Dear Friends, what
an exciting Grand Final we watched yesterday. I am sorry for all my Hawthorn
supporter mates, but the Swans were amazingly gutsy when the game was slipping
away and fully deserved their win. Wes drove me to Ballan station early and I
met Jane Knox at European for brunch
at 9.45am. She was most impressed that I was wearing red and white. We walked
to the MCG through the Fitzroy Gardens which were looking wonderful and I took
her into the Conservatory, past Captain Cook’s cottage and over little bridge
before we joined the throngs making their way. On our trip around the ground, Jane
bought a new scarf – red & white with grey stripes, which really suited her.
We spotted lots of celebrities as well as Mick Malthouse, Leigh Matthews &
Richard Colless and finally stopped to listen to the Coodabeens before we
parted way – Jane to go to the top tier in the Great Southern Stand, and me to
the back row on the wing in the MCC.
I went for a walk around and was lucky enough to find Loud Gayle,
who bought us a glass of bubbles in the Long Room. We found a quiet spot for a
good chat, which was lovely. Gayle was looking very well and very excited about
the wonderful time her daughter, Gabby, and son, Fraser, are having on holidays
in Paris. She and her husband, Fraser, are heading off to Tassie for a few days
break on Tuesday. I am quite envious as we are dying to get to MONA, the
gallery in Hobart, but haven’t made it there yet.
The game was exciting and the lead see-sawed. It is so good
when the two best teams of the year face off and we got a Grand Final that
reflected exactly that. I left the
ground after the presentation of the Norm Smith medal as I had to get to
Spencer Street in time for the 6.08 Ararat train. I am going to watch the full
replay today and see all the bits I missed out. Jane also had to leave early as
she had to catch an 8pm flight home to Sydney. She had been driven from the
airport on Thursday night by an Indian, who was passionate about cricket and he
so enjoyed her company that he offered to collect her after the game. He duly
turned up, but when she got to the airport, her flight was cancelled, so
Jetstar put her up overnight in Melbourne and she spent the evening watching
the replay. This morning her new flight has also been delayed – not a great
advertisement for this airline, although she is enjoying sharing the waiting
time with lots of Swans supporters.
This morning we
enjoyed a lovely breakfast with 11 of us there – the best moment came when
Terry invited everyone to come and watch the NRL Grand Final with him later
this afternoon. Gail nearly collapsed and begged us all not to turn up – Terry had
thought it was a safe invitation as no-one else at breakfast is particularly
interested in NRL, but we are all very tempted to arrive on the doorstep just
to see the look on Gail’s face!
We’ve had a very busy week with the Art Show; the raffle is
in full swing with tickets being sold in the main street on Thursday &
Friday, and possibly at the Sunday Market today if the volunteers brave the
elements. We have Brian’s painting on display on an easel and everyone stops to
admire it, which helps the sales. I took a book of tickets to breakfast this
morning, but Gary was selling Western Bulldogs tickets, so I’ll wait until next
week! Wes and I have been trying to bed down all the sponsors by this weekend,
but it will probably take until the end of the week before they are all
finalised and we know how our budget is going.
The week seems to have flown by – Wes and Barbara did
Hepburn Voices work, went to hydrotherapy and prepared for a Grand Final day
party at her place. It was a big success with Carol, Michael, Glenn &
Denise in attendance and everyone barracking for the Swans. I suspect there
would be enough leftovers to take to Terry and Gail’s tonight to make an
instant party there!
I had hoped to visit Viva on Friday, but she rang early to
ask me not to come as the weather was so atrocious. I must confess I was quite
relieved as I wasn’t looking forward to the drive in hail and wind. When I
spoke with Viva this morning she told me she received a phone call from Peter in
Paris yesterday. He & Anka are on their way to Milan today, after starting
their trip with a wonderful catch up with Leigh in London, and Jeff, Kev and
Leigh in Lincolnshire.
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