We started our week with a good breakfast at The Food Gallery. Aileen brought her 99 year-old mother, Dorothy,
with her. Dorothy still lives independently in her own home in Adelaide, and
apart from the usual failing eyesight & hearing, looks wonderful and at
least 10 years younger than her age. Judi regaled us with the highlights of
their recent trip to Canberra, Sydney & the Blue Mountains, and Gillie told
of driving Aileen & Dorothy to Olinda during the week to see the
rhodadendron garden.
At lunchtime we drove to Castlemaine to visit Valerie again for some more
tuition on her new laptop and Windows 8. We kicked some goals, but then found
an update to 8.1 and left her to negotiate that on her own. I suspect we will
have to borrow her laptop, update everything and simplify the programme for her
as the Start screen is too overloaded with confusing icons.
Sunday night is pizza night and Wes is getting better and better. We buy
the bases, and he experiments with the toppings, helped as always by the
sous-chefs.
On Monday we prepared for Remembrance Day by listening to Eric Bogle’s And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda.
Wes had been asked to lay the wreath for Catherine King, our local member, who
is the Shadow Minister for Health, and when we arrived at the Daylesford
Cenotaph, the MC, John Goullet, asked him to read the Requiem as well. It was a
lovely, simple ceremony with old diggers, war widows, relatives, friends and
school children. Our Mayor gave a good speech, Wes read the Requiem, the
wreaths were placed in position and the surprise of the morning was the
unveiling of a plaque to commemorate a local farrier who died in the Boer War
in 1900. For some reason he had been overlooked all these years until the
Museum discovered him and his medals.
There was no-one representing the
Daylesford Football Club at the service, so MC John spotted a member of the
Club and asked her to lay the wreath, much to her surprise and delight.
Wes made his famous fish pie for lunch, we did some gardening, he got lost
in Ancestry and I got lost in another Vera
book by Ann Cleeves, as well as playing Scrabble on my phone. I gave up Words
with Friends as it became too addictive, but Scrabble is more difficult and the
friends I am playing with sometimes only make one move a day.
On Tuesday Wes went to the doctor and was told he was in the best health
he has been for 20 years, so celebrated with a Tim Tam or two. We are just
thrilled for him as he has done everything he was told to do from the moment he
lost sight in one eye as the result of a blood clot. He has managed to get his
blood pressure right down, the clot eventually dissolved, he regained his sight
and now he is reaping the benefits of having taken his tablets and gotten fit.
Meanwhile I drove to Ballarat to the dentist and received the news that
two of my old fillings were starting to wear, so I have repairs and maintenance
happening in a fortnight or so. It was pouring rain everywhere and when I got
back here to Daylesford I was just in time for the U3A Lunch upstairs at The Food Gallery. Lunch was
well-attended and we were very well looked after by all the staff with yummy
reasonably priced meals and good service.
Later that afternoon I had a massage with Nick Massaro – now that Ann
Holden has retired I have gone back to him and it is lovely to have the contact
again. Bilbo & Frodo were delighted to see him as they met him when they
were puppies and he was still doing massages. He took a break from massaging, which
is why I started going to Ann, and it is great to be back with another very
experienced masseur who a good friend to boot.
On Wednesday it was another rainy day, but Dot, Valerie and I met at Harvest Café, for a fun morning of
chatting and Mah Jong. Sadly I didn’t win a game, but Valerie in particular was
on fire and wiped the floor with us. The owners have decided to do some repairs
while they have a holiday, so the café will be closed for the next fortnight or
so, giving us a break from playing.
Beautiful lilies
Wes cooked Barbara lunch instead of taking her out as she isn’t well and
needs to rest. He had just come back home from doing that when I turned up so
he made me lunch as well and a very yummy pasta it was. I had a doctor’s
appointment to check up on some of my CFS symptoms, mostly anxiety, so Greg has
given me a referral to a clinical psychologist to see if she can help with
getting me to relax (not an easy task I am told). I was exhausted by the time I
got home so missed out on Aperitifs
at Roger & Val’s place in Dry Diggings. Wes enjoyed meeting an interesting
artist there as well as catching up with other local friends.
That night he attended Rotary, where the Club decided to donate $2,000 to
the Philippines Appeal. The Art Show has made about $9,000, so there is plenty
to give to local and overseas causes. Jan Pengilley, the President, has
encouraged some new members and it looks as though the Club is in good shape
with next year’s President-elect named and everyone keen to continue with the
Art Show.
On Thursday I went to gym, then did some chores around town, before coming
home to rest. Wes drove to Melbourne to visit Joan Testro and learn more about
her early life. They enjoy spending time together and he is a good
interviewer….not that Joan needs encouragement to chat!
We had breakfast with Warren’s sister, Denise, and her middle son, Leon,
at Red Star Café, on Friday morning.
Leon was visiting Denise and it has become a rite to finish his visit with
breakfast there. It is always lovely to see him – he is funny, generous and
good company. Afterwards Wes mowed the lawns while I had a haircut – trying out
my third hairdresser this year, Renee, from Spice
Hairdressing. Daylesford was busy as people start to pour in for weddings,
long weekends and day trips.
Yesterday was a very social day. Wes took the boys for a long walk, then
did some gardening before preparing lunch for Georgina Borg & Richard
Tweddle who were in Daylesford for a wedding. I went for a walk into town and
met up with lots of friends, including Georgie & Richard, and assured them
that knowing where Duke Street is, as they claimed, is not the same as finding
us! I left them heading to EKO for a massage and returned to set the table and
do the flowers.
Lunch went very well – Georgie is one of those people who finds friends
everywhere and she turned out to have known Emma from EKO for years, so they
had a lovely reunion. We sat outside on the balcony with our bubbles, then came
inside for Wes’s stunning prawn risotto and green beans, followed by a
wonderful cheese platter courtesy of Tonna’s. We eventually threw them out at
3pm as they had to get ready for the wedding which was at 4.30pm at Captains Creek Winery.
Georgina & Richard
We had just finished cleaning up and stacking the dishwasher when Judi
arrived with a bag of gifts for Wes and lots to chat about. It was a lovely
visit, but I was so tired that I went to bed at 5pm leaving Wes to unpack the
last dishwasher load.
Today the boys and I are about to head out to pump water, then collect
fruit & vegetables, dog bones and a rose at the Sunday Market. There will be a small group at breakfast and we will
eat sparingly as we are off to Kazuki
for a degustation lunch to celebrate Wes’s birthday, and this time we are
catching the local taxi there and back!
Two lovely photos of Wes - dancing
at Blairgowrie in 1988 and smiling at Ballarat Races in 2011
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