MELBOURNE BOTANICAL GARDENS:
On a glorious warm October morning, nineteen members of Donvale Central Probus Club visited the Melbourne Botannical Gardens for a 90 minute tour. Splitting up into three smaller groups, guides walked two groups around the gardens explaining the significance of many of the unique and unusual trees and other plants, while the third group travelled in a small mobile vehicle to reduce the amount of walking. We were also given an insight into the history and development of the Gardens, including an explanation of the re-routing of the Yarra many years ago, and the important role of the first Director of the Grdens in the mid-1800's Baron von Mueller.
Fred
THE CACTUS GARDEN: "These fantastic plants demonstrate the adaptive traits that plants have evolved to survive and indeed thrive in water scarcity." Royal Botantic Gardens, Victoria
SUE'S WALK REPORT:
We had 10 join in for the Jells Park walk on Tuesday, 24th October. The weather report was sounding - not too bad- warm and windy and we definitely had the wind. It did look like rain at first, so a few brollies, just in case, and as we know that always keeps the rain away. The park is looking very green and very pretty, while the lake is rife with bird life! There would be 100's of white Ibis on the island in the lake with many and varied types of ducks and other water birds. (You will see in one of the photos, we were in a bird hide trying to see "What bird is that?" Our group broke up as we neared the track around the lake, some doing the shorter version by the front of the lake, heading to the cafe, while others headed off along the track taking us around the lake before heading to the cafe where our 'early birds" had set up a table ready for us. Thanks guys!
The main part of the Cafe is closed Monday's and Tuesday's doing a kiosk service with outdoor seating. the service was prompt, the coffee was great and the company was fantastic.
Our next walk is 9th November (don't tell me Christmas is nearly here!) meeting bottom end of Abbey walk (continuation of Heatherdale Rd), having our cuppa after at Mr Fox Cafe at Ringwood Public Golf course after. I look forward to seeing you there.
Sue's saying for the day: "Do you know how helpless you feel if you have a full cup of coffee - or tea - in your hand and you start to sneeze?" This does happen to me in the mornings. Brian brings me a cup of tea in bed - very nice - and I quite often need to sneeze, hence, a bit of tea down the front of my PJs. I always try to protect the doona cover!!
CRAZY WHIST:
We had 12 enthusiastic players attend Crazy Whist, including Kaye and Johanna who were pleased to be able to attend an afternoon session. We also welcomed Rosemary to her first game. The theme was Halloween and we were tricked and treated throughout the afternoon. Ourrbig winner was Mary and just to keep it in the family, our tailended was Geoff. Rosemary settled in well and came a close second to Mary.
Our last game for the year is Thursday, 30th November, 1pm -3pm, so join in if you can.
Jan
BOOK CLUB:
The meeting was held at Glenda's home with Glenda as Hostess and Lorelle as Convener.
Book discussed: "Oh William" by Elisabeth Strout.
"Oh William," was not a book that everyone enjoyed but a good discussion was conducted by all members present. A very different writing style than our last book but one that made us think about the characters long after we had finished the book.
The 'Enjoyment' score for the book by the members present was 34/60.
Our next book to be read and discussed chosen by Glenda is "The Sweet Remnants of Summer" by Alexander McCall Smith.
Next meeting will be held on 23/01/2024 . Lorna will be the host and Glenda will be the convenor.
Our next "Official" Meeting is not until January, we decided it would be nice to meet and have an afternoon tea to celebrate Christmas.
Helen
AMBLES REPORT:
On Friday 3rd November, our team of five lovely ladies wandered around the delightful Halliday Park, before settling in for our cuppa, bikkies and a chat. The attached photos show us (always one behind the camera) beneath one of the most magnificant Oak trees in this park. They were planted in 1938. I wished we looked that good at that age.
With Remembrance Day coming up, we took a photo near the fence along Mitcham Road which is lined with beautiful leather type poppies. Another photo shows the War Memorial, which is a very pretty area.
This is our last amble at Halliday Park for 2023, our final one being on Friday, 1st december at Maranoa Gardens in Balwyn, followed by a lovely lunch put on by Maureen at "Chez Maureen's" village. We look forward to you joining in. This is really a very enjoyable outing, so do think about it.
"Everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time".
We have time on our ambles, so, see you there,
Sue
MELBOURNE CUP DAY:
Combined outing - Donvale Hill and Donvale Central
Cup Day was enjoyed by all members who attended. Our Club ran 3 sweeps which included both clubs. We had one Cup winner and the other winners were from Hills. The two clubs mixed, the food was delicious and so were the "drinks".
Lyn
SUE'S WALK REPORT:
We had a very pleasant morning on Thursday, 9th November,where 7 joined in for our Dandenong Creek, Ringwood walk. This is a very pretty,flat walk, following along the delightful Dandenong Creek. After our walk we drove a short distance to the Mr Fox Cafe located at Ringwood Public Golf Course. It was quite noisy, but nice with friendly staff and good coffee. A nice surprise was meeting one of our members,Lorraine, who was meeting a friend for lunch. She took some photos for us. Thanks Lorraine, hope you enjoyed your lunch.
One of the attached photos I took shows the variety of different milks you had the choice of. I remember when I was a kid, milk came from cows.
The Dandenong Creek runs for 44km's, starting in the Dandenong Ranges, making its way through the city of Dandenong, joining the Patterson River and flowing into Port Phillip Bay. The traditional custodians, The Bunuroinf people referred to the creek as Narra Narrawong, while others gave the creek the name Dandenong, sometimes spelled as Dand-y-don or Tanjenong by early setters, believed to mean "high and Lofty" from the Aboriginal language. (Wikipedia)
Our next walk is from Petty's orchard following along the Mullum Mullum Creek, having our cuppa at the Orchard's cafe at the end. I look forward to seeing you join in. This will be our penultimate walk for the year - scary!
STATE LIBRARY - VICTORIA
A group from Donvale Central met in the city to do the guided historical tour of 'The State Library of Victoria' which was established in 1854 and is the oldest and one of the largest free libraries in Australia. The most notable feature of the library is its architectual beauty. Our guide explained to us the various architectual changes that were made in the later renovations of the library. The domed reading room bought back memories for some members that had studied at Melbourne University - this is where in our Uni days we spent many hours researching for assignments etc.
The library has in its collection over two million books, 25,000 maps, thousands of manuscripts and many digitial resources.
Am sure many of us will return to the library to visit the Art Gallery, exhibitions, and just enjoy being immersed in 'Books'.
After the tour some of us joined together to have lunch in the cafe. This was a most enjoyable outing.
NOVEMBER BARBECUE:
The weather was chilly but the hardy members who turned up for our barbecue all joined in and contributed to the fun and laughter that we always enjoy at a Probus gathering. We had one lonely barbecuer and the rest of us enjoyed the wine, sandwiches and nibbles on offer.
Attending the barbecues are a great way to get to know your fellow members -
"COME ALONG AND JOIN IN THE FUN"
BOWLS NIGHT - DONVALE BOWLING CLUB:
Spring weather can present us with anything, and on Friday the heavens awaited until we were about to get going with our lawn bowls and the clouds overflowed. The rain was pelting down and we had to make a dash for the Donvale Bowls Club rooms which were warm and inviting. After some social chit chat the table groups became competitive with some different, interesting trivia questions. The winning tables were presented with little packets of Smarties which definitely went to our heads as our table just went downhill after our big initial win.
The BBQ dinner, prepared by the members of the club, was delicious and there was plenty of left overs for seconds. The yummy desserts were even better than the last time we were at the Club.
Even though we missed out on the Lawn Bowls, everyone agreed that the trivia presented by Malcolm and the BBQ dinner made it a good night for all who attended, We finished the evening with lucky number prizes, and many lucky quests went home with prizes.
Many thanks to Carol and the Donvale Bowls Club for all the work they put into the evening. We are determined to get out on the green the next time we head down there.
Jan
MORNING COFFEE AT THE PINES:
Hang up the stockings - It will soon be Christmas
Last Saturday approx. 20 members enjoyed having "Coffee with Probus Friends" at the Pines Shopping Centre. It was the Christmas Parade so we all joined in welcoming Christmas at "The Pines".
CRAZY WHIST:
It was a good afternoon to settle down to a couple of hours of social cards in the comfortable surroundings of the playroom at the Church. We had 12 players stretching their brains to play the crazy rules for our Crazy Whist games today, some big scores were won or lost with each hand. Our eventual winner was President Jeff with a great score of 88, and Ros kept the prizes in the family by coming in as our Tail-ender with a score of 65. We look forward to more games next year, some played in the evening and some during the daytime, as the different time doesn't suit all of our regular players.
Jan
