When I left you last week, we were heading
off to a long lunch at Kazuki’s and
what an exciting experience we had. We have known Martin, the maître d’, from
his days at The Lake House, but we
were delighted to find Bronwyn Liddelow as his assistant. We met her when she
was quite a young girl volunteering with her father, Peter, at the Info Centre
on Saturday afternoons, and then again as a waitress and helper on the Spa Country Railway on the Saturday
night Champagne Train or the Sunday
rides to Bullarto and back.
We cannot fault this restaurant and were
looked after brilliantly for 2.5 hours once we told them we wanted a slow
lunch. We started with a Japanese whisky for Wes and a Pimms No 1 Cup for me
before our entrees of oysters served three ways & Moreton bay bugs dumplings
arrived, each with a different glass of wine. The same happened for our main
courses of John Dory and duck. We were given sparkling sake with our black rice
pudding, which was accompanied by brown rice ice cream, and the final wine was
a fortified Champagne with cheese.
The restaurant offers a Japanese approach
to Daylesford local produce and its wine & spirits list has to be seen to
be believed. The website is http://kazukis.com.au/ if you want to
read about it further, and my review can be found at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g499623-d2261727-r179987797-Kazuki_s-Daylesford_Victoria.html.
Needless to say the rest of the day passed
in a pleasant haze – Wes had an afternoon nap, while I pottered around reading
and looking after the boys. We were in bed early and slept very well!
On Monday it was a cold, crisp, but dry
morning so we headed to Trentham for 10 holes of golf. We each had our share of
pleasing shots, but I managed to lose one of my two remaining pink golf balls
in dense foliage and Wes found himself on adjoining fairways more than he would
like. I cooked lunch for a change – special fried rice with bacon for Wes and with
bean sprouts for me.
When Noeline Brown spoke to the U3A last
week she mentioned ehealth, which is an online registration that allows your
health details to be accessed by a practitioner over the internet. I decided to
register and it is very easy to do, especially if you are already online with
Medicare or Centrelink. The link is https://ehealth.gov.au if you are
interested.
Wes and I both suffered at gym on Tuesday
morning (after our golf the day before), and then he drove to Ballarat to
collect Barbara and bring her home. Her procedure had gone well and there were
no issues to worry about, so she was thrilled to come home so quickly. Wes has
been feeding Bobby the cat, collecting her mail and doing her washing while she
has been away.
Bilbo & Frodo came on a long walk with
me – I needed to bring in John & Jan’s bins and collect their mail and it
was a perfect morning to take them.
Tuesday is my washing and ironing day, so I have plenty of free time in between
loads of washing to go for walks or make phone calls. I met up with our friend,
Bill Longley, who hasn’t been well, and makes himself walk around the Lake on
his good days.
I try to ring Viva every day and chat for
15-20 minutes. She and Leanne are very relieved now that Smokey the cat is back
to normal and we made plans for us to drop in on Friday morning on our way to
Yarraville for lunch with the Stevensons & Prestons.
Wednesday was another cold morning with a
beautiful Spring day following. Wes acted as Barbara’s carer after first
walking and then washing Bilbo & Frodo, who promptly punished him by
digging in the garden (something they rarely do) to get themselves thoroughly
dirty again. Sandra, our lovely cleaner, couldn’t understand why they hadn’t
come to greet her when she arrived at 8.30am until I explained they were locked
out until they were dry and/or clean again. I played Mah Jong with Dot &
Valerie and Carol visited us to catch up on everyone’s news. Wes took Barbara
to lunch at the Daylesford Bowling Club,
where they had lashings of corn beef and mashed potato for $12!
We had an unexpectedly very social
afternoon – it started with a lovely long phone call from Jane Knox to make
plans for her visit to Melbourne during Days 2 & 3 of the Boxing Day Test,
and was followed by David & Penny Reilly dropping back our exercise bike
that David had borrowed to help him get back to normal after a double knee
replacement operation. We had invited Glenn & Gillie to drinks at 4.30pm
and they arrived to find the Reillys still here, so we drank plenty of wine
while the three knee replacement survivors swapped stories and Wes & I told
everyone about Kazuki’s.
We received the wonderful news via Facebook
that our nephew, Rohan Fell, has been accepted into The International College of Management, Sydney, to do a Bachelor
of Sports Management, which is what he has been keen to do for some years. We
are so thrilled for him and wish him the very best.
Liam,
Rohan & Warwick Fell in celebratory mode!
Some other good news is that Warren’s
sister, Denise Anderson, has bought herself a Mazda 2 called Zoe, and loves it to bits. She told me
on Sunday she would like to pick it up and hug it! We feel a bit the same about
Dolly Grey. Denise hadn’t been able
to drive for years because of her epilepsy, so now she no longer suffers from
that, she has been brave enough to have lessons and buy herself a car. Her
whole family is very proud of her.
Yesterday we learnt of the deaths of two
friends – Libby’s husband, Alan, had suffered a massive stroke as well as
kidney failure about 10 days previously and Lib let us know that he had died
peacefully the night before.
Libby
& Alan on their wedding day 2009
Andrew Mengyel rang Barbara to tell her
that Jenny Godfree, with whom we had all worked in OAMPS, had lost her battle
with ill-health the day before as well. I first met Jenny many years ago when I
was Treasurer of Adsum, the women’s
insurance networking group.
Andrew, Jenny, Syd and Barbara in Daylesford 2007
We went to Melbourne to visit Viva for the
first time since Smokey was so sick. Viva was looking well and pleased to see
us. Leanne had taken advantage of our visit to go to Queen Victoria Market, so
we missed out on seeing her. It was a good visit although Smokey wouldn’t
relinquish the comfortable chair for Warren to sit in.
Then we drove to Yarraville to Café Fidama, where we enjoyed a long
lunch with Lovely & Malcolm and Marilyn & Robert. We drank a toast in
memory of Alan, and Lib was very much on our minds. It was so long since we had
seen each other that we were almost shouting each other down to ask questions
and provide answers. I had been reading some letters I had written and received
during the early part of 1977, when Wes was working in Paris and then
Frankfurt, and it was fun to share the memories.
We drove back home to a pair of hungry
Labradors and an early night. It had been a busy and emotional day, and we were
struck yet again with the fragility of life. Carpe Diem!
It’s a lovely day here, but I am so tired
after the busy week that I think I will send this off to you today and rest.
Wes is making fish pie for lunch and we are due to visit friends in Newlyn this
afternoon for a casual 50th birthday celebration, which I may not
make if this morning’s ennui is any indication.
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