Kitchen Garden

Peter has been involved with the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden at Whittlesea Primary School. The students involved have been able to see how the seeds they planted have come to life. It was nice to note that every seed did this and there were no students feeling they missed out. Each planting was marked by a named pop stick. The program at the school begins at the garden and finishes in the kitchen, enjoying a healthy and rewarding snack.

Billy Cart, Pallet Style

A delivery to the school included a pallet which the driver did not bother to take with him. Peter was thinking of pulling it apart to use for woodcraft club. Pulling it apart without damaging the timber was very challenging. At the same time a student really wanted to make a billy cart. Peter was able to cut the pallet down to a manageable size and shape and find wheels for it at Bunnings. So far the project has been good for the boy, giving him a new interest to pursue in one of his daily sessions.

Father's Day Frame

This project was extremely simple. The attraction factor was the 'bling' that went with the kits. It was so simple that a grade one student made at least three. Peter came up with this as a Father's Day gift the kids could make for a significant adult male in their lives. The black bits were heavy duty card needing a good blade to cut them neatly. The bling were plastic 'gem' stickers from a variety shop.

Sample Tray Kits

After 'ripping' lengths of pine down to 5mm thick lengths, Peter was able to prepare about 20 'sample tray' kits. Once the kids figured out the interlocking action it turned out great. They did not buy the idea that this was a Father's Day gift, though.

Uni Hill Wetlands

With Winter beginning to give way to Spring in Melbourne, we took the opportunity to explore the nearby wetland at University Hill. Both sides of this wetland has been built up with expensive units with pretty nice views. The wetland makes its way down into a gully and then another wetland, and then another, and there is housing development almost all the way along. After our walk in this main area, we got into our car and drove along side it for a time before turning back when the road ran out. It seemed good to share a bit of what it looked like on a lovely sunny day. It was very cool to have a swan making its nest so close to the boardwalk.

Pencil Boxes

Peter was able to rip down some fence post off-cuts. The timber was iron bark, according to the fencer, so the process took longer than he thought. Still it was good to use up that material in a productive way at the school. The kits were very simple: a ply base and four identical sides creating, among other things, pencil boxes.

Snow Fun at Narbathong

This weekend a group of us had planned to drive up to Lake Mountain for a positive snow experience. Our plans went out the window when the coldest weather in eleven years descended upon the Victorian Rangers and lasted over three days. Lake Mountain which does not have serious skiing and only toboggining became closed to the public! We would have had to hire chains for our car wheels if we had been permitted to drive up there, but the Police put up a road block at Marysville mainly due to the danger of falling trees. Already a car had been crushed on the first day of the blizzard and a passenger killed. A lot of traffic had to turn back like us. We backtracked to a place down the road called Narbathong. We found that others had the same idea as us, and like them we made it work. We did not get to the record breaking metre thick snow at Lake Mountain and instead we had fun with 5 cm thick snow. At least our long drive wasn't a total waste of time. Peter also enjoyed the subtle tones of the forest trees with the cold mist and tried to capture this elusive magic yet again alternatively with iPhone and camera.