While Oli was repairing a bit of fencing he happened to disturb and slightly rough up a Shingleback Lizard which was lying under a post. Luckily we had a veterinarian on hand to have look over and give it the all clear. It was a busy morning for Phil Larwill who earlier performed surgery on a magpies’ severely broken leg.

PhilM   Photo: Vicki Nathan

We have successfully completed our first October working weekend. As hoped we experienced a couple of really sunny days and a pleasant mild night. We managed to plant about 140 plants including ironbarks, do a partial fence survey with running repairs and an assessment of the weed and maintenance situation. On the Sunday we held our AGM and partook in a small TFN fence sign hanging ceremony down at the front gate complete with a champagne toast (good champers, thanks Phil L) and hearty podium style champagne spraying by young Malachi. (old cheap champers)

On a sadder note we marked the passing of one of ReSource RICA’s earliest members, Joanie Bridgefoot with a more solemn toast around the fireplace and a few remembrances and words of appreciation.

One of the really interesting observations on the weekend were the numbers of birds present and constant chirping and singing. We have all noticed a rise in bird activity each time we visit but visiting in Spring may have been a factor as well. It bodes well for a bird survey we hope to conduct soon.

A few key points from the AGM are; welcoming Jose Mott to the committee. Resolving to hold some more fundraising activities, organising some maintenance work-bees, holding discussions concerning our relationship with Dja Dja Wurrng / first peoples as well as starting a conversation with our young people to find out how they view their relationship with Moonambel and how they may want to be involved.  Also upon realising that our weekend has clashed with school holidays and a popular social event in Castlemaine we will likely push it back a week for next time. It looks like we are in for a busy, fun year ahead.

PhilM

Photos: Phil Larwill, Vicki Nathan

We are pleased to announce that we have been successful in our application to become a Trust for Nature property. This means we finally have our much desired covenant in place.

Thanks go out to the working group, Paul O’Connor, Sally Smith and especially to Sid Larwill and John Harvey for the work done in preparing our application and liaising with the Trust for Nature office in Castlemaine.

Also a big thanks to Kirsten from Trust for Nature, our case officer. She gave us some great feedback and I think we can proudly say that she was quite impressed with our efforts so far and the state of our land.

We don’t just get to hang a sign on the gate, this brings to the fore new responsibilities such as weed and erosion control and working to exclude livestock and pests. This influenced the decision to move the August planting to an October planting, weeding and maintenance weekend hopefully in much warmer weather.

We hope to see you in October, a little celebration might be in order.

PhilM

Once again we have the last of the Spring planting seedlings from Frances to get into the ground at Moonambel. Sid has 60 trees from Frances, and Dean might bring along some Ironbarks.
This Sunday 9th September 10:30 onwards.  Come and join us.  And make some plans for the October working bee weekend.  (Don’t miss that one: October 6-7)

Sid Larwill

Despite the move to a mid-spring working bee weekend (first weekend in October) Francis Cincotta, our wonderful propagator of seedlings, had two big trays of tube stock for our hill.

John H and Sid L took to the hill top and with a little help from Malachi, planted 50-odd trees. Dean planted 20-odd ironbarks on the lower slopes. Two dogs fought around the fire pit, and kids played mud fights round a very full dam. Three Wedge-tailed Eagles flew in spectacular arcs overhead, perhaps two males courting the same female. Two rabbits were out in the mid-day sun making baby rabbits, and Mal rued the missed chance to get two with one bullet.

Spring was in the air – the sweet-rank honey smell of Acacia blossom quite apparent.
The canola patches stood out on the quilt of the 180-degree vista. We still have another 60-odd plants left. We’ll call another impromptu Clayton’s planting in the next few weeks.

Watch this space.

Sid Larwill

We wish to clear up a couple of possible misconceptions about our group ReSource RICA.

While up on the hill one time someone once remarked, “The locals must think we are some strange cult that meets on the hill during an obscure planetary alignment to perform arcane pagan rituals”. Well no, as fun as that may sound I am happy to inform that we are really nothing more than a relatively normal and urbane group of people with an interest in developing and experimenting in a new and different kind of relationship with the land.

Another area of misunderstanding is sometimes to do with our name. Occasionally we’ve had people asking what does Resource RICA mean and we’ve even had people saying that with a name like ReSource Rica they thought we were a mining company. So I thought that we’d give an explanation for the sake of locals and newcomers and even to refresh the memories of older members how the name came about and the thinking behind it.

First of all it is obviously a play on the word resource and perhaps why some have initially thought we are mining company, yet mining and timber companies don’t own the word resource and we, like many others would like to add nature to the list of things considered a valuable primary resource.

The capitalisation of the ‘S’ in resource we hope encourages one to view the word with its intended double meaning. First as seeing the land in its natural and diverse state as a valuable natural and cultural resource in itself, important for the well-being of all of us. And secondly when read as “re-source” an intended meaning of “a return to the source”, “back to the beginning”, A restoration if you like, back to before the environmental degradation that much of the land in Australia has experienced.

The RICA is in fact an acronym for Rehabilitation of landscape, Indigenous custodians and recognition, Community and Access. (to find out more about these aspirations see our Statement of Purpose page) Rica as a word has the added meaning of rich or abundant in Spanish, a language that a lot of our founding members have familiarity with, many having worked in Central America on community projects as volunteers abroad.

And ok, ok, we do participate in an occasional bacchanalian ritual around the campfire during weekends at the hill, but that’s all we’re willing to admit to.

PhilM

I went to the Inaugural Moonambel Winter Festival at the Recreation Reserve on Saturday night with Deb, and friends John and Christine. It was a beautiful still night with no wind and near zero temperature. The bonfire started early, with Barkly Ukulele Group kicking off the entertainment with some fine strumming, before the Pyrenees Choral Society smashed out a few classics. Punters moved between the bonfire, the hot beef rolls and the amazing fire twirling, with lots of mulled wine and coffee and stomping up and down to keep the circulation going.

Lots of large Chinese lanterns lifted into the night sky to general wonderment, especially exciting for the kids, and capped off a great night in a vibrant community.

Happy Days!

Phil Larwill