Dear Everyone, last
weekend, we had an unexpected phone call from Paun to ask if she and Brian
could visit us on Monday, so we said yes immediately and offered them a bed for
the night, which they duly accepted. I decided to have a very quiet Sunday and
didn’t join Wes at the Glenlyon Food
& Wine Fayre. He enjoyed his time there and said it was very well
organised as usual, except for the entry, where visitors have to queue for too
long.
We lit a fire,
watched highlights of the Olympics and tried in vain to get the Pies to beat
the Crows. The most exciting thing to happen was the unexpected win by Michael Shelley
in the Men’s Marathon, followed by the Bronze medal to Jess Trengove in the
Women’s event.
We were very
excited to see Paun & Brian when they arrived in time for lunch on Monday
and Wes had gone to his usual amount of trouble. He made his famous fish pie
and as he put the hot Bendigo Pottery casserole dish on the wooden board, the
bottom decided to separate itself from the rest. He was able to rescue most of
his pie, which we enjoyed, but we are both very sorry to say goodbye to that
casserole, which must be 40 years old. He had also cooked some spicy herbed
chicken drumsticks, so there was plenty to eat. Sweets was a jam sponge
smothered in berries which went down a treat.
Brian, Paun, Liam, Warwick &
Rohan in 2000 at Michelle & George’s wedding
We spent the sunny afternoon
chatting, sitting quietly, drinking lots of tea and catching up on news. Paun
& Brian had bought some yummy afternoon tea items which we demolished after
corn cobs for dinner. We watched a bit of the Olympics and then everyone was
tired and we all headed to bed.
The next morning
Wes and Bilbo walked early, although not as early as Bilbo would have liked –
he gave a plaintive cry at 2.30am, but we persuaded him to go back to sleep
until 4.45am, which was much more civilised. We decided to have breakfast out
and arrived at The Food Gallery at
8.15am. Pasquale was happy to let us in early and was very interested to hear
about Paun & Brian’s café, Cliff
Place, in Tathra. We all had croissants, except for Brian who tucked into
the bacon & egg roll and Paun & Brian enjoyed the coffee so much they
had seconds. Eventually it was time for them to get on the road and we were
sorry to see them go. They were off to Wagga Wagga for a couple of nights,
before heading to Wollongong to catch up with Liam & Warwick, who were
celebrating their birthdays on Friday. Rohan was coming from Manly so the whole
family would have been together.
The minute the
Fells left the weather turned and rain set in, the sky was grey and we were
confined to quarters for most of the day. Wes had to drive to Ballarat for an
FEA Meeting and we both survived on leftovers, as there is always plenty to eat
after Wes has cooked.
Bilbo wearing my cap!
Wednesday was
Brigadoon and wet, so Bilbo had to make do with a yummy bone and no walk. I
dropped off a couple of beanies for the Keeping
Daylesford Warm campaign, then Sandra arrived to clean and we three went
downstairs into the study as we usually do to keep out of her way. There was no
Mah Jong as Dot still isn’t well enough and I find it hard to breathe on these
mornings, so suggested to Valerie that she stay warm in Castlemaine and
hopefully we can meet next Wednesday.
Wes went over to
help Barbara with Ancestry and no doubt to pass on some of the tips he learnt
at his seminar, and after lunch, they drove to Ballarat where Barbara had an
appointment. Bilbo & I lit a fire and spent a relaxing afternoon knitting
and watching Miss Marple episodes
until Wes arrived home to cook us dinner. And it was special – swordfish steaks
with spicy sauce, green beans & spuds.
Thursday was a much
milder morning than we have had all week and I took Bilbo with me to pump water
at Leitches Creek. When we arrived there, the spring was closed, so we had to
drive back here and get my third choice, Wombat Flat spring on our side of Lake
Daylesford. We went to Tonna’s to stock up on pasta and I ran out of money, so
we came home feeling rather silly and I replenished my wallet before heading
out to have morning tea at Gracenotes
Café with Jane Barrett.
We had about an
hour together, but by the time we chatted with Annie Smith, Helen & Rose,
and Maureen & Graham, that time had been whittled down. Bilbo enjoyed being
fussed over as he sat outside wearing his Winter coat. Jane was able to tell me
the good news that our mutual friends, Roger & Valerie Roberts, are
returning to Daylesford after moving back home to the Adelaide Hills last
November. They are missing all their friends here and find that the
grandchildren they had hoped to spend more time with are all too busy. They
have bought in Central Springs Road, within walking distance of their very good
friends, Di & Jeff.
Talking about
mineral water reminds me that Wes and I discovered the last time we were at
Victoria Park watching the Daylesford Bulldogs play footy, that there has been
a tradition for many years that the footballers are given pure spring water to
drink during the game. Someone takes big water containers to the pump in Grant
Street near East Street on the day before the game. I find the pure spring
water completely tasteless, but many of our visitors are thrilled to bits to
drink water that reminds them of their childhood.
I spent the rest of
the day knitting, while Wes worked on Ancestry and the upcoming Asylum Seekers
Forum, which is being held in the Daylesford Town Hall this Saturday. We had
very strong winds during the afternoon, but fortunately there was no damage or
loss of tree limbs near us. That night Wes went to a meeting at the Savoia Hotel to support another group
wanting to assist asylum seekers. He returned home in time to watch Carlton
play Fremantle over there and was very disappointed when the Blues lost by 5
points in the last minute of the game.
Leanne found this lovely photo of
me, Viva & Jane at lunch in 1987
Friday was
extremely cold and we were promised snow. I went out early to deliver more
beanies and do some Coles shopping, and stayed inside after that. We had
planned to try lunch at the Argus Dining
Room at Peppers Mineral Springs Hotel, Hepburn Springs, but decided we
would have to do that another day. It did snow on and off all afternoon, which
was lovely to watch, but not good to be in!
Yesterday was very
cold with -3° and lots of black ice. I decided to spend the day in bed as I was
very asthmatic and didn’t want to end up with bronchial asthma. The sun shone
brightly most of the day and Wes spent his time working on the computer and
feeding me!
This morning we
woke to find -5°, which is most unusual for Daylesford, and a very heavy frost
is still around, although the sun is shining. Wes had no hot water in his
downstairs bathroom, Bilbo’s outdoor water bowl is frozen and we can only hope
the frogs are surviving in the frozen pond. I have cancelled all today’s
activities and am heading back to bed after a shower. Wes has taken Bilbo to
the Sunday Market and breakfast, and after he returns Bilbo here, he will drive
to Gisborne to pick up Fawlty Towers, our
eagerly awaited bird house. We have a
pair of magpies who will be delighted as they keep knocking on our windows for
food and steal Bilbo’s bones.
Snow falling into Dene & Rob’s
place, taken from the dog veranda
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