School holiday workshops

We just wanted to share some snaps from our school holiday workshops last week.

First up – Kids On The Case where our participants found insteresting items from around Benga and created ideas about their possible histories:

“I had to dial”

“the corsets they wore”
“why is there no butler’s room?”
“Why is there no oil portrait?”

Next up, Ancient Tales, a story telling workshop and tales shared from many cultures:

making a story cube to help inspire stories

More story cubes being created

performing the story out under the fig trees

Last for today was our Old Fashioned Games Festival:

Table Soccer, played with straws and pom poms

3 Legged Race

Even the parents joined in the fun and games!

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2013 at Hertiage Hill

Happy new year friends! We’re off to a roaring start for 2013.

We’re putting the final touches together for our Feb 3rd OPEN DAY (do check the link out, we got loads of interesting things happening that day, and they’re all free!)

Benga house is also going through a trandformation to become the artful Benga Studios. We’re removing the furniture from the old loungeroom and turning it into a studio for artists to hire. The room will be available for hourly, weekly and monthly rates.

It’s almost ready, but we thought we’d give you a few sneak peeks at it’s transformation progress.

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Timid wildlife visitor to Benga

We discovered this little guy hanging out on our front porch this morning. Can you spot it in this photo?

No? How about from another angle?

And we thought it was only cats who liked to sit in pot plants!

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Historical sleuthing

Today marks a passing of history. For many years, Benga house had a persimmon tree in it’s front garden, with a beautiful seat around it which was a rather comfy place to sit and eat lunch. It’s been sick for a number of years and last week it was finally decided that it had to go.

Our volunteers Maria and Ernie under the Persimmon tree

I had read somewhere in our documents a passing reference to the fact that the tree was the only link back to the orchard that stood on the property before the Hart’s built their house here. So I decided to do some sleuthing to see if that was correct. Off to the photo files!

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Introducing two of our volunteers – Maria and Ernie

Heritage Hill is run by a small staff ably assisted by a dedicated group of volunteers. Today I would like to introduce you to two volunteers who have been with us for 18 years, Maria and Ernie. They popped by this morning so I took the opportunity to ask them a couple of questions.

Maria and Ernie under the Persimmon tree

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The Magic of Mandalas talk – Karen Scott

On Saturday, as part of our Circles Of Life exhibition, Karen Scott hosted a talk and informal workshop titled The Magic of Mandalas.

Our participants were first treated to a quick tour of the exhibition and discovered some of the stories behind these very personal artworks.

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The Maid’s Quarters opening event

We held the opening of our new Maid’s Quarters on Sunday and we have a number of very special guests attend. This is Elsie Schilling, who was the second maid to live and work at Benga.

The lovely Elsie Schilling

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The Maid’s Quarters

Oh, it’s so exciting! The official opening of our Maid’s Quarters is this Sunday! The installation is complete, the lemonade has been made, chutneys have been bottled and Christmas cakes have been baked. Everything is ready for Sunday!

Wandering around the finished exhibition, I love looking at the tiny details. I don’t want to give anything away, after all you can come and visit it yourself, but I couldn’t help myself with this one photo which we’ve pinned to the corkboard in the maid’s bedroom.

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Mandalas – Circles of Life

Our current exhibition is called Circles of Life and it’s a group show of around 40 Mandalas created by students of Karen Scott’s Mandala Magic courses. It’s an incredibly beautiful exhibition rich with colour and sybolism.

Jenni Murphy "Tibetian Journey"

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Senior’s Week – Tour and Devonshire Tea

Today for Senior’s Week we had a special senior’s tour with Devonshire Tea. (If this sounds like your cup of tea (and scone!) you can book one yourself by calling us on 9793 4511). These tours start off in the historic St James’ Church next door. Our tour guide today was Michelle, the Vicar’s wife.

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