MERRY CHRISTMAS

It is officially December guys, which means summer sun, bbqs, family gatherings, longer days, school holidays, beautiful weather and the very best part, CHRISTMAS!!!! We love Christmas and want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very safe and happy holiday season...Joanne and I would also like to take this moment to thank you all once again for your fantastic support and encouragement during our first year here at the Homestead. We have gone from having 3 people on all weekend to needing 12 staff in total including Jo and myself. It is you guys, our wonderful regulars and first time customers that we can thank wholly and solely for our success. So thank you for all of the times you came for breakfast or lunch, or chose us to host your Wedding, Christening, Birthday, Engagement or Anniversary. Thank you for every friend or person you recommended us too, for every kind or encouraging word you said about us and our little Café/Function Centre… Joanne, Myself, all of our Staff and families would like to say a resounding VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL! Enjoy your holidays Guys and we look forward to seeing you all again in the New Year. Love Joanne and Tye xxx

STUARTS PICK OF THE MONTH...HIS FAVOURITE EVER CHRISTMAS STORY!

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

By Francis P. Church, first published in The New York Sun in 1897. [See The People’s Almanac, pp. 1358–9.]

Dear Editor - I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the scepticism of a sceptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, and no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished. Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies. You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if you did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world, which neither the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived could tear apart. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

TRADING HOURS

These are our Christmas and New Year Trading Hours for 2007/2008….. SATURDAY DECEMBER 15TH : 10AM TO 4 PM SUNDAY DECEMBER 16TH : CAFÉ OPEN 10 AM TO 4 PM SANTA WILL BE WITH US FROM 11AM TO 3 PM! SATURDAY DECEMBER 22ND : CLOSED SUNDAY DECEMBER 23RD : CLOSED SATURDAY DECEMBER 29TH : CLOSED SUNDAY DECEMBER 30TH : CLOSED GRAND RE OPENING : TRADING AS NORMAL 10 AM TO 4 PM SATURDAY JANUARY 5TH SEEYOU ALL FOR BREAKFAST!!!

TYES USELESS INFORMATION!

1. The Song White Christmas is the biggest selling Christmas single of all-time. 2. Sugar Plums are chocolate candies that are filled with fruit preservatives or other sweet cream fillings. 3. The Christmas Poem The Night Before Christmas written by Clement Moore was originally titled A Visit from St. Nicholas. 4. The Song Jingle Bells was originally titled One Horse Open Sleigh . 5. Did you realize the name Santa Claus is not mentioned once in the popular Christmas poem The Night Before Christmas . 6. Early Christmas trees were decorated with fruits, flowers and candles which were heavy on the tree branches. In the 1800's German glass blowers began producing glass balls to replace the heavy decorations and called then bulbs. 7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was written and created by Robert May. May was an employee of the department store Montgomery Ward, and created Rudolph for Montgomery Wards who issued coloring books each year to children at their stores for Christmas. 8. The most popular version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was recorded by Gene Autry in 1949 and sold 2 million copies of the song in one year. 9. Hallmark introduced its first Christmas cards in 1915, five years after the founding of the company. 10. MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!!

THE LOWDOWN....

Time seems to have flown by as it only can in the last 3 months leading up to the chaos and fun of Christmas activity and here we are in mid November already!

All of us here at the café have been getting back into the swing of ‘wedding season’, with a wedding almost every weekend to keep us busy!

The early warm weather promises that we should have a long warm summer ahead of us, which is perfect for wandering along the beach and around the grounds of the Homestead with the kids and soaking up the summer sun.

Thank you to those who came down and joined in all the festivities of Children's week with us, Jo and I had an amazing day and it was wonderful to see so many Crias attend the day. We certainly hope you had a great time and enjoyed the treasure hunt and looking at the amazing Vintage cars that were here courtesy of Hillmans Car Club.

Jo and I would like to say a huge thanks to Kayla, who helped out on the day on Alpaca Duty, Indiana, who very cheerfully manned the Chook pen point on the Treasure hunt and Gryffin who very politely helped the Book Fairy with the colouring in sheets and the scratch and sniff stickers! We would also like to say a very big thanks to all of the Café staff, Paulo, David and Sharon who manned the café and took care of everyone who went into the café for a bite to eat. Both Jo and I love Christmas and have an exciting Christmas Event in the works to wish all of our customers, regular and new a very Merry Christmas! We promise to keep you updated on this as we iron out the details.

Just a small reminder to you all that as you wander the grounds, please do be on the look out for snakes, we have seen one, it was headed very quickly in the opposite direction to us, but they are on the move and while they are keen to avoid people, we do ask that you watch carefully in the grassier areas. Enjoy the sunshine guys and remember if there is anything we can do for you, just ask!

STUARTS PICK OF THE MONTH....

Stuarts Pick of The Month for November is…”Confessions of and Heiress” by Paris Hilton.

I know, I know, there were those of us who were stunned that young Paris could write a book, I mean seriously, who among us knew she could even read! It was, of course, of no surprise to Stuart that Paris Hilton, heiress to the Hilton fortune, professional party goer and all round bad girl would release a premature autobiography on her fabulously exciting life.

Who wouldn't, given the fact that she is constantly surrounded by B grade celebrities, has a father with more money than god, spends a great deal of her time being photographed without underwear and is renowned, as they say, for going to the opening of an envelope….oh the juicy stories we all hoped she would divulge…

Alas, rather than getting a gossip fest the trashiest tabloids would drool over, we instead were relegated with tips and tricks on how to be the perfect heiress. Of course there are SO many lost little heiresses out there who are just desperate for guidance on how to behave in a manner fit for their station! Perhaps the most helpful bit of advice young Paris espouses in her (complete waste of paper can you believe trees died for this..) book is for aspiring heiresses to “always act like you are wearing an invisible crown, I do and it has always worked for me…” One has to wonder how well that worked for her in prison.

Still at least, being invisible and all the other inmates couldn't steal it from her and maim her with it! (Now there is a book I would love to read)

Stuart was so derangedly bored with this piece of trash he has failed to revive himself enough to even give it a skull rating...

TYE'S USELESS INFORMATION...

TYES USELESS INFORMATION! I SWEAR ITS TRUE…. – 4000 people are injured by teapots every year. – A toothpick is the object most choked on by Americans. – In every deck of cards the King of Hearts is sticking his sword through his head, which is why he is often called the suicide king. – It takes a plastic container 50,000 years to start decomposing. – Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks.

Staff Update!

We have 2 new staff members on board to introduce you too this month!

April has joined us for a regular Saturday shift and is also filling in on some Sundays. April is a very efficient and cheerful addition to our staff here at the café!

We would also like to welcome Sharon who had her first shift with us on Childrens day and was filling in for us everysecond Sunday. I say was, as Sharon has very badly injured her elbow and wont be joining us again for a while, but we certainly hope she gets better very soon, and want to welcome her on board...when she gets back!

As always, all of our staff are here to help you, so don't hesitate to tell them what you need.

STUARTS PICK OF THE MONTH.

Stuarts Pick of the Month For October is …”David Copperfield” By Charles Dickens. ‘Reading David Copperfield made me want to kill small furry animals…’ posted one reader on a discussion review panel for this book. Not looking good so far huh? It has been said that David Copperfield is in fact a thinly veiled autobiography for Charles Dickens. If this is true, what a bloody miserable life he led. It begins with David as a boy. His father having died before his birth, he is very close to his mother until she remarries a cold, heartless brute and poor David finds himself being traumatised and beaten regularly. Then his mother dies giving birth to another screaming brat and he is shipped off to live with a succession of obscure relatives who each fail him miserably by tuning out to be frauds, alcoholics or just downright loony tunes! As he grows up he ends up marrying a woman who is not his ‘true love’ , whilst he still pines for her mind you, and then just as he comes to love the woman he did marry, she dies of a tragic illness! The melodrama is never ending in this long winded tale of true Victorian woe, which leaves the reader seriously contemplating what the hell else could go wrong. This book did not prompt Stuart to kill small furry animals, just himself. 5 skulls out of 5 for its sheer drudgery.

CHILDRENS WEEK OCTOBER 21ST 2007

Celebrate Children's Week with us Come on down and join the fuss We have activities and fun galore The Book Fairy and even more! Come along and get your map (But it might be sunny, so wear a cap) Lots of treasures for you to discover We promise an adventure like no other! Meet Kerry and Jamie Of course, they will be there! Do a painting and find a BEAR We promise there will be lots of laughter And a day to remember for ever after…

The Low Down....

September was a very busy month for us here at the café, as I am sure most of our regular customers can attest too! September 15th saw us hosting our first Wedding Reception for this “Wedding Season”

Jayne and Kevin held their ceremony in Williamstown and later celebrated their reception with us here in the Café. A lovely evening was had by all and we certainly wish Jayne and Kevin all the very best for the future.

The following weekend, September 22nd, saw us hosting both the ceremony and reception for Rodalyn and Michael, a lovely couple who danced the night away to the tunes of our resident DJ, DJ Junior. Again, both Jo and I wish Roda and Michael a wonderful future together!

We have also held several kids parties and been host to the 60’s to 80’s Holden Enthusiasts and almost the entire St James Parish for a luncheon on the same day no less!

For those of you who visit us regularly and for our newcomers as well, Joanne and I would like to apologies in advance to you all if we have been too busy to stop and have our usual chat, or if your wait times have been a little longer than usual! We are doing our very best to get on top of our increasing business and are in the process of hiring and training new staff to ensure our level of customer service remains as high as possible.

On that note, we would like to give a big welcome to our newest staff member's, Meredith and April, who joins us for Saturdays from now on. When you think back, just 12 short months ago it was Jo, Maureen and Kylie all weekend, with me as the occasional ring in, now we employ 7 other staff!!! With summer fast approaching we have changed our café menu to suit the warmer weather and we sincerely hope you guys approve.

Don’t forget the Hillmans Car Club is coming to display their beautiful vintage cars on October 21st, which is also the very same day we will be celebrating Children's week with all sorts of fun, games and activities!

Please don't hesitate to ask Us or our friendly staff for more info on upcoming events….

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROHAN

Some of you may know, some may not, that when Joanne first took over this business, she had approx 3 weeks to go before the birth of her second little boy, Rohan.

On October 3rd, Rohan turned One, and he gets cuter every day!

A very big HAPPY BIRTHDAY from all of us Rohan, we all love you very much!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Some of you might remember Kylie, Jo’s sister, my sister in law and Maureen’s Daughter.

She used to be a regular smiling face behind the counter here at the café.

If you thought the sun shone a little brighter this last September 14th, it was because Kylie and her Husband Andrew welcomed into the world a beautiful baby girl named Hannah Jane. We want to wish Kylie and Andrew CONGRATULATIONS and thank them for giving us such a beautiful new addition the universe!

Need a Function Venue?

Looking for the perfect venue for your next important event? We have the answer!

Within our lovely little Café hides a secret...this room, with a little help from our very talented Joanne, magically converts into a magnificent and elegant function room that can comfortably seat 100 guest’s a Bridal table, a dance floor and a accommodate a band or DJ. Unbelievable isn't it?!

Both Joanne and I pride ourselves on our functions and do all we can to ensure your special event goes as smoothly as possible.

We are able to host any event you might fancy holding, everything from Christenings to Birthdays, Christmas parties and Corporate Dinners, Trivia nights Dinner Dances and Graduations. Nothing is too big or too complicated.

We have menus to suit all tastes and budgets and can happily cater for most food allergies. You need never worry about the little details again. Our function packages include everything you might need from table centres to candles, linen napkins to balloons….

We also have an extensive recommendations list with contact details for DJ’s, Celebrants, Photographers, Videographers and Cake Makers. Your event is important to you and therefore important to us why not let us take care of all the details.

Please feel free to ask one of our friendly staff for a Functions Package, or check our website for details at www.pointcookhomestead.com Or contact Joanne on 93951213.

STUARTS PICK OF THE MONTH...

Stuarts Pick this Month is….”Great Expectations” By Charles Dickens.

So incredibly, devastatingly boring was this book that poor old Stuie simply could not get past page 4. Desperate to know what all the fuss was about he tried reading the Cliff Notes to perhaps gain some insight he might be missing...This is what he found:

Cliffs Notes on Great Expectations follows the story of Pip, an English orphan who rises to wealth, deserts his true friends, and becomes humbled by his own arrogance. It also introduces one of the more colourful characters in literature: Miss Havasham. Charles Dickens set Great Expectations during the time that England was becoming a wealthy world power. Machines were making factories more productive, yet people lived in awful conditions, and such themes carry into the story.’

Inspiring huh? Yep, that’s what we concluded. Not to be deterred Stuart turned to the movie version, starring Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow. Sadly, despite featuring some very hot stars indeed, the essential story remained skull crushingly boring and twisted. Forced to abandon all hope of ever finding a single ounce of enjoyment or entertainment as a result of this story Stuart gives Great Expectations 5 skulls out of 5 for being an absolute load of codswallop and has retired to the corner with a stiff brandy.

WITCHES AND WARLOCKS.

Joanne and I would like to invite expressions of interest in an event we are planning for October. Witches and Warlocks promises to be an exciting event and a great excuse to dress up! Tickets will be $20.00 per head and includes plenty of delectable finger food, with drinks available at bar prices. There will be door prizes for the best dressed attendee and DJ Junior will ensure you rock the night away on the dance floor. Date is to be advised, but we would love to hear some feedback from you. Pre Purchasing of tickets will be essential! If you are interested please speak to Joanne or Tye on 93951213.

Tyes Useless Info...

I SWEAR ITS TRUE.

*The KFC slogan, ‘finger lickin good’ translates to ‘eat your fingers off’ in Chinese. *The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosurdarstvennoy Bezopasnos. *The D in D-Day, means Day. *Rio de Janeiro translates to River of January. *Spain literally means ‘the land of rabbits’. *Papaphobia is a fear of Popes. *19th of November is Have a Bad Day day. *29th of November is National Sinky Day, a day to eat over ones sink and worship it.

Heritage Care Program.

The Point Cook Homestead is pleased to have received some funding for a volunteer program, thanks to Heritage Victoria and Conservation Volunteers Australia . Old farm machinery across the property, some of it having been here since the 1930's, is being collected, treated with rust inhibitor, catalogued and beautifully re-displayed. The project will take 6 months, with a team of 5 volunteers working two days a week. Once completed, the display area will be a fabulous addition to the ongoing improvements taking place at the property. We are also looking at starting a Friends of Point Cook Homestead group, so if you have an interest in the fascinating history of the property, and a few hours to spare each month, Emma is taking expressions of interest on 9395 7501.

A NOTE TO YOU.

Hello Dear Customers!

Here we are already arriving at September and Jo and I can scarcely believe that this year has sped by at such an alarming rate!

This month marks one year since Joanne took over management of the Café, (I officially joined her in December) For those of you who have been with us from the very beginning, THANKYOU! Your support as regular customers has helped us get this far and both Joanne and I want you all to know how much we appreciate your support.

For those of you just joining us today, Welcome! We hope you stay on for the ride... Entirely at your own risk of course. This year has seen a lot of changes for Joanne and I and as we reflect on all we have accomplished we do it with a sense of humble pride, but we can also understand why we are so exhausted!

Without doubt, last Saturday evening’s Dinner In Portugal was our biggest event to date. Release your collective bated breath guys, we made it through! The evening was a spectacular success and those who were able to procure a ticket assure us they had a wonderful time. A very big thanks from us to all of those who participated, helped and attended.

Joanne and I attended the Geelong Bridal Expo (yes, the next morning) which was a wonderful opportunity to meet other professionals in the field and get the word out to all that Point Cook Homestead Café is also an excellent venue for a Wedding!

In other Café news, we are gearing up for Wedding Season so please do not be alarmed if you come down for breakfast and find we have moved the tables and chairs (again) Our Alpaca friends are going to be shorn in October so they can better cope with Summer, watch this space for a date as all will be welcome to come and watch.

We would also like to welcome Kerry our newest member of staff! Kerry has proven to be an invaluable part of the team and is an AWESOME in the kitchen, please make her feel very welcome.

Jo and I sincerely hope to see more of you in the coming months as the weather warms up and makes the Homestead an even more beautiful place to be...

Harry Potter Eve Gallery.

Stained glass window transfiguration... Potions Classes.... Professor Trelawny and her budding student... Harry Potter and Murray Wizard... A pot of goodies...

Mrs Figg... Professor Tye and Snapes Assistant... Wandmaking....