Dear
Friends, we somehow survived the hot days this week, although it was hard to
get much done. Wes did lots of watering at our place, and we looked after John
& Jan’s Daisy-Lea, and the pot
plants belonging to Dene & Rob next door to us. Leanne found dog icy-poles
at her local pet shop and they have been a godsend for Bilbo when we don’t
think he is drinking enough water.
Recent photo of the
fisherman at Lake Daylesford…quite an idyllic scene
We
walked early on Monday, collecting a small plastic bag of rubbish, as we do
most mornings. Sadly the mess is usually caused by local young ones, although a
few visitors forget to take their garbage home with them. We had hoped to play
golf but it was too hot & humid, even at 6.30am, to contemplate it. I did
some supermarket shopping, while Wes watered and we took it in turns to make
sure Bilbo was in the air-conditioning and staying cool.
We
were very saddened to read of the sudden death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, one
of our favourite actors, who has gone too young and too tragically at 45. As
well it is very upsetting to read that Ian Thorpe continues to battle
depression.
There
was a wild 80kmh wind on Monday evening which continued all night and into
Tuesday. It wasn’t safe to go walking with Bilbo, who was most confused when we
didn’t get out his lead at 5.30am. We were lucky enough to have no damage
except the loss of our rain-gauge, but next door lost a big branch from their
oak tree, with another which started brushing the back of our house and yet
another creaking ominously. We had a loss of power as well in the early morning
and when it came back on, the spa bath motor next door started operating even
though there was no-one at home. Fortunately we have keys to number 80 and Wes
was able to turn off the motor and check the rest of their house. Amazingly
during all these strong winds, their frangipani bloomed for the first time. I took
a photo of it in case the bloom had gone by the time Dene and Robert arrived
back here again.
A
tree-feller came promptly to inspect the oak tree and promised to cut down the
two worrying branches in the next couple of days as he had some more urgent
work occupying him. Wes didn’t go to gym as he wanted to be in the house for
the tree-fellers and in case anything happened here, as well as keeping Bilbo
company.
There
was a very small turnout at gym as some of Barry’s participants would have been
unable to get into Daylesford for debris blocking their way along country
lanes. This is easily the strongest wind and the most debris anyone can
remember seeing here, which is saying something!
Wes
headed off to Melbourne on my return as he had a few appointments including the
important first meeting with the solicitor who has Viva’s will. He had to go
into town to sign a declaration giving him alternate Power of Attorney over one
of his cousins, and after that & hopefully a catch-up with Jon Stephens, he
was meeting the solicitor, visiting Leanne and finishing the day with a drink
in Brunswick with our old friend, Charles Amy.
This very attractive
meal was Monday’s dukkah-encrusted Tuki trout fillets with fennel and peas –
another Wes the Chef triumph!
I
stayed at home all Tuesday apart from catching up for a cuppa with Ann Holden
at the Book Barn by Lake Daylesford.
Ann used to give me regular massages before she retired and I do miss our
chats. During the afternoon, the branch next door finally subsided gently and
did no damage although it ended up straddling the fence. Rob & Dene decided
to drive up after work and made sure the branch was in their property and could
do no further damage here, which was very kind of them.
We
were thrilled to wake up to no wind on Wednesday and I joined Wes & Bilbo
for a short part of the walk, where we shifted branches that had blown onto the
Lake Daylesford path. Dot, Valerie & I had a fun morning playing Mah Jong
and then John joined us for a birthday lunch for Dot. Wes did some gardening
and computer work and in the late afternoon we set off for Aperitifs, my first venture for at least a year. It was at Al &
Kathy’s home in Bridport Street, which is close by. I was thrilled to last the
distance and to catch up with lots of friends. Wes also enjoyed the time and
somehow found the energy to cook us a yummy smoked salmon pasta dish when we
got home.
On
Thursday after gym I drove Dolly Grey
to Ballarat for a service. It took forever to get there as I was behind a
convoy of 6 motorhomes from Queensland. They must have thought it would be fun
to disrupt the traffic by travelling together! I had a pot of tea and read The Age at Lekker, my favourite Ballarat café, and after doing a couple of
chores, returned to the air-conditioned lounge to wait for the car. It was
ready in just over 2 hours, which was excellent and I drove back here to a
brilliant prawn risotto. Wes had been gardening, playing with Bilbo and
spending time with Keira Lockyer, who wanted to discuss a few local issues with
him. Later in the day, Wes applied henna for me, and then he and Bilbo went
fishing, while the treatment was on.
Jane
Knox sent me this lovely photo of her father, Frank, celebrating Chinese New
Year at Cabramatta – this was a first for him and he loved it.
Sherryn
and I had planned to meet up on Friday, see a film and have a bite to eat
together afterwards, but when the weather was so hot, and the trains were
becoming erratic, we decided to postpone our get-together. When Wes got up at
5.15am to take Bilbo for a walk, Bilbo didn’t want to get out of bed and
snuggled back down, pretending to snore. I didn’t blame him at all. However he
enjoyed his walk had a paddle in the Lake and tucked into a bone on his return.
Sherryn Danaher &
Loud Gayle Gibson after Viva’s funeral service
The
tree-fellers finally arrived at 8am to remove the dangling branch, and cut the
dangerous branches of the oak tree next door. Dene offered us the wood, which
was very kind of him, we won’t need to buy wood for a couple of Winters now. We
asked the tree-fellers to quote on removing our one remaining gum and have
booked them to do that job when they have finished all the more urgent stuff
around town, which will be in April or May!
My
knee was hurting, so I made an appointment to see Andrew Gallagher,
physiotherapist, after the U3A Morning Tea at The Food Gallery. Andrew bought Lawrie Townsend’s physio practices
in Moreland & Brunswick in the late 80s, when Lawrie remarried and moved to
Brisbane. Lawrie’s first wife, Elisabeth, asked me if I would work for Lawrie
when he first opened his practice in 1982 and I ended up managing both for him
until Wes and I decided to buy into an Insurance Broking business in partnership
with Con & Roula Keramidas in late 1985. Andrew is an excellent physio, who
moved here quite a few years ago and we were both amazed to find each other
living in this wonderful area. He confirmed that I had strained the lateral
ligament, tortured me for a while and gave me some exercises to do to help
reduce the swelling.
After
feeding us with a very yummy lunch of penne with olives, mushrooms, spinach
& chilies, Wes settled down to an afternoon of Ancestry.com and I had a
good chat with our WA friend, Norma Hutchins, while I rested my leg. She was
very excited that the Perth Scorchers were hosting the Big Bash Final and would
have been even more excited by the result. The batting from the Marsh brothers,
in particular, was amazingly good and very entertaining, and the bowling from
the Scorchers was too good for the Hobart Hurricanes.
Yesterday
we rose early and I washed the cars while Wes walked Bilbo, who was a little
more awake and keen to go out. Then while Wes watered the back garden, I did
some supermarket shopping. We decided to have breakfast together at Bocconcini, which opens early and Wes
enjoyed corn fritters, while I had smashed avocado, poached egg, mushrooms
& spinach. We visited the Wombat Hill Nursery & Florist afterward to
get some more seaside daisies, some curly-leafed parsley and two pretty mauve
shrubs which Wes is going to plant on the other side of the pond in the front
garden. While we were there I thanked Jeff & Donna for all the beautiful
flowers that they delivered over the past 4 weeks, and complimented them on how
long they lasted. Donna told me that their flowers are picked by the grower in
Ballarat the morning of their order, which explains why they lasted!
Oriental lilies from
Leigh & Simon that bloomed for two weeks and filled the house with their
perfume
This
morning I am about to take Bilbo out to pump mineral water at Leitches Creek,
then onto the Sunday Market, breakfast with Wes, Judi, Barbara & Aileen at The Food Gallery, followed by a trip to
Castlemaine to help Valerie with her computer and finally back home here for
drinks with our very kind and thoughtful next-door neighbours, Rob & Dene.
P.S.
How exciting – we’ve just booked tickets to see David Suchet appearing at the
Comedy Theatre in Melbourne in The Last
Confession in September.
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