clashing. The noise is tremendous!
This is one of the dragons which emerged to participate in the Gala Parade.
The excitement is building and the lion dancing troupes form a guard of honour.
The lions are bored…..waiting, waiting, waiting.
Attention!…He’s coming!
Yes, He is coming!
AND HERE HE IS!!!!!…..This is what the fuss is all about – Sun Loong, the world’s longest, imperial, processional dragon.
The air becomes misty with the smoke from all the firecrackers which crackle on his appearance.
Sun Loong goes off to join the Gala Parade where he is undoubtedly the star.
Sun Loong has one of the cushiest jobs in the world. He snoozes all year to be woken up the day before the parade. The Easter parade is his sole outing for the year.
There is plenty to see when the marchers return to the museum.
The Chinese lions continue to protect the dragons as they return.
This lion troupe in their hot, tropical colours came all the way from Cairns in Far North Queensland.
Sun Loong is the last to return to the museum. He enters tail first.
Sun Loong is given a tremendous send off as he bids farewell for another year.
The celebrations continued after Sun Loong disappeared…… the lions demonstrating their athleticism. The performance concluded with the lions rearing right up tall, parading in a tight circle.
There are no photographs, I was too busy clapping and cheering. I loved every minute of it.
Sun Loong retires in 2018. Bendigo is raising funds so his successor, Dai Gum Loong, can be made.
This video provides more information about Bendigo’s dragons.
Castlemaine’s glorious autumn weather continued over Easter and Mica Grange looked at its shiniest best when I visited on Easter Saturday. The country from the slopes of Mt. Alexander down the Sutton Grange Valley was bathed in bright sunshine.
The roses were in fine form.
The rose hips glowed.
There were potted delights.
Deciduous trees were clothed in their autumn glory.
The orchard and tubs growing vegetables were full of abundance.
The sculptures and garden art were delightful.
The autumn sculpture exhibition will feature in my next post about Mica Grange.
We have been having gorgeous autumn weather in Castlemaine recently – mild temperatures, warm sunshine and calm days. It was even gorgeous on the Great Dividing Range on Wednesday the 12th of April when a friend and I visited Frogmore Nursery and Gardens near Newbury.
The nursery specialises in rare and unusual bulbs and perennials. The gardens are bliss for flower lovers with an abundance of flowering plants suited to a cool, moist climate and rich volcanic soils. They are only open to the public for a few days in autumn.
I last visited Frogmore in 2014 so I was interested to see how the gardens looked on my second visit.
Zinnias are rarely seen in gardens.
Frogmore’s owner was grateful for the fine day as it had been raining since the weekend. He was worried the blooms would begin to rot if they couldn’t dry out.
There are lovely views across the garden to the Wombat Forest.
Some shrubs were in full autumn finery.
Shiny, red berries glowed like jewels in the autumn sunshine.
The prairie garden was looking particularly splendid. Only a few days before in driving rain and winds, the grasses were lying flat. On Wednesday, they were looking their best.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Frogmore again. It is quite different from other open gardens I visit in Central Victoria. The prairie garden is unique for this area.
Unlike today which is cold and wet, Sunday, the 2nd of April was cool and dry – a good day to attend the Anderson’s Mill Food, Wine and Music Festival in Smeaton.
Situated in a valley on the banks of Birch’s Creek, the Mill is hidden from view by those travelling along the Creswick Smeaton Road. The 5 storey blue stone building with its iron water wheel was built by the Anderson brothers in 1861. The brothers arrived on the goldfields from Scotland in 1851 and were successful as diggers. They went on to become saw millers supplying the gold industry and built the Mill to take advantage of the local agricultural and population boom.
The Anderson family operated the Mill for almost 100 years until it closed in 1959. The Mill remained empty until it was purchased by the Victorian State Government in 1987 when restoration work began. The Mill is currently listed on the National Estates Register of the Australian Heritage Commission.
The Anderson’s Mill Festival is very much a local community event with Parks Victoria and organisations such as the Hepburn Shire Council and Newlyn Football/Netball Club working together.
On the day of the Festival, the ground and first floors of the Mill were open to the public.
This is the top of the water wheel as seen from the first floor………
……..and this is the wheel at ground level. The wheel was operating on the day although it was not driving anything.
The remains of the grind stones. The Mill processed wheat for flour and also processed oats in an oven.
Most of the Mill’s machinery was sold for scrap when it closed.
The wood chop demonstration was impressive to watch – not for the faint hearted.
This colourful steam engine was worth a second look………
I wanted to create a picture which is playful and fun. I used acrylic paint, magazine pictures and stickers.
As you can see, I had some difficulty photographing the picture. I didn’t want the flash to go off because of the reflection from the shiny surface so I went outside where I needed to weigh the picture down because of the breeze.
