clipped from en.wikipedia.org

Dight Falls

Prior to European settlement, the area was occupied by the indigenous Wurundjeri tribe of the Kulin nation. The rock falls would have provided the Aboriginal people with a natural river crossing and place to trap migrating fish. It was also a meeting place for many clans where they would trade together, settle disputes and exchange brides.

In the 1840s, an artificial weir was built on the natural bar of basalt boulders to provide water to the "Ceres" flour mill, one of the first in Victoria. Situated by the Yarra River in Collingwood is the industrial relic known locally as "Dight's Mill", one of Melbourne's oldest and most significant industrial sites. In the early 1840's John Dight established Melbourne's first water-powered flour mill on the site. In 1888 'Yarra Falls Roller Mills' built a water-turbine powered mill, which was the largest and most sophisticated of the thirty two water powered mills built in Victoria before 1900.

Photograph by Dee Muzzi Oct 08.

clipped from www.farm.org.au

Only 5km from the centre of Melbourne, nestled on a bend of the Yarra River lies seven hectares of paddocks, gardens, orchards, rustic buildings and shady trees.

Established in 1979 the Collingwood Children's Farm is a not-for-profit community resource providing country experiences for city people.

Open every day of the year. Visitors can milk the cow at 10am and 4pm, bottle feed young lambs (seasonal), wander around, feed the animals, help with farm chores, go into the paddocks with the sheep and goats, cuddle a guinea pig, waddle with the ducks, feed the chooks, look for eggs or just sit and unwind under a shady tree or on the banks of the Yarra River.

Collingwood Children's Farm (see also link for Postcards Great Escapes here...)
In 1979, a community committee, with support from the former Collingwood City Council, leased a small area of the convent for a Children's Farm. The Committee hoped children living in an urban environment, often without backyards, could learn to care for animals and nature and also have fun outdoors. Local schools and other groups helped with fencing, gardening and animal care. Members of the Greek Elderly Citizens and the Turkish Welfare Group helped clear weeds and carve out the community plots.

Since the 1980s, state and local governments have funded some of the Farm's costs. State and Federal Labour governments supported our successful bid for a much larger area of land. Now the Collingwood Children's Farm Committee of Management manages this Crown land site. Service clubs and philanthropic trusts help us, but always the largest part of our operational costs comes from entry fees, donations and through the work of volunteers. 

clipped from www.seeklyrics.com

Cat Stevens - (Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard Lyrics

Remember the days of the old schoolyard
We used to laugh a lot, oh don't you
Remember the days of the old schoolyard
When we had imaginings and we had
All kinds of things and we laughed
And needed love... yes, I do

Oh and I remember you

This post is dedicated to Shobha:

Teacher, Poet, Artist, Friend, Mother, Philosopher, Free-Thinker and so much more....
We don't know what the future holds, tis true - I hope I see you around Shobha - "Oh and I remember you" xx Dee

clipped from shobha448.vox.com

It's funny, I became a member of Vox less than a year ago...I have met some wonderful people in these few months and have thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them. But somewhere along the line the thrill of blogging has gone and now it gives me not much pleasure!!!

I shall of course miss my friends...Dee, you have been a very wonderful and warm human being. I shall continue to enjoy your photographs, Cheers and many smiles, ....

but now I must move on...let's see no one knows what the future holds...I shall sign off with quotes from Kahlil Gibran:

"Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration. "

'I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end."

 

'Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream" -- Kahlil Gibran

Shobha

A College of Slow Food is just one idea for a wholesome revamp of the Abbotsford convent, writes Katherine Kizilos.

THERE will be a courtyard with a cafe on one corner, a restaurant stretching along one side and, opposite, specialist food shops: a butcher, a cafe, a chocolate maker. The cheese shop will have a resident cheesemaker and the greengrocer will sell only fruit and vegetables that have been grown locally and are in season.

Ideally, musicians will occupy a neighbouring building and you'll hear them rehearsing, singing or tuning up as you shop and eat. And a row of rooms one storey above the food courtyard will be Australia's first and only College of Slow Food.

This is the Slow Food movement's vision for the Abbotsford convent, where the principles of slow food will be studied by hospitality graduates, and where anyone can buy and eat food that is grown in an ecologically sustainable way and prepared with love and care. The movement's Australian headquarters is already housed in the convent, where its first Australian festival, A Taste of Slow, ended last month.

The Slow Food movement was born in Italy in 1986, partly as a protest against a McDonald's restaurant opening in a historic building in Rome.

clipped from www.abbotsfordconvent.com.au

The Convent Bakery & Bar

Nestled within the walls of the Convent Annexe or Kitchen Wing are two magnificent masonry wood fired ovens built in 1901.The Convent Annexe served as a central place for the preparation and baking of all food once served at the Convent by the Sisters of Good Shepherd. It is within these same walls that the Convent Bakery and its Artisan Bakers produces on a daily basis a fresh and unique style of old fashioned wood fired bread using ancient techniques of hand moulding which results in bread loaves that are different from one another and a little bit imperfectly formed.

The Boiler Room

The Boiler Room serves award winning Grand Ridge beer,Victorian wines and organic coffee and is open Tue – Sun 12 pm till 11 pm.

clipped from www.hotfrog.com.au

The Boiler Room Beer Garden is a unique establishment situated on grounds of the Abbotsford Convent.  Serving craft beer from the award winning Grand Ridge brewery and quality  boutique wines from Victoria its a great place to get away from the usual pub and bar scene. 

The venue comes alive on Friday and Saturday evenings with our resident Cuban band in full swing from 7pm onwards (starting 26/1/08)  There is nowhere you would rather be on a warm summer evening and the venue is children friendly. The bar is opened from 12pm till 11pm Tuesday to Sunday so you can enjoy a drink during one of the many markets that are held at the Abbottsford Convent.