Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 22nd July 2018

Last Sunday’s trip to Melbourne brought about mixed results. Wes enjoyed being at the Town Hall with a group of like-minded people all determined to preserve our ABC, although he was amused that he had to queue to rally! At the MCG, I arrived in time to get a seat in my favourite bay, and then found Margaret Nolan & her daughter, Judith, in the Collingwood Social Club, where I could finally give them hugs & commiserate about the sudden death of Margaret’s husband, Eric. After that I went into the Long Room & spent a very pleasant hour with Loud Gayle & her friend, David, quaffing bubbles & reminiscing, until David realised that his wife, Joan, who was sitting outside, was eating all the hot chips! It was that sort of a cold afternoon!

Collingwood played their best but weren’t good enough to beat the West Coast Eagles in front of a good crowd of 53.000+. Wes picked me up after the match & we drove home listening to the very exciting game between Sydney & North, which was won by the Swans in the last minute by their Sudanese player, Alir Alir, who had been beaten most of the game by North’s Sudanese player, Majak Daw.

All this excitement was too much for me & I had a relapse in the early part of the week, which meant I didn’t get back to gym. Nick came & gave me a massage on Monday, which was very welcome. Dot was unable to play Mah Jong on Wednesday, which gave me extra time to get the guest suite ready for our friend, Deane Wells, who was due to arrive from Brisbane early that afternoon.

Deane at the Chocolate Mill

Deane flew in later than planned & stayed overnight in Melbourne. We picked him up at Ballarat Station on Thursday morning & took him to the Regent Cinema to see the latest Australian film starring Shane Jacobson & his brother, Clayton, called Brothers’ Nest. Fortunately, we knew nothing about it, except that it wasn’t like Kenny, the film that put these two actors on the map. We haven’t stopped talking about ever since.

After the film, we crossed the road to the Art Gallery to see their special Winter Exhibition Into Light featuring artists such as Renoir, from the Musėe de la Chartreuse, Douai. There were some good paintings, but we were disappointed with the quantity on display & the variation in quality. Most paintings were excellent, but a handful didn’t deserve to be in such elevated company. We ate lunch at the café attached to the Gallery & enjoyed our food choices very much indeed.

On Friday, I had an appointment with Emma for a facial at EKO, so missed out on the trip around the Shire that Deane & Wes went on. I think the highlight for Deane was the visit to the Chocolate Mill & they finished in Trentham with scones at Chaplin’s, sitting at the communal table. That night Wes took Deane to The Farmers Arms Hotel, where they sat at the bar chatting with locals & enjoying dinner & a bottle of red. Everyone there was thinking of Rodney Peacock, who used to run the Friday night raffle so well. Rodney now lives in Ireland & married his partner, Mark, that day. Over 30 people from Daylesford area flew to Ireland to attend the wedding, which seems to have stretched over a few days!

Yesterday we dropped Deane in Essendon, where he was staying overnight & headed to the MCG to see if Collingwood could beat North Melbourne. I had obtained a Balcony Pass for Wes, which meant we could sit in the best seats in the ground. Before the game started we headed to the Collingwood Social Club area & spent time with Margaret Nolan & her daughter, Judith. They were both thrilled to see Wes & we enjoyed a good chat. We also had a chance to see Loud Gayle, who told us that the current Ladies committee at Collingwood (the Dolly Greys) were providing the guard of honour for the team as they ran onto the ground. 36 years ago, when the first committee was formed, this would have been impossible – women weren’t allowed in the Social Club on match days, let alone out on the ground. The first President, Shar O’Reilly (Lendrum at the time) was considered good enough to run the creche! The first Treasurer, me, refused to help her on the grounds that I had never been much good with children, especially the spoiled sons & daughters of footballers.

Gayle & I standing in front of a small section of the massive tapestry outside the Long Room – you can see famous footballers & cricketers behind us

Much to the delight of the Collingwood supporters, we played very well & after the first few minutes, were never headed by North Melbourne, who didn’t bring the same desire to win. This sets us up for another tilt at Richmond, who are top of the ladder & looking the goods – next Saturday should be a huge game! I’m hoping to bring Wes along again as he is obviously a good luck charm.

We arrived back home to find Bilbo happily asleep on his bed in the lounge, although he suddenly felt very hungry when he saw me come through the door. The last two weeks we have asked our lovely neighbours, Rob & Dene, to bring Bilbo inside if they should see him wandering around in the garden while we are away. They have done that successfully & he has happily slept in his bed waiting for us to come back home. The issue is the stairs – he has tumbled down them a couple of times & is much happier if someone accompanies him.

He & I are about to head off to the Sunday Market, then breakfast at Larder, where we will be a small group as David & Sandy are both away & Margot is preferring to eat at The Food Gallery, where they serve more meals that she likes. Then we are going to rest for the rest of the day!