Karen Maloney's Dispatch: Daylesford Dispatch

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.