Dear
Friends, another week has flown by and it is time to put some thoughts to paper
again. Gail White was a very welcome surprise addition to breakfast last Sunday
and good-naturedly coped with all the stories we told at her expense to
enlighten Janine, her son, Paul & David. It made for a very entertaining
morning and apart from her Gail tales, Barbara also told us of a small victory
for accessibility she had won during the week when she accepted to attend a
shareholders’ meeting of the Bendigo Bank, only to discover it was being held
upstairs at the Bowling Club. She was delighted to receive apologetic phone
calls from the bank & finally an advice that the venue had been changed to
the Senior Citizens’ rooms, which are most accessible.
That
afternoon we and Gillie went to Daylesford Victoria Park to see the traditional
grudge match between Daylesford & Hepburn, which is always well attended.
It was a perfect, warm afternoon, so warm that Bilbo became distressed and had
to be taken home during the Reserves game. It was the official opening of the
new community facility incorporating clubrooms, a commercial kitchen and lots
of dining space, and improved toilets. Before the game, there was an ANZAC
ceremony and it was great to see the netballers join the footballers before their
respective games.
We
won the Reserves match, but Hepburn took the honours in the Seniors, where they
were clearly the better side. One of the highlights for me was to catch up with
a much-loved old friend, Michelle Jenkin, who had driven up from Mt Martha for
the afternoon. She & her mother came and sat near us at the end of the game
and we were able to catch up on each other’s news.
The new facility as
seen from the disabled parking area 90 minutes before the game
We drove home to watch Carlton
very unexpectedly beat Fremantle over there and there was much rejoicing in the
land, as it has been a while since the faithful have been able to sing ‘We are
the Navy Blues’ (even if their away strip is mostly white).
On
ANZAC morning, we walked Bilbo early and brought him home for a bone, before
heading off back into town for the dawn service. As usual Sallie Harvey was the
standout singing unaccompanied ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’; there
was a bugler, a lone piper, a mounted horseman, a small choir from the
secondary school, and short speeches from the two school captains in front of a
very large & most appreciative crowd.
At
9am, we headed off to Eganstown for our favourite ANZAC Day remembrance. This
was very well attended with 60 people (probably a record). The Eganstown
Primary School, which has not existed in years, provided a disproportionate
number of servicemen & women, some of whom never returned home.
Wes took this lovely
photo of me with Janine Hawker at Eganstown.
Back
home, Wes collected Barbara, who likes to march in the Daylesford Parade, while
I filled a thermos and set off to the MCG. I had a great run and, although
there was a big queue, managed to get a seat in my favourite spot on the wing.
Because it was so early, I went into the Long Room, where I found Loud Gayle
and we had a great chat sitting on one of the leather lounge suites. I do enjoy
the services at the MCG, which this year excelled themselves, including the
best rendition of our national dirge (anthem) that I have ever heard.
Once a year the cheer
squads combine to produce one huge banner honouring those who fell in battle
and this year it was raised in front of a crowd of 85,000+
Much
to the delight of the Pies supporters and the chagrin of the Bombers, our team
played brilliantly in the first half & left the result in no doubt. It was
especially exciting to see our Texan recruit, Mason Cox, take a mark & kick
a goal in the first few minutes of the game. His parents & two brothers had
flown over to be with him and his father, in particular, was very exciting and
couldn’t stop smiling.
I
stayed in Melbourne overnight, as I had promised to take Leanne to visit her
doctor the next morning. We had a good time together, achieved all she needed
to do, and I was back home here by lunchtime, bearing a yummy vegetarian quiche
from Gusto in Strathmore.
Two friends in the
Daylesford march – Paul Laurence & Ian McKenzie – both Vietnam veterans
& members of the Bushwalking Group
Wes
had taken Barbara for a drive to see Autumn leaves after the Parade, but
nowhere was open, so they ended up having a drink at the Lyonville Pub with
Eddie & Jenny Beacham, who they found in Trentham doing the same thing.
Afterwards Wes watched the game, then cooked himself some meat, the leftovers
being a very satisfactory addition to Bilbo’s dinner the next night.
On
Wednesday, it was an early morning walk in the warmth of 14°, before I went to
gym and then played Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie. Wes spent the morning
helping Barbara in the garden and filling her car up with petrol. He was having
some difficulties with Ancestry.com and could get no assistance until he put up
on Facebook that he wasn’t happy and just as he sat down with a glass of
Edradour to relax while I made dinner; there was a phone call from someone
horrified by the Facebook post who wanted to solve the issue. 2.5 hours later,
it was all fixed and we had a very late meal and fell into bed.
I
had an early BreastScreen appointment on Thursday, so drove to Ballarat after
our early walk. At 10.45am we joined 23 others to listen to Judi Allen give a
U3A talk on her interesting childhood. Her father was an air-traffic controller
instructor and was based variously in Iraq, Greece & Thailand from 1954-64.
Judi had put a lot of work into her power-point presentation, and we learned
lots about her early days that we had never heard before.
After
that, we set off for Clunes to see how it was looking two days out from Booktown.
We had lunch at Widow Twankey’s which is run by friends of ours, Tim &
Michael, and bumped into Rebecca Pedretti, who we first met when she was 21
& helping run the Info Centre. We visited the Clunes Museum, which is
housed in a new building that includes the Library & Info Centre and were
very impressed with the display.
On
Friday, around 6am, we heard the sound of rain on the roof. It continued on and
off until mid-afternoon, and we had 10mls in the gauge when I checked. Judi,
Bilbo & I had planned to join the bushwalkers for the Trentham Domino
Trail, but it was too wet, so Judi & I caught up at the Food Gallery for 90
minutes instead.
Our Maple at the front
door looking at its best
Yesterday
we woke to a dry morning and walked around the Lake early. Later on, we got
another couple of mls of rain and Wes was able to plant some hyacinth bulbs in
the front garden. I had hoped to do some painting, but the surfaces never got
dry enough for me to get out all the gear.
Bilbo
Baggins sleeping heavily post walk & bone
Sadly,
I have come down with a head cold & asthma and have been confined to bed
yesterday & today. I suspect the abrupt change of weather has done it, but
at least we have had the flu injections and it won’t develop much more. The big
disappointment for me was missing out on lunch at Judi & Michael’s
yesterday with Di & Jeff. You can
see how much they are missing me as they tuck into bouillabaisse, strudel &
cheeses with matching great wines. Wes had a lovely afternoon, made even better
by sharing a taxi with Di & Jeff there & back.
Di,
Jeff, Michael & Judi
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