Daylesford Dispatch - Monday, 16th May, 2011

Leon Anderson looking very sweet aged 4 & Ben Lazzaro looking bemused aged 11

Dear Friends, Wes has been having so much fun posting old photos on Facebook and the reactions have been very interesting. His nephew, Leon, for example, likes this photo so much he has made it his profile on Facebook; however Ben Lazzaro has been in touch with his solicitor after Wes posted the photo of him above.

We have been very busy so I apologise for the delay in sending this week’s Dispatch to you. After our enjoyable weekend with Ron & Margo, we caught up on chores and sleep and everything else that we needed to do. Judi & Michael were away in Noosa for the week, so I collected their mail and checked their home every 2 days, as well as checking John & Jan’s cottage and bringing in their bin, as they were in Melbourne for the week. In between, I spent time with Sheila Hollingworth, while Wes took Barbara’s cat, Ascot, to the vet, as she had suffered renal failure and had to be put to sleep. We had planned to go to the Carlton vs St Kilda game on the Monday night, but cancelled that so that Wes could spend time with Barbara in the afternoon instead. Jan Smith kindly visited her as well and I sent over some minestrone soup in case she couldn’t be bothered cooking. I spent the afternoon in Ballarat collecting new orthotics, getting lost, buying dog bones (eventually) and trying the Coles Supermarket to see if it had a larger range than the one here – it hasn’t or at least not for the things we buy.

On Tuesday after Strong, Wes and I played golf in the frost at Trentham and hit just enough good shots to think we would come back again. In the afternoon Wes took Barbara to Ballarat for an orthotics appointment and for various other chores that needed doing. I had set myself a mission of finding the Collected Poetry of Wilfred Owen to give to Wes as he had been so moved by it during the play he saw 10 days ago. So I tracked down a book locally, but had to wait 24 hours to collect it and give it to him and he was delighted.

The next day, Wes spent on the computer while I played Mah Jong with the usual crew and we shared out the games, then had a manicure with Michelle at her home, and raced back here to get ready for a busy afternoon/evening. It was Peter Widdop’s birthday and we had been invited to share drinks with him and Cathy and a few friends before we went to Rotary and they went to dinner. That was lovely as always, and more than made up for the appalling Rotary Meeting, where we went back to the 70s with butcher’s paper and textas as we discussed the best ways to mentor new Rotary members, now called ‘mentees’, a word not in my dictionary!

On Thursday Wes invited me to have lunch with him at Annie Smithers Bistrot in Kyneton and we set off on a cold, wet day to enjoy a stunning meal together. Wes enjoyed a perfect piece of pork to match my perfectly cooked fish. We can’t resist Annie’s rose pavlova (she told our waiter that she created it for my 30^th birthday – more like 50^th but it was a kind thing to say) and finished our meal with a piece of Roquefort, accompanied by a thick Spanish sherry, which was to die for. We have bought a bottle of the sherry and allowed our Saturday night guests to partake of this pleasure.

Needless to say we didn’t need dinner, but we watched our second Mike Leigh film in a week instead. We can’t recommend him and them more highly – ‘Meantime’ which was fabulous – contrasting 2 families in Maggie Thatcher’s London and their struggles to stay afloat. The second film, “Career Girls” is fantastic as well & as Wes wrote on Facebook - if you experienced inadequate self or inadequate friends or inadequate awareness when stumbling through the 16-21 years, you will relate to this. And of course because it is a Mike Leigh film all the actors just act their socks off.”

The next day we set off in the early afternoon for Melbourne. I had heard that the MCG car park would be completely closed for the Collingwood & Geelong game that night, so we decided to drive in and see a film before the footy. We were so pleased we did, got a great park at the Tennis Centre, and went to the Kino where we saw “Incendies”, which we had won free tickets to and been unable to go. Kathy & Ged (who used our tickets) had highly recommended the film and we haven’t stopped talking and thinking about it since. This was Wes’s comment on Facebook – “We saw this amazing film yesterday. It challenges so much about the Middle East, our comfort zones, families, and sibling relationships. It is so good that films like this are made.”

David Lazzaro met us at the bar before the match and I discovered he was as nervous about the game as I was. It was a good, close match and the Cats deserved to win – they could have blown us away in the first quarter if they had kicked straight! We got out of the car park easily in spite of the 81,000+ crowd and were home and in bed just before midnight.

On Saturday we spent the morning cooking and preparing for our dinner party that night. Our friends, Mike Hill and Lorna Pitt go back to Brunswick Council and ALP days and it is always lovely to catch up with them. Wes gets a good fill of current politics from Mike and Lorna and they are easy guests. We took them to Café 3460 for lunch when they arrived, then watched the Melbourne vs North game on TV as Mike is a passionate Demons fan. He was most disappointed when the Dees gave away a good lead and let North cruise to an easy victory.

Mike Hill as Mayor of Brunswick with Rotary Kids in Poverty Project 1996

We had invited Jenny & Eddie Beacham, Candy Broad & Hal Swerissen & Sheila Hollingworth to join us at dinner, which was a Sri Lankan fish curry served with rice and an old favourite African beef stew served with mashed potatoes. We followed that with bread and butter pudding and trifle, then a cheese platter courtesy of Eddie and Jenny, and chocolates which had been brought by Candy, Hall and Sheila. Needless to say we got through countless bottles of beautiful red, white, sparkling and soft drinks and got to bed around midnight, after some fascinating political discussions.

Wes very kindly walked the boys early for me yesterday while I hand-washed all the crystal glasses and put endless loads through the dishwasher. I took the boys to Leitches Creek to pump water, collected fruit and vegetables & dog bones at the Sunday Market and completed the kitchen clean up just as Mike and Lorna emerged in time for breakfast. Kim and Gary had excelled themselves again and we enjoyed a spirited and entertaining 90 minutes where we welcomed back Judi & Michael and received lovely gifts from them, and attempted to stop Gail hogging the limelight!

Mike and Lorna went to visit Lorna’s brother, John, who lives at the Old Macaroni Factory with Maria Viola, and then we took them to see the Wind Farm at Leonard’s Hill before driving to Clunes to participate in the last few hours of Booktown. We were so pleased we got there and met up with Tim Hayes, Tess Brady and Graeme Johnstone, the hard-working trio that has made this annual weekend celebration such a success. The wonderful thing for both of us was that they still remember that it was Warren’s idea and that he pushed them hard to get it going and didn’t stop thanking him. We were in time to shake hands with Bob Hawke, who was a powerful drawcard, and he looked in fine form – blue eyes sparkling and cravat casually knotted around his neck – Blanche has done wonders for his dress sense.

We also spent time with Chris Maldon and Wayne Cross who have taken over the National Hotel in the main street and, with their usual flair, are making it the place to be. We shared a bottle of Passing Clouds Shiraz with Mike and Lorna and left them eating a pizza before driving home. We got home in time to feed the boys before they got too frantic and collapsed into bed after polishing off some leftovers.

Today Wes enjoyed having Judi’s company on his early walk and the boys were pleased to have seen Maddy & Major after their break at Eureka Kennels. Wes and I played golf and each knocked 9 strokes off our previous scores. Once again we hit enough good shots to make us come back – perhaps tomorrow morning.

Shortly we are collecting Hanna Laundl, who has been in Daylesford this weekend with her daughter, Rebecca, and two friends, all from Sydney. We are driving her to the Arts Centre, where a Melbourne friend will collect her. We are going to see the Eugene von Guerard exhibition at the National Gallery before going to the MTC play “Next to Normal” and hope to get home by 10.30pm, which is much better than midnight!

Viva with Karen – what an intelligent looking baby she was!

Karen with Toby Jug 22 years later – what an intelligent looking puppy he was!

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 18th September 2011

Dear Friends,

It is a glorious day here in Daylesford, almost too hot for me, Bilbo and Frodo, as we seek out cool spots. I have closed all the day blinds downstairs but I can still see daffodils, wattles and yellow daisies, as well as Marjorie’s pink camellia, which is having a second flowering and is nearly touching the ground with the weight of its beautiful flowers. Wes mowed and weeded yesterday, so it all looks most attractive.

Among the many emails of support I received last week was a very helpful message from Caroline Storm who used to live opposite us at 75 Duke Street. She suggested I contact the Chronic Fatigue Association in Melbourne, which I have done and they have been most useful. We have put a new regime in place and the only hiccup has been an unwanted head cold, which has kept me in bed in the hope that it won’t turn into a chest cold. So far, so good.

< Gerard Lazzaro & Tom Tyrrell with Becky Christmas 1975 at Scott Street, Essendon

Last night Wes invited Barbara over to watch the game with him. It was an absolute stunner with so much pressure applied by both Carlton and West Coast. I suspect that the home ground advantage was the main difference between them and got the Weagles over the line, albeit by 3 points. Wes is very disappointed – he had expected to lose, but not after getting so close and having so many chances. When has Marc Murphy missed three easy shots for goal in a game before? When has Chris Judd put in such a shocker? Losing Bret Thornton early wasn’t helpful either. After the Blues had steamrolled Essendon last Sunday, we suspected it wouldn’t be easy.

I’ve been glued to the Davis Cup tennis while I’ve been in bed – can’t believe how well both Tomic & Hewitt have played. I suspect they have both benefitted from Pat Rafter’s input. As well there has been the 3^rd Test in Colombo which has featured another good innings by Shaun Marsh. I even had an occasional look at Australia being humiliated by Ireland last night in the Rugby Union World Cup.

Robert Preston’s mother, Roma, died last Sunday, and we were able to get out of a couple of Rotary commitments to go to the funeral, which was held at Joseph Allison in Essendon. Bobby gave his 4^th eulogy and his 5^th keynote speech (as far as we know) in just over a year and he saved the best for last. He really brought Roma to life, with some cameos of his father, Big Al, who died back in 1978. We were so pleased we went as it was a very small funeral, and both Heath and Callum are overseas and were unable to get back to support their parents.

We have decided to support our Rotary Art Show sponsors as much as we can, and are encouraging other Rotarians to do the same – so we have had lunch at both Gracenotes Café and the Farmers Arms this week. Our President, Jim Swatman, made an appointment with us to catch up on what had been happening while he has been unwell and recuperating and undertook to get some more sponsorships and to help with raffle ticket sales in Vincent Street. I don’t know yet how well our sellers went, but they put in two big days on Friday and Saturday. We gave them Brian’s painting so everyone could see what they might win.

Before I fell ill, I managed to go to Strong Classes, play Mah Jong with Carol & Valerie, have a well overdue manicure and pedicure with Michelle, and help Wes get a database and then send out invitations to Daylesford Rotary’s 58^th birthday, which occurs this Wednesday. It isn’t a special day, but it gives us a chance to get a database of our Past Members, so that we will be ready for 60^th Birthday Celebrations in 2013.

We hosted an excellent Arts Show committee meeting, where everyone is really putting in. Wes is with some of them this afternoon at the Rotary Shed in Victoria Park, where we are planning on spray painting our old and new screens in preparation for the Show next month. We’ll have to start meeting weekly soon as there is still lots of Admin to get done, but Wes and I are hoping to get as up to date as we can during this coming week, as we will be spending Grand Final week in Melbourne at the Stamford Plaza.

Our thoughts are with David and Jane Knox on hearing that David’s mother died yesterday, hours after seeing all her family. Also with John & Jan, who have a family crisis to deal with. Gillie is coming home on Tuesday and it will be lovely to see her again and to help in whatever way we can to smooth her path. I hope to be in touch with you next Sunday and to be excited as the Pies have beaten the Hawks and are in the Grand Final – we can only cross our fingers and hope for the best, although the Murrays will be praying that my wishes don’t come true.

Top - Karen & Squiz at Trafalgar Square in 1975 &

below - Little Bobby Preston in favourite pose in 1985

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 11th September 2011

Dear Friends,

Winter doesn’t seem to have left us yet as we have had some very cold days this week, minus temperatures in the mornings and snow in Bullarto, but only sleet here. First of all, I want to give you an update on my health. We have both been worried by my uncharacteristic lethargy, so three months ago I underwent a series of blood tests to see what was wrong. They produced only normal results, so our GP, Greg, suggested I visit Anthony Kemp in Ballarat on the grounds that ‘if there is anything wrong, he’ll find it’.

I had to wait a while for an appointment, but saw him about three weeks ago. He suspected ‘adrenalin fatigue’ and ordered a synacthen test, which I took at St John of God in their emergency department under close supervision. The nurse took a blood sample, then I was injected with adrenalin, then 2 more blood samples were taken after 30 minutes and 1 hour. I failed this test, so Wes and I went back to see Anthony Kemp and he explained that I could be treated with tablets for the rest of my life to solve this issue. However, he wasn’t happy with my very poor readings, and asked me to take the test again, this time at the Ballarat Base Hospital. We went to their ‘Transit Lounge’ last Wednesday to have the tests all over again and this time I passed - which means I don’t have an adrenalin issue, but I do have chronic fatigue syndrome, which recurs every time I get a bad virus. There is no cure, except rest. He is going to check my sleep patterns as well in case they can be improved.

We are both relieved to know finally what the problem is, although it is frustrating not to be able to wave a magic wand and treat it. So I will continue to manage my activities carefully and hope you will be as understanding as you have been in the past, when I have been unable to attend social occasions & Rotary meetings, been too tired to chat on the phone in the afternoons, and haven’t been able to enter into life with quite the spirit I should. Wes has been wonderfully supportive and helpful during this time and I am glad to have had him at my side as we have worked through the various possibilities.

When I left you last Sunday we were heading to Dunnstown to see Daylesford play Buninyong in a Preliminary Final. John & Jan Smith came with us and we all enjoyed seeing the win, although Daylesford ran out of legs in the last quarter and let the other team get within 8 points. Bilbo and Frodo enjoyed it as they got to eat chips and be patted by children. Sadly, the Doggies weren’t good enough yesterday and lost to Waubra, but this was their 5^th consecutive Grand Final, which is a great effort and they were not the best team during the year.

Wes in Sydney in 1970

Apart from travelling to Ballarat this week, we had dinner at Mercato on Monday night with Ken & Carol Morris and friends of theirs, Michelle & Doug, who are running The Grill at Tylden. They are also artists, so we talked to them about entering our Art Show, among many other topics. We enjoyed a beautiful meal, as usual, at Mercato, where the standard is amazingly high and constant. We also saw the film, ‘Red Dog’, which we loved – can’t believe the talent of the dog in this film.

Wes has had lots of meetings this week, about Rotary, ROMAC, Hepburn Voices and the Art Show, while I have enjoyed a massage with Ann, attended Strong classes, distributed raffle tickets to Rotarians and spent time with sponsors of the Art Show. I missed the launch of the Daylesford District Community Bank on Thursday night, as both times I have taken the synacthen test; I have experienced a violent reaction about 24 hours later with an asthma attack accompanied by nausea and diarrhoea. Sitting at the Town Hall at night trying to operate a laptop and needing to be near the loo didn’t seem like an ideal mix. Fortunately Wes has taped lots of Poirot and Miss Marple on MyStar, so I have been enjoying watching them when I haven’t been doing cryptics, logic problems or reading Difficult Crime Writers!

Wes has also been doing most of the cooking over the past couple of weeks and we have enjoyed some stunning seafood masterpieces, although he did cheat by getting Kim at Café 3460 to make sweets!                        

Frodo trying to get onto our bed

Yesterday I visited Viva, who is looking very good, and getting stronger each time I see her. I had bought her a Mason Pearson brush, which delighted her very much, and she bought some raffle tickets in return. She and Leanne just love Brian Nash’s paintings and she would love to win the first prize. I told her about my chronic fatigue, although I didn’t want to, but I need her to understand that I can’t always visit or ring. She was very understanding, of course, and pleased that I had pursued the issue.

Then off to the MCG along with 67,000+ others, where I met up with David and Danny. We had great seats on the wing on level P in the front row, which meant we got a little wet when it rained and very warm when the sun shone. Wes sent a message at ¾ time suggesting we were home and hosed, which meant the Weagles promptly shook off their doldrums and made a game of it. Wes has been banned from sending premature congratulations. It could be worse, David’s wife, Helen, who attended her first game in years, at the Geelong annihilation of the Pies, has been banned from attending the footy for life! We now have a weekend off and can watch the other teams fight for the chance to play us and Geelong in the Preliminary Finals.

Harry O, who played a blinder yesterday!

 Typical breakfast treats

We had a wonderful breakfast this morning. Although there were only six of us, Kim had not spared his creativity and we enjoyed lots of goodies. Judi’s good friend, Phil, was down from Sydney and they had been wining and dining him all weekend. It was good to see him again and conversation where Phil is involved is always interesting. Wes decided he didn’t want to go the MCG today to see Carlton take on Essendon, so we will be watching from the comfort of our lounge. The winner gets to go to WA to play the West Coast next Saturday evening, not an easy assignment.

P.S. Gillie had her knee replacement surgery on Monday afternoon and moved to rehab yesterday. Glenn, who has been through this himself, says her knee looks good and she is coming along very well, although she isn’t coping with not being in charge!

 Wes, Jane, Judi & Karen – 1979 Sigiriya, post the climb! Note the sarongs and thongs, which made climbing just that little bit more difficult

Finally, I heard a wonderful expression last week that I want to share with you - Relevance Deprivation Syndrome –sounds like a post-retirement disease! Hope I haven’t got it.

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 4th September 2011

Dear Friends, welcome to the first Dispatch of Spring 2011. We spent Monday morning in Ballarat getting our cars serviced. We were expecting to be there until 2pm as Wes’s car needed a big service, but instead they were ready by 11am, so we were home much earlier than planned. We would have seen a film, probably “Red Dog”, but it didn’t start until 12.30pm, and we have so much Art Show stuff to do, it seemed wise to come home rather than wait around for the film to start.

Our Rotary President, Jim Swatman, is in St John of God Hospital in Ballarat, so we paid him a visit and discovered he was having his gall bladder removed that afternoon. We promised to relieve him of some Rotary duties, which helped ease his mind. His operation went well & he is now recuperating.

We put in another big day’s work on Tuesday and the sponsorships are coming in thick and fast. One of our newest Rotary members, Trish Goullet, has been collecting so many promises, which I then invoice. Wes has secured the services of Stuart Rattle and Michael O’Neill as Judges of our Art Show; Horvats Wines are sponsoring the Opening Night and the Farmers Arms have bought sole advertising rights for the catalogues.

                                                           

Wes, Jane, Judi & Karen after climbing Sigiriya, Sri Lanka 1979

On Wednesday I was exhausted and decided to spend the day in bed, reading and doing crosswords and felt much better for the rest. I was sorry to miss out on Mah Jong as Carol was better and able to play and Valerie was celebrating her 79^th birthday. We were due to have an Arts Show Committee Meeting that afternoon, but nearly everyone was an apology, so Wes cancelled the meeting, updated the members on what had been happening and took some posters to the Rotary meeting that night for members to distribute around town.

The first day of Spring was a beautiful sunny one, and Wes went off to The Boys’ Lunch at Jeff Bain’s house in very good spirits and arrived back 4 hours later in even better ones! About 30 blokes turned up with their glass, bottle and something to barbecue and I believe most of the pressing problems of the world were solved. Some were still there at 7pm and no doubt needed taxis home. I went to the U3A Morning Tea, which was well-attended and Judi brought us all up-to-date on the latest doings.

Glenn collected me and Gillie and drove us to Castlemaine, where we met Judi and Michael for yum chat at ‘A Taste of the Orient’, a new little place in the main street, after picking up the Art Show Raffle tickets which had been printed in record time. We enjoyed some beautiful dim sum together, and then repaired to ‘She Sells Sea Shells’ which has magnificent seafood. I bought some wild barramundi pieces and a marinara mix. Wes missed out on this because he had morning tea with his sister, Denise, followed by manning the Community Bank Stall in Vincent Street for a couple of hours. I was very nervous about that night’s footy, so we left around 3.30pm and got home at 11.30pm. Wes now wants those 8 hours of his life back, as Collingwood didn’t turn up and were thrashed by 16 goals in our worst defeat for 4 years.

Yesterday we manned the Rotary stall at the Farmers Market and started selling raffle tickets with Brian’s donated painting on display. It was a good morning; we sold lots of tickets and enjoyed friendly chitchat with everyone. After our shift was over, we went to ‘Gracenotes Café’ for breakfast and discovered, Annie, Barbara and Gillie all there chatting over hot drinks. Then back home to work on the computers some more and a relaxing afternoon. Wes caught up on some sleep and I watched 3 games of footy. We had the barramundi for dinner and it was beautiful. Wes did it with lemon slices and rind in foil in the oven and I had baked a dish of potato, beetroot and onion to go with it. We had macaroni pudding for sweets. I’ll need a break from cooking after all that! Sadly the Blues were no match for the Saints in a lacklustre game, where both teams were flat-footed in the first half and we were very pleased we hadn’t driven back to the MCG again.

Today we’ve enjoyed a stunning breakfast – Gillie’s last before her knee operation tomorrow.  Barbara had printed out the words to ‘Rule Britannia’ for us to sing and made a special placemat for Gillie; Glenn had dripped red blood on a hand-towel and put it with a scalpel by Gillie’s plate; Terry & Gail turned up in red, white & blue wigs and Gail had her laptop with lots of Pommy songs ready to go, except she couldn’t connect to the Internet; John took photos and he, Jan, Judi & Michael were dressed in red, white & blue. Wes wore his plus fours and a white shirt and his Bulldogs scarf and I took a teddy and pillow along with me. Kim outdid himself with a wonderful selection of breakfast goodies and Gail recited ‘My Country’ when we all refused to sing the words to ‘Rule Britannia’ or ‘Advance Australia Fair’.

This afternoon we are hoping to see Daylesford play Buninyong at Dunnstown in the second Preliminary Final of the Central Highlands League. Hepburn was beaten by Waubra yesterday and Waubra will be a tough opponent if we get through to the Grand Final.

Frodo has lost a toenail, somehow on yesterday morning’s walk and he dripped blood around the house most of yesterday, before the wound healed and dried up. He isn’t at all concerned and doesn’t seem to be in any pain, but Bilbo is doing the worrying for him and keeps giving him little bites of encouragement. They clubbed together and gave their Daddy a bottle of Jameson Irish Whisky for Fathers’ Day, which has been very well-received.

Wes continues to spend hours on his family tree and history, as well as keeping minutes and writing Bulletins for Rotary, Hepburn Voices and the Art Show. We are both involved in the launch of the Community Bank on Thursday night , so the piles of books to read by the sides of our bed are growing as we have very little time to get through them. I have a class on ‘Difficult Crime Writers’ coming up in 2 weeks and am trying to get through the list.

One last word on footy – I discovered on Friday that I was successful in getting a reserved seat in the MCC for the Grand Final – what a relief – one less thing to stress about!

            Cox Plate 1990 – Jan McClean, Wes, Mate & Karen – singing ‘Good Old Collingwood Forever’ in the Silks Lounge at Moonee Valley

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 28th August, 2011

Dear Friends, what a wonderful week we’ve had to celebrate the end of Winter and the emergence of Spring. Sadly Wes and I have spent a good portion of it glued to our desks in preparations for the Daylesford Rotary Art Show. Last year we worked really hard to turn it from a small Lions’ event, where all records were kept in exercise books, to a computer-driven larger Rotary affair. This year our committee has been hard at work taking the next steps – designing a brand for the next 5 years; forming a marketing sub-committee that has already brought in more sponsorships than last year; we have taken control of the receipting of sponsorships so that we are making sure everyone is being invoiced, receipted and thanked; we have 6 good prizes in our raffle and the tickets are being printed; I have picked up our posters and leaflets today and printed our Award Certificates, and we have designed road signs to make sure no-one is unaware of the Show during Melbourne Cup weekend.

All these things sound simple but they take time and especially as we are trying to do them properly and provide a body of computer forms for whoever takes over from us. I have bought a programme that converts PDF into Word or almost anything else, so we are able to cope with documents that have been produced on Apple computers. This is making everything much easier. Our designers and our printing company both operate Apple, but we are strictly Word and this has caused lots of stress until last week when I tested all the free online conversion programmes and decided we would pay and get the best, which was a very wise decision.



Apart from Rotary, we went to see ‘Rising Waters’ at the MTC on Monday night with Judi & Michael, and met Ian & Robyn there. Judi & Michael enjoyed it, but the rest of us were underwhelmed and feel Tim Winton should stick to writing books and leave plays to David Williamson. The next afternoon, Wes and Barbara drove in their separate cars to Vic Roads in Ballarat to enable Barbara to reclaim her number plate “HIGHHO”, which we have been minding until she had her own car again. Wes is delighted with his new number plate “YOT 522”, which translates freely into “yacht, Judd, Nicholls, Nicholls” or if I am driving,” Maxwell, Tarrant, Tarrant”.

We managed to have two games of golf, early on Monday and Tuesday mornings. I wasn’t impressed with my form after such a long break, but as is usual, when it gets to the last hole, God takes pity on you and everything falls into place. Wes got a par on the 10^th at Trentham, so he is keen to play again, and I finally hit a little further than a short walk, so I’m keen to get back into it as well. I had a lovely massage from Ann Holden, who managed to get rid of most of the aches and pains associated with 2 games of golf and a session of Strong within 24 hours.

Valerie, Dot and I played Mah Jong, but Carol was unwell with laryngitis, and missed a fun morning. We chatted for the first hour, just catching up on each other’s news, and then took it in turns to win games, which was perfect. Wes joined Valerie and me for lunch at Café 3460. That evening was the Rotary Schools Music Night, which Wes went to – I stayed at my computer designing invoices and then printing them. He was home just after 7.30pm and said it was a most successful evening with 8 local schools in attendance.

By Thursday we were in full swing producing spreadsheets galore, chasing up information, arranging for the printing of everything and collecting an EFTPOS machine. I also got a prescription filled for Carol and dropped it in as well as some lemons. Bill & Sue Longley gave us a bucket of lemons, so I distributed them to Carol, Annie and Kim, as well as keeping enough for us. They are beautiful lemons and we can smell them through the house. We rewarded ourselves with dinner at the Farmers Arms last night and spent a most enjoyable 1 ½ hours there catching up with Glenda & Joe, Christine from 65 Main, and Bruce Bavin, a recently returned Daylesfordite, who has rejoined Rotary. Dinner was stunning – I had a Thai Fish Curry, which I couldn’t fault and Wes enjoyed a rare Porterhouse. We had hoped to talk with Susanne & Claire, who own the hotel, as they are generously sponsoring the Art Show catalogue, but they were having a night off. It just means we’ll have to go back again!                           

  Karen, Nana, Grandpa & Terry - Coburg 1952

Nicole gave me henna on Friday. We were very nervous about the colour as the Harvest Café, where I buy the henna, has changed hands and they couldn’t get the same brand as before. They have been so obliging and helpful, that I was thrilled to be able to visit in the afternoon to show them that the colour was good – it is almost burgundy, shades of early hennas many years ago.

It feels quite odd to have a whole weekend without footy. Collingwood played on Friday night in Fremantle and won easily and Carlton had a bye, so we had lots of extra time. I visited Viva on Saturday morning and she continues to improve slowly but surely. She still can’t read, but her colour is better and she is enjoying watching DVDs, Smokey the cat, and her garden – all from the comfort of her recliner chair in the lounge. I brought her a jar of O’Toole’s honey, our favourite flavour – messmate & peppermint gum and fortunately she loved it!

Lovely photo of the Lazzaros at Jessica’s Christening 2002 – L-R – Jess, Cathy, Ben, David, Helen, Ged & baby Jessica Rose          

Breakfast this morning was very special – Kim produced mushroom roulade, and smoked salmon puffs, along with the usual fare. We had some amusing conversations with lots of laughs and gentle ribbing. Kim agreed to let me put up an Art Show poster, our very first, and I hope it produces some early interest from artists and visitors alike. Not sure what the rest of the day will bring – Wes is working in the garden, getting enormous help from Bilbo and Frodo – he mowed the lawn yesterday and pruned some bushes that had grown too high.

Yesterday afternoon, we had hoped to be visited by Lovely, her best friend, Cindy, and some other girls, who were spending the weekend at Villa Parma in Hepburn Springs, but they were all having massages, so we ate  the delights Wes had bought to serve them, for our dinner last night. while watching various games of footy. Jane Knox had flown down with her friend, Annette, to go to the Geelong game including the President’s lunch. She wore a lovely red shirt to show her support for the Swans and was delighted when they won an historic victory at Kardinia Park, where the Cats had not been beaten for 4 years. Even the Wallabies won last night against the All Blacks to take the Tri Nations trophy for the first time in 10 years.

Jane doing the footy in style in Geelong

 
Leanne & Viva in Daylesford 2004

                    

Paun with Liam & Warwick 1992

SEE YOU IN SPRING!

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 21st August 2011

Dear Friends, I am sitting at my desk looking out at sun glinting on water for a change. The daffodils are starting to flower in our garden at last, there is a small breeze blowing and the hardiest of souls are wearing their t-shirts in celebration. We have just returned from a really lovely breakfast with Joe & Glenda’s company an added bonus and then we were joined by John & Jan who had expected to be in Melbourne today, so that was a good surprise. Kim and Gary outdid themselves with platters of food again and the conversations were lively with wonderful descriptions of Joe & Glenda’s holiday, most of which was spent cruising. They visited Spain, Turkey, Italy, Croatia, Venice and Dubai and they both look very relaxed and refreshed for the break.

Joe & Glenda

We had a good visit from Anthony Starkins, our financial advisor, on Monday night. He arrived on time, had experienced difficulty finding which bit of Duke Street we were in, but knew he had found us when he spotted the 2010 Premiership poster in the bedroom window. Wes had excelled himself with Tuki trout for dinner and roast vegetables, followed by a cheese platter and then baked apples. We all ate and drank far too much and I left them solving the world’s problems when I went to bed.

On Tuesday I somehow got up at 5.30am and Wes somehow got up to walk the boys and Anthony somehow got up, dressed and breakfasted in time to drive to Mansfield. I then drove to Ballarat for an appointment in driving rain, which got worse as time went by. That night Wes had a training night for Hepburn Voices, which gave me the chance to go to bed early. We awoke to heavy rain the next morning and then at 6am the power went out and stayed out for the next 6 hours. I remained in bed with the doona doubled over and the Carlton rug on top (it was too dark for a photo of this phenomenon), but Wes was up and dressed, so he lit the fire and he, Bilbo and Frodo slept and read happily until we were able to have hot drinks and showers. I tried reading The Age by torchlight, but it was less than satisfactory.

That evening at Rotary, everyone had stories to tell, some had escaped to Ballarat or Castlemaine, while others had just waited it out. Our speaker, Lesley Hewitt, talked about Riding for Disabled, and assured us that “Daylesford punches above its weight”. She was very passionate about this sport and introduced us to a local rider, who is doing well. Wes stood in as Sergeant and enjoyed fining us all light-heartedly, although I think the Collingwood supporters really suffered! 

                                                            Ken Gillies & Wes at Rotary

After Strong on Thursday morning, I came home to find Wes had done the Bulletin, so edited it, emailed it and posted it out, then prepared for our Rotary Arts Show meeting later that day. I drove to Ballarat again for an appointment with Sarah, the beauty therapist, and was home in time to help Wes set up for our meeting. We had a good discussion, the Marketing sub-committee has already obtained some donations of money and goods; the branding that I have been working on was accepted and the Opening Cocktail party arrangements are going well. After the meeting, Wes and I had dinner at ‘Gracenotes Café’, where we were their only guests, until another couple spotted the welcome open fire and came in for dinner. We enjoyed a beautiful meal as always.

We have both been feeling quite tired this week, probably because of all the travelling to Melbourne and all the Art Show work, which has been quite intense. So we decided not to go to either of our footy games this weekend. Wes had a very quiet day on Friday catching up on Al Jolson films and programmes he had taped on MyStar. It was a beautiful day, so I took the boys for a walk to the Post Office, did some computer work and then watched the week’s episodes of ‘Letters & Numbers’. We listened to the Carlton vs Hawthorn match, and were very pleased that we hadn’t driven there as 1.8 by half-time was not a good return. Carlton later picked up their game, but it was too late and the Hawks won by 2 goals.

Lovely with Celia in the background Christmas 96

Yesterday we both felt better for the rest and had another enjoyable, quiet day. We were both working on the Art Show and I bought a programme online that will enable us to convert PDFs to Word, as all the new branding for the Show is in PDF because it was done on an Apple computer. We decided not to drive to Waubra to see Daylesford challenge Hepburn in the first Qualifying Final as we expected Daylesford to be thumped, but amazingly our team won, without its best player. We now have a week off, which will help all the injured players. I decided to spend the money we had saved by not going to the footy on a special meal, so we had oysters natural, followed by Sri Lankan fish curry and lemon meringue pie for dessert. I cheated with the pie and bought two big slices from the Harvest Café. Wes lasted until half-time watching the Collingwood game with me, then went to bed. I was rather disgusted that we got way ahead of the Lions and then took the foot off the pedal – our only excuse was two bad injuries during the game and 6 of our regular side out.

We are hoping to play golf tomorrow morning – if the weather stays like it is, there will be no excuse. It is so long since I have played, I can’t wait to see if I can hit the ball longer, as I am certainly stronger since the last time I played. Thanks again to everyone who has asked after Viva, she is coming along slowly but surely. Her doctor has advised her to have few visitors in case she catches any germs while she is still vulnerable, but the pneumonia has completely gone, which is wonderful. I will see her later this week.       

Daylesford Dispatch - Monday, 15th August, 2011

Dear Friends, it is a dull day in Daylesford after some stunning weather on the weekend. It’s not cold, but overcast and totally still. The plum blossom is out next door and our bulbs are trying hard to flower, so Spring can’t be too far away. Wes has done some serious pruning which will give our lavender bushes and some camellias a change to get more sun when it emerges again. He’s also managed to mow the lawn twice and everywhere looks lovely as a result. We are looking forward to a visit from Anthony Starkins, our Financial Advisor, tonight. He is heading to Mansfield tomorrow, so we invited him to break his journey here. Wes has caught 3 Tuki trout and will be doing something wonderful with them tonight. At present Wes is having a game of golf at Trentham – it is ages since we played there, and then meeting Bob White for a coffee at the new Coliban Food Store there.

Since I last wrote, I have visited Viva twice, both times on Sundays, and Leanne has taken advantage of my visits to stock up on necessities. Yesterday I thought Viva was looking a better colour and she feels stronger, although she is still suffering coughing fits. She and Leanne had watched “The King’s Speech” the day before, which I took as a sign she was getting back to normal. Both times I have taken ½ dozen of Gillie’s eggs – her chooks are laying well and Viva has been most appreciative.

Apart from the normal activities during the week, we have been to see “Hamlet” starring Ewen Leslie, who did such a good job with “Richard III” last year. Sadly, we were all disappointed, and felt he didn’t bring such great skills to his portrayal of the Prince of Denmark. I was very taken with the set, loved the modern adaptation and thought Garry McDonald acted his socks off as Polonius and then the Gravedigger. We enjoyed spending time with Judi and Michael, who drove us there and back. Back was very difficult as Ballan to Daylesford was enveloped in a thick fog, but Michael negotiated it sensibly and we got home safely.

Ewen Leslie doing ‘To Be or Not To Be’ very well

Wes and I drove to Ballarat on Tuesday to see ‘Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows’, which we had booked in Gold Class. We loved the film and Gold Class was most impressive at Ballarat – we were very comfy, the food and wine were superb and reasonably priced – while the rain fell outside, we were warm and toasty inside. We came home and I pushed SEND on our e-census, unlike some incredible number of people. I note that lots of my favourite websites now include exhortations to push SEND on the census – hope everyone does!

Wes had a brilliant day on Wednesday while I was playing Mah Jong with Carol and Valerie and catching up on everyone’s news. He and John Smith met up with a Melbourne Rotarian, John Benger, who had brought Vai and his father, Vai Maina from PNG. Vai had been a recipient of Rotary’s Medical Aid for Children to remove 6 tumours from behind his left eye. They were here in Daylesford for some R&R before going home this week. No doubt John Smith had suggested Daylesford. Their itinerary included fishing and lunch at Tuki; a visit to Cricket Willow; a tour of the Chocolate Mill and a walk among the kangaroos at Hepburn Golf Club. They were then taken to Aperitif at Rodney and Denise’s home where they were all made very welcome and Peter Widdop presented Vai with an ‘I Love Daylesford’ badge. Wes gave him his beautiful Daylesford Football Club red jacket to help ward off the cold. Then we all went to Rotary, where Wes chaired the meeting and John Smith & John Benger told everyone Vai’s story. It was a wonderful evening – this is exactly what Rotary does so well – seeing a problem and solving it – Vai is very excited to be going home looking normal again and he has not lost any of his eyesight in spite of the long and very delicate operation.

(Jim, Vai, Maina, John & Wes at Tuki &Vai with a fish below)

The next day it was my turn to be extra busy. Wes got up early to finish off the Rotary Bulletin and I edited it then sent it out before meeting Glenn Mack at “Wombat Hill House”, where he gave me his itinerary for his trip to the Flinders Ranges as well as his PO Box key so I can collect his mail and pay any bills. We had a lovely chat and were amused to see Rodney and Denise arrive with a table of friends who had been at Aperitif the night before and were no doubt recovering from a big evening. Then I drove to Mt Franklin where Roger Roberts and I spent 2 ½ hours with his young friend, Alyssa, designing the new Rotary Art Show logo and making the brochures, posters, certificates and road signs. Alyssa is a second-year design student, who is appreciative of the opportunity to hone her skills, which is a wonderful thing for Rotary. Roger is an accomplished artist, who has given much of his time to making this and last year’s Art Show a success.

In the meantime Lovely and Malcolm were driving to Daylesford and we had arranged to meet at ‘Gracenotes Café’ for afternoon tea. Unbeknownst to them I had invited Judi, Michael, Annie, Rhonda and Barbara, all of whom were able to come, and we enjoyed a fun 1 ½ together. Wes even popped in unexpectedly as he was busy with Rotary Art Show duties as well and hadn’t expected to be able to see them. They were on their way to Ballarat for the night, so we all had lots of suggestions for what to do there and are waiting to hear how they got on! That night I went to bed early and Wes hosted a meeting for the Marketing arm of the Art Show.

Wes spent Friday in Melbourne at a Rotary meeting (the ROMAC arm) with John Smith and others at the Athenaeum Club. John had been worried that Warren wouldn’t wear a tie, so he dressed up beautifully in his best suit, lilac tie and had a haircut from Vince at Vince & Dom in Little Bourke Street, before he arrived! I expect John was much relieved. That afternoon Michael picked me up and we drove to Ballan, and caught the train to Melbourne for dinner at “Spicy Fish” followed by Collingwood & St Kilda at Docklands Stadium. We had a very yummy dinner, even if Michael’s chilli tolerance was tested (sorry), enjoyed walking along Little Bourke Street and noticing the way the various laneways came alive at night. Michael was especially taken with Hardware Lane. We had great seats at the footy, on the wing, 4 rows from the front and we were surrounded by some vehement Pies supporters and some very mild-mannered Saints fans. St Kilda put us under enormous pressure and it was a most exciting game, which could have been much closer if their players had been able to make good decisions when they got close to goal. We stayed until the end and then caught the footy train home.

I woke on Saturday with a burst blood vessel under my eye and the beginnings of a head cold, so spent the day in bed, which seemed the most sensible thing to do. Wes made scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast and I had made a batch of minestrone soup the day before, so there was no shortage of food. I did crosswords, watched ‘Letters & Numbers’ episodes to catch up and watched the Carlton & Freo game which was shown live. Carlton won easily even though they were wearing their pale blue jumper which I don’t like. Wes does like it and he barracks for them! That night he went to a fund-raising cocktail party at The Raglan, where Lady So & So likened Daylesford to a ‘Hill Station’!

(Spicy Fish Feast^)

Yesterday I felt much better, walked the boys early, took them to the Sunday Market, had fun at breakfast and then drove to Melbourne and back. I was so tired when I got home that I went to bed again and watched the very exciting win by Richmond over the Swans, followed by Geelong’s close call with Adelaide and had another good night’s sleep.

Beautiful photo of Kathey Jordon, Tom Tyrrell & Joyce Spiteri in 1998 at Wes’s first Mayoral night