Karen Maloney's Dispatch: Daylesford Winter Dispatch

There were 5 of us at breakfast on Sunday and we enjoyed yummy meals, while listening to tales of everyone’s past week. Rhonda dropped in to say hello, which was lovely. Afterwards, Wes visited Barbara to help her with computer issues and later had a visit from Peter O’Mara, who is on his Reconciliation Committee to talk through a plan of attack. I was still recovering from Collingwood’s unexpected, awful loss the previous day, and decided to read the weekend’s papers & watch the afternoon footy, which offered up three exciting matches with a couple of unexpected results.

One of my favourite Snoopy cartoons

On Monday morning I was finally able to go back to gym. I decided not to walk with Wes & the boys but set off early to pump water at Leitches Creek, deliver weekend newspapers to Judi, and pick lemons from Bill & Sue’s prolific trees. I took things easily at gym but was pleased to discover I could still do everything on my programme, just fewer repetitions.

Wes spent the morning taking control of the back yard with intense help from Lewis & Morse, who were under his feet most of the time. The lawn is still very muddy, and we are hoping for more sunshine to dry it out. However, our lemon trees are finally fruiting, a couple of the camellias are starting to bloom & there are daffodil shoots everywhere.

That afternoon I decided to go for a walk around Lake Daylesford. The sun was shining & it was a while since I had done any serious walking. My timing was such that I was able to say goodbye to all the geese, as they were being rounded up & shipped out as decided by Council the previous week. Alla Wolf-Tasker, owner of the Lake House, caught 4 before anyone could stop her, and refused to let anyone on her property to retrieve them. As well as all this drama, about 20 young people, mostly Americans, were gathered at the old change sheds making boats of sticks & string & attempting to float them; there were groups of Indian & Chinese visitors strolling around, and Bleakley Street was partially closed for roadworks.

We set off on Tuesday morning for our usual walk and just after we set off the rain came down & looked settled in. Lewis & Morse were confused but happy to get an early breakfast. The rain eventually eased off and we were able to get a few things done, including feeding the birds, who were getting quite anxious when their seed hadn’t been strewn.

Lovely photo of everyone celebrating Mary Saundry’s 70^th birthday at the Grand Hyatt last Sunday – L-R Anthony, Chiara, Terry, Mary, Michaela, Michael, George, Michelle & Dante (Jessie was there in spirit)

Sandra came to clean on Wednesday, which is always a delight, as we briefly have an extremely clean house, before the boys play in the mud & spread their pawprints everywhere. Dot & I played Mah Jong, and Wes spent time with Barbara.

On Thursday, Wes had invited his sister, Denise, out for a meal to celebrate her birthday, which was the next day. He took her to one of our favourite places, Chaplin’s, in Trentham, and they sat in the newly refurbished art deco room with the Charlie Chaplin painting.

On Friday we drove in separate cars to Castlemaine for Marie Anderson’s funeral. It was a very small & simple affair & we did enjoy catching up with her family members & hearing stories of their early life. Afterwards, I drove to East Melbourne, where I was staying at the Comfort Hotel, and Wes went back home to see what damage the boys had done in our absence.

I had decided to see a film in the afternoon, just in case the footy was awful & what a good decision that was. I went to the Kino and saw the film, Yesterday, which I & the rest of the audience enjoyed very much. When I emerged from the cinema, I discovered it was raining & my umbrella was in the boot of the car, so I walked through rain, along with thousands of others (some with umbrellas) to the MCG. I was lucky enough to get a seat in the back row of the Balcony, which is completely under cover. Most of the women around me all had one thought in mind – get to the toilets & try to dry off socks, coats, hats, trousers & bags by using the hand dryers. We were moderately successful.

I found my old friend, Margaret Nolan, and spent some time with her before having a drink & good chat with David Lazzaro. I wanted to buy Gayle Gibson a glass of bubbles for her birthday, but she was being wined & dined in the Members’ Dining Room & we never caught up with each other.

Richmond were far too good for us after the first 5 minutes & if we hadn’t had a handful of really good players, we might have lost by 10 goals instead of the moderately respectable 32 points. It was wonderful to be 10 minutes’ walk away from home and I soon warmed up after a shower.