Karen Maloney's Dispatch: Daylesford Autumn Dispatch

As promised last Sunday, here are a few photos from ChillOut with thanks to Jane Barrett who usually takes a good selection & shares them on Facebook.

We spent a very quiet Sunday afternoon watching Collingwood AFLW win well against the Doggies in Morwell, before the Saints were too good for our men’s team. The best viewing was at 6pm that night when the International T20 World Cup was held at the MCG in front of 86,000+ (including my brother, Peter, and his wife, Anka). Australia played the way we had expected them to do all tournament, in spite of being without their two best bowlers. It was an exhilarating & powerful display of batting, especially by Alyssa Healy & Beth Mooney, who carried her bat. The Indians crumbled to be all out for 99, when we all expected them to be a very difficult opponent that had beaten us in the past.

It was a lovely day on Labour Day holiday Monday & Wes was delighted to get back into the garden again, as were Lewis & Morse. I went for a walk along Vincent Street, watching tired revellers emerge looking for a cooked breakfast before going on their ways. The cafés were doing a roaring trade, but most other shops hadn’t opened yet, or were doing reduced hours.

We should have realised when we were both so tired that we were about to come down with colds & sure enough they arrived late Tuesday afternoon. I had driven to Ballarat that morning for a mammogram and been rewarded by a lovely facial with Emma at EKO Skin Care Spa. When I arrived back home, Wes was resting with Lewis & Morse & I was ready to go to bed. We both cancelled everything for the next couple of days & took it in turns to occupy the bed!

On Thursday, I was able to get up & dressed as I was feeling a little better, but Wes was worse. I was sorry to miss seeing Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, at the Regent Cinema in Ballarat, which was our birthday gift to Judi. She went anyway & enjoyed it very much. I also missed out on visiting Leanne, who is always very understanding when health issues prevent me from driving to Strathmore.

On Friday, we decided not to socialise with Lewis & Morse at 9am as usual, as it was rather cold & we were still not keen to be out & about. I had gone shopping early at Coles, where there were many more shoppers than usual & all of them clutching packets of toilet paper. We are yet to add to our supply – I buy a packet of 4 double length about once a month and expect we can survive for quite a while before we need to panic. I don’t understand all the Kleenex tissues, rice, pasta & rolled oats being snapped up as well.

Yesterday I went walking early with my three boys – first time in a while & it was good to be back in routine. Wes bathed Lewis & Morse & they enjoyed bones while we caught up on some house chores. So good to be feeling on the mend.

We are in total agreement with the cancellation of huge group activities and although it impinges on things we like doing & being part of, we can see it is necessary. It was strange to watch the first One-Day game between Australia & New Zealand at the SCG on Friday afternoon. However, seeing & hearing the Collingwood & Brisbane AFLW teams make lots of noise during their game yesterday was quite inspirational & they played as though their lives depended on it. The Pies won well, which was quite unexpected, as the Lions were more fancied. And last night, Carlton rallied after an awful first half, to beat Melbourne. We might be playing finals against each other – that hasn’t happened for a while.

I rang Kathy Lazzaro to see how she & Ged were after they arrived home this week from Mexico, England, Italy & Spain. She said they left each country before the coronovirus had spread & were self-isolating at home now and checking the Qantas website to see if any passengers on their flight had tested positive. So far, so good.

We had hoped to catch up this week with dear friend, Terry Borg, for a breakfast date that has already been postponed twice. Terry very kindly emailed this morning suggesting it might be a good idea to postpone yet again & we agreed. I am better, but still asthmatic & Warren’s cold has freshened up again.

We were shocked to hear from our Pommy friend, Paul Jackson, who emailed to say he had suffered a major heart attack & was lucky to be alive. We will try to have a Skype call with him when he is well enough to sit up & chat. We met Paul when we visited the Rotary Club of Daylesford & Kingham about 10 years ago. Paul & his wife, Pauline, have visited us in Daylesford & we have caught up whenever we are in each other’s country.