Snow falling in Lorne

from w
It is freezing cold in Geelong after a windy cold night and now I read that it's been snowing in Lorne, down the coast where my daughter-in-law works. A tourist town in sunny days and in winter conferences. Today they wake up to a wonderland of snow. Photos are from the local paper. Beech Forest and Otways are also blanketed in snow too.

OTWAY villages have woken up to a winter wonderland as a second cold front sweeps the state.

Residents of the Otways have been making the most of the overnight snowfall with some early-morning powder play while the region continues to shiver through a cold and windy day.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Andrea Peace said temperatures plummeted to 5C in Geelong at about 7.30am and were expected to reach no higher than 10C today.

Ms Peace said the mercury dipped to 4C in the Otways and at 10am was sitting at 7.5C — but the strong winds meant the actual temperature felt closer to -3C.

She said it was unusual for the Otways to have so much snowfall.

“It doesn’t snow in the Otways all that often, we’re maybe lucky if it’s once a year and this is our second time we’ve seen it,” she said.

Ms Peace said following yesterday’s cold blast, a second would hit Geelong this morning, bringing with it scattered showers, strong winds of up to 90km/h, hail and thunderstorms.

She said wet and blustery conditions would not begin to clear until tomorrow, when Victorians would then be able to settle in for a fine but frosty weekend.

Gwynneth Cowley, owner of The Beechy Hotel, said she was delighted to wake up to a dusting of snow on the ground when she woke up at 6am.

Post by The Beechy Hotel.

Ms Cowley said she was surprised the snow hadn’t melted away when the sun came up but at 9.30am, it was continuing to blanket the township.

“It is dumping down, it seems to be getting whiter,” she said.

“It’s just beautiful, people have been out and about.”

The Barwon River

from w
I used an A4 sketch of the Barwon River and used a few different applications for different effects e.g. 'pencil'  'illustration'  'cartoon', 'sepia'. 'black and white', and so on. I used Picasa and Gimp.

A high rise building is not my comfort zone

from w

Sunday afternoon Peceli and I went up to Melbourne for a function at the Hilton South Wharf.  Now being country born and bred in Swan Hill - on a flat plain, not a hill, I find high-rise buildings quite daunting.  No grass, no trees, just wood and steel and glass and nineteen stories high, adjacent to that Conference Centre that I'd once visited for a World symposium on religions or some similar title.  Well, the foyer was very very dark so that people sitting in expensive but comfortable chairs were just shadows. The Aboriginal artwork - though small - adorned one wall, and one strange artwork was made of kitchen scourers.

 I decided I would walk up the stairs to our meeting room, but 'Oh no madam, your meeting is on the 16th floor. Take the lift.' Well, I absolutely freak out in lifts, but this time, just took one long deep breath and hung onto Peceli's arm. A gentleman in our group got the lift moving with an electronic key card and we went up, then down, then up again. Okay, I survived without a panic attack.  Then we were in a long corridor was a lovely symmetrical design and a red carpet.  From our meeting room the curtains were swished aside to reveal the view of Melbourne city towers and one little doll's house - the Mission to Seaman,  heritage - so it can't be altered, but redundant as the ships no longer tie up in this vicinity.  Once upon a time, my grandfather was mate on the Lock Torridon and perhaps came ashore here.The artwork at the Hilton occasionally makes reference to the shipping history - sort of - with rope artworks.

I missed the colour green, pot-plants, and human references.  The scale of that foyer and the whole building just wasn't my scene at all.  I still do not feel comfortable with high-rise nor lifts, so I"ll stick with my ground floor Californian Bungalow and wild garden even with the mud and rain.

Game, set, match

from w
I was pleased to see an article about our Geelong East Uniting Tennis club relocating after the disaster early in the year by the Uniting Church selling off our tennis courts and clubroom.  The article in Crosslight is moderate as it should be as the head office has offered a nice cheque to help with relocating and we mustn't damage that eh! Our sons and grandsons continue to play with this club, at the new location and occasionally practice in the nearby park near the soccer ground.

Game, set, match

BY CROSSLIGHT ⋅ JULY 6, 2014 ⋅ POST A COMMENT

FILED UNDER  GEELONG EAST UNITING CHURCH TENNIS CLUB, PROPERTY SALES, UOF

When the Geelong East Uniting Church Tennis club (pictured) heard the news their beloved courts were to be sold as part of the Uniting our future process, Neil Lamond was at a loss about what to do next.

As the founder of the club, Mr Lamond has long been the backbone of the tightknit community and was determined to keep the club going.

“We’d been at the Denman Street property for 33 years,” Mr Lamond said.

“So it was a big shock – we didn’t really know what we were going to do.”

Identifying another, now disused, set of local tennis courts was the glimmer of hope the club needed.

Discussions and support from the Geelong City Council, along with a synod relocation grant, has facilitated the tennis club to move to a new location on Tanner Street in neighbouring Breakwater.

“It was a heck of a lot of hard work over a fair bit of time. But we’re here now and this is a good story of what’s happened in a divestment process that has succeeded,” Mr Lamond said.

Mr Lamond is quick to point out the efforts and support from the chairperson of the Presbytery of Port Phillip West, Rev Sani Vaeluaga, and many others in the church community who were key drivers in ensuring the future of the club.

For Mr Lamond and other members, the space is more than just a tennis club – it is an important missional link to the wider community.

“The church is changing; the church needs to get out in the world these days,” Mr Lamond said.

“We feel we have a Christian message – we’re not like most tennis clubs where winning is everything.

“We’ve got no star tennis players here but the fellowship is marvellous.

“Win or lose, our people are just happy to play.”

And go to http://listeningpost.victas.uca.org.au/geelong-east-uniting-church-tennis-club-moves
 which includes two videos.

Geelong East Uniting Church Tennis Club moves

For decades the Geelong East Uniting Church Tennis Club’s Denman Street property has provided a space for community-get-togethers, afternoon teas and of course tennis. Many in the club feel that as well as being a community tennis group, the club has long acted as a ‘church out in the world’ of significant missional value.

When the club heard the news that their courts were likely to be sold as part of the Uniting our future program, Neil Lamond was at a loss for what to do.

As the founder of the club, Mr Lamond had long been the backbone of the tightknit community. “We’d been at the Denman Street property for 33 years,” Mr Lamond said. “So it was a big shock – we didn’t really know what we were going to do.”

After the club was notified of the potential sale there were opportunities to present a case for the missional value of the club to both presbytery and the Uniting our future Project Control Group. However it was ultimately decided that the sale would go ahead.

Identifying another, disused, set of local tennis courts was the glimmer of hope the club needed. Discussions and support from the Geelong City Council, along with Uniting our future relocation funds, has since facilitated the club to move to a new location on Tanner Street in neighbouring Breakwater.

As with many church groups affected by property sales, this has been a difficult time. And despite a broad awareness of the church’s financial situation, the loss of property long associated with a sense of community is not an easy process.

“I realise the enormous debt incurred by the Uniting Church had to be paid for – we’ve done our bit towards that and I guess we’re proud of that,” Mr Lamond said. “It was just unfortunate that it had to be us.”

For Mr Lamond and other members, the club remains more than just a tennis club – it is an important missional link to the wider community.

“The church is changing; the church needs to get out in the world these days,” Mr Lamond said. “We feel we have a Christian message – we’re not like most tennis clubs where winning is everything.

“We’ve got no star tennis players here but the fellowship is marvellous.”

Mr Lamond is quick to point out the efforts and support from the chairperson of the Presbytery of Port Phillip West, Rev Sani Vaeluaga, and many others in the church community who were key drivers in ensuring the future of the club.

Mr Vaeluaga has noted that this difficult time has also presented many opportunities to partner with other community groups in a much more intentional way. As well as improving the new site, key areas of possible collaboration have been identified with neighbouring sports clubs and community groups.

“We’re looking at other way of connecting with the community and using this facility as a way of connecting and even proclaiming the Gospel. As it turns out every crisis is an opportunity to discover new things and new opportunities.”

Hope for Osborne House

from w
There's been some concern that Osborne House might be sold to the highest bidder to be turned into a hotel or something commercial, but we are hoping that it wlll become a community arts centre.  Cheryl and others have worked hard in recent years to use the building for exhibitions and events related to art or Geelong's history. Let's hope there will be funding to make it into a viable wonderful arts centre. Already the stables of Osborne House are being used as a Maritime Museum, acknowledging the past history of association with  naval college.

Historic Osborne House could become city arts central

·         MANDY SQUIRES

·         GEELONG ADVERTISER

·         JULY 12, 2014 12:00AM

GEELONG’S historic Osborne House could be turned into a vibrant, community arts hub like Melbourne’s hugely successful Abbottsford Convent. With artists, musicians, cafes, wine bars, markets, workshops, special events and exhibitions, Abbottsford Convent attracts scores of local families and tourists both throughout the week and on weekends, all year-round.

Osborne Park Association president, Cheryl Scott, said a proposal was drafted in 2011 outlining the case for the council-owned Osborne House to be developed into an arts and social hub. Ms Scott said the Os Artz Proposal was modelled on Abbottsford Convent and the Gasworks Arts Park in South Melbourne, so named as it was originally a gas plant.

The Gasworks Arts Park, owned by the City of Port Phillip and set on eight acres, is now promoted as “a bohemian-meets-city-chic arts community”, with art studios, workshop spaces, galleries, theatres and a dog-friendly cafe.

Ms Scott said Osborne House had been mostly vacant for the past decade.

The Os Artz Proposal had “just sat on desks” of City of Greater Geelong officers, partly because of changes to the city’s mayor, then chief executive officer, she said. While small areas of the bluestone mansion were occupied by community groups, the many upstairs rooms were empty, Ms Scott said.

The council had indicated it did not want to sell the National Trust-listed Osborne House, which was the home of the Shire of Corio for 52 years before almagamation, she said.

Cowie ward councillor Eddie Kontelj had also been very supportive of the Osborne Park Association and Os Artz Proposal, 

Ms Scott said. “We would be expecting council support - absolutely - for our plan, because they are saying they are looking at an arts-led recovery for Geelong. We talked to the Mayor prior to his election and he said yes, he was in favour of the concept, and we have tried to have another meeting with him,” she said. Ms Scott said she was “surprised and disappointed” the proposal had not yet been taken up by the council.

Osborne House was almost exactly as the Shire of Corio had left it in 1993, and, besides a veranda which had been judged unsafe, the building was basically sound and serviceable, Ms Scott said.

“There is nothing the matter with it apart from it being old-fashioned. It will need some money spent on it but it doesn’t need to be in the millions of dollars,” she said. “We’re just looking at being able to house community groups on whatever basis. Artists-in-residence, artisans, we envisage there could be music and there’s already a kitchen, which needs renovating but would work for a cafe.There could be community gardens, exhibitions all the time and definitely more creative spaces for whoever wants and needs them. And we’re not just looking at Geelong, we’re looking at the whole Geelong region. Abbottsford Convent is really vibrant — we want to be like that.

“But what we’ve put in our proposal doesn’t need to be the be-all-and-end-all of it, it’s open to being developed,” Ms Scott said.

The rambling and formerly derelict Abbotsford Convent had been “saved from the clutches of developers” by a one-off $5 million grant from the former Bracks Labor Government and pledges from arts patrons including Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, she said.

It is now a major Melbourne tourist attraction and has won a swag of awards.

Osborne Park — which sits near the water’s edge in North Geelong and boasts spectacular, uninteruppted views across Corio Bay — was built in 1858 for Robert Muirhead by architects Webb and Taylor.

Cr Kontelj said the Osborne Park Association had been very patient in waiting for council to make a decision on the project. The City was keen to find an appropriate use for the property, which potentially mixed community usage and access with a commercial interest, that generated income, Cr Kontelj said. “It may well be something along the lines of the Oz Arts proposal but whether to the significance and extremes of an Abbottsford Convent, I can’t say,” Cr Kontelj said. “Certainly (council likes the idea of) having some of Osborne House accessible for community use but also having a usage there of a commercial nature - not necessarily for the sake of commercial return but more for the sake of allowing us to invest in, and maintain, the facility itself,” he said.

According to the Oz Artz Proposal, if the two story mansion was to be gradually restored and furnished to its original grandeur, it could also be opened to the public as a heritage tourist attraction.

Lions rugged up for winter

from w
Not in the Addie but in the ABC news.  Certainly our local mayor gets a lot of media coverage - with John Faines on ABC radio, on Q and R at the Gpac, and now something about the lions at the gate of his house in Drumcondra, Geelong!

Darryn Lyons' home yarn bombed: Geelong Mayor's lion statues decorated 'with love'

By Geelong reporter Margaret Paul

Updated 5 hours 17 minutes ago

PHOTO: Cr Lyons was surprised to find the two statues had been yarn bombed, complete with the mayoral chains.(ABC News: Margaret Paul)

MAP: Geelong 3220

Winters in Geelong can be rather cold, but the city's Mayor did not think the lions that guard his house needed rugging up.

Someone else thought otherwise.

PHOTO: The knitting matches the mayor's current pink mohawk. (ABC TV: Q&A)

This morning, Darryn Lyons discovered the two lion statues outside his house near Geelong's Western Beach had been "yarn bombed", complete with mayoral chains.

Yarn bombing involves stealthily covering public property - such as lamp posts, statues, trees and bike racks - with knitting.

Councillor Lyons said he did not know who was responsible for the knitted scarves, which match the mayor's pink mohawk, but he appreciated that someone had obviously put a lot of energy into it.

A note attached to one of the scarves did not give much away.

"Bombed with love - Midwinter Yarnbombers," it read.