Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 17th June 2012

Dear Friends, we’ve had a very busy week and I am fighting off a head cold that threatens to turn into something worse. We’ve been resting the past couple of days in the hope that I will win the battle.

Our week started well with a trip into Melbourne for me for the traditional Queen’s Birthday match between the Pies & the Demons. I left early to avoid traffic, parked near the Malthouse Theatre and walked to the Kino, where the only film showing around that time was ‘Bel Ami’, which was sumptuous but meaningless!

I arrived at the MCG in plenty of time, found Loud Gayle chatting with friends in the Long Room, and then found John, Kyahl, Malachi & Dublin Anderson, who were sitting in the sun anticipating an exciting day. Kyahl barracks for Collingwood like his father, but the other two are Carlton supporters like their mother. They had agreed to wear Collingwood jumpers for the day and I hope they don’t suffer lifelong emotional scars as a result!!!

Dublin & Malachi without Collingwood jumpers!

My seat was also in the sun, but up on the third level, and I stayed until the game was won, before heading back to the car and tackling the drive home through rain, mist and some fog. It was lovely to arrive home to find the fire burning and all three boys relaxed. Wes had cooked dinner and uncorked a good bottle of red.

The following night we celebrated our 42^nd Anniversary with a brilliant meal at Mercato – I had arranged for us to have their degustation menu with their choices of wines and we enjoyed every one of the eight courses. Next day we both agreed we didn’t feel we had eaten or drunk too much, but we had enjoyed a very special evening over 2.5 hours.

 We had to go to Ballarat the next morning before driving to Melbourne to see the play, ‘The Heretic’, where we shared a sandwich and chat with Ian & Robyn. That was the highlight of the afternoon, as the play was a huge disappointment. Noni Hazlehurst was good, but everyone else seemed to be playing a caricature of their characters, with atrocious English accents and shocking stage movements. We suspect the material of the play, climate change,  was very interesting and challenging, but it was presented appallingly, so we left at interval, and were safely home just as the rest of the audience was being released from the second half. Ian & Robyn assured us that we made the wiser move.

We had hoped to go to Aperitifs that evening as they were in King Street, just in front of us, but we were both tired after the long drive and decided to have an early night instead, with me the lucky one getting dinner in bed.

On Thursday it was 30 years since Perc died, and although, I miss him every day, I found that day particularly poignant and sad. Wes was going to a Brunswick Rotary lunch so he visited the cemetery on his way, taking pink hyacinths as our memento. I had a good chat with Viva, who was also feeling very flat and we amused ourselves by trying to picture Perc at 93 still growing perfect tomatoes and silver beet and enriching all our lives with his presence.

Photo shows Perc with me in a stroller in the garden of 34 Balloan Street, Coburg

Wes enjoyed catching up with some old friends from Brunswick Rotary days, especially Russell Badham, Russel & Joy Dale, Tom Tyrrell, Peter Johnston etc. He had a difficult drive home in bad weather and it was his turn to have dinner in bed! I had driven to Ballarat again as it was time for a facial and tidy up with Sarah. I was to have taken Judi, but she very kindly agreed to travel independently and allow me to get home before it was dark. We watched the footy in bed, and thought the Blues played one of their best quarters during the third term when they wrested the lead from the Eagles. Sadly for Wes they were unable to keep up the pressure in the last quarter and lost by 10 points.

Bilbo & Frodo have been particularly naughty or ingenious depending on your point of view – Bilbo worked out how to get to the fruit bowls on two succeeding days, even though they were out of reach (we thought). He got up on his hind legs and leaned over as far as he could to rock the bowls until they tipped over and split their precious cargo – both days we realised only as we heard suspicious sounds of bouncing apples and receding dog paws as they raced off with their booty. The fruit is now completely out of reach again and the boys are getting around with hangdog looks!

Our friend, Bill Longley, one of our earliest mates from when we first came to Daylesford, has cancer and has been in hospital for 11 weeks. He is back home and rang to let us know that & to invite us to pick some of their many lemons. We dropped around to do both on Friday morning, but he was at an appointment so we missed catching up. We took the opportunity to check John & Jan’s house thoroughly, as they are still away – probably in Broome now.

Saturday was a lovely day – we drove Teddy to Castlemaine to pick up some oysters and fish at ‘She Sells Seafood’, Glenn’s favourite place for seafood and I rested in the afternoon doing crosswords while listening to footy and Wes did some more Ancestry work. Jane & David were riding on the ‘Death Road’ in Bolivia, and I’ve just heard from them that they survived the experience.

Cyclists on Death Road & Jane with her T-shirt – scary stuff indeed!

We’ve just returned from a fun breakfast where Gail had us in fits of laughter over an invention that helps females use public loos, and we all chimed in with stories in a similar vein. Wes had us all laughing until we cried as he recounted Terry McDonald’s mobile phone in the public loo in Nepal story.

This afternoon we are heading to the Lyonville Pub to hear didgeridoos being played! We have been invited by Di & Jeff, Val & Roger and it will be lovely to catch up with them all – we haven’t been to the Radio Springs Hotel, hope it is warm.

New Year’s Eve 1988 – Blairgowrie – the Maloneys showing their
dancing styles!