Right from the day Clare Holland House opened in February, 2001 in Barton, two big pots of geraniums at the front door have greeted staff, patient and visitors. A burst of colour amid so much emotion.

And the pots have remained so healthy and cheery thanks to the selflessness of Curtin couple Rex and Nancye Daley, both members of the Canberra Geranium and Fuchsia Society.

The society donated the pots and plants to the palliative care provider back in 2001 and they arrived the day before its opening. For the last nearly 13 years, the Daleys have maintained the pots, changing the plants when needed and fertilising and watering them, coming in at least once a fortnight. And, as Mr Daley points out, volunteer Faye Yeaman has also helped out when she’s there, de-heading the plants and keeping an eye on them.

‘‘Because the society donated them, we felt it was up to the society to maintain them,’’ Mrs Daley said.

Mr Daley, 79, a retired bank manager, has been growing geraniums – or pelargonium if we want to get botanical – for more than 45 years.

‘‘They give you so much colour,’’ he said. ‘‘You’ve always got flowers and apart from frost time, they are a hardy plant.’’

Just another example of how our city keeps ticking along thanks to the generosity of its residents.

It’s the end of an era for Canberra retailing with Dorothy Roberts, pictured, confirming her high-fashion store Millers of Manuka will close by December 21.

She had hoped to sell the business as a going concern, last year putting it on the market for the first time since its opening in 1957. But with no real bites, the store will now close.

The store was opened by Mrs Roberts’ mother Mary Miller and became the go-to place for Canberra’s fashionable women including more than a couple of prime ministerial wives.

The building, in a prime location on Franklin Street is also owned by the family which is hoping to lease it.

Mrs Roberts says she is hoping to do some volunteer work, more exercise, travel and see more of her family after the store closes.

‘‘I’d like to put something back into the community because, after all, Canberra’s been great for me,’’ she told us.

Congratulations to Jill Bestic and Jane Scroope who raised $17,000 by opening their Griffith gardens to the public earlier this month in aid of Good Samaritan Rural Outreach in Western Australia.

They money will go to a motivational program to encourage more Aboriginal children to attend primary school.

Ms Scroope is pictured right handing over the cheque to Sister Anna Warlow, the Good Samaritan sister spearheading the program.

The Canberra Ute Car and Truck Muster is on this weekend at the Hall showgrounds.

There will be activities until late on Saturday night concluding with a concert and events on until 6pm on Sunday.

One of the more unusual exhibits this year will be a restored 1939 Chevrolet – the original Wilkie’s Pie Cart – which was part of Canberra’s early history delivering pies and pastries to workers in the Parliamentary Triangle.

The vehicle ended up a rusted hulk on a farm at Murrumbateman but was rescued and restored by the Council of ACT Motor Clubs which brought it back to life with the help of students from Melba Copland Secondary School.

There are plenty of arcane traditions around Parliament House and this one probably also slipped your notice.

It’s the illustrious Deputy Prime Minister’s trophy – DPM for short.

The prized bipartisan relic dates all the way back to Lionel Bowen and the then newly opened Parliament House in 1988 whereby the occupant of the deputy prime minister’s office became custodian of the DPM trophy.

Former deputy PM Anthony Albanese passed on the trophy to new deputy PM Warren Truss in the DPM’s suites at Parliament House this week.

‘‘The trophy might have gone ‘straight to the pool room’ but, given I don’t have one, it will take pride of place in the office,’’ Truss told us.

Pegasus Riding for the Disabled chief executive Margaret Morton is relinquishing the post next week, confident she is leaving the much-loved service in a much more secure financial position.

Ms Morton finishes up on Friday, saying she has loved ‘‘every minute’’ of her 13 months with the organisation.

‘‘It’s time for me to go,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m a builder, I’m not a maintainer.’’

Ms Morton took over the service at a time when it was facing a dire financial situation and imminent closure. But a big response from the community and corporate sector has turned that around during the last 12 months, allowing riding therapy for children with disabilities to continue.

‘‘It’s now up to the government to get the NDIS [National Disability Insurance Scheme] right,’’ she said.

In the meantime, Pegasus has launched its Christmas appeal with the support of Westpac branches around Canberra.

The Pegasus Pony Drive will see 10 Westpac branches host a life-sized cut-out of ‘‘Peggy’’, one of the ponies from Pegasus, with capacity to leave a donation.

Former prime minister Paul Keating was among those to write a message to Australian troops on a canvas organised by Lifeline Canberra on Remembrance Day this week.

Keating wrote ‘‘with faith in you’’ on the board, which was positioned at the War Memorial on Monday as a morale booster for troops.

Lifeline Canberra tells us they are open to approaches from businesses and other organisations to display the canvas in their buildings or some other public space.

Here at Private Capital, we love a good fete. Tell us about yours.