When East Geelong churches combined

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Some time ago I made a picture by using Fijian masi and sketches of churches that combined into one parish in East Geelong - after Presbyterian, Congregational and Methodists came together. The pencil and a bit of colour sketches are of Shenton church,(now the music/drama theatre of Geelong High School) the bell tower of the original Shenton, - (also part of Geelong High School) St Andrews, (still going) Garden Street Congregational (now a studio house for an architect and potter) Ormond Rd Methodist - now East Geelong Uniting, (still going and my home church) a seagull for luck, and scratched words in cememt from the back garden of the Shenton Manse where we lived for nine years. Our house became the music studios of the high school so I was happy about that.

Sorry it's not square but light from a window crept over it when it was straight!
The picture is in the vestry these days - where no-one much sees it!

Myer Street, looking down

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On the walk yesterday I came back home via Myers Street where there are many gum trees. Looking down I saw interesting leaves, dropped flowers and gumnuts, so collected them to make pictures using the scanner. Here are some of them.

Tis the season to be jolly....busy

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Although most of the activities lately haven't been directly related to Christmas, it certainly has been busy. Today the small booklet I wrote on the history of our local church was launched at the 50th anniversary of laying the foundation stone for the main buildings on the East Geelong property. About a hundred people attended in the morning - worship and morning tea and birthday cake, and a large crowd in the afternoon with plenty of catching up with old friends, historical displays and five laptops running with DVDs or photographs and a splendid afternoon tea and another birthday cake! The cover design of the book was kind-of designed by a committee after my initial design was hijacked. I wanted just the mosaic of people and larger print for title, but anyway, the job got done - pages in full colour, excellent quality paper, and hopefully only tiny mistakes! Peceli very kindly spend the day with us in East Geelong instead of going to Altona Meadows/Laverton church, and as he had been a minister here for nine years he was able to meet many people he knew.

Butchers, bakers, candestick makers

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The National Wool Museum in Geelong currently is running a photograph exhibition of local shopkeepers and craftsmen and their business ventures. This is a far cry from the super-size supermarket mania that I do not like. Well, one picture is of our Boundary Rd butcher, Ken Phemister who has been in his shop for 36 years. Our nearby little shopping strip has a fish and chip guy from Lebanon where I buy the papers and milk and talk politics, then Ken's shop where he always gives me twice the meat I pay for and good yarns, then a fishing gear shop, and then a scuba diving shop, so it's a strangely fishy group of shops.