Macedon Ranges Shire Council has announced four new appointments within its executive and management teams.
Lauren Wall will take on the role of Communications and Engagement manager. Ms Wall has experience across the not-for-profit, government and private sectors and is currently Marketing and Communications manager at Ballarat Community Health.
Maria Weiss will become the council’s Community director. Ms Weiss has more than 20 years community services experience across a range of senior leadership positions at Moonee Valley City Council and is Legal and Governance manager.
Rebecca Stockfeld has been appointed Planning and Environment director. Ms Stockfeld brings a wealth of experience from local and state government senior leadership roles across town planning, strategic planning, infrastructure, assets and sustainable development. She is currently Infrastructure, Assets and Planning general manager at Central Goldfields Shire.
Adele Drago-Stevens will take on the role of Corporate director. Ms Drago-Stevens is a strategic leader with experience in the public sector and higher education strategy and business transformation. Her current role is Digital Transformation and Operations Consulting director for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The Community Bank Daylesford District has provided funding for Central Highlands Rural Health’s Social Connectivity project which aims to support the social, emotional, cognitive and physical wellbeing of residents through a virtual reality unit.
The unit was recently installed at the Daylesford Health Aged Care facility and is a great source of entertainment for the residents.
On Friday, February 11, branch manager Melanie Tudball and Daylesford District Community Development’s Mark Rak met with residents and staff to get a demonstration on how the technology works and witnessed first-hand the enjoyment it brings.

“What a great use of technology. It was engaging and fun for all. It’s always great to see how much value our community grant program adds to local programs and facilities. The smile on the residents’ faces spoke volumes,” said Ms Tudball.
The Tovertafel unit is interactive technology designed specifically for people living with dementia or an intellectual disability and is enjoyed by all residents. It stimulates social, cognitive and physical engagement for the participants using games that have brightly coloured images and motion sensors.
Funds to purchase the unit were provided by the Community Bank Daylesford District through its grant application process.

A panel of diverse guests will discuss all manner of topics at next week’s Birds of a Feather lunch in Kyneton.
ChillOut Festival’s president Matt Clarke, army veteran Yvonne Sillett, Pride Foundation Australia’s board member Ian Gould and Bendigo’s drag icon Polly Filla will chat about their work, their connection to the community and their LGBTIQA+ regional lived experience.
Coinciding with the start of Daylesford’s 25th ChillOut Festival which runs over the Labour Day weekend, the question and answer session organised by Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health’s Country LGBTI Inclusive Program is open to adults who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex.
“With a nod to ChillOut’s silver jubilee theme of ‘our time to shine’ we pay homage to LGBTIQA+ people shining across Central Victoria,” says CLIP volunteer and organiser Nathan Allwood. “The Birds of a Feather quarterly luncheons aim to enrich the lives of local LGBTIQA+ adults by providing a safe and affirming space to share their stories.”
The Birds of a Feather lunch and Q&A will take place on Friday, March 11, 12pm-2.30pm at the Shamrock Hotel, Kyneton. RSVPs are essential at belinda.brain@scchc.org.au or 5421 1666. Transport and payment options are available if either of these are a barrier to anyone attending.

A NEW Kyneton-based art therapy specialist is opening her doors to kids in an effort to help them cope with everything from ADHD, to anxiety, autism, and much more.
Founder Jeanine Kolasa has launched Arteeze, a creative arts and disability support service for children in Kyneton and surrounding suburbs, after completing the federal government’s New Business Assistance with NEIS program, delivered by Asuria.
A disability support worker for almost 30 years, and a talented artist in her personal life, Jeanine initially explored the NEIS program years ago for a business idea related to her artwork; however, it wasn’t the right time for her to go it alone.

After four years of sitting on a business plan, Jeanine called Asuria for a second time in October last year, except this time, she was ready.
“Well, we had Covid, and people lost work, and I wasn’t working much at all. So I thought, why don’t I become a sole independent?” Jeanine says.
Joining the Bendigo NEIS class in December 2021, Asuria NEIS expert Genevieve Ware worked closely with Jeanine to help her fine-tune her business idea.
Jeanine continues: “I was a little all over the place because I do so many things like artwork, making jewellery and working in disability, and she really helped me focus, and she suggested I could make it a service and combine a few things.”
It was then that Jeanine made the final decision to open an art therapy business. Underway with two clients initially, Jeanine has opened Arteeze to teenagers, children and small groups with disabilities, including ADHD, anxiety and autism. She’s also available to provide services to neurotypical children and adolescents.
“Art therapy helps foster self-esteem, and it helps them in mastering new skills and enjoying creativity.”
For Jeanine, a typical workday involves meeting at her clients’ homes, catching up, and then laying out materials for them to choose from, including paint, clay, paper, pens, and markers.
“I’d say with ADHD symptoms, they can focus for a longer amount of time by doing an artwork, because they’re getting into the flow of creating something, and because it’s non-verbal, there are opportunities to have a quietness of the mind.”
Other businesses in the Bendigo region that have commenced following Asuria’s NEIS program includes an educational services business, an online planning business and a photography and videography service.
Words & image: Contributed

DAYLESFORD and District Agricultural Society president Don Harvey, pictured, says the last two years of Covid cancellations have hit “terribly hard”.
This year’s show is set for Saturday, November 26 with all pavilion entries being judged on Friday, November 25, but Don says that is a long time away “and we have now had our hopes dashed twice already”.

“We were hoping to stage our 150th annual show this year but unfortunately we have put the 148th annual show off twice and the 150th annual show is no closer than it was in 2019.
“It seems like an excellent time for people to come in with new ideas, particularly as the long break has sapped the enthusiasm of some of the old hands. I certainly would like to see some younger people come onto the show committee, even school students might re-invigorate or help to steer the new show.”
Don said agricultural shows fitted into a framework of Victorian and Australian Royal Shows and a tradition that went back hundreds of years but within that framework there was plenty of scope for local show societies to develop shows that reflect the character of their area.
“Perhaps here we should be looking at a bigger place for our artisan farmers or competitions that involve our Daylesford cafe culture.
“This year we will also trial a much more informal meeting format to encourage newcomers in a meeting for new volunteers and helpers. Anybody who will wear our shirt and take on a task will be welcome, no show experience is required, just be happy, cheerful and helpful.”
For anyone interested in training to be a show helper this year and to go on to bigger things in the future, the first meeting for this year’s show committee will be on Wednesday, March 16 at 7.30pm at the Senior Citizens Rooms behind the Daylesford Town Hall. Enquiries to Don Harvey, Donna O’Mara or new society secretary Rosemary McLean at info@daylesfordshow.com or 5348 5783.

MANY people feel that autumn is the best month for mild, golden days and for beautiful gardens. While it might not have the glorious variety of spring planting, the soft luxuriance and vivid colour that we enjoy up here make autumn a very special time, especially on Wombat Hill.
The gardens have not always been the extraordinary collection of exotic, deciduous trees we currently see. It was a volcanic hill covered in native bush in 1863 when 20 mature trees were felled and turned into a mammoth bonfire to celebrate the wedding of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
One of the two oaks planted on the occasion is located at the bottom of the little road up to the café – one of the many commemorative “Royal Oaks” that dot the landscapes of the former British Empire. The majority of the original plantings were donations from the local community and they were then augmented by very large numbers of specimens sent to the gardens by Baron von Mueller, government botanist and director of the Royal Victorian Botanic Gardens in Melbourne.
So, what are of special note when the “turning” occurs in the gardens – usually at the end of April. The elms in the Circuit Drive are wonderful, but even better, on foot, is the older elm walk which is ultimately carpeted in golden leaves. The romance of these fluttering yellow flakes is also a feature of the fernery and its historically significant canopy of deciduous trees. Possibly the most breath-taking yellow is the exotic nothofagus between the tower and the toilets up by the carpark. This Chilean beauty is an autumn standout.

For utterly vibrant red, the newly planted nyssas (tupelos or swamp oaks) are unmissable. These youngsters were planted in the entry to the gardens when it was recently refurbished and are something of horticultural beacons with their elegant shape and fiery foliage.
The reds and yellows are not just confined to the leaves of the trees. Over on the lawn above the smaller, Central Springs Road pedestrian entry, is a group of mature, ornamental crataegus trees that have very impressive and colourful berries. They are unusual and highly decorative specimens and off the usual beat around the gardens.

Autumn colours for all our gardens are available at the Friends’ Shed – open for plant sales Thursday to Saturday, 10am-midday. The Edith Cavell chrysanthemums – and other varieties too – are big, healthy pots, as are the beautiful cornuses that have bold red and clear yellow stems that brighten up the autumn and winter garden. But as a foil to all this bronze beauty, we have pots of the showy, fluffy, purple plectranthus ecklonii which have always been a feature of “hill stations” like Wombat Hill and make a wonderful colour statement under trees in cool climates like ours.
The Friends of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens look forward to welcoming you in what is arguably our loveliest season. Link: www.wombathill.org.au
Words: Patrice O’Shea | Images: Frank Page

THE historic curtain at the Trentham Mechanics Hall has been taken down for refurbishment.
Trentham and District Historical Society treasurer and project advisory group member Natalie Poole said the curtain’s centrepiece was painted in 1897 by Will Egan and Ed Charlton with the coat of arms in the centre non-traditional. “The animals are facing outwards to be able to run/bounce away – I believe away from the British Empire as the 1897 Colonial Conference was not well received by those from Australia.”
Ms Poole said the proposed refurbishment would include conserving the central coat of arms panel, a section of borders and the museum frame as a unit. It will also include a sample of less decorative cloth housed at the back of the frame.

The process will involve removing surface dirt and particulate contamination from the front and back of the painted panel and borders, and cleaning and consolidating pigments, inscriptions/shield and border sections.
Sections of the curtain – the shield and border – will then be attached to linen and a support. A museum frame will then enclose the assembled curtain.
Once completed the curtain will be on display in the Trentham Library.
Ms Poole said the makeover was being supported by the Trentham and District Historical Society via crowd funding.
If you can help save this piece of history, deposit any amount to the TDHS Appeal Account, BSB 633 000, account number 150731677.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

No, I’m not about to sing this popular medieval song, it’s merely to point out that herbs have graced the kitchen gardens and apothecarian cabinets since time immemorial and, I suppose, sort of sing their praises.

For without doubt herbs would have to be among the original domesticated plants.
The pleasure of stepping out of the kitchen to gather a handful of fresh herbs to enhance a favourite dish shouldn’t be missed by any gardener or home chef. Herb growing can be as simple as keeping a few plants of mint or parsley in pots at the kitchen doorstep, or as involved as planting and maintaining a traditional formal herb garden that becomes the focal point of your whole garden.
Not all garden herbs are useful only in cooking, some are used widely in cosmetics, many have medicinal value. For example, savory may be a culinary herb, but it may be classed as medicinal when its value in aiding digestion is considered.
Likewise fennel is culinary when used to flavour fish, but cosmetic if used to help rid the face of a few wrinkles. Some herbs, such as horseradish, tree onion and garlic, may be classed as vegetables if grown in the kitchen garden.
Not all herbs are low-growing perennials either. For example, bergamot is a hardy, colourful, flowering shrub, elder is a tree, and sweet briar, a prickly shrub. They differ from vegetables in that these are usually eaten as a main course food, whilst herbs provide added flavour to the whole meal.
Although many herbs are attractive flowering plants, they are distinct from flowers grown solely for their beauty. They may be equally beautiful, but have many other uses when picked fresh, or stored and dried.
Herbs to be cut and dried should be allowed to flower first. After flowering is completed, pick and tie them in small bundles and hang them in a garage or porch away from moisture, until they have completely dried, then store in sealed containers until needed.
Herbs usually do best in a sunny but sheltered position in well-drained and well-composted soil. Be sure to work up the bed, digging in plenty of well-rotted animal manure, compost or leaf mould. If the soil is poorly drained, you should raise the height of the bed by surrounding with a course of bricks, stones or timber. If planting perennial varieties you will be able to assess how many plants will grow comfortably in your bed by allowing each of them an area of at least 45cm x 45cm.
Your perennial herb garden needn’t be isolated from the rest of the garden. It can be linked to the other areas with tree or shrub varieties of herbs in their own right, or simply selected to meld with the herbs because of their aromatic foliage, fragrant flowers or edible fruits. So start your garden with a few of the below today.

Basil: Used in sauces. Basil is readily grown from seeds or seedlings.
Chives: Green leaves add an onion-like flavour to soups, salads and omelettes.
Dill: The seeds are used for flavouring pickles and seasoning soups and stews.
Marjoram: The leaves are used fresh or dried for seasoning, or sprinkled lightly over salads.
Mint: Has many uses, each variety imparting its own particular piquancy and fragrance.
Parsley: Used to flavour or garnish almost any dish or salad.
Rosemary: Perks up any jam or jelly, or an ideal addition to seasoning fish or meat.
Sage: A must for seasoning poultry or meats.
Thyme: The most versatile herb for all dishes – especially egg and cheese.

Got a gardening question: Email glenzgarden@gmail.com

WOW. I just watched the National Press Club piece with Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame.
They were both fantastic but Grace Tame is amazingly fierce. And a fantastic speaker and very happily shoved it to mainstream media, politicians and people in power generally. Really worth a watch on iview.
I also loved watching Grace, as the outgoing Australian of the Year, refusing to smile at a photo opp with ScoMo at The Lodge a couple of weeks earlier than the press club address.
There was a lot of debate over that. Some people thought she was being surly while others couldn’t see why a woman had to smile all the time. Surely smiling is a choice. Pretty much like shaking hands.
I think if women smiled less when they felt they were in a power imbalance situation, or just feeling uncomfortable, the world would be a better place. If no means no, then if you don’t feel like smiling, don’t do it. And if you want, speak up.
In my day (I sound really old now) children were pretty much seen and not heard. Girls smiled at the right times, even when your overly touchy relative went in for a sloppy kiss, and never complained when we got a doll for Christmas even though we wanted the Meccano set.
As I hit my teens I continued to smile. When I got my first job at Myer at 16 I smiled when an older woman strode over to pick up the phone, on my first day, asking “are you deaf?”
When I started my journalist cadetship I smiled when the editor threw a sheaf of papers at me, with my story meticulously typed on them, hitting the back of my head, and roaring “this is shit, do it again”.
I even smiled when I was asked to go to a grieving father, who had just lost his son in a car accident the night before, to ask “how are you feeling”. Known in the media as the death knock. Luckily the manager of the newspaper stepped in and overrode the editor’s request. I was just 20.
One day I stopped smiling and found my inner Grace. I was working on a community newspaper out of Melbourne, all grown up at about 30, and listened as the advertising manager asked her new recruit, a young girl, to show a bit more cleavage. You know, get the interest of the client. I was the one who roared then.
I think I have been pretty much roaring at all and any injustices that come my way. I have worked my way through the health system at various times for a number of family members, I have “won” a case in the Coroner’s Court, just me up against a barrister, although you never really win in that court.
I have managed to get myriad refunds for people who struggle to get to the right person or have been told they can have a replacement when consumer law clearly says you have the right to a refund, repair or replacement – and the customer’s choice.
And I would also like to think, through various roles in the media, I have helped people and organisations to have their say and sometimes break through the red tape of bureaucracy for a win.
It’s tiring at times but it is also rewarding and I wouldn’t have it any other way, I enjoy keeping the bastards honest.
And I only smile now when I want to. If I see you and smile, under the mask, it’s genuine. And I hope the same in return. Life is too short for bullshit. If you don’t like me, great, but be consistent.
When I watched Grace choose not to smile, I thought “good on you” and I imagined she would be a great example to young girls and boys, choosing their facial expressions and keeping it real.
But then I saw this from a friend on Facebook.

It’s part of a certificate of merit given out by a school to a girl who is perhaps five or six. And in the photo she is smiling away, holding her piece of paper, so pleased to have an award for smiling. And the comments under the photo run along the lines of “Oh sweetie you’re such a good girl” and “keep smiling”.
I wonder what Grace Tame would make of that award. Just saying…

I DON’T get a lot of feedback on my columns, I am sure they generally get ignored as the paper makes its way to the woodbox, however my last column ruffled a few feathers. Well actually, just one feather.
I wrote last edition: “Speaking of pilots, well people in charge anyway, we have an election coming up and it frightens me to death at the prospects they have wheeled out in front of us to run the country.”
I would think I hold the view of most folks who are sick to the back teeth of these dweebs that we are supposed to look upon as leaders. But when I say most people that would be except for who I suspect is a dyed-in-the-wool Labor supporter, who “was appalled at your summation of the upcoming elections”.
And went on to say: “But, how many more years of lies and mismanagement and dangerous proclamations do you want in the interest of ‘continuity’?”

We did ask if they wanted their opinion published as a Letter to the Editor but oh no, I guess they just wanted to get it off their chest. So, thank-you for your opinion, however your argument does nothing to sway my view of the boring vanilla-white male politicians who are now trotting out wives, offspring and ukuleles as we get ready for an arduous taxpayer-funded run-up to May.
Speaking of voting, I vote that it is over. Well, I hope it is over and I am talking about the pandemic. I am more of a coal-miner than a canary. So I will still be wearing a mask a month or so after restrictions and mandates are lifted, however I hope and pray we have come to the end of ubiquitous oppression that has caused so much damage, death and anguish in its wake.

I have never been much of a hugger and as for the kiss thing, no thanks. Just before the pandemic I saw a few around the district embracing that French thing where you kiss on both cheeks. But two years on since I have been able to hug my mates and I reckon I miss it. Hugging will be a bit awkward at first…a bit like your first kiss, more of a collision than an embrace. It’s how I imagine two polar bears would hug. A sort of an awkward two-step rumba with a solid pat on the back as you finally dock into each other’s arms.
I also look forward to seeing folks smile and not wince as they re-breathe their own foul bad breath while safely sealed against bugs in the confines of the N95 mask. I am quietly optimistic that events are coming back such as this magazine’s front cover ChillOut, a sparkly kaleidoscope of humanity.
And there’s also the Bullarto Tractor Pull, at Trentham this year, and the only time you can hear an announcement crackle over the speaker declaring that a competitor has achieved “a full pull”.
Optimistic rant over…

There’s stuck and there’s stuck

Some stucks you land in
Traffic jams mountain crevasses
Other stucks are self-defined
Stuck at work at home
You can walk open-eyed into stucks
Sudokus crosswords and other forms
of voluntary empuzzlement
Ritual rutstuck habits
can creep up on you

Then there’s the stuck of soap
in the soap dish
which seems a fair old cling
until its suck surrenders
and it comes away cleanly
insisting to your fingers
with the faintest of thwups
that it was never all that
attached

• Bill Wootton

Bill gets himself stuck and unstuck in Hepburn Springs.

Local Lines comes mainly from a group of local poets but other submissions are always welcome. To have a poem considered for publication contact Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com

A GROUP of “concerned citizens” has formed to try to stop the sale of The Rex.
Hepburn Shire Council voted in November for the sale, which would mean a loss of up to $6 million in works already done on the former theatre in Vincent Street, Daylesford.
Council officers had recommended to continue with building the council hub which was to house office accommodation, a cinema, library and public toilets.

Group spokesperson Jules McDonald said many residents were concerned “about the premature decision to sell the Rex with no community consultation prior to making this enormous decision”.
The group met in February and identified a number of alternative options including partnering with other organisations to use the space and selling with the condition of leasing the building, or part of it, back.
“There was strong consensus however that the process of selling should be delayed until a full community engagement process has been undertaken.”
Rethink the Rex group member Gina Lyons said the council had conducted extensive consultation with the community about a hub in 2014 and identified all of the components which should be included.
“There was further consultation in 2016 when the council was considering purchasing The Rex,” Ms Lyons said. “The community has been waiting four years for the hub at The Rex to be completed. Major changes, such selling the building, should have been flagged with the community in advance because this is a 50-year project in which we all have a stake.”
Ms McDonald said a community-managed meeting to try and halt the sale and start an extensive community engagement process will be held in March.

WHAT? Me? Sing?
When my daughter, newly arrived in Woodend with her family this year, suggested I join her to give Woodend Warblers a try, all I could think of were obstacles.
I hadn’t sung in a choir since school, over half a century ago. I don’t read music. I don’t play an instrument. I am rather deaf and wear hearing aids.
But we summoned our limited courage and turned up at Norma Richardson Hall at 7.30pm on a Wednesday evening in February. We checked in and were welcomed by conductor Andrew Price who asked what section we sing.

I have a deep voice, certainly not soprano, so I guessed alto. No audition, no tryouts, we were just directed to the far side of the hall.
This is a most friendly group, with some experienced choristers who are very happy to stand behind you and help you out with tricky bits.
Andrew keeps it fun. He hands out duplicated sheet music, but as this is a very modern choir, he also puts up the music and audio of the separate sung parts on the Warblers’ website.
So you can practise at home. The music covers a range of popular songs, spirituals and carols for Christmas.
During the year we have had tedious pandemic times when we could not meet. Then silly times, hyperventilating when trying to sing through duck-bill masks. But now, unmasked, and with more singers returning, we are in great voice. We’ve even performed in public again.
And by the end of the year? Buzzing confusion for me, has given way to greater confidence. I have new friends. Singing in this choir is therapeutic. I love it.
If you would like more information contact Andrew Price on 0419 604 444, or just come along and try it out! The first session is always free ($12 per week after that). Woodend Warblers meet every Wednesday at 7.30pm. All attendees are required to be vaccinated. We are currently rehearsing outdoors at Black Forest Timbermill, 988 Black Forest Drive, Woodend.

• Lindsay Cumming

Do you have a first person piece you would like to see in print? Perhaps, like Lindsay, you want to promote a local group like the Wobbly Woodend Warblers?
Email donna@tlnews.com.au
All submissions are open to editing – and a high resolution image is a great addition.

SINCE its inception, Lindsay Smith and Nick Bunning have been sub-editing The Local.
It is quite a feat considering most papers don’t have one sub-editor let alone two making sure every i has a dot, and every t is crossed. And every street, rockstar or mayor has a correctly spelt name.

But now, we have three sub-editors. Lindsay and Nick have recently adopted Chester, a large ginger cat, who gets very involved on subbing days. That’s him, above, with Lindsay.
Nick said if they took a break and headed out they often came home to find Chester sitting on a pile of printed pages of The Local, as if to say, “come on, we’re not done yet”. Welcome to the crew Chester.
Do you have a Pet@Work? Email news@tlnews.com.au

We bought a holiday house in Wheatsheaf in 2000, on a lovely five-acre block with a pretty little dam that didn’t hold water. The Hills Hoist in the backyard spoiled the forest view so I pulled it out – hey, we didn’t go there to do laundry.
The property backed onto the Wombat Forest. The place on one side was a ramshackle camp owned by some blokes who came up once or twice a year to ride their dirtbikes around on the back roads. On the other side was a holiday house owned by a couple whose kids had grown up and no longer wanted to hang out with mum and dad in boring old Wheatsheaf, so we rarely saw them. All in all, it was splendidly isolated.
One of our first contacts with local life was at the Glenlyon General Store – we’d go there on Sundays for the newspapers and maybe pick up some other necessities. One Saturday afternoon Carol was cooking dinner when she discovered she needed some spice or herb – nothing that seemed wildly exotic for us St Kilda dwellers – so I headed into Glenlyon. The woman running the shop instantly picked me for a foreigner – when I asked if she had the item I needed she shouted, “No, and I don’t have any peacock feed, either!”

Nowadays the proprietors of the Glenlyon General Store probably still don’t stock peacock feed but if you asked for some they’d most likely try to find an alternative, and then offer to pour you a drink featuring the latest gin from Inner Mongolia, made with herbs harvested from the remote Greater Khingan mountain range.
Eventually we decided to explore Daylesford – we got as far as the Farmers Arms Hotel, where the clock had stopped in, oh, 1975 – a perfectly non-renovated pub. There was just one person sitting at the bar. Surprise: I knew him. We’d worked together on and off for years in the printing and publishing industries. Next surprise: he stood up from his stool, walked behind the bar, and poured our drinks. Carol isn’t a beer drinker so she asked for a glass of wine. My friend did little to hide his displeasure. Pubs should stick with beer and simple food – wine and fancy meals were ruining pub culture, he believed. It was all a bluff, however – he found a bottle of wine and everyone was happy.

We spent every weekend in our holiday house. Instead of going back to St Kilda on Sunday afternoon, we started driving down on Monday morning, going directly from Wheatsheaf to work in Melbourne. We finally worked out that we could live there and keep our jobs in the city, but then Carol, being the clever one, found a good job in Daylesford and quit the commute.
We bought another house – our real house – in the same neighbourhood as the holiday place, which we rented out to some good folks who took excellent care of it, but eventually we sold it; made a fair profit on the deal. In 2018, after almost 20 years living in the forest, we sold our real house too. Made another nice profit, nothing excessive but good.
I recently read that a house in our old neighbourhood sold for more than seven figures. By which I mean a million. Dollars. More than. I remember the place. It was OK. The block wasn’t as good as either of the ones we had, but it was all right. The renovation done on the house was spectacular – I didn’t like it, though, far too flashy for the forest.
The saying “the more things change, the more they stay the same” is attributed to French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, who, being French, actually wrote “plus ça change, plus c’est la même”. Either way, the guy clearly hadn’t been thinking about the Central Highlands real estate market when he said it.
It’s probably more useful to consider these quotes attributed to American humorist Mark Twain, who allegedly said, “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore”; and Will Rogers, who is supposed to have said, “Don’t wait to buy real estate – buy real estate and wait”.

After many happy years living in Victoria and working at The Age, former Wheatsheaf resident Jeff Glorfeld went back to California, the land of his birth, where in the past three years he has survived bushfires, snowstorms and drought. And Trump. And Covid. The cicadas and locusts didn’t arrive. Well, not yet.