Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 21st August 2022

 
Morse would agree 100%

Last Sunday, I had an excellent visit with Leanne after the Sunday Market. We had quite a few chores to do, lots of chatting & some decisions to be made & it is always better if you can talk something through with someone else. When I arrived home, Wes & Morse had been out getting provisions - Jameson's, Hendrick's, vanilla slices & homemade pie & pastie for dinner. 

Collingwood travelled to Sydney to play the Swans & were comprehensively beaten. Thank God. I have been sure we weren't good enough to sit in second spot on the ladder & now we are fifth, which seems a much better place for our talents. We also have a few injuries, after being lucky all year. This afternoon I had hoped to get to the MCG to see a big clash between the Pies & the Blues, but I don't have the energy to get there.  We both need to win, so it should be a good game & Wes & I will watch it from different rooms. 

We had School on Monday morning, after I had done the supermarket shopping at Coles. Our topic was our Adelaide holiday & we fine-tuned it and agreed it would include some games of golf. We are going to pack one golf bag, our favourite clubs & hope to play some early morning games on quiet country courses in Beachport & Kingston SE, before heading to our cottage in Adelaide, which is a 40-minute walk to the Oval. 

Karen playing golf on frost at Trentham Golf Club 2012

Warren & Terry White sporting plus fours at Trentham Golf Club 2010

We also have tickets for the T20 World Cup & decided to put Morse back in kennels for a couple of nights in late October to prepare him for his big stay in December. Our tickets for 28th October include 2 games - Afghanistan vs Group B runner-up, followed by Australia vs England. We also have tickets for the Final on Sunday, 13th November.

We were saddened to hear recently of the sudden death of Ian Esmore, former Daylesford resident & Rotarian, aged 73, in Murgon, Queensland. He & his wife, Isobel, were very prominent in our community before they shifted to Casterton, where we met up with Isobel in 2017.

Ian & Isobel at Rotary Christmas function 2009

It's been a busy week for catching up via my desktop - an early morning call with Jeff in Lincolnshire (late evening for her & still 28° indoors); two chats with Leanne via Zoom; a monthly discussion with Jan in Maleny; and my weekly exchange of news with old friends - Kathy, Karen, Lib & Joyce. Most of the catch-ups went over time & we finished up mid-sentence. 

In spite of the lack of sunshine, I got motivated to buy some seedlings & planted parsley, coriander & mint for starters. Wes continued to feed plants & looks forward to being able to mow the lawns when we get enough warmth to dry out all mudheaps. 

The best plants in the garden at present are the camellias & the best bulbs are the daffodils which are poking their bright yellow heads out of everywhere - through lavender bushes & rosemary hedges, in wheelbarrows & under rhododendrons. 

Flawless pink camellia bursting with flowers in spite of the weather

This month marks 40 years since Wes persuaded me to drive to Victoria Park on a Sunday to attend a meeting called by Sue Fordham, who had left Essendon to manage the Collingwood Social Club. She was appalled by the treatment of the female members & invited us all to get together & set up a Ladies' Committee. I became the first Treasurer of that Coterie and made some wonderful friends as a result. The backbone was Sharon Lendrum, the President, and Helen McDonald, an older committee member who seemed to know everyone & was full of common-sense & a good work ethic. Helen has died, but we are still friends with her daughter, Gayle Gibson, & her family. I stayed on the Committee until the end of 1990 by which time we had broken our drought & won a Premiership.