Marvellous March

March was a busy month for us at Laneway Learning as we were back at the People’s Market and running six classes a week in everything from AFL to Ukuleles.

Having ended February with The Infinite Possibilities of Modular Origami we began March with Ronan Burder and Origami: The Ancient Japanese Papercraft. This time however, glue was severely frowned upon and scissors were outright banned as we spent a serene evening making cranes, pigs and a family of swans that ranged from about 10cm to just 0.5cm tall!

We then moved on to the Wonderful World of Music. Our teacher for the evening, Mark Stevens, gave us a bit of background and then led a lively discussion on music appreciation, popular radio and even Justin Bieber.

The following night we were down at the PM with back-to-back classes on Money-Saving Bicycle Maintenance. The Little Mule’s Andy Walker took us on a guided tour down the greasy path to cycling bliss.

We also had lots of yells and squeals of laughter as Kirsty Vis first got us wiggling our hips with the joy of Hoop Dancing and then with Anso, who taught us how to build up from throwing and catching just one ball, to successfully (well, sometimes!) juggling three like a pro in her class on Juggling.

In March we also had Braiding 101 with Theresa Winters and the class proved to be so popular we ran it twice. I’m still trying to perfect ‘the waterfall’ in my own hair but at last I have a hairstyle or two that are great for posh occasions in rubbish weather!

Maia Sauren joined us down at The Little Mule to talk about Science in the Kitchen, including different ways to preserve foods, how you can get garlic breath without eating any of the stuff and how to make ice cream using some regular fridge ingredients, salt and a bag of ice. Check out the drawing that one Laneway Learner did that shows what happens when the bag containing the freezing mixture breaks…

Being outside at the PM is great for classes that need a bit more space and Hayley Jae jumped at the chance as she taught us the slick moves of Michael Jackson’s Iconic Dance Routine: Thriller. Check out some budding MJ fans here.

The PM also lets us run classes that are a little bit messy and we made full use of that with a double edition of Furniture Restoration 101 with Tim Denshire-Key of Neel Dey Furniture and Kokedamas: An Old Japanese Botanic Art with Emi Whyte. There was sawdust going everywhere as we sanded away to make some snazzy heat mats for our kitchens and we covered the place in soil as we learnt how to make attractive little Kokedamas that are great for bringing a bit of greenery inside.

Come back soon to find out what else we got up to in March.