Daylesford Dispatch - Saturday, 30th July 2011

Dear Friends, I decided to send this today as tomorrow and Monday are packed full from dawn to dusk. Firstly the news on Viva is good. She is home and being looked after well by Leanne. She was allowed home on Wednesday as planned and is starting to feel better now that she is back to her own bed, chair, cat and especially, her carer, Leanne.

It has been a week of adapting to changed circumstances – Monday night Gillie and I met Irene at the Curve Bar at the Arts Centre prior to seeing “Albert Herring” an opera by Benjamin Britten. The harpsichordist arrived 10 minutes late, which meant that we were in danger of missing the last train home after the performance. The usherettes were wonderful, moved us into aisle seats near the back, allowed us to leave by torchlight before the end and took us to the lift to get us to St Kilda Road as quickly as possible. Gillie and I just missed a train to Southern Cross, but the next one got us there in plenty of time for our train home. Wes had driven us to Ballan and collected us at 11pm which was wonderful of him. He & John Smith had been busy with an interview with Frank Page and an evening meeting of the Oral History Group both at our place.

On Tuesday, Wes went to Castlemaine with Jim Swatman to see how their Rotary Club handles an Art Show. Fortunately we are light years ahead as we are on computer, but Wes came back with a few good ideas. I spent the day designing and sending out the Invitation & Entry Form for this year’s Show. During the morning Leon Anderson rang to say he was taking Denise to the Convent Gallery for lunch for her birthday and wanted us to join them. We had a lovely lunch together, full of laughter and stories. We were lucky enough to be waited on by Tennille, who has been there for years, and she produced a candle which she put on Denise’s Florentine and we all sang to her.

Kathy, Ben & David Lazzaro Christmas 1979 @ Maloney Manor

Wes and I both felt so excited when the invitations to the Art Show finally went out and we have had some very positive responses. This year we have introduced a prize for the best 9” x 5” landscape, as well as Best in Show, Best Modern, Best Traditional and Peoples’ Prize. We hope to attract 250 entries this year, about 60 up from last year. If I remember I will attach email copies with this Dispatch, so you can send them on to anyone you think may be interested.

I spent Wednesday in Melbourne, firstly at the hospital with Viva waiting for her to be discharged. Sadly that was badly handled, as I arrived at 11am to find someone on a stretcher in the corridor outside her room, waiting for her to move out. Viva was just out of the shower and sitting in great confusion as a bevy of nurses cleaned out her cupboards into a big bag, sprayed and cleaned everywhere and hurried her out of the room so the new patient could be accommodated. We ended up spending 2 hours sitting in a corridor before a nurse came along and asked us to sign discharge papers. We refused as Viva had not been seen by the doctor, so that brought action and finally at 1.10pm she was put into an ambulance and taken home. The ambulance got lost and took 30 minutes to do a 15 minute trip, so I was there with Leanne when they finally arrived.

Instead of being pleased to be home, Viva was quite distressed and disoriented and we discovered after a while that the nurses had forgotten to send home Webster packs of medication that she needed. After giving us yummy homemade soup for lunch, Leanne went to the pharmacy to get it organised there and the hospital rang while she was out to say that we could collect some packs from them. I did that trip, so that Leanne could put Viva into bed. By the time I got back home it was too late to go to Rotary and I missed a good talk by Carmel Thannhauser, who is a current Rotary member and also President of St Vincent de Paul Society locally. She and her husband, Paul, organise a local food bank, and try to help 50 homeless people in our shire every night.

The next day Wes and Barbara went to Coles to do a big supermarket shop and later had lunch at Café 3460. Judi and I had arranged to meet at ‘Wombat Hill House’, the new café in the Botanical Gardens. We were very impressed with what Alla has done to the old house and kiosk. We were able to sit outside, protected by glass and warmed by outdoor heaters. There is lots of indoor seating and the back garden is full of raised vegetable beds with tables dotted in and around them. It seemed like ages since we had spent time together and we had lots to talk about.

Mike Jordan, Gerard Lazzaro, David Castles, Barb Jordan (Coish), Tom Tyrrell – Christmas 78

Yesterday Wes & I had planned to drive to Melbourne in the afternoon to see Carlton and North play at Docklands; however Viva rang early in the morning to say they needed some help, so we dropped everything and drove there. We were able to give Leanne a break, as well as share some funny stories and talk seriously about how things were going. We were too tired afterwards to go to the footy so drove home here instead and had a quiet night watching and then listening to the Blues overcome the Kangaroos in the second half.

This morning Viva rang to say things were much better and there was no need for us to come back today. However, I will drop in for a visit tomorrow between breakfast and the Collingwood & Essendon game, which will give Leanne another break. I’ve spoken to both Peter and Paun so they are aware of the situation. We are sure that everything is going to be fine, but can only hope that Viva and Leanne will ask for help if it is needed.

Tonight Judi is coming to dinner – we are having a whole trevally cooked Greek-style with breadcrumbs and cherry tomatoes. Judi is on her own for a week or so while Michael is in Sydney and we thought she would enjoy a meal with us, even if she is a guinea-pig with this particular dish.

I forgot to tell you in the last Dispatch that Woody has finally been put to sleep. He was 13 ½ years old, which is fantastic for an Irish Water Spaniel. Annie has been very upset of course, but is going to see a 4 year old IWS on Monday morning and if they both like each other, she will bring him home. I have an invitation to pop in on Monday afternoon to meet him or give her some support if she has come home without him.

As part of my little historical pieces, I thought I should talk about our fruit shop “Tonnas” with no apostrophe of course; they are for plural fruit and vegetables! When we first moved here, Tonnas was in a tiny shop in the main street, where you tripped over boxes and other customers while trying to make your selections to take to Mary Tonna at the cash register. The rent was put up at that shop so Mary moved her family business out and while they waited for the perfect new site, they set up shop in the vacant block of land next to the Library. This was a cold, windy spot, but those of us who wanted them to survive made sure we continued to support them until they were able to move in the large building next to the BP Service Station. This factory sized block had been a depot for bulk pet food, straw bales and stock feed.                                                    

Woody 2003               

Tonnas took over and slowly but surely have turned their little fruit shop into a much bigger business, encompassing fruit, vegetables, dairy products, herbs & spices, Asian & Indian foods, fresh & dried pasta, legume, nuts & nibbles, as well as local breads, mineral waters & flowers. Mary is very rarely seen as David & Danielle and their siblings and other employees keep it ticking over. They will try to get anything you ask for and it becomes your first port of call when planning a dinner party. It’s not quite the “Mediterranean Wholesalers” in Brunswick, but it isn’t bad. Aren’t we lucky?

Mate & Wes popping corks at Maloney Manor Christmas 78 

Thanks again to everyone who has been so supportive of me during Viva’s time in hospital – it is much appreciated – all the text messages, Skype messages and emails to me have been wonderful. As well, Viva appreciated the cards she was sent and we both are very grateful to Loud Gayle, who rang Leanne three times during the five weeks to give her support and comfort. I’ll be in touch again with you all next weekend, hopefully on Sunday! Enjoy your week.

Daylesford Dispatch - Monday, 25th July, 2011

Dear Friends, we’ve lived through some cold, wet, windy days here lately and I for one am very glad that Winter is half over as it has been here with a vengeance. It does mean the occasional lazy day sitting in front of the fire, but we both have too much computer work to be able to do that as much as we would like. Wes in particular is waking at 3.30-4am and goes downstairs to make sure that whatever thoughts he has had during the night are committed to the computer.

On Monday, we attended the official opening of the Daylesford Men’s Shed by our local MLA, Geoff Howard. The Shed has been built with grants from the Shire, donations from Rotary and a legacy in Klaas Kimstra’s will. The opening was very well-attended and impressive – I think Men’s Sheds are a brilliant concept and the members of our local Shed are keen to give as much back to the community as they can. I spent the afternoon designing the Entry Form for this year’s Rotary Art Show, building on the great work Wes did last year.

On Tuesday, after Strong Class, I drove through rain, wind and fog to visit Viva in sunny Melbourne where I was delighted to see that she had improved enormously and was looking much more like her usual self – a better colour, stronger and determined to get home ASAP. The pneumonia has left her lungs and settled in her chest, which means she will be coughing for quite a few weeks, but the doctors don’t expect the pneumonia to go back into her lungs again – at least not this Winter.

While I was away Wes and John Smith did an oral history interview with David Hall and there is so much material they will have to come back again for Part II. We watched ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’ over dinner. If you don’t know the film it is a sympathetic look at Republicans in early 20th century Ireland, and two brothers who are torn apart by anti-Brit rebellion and is directed by Ken Loach.

Wednesday was particularly windy and I was pleased not to be driving anywhere. Gillie arrived home today, so I put her mail in a big cardboard box, bought some jonquils and put them in a vase and left everything at her back door. She was planning on staying awake all day, but confessed over Skype that it was just too difficult to achieve. Wes and I spent most of the day sitting at our computers getting ready for the Arts Show meeting, with the boys snoring gently on their bed. I got them new pillows from the MS Shop, as they had destroyed their last lot from Barbara and they are delighted with them and snuggled in very happily.

Wes was the Guest Speaker at Rotary that night and asked for a commitment from the Club to make this Art Show a big success by building on all we had achieved last year. At our Committee meeting the following afternoon it became apparent that we have some great willing workers but we are all going to be very busy between now and Cup weekend.

I drove to Melbourne again on Thursday morning to visit Viva, then back here in time for the Arts Show meeting. That night we had dinner at the long table at the Farmers Arms to celebrate Gillie’s return home. It was a lovely evening and Wes decided on the spur of the moment to increase his dinner guests on Saturday night from one to whoever wanted to join him and Barbara as they watched the Carlton vs Essendon game.

Friday morning we were up early as I had managed to get a late package to see the Pies play the Gold Coast Suns on the Saturday night. Wes drove me to the airport, where I checked in to Virgin Blue, my first trip ever with them. Gail and Terry had raved about them and I was pleasantly surprised by 4 main things:

1.    The friendliness of the staff

2.    The description of passengers as ‘guests’

3.    The ability to board front or rear of the plane, and

4.    The willingness of the crew to completely clean up the cabin at the end of the flight which allows for a very speedy turnaround.

Gail had alleged that Virgin was always on time, but I arrived to find 4 delayed flights to the Gold Coast, but fortunately not my flight. Even the players had to change planes and we flew off before they did. Our flight included the injured and naughty Collingwood players – Beams, Dawes, Didak, Wellingham and Shaw. It was a lovely new plane, very comfortable and my only other surprise was to discover you had to buy your meals. That was all handled well and I had a less than ‘gourmet’ sandwich, but a lovely cup of tea for the princely sum of $12.

My package was through the AFL and I was most impressed with their organisation as I was met by two smiling faces at Coolangatta, ushered onto a bus and driven to Surfers Paradise along with 36 others from that flight. All in all, 7,000 Collingwood supporters made the trip, which must have injected heaps into the local economy. My hotel, Mantra Legends, was comfortable, with a flat-screen TV and kitchenette. I went for a long walk in the afternoon and decided that I would eat in as all the restaurants seemed to be offering ‘All You Can Eat’ deals and Room Service was very basic. Originally I had planned to have dinner with Lawrie Townsend, physio, whose practices I managed in the early 80s, but Lawrie thought I was staying in Brisbane and couldn’t face the drive in peak hour on Friday night.

The next morning I went for another long walk before Michael and Linda Kirby picked me up and we drove to Southport for a long leisurely breakfast together, which was most enjoyable. Linda had booked a table at the Surf Club with uninterrupted views of the water. Thank you both again for making the time in a busy weekend to catch up as it was just lovely. As well Linda introduced me to Viber, which is a phone & text message service that you can download to i-phones or Android phones. If you are texting someone who is also on Viber, the text is free, ditto phone calls. When I downloaded it, which took no time at all, I discovered eight friends were already using the service. It is similar to Skype but not as sophisticated and not available on your computer. To download it go to www.viber.com

I spent most of the rest of the day walking, did about 20kms according to the road signs as I walked from Southport to Broadbeach and back to Surfers. It was lovely to walk and have the sun on my face although the temperature never got above a very comfortable 18°. In the meantime Wes was having a wonderful day as he, his three nephews, and John’s son Kyahl, all met at Royal Park to play golf in memory of Wes’s father, Ray, who died 10 years ago that day. John drove from Cohuna to Daylesford and went with Wes, Shaun took photos and put them straight up on Facebook, Leon had organised it and Kyahl was the surprise. They chatted about Ray and remembered his good advice, his love and care and his little routines, which they all experienced as all three of Denise’s boys lived with Ray at some stage in their teenage lives.

That night Wes cooked his famous lamb with garlic and rosemary and lots of roast vegetables for Barbara, Gillie, John & Jan Smith, who all contributed food as well. It was such a shame that Gail & Terry decided to stay home to watch the Rugby League, as they would have enjoyed the night and their needs would have been accommodated occasionally I am sure. Wes tells me that TV flicked between the Carlton and Collingwood games and the Rugby Union match. Meanwhile I watched some of the Swans/Doggies match before joining the rest of my contingent down in the bar for drinks, nibbles and a chat from Tony Shaw, before piling into 4 buses and heading to the ground.

My seat was nearly the very back row, but the view is similar to being in the back row on Level 3 at the MCG. It was in a pocket which is not my preference but I could see to the other end of the ground. There was a good atmosphere with lots of committed Suns supporters, heaps of Pies and their best crowd ever of 23,000+. Sadly the game never reached any great heights, not like the Carlton match which was an arm wrestle until half-time when the Blues powered away and we did not have a mark to rival Andrew Walker’s Mark of the Year which was a beauty. We were back at our hotel before 11pm and most people, including the footballers, watched Cadel Evans until they couldn’t stay awake anymore and discovered his win in the morning.

I set off again on a good walk early then found a lovely cafe called ‘First Avenue’ where I had smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with a pot of tea and thought about my friends in Daylesford being spoilt by Kim at Café 3460. After another walk it was time to head to the airport for the flight home, which left late but arrived on time. Wes was waiting for me and we drove straight to visit Viva, who didn’t seem as good as she had been, but she may have been tired, as the days are long and I have never seen her that late in the day. Back home here after a hairy drive through fog, rain and an errant kangaroo in Muskvale and we settled down to a quiet night of vegetables that Wes cooked and watched the latest ‘Hustle’, which we are both enjoying very much.

This morning I have had a massage as Ann was unable to accommodate me at my usual time tomorrow. She was impressed with my energy levels and thinks the few hours in the sun and all the walking has done wonders. Wes is out interviewing David Hall again with John Smith, and later this afternoon he will drive Gillie and I to Ballan Station as we are seeing the Britten opera ‘Albert Herring’ at 6.30pm tonight. He is then hosting a meeting of ‘Hepburn Voices’ and will pick us up when we get back to Ballan.

Viva, Perc, Ben, Ged and Wes at a cricket match 1981

Viva has been told she is going home on Wednesday, but it depends what the doctors say today. If she has to stay for a couple more days I will visit her tomorrow after Strong, if not I will be going down on Wednesday to help her move out of the hospital so that Leanne can be at home to welcome her when the ambulance arrives.

 

Jane as Mae West & Sherryn as the Queen late 70s

I hope to get back to a regular Dispatch again soon, but the footy beckons on Sunday, so it might be Monday of next week before I get in touch. Enjoy your week.

Daylesford Dispatch, Sunday, 17th July 2011

Dear Friends, thanks again for all the good wishes for Viva’s speedy recovery.

I left you last week with the big day of back-to-back footy games post breakfast. Rhonda joined us at Café 3460 and we caught up on her recent Fiji trip as well as enjoying some spirited discussion about Art Galleries pursuant to Wes and Glenn’s trip the day before to Healesville to see the Archibald paintings. We decided to drive to Docklands, park the car at our usual spot ($8 instead of $20 because we were early) and catch the train to the MCG. We did that, got to our seats which were half in and half out of the rain, and watched the Pies annihilate North by nearly 20 goals, which was very disappointing for all their supporters.

Then onto the train back to Spencer Street and into Docklands where we had good seats near the action and the roof was closed, so the rain wasn’t an issue. It was a very exciting and tense game, worthy of a Final, and when Carlton pulled away in the second quarter it looked all over. Amazingly the Doggies clawed their way back and managed to win. We left just before the end and got a good run home where the boys were very pleased to see us.

On Monday I drove to Melbourne to visit Viva who looks better each time I see her. She had really enjoyed Peter’s visit, but was longing to get home instead of wasting her days sitting around for hours on end with physio and meals her only interruptions. We had a good chat and after getting her settled with lunch I drove back here again. Wes had a ROMAC meeting with John Smith, so I made minestrone for dinner and we caught up on episodes of Taggart.

No golf again this week as it has been raining every morning. Wes has been putting in long hours at the computer, busy with all his projects, both personal and Rotary. I had a cuppa at Gracenotes Café with Sheila Hollingworth during the morning as she and her sister, Liz, left for overseas for 7 weeks yesterday. She and her husband, Vaughan, had to put down their much-loved Labrador, Daisy, unexpectedly a few weeks ago, so I took the boys with me to give her a Labrador fix!

In the afternoon I had a salt scrub with Ann, which was absolutely delightful. I came home feeling as though my whole body was soft and smooth and slept very well as a result. We watched episodes of ‘Kingdom’, with Stephen Fry, that we are really enjoying, over dinner last night.

On Wednesday the boys missed out on a walk as it was quite wet early, but the rain moved away in time for me to walk to Mah Jong. Wes had a busy morning on the computer while Carol, Dot, Valerie and I shared the Mah Jongs evenly for a change. Valerie drove me home as it was raining and I was able to give her some books to read. Then I had a manicure with Michelle, who now lives in the next street. By the time Rotary was due, I was back in bed, nearly asleep, so Wes went on his own and the boys and I had an early night.

We spent a most enjoyable day together in Melbourne on Thursday – I drove to the hospital (and Wes drove home) to see Viva, where we had a good visit and left her dipping into her lunch delights. We then drove to Malvern to visit Joan Testro, who was thrilled to see us both and entertained us regally. She has been in assisted accommodation for some time and was to go home on Friday, with the help of Lexie, who is moving in for a while, and Mandy, who is moving heaven and earth to make life at home easier for her. We were about to drive back here, when we realised we had 2 tickets to see ‘The Trip’, so drove to the Nova and duly saw it. We are so pleased we did – it is a good celebration of blokes out together, and although, we don’t know the two main characters, they were both most interesting and provided quite an intellectual challenge with their impersonations and poetry. Do see it if you get a chance. The boys were delighted to see us arrive home and we were all in bed early after a quick, late dinner.

 Friday was quiet – we were pleased to have no appointments apart from Wes’s early morning walk with Judi and the dogs, and I washed the cars, did the ironing, some gardening, computer work and crosswords, while he continued with all his projects.

It seems like a good time to continue with my chat about changes – one is going to happen shortly in our little bit of Duke Street – my masseuse, Ann Holden, is moving to West Street. Her daughter and son-in-law have bought a holiday home there and it was chosen with her in mind, as it has a detached studio on the block, which will enable her to work from there and will offer a much nicer environment than she currently has. The only drawback is that I will have to drive, but that is counterbalanced for Judi as Ann is now within walking distance of her.

When we first moved here, there were very few homes, holiday or otherwise, between us and the Lake. Now even the smallest block of land has a couple of places on it and the older houses in King Street immediately in front of us are all being modernised and put on the short-term accommodation market. Our neighbours, Geoff and Dorothy Bracher have moved to Ballarat and their home on the corner of King and Houston has been sold. Wonder what will happen there? As well, the Lake House is a much bigger complex than when we arrived. Alla and Alan have built waterfront suites, a conference/wedding centre and a day spa. The downside is that non-residents are no longer welcome for breakfast, morning or afternoon teas or just a drink on the veranda. We can still go to lunch or dinner of course. Alla is busy putting the finishing touches to her latest project in the Botanical Gardens – Wombat Hill House, which will be a café and store. Some years ago, Allan, Alla and their daughter, Larissa, moved up to live on Cornish Hill, which gives them a little distance from all their projects.

Yesterday Wes had a breakfast meeting with Ivor Bowen re Hepburn Voices, then went to visit Carol Bruce to set up our laptop for her to use while her computer is being repaired. Meanwhile I drove to Melbourne and had a good visit with Viva, who is recovering slowly but surely. I parked at Danny’s place in Northcote and caught the train to the MCG where I spent the afternoon with Matthew Spiteri, which was lovely. The match was terrific and Carlton played very well considering their injuries. Collingwood had been in the news for all the wrong reasons with Heath Shaw’s suspension for betting on footy and I thought we might not play well enough to beat Carlton as a result. There were 85,000+ at the game which was televised live, so Wes and Barbara watched it together at her place.

That night I went back to Danny’s where Greta, Harry and Celia had been watching the game, and then we went out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant in Preston. Celia had to go home, but it was lovely to catch up with the other three and hear all about Danny’s 60^th birthday party.

 

This morning I left Northcote at 7am and drove back here to mist and rain and a good welcome from my three boys. We have just returned from breakfast at Café 3460, where eight of us enjoyed Kim’s treats, Gail’s conversation and some funny stories from our hospital visits. I think it will be a very quiet day for me reading the papers and listening to footy. The boys are asleep at our feet and very happy to be there, even though they missed out on their toast this morning, as it was too wet to take them to the Café.

Daylesford Dispatch, Saturday, 9th July 2011

Dear Friends, thank you all so much for your concern about Viva and for all your messages of support. I am most appreciative and so is she. She is now at Brunswick Private Hospital starting rehab with a view to getting back home and a normal life again. She told me yesterday that ‘pneumonia is for the birds and she won’t be having that again’, which I took as a very good sign.

Last Sunday we had a very lavish breakfast from Kim with three different kinds of sausage, eggs two ways, enough pikelets to use up all the maple syrup and plenty of good conversations to go with it all. He had some new posters in the breakfast room and Jan Smith promptly fell in love with and bought two on the spot. I was sorry to leave early, but it had been a hectic morning walking the boys in the rain, going to the Sunday Market in the rain and now I was off to Melbourne to visit Viva before heading to the footy. I took toast home to Bilbo and Frodo, which pleased them very much, changed into dry clothes and set off in pouring rain and strong winds which didn’t abate until Melton.

I had a good visit with Viva before driving to the MCG and getting caught in road-works, which added to the stress levels. I parked at the Hyatt, then walked to the ground and got a good seat undercover in the MCC right on the wing. I had given my reserved seats to Greta and Harry. Loud Gayle and I caught up for a few minutes and she told me she was seeing her specialist the next day. The postscript to the visit is that he whipped her into hospital the next morning and removed everything that her body was rejecting and she is back home and feeling wonderful, although I think she is sick to death of having her skull shaved on one side and having to find new and stylish ways of wearing her hair and hats to hide it.

Danny Millman’s cake – ‘Turning 60 is a Cakewalk’ he says!

The footy was good and all the Collingwood supporters were delighted to beat Hawthorn as we had not expected to win, even though they had lots of injuries. They usually have the wood on us and the crowd of 84,000 expected a closer game than eventuated. I decided to leave at ¾ time and get home before the dark if I could. Wes and Barbara, Judi and Michael had all travelled to Williamstown to see ‘Come Back to the Five and Dime Jimmy Dean’, which I remember seeing years ago. When Wes arrived back home he said they had all enjoyed it and had a fun meal together afterwards.

Monday was Barbara’s birthday, so Wes took her, Jan Smith and Gail White to lunch at ‘Gracenotes Café’ as her birthday treat. I spent most of the day being asthmatic as it was very cold and wet, and there was no chance of golf this week – yet again. On Tuesday I drove to Melbourne again in pouring rain and very strong winds, where I met up with Leanne and Paun, who were also visiting and we spent a great 2½ hours together, which delighted Viva, as she couldn’t remember the last time all four girls had been in the one room. She was looking better and both Leanne and Paun were full of stories and providing lots of laughs. In the meantime Wes had lunch back at ‘Gracenotes’ with Frank Page and I noticed they were still there when I got back to town, so I popped in for some warming soup. Wes was then joined by John Goullet who wants him to help out by chairing a meeting and I left them to it and came home to the warmth of the boys.

Wes had a very busy day on Wednesday, so after walking Bilbo and Frodo, he and John Smith went to Cricket Willow to continue interviewing Ian Tinetti for ‘Hepburn Voices’, then was to meet with Jeff Bain to discuss some legal issues, but they had been sent the wrong papers, so he and John were sprung in ‘Cafe 3460’ having raisin toast. There was no ‘Mah Jong’ so Judi and I took the opportunity to spend a couple of hours in that same Café catching up with each other, which was a lovely thing to do.

1987 – Jessie Saundry with Samuel Snugglepot II – a pair of cuties!

I went home to make soup and curry from one of Glenn’s very welcome pumpkins, while Wes drove to South Melbourne to attend a Rotary Meeting of ROMAC (Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children) with John Smith, who has been very involved for years. Then he visited Viva armed with lots of stories, before attending the opening of an Art Exhibition we had been invited to by Freda Goldberg, a friend from long ago, who found us through Facebook.

On Thursday I went to the U3A Morning Tea at 3460, and then drove to Ballarat where I had an appointment with Sarah for some well overdue tidying up and facial. I went a bit early to pick up bones for the boys and to buy some ‘warm’ jeans and jacket at ‘Snowgum’. I got home just before everyone arrived for a Daylesford Rotary Art Show meeting at our place. It was a great meeting, Wes and I had both put quite a bit of work into it as had Roger Roberts, who wants to design a new, enduring logo.

After they left, Wes invited me to dinner, which I accepted with alacrity and we had an early, lovely meal at ‘Gracenotes’ sitting in front of their open fire and enjoying Chris and April’s great cooking. Most of the other guests were locals including Peter and Cathy, so it was just the right atmosphere for catching up on each other and discussing the Art Show.

Yesterday I drove in the morning to see Viva in rehab, where she is very comfortable and being well-looked after. My brother, Peter, is spending the day in Melbourne, so she is very excited to be catching up with him, which will take her mind off the dreaded rehab exercises! Wes spent the morning getting the Rotary Bulletin done, then slept all afternoon as he has been getting up early each morning to keep abreast of his workload. Last night was a fun Rotary night on the local train which goes to Musk and back. I was so tired by 6pm that I decided to go to bed instead and missed a good evening, but caught up on sleep myself as well as seeing West Coast beat Geelong in an exciting game.

Lovely photo of Shar and Gayle in 1998

Today Wes and Glenn have driven to Healesville to look at the Art Shows on there, while I have sent off the Rotary Bulletin, handled lots of emails and am hoping to get to see Daylesford play at Victoria Park this afternoon. It is 7° and the wind is blowing, so it will need to get a bit better for me to risk pneumonia myself today. Tomorrow after breakfast we have a full day of footy as Collingwood has the early game against North at the MCG, followed by Carlton & the Bulldogs at Docklands. I have some very big bones to give the boys to keep them amused until we get home around 9pm.

Daylesford Dispatch - Saturday, 2nd July 2011

Dear Friends, what a week we have all had. Wes and I set off for Sydney last Friday only to discover on arrival that Viva had been taken to hospital with pneumonia. We had been met by Jane Knox, such a lovely surprise, and after deciding we would stay for the weekend, we were driven to our hotel in record time. Jane went back to work; we took deep breaths, and went for a walk to Circular Quay. We had a glass of wine at the Oyster Bar and then went to see “Oranges and Sunshine”, which was a very interesting film with some great acting performances, especially by Hugo Weaving. Kathy & Ged had recommended the film – thank you. Our only criticism would be that it is rather one-sided in its view.

That night, Wes caught the bus to the North Annandale pub to meet up with Terry McDonald, while I decided to have a quiet night in the hotel with room service watching Essendon and Hawthorn live on TV. Wes had a great night, and was delighted to have finally been to the pub and met some of Terry’s friends.

Jane, Karen, Wes & Terry at the North Annandale where the AFL was on TV

The next day we kept in constant contact with Leanne and Peter. Jane collected us and we drove to Darling Harbour where we met David and Terry for breakfast before David went to work at Fairfax, which is a short walk away. The restaurant was forgettable, but we had a lovely time catching up. We then went for a long walk along the promenade and Terry showed us the Immigration Wall where his grandfather and father are listed. I had a chance to ring and speak with Viva and she sounded good, although a little worried that she was unwell enough to be in hospital.

Terry at the Maritime Museum Migration Wall

Jane then drove us via our hotel, to Terry’s home, where he picked up his ticket to the footy and then took us for a drink at the North Annandale pub. Now we’ve all been there. Jane even found a friend, Paul, which impressed Terry a lot. We still had a couple of hours before we needed to go to the footy, so decided to see the Archibald Exhibition. We didn’t agree with the Margaret Olley painting as winner, much preferred the People’s Choice of J M Coetzee. I loved the painting of “DA”; the much-hated compiler of Saturday’s cryptic, now getting a whole new audience in “Letters and Numbers”

We parked at Jane’s Chambers, and then caught the train to the Olympic Stadium, where the Swans played like men possessed and the Magpies were lucky to get away with a one goal win. Home on the train – the public transport is so well done here for the footy and your ticket entitles you to free trains or buses to the ground, and we sat in the bar at the Sir Stamford over a couple of nightcaps.

On Sunday morning, we were met by John Macaulay and his wife, Laura Vazquez Maggio, and we walked to Circular Quay for breakfast at the Oyster Bar. John was a Rotary Exchange student back in Brunswick Rotary days and Wes and I have always been very fond of him. It was a fight to get a young boy from a low-income family in Kyneton (John at 16 had left home and was living in Brunswick) to be accepted, but he was and went on a life-changing trip to Brazil. John picked up the bill in one of the smoothest actions we have ever seen – you have to be quick to beat Wes to the punch and John won hands down. His wife, Laura, is wonderful and we enjoyed catching up on each other’s lives and sharing their obvious happiness.

John & Laura on their wedding day last year

When we got to the airport we tried to get an earlier flight, but Tiger Airlines had cancelled all their flights that day and Qantas was overbooked everywhere. We eventually arrived in Melbourne and set off for the hospital. We discovered that Carlton was losing to West Coast, much to Wes’s dismay. Leanne had warned us that Viva was confused and we found that was the case when we visited. She was OK half the time and we had a good chat and were pleased to see she was being looked after so well.

The next day I collected Bilbo and Frodo from Ballarat as Wes and Barbara were off for a “Hepburn Voices” meeting at Café 3460. Kim was in big trouble as we had read that he provided lamb cutlets with quince paste as part of the breakfast palette on Sunday, when Wes wasn’t there to appreciate them!

On Tuesday morning I drove to Melbourne to visit Viva. She was not at all well and it was an upsetting visit, but Leanne had prepared me. The hospital decided to move her closer to the nurses’ station and I begged them to do it quickly, which they did. That afternoon I had a massage and treatment with Ann to help improve my energy levels and I think it is working!

It was wonderful to play Mah Jong with Carol, Dot and Valerie on Wednesday morning. Wes and Barbara had another “Hepburn Voices” interview so we were ships passing in the night that day. Leanne rang to say she thought Viva was on the improve, which was very reassuring. We visited again on Thursday and found her much improved. Wes had lots of family history stories and I brought her a small box of pink gerberas as there is no space for flowers, but I thought she would enjoy looking at them for as long as they survived.

Yesterday Nicole gave me an overdue fringe cut and henna, while Wes spent time with David Hall, in between preparing for his role of MC at last night’s Rotary Changeover dinner at the Daylesford Inn. There were 90 in attendance and Wes did a great job as there are always lots of egos to be massaged at these events. Lesley Baragwanath was presented with an Award for the huge membership increase in our Club during her year. She has done a great job getting 15 new members and only losing 4.

Our new President, Jim Swatman, is an Irishman with a wonderful sense of humour and we are looking forward to a fun year under his leadership. Wes and I are back to doing the Bulletin and Wes got up very early this morning to get it done. I walked the boys for the first time in six weeks to give him more time as we were then on the gates of the Farmers Market until 10.45am. It was a great morning – Jim turned up, as well as Garry, Carmel, John and Fred and the Lake House had a party of 120 visitors who had won a competition – that really swelled the numbers, and when the sun came out, people poured in. We had a quick cuppa together to warm up in front of the fire at “Gracenotes Café” before Wes got changed, collected Barbara and drove to Melbourne for the footy. He is having a very relaxing afternoon as Carlton is ahead by over 100 points.

I have proofed the Bulletin, cooked two separate meals for our dinner tonight, baked a cake, written the Dispatch and am about to tackle a mountain of ironing. Tomorrow I will leave breakfast early to visit Viva and then go to the MCG to see Collingwood take on Hawthorn in a danger game for us. My sister, Paun, has arrived from Tathra and Viva and Leanne are both delighted to see her. Peter has the flu and will fly down from Canberra as soon as he recovers. Wes, Barbara, Judi and Michael are off to the Williamstown Little Theatre for a play in the afternoon, so the boys will have plenty of time on their hands to get up to mischief!

Squiz in 1978 at Paul Danaher’s Tie Burning – hope he still has the hat!