Karen Maloney's Dispatch: Daylesford Dispatch, Sunday 6th February, 2011

Lovely photo of Damien Murray holding Patrick – first grandchild for Squiz & Jan

Dear Everyone, apologies in advance for any inadequacies in this Dispatch – I lost the use of my computer during the recent storms, so am typing this on the laptop, which is Vista, and not quite compatible with all my Windows 7 stuff. However, if that is the worst that happened to us, we have escaped lightly. Wes has driven to Melbourne this morning to assist Viva and Leanne – they have water coming through a downlight in the bathroom, the ceiling is full of water, the flashings have disappeared and the air-conditioner isn’t working anymore. Wes is hoping to ring the OAMPS claims department from their place and get things going quickly without needing to complete a claim form. Fortunately the rain has stopped, which will minimise further damage in the roof.

We’ve sweltered in the heat most of the week like everyone else and are mightily relieved to be feeling cold again and needing the heater on this morning. Thank God for the cricket, which has kept me sane – I do enjoy listening to the ABC, doing crosswords and keeping an eye on the action – takes my mind off the humidity – and the Aussies are doing well. I am looking forward to seeing Cameron White captain Australia for the first time in a One-Day International Game in Perth, in the final game of this interminable series.

We have played golf twice this week – on Monday morning before the heat set right in, and again on Tuesday, with Terry. I was lucky enough to win both trophies that morning – I have a fair handicap, but we play skins which means I was the beneficiary of 4 drawn holes at one stage and I beat both boys in my own right on the 10^th hole, which was quite a thrill.

Carol and I spent a most enjoyable morning on Wednesday playing Mah Jong and chatting together, catching up on a few weeks of news. Dot was unable to join us as her mother, Cath, has been quite unwell, but I saw Dot this morning and her mother is much better. Valerie was in Melbourne seeing ‘Don Parties On’, but we all hope to be together again this Wednesday. Rotary that night was entertaining with an interesting speaker – Doug May, who runs Captains Creek Organic Wines.

Wes & the boys outside Café 3460

On Thursday Wes spent most of the day scanning old photos and sending them off to the friends who are in them – he has been putting them up on Facebook as well, which has attracted some amusing comments. I decided to try and finish the Book Inventory, which means carrying down some very heavy books from the Reference section of our library. Instead I discovered I had lost some of my earlier work on the Fiction section, so redid the bits that were missing instead.

That night Wes and Barbara went to Melton to the Trots, which was a Rotary District fund-raiser. They took Joe & Glenda with them and met up with Bronwen & John Scarffe and Lee & Russell Manning. It seems as though they had a great night together. Glenn Mack had invited me to dinner, so we went to the Farmers Arms that night, where we enjoyed a lovely meal and a good chat and met the Israeli parents of Clare, one of the owners of the pub.

The rain was pouring down on Friday, so there was no chance of golf with Michael. I stayed in bed reading the paper, then spent some time with Sheila Hollingworth, at a newish café in town called ‘Culinaria’. I was most impressed with the lively atmosphere, and it seems that it is filling a need for most of the Howe Street shop-keepers and visitors. That afternoon, Wes and I watched two Big Pond DVDs – ‘Defiance’ which dealt with a group of Jews who hid from the Germans in the forest during World War II, and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, which was beautifully shot and most amusing. I am glad we saw the films in that order, as ‘Defiance’ was a little more violent than I usually like to see.

Greta & Harry at Celia’s wedding

Yesterday we were due to be on the gate at the Farmers’ Market, but when we arrived just before 8.30am, we discovered the Market had been cancelled as everywhere was too wet. We decided to have breakfast and went to ‘Culinaria’ as nowhere else much is open at that time. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of scrambled eggs, trout cured in vodka and beetroot, served on a homemade bagel. Wes was most impressed and we bought some Portuguese custard tarts to take to Glenn’s place where we had been invited for dinner. Of course, we rang all the other Rotarians who are involved in the Market to let them know that it had been cancelled.

On our way home, we did some shopping, met numerous friends in the street, and dropped in to see Joe Rozen, who had been briefly hospitalised the day before. He and Glenda are off to Vietnam for three weeks on Thursday, so he is under strict instructions to take his medication, drink plenty of fluids and be well enough to go. Wes then spent about an hour on the phone to HP providing proof of ownership of my computer and arranging for it to be repaired. We will have to take it to Ballarat tomorrow, but it looks as though it is purely the replacement of a part that is meant to bear the brunt of any burn out. Fingers and toes crossed!

Last night we enjoyed a lovely meal with Glenn – he had a surfeit of prawns,which he served lightly fried in a coconut flour batter, with coconut rice and a shredded cabbage salad, with a loaf of ‘no knead’ bread to start. We polished off the custard tarts, but agreed that Linda Gillies makes the best ones we have ever had!