Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 28th August, 2011

Dear Friends, what a wonderful week we’ve had to celebrate the end of Winter and the emergence of Spring. Sadly Wes and I have spent a good portion of it glued to our desks in preparations for the Daylesford Rotary Art Show. Last year we worked really hard to turn it from a small Lions’ event, where all records were kept in exercise books, to a computer-driven larger Rotary affair. This year our committee has been hard at work taking the next steps – designing a brand for the next 5 years; forming a marketing sub-committee that has already brought in more sponsorships than last year; we have taken control of the receipting of sponsorships so that we are making sure everyone is being invoiced, receipted and thanked; we have 6 good prizes in our raffle and the tickets are being printed; I have picked up our posters and leaflets today and printed our Award Certificates, and we have designed road signs to make sure no-one is unaware of the Show during Melbourne Cup weekend.

All these things sound simple but they take time and especially as we are trying to do them properly and provide a body of computer forms for whoever takes over from us. I have bought a programme that converts PDF into Word or almost anything else, so we are able to cope with documents that have been produced on Apple computers. This is making everything much easier. Our designers and our printing company both operate Apple, but we are strictly Word and this has caused lots of stress until last week when I tested all the free online conversion programmes and decided we would pay and get the best, which was a very wise decision.



Apart from Rotary, we went to see ‘Rising Waters’ at the MTC on Monday night with Judi & Michael, and met Ian & Robyn there. Judi & Michael enjoyed it, but the rest of us were underwhelmed and feel Tim Winton should stick to writing books and leave plays to David Williamson. The next afternoon, Wes and Barbara drove in their separate cars to Vic Roads in Ballarat to enable Barbara to reclaim her number plate “HIGHHO”, which we have been minding until she had her own car again. Wes is delighted with his new number plate “YOT 522”, which translates freely into “yacht, Judd, Nicholls, Nicholls” or if I am driving,” Maxwell, Tarrant, Tarrant”.

We managed to have two games of golf, early on Monday and Tuesday mornings. I wasn’t impressed with my form after such a long break, but as is usual, when it gets to the last hole, God takes pity on you and everything falls into place. Wes got a par on the 10^th at Trentham, so he is keen to play again, and I finally hit a little further than a short walk, so I’m keen to get back into it as well. I had a lovely massage from Ann Holden, who managed to get rid of most of the aches and pains associated with 2 games of golf and a session of Strong within 24 hours.

Valerie, Dot and I played Mah Jong, but Carol was unwell with laryngitis, and missed a fun morning. We chatted for the first hour, just catching up on each other’s news, and then took it in turns to win games, which was perfect. Wes joined Valerie and me for lunch at Café 3460. That evening was the Rotary Schools Music Night, which Wes went to – I stayed at my computer designing invoices and then printing them. He was home just after 7.30pm and said it was a most successful evening with 8 local schools in attendance.

By Thursday we were in full swing producing spreadsheets galore, chasing up information, arranging for the printing of everything and collecting an EFTPOS machine. I also got a prescription filled for Carol and dropped it in as well as some lemons. Bill & Sue Longley gave us a bucket of lemons, so I distributed them to Carol, Annie and Kim, as well as keeping enough for us. They are beautiful lemons and we can smell them through the house. We rewarded ourselves with dinner at the Farmers Arms last night and spent a most enjoyable 1 ½ hours there catching up with Glenda & Joe, Christine from 65 Main, and Bruce Bavin, a recently returned Daylesfordite, who has rejoined Rotary. Dinner was stunning – I had a Thai Fish Curry, which I couldn’t fault and Wes enjoyed a rare Porterhouse. We had hoped to talk with Susanne & Claire, who own the hotel, as they are generously sponsoring the Art Show catalogue, but they were having a night off. It just means we’ll have to go back again!                           

  Karen, Nana, Grandpa & Terry - Coburg 1952

Nicole gave me henna on Friday. We were very nervous about the colour as the Harvest Café, where I buy the henna, has changed hands and they couldn’t get the same brand as before. They have been so obliging and helpful, that I was thrilled to be able to visit in the afternoon to show them that the colour was good – it is almost burgundy, shades of early hennas many years ago.

It feels quite odd to have a whole weekend without footy. Collingwood played on Friday night in Fremantle and won easily and Carlton had a bye, so we had lots of extra time. I visited Viva on Saturday morning and she continues to improve slowly but surely. She still can’t read, but her colour is better and she is enjoying watching DVDs, Smokey the cat, and her garden – all from the comfort of her recliner chair in the lounge. I brought her a jar of O’Toole’s honey, our favourite flavour – messmate & peppermint gum and fortunately she loved it!

Lovely photo of the Lazzaros at Jessica’s Christening 2002 – L-R – Jess, Cathy, Ben, David, Helen, Ged & baby Jessica Rose          

Breakfast this morning was very special – Kim produced mushroom roulade, and smoked salmon puffs, along with the usual fare. We had some amusing conversations with lots of laughs and gentle ribbing. Kim agreed to let me put up an Art Show poster, our very first, and I hope it produces some early interest from artists and visitors alike. Not sure what the rest of the day will bring – Wes is working in the garden, getting enormous help from Bilbo and Frodo – he mowed the lawn yesterday and pruned some bushes that had grown too high.

Yesterday afternoon, we had hoped to be visited by Lovely, her best friend, Cindy, and some other girls, who were spending the weekend at Villa Parma in Hepburn Springs, but they were all having massages, so we ate  the delights Wes had bought to serve them, for our dinner last night. while watching various games of footy. Jane Knox had flown down with her friend, Annette, to go to the Geelong game including the President’s lunch. She wore a lovely red shirt to show her support for the Swans and was delighted when they won an historic victory at Kardinia Park, where the Cats had not been beaten for 4 years. Even the Wallabies won last night against the All Blacks to take the Tri Nations trophy for the first time in 10 years.

Jane doing the footy in style in Geelong

 
Leanne & Viva in Daylesford 2004

                    

Paun with Liam & Warwick 1992

SEE YOU IN SPRING!

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 21st August 2011

Dear Friends, I am sitting at my desk looking out at sun glinting on water for a change. The daffodils are starting to flower in our garden at last, there is a small breeze blowing and the hardiest of souls are wearing their t-shirts in celebration. We have just returned from a really lovely breakfast with Joe & Glenda’s company an added bonus and then we were joined by John & Jan who had expected to be in Melbourne today, so that was a good surprise. Kim and Gary outdid themselves with platters of food again and the conversations were lively with wonderful descriptions of Joe & Glenda’s holiday, most of which was spent cruising. They visited Spain, Turkey, Italy, Croatia, Venice and Dubai and they both look very relaxed and refreshed for the break.

Joe & Glenda

We had a good visit from Anthony Starkins, our financial advisor, on Monday night. He arrived on time, had experienced difficulty finding which bit of Duke Street we were in, but knew he had found us when he spotted the 2010 Premiership poster in the bedroom window. Wes had excelled himself with Tuki trout for dinner and roast vegetables, followed by a cheese platter and then baked apples. We all ate and drank far too much and I left them solving the world’s problems when I went to bed.

On Tuesday I somehow got up at 5.30am and Wes somehow got up to walk the boys and Anthony somehow got up, dressed and breakfasted in time to drive to Mansfield. I then drove to Ballarat for an appointment in driving rain, which got worse as time went by. That night Wes had a training night for Hepburn Voices, which gave me the chance to go to bed early. We awoke to heavy rain the next morning and then at 6am the power went out and stayed out for the next 6 hours. I remained in bed with the doona doubled over and the Carlton rug on top (it was too dark for a photo of this phenomenon), but Wes was up and dressed, so he lit the fire and he, Bilbo and Frodo slept and read happily until we were able to have hot drinks and showers. I tried reading The Age by torchlight, but it was less than satisfactory.

That evening at Rotary, everyone had stories to tell, some had escaped to Ballarat or Castlemaine, while others had just waited it out. Our speaker, Lesley Hewitt, talked about Riding for Disabled, and assured us that “Daylesford punches above its weight”. She was very passionate about this sport and introduced us to a local rider, who is doing well. Wes stood in as Sergeant and enjoyed fining us all light-heartedly, although I think the Collingwood supporters really suffered! 

                                                            Ken Gillies & Wes at Rotary

After Strong on Thursday morning, I came home to find Wes had done the Bulletin, so edited it, emailed it and posted it out, then prepared for our Rotary Arts Show meeting later that day. I drove to Ballarat again for an appointment with Sarah, the beauty therapist, and was home in time to help Wes set up for our meeting. We had a good discussion, the Marketing sub-committee has already obtained some donations of money and goods; the branding that I have been working on was accepted and the Opening Cocktail party arrangements are going well. After the meeting, Wes and I had dinner at ‘Gracenotes Café’, where we were their only guests, until another couple spotted the welcome open fire and came in for dinner. We enjoyed a beautiful meal as always.

We have both been feeling quite tired this week, probably because of all the travelling to Melbourne and all the Art Show work, which has been quite intense. So we decided not to go to either of our footy games this weekend. Wes had a very quiet day on Friday catching up on Al Jolson films and programmes he had taped on MyStar. It was a beautiful day, so I took the boys for a walk to the Post Office, did some computer work and then watched the week’s episodes of ‘Letters & Numbers’. We listened to the Carlton vs Hawthorn match, and were very pleased that we hadn’t driven there as 1.8 by half-time was not a good return. Carlton later picked up their game, but it was too late and the Hawks won by 2 goals.

Lovely with Celia in the background Christmas 96

Yesterday we both felt better for the rest and had another enjoyable, quiet day. We were both working on the Art Show and I bought a programme online that will enable us to convert PDFs to Word, as all the new branding for the Show is in PDF because it was done on an Apple computer. We decided not to drive to Waubra to see Daylesford challenge Hepburn in the first Qualifying Final as we expected Daylesford to be thumped, but amazingly our team won, without its best player. We now have a week off, which will help all the injured players. I decided to spend the money we had saved by not going to the footy on a special meal, so we had oysters natural, followed by Sri Lankan fish curry and lemon meringue pie for dessert. I cheated with the pie and bought two big slices from the Harvest Café. Wes lasted until half-time watching the Collingwood game with me, then went to bed. I was rather disgusted that we got way ahead of the Lions and then took the foot off the pedal – our only excuse was two bad injuries during the game and 6 of our regular side out.

We are hoping to play golf tomorrow morning – if the weather stays like it is, there will be no excuse. It is so long since I have played, I can’t wait to see if I can hit the ball longer, as I am certainly stronger since the last time I played. Thanks again to everyone who has asked after Viva, she is coming along slowly but surely. Her doctor has advised her to have few visitors in case she catches any germs while she is still vulnerable, but the pneumonia has completely gone, which is wonderful. I will see her later this week.       

Daylesford Dispatch - Monday, 15th August, 2011

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.

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.

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.

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.

Beautiful photo of Kathey Jordon, Tom Tyrrell & Joyce Spiteri in 1998 at Wes’s first Mayoral night

Daylesford Dispatch - Saturday, 6th August 2011

Dear Friends, we have enjoyed a few days that were almost Spring-like this week, but it is a cold day, like an English Winter this morning with Brigadoon all around and the cold coming up from the ground. I am going to be busy all day tomorrow, so I thought I would send this out today. We have just arrived back from our shift on the Farmers’ Market. Not only did we have little Rotary sandbags to hold down all our pamphlets, but we also had a new Rotary tent to keep us sheltered. Very exciting – it will so useful not just for the Market, but also for the Art Show. Wes and Barbara have driven to the MCG to see Carlton play Melbourne, while the boys and I are hoping the weather improves and we can go to Daylesford’s last home game.

(Jane and friends at the snow this week)

Last Sunday we had a most enjoyable Breakfast which I left early to drive to visit Viva and let Leanne get out and do some shopping. After that visit, I drove to the MCG, parked at the Arts Centre, walked through the MCC to meet up with Loud Gayle very briefly, and spent the afternoon with David Lazzaro. David and I were most impressed with Essendon’s endeavour in the first half as they had so many injuries. In the second half we turned the tables as the Bombers got tired and couldn’t keep up their fierce tackling and running. I left early in the hope that I would get a good run home, which I did until I was 1 minute from Daylesford being suddenly tailgated when a cat ran out in front of me and froze in the middle of the road. I successfully braked to avoid hitting it and the car behind avoided hitting me, but continued to tailgate until I turned off onto East Street. I had hoped that our cat experience would have suggested to the tailgater that leaving a little space between cars is a good thing!

In the meantime Wes had invited Barbara to come with him to the Glenlyon Fine Food & Wine Fayre where he was on Rotary barbecue duty in the afternoon. Her help as cashier was much appreciated and I am sure Wes and Jim did a great job on the barbecue.

Monday was very busy with lots of computer work in the morning, followed by a visit from Nicole to cut & henna my hair, which was barely dry before Gillie arrived to pick me up for a Baroque Triple Bill at the Melbourne Recital Centre. We parked at Ballan, caught the train, had dinner at the Malthouse and met up with Irene and some other friends of Gillie just before the show. We all enjoyed the music, especially the final item, which is called ‘Coffee Cantata’ and is a most amusing piece by Bach. We caught the train easily and arrived home safely at 11.30pm.

(Lovely photo of Wes)

On Tuesday it was Wes’s turn to be out and about – he had a meeting with Pierre and Simone Niclas to discuss marketing the Art Show and in the afternoon he went with Barbara to Bendigo to get her wheelchairs fixed. I was so tired that I went to bed early and felt much better as taking some time out. I had planned to visit Viva, but desperately needed a day at home, and discovered when speaking with Viva that my brother, Peter, had dropped in unexpectedly as he was in Melbourne for the day for a funeral. I felt so relieved that she had received a visit from someone in the family.

It was lovely to play Mah Jong again with Carol, Dot and Valerie on Wednesday and it was fine enough to walk there and back. Meanwhile Wes and John Smith did a second interview with Frank Page and then Wes had lunch with Rob McDonald at Gracenotes Café. That evening we had a good Rotary meeting with an excellent talk by our District Governor, Keith Ryall. Wes stayed up when we got home finishing off the Bulletin, while I went to bed in preparation for an early start the next morning.

 (Perc, Viva, Dot & Ray at the Bullboar & Yabbie, Castlemaine, 1978)

After Strong on Thursday I edited and proof-read the Bulletin and we got ready to welcome three visitors from Nimes. Alan Austin used to live two doors down from us in Brunswick Road, he now lives in France with his French wife, Chantal, and her son, Vincent, and daughter, Cécile (who isn’t on this trip to Australia). They arrived from Ballarat mid-morning, and after a warming coffee, we all piled into our car and Wes took us for a drive around Daylesford, Hepburn and Shepherd’s Flat. We ended up at ‘Wombat Hill House’ for lunch and sat around for ages chatting and catching up with Alan. He is a Swans supporter, but took his new family to see Collingwood & Essendon on Sunday so they could get an idea of the game. Both Chantal and Vincent were amazed that supporters of different clubs could go to the game together.

We arrived home in time for our fortnightly Rotary Art Show meeting, which was well-attended and everyone had something to contribute. We are rapt with our committee and feel confident that we will have a successful show again this year. By the time that was over we were exhausted and glad to relax in front of TV for a while.

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be Ann Holden’s first client at her new premises in West Street. We had a good time together, she gave me a lovely massage and I was able to help with some suggestions to make the experience even better. Wes and I then drove to Melbourne to have lunch with Norma Hutchins, who was over from Fremantle visiting her son and grandson. We met at Westlake for yum cha, sat upstairs and had a long leisurely time together hearing about her recent trip to China and her upcoming visit to Vietnam. We had hoped to see ‘Harry Potter’ afterwards but there was too much gap between the finish of lunch and the next session, so we drove home instead and shared cheese and biscuits with wine while watching ‘Silent Witness’.