Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 29th March 2015

 

Dear Friends, at breakfast last Sunday there were five of us and the conversation centred round treatment of older people, especially by institutions. We discovered that Margo, in her eighties, plays the piano at Lumeah Lodge, which is where some of the Daylesford oldies find themselves when they can no longer live alone. She is disappointed that there is very little mental & physical stimulation and is determined she won’t go there when her time comes. Bilbo and Molly love Margo, especially when she brings them leftover toast, which on that morning came spread with Vegemite! Barbara told us a very funny story about local identity, John Bohn, and did a creditable impersonation of his voice, which had us all amused.

In the afternoon there was a concert by the Zelman Memorial Symphony Orchestra at the Daylesford Town Hall. I was really keen to attend, but couldn’t face the numbers of people I would know and with whom I would have to interact. At gym on Monday, friends Bill & Steve, assured me there had been around 150 at the concert, which is a wonderful attendance – the Town Hall would have been packed.

After gym on Monday Nick Massaro came to give me a very welcome massage. Bilbo is always excited to see Nick, who usually brings a treat for him. I spent most of the rest of the day washing and ironing, including two visits to Gail & Terry White to use their giant washing machine which holds our underlay or doona and which they are happy for me to use every now and again. Gail had been unwell during the week, but was looking OK when I saw her. I briefly met their new 12-year old cat, Bobby, who was avoiding the cage and a visit to the vet.

During the afternoon I realised that the underlay wasn’t turning around in our dryer, so I put it in the drying cupboard, turned the heater up to 24°, closed all the heating ducts except the one in that cupboard and took off most of my clothes. Wes did the same when I let him know why downstairs had suddenly gotten so hot, but within an hour the mission was accomplished and we could go back to normal.

I had planned to play golf at Trentham on Tuesday morning after walking Bilbo. However, Wes got up and did the walk, so I set off just after 7am and found myself driving through ever increasing rain and wind. It was wettest at Trentham, so I drove on to Tylden in search of manure, which I found, and came back via Trentham to see if the weather had improved. The flags were slapping wetly against their poles at every green I could see and, if anything, the rain was heavier, so I came home to the warmth and a pot of tea instead. Wes went off to show ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ at the 10am session and was hoping for a good turn-up. Barbara made her first visit to the cinema, and hopefully she feels she could go back again with friends.

Afterwards we met for scones, jam & cream at The Food Gallery. Wes had posted on FB that it was the 46^th Anniversary of our engagement, and he attached a link to Kenneth Branagh reading John Donne’s poem, ‘The Good- Morrow’. Many friends told us they don’t remember their dates, but we know when we met, when we decided to go steady (for want of a better word) and the date Wes asked me to marry him. It is fun to reminisce and think about all that has happened in that time.

1968 at Melbourne Uni – love those curls!

Sadly I have been unable to keep up the 5 + 2 diet – more than anything I missed the structure of stopping for a good meal in the middle of the day and I didn’t really investigate what else I could eat apart from fruit salad, so I was very hungry indeed by the end of each day. Wes is lasting better than I am and is very keen to keep off the 5kg he has lost.

Judi had invited me to go with her to Castlemaine on Wednesday as there was no Mah Jong, so after gym I came home, changed quickly and walked to their place where we had a cup of tea and picked some pears for Bilbo before heading to Castlemaine and art. We visited upstairs at ‘Run, Rabbit, Run Café’, which had an interesting display of local artist, Catherine Tait’s work, much of which had sold; then off to ‘Tog’s Café’ to look at a colourful series of nests and still life paintings by Daylesford artist, Roger Roberts, and finally to a display in the Information Centre which was a tongue-in-cheek send-up of the spate of celebrations by small towns in the Goldfields area. We didn’t realise it at the time, but on reflection, decided that the stories were too silly to be true!

We decided to go to the Castlemaine Art Gallery as well – it is a small gallery, but has at least one painting by all of the artists of the Heidelberg School as well as a stunning Fred Williams and a John Brack. There was a special display by an aboriginal artist, but neither of us was able to appreciate his colourful, naive work.

We went back to ‘Run, Rabbit, Run Café’, which had intrigued us earlier and enjoyed a very yummy and well-priced lunch – quiche for Judi & salad with tuna for me. This description doesn’t do the food justice – it was fresh, served with a big smile and they remembered us from earlier in the day. Finally we went to ‘She Sells Seafood’ where I bought some Ocean Barramundi for Wes to do something creative with for dinner that night. And he did – marinated the fillets in sherry & garlic and cooked them to perfection with our own beans and caramelised onions.

Meanwhile Wes spent the morning in our garden widening borders, and then worked across the road at Barbara’s place before grabbing a quick bite to eat and driving to Newlyn with Eddie Beacham to interview John Hungerford of Newlyn Antiques again.

It was my turn to walk Bilbo early which I enjoyed doing on Thursday and then we did shopping at Coles to let Wes have a well-earned sleep in. I bought 4kgs of cooking tomatoes from Tonnas and made some more pasta sauce, so we should be right for Winter! We spent the afternoon and evening watching Australia vs India at the SCG. Sadly this game wasn’t as exciting as the NZ vs South Africa match, and after about 30 overs, only Australia could win, which they duly did.

Not everyone was riveted to the broadcast of the cricket!

On Friday we all slept in as it was wet and cold. I decided not to join the Bushwalking Group as it was still raining at 8.45am, so Bilbo and I walked around town an hour or so later. We met Wes who had been helping out at the local cinema and had a cuppa together sitting outside The Food Gallery Café. Wes went on home but we finished our walk and arrived back just before the rain settled in again. One of the big pleasures of not getting up early on Friday was doing DA’s crossword before breakfast. It was a most enjoyable and satisfying puzzle which centred on Sherlock Holmes.

In the afternoon I joined the U3A Flicks on Friday group to see ‘Words and Pictures’, a Fred Schepsi film starring Clive Owen and Juliette Binoche. It was a wonderful, inspirational film, set in an American High School, where two teachers argued over whether Words or Pictures were more powerful. I didn’t stay for the afternoon tea, but everyone else was very keen to hang around and chat about the thoughts that the film had provoked.

Yesterday I walked Bilbo early as Wes had to leave to spend the day at the ALP State Conference, where he was an FEA delegate. I met up with Glenn Mack by chance when I went to the Nursery, and we enjoyed a cuppa and catch up together at ‘Cliffy’s Café’ next door. Back home I pulled out the bean plants and tidied up the tomato plants before retiring with the latest Wexford by Ruth Rendell and a quiet afternoon. Wes meanwhile heard an inspirational address by Premier, Daniel Andrews, where he promised equal representation by males and females on all boards that he could influence. This was a very popular pledge and set the scene for the rest of the Conference.

This morning we are off to the MCG to see the ICC World Cup Final between Australia & New Zealand and looking forward to a good match in front of a huge crowd. 

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 22nd March 2015

 

Dear Friends, after breakfast last Sunday, which was well-attended and included some wonderful stories, including the news from Barbara that she had played table-tennis at Victoria Park with friends, we came back home so that I could make another batch of tomato pasta sauce, while Wes went off to Daylesford Hospital to visit Warren Pengilley, who hasn’t been at all well. It was a very successful visit and on his way home, Wes helped Barbara, who was in strife with the strong winds blowing things off her front decking.

During the afternoon we watched the Carlton vs Collingwood practice game at the Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo. Even though the Blues won, Wes wasn’t happy with their performance and doesn’t think they have improved enough for this year. The game was a sell-out and had a great atmosphere as a result. Many years ago Wes, my brother, Peter, & I watched Women’s Test Cricket there.

On Monday, we both had busy days – I started by walking Bilbo, going to gym, attending a lecture entitled ‘From Smoke Signals to Photons’ which was given by Anthony Ash, who used to be on the U3A Committee when I was. He is a very entertaining speaker and tries to make complex issues simple for laypersons like me. There was a good turn-up to the talk and I enjoyed sitting with Vera Killingback, who taught me (and many others) how to use an abacus many years ago, and Clive Rutherford, with whom I attended poetry classes given by Val Pyers, also some years ago.

Back home I had a quick yummy pasta lunch with Wes and then spent a couple of hours with Emma at EKO having a facial etc. Meanwhile Wes had spent the morning in the garden, where he had done wonders out the front and filled a couple of bins in the process. His afternoon was spent in preparation for the ALP Meeting which was held that night. It was a late night as he and Barbara ended up having dinner with others at the Farmers Arms Hotel afterwards. I was glad to see him arrive home as Bilbo was having trouble breathing, but we decided he was just hot.

On Tuesday Wes did the early walk and I drove to the Trentham Golf Club for 10 holes of not so impressive golf. On the plus side I didn’t lose any balls or find myself in the undergrowth, just seemed to take forever to get down the fairways and onto the greens! Afterwards I drove to Tylden looking for horse manure, but there was none for sale at any of the regular spots. Meanwhile Wes showed the 10am session of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, a film I have no interest in seeing. In the afternoon I took Bilbo for a walk into town and back, while Wes answered an emergency call to show the 3.30pm session of ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, which is getting great audiences.

We are so very proud of our eldest nephew, Liam Fell, who has raised over $5,000 for Hodgkin’s Lymphoma Research by having a serious haircut and shave. He says on FB that there was enough hair for two wigs, so he is donating the hair as well as the funds he has raised. Well done Liam.

Wes had been feeling unwell all day and went straight to bed after his shift at the Rex, cancelling all activities for the next day. He is very rarely seriously unwell and he seemed to have picked up a rotten germ from somewhere.

On Wednesday I walked Bilbo, and then went to gym, followed by Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie. When I arrived home I discovered Wes had tried eating some fruit salad, which hadn’t stayed down, so he was playing it safe with iced water only.

We had planned to go to the MCG on Thursday to watch the Quarter-Final between India & Bangladesh, but that was out of the question, so I cancelled our lunch booking and offered our seats to Gayle Gibson. She and her friend, Heather, decided to use them, especially as they could access the Long Room as MCC Members. I walked Bilbo early, did the supermarket shopping, some gardening, some cleaning, washed the cars and gave Wes have some lavender tea, which was OK.

Jeff Hoolihan put up this photo on FB of her grandparents, the Brosnans from Limerick, on St Pat’s Day

One of my self-appointed jobs since we moved to Daylesford has been looking after the bins of our little bit of Duke Street, Because so many of the houses are not occupied permanently, I prefer to put the bins out and bring them back in, rather than have the street looking like a dog’s breakfast. My record is 24 bins, but most times it is 8 or 16, depending on whether the Recycling Bins are being emptied, as they are only done once a fortnight. The downside to this is that I have to arrange for someone to look after them when we are away on holidays and very few friends really enjoy that job! Judi has done it most of the time, although I gave her a break last year when we were in Scotland, and took up Jeff Bain’s offer to look after them for me.

This ‘neat freak’ streak in me also means I have to pick up newspapers from the lawn or road and put them on top of letterboxes, and wheel trolleys back to Coles if I find them while I walking Bilbo through town. He doesn’t understand either of these activities and thinks the former is a chance to give me a lick and the latter an opportunity to get the lead tangled up! When Cheryl & Brendan moved in to the flat beneath us at 201 Brunswick Road after they were married in 1970, I used to deliver their Sun newspaper to them and sometimes they would get fresh marshmallows that Viva had made as well. In return, Cheryl started a lovely tradition of inviting us in for toasted sandwiches on a Sunday night, and we still think she made the best toasted sandwiches ever!

Wes felt well enough to get up on Friday and he certainly looked much better than he had. Bilbo and I walked early and then joined Josie & Sue doing the short Bushwalk, which turned out to be around Cornish Hill, up to Victoria Park and back home via Lake Daylesford. We stopped for a hot drink at the Bookbarn and Bilbo scored two apples as well as a long drink of water out of a proper dog bowl. Wes poached some cod for lunch which we had with mashed potato and our own beans. Very yummy indeed!

Another photo showing the strength of the mini-tornado that ripped up gums & pines around Lake Daylesford on 28^th February this year.

Yesterday Wes felt well enough to walk Bilbo early, so he did that & I enjoyed reading a bit of The Age in bed before getting up to share an exciting breakfast of prawn congee. Wes had found a recipe for it and decided to give it a go and it was a big success, although it took a lot of work, including overnight soaking of the rice. I’m not sure this will become a regular fixture on our dining menu! While I made a boiled fruit cake and cleaned the fridge, Wes spent an hour or so in the garden, which had missed his attention while he was so unwell. He planted some of the plants he had been propagating – seaside daisies and various mints. Then Josh Gilligan came around for an hour or so to discuss next Saturday’s ALP Conference in Melbourne, where Wes is a delegate.

Then it was my turn to spend an hour in the garden – rearranging plants in the green-house, harvesting bok choi, beans & tomatoes and planting some baby spinach, which seems to grown very well here. Bilbo was under my feet the whole time, watching everything I did and occasionally lying in the sun for a snooze.

Green-house with capsicum, Lebanese cucumbers, chillies, baby spinach & dill seeds germinating in the seed tray.

We were very sad to read of the sudden death of Malcolm Fraser on Friday. We hated him with a passion when he used Kerr to remove Whitlam, but in later years he seemed to turn into a statesman, and invariably supported the better way of doing things, even forming Care Australia and more recently resigning from the Liberal Party because it no longer represented his beliefs. He and Gough even became friends, which was inconceivable in 1975.

The boys next door, Rob & Dene, gave me Molly Meldrum’s autobiography to read when I was sick and I duly read through it, with many memories of Countdown. Molly’s contribution to Australia’s music industry is truly remarkable. One of our local friends, Sandy Breen, an artist, and passionate St Kilda supporter, has always claimed that Molly asked her to marry him, and sure enough, in the book, he states that she was his first love and refused to marry him as they were having too much fun. They both knew the marriage wouldn’t have lasted very long as Molly’s preferences are definitely for blokes rather than sheilas.

Here are Molly & Sandy in the mid-sixties at a St Kilda Football Club ball – Sandy was President of the Cheer Squad and Molly was desperate to become a member!

Talking about footy, the least said about Collingwood’s performance last night against the Western Bulldogs, the better, although I am thrilled to bits to the Doggies playing so well – hopefully their new coach has brought a greater sense of team to them and having Robert Murphy as their captain can’t hurt either. We went to bed at half-time and are very pleased we did.

The incredible sporting feat yesterday was the performance by Kiwi, Martin Guptill, who carried his bat and scored 237 in his side’s innings against the West Indies in the final Quarter Final of the One-Day International World Cup. This included 11 sixes & 24 fours and he also took two catches during the West Indies innings. I saw most of his time at the crease and it was truly remarkable.

Bilbo and I have had our early walk around town, and now he is lying at my feet waiting to go to the Sunday Market, and then Breakfast. It is a cool morning, but promises to be a lovely day. From where I sit I can see the trees across the Lake starting to turn yellow and red, which is the beauty of Autumn here.

Castle Stalker in Scotland – what a wonderful place it is – can’t wait to go back there again!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 15th March 2015

Dear Friends, I ended up missing all the Chillout celebrations last Sunday as I wasn’t able to get up until lunchtime Monday. There was a good turnout for the Parade and some wonderful costumes – none better than our friend, Max Primmer, in a gorgeous gown.

On Monday morning Wes got up early, gave Bilbo a bone and came back to bed. Bilbo wasn’t far behind him and we three slept happily until 8.15am, which was much needed obviously. Wes spent most of the day on the computer and I rose very late and spent about 5 hours up, which was all I could manage

.

The next day Wes was projectionist at the Daylesford Community Theatre, showing ‘Pride’ at the 10am session, so I dropped him off early and then joined a few others to see the film. I was thrilled to see Bob White there and we sat together. The film was wonderful and we three are all pleased we saw it, although I think there was more crying up in the projection room than anywhere else! Afterwards we had time for a quick hot drink with Bob before Wes and I walked to Verey’s Funeral Parlour for John McParland’s farewell.

John was a long-time Treasurer of the local ALP Branch and always gave the shortest report on record – his reply when asked to give a report was always ‘no change’. After the family and John’s best friend had spoken, both Wes and Catherine King MP walked to the front to give a joint tribute to John’s commitment to the ALP and everyone appreciated this story and Catherine’s presence as well.

We were both quite tired after the emotion of the day and pleased to come home for a rest before Wes had an appointment with the local optician, where his eyesight was found to have changed very little and his only need was for new frames.

On Wednesday I went to gym where I took things easily, before heading to spend a couple of fun hours with Dot & Valerie playing Mah Jong. We were easily the centre of attention at ‘Muffins & More’, with one woman asking if she could join in and another man looking longingly at the tiles, but not daring to ask. It was also the day that Jane & David Knox said goodbye to their only offspring, Emily, who has spent the last fortnight in Australia, mostly in Sydney, introducing her Scottish partner, Alan Kinnear to her friends and relatives. I imagine Emily & Alan will be delighted to get back home and have a break from warm weather, fine dining and wining and non-stop chatting!

Lovely photo of Alan & Emily at the Melbourne Immigration Museum where Alan found some of his forebears in the tribute to 200 years of Scottish influence on Australian life. We discovered when we were in Scotland last year that most Scots have no idea how much we owe them – the vote for women, medical & dental advances, farming methods & newspapers to name but a few.

In the afternoon, after a big morning in the garden, Wes went for a physio appointment to see how his ankle was progressing and I made a date to catch up with Leanne in Strathmore early on Saturday morning. Later Wes, Barbara & Eddie all visited Ian Rogers to interview him for Hepburn Voices. Meanwhile I picked the first of our bush beans as well as some more tomatoes which are ripening nicely. We have heaps of tiny chillies which I am hoping to pick soon.

Thursday saw me back walking Bilbo around town – I am waiting until daylight saving finishes on 5^th April before walking around the Lake again at 5.30am. Wes spent time in the garden mowing, watering and pruning. I drove to Ballarat to collect a new bedside control for our Sunbeam electric blanket – Wes’s side died during one of our more severe power surges and we have had to wait a fortnight for it to arrive. It was my first drive through Eganstown since the big storm and it is very obvious where the wind tore through and felled so many trees, mostly gums and pines.

Lovely photo of Travis & Lauren Kennedy, 8 years married, with Rosie & Myles

When Wes did the shopping at the Sunday Market, he was to pick up a ‘Robin Hood’ rose from Ken Rae, Spring Park Nursery, to fill in the last spot on Wes’s rose borders in the back yard. However the rose Ken brought turned out to be ‘Red Riding Hood’ so we are making do with it and I suspect it is a more suitable rose than the other, which I wanted because of its name more than anything else.

Another lovely family photo – Matthew Spiteri, Sara Lacey & their girls, Genevieve & Ava all dressed up for the Roaring Twenties

Meanwhile Wes took Bilbo to the vet for his annual check up and injections and apart from carrying a little too much weight, Bilbo is doing very well indeed.

On Friday we played golf early at Trentham and I put in my best round in years, mainly due to some good putting and strong driving. Afterwards we met Greta Millman and her daughter, Penny, at ‘Chaplin’s at the Muse’ in Trentham, where it was croissants and hot drinks all round. Harry had been coming as well, but had to work late the night before. We spent a lovely couple of hours with Greta and Penny before coming back here.

In the afternoon we decided to see ‘The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’, as we hadn’t seen a film together at the Daylesford Community Cinema. We both enjoyed it very much, but agree with the reviews that suggest it is not as good as the first. However, we talked about the film for an hour afterwards, and we both spent time thinking about it during the night, so it obviously had an effect!

Yesterday morning I slept through Bilbo’s walk and couldn’t take him later as I was off to visit Leanne in Strathmore, due at 9am. We had a most enjoyable time together and I arrived back home in time for a very yummy herb-encrusted ocean trout which Wes served with our first crop of home-grown bush beans and bok choi. Leanne had sent home an orange cake, which was the perfect afters.

Congratulations to Angela Skewes, daughter of our dear friend, Glenda Rozen, who gave birth to a miracle baby on Thursday. I saw Angela on Wednesday and she was looking wonderful and would no doubt be relieved to have a happy healthy, albeit early daughter, Maya. We are all thrilled for Ange & Nathan, and Glenda & Joe, as is everyone who knows them here. 

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 8th March 2015 - International Women's Day

Dear Friends, we had a most enjoyable Sunday, which started with breakfast and lots of good conversation around films, our finding of Viv and Aileen’s mother’s 101^st birthday celebrations. Afterwards we came home and Wes worked in the garden, while I baked a fruit cake. Then we were off to Bob White’s home in Trentham for the interment of Kirk’s ashes. The first ceremony was under the linden tree in the garden, where some of Kirk and all of Claire, the dog, were scattered. Then we drove in convoy to Trentham Falls, where a large amount of ashes were strewn in the water at the top of the Falls, and where one of his friends sang ‘Send in the Clowns’ unoccupied, as he had done at the funeral. Finally we drove to the Trentham Cemetery; where there was a short service given by two Anglican priests and a lovely remembrance of Kirk was read out. After Kirk’s remaining ashes had been placed in the brick wall, the RSL representative came over to Bob and formally presented him with an Australian flag on behalf of the RSL. This particular courtesy hadn’t been accorded Bob at Kirk’s funeral, where the flag was given to Kirk’s sister instead.

We all repaired to the Cosmopolitan Hotel, where there were sandwiches and savouries courtesy of ‘Chaplin’s Café’, which had closed for the afternoon, so they could participate in the ceremonies. We were in a back room at the Cosmo and had a chance to have our photo taken with Bob, his daughter, Natalie, and his son, Brendan. We came home in time to feed Bilbo, who shouldn’t have been hungry, but was...and Wes made us a yummy pasta & broccoli dish for dinner.

On Monday I walked Bilbo into town and back as it was just too dark at 5.30am to risk Lake Daylesford, with all the branches from the storm to negotiate. The walk was lovely, and Bilbo was quite happy with the change of plan. We arrived back in time for me to have a shower and go to gym, while Wes spent the early part of the morning in the kitchen preparing for our lunch guests – Robyn & Ian Robinson, & Marilyn & Robert Preston.

When I got home from gym, Nick arrived to give me a massage, which I have every three weeks, straight after exercise, and obviously enjoy. He had come without a treat for Bilbo, so I had to surreptitiously find a biscuit and deliver it to Nick or Bilbo would have been devastated at the break in this routine. After the massage, Wes came in from the garden and continued working in the kitchen. He made baked rosemary & garlic infested rack of lamb, baked parmesan encrusted blue grenadier and served them with smashed potatoes and steamed green beans. Afterwards we had a version of Eton mess using our nectarines, local strawberries and mango. We finished with a couple of local cheeses and somehow fitted in chockies with tea & coffee. Everyone had brought yummy wines and the conversation sparkled as well.

Needless to say it was a four dishwasher loads lunch – and that doesn’t include the glasses as we drank from good crystal so I hand-washed them. Bilbo was delighted to polish off the lamb bone this morning when he got back from his walk with Wes. As it was a perfect Autumnal morning we decided to play golf at Trentham and enjoyed our walk around the course, although some of our shots left something to be desired. I sank a fairly long putt and Wes hit a couple of excellent tee shots, but overall, there is room for improvement.

We arrived back home to find tree fellers next door removing the dangerous branches from Rob & Dene’s oak tree. They did a wonderful job and when they had gone; there was nothing to indicate they had ever been there except some clean cuts in the tree.

Damage around the Lake behind the Primary School

                                                                                  

On Wednesday Bilbo and I walked around town early before I went to gym. After gym I had a lovely long chat over a cuppa with Gillie at the Harvest Café, where I was delighted to see Catherine, who used to work there, was back doing a couple of days a week. Meanwhile Wes filled the garbage bins with prunings from the garden, before spending a couple of hours with Barbara.

We enjoyed a yummy pasta with fish for lunch and then I spent some time at the computer, (in between looking out at the roses and enjoying the sound of water from the fountain) while Wes and Eddie Beacham drove to Newlyn to interview John Hungerford, who owns Newlyn Antiques. They came back here for a meeting at Barbara’s place before Wes and I headed to the Daylesford Central Motor Inn for a short stay at Aperitifs there. We enjoyed catching up with friends, but the venue wasn’t conducive to mixing and we ended up sitting outside under the rotunda chatting with old friend, Peter Widdop.

This week’s roses – peach, yellow & deep red

It was cold on Thursday morning and I was glad to stay in bed while Wes and Bilbo braved the wind. We had 2 kgs of tomatoes sitting ripe and ready to go, so I turned them into pasta sauce using herbs from our garden as well. It was a very satisfying morning of cooking, although Wes complained that the smells were too enticing for a fast day!

On Friday, Bilbo and I walked around town, looking at all the preparations for the Chillout Festival which is held here every Labour Day long weekend. I particularly liked the window in ‘Benjamin Bandicoot’, where David has outdone himself this year. After a quick shower it was time to go shopping at Coles, where everyone was getting ready for a busy weekend. Bilbo and I joined the Bushwalkers for a lovely stroll around the Wombat Dam, which incorporated a bit of the Three Lost Children’s Walk as well. Josie, Malcolm & I were joined by Anna and some friends of Malcolm from Paris. The two young boys enjoyed taking the leads of Bilbo & Cara and their mother loved the openness and light of the Australian bush.

Back home I quickly got changed and made my way to Gracenotes Café to meet Rhonda for a catch up chat – our first in ages, as I have not seen her since her return from Japan, which she loved. When I arrived home Wes had added some mushrooms & broccoli to some of the tomato sauce I had made and we enjoyed a very yummy pasta with a glass of our current favourite quaffing wine – ‘Muscle Man’ Shiraz from McLaren Vale.

Yesterday Wes walked Bilbo early, while I read The Age in bed. We visited the ‘Farmers’ Market’ at the Daylesford Primary School after breakfast, and then caught up for a long overdue chat with Glenn & Denise back at Gracenotes Café. Glenn had brought us a loaf of his sour dough bread, which we tasted that night and which is extremely yummy.

Sadly I could feel a head cold coming on and went straight to bed on our return home where I have remained ever since. I missed out on going to the Convent Gallery’s Pimms’ Pop-up yesterday with Wes, Rob & Dene and this morning I am missing breakfast and the Chillout Parade. Bilbo is quite confused but so long as he has a walk and is taken to the Sunday Market and now breakfast, he will cope.

Today would have been Viva’s 93^rd birthday and Wes put up this photo of a Tuscan Superb rose with some lovely words on Facebook. Thank you.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 1st March 2015

Dear Friends, welcome to Autumn, the most beautiful time to be in Daylesford, especially as we have survived Summer without any bushfires and the weather for March is looking good. When I left you last Sunday we were heading off for what turned out to be a very small group at breakfast – Wes, Karen, Barbara & Janine. Margo popped in, but she had a better offer downstairs, so didn’t stay to eat with us.

At lunchtime I went to see ‘Paper Planes’ at our local cinema, and was so pleased I did. Wes didn’t want to see it, but I thought it looked like a lovely story and it was Australian, set in country Victoria with a period in Sydney and the finale in Tokyo. The writing, casting and direction were all excellent. As I left people were pouring in for ‘The Imitation Game’ and later, ‘Mr Turner’.

We had made plans to catch up with Kathy & Ged Lazzaro on Monday, so after Wes walked Bilbo & I did gym, we drove to Ballan and caught the train into Melbourne and then a tram to Swanston Street as we were meeting at ‘The Moat’ in the basement of the Wheeler Centre in Little Lonsdale Street. Kathy & Ged were there first and bagged a great table at the back where we sat for about 2 hours enjoying good wine, good food & excellent service. The Lazzaros flew off to Europe last night and will be away for two months, so we were pleased to have been able to say goodbye.

We arrived home at 5pm just in time to feed Bilbo who shouldn’t have been hungry after spending his day gnawing, burying and re-gnawing a big marrow bone, courtesy of Auntie Leanne. Wes made tapioca with banana and passionfruit, which was all we could eat after our lunch.

Early morning attack on the bone – note the paw holding the other end in case Wes or I should want it!

Lovely photo of Jeff & Kev dressed for lunch on the Orient Express

Tuesday was our first fasting day – we have decided to try the 5+2 diet for the next 10 weeks and have nominated Tuesdays & Thursdays as our 500 calories only days. I have put on weight that I have been blaming on Chronic Fatigue, but now that I have more energy, I suspect it is probably caused by eating too much of the wrong things. Wes feels the same, so we are trying to help each other out. Local friends swear by this diet, and the results are good, so we are giving it a go.

We had hoped to play golf early, but it was a delightfully cold and very windy morning, and we three all managed to sleep in, so golf was cancelled and I took Bilbo for a later walk around town. Meanwhile Wes managed to track down Viviane Vagh (previously Eychart, née Gauci), who married Pierre the painter and with whom we shared a few wonderful months in 1969-70, before she & Pierre went back to Paris to live. We caught up with them a few times but by the end of the 70s we had lost track of them completely. Viv is now married to Jonathan Levine (composer & writer) and describes herself as a writer-director, who has also acted and taught drama & video. She replied instantly to our emails and wants to chat via Skype, and share a meal in Paris. We are over the moon!

After a lovely interlude getting nails done with Alanna at EKO, I had a bit of a rest in preparation for going to see ‘The Imitation Game’ at 6pm locally. I arrived early, bagged the middle of the second back row and watched in amazement as the theatre quickly filled up with locals. The film was very good and I discovered the next morning that so many people were turned away an extra screening was put on Wednesday night to accommodate everyone.

We had invited Michael Ivanchenko to have an early dinner with us on Wednesday as his wife, Judi Allen, was in the Caloundra area visiting her mother, sister, and other relatives & friends and we thought we would break up the fortnight with a meal halfway through. Wes cooked a crown rib roast and breaded fish which he served with yummy vegetables. We had a lovely time with Michael, with lots of stimulating conversation and some fine red wines.

Somehow I got up early on Thursday to walk Bilbo and then drove to Ballarat to see if I could get a replacement control for Wes’s side of the electric blanket. I had to order it in, so he will have to survive for another few days. It was a lovely day, much cooler than it has been. When I was in Vincent Street, I pulled up next to John & Jan Smith, who were showing friends they met in Alice Springs all around Daylesford. They were off to Cliffy’s as The Food Gallery was shut. In the afternoon Wes went to a volunteer session at the Daylesford Community Cinema and agreed to do front of house last night, where he managed to see ‘The Kingsman’.

We sat down to watch Collingwood play Hawthorn in Launceston that night and were very delighted with the win by the Pies. It is such a rare event – of course the Hawks fielded mostly seconds’ players, but a win’s a win. We look to have found a few good players for the future as well as the ones that showed some promise last year.

This week’s vase of very delicately-shaded pink & apricot roses

Wes did the early walk on Friday, while I tackled DA’s Friday Cryptic Crossword. I was about halfway through when it was time to go shopping at Coles. As I drove into Vincent Street, there was a hot air balloon above me, so close I could almost see the colour of the occupants’ eyes! Everyone was standing dead in their tracks watching and wondering what would happen. Eventually the balloon disappeared and probably landed at the Hepburn Footy Ground. I stopped at the Library to deliver my eight completed poppies for the Centenary celebrations.  

Bilbo & I joined the Bushwalking Group, which this time was in Eganstown, on Bald Hill Track. There were only four of us with two dogs, as Malcolm, the leader, brought his rescue dog, Cara. Cara & Bilbo were very happy to meet each other and Colin & Helen, the other two walkers, didn’t mind at all. It was a beautiful Autumnal day with the temperature around 20°, which is perfect for bushwalking.

After lunch I went to the U3A Film Group at The Grande in Hepburn Springs. We saw a low-budget, but totally engrossing film called ‘Locke’ starring Tom Hardy. The whole of the film occurs in his car as he drives from work to London. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed it as we stood around in the sun afterwards having tea & seriously good treats.

Wes spent most of the morning in the garden and most of the afternoon on the computer finishing the big box of correspondence from the early 70s that he has been wading through. In between we sat outside for lunch of baked salmon with coriander & lemongrass, boiled spuds and a green salad with many ingredients from our garden. At night we sat down to watch Carlton play West Coast somewhere in WA, but the camerawork was terrible and the Blues weren’t much better, so gave that up, watched an eerie episode of ‘Playhouse Presents’ and went to bed.

Lovely photo of Wes in 2013 at Threave Gardens, Scotland, with a Pine we would love to own – not sure where it would fit!

                                                   

Yesterday it was muggy with early light rain. Bilbo & I walked around the Lake in complete darkness except for my torch. We arrived back home for Bilbo to have a bath and afterwards Wes cooked us both a beautiful breakfast – scrambled eggs with salmon; baked Roma tomatoes from the garden; wilted spinach, and baked mushrooms stuffed with salmon & parmesan. We had decided to indulge early, as we were off to Ian McKenzie’s 70^th Birthday with drinks & canapés from 2-6pm, so a big lunch would have been a mistake!

We had a lovely time at the party – Ian & Josie have a large property down an unmade road in Musk and they had invited about 70 friends & family to mark the occasion. Gary Thomas did the catering, there was a background singer, and they had employed two waitresses to carry around food and another to look after the bar, so they could enjoy time with their guests. We hadn’t been to their home before and were most impressed with the outside entertaining area. I didn’t try and catch up with everyone, but sat in a corner with Wes listening to Val Farrell talk about her self-published book ‘Cockatoo’ celebrating the three cockies she has owned in her life, and to Margie Thomas talking about her work as a Friend of Cornish Hill. We left after the cake was brought out as Wes needed a rest before doing front of house at the Daylesford Cinema.

Ian & Josie celebrating in style yesterday

The morning had flown by with Wes doing wonders in the back garden, making room for another rose from Ken this morning if he is at the Sunday Market. Little did we know that Daylesford was to get a mini-tornado at about 7.30pm last night, which did lots of damage, including the loss of a huge old monkey-puzzle tree in Central Springs Road. Fortunately we had nothing worse than the tomato pots and a lemon tree falling over, but the boys next door found a branch from their big tree on their decking; some friends have lost lots of trees; others can’t get out of their driveways or streets, and there is a lot of debris around the Lake, which had gone wild with water spraying high into the air at the height of the storm.

Once proud monkey-puzzle tree reduced to debris last night outside the Uniting Church

We are off to Trentham this afternoon to spend time with Bob White. Today is the first anniversary of his partner, Kirk’s death, and Bob has decided to scatter his ashes at three different venues and we have been invited to participate. There will be a wake at Chaplins afterwards.