Dear Friends, I hope you all enjoyed a very Happy and safe
Easter. We had a fun breakfast at ‘The Food Gallery’ with Danny, Judi, Barbara
& Janine. Both Barbara & Judi had brought eggs for everyone, which was
good as I hadn’t bought any at all this year – Wes got Edradour Whisky for
Easter, which he received a few days early as the decanter was empty and things
were looking grim!
Easter Saturday
lunch with friends at the Farmers Arms – Judi, Gayle, Robyn, Karen & Wes in
the front with Danny, Michael, Ian, Fraser, Karen & Malcolm behind- you can
tell by the smiles that it is post-lunch and we’ve all had plenty to eat &
drink!
After breakfast we went to see Brian Nash’s one-man
exhibition at the Daylesford Town Hall, where he had 220 paintings on display.
We fell in love with a few of them as we always do, but will need to make room
if we buy another one. Danny bought a lovely painting of the old stone
homestead at Lavandula which will should look great in his guest room – I’ll
let you know after I next stay over.
It threatened to rain all day Tuesday and Wes was persuaded
to have a sleep-in, give Bilbo a bone and read The Age instead. Later I walked
Bilbo into town to collect the mail and see if we could find a large
water-pistol with which to deter the cockies which are driving us crazy at
present. We had a lovely walk and got home just as the rain started to spit
down. Wes spent the morning in the garden before going off to show the first
two films of the day at the Daylesford Community Cinema in the Rex Arcade.
Bilbo getting comfy
on our bed – not much room for the rest of us!
Meanwhile in London, our aunt & uncle, Jeff & Kev
Hoolihan, spent Easter in Balham with their daughter, Leigh, and her husband,
Simon. They also caught up with their son Mike and his family while they
celebrated Leigh’s birthday, Easter & Leigh & Simon’s 2nd
Wedding Anniversary. Can’t believe it is two years since we flew to London to
share their marriage day.
The rain eventually tumbled down in Daylesford much to
everyone’s delight as we were getting desperate for it. I realise that unless
the sun shines a bit more most of my remaining tomatoes won’t ripen, but we
have done very well from the 8 bushes and I could always look up the recipe for
‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ from the book of the same name by Fannie Flagg!
During the afternoon it got cold enough to light the fire
and Wes was delighted to arrive home to a warm house with the welcoming flames
and the wonderful smell of burning wood. Happily, both children’s films had
been well-attended.
Wes walked Bilbo in the misty rain on Wednesday morning
before settling down to computer work and helping Barbara with reorganising her
garage. I went off to Mah Jong, leaving Bilbo with Sandra, which suits him very
well indeed. Sandra arrives at 7.30am which means we have to get ourselves
showered and dressed and all the dog beds put up off the floor before she
comes. It doesn’t seem fair for her to have to shift Bilbo’s many beds, pillows
& toys.
I played Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie and we have never
seen ‘Muffins & More’ busier or noisier. The staff was looking very weary
and hoping that the school holidays would soon end, although they would be
delighted with the sales. While Valerie and I were having lunch, another patron
came over to tell us that watching us play made him nostalgic. He had bought a
set in Thailand and it includes tigers and other tiles not normally found in
the Chinese version.
When I walk Bilbo in the late morning or afternoon, I am
enjoying looking at all the ANZAC displays in the shop windows here. Very few
proprietors have refused to have poppies of some description in their windows –
paper, knitted, crocheted, painted, on tiles, on mugs, in wreaths – wherever
you look people have been using their imagination and producing some wonderful,
evocative images.
On Thursday, Wes drove to Ivanhoe for Charlie Diluca’s
funeral, which was well attended. He spoke with all members of the family, who
were most appreciative of his presence, as you are when you are farewelling a
loved one. Afterwards he drove to Epworth Hospital to visit Jan Smith, who is
slowly recovering from her back operation and subsequent very scary blood clot.
When she gets out of Epworth, she will be in rehabilitation for some weeks
before she can come home again. We had bought her a lovely floppy soft toy dog
to keep her company and she was delighted with it.
Jan on the slow
road to recovery
Here is a photo from last year -
L-R Barbara, Jan, Judi, Danny, Lib, Karen, John & Warren
On Friday Wes walked Bilbo early while I stayed in bed
solving DA’s two crosswords. I had planned to go on the Bushwalk, but the
destination was Irishtown, 35 minutes’ drive away, and I didn’t think Bilbo
& I would be back in time for Glenn Mack’s arrival as we had invited him to
join us for lunch.
So Bilbo & I set out for a bushwalk of our own – up the
back of our street through Cornish Hill, over to Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens,
where I finally got a chance to admire the giant begonias in the greenhouse
there, around the gardens and out again at the back of the railway station,
where I admired the signage put up by Council & Rotary to celebrate the war
service of locals. This area has now been planted with very healthy rosemary
bushes and some red geraniums. We stopped at Wombat Nursery, where everyone
came out to pat Bilbo and Jeff sold me some tulip & tête-a-tête bulbs.
On our way through Vincent Street, we ran into Sheila
Hollingworth, who was on her way home to Clunes from Melbourne, and catching up
with a couple of friends while she was here. It was lovely to see her and she
was thrilled to pat Bilbo as it is a while since her labs have died and you
never stop missing them. We also bumped into Michelle and Bindi-Sue (dog),
regulars on the Bushwalks and she explained they had been missing as she &
her partner, Sharon, a policewoman at Trentham, had bought
‘Forget-Me-Not-Cottages’ and were spending every spare second on this
accommodation.
Glenn Mack arrived for a lovely long lunch, mostly sitting
out on the decking before the European wasps drove us inside. Wes had cooked
fresh whiting fillets and served them with steamed green beans & smashed
potatoes – very yummy indeed. That night we watched the West Coast vs Carlton
game in Freo and were impressed with the Blues first quarter. Something
happened after that first break and the Blues only managed 3 goals for the rest
of the game. Very disappointing for all their supporters & their loved ones!
It was another beautiful Autumn day yesterday – Wes &
Bilbo walked early and after turning 3 kgs of tomatoes into sauce I took him
for another walk in the sun. We caught the 1.30pm train to Melbourne so we
could fit in a yum cha lunch before the Pies played Adelaide. And what a good
idea that was! From the first bounce, it was obvious that the Crows had our
measure and when we had only kicked 2 goals to half-time, I decided it would be
a good idea to go – I hate leaving the footy early, but we caught a train that
left at 6.08pm and were home by 7.45pm. Bilbo was thrilled to see us and we
enjoyed some of the fresh tomato sauce with pasta while watching the Swans beat
Port in a very entertaining game. At least Collingwood put up a fight in the
last quarter and kicked a few goals, so that we were only beaten by 27 points,
but the difference between the two teams was more like 100 points. It was great
to see St Kilda have a good win as most pundits were predicting them to be
bottom of the ladder again, which is very dispiriting for their many loyal
supporters.
Meanwhile, back in Daylesford, there was a huge crowd
attending the 100th Anniversary of ANZAC celebrations in Vincent Street
and Town Hall.
We have just returned from the Sunday Market and are heading
off to breakfast. Wes and I have been sitting at our computers, while Bilbo
cries at the top of the stairs!
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