A big thank you to all the people who so kindly and generously made me delicious meals for the first weeks after I came home from hospital with Jacob. It helped enormously. I felt so supported and cared for by the community. It has meant a lot to me (and Mum!).

A special thank you to Heidi for organising it.

Kate Gebhardt - (14 Yacca Way)

Chris and I would like to thank everyone who contributed their hard work and TLC to the stunning wall hanging for Amelia. I was speechless when I first saw it and you'll see from the ATTACHED photo why. I think we have a family heirloom on our hands, so thank you with all our hearts!

Gina
Thanks from Gina & Chris

I have been sitting browsing around the internet and came across:
http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/home 
If you then click on the section 'Earthship Brighton' (UK) and follow the link at the bottom of that page:
http://www.lowcarbon.co.uk/earthship-brighton/earthships 
it gives a very interesting tour of all the features of the building. I don't know much about 'Earthships' and I am very interested and plan to visit the Brighton one if I can. Moving on, if you go to:
http://www.earthship.co.uk/rent-an-earthship.htm 
there's a better image of it, plus one in Scotland - both are community centres. At the bottom of the same page there are links to:
http://www.earthship.net/ 
which is the website for the people in Taos New Mexico who first developed this architectural concept. Are there any of these type of buildings in Australia, does anyone know? 
 
Deb - (presently in UK, owner of lot 112, ..... fast becoming 8 Tetragonia Walk)

The Village landscape is slowly filling in. Here's the latest Google Earth image.

Earthsong EcoVillage in New Zealand has some interesting information on their website about decision and discussion processes. We have already tried a simple version of the colour cards system at the last AGM and found it worked well for us. Might also be worth reflecting on their definition of "consensus" also. See:
www.earthsong.org.nz/infobook/groupprocess.html

Those with an interest in using pedal power might like to check out some simple concepts for pedal generators. Keep fit and charge things up! The third link might be of special interest for anyone thinking DIY.

 http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen.html 
http://www.earthtoys.com/emagazine.php?issue_number=06.06.01&article=pedalpower
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Self-Powered_20Health_20Clubs

Dear participants in the Social Dimension Survey,
 
First of all, many thanks again for your collaboration in this study. As promised, here I send you a report with the results for your community (I apologise for the wait, but I had to finish the MSc Thesis this questionnaire was part of first, and that took me a good few weeks).
 
 The PDF ATTACHED includes the final scores for each category, your community scores compared with the other two communities analysed, a table showing the weights assigned to each answer option and the range of values covered by each indicator and, finally, the answers to some other questions that are not included in any indicator.
 
Due to low response rates, these scores cannot be considered statistically representative for the whole community. Nevertheless, they may well provide useful information to reflect on in order to improve the social aspects of our communities. I hope you will find this topic as fascinating as I have done.
 
Please, keep this report for your personal use only. For any comments you may wish to make about this research, do not hesitate to contact me at info@planning-sustainability.org.
 
Yours sincerely - Javier Montero
071108 Results Report Aldinga

Bridget and Michael have circulated this very interesting link to a powerful argument for taking action against global warming and climate change. The presenter does "go on a bit" but, even so, this is definitely food for thought!
http://www.slide.com/r/9qo6zGs85z_ARsAOIf1omf3v-cQSkBuN

Colin Endean has sent in a useful link to Sustainable Gardening Australia:
http://www.sgaonline.org.au/growyourown.html

Hi everyone,
I have just had info come in by email about an adobe (mud brick) dome construction course happening in Texas / Mexico. The info is at http://www.adobealliance.org/  for interest ......... or even if anyone wants to attend. For 'earthy' types it seems a good browse with some excellent photos.
 Deb (Lot 112)