Dear Friends, I forgot to mention two important things in last week’s missive – one, we have a goat at the end of our street – it is white, acrobatic and is keeping the grass down & the trees trimmed for our neighbours in Houston Street. The second is that we went to see the cricket film Save Our Legs, and loved it. It appears to be bombing at the Box Office – Wes thinks it is because the trailers were too blokey, and I think it is because the title is meaningless and hard to remember. We laughed until we cried at the humour; cried at the pathos, and empathised with the difficulties of touring in India. Please go & see it if you get a chance.
When I wrote last week, we had just been to see the ChillOut Parade & everyone seemed to love Sir Lancelot astride his beautiful horse. Danny & Kim, and their friends, Derek & Andrew left us to go to the Carnival at Victoria Park, and Wes went at 1.30pm as he was selling tickets at the gate all afternoon. I spent the time very quietly with the boys as it was too hot to do much else. That night we sat around with Danny & Kim talking about the day.
Before they left on Monday, they took us to breakfast at Bocconcini, which was open for business at 8.30am. We got the prime table in the window and enjoyed another hour or so together, before they left for Melbourne. We drove out to Blampied to visit Kim & Gary and hear about their plans for this year. It was a lovely visit – we do miss the weekly contact at Café 3460, which has now been closed for over a year. Wes wanted to buy a vegetarian cookbook for Deane, so we went to
Paradise Books in the main street of Daylesford on our way home and found the perfect book with lots of illustrations. The rest of the day was spent in washing & ironing, doing computer back-ups etc in preparation for his trip to Brisbane.
Judi had shared some of their garden produce – silver beet, cucumbers and zucchini, as well as some pickled zucchini she had made, so we have been enjoying these very fresh vegetables along with the weekly eggplant & occasional Roma tomato that our veggie patch is producing. We are also harvesting very sweet strawberries and our French tarragon & Italian parsley are thriving as well.
On Tuesday, Wes walked the boys early, and then acted as Barbara’s carer as her usual one couldn’t get there early enough, before showering himself, closing the suitcase and heading to Melbourne with her for her annual appointment at Royal Talbot hospital. Barbara dropped him at Melbourne Airport on her way home. Meanwhile I walked to 8am gym, and then had a lovely long chat over a cuppa with Sheila Hollingworth. We sat outside The Larder, and caught up with each other’s news before going our separate ways.
Sheila Hollingworth in pensive mood!
My daily phone calls to Viva have continued in spite of this heat – she has survived it all as well as we could expect, and with Leanne’s care, will continue to thrive. She got a good report from her specialist on Friday.
On Wednesday, after walking the boys early, I met Gillie for a cuppa at Bocconcini, and heard all about her holiday to Lord Howe Island. It sounds like a unique destination, pristine, tiny, and from another era. Kim Lyden popped his head in to say hello while we were there. At 10am I left Gillie and headed to Harvest Café where Gail & I played Mah Jong happily for 2.5 hours and she reacquainted herself with the game that she hadn’t played for some time. Kim also came in there and Wes suggested he was stalking me – he met old friends for a chat & hot drink, and we bemoaned the loss of Café 3460 yet again. I had broken my bracelet that morning & Gail very kindly offered to take it to Ballarat to be repaired as she & Terry were heading there the next day. During the afternoon the temperature started to drop & everyone opened their doors & windows to let the cool breezes in. We are so over 30°+ days!
It was blissful to feel cool when walking the boys on Thursday morning and the same at gym, where everyone was relieved to have had a good night’s sleep. I arrived home from gym to find the phone ringing & Annie Smith asking me to join her for a cuppa at Gracenotes, which I promptly did and we enjoyed catching up with each other. I do seem to have been covering most of Daylesford’s cafes while Wes is away! Then I delivered mail to Glenn and made a date for a cuppa together the next day, as he is getting stir crazy while his knee heals.
Glenn, Gary & Wes at Café 3460 – looks like Christmas time…
While I was out, I met up with friends I hadn’t seen in ages for various reasons – Carol Bruce, Vaughan Brown & David Hawker. When I told David, a Collingwood supporter, that the Pies were playing the Cats at Kardinia Park on Friday afternoon, he didn’t believe me. I have very fond memories of driving there with Wes, Tom & Lib for games between our sides. We would queue up to get a good position when the gates opened & Lib & I would be knitting while we were standing.
On Friday I awoke with a head cold, but decided I should walk the boys, and keep my date with Glenn, but cancel the rest of the day, which I did, and felt much better for that. I took Glenn for a little drive around to show him things that had changed while he had been in hospital, and we ended up at Wombat Hill House, (pictured) in the Botanic Gardens, in a corner seat in the weak morning sun. Glenn became uncomfortable after an hour, so we walked up to look at the begonias in the conservatory and I took him back home.
Fortunately I was feeling better for the rest on Saturday morning, so after shopping & cooking rice for the boys, I picked some roses, packed Gillie’s eggs & some orange marmalade made by Joy (orange, brandy, lemon & honey), and set off to Melbourne to visit Simone Perele in Brunswick to get some underwear; then to Strathmore to spend time with Viva & deposit gifts, before collecting Wes at the airport. It was pouring with rain while I waited for Wes to arrive and he was delighted to come out into cool & wet after a few days of warm & sticky weather. Bilbo & Frodo were thrilled to see him and ran around in circles with excitement.
He looked good and had enjoyed his time with Deane & Danny, and especially with preparing a dinner party with Danny on his last night. Deane had planned Wes’s visit and they had lots to do, including a trip to Noosa for a walk & a swim, passing through Eumundi where they stopped for fish & chips at a Thai restaurant!! Wes was most impressed with Deane’s unit in Deception Bay.
We have tickets for the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra which is playing at the Daylesford Town Hall this afternoon, but unless my coughing subsides, we won’t be going. Judi has just popped in for a quick visit with some zucchini & cucumbers from their garden, which was very thoughtful.
Yesterday morning when I was walking the boys, we came upon a kangaroo in the main street near the fountain. Bilbo & Frodo started synchronised wailing, while the poor kangaroo stopped dead wondering what on earth was happening. We detoured past the Daylesford Bowling Club and the kangaroo was gone when we next looked.
Happy St Patrick’s Day to everyone….
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