Dear Friends, it is a dull day in Daylesford after some stunning weather on the weekend. It’s not cold, but overcast and totally still. The plum blossom is out next door and our bulbs are trying hard to flower, so Spring can’t be too far away. Wes has done some serious pruning which will give our lavender bushes and some camellias a change to get more sun when it emerges again. He’s also managed to mow the lawn twice and everywhere looks lovely as a result. We are looking forward to a visit from Anthony Starkins, our Financial Advisor, tonight. He is heading to Mansfield tomorrow, so we invited him to break his journey here. Wes has caught 3 Tuki trout and will be doing something wonderful with them tonight. At present Wes is having a game of golf at Trentham – it is ages since we played there, and then meeting Bob White for a coffee at the new Coliban Food Store there.
Apart from the normal activities during the week, we have been to see “Hamlet” starring Ewen Leslie, who did such a good job with “Richard III” last year. Sadly, we were all disappointed, and felt he didn’t bring such great skills to his portrayal of the Prince of Denmark. I was very taken with the set, loved the modern adaptation and thought Garry McDonald acted his socks off as Polonius and then the Gravedigger. We enjoyed spending time with Judi and Michael, who drove us there and back. Back was very difficult as Ballan to Daylesford was enveloped in a thick fog, but Michael negotiated it sensibly and we got home safely.
Beautiful photo of Kathey Jordon, Tom Tyrrell & Joyce Spiteri in 1998 at Wes’s first Mayoral night
Since I last wrote, I have visited Viva twice, both times on Sundays, and Leanne has taken advantage of my visits to stock up on necessities. Yesterday I thought Viva was looking a better colour and she feels stronger, although she is still suffering coughing fits. She and Leanne had watched “The King’s Speech” the day before, which I took as a sign she was getting back to normal. Both times I have taken ½ dozen of Gillie’s eggs – her chooks are laying well and Viva has been most appreciative.
Ewen Leslie doing ‘To Be or Not To Be’ very well
Wes and I drove to Ballarat on Tuesday to see ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows’, which we had booked in Gold Class. We loved the film and Gold Class was most impressive at Ballarat – we were very comfy, the food and wine were superb and reasonably priced – while the rain fell outside, we were warm and toasty inside. We came home and I pushed SEND on our e-census, unlike some incredible number of people. I note that lots of my favourite websites now include exhortations to push SEND on the census – hope everyone does!
Wes had a brilliant day on Wednesday while I was playing Mah Jong with Carol and Valerie and catching up on everyone’s news. He and John Smith met up with a Melbourne Rotarian, John Benger, who had brought Vai and his father, Vai Maina from PNG. Vai had been a recipient of Rotary’s Medical Aid for Children to remove 6 tumours from behind his left eye. They were here in Daylesford for some R&R before going home this week. No doubt John Smith had suggested Daylesford. Their itinerary included fishing and lunch at Tuki; a visit to Cricket Willow; a tour of the Chocolate Mill and a walk among the kangaroos at Hepburn Golf Club. They were then taken to Aperitif at Rodney and Denise’s home where they were all made very welcome and Peter Widdop presented Vai with an ‘I Love Daylesford’ badge. Wes gave him his beautiful Daylesford Football Club red jacket to help ward off the cold. Then we all went to Rotary, where Wes chaired the meeting and John Smith & John Benger told everyone Vai’s story. It was a wonderful evening – this is exactly what Rotary does so well – seeing a problem and solving it – Vai is very excited to be going home looking normal again and he has not lost any of his eyesight in spite of the long and very delicate operation.
(Jim, Vai, Maina, John & Wes at Tuki &Vai with a fish below)
The next day it was my turn to be extra busy. Wes got up early to finish off the Rotary Bulletin and I edited it then sent it out before meeting Glenn Mack at “Wombat Hill House”, where he gave me his itinerary for his trip to the Flinders Ranges as well as his PO Box key so I can collect his mail and pay any bills. We had a lovely chat and were amused to see Rodney and Denise arrive with a table of friends who had been at Aperitif the night before and were no doubt recovering from a big evening. Then I drove to Mt Franklin where Roger Roberts and I spent 2 ½ hours with his young friend, Alyssa, designing the new Rotary Art Show logo and making the brochures, posters, certificates and road signs. Alyssa is a second-year design student, who is appreciative of the opportunity to hone her skills, which is a wonderful thing for Rotary. Roger is an accomplished artist, who has given much of his time to making this and last year’s Art Show a success.
In the meantime Lovely and Malcolm were driving to Daylesford and we had arranged to meet at ‘Gracenotes Café’ for afternoon tea. Unbeknownst to them I had invited Judi, Michael, Annie, Rhonda and Barbara, all of whom were able to come, and we enjoyed a fun 1 ½ together. Wes even popped in unexpectedly as he was busy with Rotary Art Show duties as well and hadn’t expected to be able to see them. They were on their way to Ballarat for the night, so we all had lots of suggestions for what to do there and are waiting to hear how they got on! That night I went to bed early and Wes hosted a meeting for the Marketing arm of the Art Show.
Wes spent Friday in Melbourne at a Rotary meeting (the ROMAC arm) with John Smith and others at the Athenaeum Club. John had been worried that Warren wouldn’t wear a tie, so he dressed up beautifully in his best suit, lilac tie and had a haircut from Vince at Vince & Dom in Little Bourke Street, before he arrived! I expect John was much relieved. That afternoon Michael picked me up and we drove to Ballan, and caught the train to Melbourne for dinner at “Spicy Fish” followed by Collingwood & St Kilda at Docklands Stadium. We had a very yummy dinner, even if Michael’s chilli tolerance was tested (sorry), enjoyed walking along Little Bourke Street and noticing the way the various laneways came alive at night. Michael was especially taken with Hardware Lane. We had great seats at the footy, on the wing, 4 rows from the front and we were surrounded by some vehement Pies supporters and some very mild-mannered Saints fans. St Kilda put us under enormous pressure and it was a most exciting game, which could have been much closer if their players had been able to make good decisions when they got close to goal. We stayed until the end and then caught the footy train home.
I woke on Saturday with a burst blood vessel under my eye and the beginnings of a head cold, so spent the day in bed, which seemed the most sensible thing to do. Wes made scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast and I had made a batch of minestrone soup the day before, so there was no shortage of food. I did crosswords, watched ‘Letters & Numbers’ episodes to catch up and watched the Carlton & Freo game which was shown live. Carlton won easily even though they were wearing their pale blue jumper which I don’t like. Wes does like it and he barracks for them! That night he went to a fund-raising cocktail party at The Raglan, where Lady So & So likened Daylesford to a ‘Hill Station’!
(Spicy Fish Feast^)
Yesterday I felt much better, walked the boys early, took them to the Sunday Market, had fun at breakfast and then drove to Melbourne and back. I was so tired when I got home that I went to bed again and watched the very exciting win by Richmond over the Swans, followed by Geelong’s close call with Adelaide and had another good night’s sleep.
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