Daylesford Dispatch - Friday, 17th August 2012

Dear Friends, today we finally had some snow – not quite as grand as this photo, but snow nevertheless, which makes all this cold weather worthwhile. Lovely heard it was snowing in Daylesford & rang to check it out, so that was a good bonus.

I had another good trip to Sydney, thanks to Jane & David, & Terry who came up with the best line of the weekend while we were at lunch on Sunday. It was cold, wet and windy in Sydney, so after Jane collected me on Friday afternoon, we drove to Cremorne to see The Sapphires, which is a delightful little Australian film. Don’t miss it – great writing, acting & singing & it’s true! That night, Jane’s best friend, Annette, joined us for takeaway Thai at home, as it was too cold & wet to go out anywhere. We watched the exciting Geelong & West Coast game & Jane managed to fall asleep 5 minutes before the end, which means she missed an amazing finish (dare I say it – yet again).

1994 – 4 Pies fans – Shar, Gayle, Karen & Jane

On Saturday, while David slept in, she & I went for breakfast & a short stroll around the shops, before retreating back home to the warmth. I spent the afternoon watching live footy until it was time to go to our big game. I had used my Melbourne Cricket Club membership to get reciprocal rights at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, and once we found the right ticket box, we headed in to look for our seats on Level 6. This took some doing as the standard of assistance at this Stadium ranges from indifferent to super-helpful, but you have to search long & hard to find the super-helpful. Our seats were up high, but on the wing and completely under cover, with no hope of the swirling wind & rain reaching us.

We were able to use the Members’ lounge and avail ourselves of fast food in comfy chairs with lots of other MCC & Stadium members. The game was like a final and I really expected the Swans to win, especially once we lost Daisy early on in the game. Somehow or other we wrested back the lead and held on during a tough last quarter to win. Jane was very disappointed as she had hoped for a win as well. But she is a very good person to be with at the footy and a very fair supporter, happy to applaud good play on both sides (as am I).

On Sunday, we had a quiet morning, then Terry arrived and we went to Chowder Bay for lunch at Ripples restaurant, which has stunning views if you are sitting outside. We opted for inside, which was marginally warmer. When I explained to the other three that this was my treat, Terry asked why stop there? And I haven’t answered him yet!!

David very kindly drove me to the airport on Monday morning, just as the sun decided to show itself in Sydney again and I had my second delayed flight for the trip. The flight there was kept on the ground for nearly an hour while some part in the door was replaced and this time the luggage containers wouldn’t load properly. However, my bag arrived safely and Wes was there to greet me, which was lovely. After he had dropped me off on the previous Friday, he had met Tom for a long catch-up lunch at the Kent Hotel, while the boys demolished a huge marrow bone and didn’t miss either of us.

I spent the rest of the day washing & ironing etc., while he went across the road to Barbara’s to interview Danny Spooner (pictured) for Hepburn Voices. After two hours and a bottle of red, they had barely started, but Danny is keen to become an interviewer, which is great.

We had planned to devote Tuesday to the Art Show and did – composing letters to 35 previous sponsors in the hope that they might have been pleased with the publicity they received last year and donate again this year. The next day we had a meeting of the Fund-raising section of our committee, where we discovered everyone was focussed and keen, and were all prepared to follow up on the letters. Yesterday we received an email from Fell’s Electricals donating $100 as they have for the past two years. We were so thrilled and feel all the work is paying off.

I was due to visit Viva yesterday, but the weather was atrocious, including black ice, fog & swirling rain, so we decided it would not be safe to drive. This afternoon Wes has driven to Melbourne, in better conditions, to drop some of Gillie’s eggs & a jar of O’Toole’s honey into Viva & Leanne, as well as visit Joan Testro, and finally, attend a celebration dinner of St Bernard’s Past School Captains & Vice Captains. He is hoping that Greg Delaney, who was Captain in 1966, will be there, as it is ages since they saw each other.

Wes in Sydney 1970 wearing his Charlie Brown jumper

Wes & I decided yesterday that we will forgo the double header of footy we had planned to see tomorrow. Wes is not enjoying footy this year, partly because Carlton is not playing well enough, and partly because he misses footy at Princes Park with his father, uncles and cousins. I used to envy him that he spent his childhood, teenage years and adulthood going to the footy with his father, something I would have loved to have done. The only advantage in going to the footy mostly on your own is that you don’t miss your early companions when they are no longer around. I was lucky once I was an adult to have Wes, Danny Millman, David Lazzaro, Shar & Loud Gayle as regular friends to enjoy the games with, as well as lots of other occasional companions.

Carlton is playing at 1.45pm tomorrow & Collingwood at 7.40pm that night, which leaves us with a big gap in between. Greta & Harry are using the Collingwood tickets and Ben Lazzaro is using the Carlton ones. We are looking forward to sitting down in front of the fire, with the boys at our feet, watching the action live. Wes is planning to slow cook osso buco, which will be a special treat for all three boys.

It is as wet underfoot at our place as it has ever been; the Lake can fill no more, so the pathways are all submerged; drains are all overflowing in the streets, and we are grateful that apart from a small leak in the kitchen, the house is waterproof!

I’ll leave you with some exciting news –Ben Lazzaro & his wife, Leanne, are expecting their first baby at the end of this year. Ben tells me that have had the 20 week scan & all is well and that they have chosen not to know the baby’s sex. We are so thrilled for them both.

P.S. On a sad note, Libby Edgoose emailed me to say that her father, Doug, is not well at present. We have known him forever and he has been indestructible up until now. We are thinking of all the Mathews clan – Campbell, Bob & Lib, and their families.

Daylesford Dispatch - Tuesday, 7th August 2012

Dear Friends, sorry for the long delay in sending this to you, but I suffered adversely by going to the Collingwood/St Kilda match on Saturday night – it was a great game of footy, but I got too tired with the very long day and have been in bed getting some energy back ever since. However, I am feeling much better today, so thought I should update you.

Wes has been very unwell with manflu as he is calling it, but it was much more than that. He was coming down with a cold as I flew to Sydney, and sadly it accelerated into something much worse. I don’t know how he managed, with a woolly head, to host his highly successful Carnivore lunch on the Saturday, but he did and everyone enjoyed it very much. He made everyone take home their leftovers as there was so much food, and took to bed with hot lemon drinks, cough lollies and the company of two Labradors. He tells me that Bilbo woke up each morning at 3am, checked that Wes was OK and went back to sleep again.

In the meantime I was having a lovely time in Sydney as a guest of Jane & David. We watched the Olympic Games, loved the Opening Ceremony, went for a long walk, read papers & enjoyed yummy meals cooked by Jane. On the Saturday afternoon we parked in town, then caught the train to the Showgrounds Stadium, which is a wonderful boutique arena, with helpful staff, great elevation, comfy seating and a fantastic scoreboard that tells you all you need to know about Aussie Rules, including why a free kick was paid etc. They even allow kick to kick after the game. Jane & I went out the wrong gate on the way to the station or we would have been given huge chocolate footballs to take home!

At half-time we were enjoying our crumbed whiting, when suddenly two men came and stood in front of us and stared at us. Jane looked at me and I decided it would be best to introduce her to my brother, Peter, who was at the game with a friend from work, Gary (a GWS member) and Anka’s god-daughter, Linda, and son. It was a lovely surprise to see Peter and he was looking great and so enjoying being at the footy.

Anka & Peter on Christmas Day

On Sunday, Jane had invited Terry McDonald and his ex-brother-in-law, Tim, and wife, Marjorie, to join us for lunch. We had another great meal cooked by Jane, and conversation flowed, as did the wine & beer. Wes & I are very fond of Terry and I was sorry that Wes missed out on a special time.

David Knox tucking into guinea pig!

David very kindly drove me to the airport on Monday morning, and Wes somehow got out of bed to pick me up. I arrived home, unpacked, and went shopping, as Wes had not been well enough to get to the Sunday Market let alone breakfast. We decided it would be best for me to sleep in the guest room downstairs, which I did for the next three nights, until Wes was on the mend. We cancelled or postponed everything that he was committed to doing and he stayed in bed watching the Olympics and programmes he had recorded on Austar.

On Saturday we didn’t do our usual shift on the Farmers’ Market, but dropped in at 9.30am to see how they were going and then visited the Daylesford Primary School Book Fair, where we bought 15 books for $35 – bargains each and every one! I had an interesting experience – went to the Bendigo Bank ATM to withdraw cash and was given $100 less than I should have received, as instead of 16 x $50, the ATM presented me with 13 x $50, 2 x $20 & 1 x $10. This could not be resolved by the staff members that morning, and it appears I have to go to the NAB & complete an ATM dispute resolution form before I receive my $100! The Bendigo Bank manager has just rung me to apologise for the way I was treated on Saturday, so I am feeling very reassured that I will receive my money from the NAB.

Wes had offered to drive Carol & me to the footy on Saturday night, and I decided to accept his kind offer. I was sure I could drive there, but not so sure about driving back. We would have caught the train, but there was no return train between 10.08 & 11.38pm, which means getting home around 1am. Wes rang Leon and arranged that we would pick him up as well, and that they would go the The Rose Hotel in Fitzroy, while we were at the MCG. They enjoyed a wonderful time together, and so did Carol & I, although she would have loved a St Kilda win, but took the loss very well. Her two daughters, both St Kilda supporters, and her grand-daughter, Collingwood, were all there as well, but too far away for us to be able to catch up with them.

Beautiful Collingwood supporter at her first match!

Yesterday, Wes trained two new interviewers for Hepburn Voices – friends, Gill Murray, and Meredith Borlin, who read about what he was doing in the local paper, and decided they would like to participate.

Barbara has been unwell also, so he has been making her hot lemon drinks and making sure she is warm and comfy. This morning they have driven to Ballarat for an appointment, but won’t be attempting hydrotherapy as neither of them is well enough for that yet. They had tickets for the Carlton/Sydney game on Sunday, but decided to watch it together from the comfort of her home instead, which meant that Wes coped much better with the loss.

We both have big days tomorrow with Mah Jong and an Art Show meeting for me; while Wes has a production meeting of Hepburn Voices, followed by the Art Show meeting, then a briefing before Rotary and finally a Rotary meeting honouring Paul Harris Fellows & Past Presidents. I suspect we will have a very quiet afternoon today in preparation.

Now, all being well, I am off to Sydney again on Friday for the big game between the Swans & the Pies at the Olympic Stadium with Jane, so there will be no Dispatch this weekend. I’ll get in touch as soon as I recover from my trip.

Viva is sounding very good this week, even though she & Leanne & Smokey have been without ducted heating for the past week. Their unit died and the plumber had to wait for a new unit, which he installed yesterday. We were all worried she would catch a cold, but Leanne has kept her as warm as she could with hot water bottles and a column heater and it has worked.

Lovely photo of Viva 2005

P.S. Congratulations are in order to our cousin, Bernard Saundry, who will be the CEO of Victoria Racing come December. We are all very proud of him.

Daylesford Dispatch - Friday, 27th July 2012

This is a special edition of the Dispatch to share the exciting news of the very early arrival of Rosie June Kennedy, who weighed in at 6lbs and surprised everyone, especially her grandmother, Lovely, who is on the Ghan travelling to Darwin with Malcolm.

Travis & Lozza with newly-born Rosie

I’m heading to Sydney shortly, but couldn’t resist getting in touch with you all. It’s been a good week all round as on Monday morning Wes and I finally played a game of golf at Trentham again. It was a beautiful morning with a thin layer of frost on the ground, so putting became almost impossible, but we enjoyed the walk around this lovely course and managed enough good shots to keep us going. Afterwards we visited Gracenotes Café for breakfast, where Jasmine was delighted to see me and gave us a wonderful welcome and Chris cooked a yummy breakfast.

In the afternoon John Smith picked up Wes and they met Rob McDonald & George Killingback at Sailors Falls to walk around disused mines, as part of Hepburn Voices. That night, we were both physically exhausted after our endeavours and were happy to have home-made minestrone soup for dinner and fall into bed.

Wes as interviewer for Hepburn Voices

We have been very busy with the Art Show with quite a few requests for Entry Forms including one from Peru! I have run out of posters to put up in town, so will have to run off a few more, or collect back those that haven’t been put up. Our attitude to this year’s Show is to do as much as we can beforehand so that if Chronic Fatigue sets in we won’t be in panic mode, which happened in the first year when I couldn’t get out of bed for a week before the Show & all the work piled up. We get such a buzz out of this activity and it is so very different from anything we’ve ever done before.

We were very disappointed when Cricket Australia finally released the South African tour details and we discovered the Brisbane Tests is being held on the weekend after the Show, which doesn’t allow us enough time to get all the cheques sent to Artists, thank you letters to Sponsors and the final Budget results to Rotary and the wider community. We are hoping that Jane, David, Terry & Annette will still go and we will be thinking of them.

However, last week, we also got the great news that we are confirmed for the first two Ashes Tests in England in July next year with Premium Sports Tours, the mob we have done our previous cricket tours with. We don’t want to do Barcelona and Morocco that they are offering, so we will probably travel around Scotland & England before the Tests, hook up with them, (including Jane, David & Terry), and then travel back via Iceland, which has become a must on our list of countries the more we learn about it. Hopefully there will be something for non-Puffin eaters to consume while we are there!

Also our lounge suite has been returned from Ballarat, so we are comfortable again and this time we have the addition of two ottomans, which are just the right height for resting our feet should the need arise, and also act as extra seating when we have a large group, which will happen tomorrow when Wes hosts his CARNIVORE lunch in my absence.

Viva tells me that she and Leanne have been on a shopping expedition that lasted 2.5 hours including coffee breaks – she was feeling well enough to get dressed and go out and enjoyed it enormously! While she was doing that I rang Murray Godso, a dear friend from Melbourne, who had dropped out of our lives and he was delighted to hear from me, so we are planning to catch up next time he comes to Daylesford.

Wes and Barbara drove to Melbourne to see her specialist who had some good advice for her; Wes got his photo in the local paper; all four of us turned up for Mah Jong, and Jane survived an unpleasant mouth operation and assures me she will be fine for my visit.

Yesterday it poured with rain all day – Wes & I went out for a hot drink and a catch-up chat in the morning – visited Bocconcini, which is a lovely café/deli in the main street, and bought a yummy cheese to have after dinner last night.

 We had been invited to Frank & Ellis’s 40^th Anniversary celebration drinks at 5pm last night, so we collected Carol & drove there early to get a good parking spot. Frank & Ellis have a delightful little cottage on King Street, with very little parking. They had invited about 30 friends and we enjoyed a drink and chat but left before the speeches, so we were all home at a reasonable time. Wes cooked fish with ginger & French tarragon for dinner and we did enjoy our blue camembert afterwards.

Lovely recent photo of Callum Preston & Maureen (Mo)now happily settled in Collingwood

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 22nd July 2012

It is a beautiful sunny Winter’s day here and I am looking out at Wes the gardener, finally able to get stuck into some more pruning, feeding & composting in our garden. The boys have lost interest and joined me in the study, where they are snoring their heads off after a busy morning. It was dry enough for a good walk around the Lake early, then I took them to Coles Supermarket, before we visited the Sunday Market, where they ate cabbage leaves, back home for some celery and finally off to breakfast, where they had more toast than any of us, including two pieces buttered with vegemite each!

Glenn & his daughter, Lucy, were surprise guests at breakfast – they had been camping in Sydney’s Royal National Park near Bundeena, with one of Glenn’s other daughters, Catherine, but it was too cold so he & Lucy drove back home to Daylesford yesterday. Gail had some great stories about their time in the Blue Mountains with their family & Aileen told us about her experiences during the week at Apsley, on the Wimmera Highway, near the South Australian border.

 Glenn in celebratory mode

I am planning on a fairly quiet day today – making some minestrone for dinner tonight and during the week, and some fruit salad with the wonderful Queensland strawberries that are in abundance.

 Yesterday we drove to Melbourne to visit Viva first, and had a lovely 75 minute visit, which was as much as she could cope with, then off to a double-header of footy. We parked at Docklands, caught the train at Spencer Street to Jolimont & joined 83,000 + at the MCG. By a fluke we met up with David Lazzaro & he sat with us after half-time as we had no-one in the seats next to us. Sadly for the Collingwood supporters, the Hawks were far too good & after the first couple of minutes the result was never in doubt.

We saw way too much of this!

We stayed until the end and then started to walk to Docklands, whereupon Wes suggested we just go home as I was tired and he is unimpressed with the Blues and didn’t feel the need to go to the game. We were home in time to see the exciting finish of the Suns/Lions game. The Blues played so badly in the first half that I suspect we would have left Docklands anyway then, but they rallied in the second half & overcame the Doggies to record a good win, with my least favourite Carlton player, Chris Yarran, putting in a blinder – about time!

The highlights of the week are many:

·        I spent Tuesday in Melbourne catching up with Sherryn

at 246 Brunswick Road 1997

We haven’t seen each other in months and it was so good to be together. We saw the film Hysteria, which was a bit too lightweight for us, but $10 for a film & a hot drink on a cold morning isn’t to be sneezed at!

·        We had a good morning at Mah Jong, although Carol was a scratching as she had been in Daylesford hospital with a recurring issue and was back home recuperating

·        After a lovely massage with Ann Holden on Thursday, and some shopping for Carol, I spent lunchtime with Gillie, where we shared her homemade pumpkin soup and nattered happily for ages

·        Wes has had a busy week with Hepburn Voices – he spent time with Barbara planning training, and then trained our Mayor, Sebastian Klein, who is keen to participate. He also had his photo taken for the local paper and interviewed Kyle Barnes, the photographer.

·        Barbara’s hot water service had died, so they skipped hydrotherapy on Tuesday and he gave her a shower instead once the new service was installed.

·        We were visited by Jeff Bain & Di Lyttleton, always a delight to be with them, and spent a couple of hours swapping stories.

 

·        Wes had lunch with his good friend, David Hall, who has been behind most of the big projects going on in town, such as The Arc Recreation Centre, Words in Winter, U3A etc.

Thanks to everyone who sent me a message about the Killer Labs. It was fun sharing the nonsense with you and getting your responses. I will be in Sydney next weekend with the Knoxes, so you won’t hear from me until later the following week or weekend. My main reason for the visit is to go to the new Showgrounds Stadium to see Collingwood & Greater Western Sydney, which I am doing with Jane. It will be lovely to catch up with her, David & Terry McDonald as well.

Jane, Karen, Wes & Terry last year at Terry's pub

Last year at Terry’s local – Jane, Karen, Wes & Terry

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 15th July 2012

 Dear Friends, there have been a few attacks of Killer Labs so far this week – a Killer Lab attack usually occurs when I am lying in bed and it is getting close to their dinner time with no sign of anyone cooking rice in preparation for it. It is usually preceded by excited dancing, side by side, a quick grab of one of my thongs and a leap onto the bed by Bilbo, followed by a more sedate, but very determined leap by Frodo, who pushes Bilbo out of the way and settles in on my pillows. The attack subsides once they have been fed or locked out of the bedroom. Sadly on Monday afternoon, they worked out how to open our bedroom door, so that avenue is now closed for us!

Killer Labs plotting ….

Although I had enjoyed a very quiet afternoon & evening on Sunday while Wes and Barbara were at Williamstown Little Theatre seeing The God of Carnage, I woke feeling not quite myself on Monday. Dolly Grey was due for 1,000km service that morning, so I drove over to Ballarat, but stayed put in the showroom as it was only required for 90 minutes or so. By the time I arrived back home, I was exhausted and went to bed. Wes spent the afternoon doing Hepburn Voices across the road at Barbara’s place, with an interesting interview of Rob McDonald, and then a visit to Glenn Mack. By the time he got home, the boys were locked in the laundry and he had to see for himself that they really had worked out if they threw themselves bodily at the bedroom door, it would fly open and the impetus would land them on the bed. Our friend, Carol, had her beautiful grand-daughter, Alexandra, staying with her for 24 hours & we had hoped that we could have caught up with each other & the boys, but it didn’t happen. Maybe next time.

Tuesday was grey and the rain didn’t let up, so I stayed in bed and watched two films that Wes had taped – Enid, about Enid Blyton, starring Helena Bonham Carter & Matthew Macfadyen. The acting was wonderful and the story quite frightening – Enid treated her daughters abominably and wrote for all the other children in the world. Her output was prodigious and I have read nearly everything she ever wrote as she had such a gift. The second film, with Catherine Deneuve, was called Hidden Diary and deals very well with mother-daughter relationships and our penchant to judge by what we see on the surface.

       Helena Bonham Carter & the real Enid

Wednesday found me feeling much better and before I went to Mah Jong, I printed out 82 Art Show Entry Forms and posted them. We had a good morning playing and Carol is so happy now that she has a new front tooth after maybe six weeks of waiting.

It has been too wet for golf, or gardening most of the week, so Wes has been lost in Ancestry.com, finding out all sorts of things about our forebears. Meanwhile I sent out 132 emails to Artists on Thursday and on Friday I designed Entry Passes for the Opening Night Cocktail Party. As well, I visited various places in town trying to get our posters displayed and there are only a handful of places left, apart from the Info Centre.

I mentioned on Facebook that I had really enjoyed reading a book by Ailsa Piper, Sinning Across Spain, which is the story of her 1,300 km walk from Granada to Galicia carrying a load of sins in her swag. On Friday I took it with me when I walked into town and was lucky enough to meet up with Annie Smith, who walked the Comino about 10 years ago with her husband, David. She was thrilled to have the book to read and we enjoyed a good chat and catch up over cuppas outside Gracenotes Café.

Wes & Barbara drove to Melbourne for the Carlton & North game & left at ¾ time, with Wes quite disgusted with Carlton’s lack of effort after their brilliant game last week.

We had been worried about Jan Smith who is struggling with her health at present & I sent her a message on Friday afternoon, asking if she needed help. She was at Ballarat Base Hospital on her own for a CAT scan & put me on standby in case she couldn’t drive home. Fortunately she was OK, but we decided to meet for breakfast yesterday morning and catch up. I collected her in the fog & rain & we spent an enjoyable time at Bocconcini, one of the few places open at 8.30am. The food is good & the staff is very friendly and welcoming.

Wes decided to come to the footy with me last night as I was apprehensive about driving home on my own, and we had a lovely evening, out of the wind, rain & hail, watching the Pies prevail over a very fast finishing Geelong. We drove through some dirty weather on the way home & avoided a driver who did a U-turn in front of us, unaware there was anyone else on the road. Dolly Grey took it all in her stride!

Marilyn & Robert have some exciting news with both their sons – Heath & Sarah are expecting their first baby later this year and have bought a lovely period home in Ascot Vale; and Callum & Maureen have come back from Seattle to Melbourne to live.

              Sarah & Heath                    

Robert & Marilyn in welcome home mode!

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 1st July 2012

Dear Friends, welcome to July – where is this year going? In fact, where has it gone would be a better question? We’ve had fun this week and I’d like to share some of it with you.

While Sandra cleaned our house on Monday morning, Wes took me to breakfast at Red Star Café in Hepburn. They do a good locals’ meal and we spent the time chatting about the Art Show and what we hoped to achieve during the week. Vaughan Brown was also there, and came over to chat before he went home. His wife, Sheila, is in America, helping a friend who has cancer and he is trying to sell their big home while she is away. Our talk turned to Labradors and he told us that their last dog, Daisy, particularly loved being given the cardboard inside of the toilet roll and used to run to get it whenever she heard the sound of the last piece of paper being pulled off the roll. Now I’ve had a chat with our boys and they’ve asked me not to send them to Vaughan & Sheila’s if that is the sort of entertainment they will be getting. In the afternoon, Wes interviewed Jenny Beacham again for Hepburn Voices and was very pleased with how it went.

Jenny & Eddie Beacham in typical pose

On Tuesday I drove to Castlemaine to collect a new waterproof bed for the boys as two of their beds had died simultaneously. It took them a while, but they now approve of this giant dog cushion in camouflage colours. I also dropped in to the local Auto repair shop to see if I could get a set of mats for Dolly Grey. The very helpful man there not only removed all the industrial strength staples, but helped put the mats in the car for me as well… real country service. Wes went to hydrotherapy with Barbara and we both found ourselves tired by our exertions and had an early night.

Carol (pictured above), Dot, Valerie & I all enjoyed a good fun morning playing Mah Jong on Wednesday and it was great to see the café busy. Carol decided not to stay for lunch, but she certainly lasted longer than she had been and looks much better these days. Dot bought lunch to take home to her husband, John, who is installing new bathrooms, so Valerie and I spent time together munching yummy salad rolls.

Wes had bought some flake in Ballarat the day before and he cooked it to perfection with an exciting combination of spices (dill, lemon, paprika, garlic, lime, rosemary, parsley, chilli, onion), that had been given to us by Gail for Christmas. Somehow the jar had found its way to the back of the pantry, but we rescued it and now we are addicted. In the meantime, I burnt the rice cooker (don’t ask), so that was this week’s disaster and we have replaced it with an exciting versatile cooker that will also make risotto, sear, sauté, slow cook and keep warm. I finally made my first risotto ever by using it on Friday night, while Wes wasn’t here, because if you know anything about him, you know his opinion of risotto!

As John & Jan were due home yesterday, I had bought some fruit & flowers to take the chill off their cottage, Daisy-Lea, and left all their mail for them – glad I did as they got home late on Friday. They have had a brilliant month or so and we were so pleased to see them again this morning. On Thursday I also caught up with Glenn Mack, who is looking refreshed after his lovely, wettish, two week camping trip with his friend, Denise. Afterwards, I visited Bill & Sue Longley, to replenish everyone’s supplies of lemons.

Great photo, Cox Plate 1990 – Jan, Wes, Danny & Karen all looking a little worse for wear, but what the heck!

Jan Pengilley had asked Wes to MC her Rotary Changeover Dinner on Friday night at the Old Hepburn Hotel. He drove Barbara to the function, and tells me that it was a fun, relaxed night. I am sure he did his usual excellent job as MC and involved everyone, including our young Mayor, Sebastian Klein, who was in attendance. I had spent the day working on the Art Show Entry Form, which is 5 pages long, in case you are wondering why I needed a day, and negotiating better deals on our insurances, as OAMPS is undergoing a restructure and the original quotes were horrific.

Along with lots of others I am sure, I was devastated to discover that SBS has cancelled the excellent Letters & Numbers show, which had a dedicated & loyal following. Carol alerted me to it, which was good, as I would have been even more shocked to have watched the Masters Grand Final & wondered the next night where the show had gone, as compere, Richard Morecroft, made no mention of its demise. Judi has given me an L&N book, so I will have to start playing the games in it when I need a fix.

We had a lovely time at breakfast this morning with lots of funny stories. The Harvest Café was struggling as they have lost their weekend chef & they had a new waitress doing her very first shift. Eventually we all got hot drinks & our breakfasts, although Gary’s was cold and he sent it back. Wes and I are off to lunch at Jenny & Eddie’s shortly, where we will be catching up with Candy & Hal among others.

Yesterday I drove to Melbourne in appalling weather & was delighted to find the sun shining by the time I got to Strathmore. I had a good visit with Viva and later Leanne, when she returned from shopping. Then off to the MCG, where I met up with David Lazzaro and two of his offspring, Jessica & Daniel, to watch Collingwood play lacklustre footy against Freo, but win! I’m afraid that absolutely none of David’s footy genes have passed down to Daniel as he had to be constantly reminded to watch the footy, especially when his favourite player, Daisy, had the ball, as he doesn’t seem to recognise Daisy on the field. When David himself was 5 years old, he was telling me who had the ball! I left at ¾ time to make sure I arrived home in daylight and was so pleased I had, as the rain was torrential during some of the drive. The boys were delighted to see me arrive in time to feed them dinner.

Meanwhile, Wes & Barbara, had driven to Melbourne to attend an all-day workshop on Oral History, run by the Oral History Society of Australia. I haven’t heard Barbara’s opinion, but Wes was delighted to discover how way ahead of the pack Hepburn Voices is, and how useful it was to share information & experiences with the other attendees. They also had a difficult journey home, arriving about an hour after me.

P.S. Just couldn’t resist including this photo - Danny’s family continues its impeccable tradition of memorable birthday cakes with this year’s having a Black Caviar theme.