Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 2nd June 2013

Dear Friends, when I left you last Sunday we were heading to Ballarat & we are all so glad we did. Wes took us to see Song for Marion with Terence Stamp & Vanessa Redgrave and it is a wonderful, wonderful little English film – not to be missed if possible. We cried our eyes out and came home to another open fire and yummy Atlantic salmon on rice, with Jane acting as the sous-chef.

 

 

 

 

Sadly it was time for Jane to go back to Sydney the next day, so we set off in plenty of time to take the back roads to the airport including a drive through Kyneton. After dropping Jane off, I went to Strathmore to visit Viva & give Leanne some time to herself, which she really appreciated. Viva was looking very good with painted nails, earrings& rings galore and I could really see a difference since my last visit. By the time I got home at 4pm I was exhausted with all we had done, so went straight to bed and stayed there until 6.30am on Tuesday. Wes had made yummy pumpkin soup which was just the thing.

 

 

 

 

Tuesday was dedicated to washing & ironing after I had gone to gym and caught up with Glenn Mack for a cuppa at Gracenotes Café. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was a bit sorry I was housebound for much of it. In the afternoon Wes and Barbara went for a stroll around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, while I walked the boys to the Post Office and back, much to their delight.

 

 

 

Bone time at Maloney Folly

 

Gail was a late scratching for Mah Jong on Wednesday, but the rest of us enjoyed a fun morning, although Renée let us know that she will be leaving in three weeks’ time as the owners can’t afford to keep her on anymore. In the afternoon Wes and I had been invited by Victor Szwed to attend a publicity sub-committee meeting for this year’s Art Show, which we were pleased to do. We came away feeling very happy that the Show is in good hands and can only improve especially with some younger, tech-savvy Committee members.

I had won two tickets to see True Minds by Joanna Murray-Smith, at the MTC Sumner Theatre, so we set off after the meeting to see how I would go, as I am not usually good at evening activities these days. We had a yummy meal in Curve Bar at the Arts Centre, then across the road to the play, where we had excellent seats. There was no interval, which was a good thing, as I think we would have left, as we were sadly underwhelmed by the play – the two lead characters lacked charisma, the set was cluttered and distracting, and although the ideas were of interest –motherhood, marriage values, left vs right etc – the play was too wordy and needed better leads to match the quality of the three supporting actors.

 

We arrived back home just after 11pm, and although I was completely exhausted and missed gym the next morning, I am pleased to report that I was up and showered by 9am. Fortunately it was a beautiful wet day, so apart from collecting the mail, checking John & Jan’s home and buying a new pair of jeans, I stayed put instead with a pair of sleeping Labradors as company and a wonderful Alexander McCall Smith novel (Corduroy Mansions) to keep me entertained.

On Friday I did an early shop in the rain, redesigned our business cards, posted cards for the early June birthdays, and left Wes writing a biography of his father, Ray’s early years, while I collected Judi for a date. We had a lovely lunch together at Gracenotes Café, and then set off to Barcaldine House, where we enjoyed seeing Quartet as part of the U3A Hepburn Shire Film Group. I had already seen the film, but was very happy to see it again, catch up with some old friends and support everyone involved in putting on these monthly occasions.

We had afternoon tea, but then the mist rolled in again, and I couldn’t breathe, so we headed home, picking up my new jeans which had been taken up by Annette Lee that afternoon. She used to work out of the Hepburn Post Office, but now she & her husband have moved out of Pierre & Simone’s home and into their own place, she is set up in the front room.

The Pies played a forgettable game but won easily, much to the relief of us all, especially Wes who was able to go to bed early as the game was over by quarter time.

Yesterday was the wettest June day on record in Melbourne and some places recorded 90mls, we didn’t get that much, but it was constant and the monthly Farmers’ Market was much reduced in size and attendance. The school oval was sodden, so the stall-holders moved up the hill onto concrete and when I popped in during the morning, Wes and Jan Pengilley were doing their best to persuade shoppers to climb that hill!

We had planned to go and watch Carlton play GWS that afternoon, but decided it would be mad to drive in the rain, especially with the Merri Creek breaking its banks everywhere, so elected to stay home and watch the Blues win instead. Wes felt like cooking, so we invited Glenn Mack and his partner, Denise, to an early dinner, which we enjoyed with the open fire in the background. Denise is responsible for our love affair with Hendricks Gin and she was thrilled to see the superior packaging of our litre bottle. Dinner was a particularly yummy fish pie, and we all had seconds! This was followed by Eton Mess and a selection of cheeses.

 

Today it wasn’t raining early so Wes walked the boys, who had barked at 5am to remind him to get up and going. I then took them to pump mineral water at Leitches Creek, before our trip to the Sunday Market. When we arrived, Yvonne & John were still setting up, but John stopped what he was doing to cut the outer leaves off a large cabbage and give them to Bilbo & Frodo, who eyeballed him from the minute we arrived.

After the usual antics when we got home – sharing the end of the celery and tidying up any small pieces of vegetables going begging, we hopped back into the car and off to breakfast at the Food Gallery, where we were a small, but chatty group. Judi had been to visit Gillie and reported she was looking very well after her successful operation; Gail has been dieting and we all noticed a difference; Aileen was pleased that smoke and water erupting from her car was easily fixed and nothing to worry about; Barbara & Wes were thrilled with the Blues big victory, and Kerry, our waitress was wearing ¾ sleeves, so we knew it must be cold!

 

Victor Borg, Georgina Borg & Terry Borg celebrating the end of Victor Borg & Associates after 40 years of selfless service! Victor, we salute you and are so thrilled that you & your wonderful family came into our lives in 1982.