Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 1st July 2012

Dear Friends, welcome to July – where is this year going? In fact, where has it gone would be a better question? We’ve had fun this week and I’d like to share some of it with you.

While Sandra cleaned our house on Monday morning, Wes took me to breakfast at Red Star Café in Hepburn. They do a good locals’ meal and we spent the time chatting about the Art Show and what we hoped to achieve during the week. Vaughan Brown was also there, and came over to chat before he went home. His wife, Sheila, is in America, helping a friend who has cancer and he is trying to sell their big home while she is away. Our talk turned to Labradors and he told us that their last dog, Daisy, particularly loved being given the cardboard inside of the toilet roll and used to run to get it whenever she heard the sound of the last piece of paper being pulled off the roll. Now I’ve had a chat with our boys and they’ve asked me not to send them to Vaughan & Sheila’s if that is the sort of entertainment they will be getting. In the afternoon, Wes interviewed Jenny Beacham again for Hepburn Voices and was very pleased with how it went.

Jenny & Eddie Beacham in typical pose

On Tuesday I drove to Castlemaine to collect a new waterproof bed for the boys as two of their beds had died simultaneously. It took them a while, but they now approve of this giant dog cushion in camouflage colours. I also dropped in to the local Auto repair shop to see if I could get a set of mats for Dolly Grey. The very helpful man there not only removed all the industrial strength staples, but helped put the mats in the car for me as well… real country service. Wes went to hydrotherapy with Barbara and we both found ourselves tired by our exertions and had an early night.

Carol (pictured above), Dot, Valerie & I all enjoyed a good fun morning playing Mah Jong on Wednesday and it was great to see the café busy. Carol decided not to stay for lunch, but she certainly lasted longer than she had been and looks much better these days. Dot bought lunch to take home to her husband, John, who is installing new bathrooms, so Valerie and I spent time together munching yummy salad rolls.

Wes had bought some flake in Ballarat the day before and he cooked it to perfection with an exciting combination of spices (dill, lemon, paprika, garlic, lime, rosemary, parsley, chilli, onion), that had been given to us by Gail for Christmas. Somehow the jar had found its way to the back of the pantry, but we rescued it and now we are addicted. In the meantime, I burnt the rice cooker (don’t ask), so that was this week’s disaster and we have replaced it with an exciting versatile cooker that will also make risotto, sear, sauté, slow cook and keep warm. I finally made my first risotto ever by using it on Friday night, while Wes wasn’t here, because if you know anything about him, you know his opinion of risotto!

As John & Jan were due home yesterday, I had bought some fruit & flowers to take the chill off their cottage, Daisy-Lea, and left all their mail for them – glad I did as they got home late on Friday. They have had a brilliant month or so and we were so pleased to see them again this morning. On Thursday I also caught up with Glenn Mack, who is looking refreshed after his lovely, wettish, two week camping trip with his friend, Denise. Afterwards, I visited Bill & Sue Longley, to replenish everyone’s supplies of lemons.

Great photo, Cox Plate 1990 – Jan, Wes, Danny & Karen all looking a little worse for wear, but what the heck!

Jan Pengilley had asked Wes to MC her Rotary Changeover Dinner on Friday night at the Old Hepburn Hotel. He drove Barbara to the function, and tells me that it was a fun, relaxed night. I am sure he did his usual excellent job as MC and involved everyone, including our young Mayor, Sebastian Klein, who was in attendance. I had spent the day working on the Art Show Entry Form, which is 5 pages long, in case you are wondering why I needed a day, and negotiating better deals on our insurances, as OAMPS is undergoing a restructure and the original quotes were horrific.

Along with lots of others I am sure, I was devastated to discover that SBS has cancelled the excellent Letters & Numbers show, which had a dedicated & loyal following. Carol alerted me to it, which was good, as I would have been even more shocked to have watched the Masters Grand Final & wondered the next night where the show had gone, as compere, Richard Morecroft, made no mention of its demise. Judi has given me an L&N book, so I will have to start playing the games in it when I need a fix.

We had a lovely time at breakfast this morning with lots of funny stories. The Harvest Café was struggling as they have lost their weekend chef & they had a new waitress doing her very first shift. Eventually we all got hot drinks & our breakfasts, although Gary’s was cold and he sent it back. Wes and I are off to lunch at Jenny & Eddie’s shortly, where we will be catching up with Candy & Hal among others.

Yesterday I drove to Melbourne in appalling weather & was delighted to find the sun shining by the time I got to Strathmore. I had a good visit with Viva and later Leanne, when she returned from shopping. Then off to the MCG, where I met up with David Lazzaro and two of his offspring, Jessica & Daniel, to watch Collingwood play lacklustre footy against Freo, but win! I’m afraid that absolutely none of David’s footy genes have passed down to Daniel as he had to be constantly reminded to watch the footy, especially when his favourite player, Daisy, had the ball, as he doesn’t seem to recognise Daisy on the field. When David himself was 5 years old, he was telling me who had the ball! I left at ¾ time to make sure I arrived home in daylight and was so pleased I had, as the rain was torrential during some of the drive. The boys were delighted to see me arrive in time to feed them dinner.

Meanwhile, Wes & Barbara, had driven to Melbourne to attend an all-day workshop on Oral History, run by the Oral History Society of Australia. I haven’t heard Barbara’s opinion, but Wes was delighted to discover how way ahead of the pack Hepburn Voices is, and how useful it was to share information & experiences with the other attendees. They also had a difficult journey home, arriving about an hour after me.

P.S. Just couldn’t resist including this photo - Danny’s family continues its impeccable tradition of memorable birthday cakes with this year’s having a Black Caviar theme.