This email is a little late today - I got distracted with kids' sport yesterday, a surprise 40th birthday for my sister-in-law and running around after teenagers last night. Most parents can relate to how busy weekends can be...
And while most weekends are usually spent as a taxi or carting bags, balls, blankets and drink bottles around, most parents love getting out there in the freezing cold watching their children/young adults run around, having fun.
We grew up doing that, and with one of my children now involved in a club in the Heathcote District Football Netball League, it regularly takes me back to some fabulous childhood memories of travelling to different towns for a game of netball in the cold and rain. They were great times, and now as a parent, continue to be.
After a recent trip to Gunbower, we stopped at the Torrumbarry Weir on the way home, then the Patho cemetery, before stopping in my home town of Elmore - again, a visit to the cemetery, and of course the bakery.
Not only are we getting out for the kids to play sport, we are spending the day together. And, while this may seem odd to some, we like to stop at small cemeteries in our travels. Not only is a wander through a cemetery a great history lesson, it teaches people a lot about empathy and life - and time.
But I digress... back to sport.
What a cracking weekend of footy and netball across the region. We've seen some significant achievements, and it was great to be at the White Hills Football Netball Club clubrooms to hear about some of those, on Saturday evening.
Here's where you catch up on some of those achievements.
I'm possibly biased, but we've got the best sports team going around in regional journalism.
They're gearing up for a big few weeks, with the footy and netball finals, and the end of season finals for other sports fast approaching.
I know very little about football, but the gents in our sports team tell me that in all four leagues it's shaping as the tightest finals race in years - and it's a similar tale on the netball court with multiple teams in all four leagues capable of winning the flag.
Bourkey, Westy, Kieran and Anth - along with photographers Darren, Glenn and Noni, will be there to cover all the action, and after that they'll make sure they're across coaching appointments and player movements during the silly season.
If you haven't caught up with some of Westy's yarns on the 'decade that was' - you must. He is producing some great content for our readers.
Here's where you can find more: BFNL DECADE THAT WAS - the 2013 season
Westy has also been following Subzero's health this week, and if you haven't read this story, do - it's a beautiful piece about the relationship between a horse and his mate.
Well, I'm off to find a quiet spot for a few hours... before what is another busy week in Bendigo.
We've got the Be.Bendigo and Bendigo Bank Business Excellence Awards this week, which the Bendigo Addy is again proud to be involved with.
And there's the Bendigo Writers Festival, which a few of us from the Addy, including Elspeth Kernebone and Chris Pedler, will be involved with.
The fesitval has a fabulous line-up of speakers. If you're interested, I'll be at the Festival Club (the Bendigo Bowls Club) hosting Are We There Yet? on Saturday evening. It's at 6pm and here's how our session is worded in the program. What's the future for girls? In Tishani Doshi's words, they are "coming out of the woods", broken and bruised, but coming all the same. Jane Caro says it's crucial those girls have conversations with older women - about looking after basic needs so you can get on with your interesting life. Jess Hill's writing looks at what hasn't changed, and what negative forces still controls women's bodies and lives. They talk to Nicole Ferrie about feminism 2019-style. Gains? Losses? Where to from here?
Hope to see you there.
Have a great week,
Nicole
Nicole Ferrie, editor
