It's still chilly

 Despite the promise of spring last week, it's still cold, so cold in fact that the water pump at the Athenaeum froze leaving us with no water or working toilets.

Stanley doesn't have town water, so the Athenaeum, like the rest of the town is reliant on a private rainwater tank and pump. The Athenaeum's supply is shared with  the public toilets and the memorial hall next door so it was a matter of contacting the council as it was their responsiblity.

Fortunately the pub over the road had toilets that flushed that they were happy for us to use and a working espresso machine so we were fine.

Otherwise, I had a bit of fun working out how to make a contact sheet, as well as starting a little bit of research on the role of the Odd Fellows society locally.

The Odd Fellows were a network of friendly societies that as well as having a major social function - the Odd Fellows ball was one of the major events in the social calendar if nineteenth century Beechworth - provided access to medical and social care, in the form of aged care.

They even ran a chain of pharmacies, though none locally to ensure that people were not being ripped off over the cost of medication.

In fact the results of this self help movement are still with us, with Australian Unity, a major not for profit health fund, starting off as one of the Odd Fellows initiatives in 1840.

Otherwise I had a little experiment with my revived Lumix, to find what it could and could not do for me, and had a dash down to an art store in Benalla with J when she realised that she was out of the special pastel paper she uses.

I've finished with the Trust for a few weeks and completed my extra documentation. I've arranged to restart my work with the Trust documenting Lakeview in early September when hopefully the weather will be a little warmer and the light better ...