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.
No comments:
Post a Comment