Karen Maloney's Dispatch: Daylesford Sunday Dispatch

The Breakfast Group gathered at Larder last Sunday & a very successful get-together it was. Barbara had alerted Martin to our visit & he saved the large long table for us. Barbara was able to get in via the rear entrance & sit comfortably on one side of the table. David & Sandy joined us, which gave us all the chance to commiserate with them over Bam Bam’s death. Aileen popped in for a coffee, as did Rhonda, so it was a very social & fun morning indeed. Larder has an interesting breakfast menu & everyone enjoyed their meals, which were served hot & all together.

In the afternoon we had an unexpected & very welcome visit from Gabby Gibson, who had driven to Daylesford that morning with her son, Fraser, to escape the busyness of Fitzroy. Fraser had fallen asleep after they had done the Sunday Market, Lavandula & umpteen walks, so she popped in on the off-chance we were at home. I first met Gabby, when she was a schoolgirl back in the 1980s. Her grandmother, Helen, was looking after her, while her parents, Gayle & Fraser, were in New Guinea. Helen was on the first Collingwood Ladies’ Committee with me & we became instant friends. We have followed Gabby’s life with much interest & were delighted that we caught up again. She & Fraser are now Provisional MCC members, so I am sure I will see them both more regularly at the footy & cricket at the MCG.

Last weekend was also the start of Season 2 of the AFLW, which once again features 8 teams, with 2 more to join next year, and 2 in the following year. We had hoped to go to the Carlton vs Collingwood game, which was the season opener at Princes Park, but decided it would be too much to travel there & back on Friday night, only to turn around & drive back again to Melbourne on Saturday morning for the Pop-up Globe. Carlton won easily, as they did last year, but we could see a big improvement in the fitness & skills level of the women. We watched all four games & were most impressed by the Western Bulldogs (who beat Freo easily) & Melbourne (who had a good tussle with a much improved GWS side). Brisbane did well to reverse the result of last year’s Grand Final, beating Adelaide in Adelaide.

Last Sunday’s new rose – St Patrick (we have one already, but I couldn’t resist it)

One of the big highlights of this week was going to see Darkest Hour at Ballarat in Gold Class. We can’t resist their $20 tickets & always have Devonshire tea – two scones, jam & cream & a pot of tea or cup of coffee is great value for $7.50. That was breakfast for both of us on Wednesday! We both loved the film – fantastic acting by everyone, especially Gary Oldman in the title role; the direction was superb & we were so proud of our own Ben Mendelsohn playing King George VI brilliantly as well. We finished off a lovely morning with lunch at Boathouse Daylesford, which is always good & caught up with a few locals who were also eating there.

Yesterday, Wes drove to the North Fitzroy Arms to celebrate old friend, Charles Amy’s 70^th birthday. I had planned to go, but hadn’t been able to shake off a headache caused by the extreme heat & spent the day in bed. I’m still there today, as now I have a cough to go with it. Hopefully it will pass as rapidly as it arrived.

Wes & Barbara went to hydrotherapy in Ballarat on Friday & were very pleased to be doing that activity again.

This weekend’s AFLW matches were mostly of a higher standard than last week. Carlton beat GWS easily and Melbourne outclassed Adelaide. Last night Collingwood travelled to Perth to play Fremantle in the first game of footy ever at the new Perth Stadium in front of a record crowd of just under 42,000. This beats the previous record (41,000) for a stand-alone women’s footy game, which was set in Adelaide in 1929! Although the Pies weren’t good enough to win, they played their best footy to date & I was very proud of the team.