Dear Friends, I am very sorry it has been so long since I have written and thanks to those of you who wanted to know why. Sadly Viva was rushed to hospital last Saturday morning with pneumonia and life has been focussed on her ever since. I did tell her it was a rather drastic reaction to Collingwood’s drubbing by Carlton and she managed a weak smile. Viva, being a Queenslander by birth, has never fully embraced Aussie Rules and can at best be said to tolerate the Magpie devotion of the rest of her family.
This morning she would have received
a lovely surprise when Leanne arrived at the hospital with Paun, who is making
a three-day visit, having caught the overnight bus from Tathra. Peter is
planning on flying down next Thursday, so that will be an extra fillip for her.
She is being looked after very well and we are all feeling much more optimistic
than we were at the start of the week.
Lovely photo of Paun in Tathra in 93
We were to have hosted a lunch last
Sunday for old friends, Terry Borg, her daughter, Georgina, and her partner,
Richard, but had to cancel and drive to Melbourne instead. Terry remembers Viva
and has been most understanding.... as has everyone else, as we have had to
postpone or cancel quite a few things this week.
Sunday breakfast at Harvest Café is
going well and there were 13 of us last Sunday. Everyone there is trying their
hardest to please and we can’t ask for more than to have a room for ourselves
and a big square table so we can all see each other. Because Kim, Gary &
Aileen are part of the group instead of feeding the group, our numbers are
going to be good most weeks and I think we have 15 this Sunday.
Wes and I played golf on Monday
morning, and then I managed to come down with an instant head cold, which
threatened to become something worse, so I reluctantly cancelled even more
activities and took to bed in an effort to beat it before it took hold. Sadly
we missed a great night at the Daylesford Bowling Club. Lee, the chef, had
organised for Dane Swan & Luke Ball to come & talk and she had filled
the Club with True Believers that night. We were able to give our tickets to
Victor & Anna Szwed & they loved every minute of it. As Luke Ball was
injured, Nick Maxwell, our lovely Captain, replaced him, which was a real bonus
for everyone there.
Strong restarted this week, but I
was too asthmatic to go, and I didn’t play golf on Wednesday either. Yesterday
I went for the early morning walk with Wes and we decided I was well enough to
drive to Melbourne to visit Viva. I have had a flu injection and have my
fingers crossed that I have beaten off anything more serious than a cold.
On Tuesday the Daylesford Community
Bank finally opened with a great fanfare. Wes was MC of a function with around
180 in attendance. We have nothing but praise for the Bendigo Bank, which
started off as a building society and has never lost sight of being a
community-based bank. The Bank is housed in premises opposite the Post Office,
the Info Centre & just up from the Primary School, which is a good
position. After the opening, Wes took John Goullet & Barbara to lunch at
Gracenotes to celebrate.
It’s that beautiful
time of year again
On Wednesday Wes drove to Melbourne
to visit Viva and then spent some time with Leanne. He arrived back in time for
Rotary, which was a casual night, so he was home early. We got the Bulletin out
the next morning before I went to the hospital, and I also spent some time with
Leanne afterwards. Last night Wes took Gillie’s brother-in-law, Alex, to the
Old Hepburn Hotel, which he loved. Alex is a Pom who has lived in South Africa
for 40 years, and Wes enjoyed hearing his life story. Our friend, Ken, a North
supporter, had taken Alex to the footy last Sunday, where North unexpectedly
beat Geelong in a nail-biting match at Docklands. Alex found it easy to follow
the footy and appreciated the excitement of it all. He and Wendy, Gillie’s
sister, have been in Australia for the past 5 weeks, where he caught up with
relatives he didn’t know he had in Ballarat & an old friend from his
childhood in Brisbane.
Before Viva went to hospital, Wes
and I were still finding it hard to settle back to normal life here. We were
walking the boys and playing golf, but we couldn’t get back into proper
routines. I am finally declaring the jetlag well & truly over! We were
lucky enough to win first prize in Brian Nash’s Rotary raffle, which is a
lovely watercolour that I admired when we bought the tickets and it is hanging
in the lounge next to a large oil painting by Brian, which is set in Ireland. I
did start my massages again with Ann, which was wonderful and also managed to
catch up properly with Judi for a couple of hours at Harvest Café.
Jessica (nee Spiteri) &
Geoff Findlay who were married last Saturday
On the Thursday afternoon, we
received two unexpected visits – the first was from Gabby & young Fraser,
who were on their way to Ballarat and couldn’t drive through without stopping.
Fraser is so good with Labradors, as they look after trainee Guide Dogs most
weekends, so he lay on the floor and let the boys lick him to death. I think
all three were in heaven! Gabby was looking well and it was lovely to see her.
Along with many of our friends, she had sent Viva a card to celebrate her 90th
birthday, which was so thoughtful and much appreciated. Fraser even called her
Gran on the card. I didn’t realise until Leanne gave me the album of cards to
look at last Sunday, just how many of you had been good enough to send her a card.
I also didn’t know that Gayle had been invited to a birthday lunch and arrived with
flowers and a cake and the biggest smile possible. Leanne has some lovely photos
of a memorable day.
Our second visitors were Brian &
Roberta, who dropped in with our paintings and a big thank you for the flowers we
had given them. They are two of the most generous people we know. Brian approved
of where we were hanging our new acquisitions and he and Wes enjoyed some Irish
whiskey and a great chat, while Roberta and I were more subdued with gin &
tonics.
On the Friday Wes drove me to the
station to catch the train to Melbourne for the footy. I arrived in time to check
in my bag at Rydges hotel and then went to the Kino to see ‘The Best Exotic Marigold
Hotel’, where I spent all my time wishing Wes was there as he will love it. I
had mistakenly thought it was probably a ‘girls’ film, which it isn’t and it is
full of wonderful actors – Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy, Celia Imrie &
Tom Wilkinson, with a great support cast. Please see it if you haven’t already.
Before I went to the game, I decided
to try a new Asian cafe across the road from the hotel – Red Mansion Szechuan –
where I was greeted warmly, but struggled to find something to eat that didn’t
have meat in it. We finally arrived at chilli fish and the waitress explained it
was ‘a little bit big’, but that I could take home what I couldn’t eat. Out came
a huge soup tureen full to the brim with chilli stock and fish fillets. I ate three
fillets and brought at least 8 home for dinner on the Saturday night. When I
asked about sweets, they suggested it might be too much as the only dish on offer
was eight pumpkin cakes. To finish off my magic experience, the chef was summoned
from the kitchen to take my money – cash only, no alcohol, and no small meals suitable
for two!
The proud father, Manny, with his only daughter
Once again, thanks to everyone for
your care and concern for Viva, which is much appreciated by us all. We hope
that she continues to progress and that she will be back home again very soon,
where Leanne & Smokey look after her brilliantly.
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