As Remembrance Day draws closer next month, Natalie Poole brings us a story on just one of our many brave service people from over the years. Trentham’s George Maidment Dight was born on May 5, 1872 in Fitzroy to Charles Pollard Dight and Margaret Ethel Dodd. He was one of 11 children. He married Elizabeth […]

Gold was discovered in the area now covered by Lake Daylesford in 1851, and within a year the town had been surveyed and settled. By 1859, around 3400 diggers were working the local fields. The alluvial gold ran out, the railway arrived in 1880, and Daylesford reinvented itself as a fashionable spa resort. By 1899 […]

Have you ever wondered what’s behind Hepburn’s neatly manicured Mooltan hedge? I set out to answer that very question and within the picturesque grounds of the grand old guest house found a refreshingly grounded woman with a formidable political portfolio and a bit of friendly advice. Jenny Beacham wants you to step out from behind […]

Well here I am again penning another article for you, the reader, to enjoy…   This time I’ll be showcasing five plant species that shine in the latter part of September into October here in the Central Highlands of Victoria. 1. Malus x floribunda (Japanese flowering crabapple) is one of many iconic blossom trees (of […]

Here’s the thing nobody tells you about building a house. The walls and the slab are the quick bit. It’s everything before them that gets you: the snail’s-paced planning and the slow haemorrhaging of money that makes death by a thousand cuts sound like a lazy afternoon on the beach. So here we are. Walls […]

B Y R I C H A R D C O R N I S H Lamb.   It’s part of spring in Australia. As the days become longer and the yellow blossoms erupt on the wattles, the supply of spring lamb begins. This is the time of the year when lamb is as it […]

Golden Wellness Festival is an immersive celebration of holistic health, taking place in Castlemaine at the Sunken Oval on Saturday, October 31.   The one-day festival will offer workshops, movement classes, ceremonies, creative sessions and insightful panel conversations, bringing together a plethora of wellness practitioners and alchemic explorers. Explore and restore with yoga, tai chi, […]

Kristeena Saville was an only child to a single mum, giving her time to draw. Her mother worked long hours as a waitress, spare-parts driver, cleaner and delivered telegrams; some of these jobs were simultaneous. Her struggle was noble. Her dad had been a gaolbird. She didn’t really see him, but was close to his […]

Donna thinks I’m becoming a nutjob. We had our 30th wedding anniversary the other week and we ended up (as couples do) in a bit of an argument. The thing is, I told her about human brain cells being grown over a computer chip and she said I was a nutjob conspiracy theorist. But surely […]

A daffodil   Well hey, look who’s here! Sun-bright hair, long green limbs, round brown boots … A daffodil. Dance and laugh, smile and bow, stretch and grow … My daffodil. Bringer of hope, bringer of peace, bringer of joy … Hi, Daffodil! – Marg Robinson Marg lives in lovely downtown Broomfield, where the multiple […]

Hi there, I am Dipsy.   Funny, playful and definitely a kitten who has a mind of my own. I know what I like and am not afraid to let you know it. I love to keep busy and am always ready for some fun. That might be chasing toys, exploring my surroundings or getting […]

By Donna Kelly If you read this column regularly you will remember I broke my left ankle at the start of the year.   Of course, I hoped it was just a sprain but when I went for x-rays at St John of God in Ballarat, the surgeon came back with the bad news it […]