Dear Friends, shortly
after I sent last week’s Dispatch, I received an email from Glenn Mack telling
me I was a very cute 3-year-old. I’m starting to think that might have been my
finest age! Later, I heard from my aunt, Jeff Hoolihan, who remembers the
outfit being made by her mother, Doll, and all the angst caused by the tartan
pattern, which had to be matched perfectly.
We enjoyed a fun
breakfast, where one of the conversational topics was the origin of ‘nature
strips’. It is definitely an Australian term, but not necessarily an Australian
invention and even Wikipedia wasn’t able to explain the origin satisfactorily.
Afterwards Wes
& I spent a quiet Sunday – the sun was shining and birds singing, but
neither of us had the energy to take much advantage of it. Wes had executor
duties to perform and I decided to do the washing and ironing a day early as we
were expecting visitors for lunch the next day.
Monday was fine
early and late, but deteriorated in the middle, while Lovely & Malcolm were
here. They arrived with Asiatic lilies and a good bottle of Pfeiffer’s
Chardonnay and we fed them Wes’s seafood pasta with green salad, followed by a
cheese platter and coffee and chocolates. It was a wonderful visit with lots of
interesting conversation and the Seppelts sparkling Shiraz started it off
perfectly. They left after 3 hours with plans to walk around the Lake......
I cleaned up while
Wes had a rest before collecting Jenny Beacham and driving to Ballarat Uni for
Q&A. Sadly neither of them got to ask their questions, but they did enjoy
the experience and were very impressed with Bill Shorten and the
professionalism of the Q&A team.
Hellebores in the Gardens
The next morning
was a slow start as Wes had arrived home just before midnight. He set off to do
a double shift at the Daylesford Cinema, while I walked Bilbo around the
Gardens before joining him to see the lovely Australian film ‘Oddball’ starring
Shane Jacobsen among others. One of the other volunteers had already seen the
film and was happy to man the desk while Wes joined me, and Jeanette joined her
husband, Ken, in watching the film. There were about 50 in the audience and
amazingly all of the children were spellbound and quiet. This film is a true
story set in Warrnambool, where a chicken farmer stumbles upon a way to save
the fairy penguin population from the foxes that are preying on them as they
return home each night to Middle Island.
The next film on
show was ‘Blinky Bill’, which was also well attended. Everyone turned up for
that shift and Bronnie Lamb, who was showing the next film, arrived very early
and suggested that Wes come home, which he did with much gratitude, and
promptly went to bed, where he could cough his heart out without worrying about
disturbing anyone else.
He usually spends
Wednesday mornings with Barbara, but she was busy at a meeting in Bendigo, so
Wes agreed to spend the day in bed and much to my surprise, he kept his
promise. I went off to gym, and then Mah Jong, while Sandra was cleaning and I
arrived home to find both my boys lying on the bed quietly in perfect
companionship. After feeding Wes lunch, I took Bilbo to the Gardens for a walk,
where it was beautiful in the sun and freezing in the wind.
Valerie and I had
spent an enjoyable time together, although we were both very worried about Dot,
who is in hospital with pneumonia and a urinary tract infection. Fortunately,
she is in Daylesford Hospital, which makes it easy for her husband, John, to
visit her. One of her daughters, Annette, has been staying with John and
helping out, which must be a big relief for Dot & John.
Bilbo taking advantage of
Warren’s absence to get comfy on our bed!
On Thursday, we had
a visit from an electrician provided by the Bendigo Bank, which had offered to
change all our old down light globes into new led globes. I had gone to
Ballarat early as I needed a few things, and we were both lusting after another
vanilla slice or two! All 32 remaining globes were changed in just over an
hour, which was wonderful. I arrived back home to find Wes feeling very tired
after being up and about for 5 hours. He had to fill Barbara’s car with petrol
for her, which he did while I took Bilbo for a walk around the Gardens. When he
got home, he went back to bed and was happy to be looked after for the rest of
the day.
Friday was a lovely
day, although the wind was chilly. I did the shopping at Coles and decided
against joining the Bushwalkers on the Domino Track in Trentham. Bilbo and I
went for a long walk around the Gardens and Railway Station. Bilbo enjoyed a
paddle in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Wes managed to stay up all
day, but wasn’t able to do much apart from some necessary paperwork.
Bilbo paddling in the water
We went to bed to
watch the Preliminary Final between Hawthorn & Fremantle in WA. Freo
started like a bomb, but were soon reined in, and were unable to score enough
to beat the rampaging Hawks.
Yesterday was
another lovely day. I took Bilbo up to the Gardens again, and he managed
another paddle before we came home. Wes had a quiet day, although he is looking
better now that he is coughing less. I did some gardening, primarily to divide
up the fennel and plant each piece into a big red pot out the front. I also put
the zucchini into the garden beds and shifted some of the baby spinach. Our
‘black’ tulips....look more like deep pink to me....are opening, just as the
last of the daffodils are out.
Wes cooked some
Atlantic salmon for lunch, which we accompanied with our own broccoli. There
wasn’t a lot but it was extremely yummy. After lunch, he made his way back to
bed as he was cold, his head was stuffy and he was coughing and sneezing. I
feel so sorry for him, especially as he isn’t used to being unwell and gets
very cross about the whole business!
Last night we
enjoyed the second very exciting Preliminary Final, where West Coast recovered
from a slow start and overcame North Melbourne, who threw everything at them. I
think West Coast is the team with the best chance to beat Hawthorn, so it
should be a great Grand Final next Saturday.
We have woken to a
beautiful, but cool morning in Daylesford, with an expected top of 21°. Wes
feels much better than yesterday, so will be joining us all at breakfast. Bilbo
and I are about to go out to the Sunday Market, which will be a big one with
school holidays and the good weather tempting more stall-holders than usual.
Our friend, Dot
Smith, is home from hospital, which is very good news indeed. We look forward
to seeing her back at Mah Jong again very soon.
Terry & I aged 6 & 4
standing in the front garden at 34 Balloan Street, Coburg
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