Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 29th May 2011

Greta, Lauren, Danny & Karen in Devonport showing our allegiance & in Greta’s case a little more than is necessary! Danny assures me Pat still wears this jumper.

Dear Friends, thanks for the phone calls and messages wondering if I was alright as there was no Dispatch last weekend. I have spent most of this past week in bed fighting off the first Winter cold and seem to have won the battle. Sadly we had to postpone a luncheon we were hosting yesterday and hope to we can reschedule it in July.

When I last wrote, we were heading off to collect Hanna, have lunch with her at Café 3460 and drive her to Melbourne, all of which went off without a hitch. Kim was delighted to see Hanna and lots of familiar faces stopped to stay hello to her as we had our lunch. When we got to the National Gallery, we were worried that Hanna’s friend had not arrived to meet her, and eventually discovered she was waiting in the foyer of the Arts Centre next door. Wes and I left them and walked to Federation Square to see the Eugene von Guérard Exhibition and the hour we spent there wasn’t anywhere near enough time to appreciate it and him fully.

We had a delightful casual meal at the Curve Bar at the Arts Centre, before going to see “Next to Normal” an American musical play supposedly about schizophrenia, but more about grief and misunderstanding. Wes was completely underwhelmed by it, and I enjoyed the music, but was annoyed by the schmaltzy feel of the play.

We played golf on the Tuesday morning early, just the two of us, and once again, although we weren’t brilliant, we had enough good shots to keep us interested. In the afternoon I had a massage with Ann, while Wes drove Barbara to Castlemaine where they picked up Bobby, her new cat, who is about 12 months old and very playful.

Carol, Dot and I played Mah Jong on Wednesday and shared out the honours and that night we had an enjoyable Rotary Meeting where we were addressed by a police Inspector who has been mentored by Rotary. He was most interesting and impressive.

On Thursday I finally caught up with Judi at her place, where Maddy and Major greeted me like a long-lost friend. We had a good chat and lots of cups of tea. They have a beautiful view through their lounge window and it makes the most of the morning sun. In the afternoon Wes drove to Woodend for a dental appointment, while I spent some time in the garden getting the vegetable beds in the back ready for Winter planting with enormous help from Bilbo and Frodo.

We were out early on Friday having breakfast with Jim Swatman again to talk through our role in his year as incoming President of Rotary. He has some great ideas, which mean we keep having to change the template of the Rotary Bulletin, but I think it is finally agreed on.

Warren & Barbara drove to Melbourne to see Carlton play Geelong. I don’t know about Barbara’s feelings, but Wes came home on quite a high, convinced that Carlton are not only Finals material, but potential Grand Final participants. He was disappointed that they couldn’t win the game, but pleased with the fight and the skills shown by most of the players.

We had volunteered to be on the gate for the local footy on Saturday – Daylesford vs Buninyong and had an early start of 9.30am in the cold. We both enjoyed the shift, especially with a cash register tray to put the money in and thermoses of tea to keep us warm. I went home and collected the boys at midday and tied them up to the gate, where they attracted lots of attention and pats.

John Goullet relieved me at 1pm and I went to watch the seconds have a close win, while Wes joined me just after the start of the firsts. Daylesford was never in the hunt and we left for home at half-time as we felt we had already spent enough time at the ground. When we saw the final result we were pleased with our decision – much nicer sitting in the heated lounge with a glass of wine and a plate of cheese and biscuits.

There was a lovely moment in the morning when I recognised Nathan Cummings, a handsome young man that I first met 6 years ago when he was about 10 and the boys were puppies. He sat in the gutter outside Sweet Decadence playing with them, then went over the road to the $2 shop and bought them combs and proceeded to comb their fur. We met often over the next 3 years and he used to walk the boys around the boundary line at the footy during half-time. I haven’t seen him for 2 years as he has been playing footy for the Under 18s and now he is taller and slimmer and when I greeted him by name as he came through the gate, he smiled and gave me a hug! He found us later during the game much to the delight of Bilbo and Frodo.

1987 in Peter’s jeep in the Seychelles

Sunday was the usual busy morning – I walked the boys, then after a shower and fresh clothes, took them with me to Leitches Creek to pump mineral water for the week. Then we went to the Sunday Market, collected our fruit, vegetables and dog bones, came home and put everything away, then off to breakfast, where there was a cast of thousands or so it seemed. The weather was cold and wet, so we decided to take the boys back home rather than tie them up on the veranda. I went inside to tell Kim and Gary, whereupon Gary grabbed their toast and vegemite which he had ready for them and fed them in the back of our car – talk about Meals on Wheels!

After breakfast we drove to Melbourne to see Collingwood play Adelaide at Docklands Stadium. We had good seats, were surrounded by good-natured supporters of both sides and endured a pathetic first half from the Pies in which they scored 2 goals 10 behinds. Fortunately we got our act together in the third quarter and finally ran away with the game with an 11-goal last quarter.

We had been invited to Kathy & Ged’s place for a Sicilian meal after the footy, so drove to Burwood and had a wonderful few hours catching up with them and eating a feast of fine food with equally fine Italian wines. It was lovely and relaxing to sit at their dining table listening to stories about their travels in Italy. I think all four of us would have happily caught the next flight out – we have never travelled around Italy and it seems as though we have missed out on some great experiences.

Wes with Kathy & Ged outside the Wolseley in London March 2010

As we were driving home I could feel I was coming down with a cold and by the next morning I was confined to barracks. Wes has been wonderful, cooking lovely meals and allowing me to stay in bed and try to sleep my way back to health. He was able to play Chess with Barbara on Monday, take her to an orthotics appointment at Ballarat on Tuesday, attend Rotary on Wednesday, walk the boys and keep the home fires burning. I gave my ticket to the opera “How to Kill Your Husband” to Judi, apologised for missing Mah Jong and Rotary, cancelled appointments with the dentist and beauty therapist in Ballarat (even if I hadn’t been coughing all over them, I couldn’t have driven there and back) and finally emerged on Friday morning to have morning tea with Gill Murray at her home locally. Gill made pikelets aplenty and we had tea and lots of chatter, mostly about her experiences as a Civil Celebrant, as well as Family Trees. Wes had hoped to meet his cousin, Glenn Testro, at the footy that night, but Glenn was unable to come and Wes saw Carlton down Melbourne on his own. He arrived home very tired around 12.30am.

Yesterday, after visiting Barbara early, Wes did a Rotary shift collecting for the Salvos, before having an early lunch with Glenn Mack, who dropped in to chat, and then caught up on some sleep. I made soup, did the ironing, answered emails and spent the afternoon and evening watching footy and knitting.

We’ve just come back from a lovely breakfast with Judi, Michael, Gillie, Glenn and Barbara. As Gail was away, we got a chance to send the conversation in some different directions and enjoyed a spirited discussion about imprisonment, battleships, Gillie’s impending trip to South Africa to look after her sister etc, while demolishing mountains of food & hot drinks, courtesy of Kim & Gary. We are shortly off to Melbourne, where I will find a warm spot to watch the footy and Wes will visit Joan Testro, who is in Cabrini at present for a rest.

Lovely photo of Denise Anderson with Joan Testro 2008

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, 8th May, 2011

Happy Mother’s Day to Viva & all you other mothers

Dear Friends, after some lovely Autumn days, we are suddenly being introduced to Winter with some very cold mornings. We’ve had a great weekend catching up with old friends, Ron & Margo Prophet, who have been out of our lives for about 8 years. Ron spotted Wes on Facebook, followed up and they arrived yesterday afternoon for a short, but very successful visit. After hugs and kisses and a late lunch of soup and Red Beard pumpkin bread, we took them for a brief drive around the Shire, then brought them back here to prepare, as we had invited Glenn, Bronwen & John for dinner. Margo & I avoided too many duties, but Ron settled happily into a dual role of sous chef and drinks waiter.

Wes made a yummy bouillabaisse with rockling, prawns and mussels, which we accompanied with sourdough bread and baked kohlrabi. I had made a trifle, using Viva’s recipe, and then we offered Goldfields cheeses bought at the Farmer’s Market. Bronwen had made some yummy macaroons to accompany tea and coffee, so we didn’t even open the beautiful chocolates that Margo had brought, although we managed to get through most of the wine that everyone contributed! Conversation flowed, the fire added warmth and atmosphere and after everyone else had left we sat around chatting until I peeled off around 11pm, Margo at midnight and the boys at 1am.

This morning I did my usual routine with Bilbo and Frodo – early walk, and then we pumped mineral water at Leitches Creek, bought goodies at the Sunday Market, then off to breakfast. Ron & Margo coped very well with meeting more of our friends, Gail arrived in her traditional Mother’s Day outfit of dressing gown and pjs, Kim outdid himself with corn fritters to accompany the eggs, snags, bacon, mushrooms, smoked salmon, tomatoes and spinach. Gary was kept busy providing hot drinks for us, once he had given the boys their toast with vegemite.

We all went to the Sunday Market together and enjoyed wandering around, meeting Nick & Lindsay, Ruth Bray and Glen & Peta Heyne on our way, as well as lots of dogs. Then back home for a last cup of tea and chat before Ron & Margo drove back home in time to watch their son, Andrew, play hockey at the State Hockey Centre. Thank you so much for the visit – let’s not leave 8 years’ gap before we see each other again.

Ron & Margo with Andrew & Lauren flanked by Lib on the left & Viva on the right @ 246 Brunswick Road, Christmas Morning 1999

Yesterday, before our visitors arrived, we spent a very enjoyable shift on the Farmers’ Market, where everyone seemed in good spirits, and our friends, Nigel & Sandy told us they had finally sold their Bullarto property, entertained their last paying visitor, and were moving into Daylesford in a rented house while their new Fasham & Johnson house is being built on a block of land here. They have always wanted to use them as builders and just love our house – sliding doors, brickwork and all!

When I left you last Saturday, we were off to the local footy. I took Michael and Wes joined us later, after he had driven Deane to the airport. It was an exciting and close game that Hepburn won by 9 points at the end. I suspect if we hadn’t had 2 serious injuries the result could have been different. Sunday we had another big turnout for breakfast with Judi & Michael’s friend, Yvonne, and Gillie’s friend, Hilary, swelling the numbers.

After breakfast I drove to Melbourne to visit Viva, and then to Northcote to stay the night with Danny. We went off to the twilight footy together and until the Pies got their act together in the last quarter, it looked as though our pre-match drink together would be the highlight. Afterwards we had dinner in Victoria Street. The next morning, we had breakfast together in East Melbourne before Danny went to work and I drove back here in pouring rain and fog. In the meantime, Barbara drove Wes, John & Jan to the Williamstown Little Theatre to see ‘Not About Heroes’, which they all loved. Judi wasn’t well enough to go and offered their tickets to John & Jan, who enjoyed the experience of the tiny theatre and dinner afterwards at the pub.

Celia, Lauren, Danny & Greta on Greta’s wedding day – 3 beautiful young women with their proud father

The rest of Monday was quiet, although Wes played Chess in the afternoon with Barbara and John Smith, who has joined U3A to do this class. We missed golf on Tuesday as well, as Wes had breakfast with his nephew, Leon, and I made a big pot of minestrone soup before having a massage with Ann. We were sorry not to play golf, but we just can’t fit everything in!

On Wednesday we met Jim Swatman, the Irishman who is incoming Rotary President, to discuss his needs for the Bulletin, which we have agreed to do for his year. We spent 90 minutes talking about his vision for his year and not much on the Bulletin, except for the request to include a shamrock. Then I went off to play Mah Jong with Valerie and Dot and we had a most enjoyable morning catching up on each other’s news and sharing the Mah Jongs around.

That night, Wes was Chairman at Rotary, where Jan Thompson, who founded ‘Strong Classes’ was the Guest Speaker. She was very good and will no doubt recruit some new members, especially as she didn’t push her classes, but spoke about her journey. I had invited Jan Smith to attend, as I knew she was interested in meeting Jan Thompson and learning about Strong.

The next day, Nicole came to cut my hair, give me a henna and keep me updated on gossip. Then Wes and I spent an hour or two designing a new Bulletin cover for Jim, which he promptly reviewed and asked for a few more impossible things. Fortunately I thought of asking Callum Preston in Seattle for help and he came back with a clip art line of coloured stick figures holding hands – thank you so much Callum, perfect! Wes is loving scanning old photos and working on the Family Tree.

By Friday we were running out of minestrone, and I had to make a curry for dinner. I caught up with Carol Bruce at Cafe 3460 to hear all about ‘Dr Zhivago’, which she and Marjorie had seen on Wednesday. Gillie had invited us and Glenn to drinks to say goodbye to Judi & Michael who left yesterday morning for a week in Noosa catching up with family. We had a stimulating and indulgent hour or so in Gillie’s lounge drinking beautiful wine and demolishing wonderful cheeses and dips. Then home for eggplant curry and early to bed in preparation for the busy weekend just gone.

1976 – outside the House of Dunhill in London!

Daylesford Dispatch - Saturday, 30th April 2011

Lovely photo of Wes taken at the Ballarat Races

Dear Friends, what a magic week it has been in Daylesford. The weather has been perfect and we have made some use of it, probably not enough. Anzac Day was very special – Wes and Judi went to the Dawn Service and were joined by John Smith. Then Wes and I went to Eganstown for the 9am service, picking up John on the way. It is a very special service there and a new plaque was unveiled to commemorate the 50 or so from Eganstown Primary School, who went to war. 15 of them were killed and their descendents remember them all with pride. Wes laid a wreath on behalf of Catherine King, our local Parliamentarian. Winsome Menadue had her usual trailer of thermoses of hot tea and coffee, with ice-cream containers full of Anzac biscuits, all homemade – some with golden syrup and others with treacle.

After that Wes dropped me home to get ready for the footy and I walked back into town to join him at the Cenotaph, where the Brass Band and the Pipe Band accompanied the marchers.  Wes laid a wreath there on behalf of Daylesford Rotary Club and Dr Jon Barrell, resplendent in suit and hat, gave a lovely address, reminding us that all over the world, Australians were remembering Anzac Day. There was a healthy crowd of locals and visitors in attendance. Afterwards he caught up with John, Jan and Barbara and they all had lunch at Gracenotes Café, as headquarters (Café 3460) was closed.

I walked back to where Michael was picking me up and he drove us to Ballan Station in time to catch the 11.48am train to Southern Cross Station. The train was nearly full and we weren’t able to sit together until someone got off at Melton and we quickly changed seats. When we arrived in town, we had to catch a train to Flinders Street, then another train to Jolimont, which was most frustrating. It took nearly as long to do that as it had taken to travel to Melbourne. By the time we arrived at our good seats in the ground, the pre-match entertainment had started.

We both thought the Anzac Service was very well done and quite moving, especially the drummer and the bugler. The game was fantastic, a very high standard, exciting and full of highlights. The two Essendon supporters who have emailed me were very pleased with their team’s endeavour and so they should be. They are a young side and need to get used to each other and to the different game plan under James Hird.

After the game Michael and I endured a similar horror experience getting back to Southern Cross – two packed trains full of panicking country supporters. When we found our train we discovered it was faulty and had to wait for it to be shunted out and replaced. We then spent time sitting in-between stations to let other trains through and finally arrived home at 8.15pm. When I told Michael I didn’t remember all this kerfuffle last year, he reminded me that I drove!!

On Tuesday morning we played golf with John & Jan Smith – our first game in 7 weeks, so we were a bit rusty. I decided not to score, which was a sensible move and took much of the pressure off me. Wes got into the swing more quickly than I did, Jan hit some good shots and John played very well as usual. We had toasted sandwiches and cuppas at the canteen, the first time Wes and I have been in the Clubhouse. John has joined the competitions, so he knows the ropes.

In the afternoon, while Wes worked on three of his main projects I met Judi for a lovely 3 hours of wandering around town. We started at the Convent Gallery, looked at the latest exhibitions, lit candles, and when the café was clear of the lunch crowd, enjoyed interesting teas and biscuits. Tina, the owner, was there and thrilled to see us both, as was my favourite waitress, Tennille, who dropped everything to say hello and catch up. We had a good chat, then walked back into town, via Howe Street, looked at teapots in Magic Pudding, chatted to Victor Szwed, whose home is on the market, and ended up in the newest café in town – Daylesford House. We had some more interesting teas, Judi had a White Russian biscuit and we made ourselves known to the owners.

Wes went off to his meeting at Mooltan and I heated up some leftover soup and watched a replay of the footy, followed by a Doc Martin while I did the ironing. The meeting went well, and there are plenty of people keen to get involved in the projects of 1 / Street Beautification; 2 / Heritage Badging of Buildings and 3/ Oral Histories.

On Wednesday, we parted company – him to spend the morning in the garden, and me to spend the morning at Café 3460 playing Mah Jong with Carol, Dot and Valerie. Valerie was running late, so we played lots of goulashes – could get used to having the blanks in to help get a difficult hand! We all won games and had a fun morning. In the afternoon, Wes and I both worked on our computers and Glenn dropped in with a loaf of freshly baked bread and received a red wine for his thoughtfulness. Afterwards we went to Rotary and John Smith joined us again.

Lovely photo of Glenn

It was very hard to go back to Strong Classes on Thursday morning – I couldn’t remember half of my programme, let alone be able to do them all. It was weeks since I had been to a class as we arrived back from our holidays just as the term break occurred.

We had a lovely day with Judi, Michael, Gail, Terry, Jan, John & Barbara at Ballarat Races. I had booked a table in the Members, found enough Guest Passes for everyone and it was a perfect day. Barbara was probably the most successful punter, but we all had fun and Terry and Jan are going to join. Typically, the Turf Club Membership secretary, Michelle, has offered them free membership until 31^st July, provided they join for 11-12.

Front L-R – Gail, Barbara & Jan

Back L-R – Judi, Wes, Michael, Terry & Karen

We had a very busy day on Friday – Wes started by walking the boys early, and then got Barbara going for the day as she didn’t have a carer. He and I went to Trentham to play golf and although we started slowly, we got a bit better as the sun came out – Wes hit 3 pars and my best hole was a bogey on the 9^th hole par 5. After a late breakfast at Café 3460, Wes took Ascot back to the vet for Barbara. He and I went to Retravision to buy a new vacuum cleaner – John suggested we check the filter – I brought the cleaner in, he took the filter out, it was clogged of course, so we ended up with a new filter which was much cheaper than a new cleaner.

In the afternoon Wes drove to Ballan to collect Deane Wells, who was staying with us overnight. It was lovely to see Deane again after quite a few months. Wes took him to the Farmers Arms for dinner to allow me to watch the wedding. They had a big night, after the hotel, they moved to Horvat’s Wine Bar for some jazz and more red wine with Michael. I spent the evening watching the wedding and sending scores of the footy to Wes, as the Blues overcame the Swans and recorded an historic win in the rain at the SCG. Wes and Deane poured themselves in the door around 11pm and settled down to some coffee before bed!

Today the boys all slept in, then after breakfast on our balcony, we took Bilbo and Frodo for a long walk around the Lake, meeting up with friends, Bill & Sue Longley, and Margie McConville. Wes has taken Deane to the airport and I am about to pick up Michael and go to see Daylesford play Hepburn in Hepburn, which should be an exciting event as everyone barracks for one or other side.

Tomorrow after breakfast I am driving to Melbourne to visit Viva, then go to the footy with Danny and stay overnight. Wes and Barbara, Judi and Michael, and Gillie are all off to Williamstown for a play. I thought it would be better to send this off today as I may run out of time tomorrow.

Karen attracting leeches in the rain-forest

Daylesford Dispatch, Sunday, 24th April 2011

Happy Easter to you all from beautiful Daylesford, where the sun is shining after a cold morning; Autumn is in full swing, and town is bursting at the seams with visitors. We have just returned from a very lavish breakfast where Kim & Gary provided us with Easter eggs, smoked salmon roulade and fish cakes to accompany the usual spread of sausages, bacon, eggs, spinach, tomato and mushrooms. Gail had forgotten all about Easter Uprising Celebrations, so we were spared Irish songs and discussed interesting topics like ‘How Gail Killed her Mother by giving her too much Baileys on New Year’s Eve’; “How John Smith now knows what to do in competitions at Trentham Golf Club’’; ‘How Easily the Blues beat the Crows Last Night’’, and ‘Who is going to what Service on Anzac Day?’’

Singapore Antique Shop – just loved the name!

We left you last week looking forward to a Sri Lankan dinner with Frank & Ellis, who are heading there next month. They had also invited Denise & Rodney, who are going as well, so we tried to give them a flavour of what Sri Lanka means to us and what we like doing. Denise & Rodney are considering staying at the Boulder Garden Hotel, because they loved the sound of it and we hope they do. Ellis had cooked a wonderful range of curries and did his best to serve curd and treacle afterwards. Frank had decorated the house and table with Autumn leaves in abundance and we all enjoyed a very social night, where we ate far too much and were quite pleased that Ellis had forgotten to bring out a sambol!

We missed out on golf this week as Wes’s cold keeps flaring up just as he thinks it is going away and spent a quiet Monday at our desks instead. Wes took Barbara to Chess in the afternoon and that night we had a lovely dinner of snapper with Jenny & Eddie Beacham, who were really keen to hear about our holiday – Sri Lanka is one of the few places in the world that they haven’t visited.

We took it easy on Tuesday morning and Wes got some extra sleep to try to get over his cold. I had a massage with Ann, which was lovely, while Wes took Barbara shopping and to lunch in Ballarat. He wasn’t well enough for hydro and they both had chores to do in Ballarat. I had a late lunch with Gillie at Gourmet Larder and caught up on some of her news. Then Wes met Jeff Bain with Averil’s son and wife to discuss her will, before we had dinner with Glenn Mack at our new Indian restaurant, where Stella, the front of house person, will make sure that no-one ever returns, no matter how good the food is!

On Wednesday I played Mah Jong with Carol and Dot and we had a wonderful morning together with lots of laughs. Carol won enough games to make her happy and we had lunch together before heading off on our separate ways. I was back at Cafe 3460 to spend time with Cathy O’Toole, always a treat, and then Wes and I went to Aperitif in the rain at David & Steve’s place just in front of us. After an hour of frivolity and lovely food, we picked up John Smith and took him to Daylesford Rotary.

L-R John, Jan, Michael, Judi, Jon & Di at Cafe 3460 Breakfast

It was a very special night at Rotary, as Brian Nash, a wonderful local Artist, was being made a Paul Harris fellow and it was a surprise. Wes had thought it would be a wonderful thing to do to thank him for all his support of Rotary, and after 5 months of work persuading the Board, it was finally happening. Brian was thrilled to bits, and, as an ex-Rotarian, very appreciative of the honour bestowed on him. John felt at ease after the first few minutes and plans to transfer to Daylesford before the end of the financial year.

The next day Wes spent at appointments – he started off at 10am meeting with Ian Head, who is getting involved in the Swiss & Italian Festa; then took Barbara & Ascot to the vet for Ascot’s weekly check-up; then spent 3 hours with his sister, Denise, discussing the family tree work he is doing, and finally ended up at the Town Hall with other Rotarians helping Brian Nash to get his Easter Exhibition ready. Brian agreed to run a raffle with his work as prizes and the money raised will go towards training teachers in Nepal, a project of Woodend Rotary Club.

Meanwhile I went to the U3A Enrolment Morning, which Judi handled beautifully and made as relaxed and casual as it could be. Jan Smith was there enrolling, so we chatted and she chose a few classes to start off her involvement. I had hoped to have lunch with Judi, but her Committee was keen to get together afterwards, so I came back home, and read the paper instead. That afternoon, after picking up Hot Cross Buns from Kim and pumping water at Leitches Creek, I visited Rhonda, who wanted help setting up Group Emails on her Apple Mac. We admired her Autumn leaves and her stunning garden, before settling down to the task, which we accomplished at a gentle pace in under an hour and we were both pleased as Punch.

Autumn leaves outside Rhonda’s dining room

Wes & I both love Good Friday as it is a day we traditionally spend together and try to incorporate a long walk. We started off with Hot Cross Buns smothered in Nick Massaro’s raspberry jam, then headed off to walk from our place to Sailors Falls. When we got to Twin Bridges the little bridge over the creek which had washed away in the storm, had not been replaced, so we crossed the road to walk to Tipperary Springs instead. Ditto with the little bridge there, so we did the Lost Children’s Walk towards Central Springs Road and then made our way down a track we have never walked before back to the Lake. It was raining off and on, but we enjoyed it very much and the boys were excited to be doing something different.

Back home I made a thick, spicy vegetable soup for a late lunch, Wes lit the fire and we watched ‘’All or Nothing’ a magnificent Mike Leigh film with Timothy Spall, Ruth Sheen and Lesley Manville. Ruth Sheen has been in every one of Mike Leigh’s films, Timothy Spall appears occasionally and so does Lesley Manville, who is riveting in his latest film ‘’Another Year”.

Yesterday was spent in Melbourne. We headed off early to visit Viva and Leanne and give them their Easter eggs, as well as their holiday presents. Viva was looking as well as we have seen her look in ages and the time just flew by as we caught up on their news. Then we wasted 100 minutes of our lives watching ‘Potiche’, a dreadful French-Belgian film starring Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Dipardieu. To add insult to injury, Wes’s inferior choctop collapsed on him!

Fortunately our next stop was afternoon tea with Ben and Leanne – we had mussels in a hot garlic sauce, oysters natural, dips, breads, cheese, artichokes, squid, figs and strawberries and I probably haven’t mentioned everything! (Can’t wait to have dinner there).We were so impressed with what they have done at their new house, which is a lovely old home in West Brunswick, that they have restored with style and flair. We all went to the footy together and somehow got Carlton over the line against the Crows. All the last quarter action seemed to be right in front of us and it was a very tense and exciting 30 minutes. We drove them home and got back here around midnight, tired but very happy with our day (except for the film).

We are hoping to get some work done in the garden this afternoon, then Wes is going to visit John Smith, to discuss his retirement plans, and if it gets cold enough, we’ll light another fire tonight and see the rest of New Tricks after the footy. The boys are happily snoozing at our feet, content with their booty from the Sunday Market and Sunday Breakfast.

Daylesford Dispatch, Sunday, 17th April 2011

Congee for breakfast at Raffles

Dear Everyone, we have now spent a whole week back in Daylesford and are gradually getting back into routine. Because it is school holidays some of our regular activities are on hold, which has allowed us to catch up on friends and paperwork. We have just returned from another lovely breakfast at Café 3460, and although Kim didn’t produce hoppers, he did serve wonderful platters of sausages, eggs, bacon, baked beans, tomatoes, mushroom, spinach and two kinds of toast. John Smith has porridge with stewed fruit and I continue to have my omelette, but everyone else is very happy with the platters and life is much easier in the kitchen!

Carol brought Alexandra in for a hot chocolate and she brought me some flowers to say thank you for a black & white necklace we brought home from India for her. She enjoys playing with the boys, although they got very excited when she fed them and accidentally nipped her fingers. I think everything is OK again as they licked her to death when I was trying to disentangle them and take them home after breakfast. Gail was her usual entertaining self and had us all laughing, although Glenn may have taken the honours with a small contribution of a New Zealand joke told to him by Dr Jon Barrell. It is too rude to reproduce here!

Viva is doing well, although heavy rain got into their roof again and the new ceiling batts that had just been laid will need to be replaced. For some reason the repairpersons decided that mending the gap in the roof would be the last job to be done. We hope to catch up with her and Leanne on Easter Saturday, and hear all their news.

Wes eating a light lunch in India & Alexandra looking very cute

Barbara’s cat, Ascot, is improving slowly but surely. Wes has taken her and Barbara to the vet twice during the week and Andrew, the vet, thinks she is getting better, although she is still not eating very much and is too weak to do anything other than be confined to quarters. By Friday Barbara was confident enough to leave her for the day and Wes accompanied her to the Austin Hospital for her regular visit to see what can be done to make her life more comfortable. She has a new back to her wheelchair which supports her better than the previous ones. Afterwards they had a late lunch, and then went to see a film, as Barbara had been housebound with Ascot for so long, apart from shopping and lunch with Wes on Wednesday.

I have had flu and pneumonia injections, attended a lovely U3A lunch with Judi at the Mill Market, bought a new Motorola phone and spent ages working out how to use it, played Mah Jong with Carol & Dot, had a manicure and pedicure that were well overdue, caught up with Rhonda over lunch, gone to Ballarat for a facial, and gotten back into the swing of Rotary with Wes.  

Wes has been busy catching up with his sister, Denise; with Jeff Bain, as they are joint executors of Averil’s will; with Rob McDonald to discuss the Swiss & Italian Festa; as well as getting back into the Family Tree; scanning old photos and Facebook. We were both thrilled to hear from our friend, Norma that she doesn’t have to go back to her oncologist for three months, so she can travel to China next month as she had hoped.

Norma & I looking hot at the World Cup Final

On Friday afternoon, Terry White and I headed to the MCG for the Collingwood & Richmond game. Terry is a Rugby League fan of the Wests Tigers, so I thought this was a good game to take him to – we had a lovely time together, and although he will never be a convert, I suspect he appreciates footy a little more than he did before. He told me the highlight of his evening was witnessing the passion of David Lazzaro, who joined us at half-time and stayed on to answer all the questions I hadn’t been able to answer satisfactorily! Terry was disappointed that the first half wasn’t close and got quite excited in the third quarter when the Tigers outplayed the Pies and got within 4 goals – he even clapped one of their goals, which was the only time he really got involved. Sadly for him the Pies ran away in the last quarter and we won by 12 goals. It was a late night and I finally got to bed at 1.15am.

Yesterday Wes and Barbara drove back into Melbourne for the Carlton & Essendon game. Unfortunately Barbara’s wheelchair was damaged when they drove into the Arts Centre car park, so they had to return home and watched the game at Barb’s place on delay. I took Bilbo & Frodo to Victoria Park to see Daylesford beat Dunnstown in a thrilling game that we only won in the last 10 minutes. Wes refused to look at text messages, but did see an email from Jane Knox, saying she was sorry for him. He assumed Carlton had lost, and was just as furious that they had played a draw with Essendon. Everyone at the local footy was glued to my trannie getting scores as it was such an exciting game.

Last night we had been invited to a surprise 60^th birthday party for Jim Swatman, but Wes was feeling unwell and exhausted, and I was tired as I had gotten home so late the night before, so we decided an early night was in order and retired to bed to watch the Swans and Cats battle in atrocious conditions at the SCG. The Swans were valiant, but the class of the Cats won out.

Tonight we are off to have dinner with Frank Page and Ellis Ebell and they are serving Sri Lankan curries. Ellis is Sri Lankan and he and Frank are holidaying there next month with a few other Daylesford friends, two of whom will be at the dinner tonight. We look forward to sharing our experiences and enjoying Sri Lankan food again. I’ll be back in touch next Sunday and let you know how it went.

The Indian laundry we visited in Mumbai

Daylesford Dispatch, Sunday, 10th April 2011

Raffles welcome fruit & flower bowl

Dear Friends, when I last wrote, we were just about to head out for a pre-dinner drink and we found ourselves at the Long Bar again where we were given a great table as we were hotel guests. Lots of visitors came looking for tables, but finally a young Asian-looking couple wandered by, so we invited them to join us and had another of those wonderful encounters you have when travelling. She was Korean, who has lived in Boston from age 15 and he was from Arizona. They are now in their thirties, married and have lived in New York and currently in London, and were fleeing from the cold for 2 weeks. Their biggest decision is where in the world to settle down.

Long Bar box of peanuts – it is etiquette to leave the shells on the floor

After two G&Ts each, we said goodbye and walked across the road to Chijmes, where we found another Lei Garden Restaurant and enjoyed double boiled sea treasure soup, steamed prawns with asparagus and Chinese cabbage with mushrooms for dinner. We walked back to Raffles and reprised our crème de cassis over ice drinks of the night before and reacquainted ourselves with Jimmy the pianist.

The next morning we were sorry to have our last breakfast in the hotel – everyone made a fuss of us – we are very easy guests and make sure we smile and say thank you for every service, unlike some of the guests who take the staff for granted. The afternoon before, we had received news from Barbara that her cat, Ascot, had gone missing on Sunday and when found, had been in a fight and was at the vet recovering. Fortunately there are no broken bones, but she has been unable to get onto both back legs, which has been worrying, although now she is home, has eaten a little and is responding to TLC. Fingers crossed that she recovers fully.

We went for a walk to the Singapore Library where we saw a wonderful exhibition on traditional weddings, as well as admired the various photographs and miscellany that has been donated over the years. Then into the biggest Anglican Church for a squiz and finally a browse in a second-hand bookstore, where we found a good history of Singapore, a book on Napoleon and another on Ramses, which will keep Wes going for ages.

We packed our bags, checked out of Raffles, enjoyed our only dim sum meal for the trip, in the Raffles bakery, and then found a quiet spot under the main staircase where we settled down to read our books until our car arrived to collect us. One of the many butlers who stopped for a chat organised tea and coffee for us, and we very reluctantly took our leave at 6pm. Our driver was very interested in cricket and Australian Rules and suggested we needed to get a catchier name if we are to appeal to Asians in the future with footy.

We arrived at the Singapore Lounge and the first thing I spotted was that day’s Melbourne Age. What bliss! We settled down to have a serious feed as we expected to be given only a snack on our flight home. When we found our seats we were amazed to be on a very new plane, where there are only 4 seats per row in Business Class – what luxury – the window seats are single seats, which means every traveller can get up and walk around without disturbing your neighbour. We found the seats so comfortable, the TV screens enormous and the bed delightful – it comes down from the backrest and includes a doona instead of a scratchy blanket.  I watched a very silly film ‘The Tourist’, because it was set in Venice, while Wes caught up with ’Another Year’ and ‘The Fighter’. When we reached Immigration, we were delighted when the young official said to us ‘Daylesford, I’m going to retire there’. It was lovely to be home.

Singapore Restaurant – perhaps a clone of the House Next Door?

We passed through security easily, got the Andrew’s courtesy bus, collected our car and set off home, arriving here about 9am, which was fantastic, as we landed at 6.40am. Everywhere looked wonderful – Jonno had cut the lawn and trimmed the garden beds, Judi had collected mail and papers and put out bins, with some help from Barbara, the roses, tomatoes, basil and spinach were all blooming, and Sandra had cleaned our house to within an inch of its life. Judi had put yellow liliums in my favourite (her least favourite) vase and left us tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber for a salad, as well as cabbage and carrots for the boys.

Wes went straight over to see Barbara, who had missed him dreadfully, especially with Ascot’s drama, while I unpacked both suitcases and started the first of 4 loads of washing. We climbed into bed with The Age, the local papers and cups of tea around 10.30am after Wes put the computers through their paces, and slept on and off the rest of the day. We got up in time to see sunset and watched a ‘New Tricks’ episode while enjoying our tomatoes and spinach on toast.

On Friday Nicole came to do my hair and Wes collected the boys from Eureka - This is how they looked as we left them to go away – you would never guess how excited they were and how much they enjoyed their holiday as well. I opened the mail, packed a small running away bag and Wes drove me to Ballan to catch the 3.30pm train to Southern Cross Station for the footy. I met Danny at European Restaurant in Spring Street, where we had a memorable meal – I was greeted with a glass of champagne to celebrate my return and matched it with ‘black and white pasta with fresh crab’. Danny had a stunning piece of meat, and we somehow managed tiramisu, which was a meal in itself.

We got to our seats just before the raising of the 2010 Premiership Flag, which was done very well – including as many past players, staff and supporters as possible and culminated with Simon Prestigiacomo hoisting the Flag onto the flagpole. We were delighted to be part of 88,818 crowd and the atmosphere was fabulous. Carlton came out with all guns blazing and gave us a great game, which we managed to win in the last quarter.

I stayed overnight with Danny, where we were wakened early by a group of painters, who decided to start work at 7.30am and thought it would be OK to knock on the door, rather than ring and make a time the day before. Danny went off to work, and I caught the train into town, where I bought some new Winter tops and some chocolates for Wes. Then I walked to Carlton, where Wes met me for lunch at Jimmy Watson’s to celebrate 45 years since we met on Sunday, 10^th April 1966. He had taken Barbara to dinner at ‘Gracenotes’ the night before, watched the first half of the footy with her, and then collected Ascot for her  next morning. Afterwards we saw ‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest’, which we really enjoyed and drove home in pouring rain. Barbara had let us know that the power was out, but we could see that everyone else had power as we got closer to home, so Wes went straight over to her place to restart her power which had turned itself off.

This morning we had a lovely reunion with all our friends at Cafe 3460 where Kim outdid himself with breakfast, Gary was at our sides with drinks before we knew we needed refills and we distributed our gifts. One of the delightful traditions of going overseas is bringing back presents for the Breakfast Group and everyone had great fun with their bags of goodies. Kim & Gary were given a Sri Lankan cookbook so we are expecting all sorts of wonderful goodies next week – string hoppers might be a bit much to ask for though!

Laundry hamper – Trident Hotel Mumbai style