Loading
Just Sayin'...

Just Sayin’…

Just sayin’…

18-03-2024

Great to see the Daylesford Guide Hall getting the renovations it needs for a new generation of Guides. And apparently Brownies are now Junior Guides.

more

Just sayin’…

02-03-2024

So, we just hit the 300th edition of The Local. That's a pretty big milestone for a little local paper. Well, not so little. This edition is 104 pages. Massive.

more

Just sayin’…

20-02-2024

Wow. Daylesford is the fourth most welcoming place on earth. Who knew. Well the good folk at Booking.com and they are busy spreading the word.

more

Just sayin’…

05-02-2024

It's been a long time since I wore a mask but I did recently. It was on a little New Year break on a shortish flight to Queensland.

more

Just sayin’…

20-01-2024

Sometimes I wonder if the world is going mad. Or is it me? Probably me.

more

Just sayin’…

03-01-2024

First of all, Happy New Year! It's 2024 already - and the years just keep rolling around. My lovely Nan told me once that time goes faster as you get older, and it's true. But getting older is also a privilege not open to everyone.

more

Just sayin’…

25-12-2023

Kyle and I are having an orphans' Christmas this year. I literally am an orphan now, and one of his parents lives in another state and one in another country.

more

Just sayin’…

11-12-2023

I thought Heather Mutimer's story on Madame Xenia Borovansky, the niece of the great Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and who moved to Daylesford, was fascinating. It's on page 13 (this edition of TL if you want a read).

more

Just sayin’…

27-11-2023

The past couple of weeks have been horrendous for many people. First and foremost for the friends and family of those people who died in the Daylesford accident.

more

Just sayin’…

12-11-2023

It was a real shock to hear of the sudden death just last week of Serge Kislinsky. I hope you are not just reading it now in this column.

more

Just sayin’…

28-10-2023

I think most people heard about the tragedy in Daylesford last week. An alleged robbery and someone dying as a consequence. I don't want to go into it more than that.

more

Just sayin’…

15-10-2023

I received some mail late last week. Snail mail. A padded envelope. Small. I opened it and inside was a blank piece of A4 paper. Nothing written on it, just a USB stick taped on. Hmmm, I thought. That's going to be interesting.

more

Just sayin’…

01-10-2023

Konnichi wa. Finally heading back to Japan after quite a few years away. Well, not until April but time does fly.

more

Just sayin’…

17-09-2023

Wow, 10 years. It is a cliché but it really does feel like yesterday that we put together a little Word document and wandered the streets asking if people would like to advertise in it. For some reason many did. And thanks to them the first edition came out on September 2, 2013.

more

Just sayin’…

03-09-2023

Had some interesting chats with Hepburn Shire Council CEO Bradley Thomas and Mayor Brian Hood last week.

more

Just sayin’…by Donna Kelly

20-08-2023

WORDS in Winter is coming up soon - end of August - so I thought I would take a trip down memory lane and my own love of words.

more

Just sayin’…

08-08-2023

OK. THIS is my last instalment on aged care provider Benetas. Well, for a bit.

more

Just sayin’…

24-07-2023

I have run a couple of briefs, back on page 11 (of the latest hard copy edition of The Local) if you want a look, about a positive ageing expo and another program called Living and Ageing Well in Hepburn. As in Hepburn Shire.

more

Just sayin’…

08-07-2023

I WAS going to write about The Voice. It seemed appropriate given this week is NAIDOC Week. I know, National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee Week. I guess one day was not enough.

more

Just Sayin’…

24-06-2023

I HAVE been thinking about two things this week. Yes, you know me, multi-tasking yet again.

more

Just Sayin’…

11-06-2023

IF YOU see me looking a bit dishevelled, don't worry, it's all about my new exercise regime.

more

Just sayin’…

29-05-2023

PUTTING together our education feature took me on a trip back to my school days. Mostly good memories - I was what you would call a "goody-goody" - and loved most of my teachers and was pretty much a straight A student from prep to Year 10. The wheels fell off then but that's a story I have already told.

more

Just Sayin’…

16-05-2023

A FRIEND once told me, as the editor/journalist, I should attend council meetings. I told her she could go along in my stead. Her reply? "No thanks, what a waste of time." Exactly.

more

Just Sayin’…

30-04-2023

A FEW things. First up, well done to Beck Lewis who, despite having breast cancer, is spending her downtime from treatments encouraging others to get checked.

more

Just sayin’…

17-04-2023

THIS is a public service announcement. Ladies, check your boobs.

more

Just sayin’…

03-04-2023

SOME things just make you smile. Like driving past the PISS OFF AUSNET sign mowed into the hill on the way to Creswick.

more

Just sayin’…

20-03-2023

KYLE was asked an interesting question the other day. Someone was wondering why we cover some festivals/events and not others.

more

Just sayin’…

I HAD a nice compliment this week. The Powercor PR guy said my column in the last edition was the best power outage story he had read. Even showed it to his boss.

more

Just sayin’… By Donna Kelly

18-02-2023

DINNER done and I was sitting down ready to watch, again, Mr Inbetween. It's a great Australian series, quite dark, but also very funny. The guy who wrote it is also the lead character.

more

Powercor reply to Just Sayin’… Feb 13, 2023

12-02-2023

Powercor is working to address reliability issues affecting customers in Daylesford, Glenlyon and surrounding areas.

more

Just sayin’…

05-02-2023

IT'S the start of a new year, well just past the start, but there are a few things which seem to linger longer - and I have been thinking about them.

more

Just sayin’…

23-01-2023

SO, MYER Frankston has closed. The final shopping day was Sunday, January 15 but according to social media, most of the bargains were long gone.

more

Just Sayin’…

06-01-2023

KYLE and I lived for a year in Karratha, WA. Below Broome, way above Perth.

more

Just Sayin’…

25-12-2022

SO, this is our last edition for the year. But don't worry, despite repeated attempts we failed to win either Powerball or Tattslotto so will probably be back next year.

more

Just Sayin’

THERE'S been a lot of Black Friday sales going on, online. And that's OK, but with Christmas fast approaching spare a thought for your local businesses.

more

Just sayin’… By Donna Kelly

29-11-2022

DECEMBER 5 is/was International Volunteer Day. The is/was is because it depends what day you are reading this.

more

Just sayin’… By Donna Kelly

START worrying white males, your time is running out.

more

Just sayin’… By Donna Kelly

30-10-2022

BLOODY hell, that was a busy week.

more

Just Sayin’…

14-10-2022

SO, the Big Rainbow is coming to Daylesford. I kinda thought we would win. I mean the other towns were a little bit, well, not really on my gaydar. But then, maybe they are LGBTIQA+. I have been to Katherine in the Northern Territory and I can't say it glittered.

more

Just sayin’…

18-08-2022

Went out for lunch the other day. Not locally, a sushi train restaurant. In the old days, well not so old, but older than now, they actually looked like little trains running around on the tracks. But I think people had too much sake and then tried to derail the train which sounds like fun but in reality ends up a rice and fish mess.

more

Just sayin’…

22-07-2022

FIRST we had the vaccine stroll out, now we have a new federal government and we apparently have the antivirals stroll out.

more

Just sayin’..

09-07-2022

IF YOU flip back to page 11 you will find Kevin Childs' story on the sad or sick state of our health system. Kevin talked to health workers, on the condition of anonymity, and wrote about how many things are going wrong - some life and death situations.

more

Just sayin’…

24-06-2022

I GUESS, being the travel edition and all, I should talk about the joys of hitting the road, but it's not all beer and skittles. Whatever that means.

more

Just sayin’…

09-06-2022

SO, DAYLESFORD is in the running for the Big Rainbow. Of just four towns. Daylesford, Hay, Katherine and Broome. I reckon we're a shoo- in.

more

Just sayin’…

27-05-2022

IT'S a funny thing getting older. Just the other day I was joking with Kyle that he used to be ripped and now he's more just Van Winkled, or Van Wrinkled. Actually he's in great shape, thanks to interval fasting and refusing to have a drink until 6pm. I am more of a "must be 5pm somewhere in the world" kind of a woman.

more

Just sayin’…
By Donna Kelly

09-05-2022

GREAT news that the Daylesford Field & Game Club can return to its home at Glenlyon Reserve.

more

Just sayin’… with Donna Kelly

29-04-2022

IT WAS really interesting having a chat with Cecilia Macaulay last week - check out her story on page 7. If not for Covid, she would be heading to Japan pretty soon where she spends our winters every year.

more

Just sayin’…

17-04-2022

I WON'T say every Easter because that would be a lie. But when I talk to people like Natalie Kirby, I think about my stint in the Royal Children's Hospital. If you don't know the connection with Easter and the hospital and Nat, head back to page 11.

more

Just sayin’…

02-04-2022

IT'S not always easy being green or a journalist. (Nod to Kermit there.) Now and again we get asked to investigate something or someone. Generally we don't because we don't have the money or time for lengthy investigations, or it's just a grudge match and we don't want to get involved in the argy-bargy.

more

Just sayin’…

18-03-2022

I WASN'T going to write this, because it's all a bit too close, but Mum loved being in this column, even when she jokingly told me she was going to sue for some mostly imagined slander, so here goes.

more

Just sayin’…

01-03-2022

WOW. I just watched the National Press Club piece with Brittany Higgins and Grace Tame. They were both fantastic but Grace Tame is amazingly fierce.

more

17-02-2022

SCROLLING through Facebook can sometimes be a waste of time but sometimes it is great fun. Lately I have connected with former high school friends at Mt Eliza High School. That's not so much fun because I then go and look at their photos now and think "how old are they?" And then realise I am that old too.

more

Just Sayin’…

07-02-2022

I HAVE been watching a fair bit of TV lately. Just relaxing a little, staying at home, breathing deeply - without fear. You know the drill.

more

Just sayin’…

18-01-2022

I honestly thought 2021 would see us out of this mess and back into a normal way of life. That was wishful thinking.

more

Just sayin’…

08-12-2021

I get the feeling everyone is as stunned as I am about Hepburn Shire Council deciding, pretty randomly, to scrap the Hepburn Hub project at The Rex.

more

Just sayin’…

29-11-2021

SO, WE are out the other side. Sort of. As in a massive lifting of restrictions. No more masks for most people unless you are working in hospitality or medicine. It's great news. For the vaccinated. Not so much if you have decided not to get the jab. Small life and all that.

more

Just sayin’…

11-11-2021

WENT to a function the other day. It was pretty exciting. I even washed my hair. It's not that hard once you get around to it.

more

Just sayin’…

So Hepburn Shire Library has done away with fines. Good news all round. Well, if you borrow and don't return, I guess. But they will still want the books back, you just kind of hit a "go slow" with borrowing if you fail to return.

more

Just sayin’…

11-10-2021

WE GOT a tip! Nah, not one of those: "I know what you should do in The Local…" to which the reply is easy. "Well, great, when you have worked on other papers for about 30 years, take the plunge, open your own and then just do whatever you think we should be doing."

more

Just sayin’… By Donna Kelly

YOU will find it hard to believe but I get annoyed at times. Yep, kind, placid me. If you really want proof, just ask Kyle. Maybe don't.

more

Just sayin’… By Donna Kelly

27-09-2021

YOU will find it hard to believe but I get annoyed at times. Yep, kind, placid me. If you really want proof, just ask Kyle. Maybe don't.

more

Just sayin’…

29-03-2021

IT WAS March 11, 2020 when the World Health Organization (yes, spelt with a z because, well, I don't know - it's Swiss not American) finally called the pandemic.

more

Just sayin’…

15-03-2021

IT'S been a strange week in an even stranger 12 months.

more

Just sayin’…

01-03-2021

SO FEBRUARY has just finished up. And that means FebFast is over. Which is good because I failed miserably at giving up alcohol. But do I blame myself? Of course not.

more

Just sayin’…

15-02-2021

IT'S Sunday morning, well, almost noon, and I have just decided to rewrite this column. I had one done and dusted but I thought about it overnight and decided it was too gloomy. And one thing we don't need right now is gloomy. So here are some more upbeat things and thoughts.

more

Just sayin’…

25-01-2021

OUR US correspondent Jeff Glorfeld sent us a very, well, sort of funny, piece for this edition. He and his wife Carol, former Wheatsheaf residents now living in Redding, California had their first vaccine shots last Saturday, January 16. Read all about it on the back page. Oh, and tune into the podcast at www.tlnews.com.au/podcast

more

Just sayin’…

18-01-2021

IT'S been a funny couple of weeks. Mainly thanks to our readers. It started with an email after a reader noticed that Kyle's Rant had been truncated down to "I'm out, write your own rant here".

more

Just sayin’…

21-12-2020

SO, THIS is Christmas, And what have you done? Another year over, A new one just begun. And so this is Christmas, I hope you have fun, The near and the dear ones, The old and the young. A very merry Christmas, And a happy New Year, Let's hope it's a good one, Without any fear. And so this is Christmas, For weak and for strong, The rich and the poor ones, The road is so long.

more

Just sayin’…

14-12-2020

THE mask thing is strange now. Yes, you have to wear them in places like large shopping centres and supermarkets but not in smaller shops, unless you can't socially distance.

more

Just sayin’…

07-12-2020

I MUST say I was pretty surprised to see an email in my inbox saying COVID-19 had been detected in the wastewater of Daylesford.

more

Just sayin’…

30-11-2020

I WAS watching the news this morning, well not really the news, more morning television with a two-minute bit that calls itself news - with half of that given over to sports.

more

Just sayin’…

16-11-2020

I KNOW for some, it has been a slow year. And that is not always a good thing. But for us, it has been busy at The Local Publishing Group. And that is a good thing.

more

Just sayin’… Donna Kelly

09-11-2020

IF YOU read last week's column you would have seen my reluctance to jinx things. Which is just as well because by last Sunday arvo I felt lousy and called the doctor on Mon

more

Just sayin’…

02-11-2020

AND like that, it was over. Well, not over, but you could see the other side. The announcement by Premier Dan Andrews that Melbourne could finally open, and those double days of zero figures, had people crying in the streets.

more

Just sayin’…

26-10-2020

I TOOK part in a Google Hangout last week. Like a Zoom meeting but it was actually with Google people so using the Google platform.

more

Just sayin’…

05-10-2020

BEING the 200th edition I thought I would try to remember how our crew came along. A trip down memory lane, if you will, in no particular order. (It's a bit long so if you get bored feel free to wander off…maybe check out our new website at www.tlnews.com.au)

more

Just sayin’…

28-09-2020

WHEN I lived in Japan, back in my 20s, Mum used to send me the Women's Weekly's Handy Hints.

more

Just sayin’…

21-09-2020

I SUPPOSE I should be writing about our new found freedom and that we can eat out again and enjoy each other's company.

more

Just sayin’…

14-09-2020

IF JENNY Morrison can do it, then I can. And no, I don't mean sleep with Scotty from marketing. Or head out to buy some jigsaw puzzles

more

Just sayin’…

07-09-2020

IT'S gone on a long time. This year. Not that I would ever wish time away but I wouldn't mind if the vaccine came along or we eradicated the virus from our shores.

more

Just sayin’…

24-08-2020

WHEN we first moved to Glenlyon, back in 2005, it felt like we were the only people in the village - straight or gay.

more

Just sayin’…

17-08-2020

WHEN I was born, my mum cried. Now, according to all the movies I have watched, this is not such a big deal. Except that she didn't cry with joy, she cried because I had red hair.

more

Just sayin’…

10-08-2020

WELL, here we go again. Lockdown 2.0. Last edition I said there were still many things to be grateful for, so rather than complain I have some more thank-yous.

more

Just sayin’…

03-08-2020

GEE, the Karens of Australia must be so Not Happy Jan! And at this rate they'll end up like Nigel, with no friends.

more

Just sayin’…By Donna Kelly

10-02-2020

THE world has gone mad.

more

Just sayin’…By Donna Kelly

27-01-2020

THERE is no doubt we are living in traumatic times.

more

Back to top