Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Wednesday, 30th December 2015

Dear Friends, I do hope you enjoyed a very Happy Christmas Day. I left you on 20^th December just about to go out in the heat, which eventually was replaced by cool weather that afternoon. We did our annual exchange of gifts for dogs & cats, were given chopsticks by Janine, who had brought them back from Thailand & received gift bags from our waitress, Kerry, who also brought us a dish of fresh cherries from her tree.

Warren & Barbara with cherries at breakfast

We were very pleased when the cool change finally arrived late afternoon & brought 4mls of rain with it. Wes and Barbara went to the ALP Branch Christmas party at Eddie & Jenny’s home ‘Mooltan’ in Hepburn Springs. I made a vegetable curry for dinner and was tucked up in bed by the time Wes arrived back home.

During December, we lost one of Daylesford best-loved shops ‘Benjamin Bandicoot’, which was the first gift shop here. Rodney & David had been trying to sell the business and after the fourth breakdown of a potential purchase decided just to close as David was very keen to retire, especially after suffering a heart attack in Bali two years ago. So many of the soft toys we gave to new babies, our leather handbags & gloves, quirky cards & wonderful room fresheners all came from this treasure trove & it will be missed.

‘Moor Please’ a trendy Middle Eastern place in Hepburn Springs run by Jason Jones & Joseph Abboud, also closed at the beginning of December. We only went once and found the food very expensive & not particularly interesting. Most people who went there were locals who wanted coffees or visitors who didn’t come back. It would probably have been more successful situated in Daylesford as we get the lion’s share of visitors.

Lovely photo of cousin Leigh with her husband, Simon, doing the Christmas cooking for her parents, Jeff & Kev, at Torksey Lock, Lincolnshire

I stayed home all morning on Tuesday waiting for the Foxtel technician & when Wes arrived back from the Daylesford Cinema, he still hadn’t turned up. After yet another call to Foxtel, we discovered that we had been put ‘on hold’ as we hadn’t answered the phone the day before (no one had left a message, so we didn’t know about being put on hold). Finally, at 2.30pm Rick & his mate arrived to sort things out. They left at 5.30pm with the problem partially solved. We have two IQ boxes instead of Mystar boxes (there aren’t any in Ballarat), which means we need to flick between TV & Foxtel to watch the free to air stations & we can’t record programmes from those stations on our set top boxes. According to Warren’s new best friend at Foxtel, who actually rang him on Wednesday morning, replacement boxes will arrive in early January.

Wes had spent an enjoyable morning having breakfast with Lauren & Jeanette at ‘The Larder’ before helping train 5 more volunteers & showing ‘The Martian’ to 11 patrons. Lauren was staying on to show the next film, which enabled him to come home at a reasonable hour. That night we celebrated the return of TV stations by watching ABC news followed by some of the Big Bash game in Hobart.

V-line launched this train on the Ballarat line during Christmas week & Michelle got to drive it briefly – how thrilling for her to be recognised so publicly

On Wednesday I took the Mazda 2 to Jamie to have new tyres fitted and while that was happening, spent a lovely 90 minutes or so with Janine Hawker at ‘Daylesford Health Food & Organics’. Janine & her son, Paul, and daughter, Peta, are going to have Christmas lunch at Craig’s Hotel, Ballarat, where they ate last year when her husband, David, was still alive and they all feel it was such a good experience that they wanted to do it again this year.

Christmas Eve was cool early so Wes weeded in the front garden before the bins were emptied, while I did a big Coles shop & made brandy butter. He had mowed the day before, so everywhere looked good for the big day.

Paun & Brian’s café in Tathra with wonderful new signage

Warren & Barbara each spent time this week giving their input into the ‘Hepburn Hub’ design from the point of view of disabled access in particular. Council wants to amalgamate everything under the one roof, which will place an enormous strain on parking, access, Vincent & Bridport Streets. It appears that very little thought had been given to wheelchair, pram & pusher access, nor had the architects considered the law when it came to disabled toilets as they were planning to offer both male & female disabled facilities, which is illegal as it prevents carers of the opposite sex being able to help their clients.

On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a wonderful meal of fresh oysters, followed by barbecued prawns, calamari & green beans. We exchanged gifts as we always do – the night before, and opened Sandra’s presents to us, which were two good bottles of red wine & two perfect red apples.

We all got up early on Christmas morning & went for a walk around Lake Daylesford, which was surprisingly clean & tidy after a warm night. I hadn’t done that walk in quite a while & did enjoy seeing the changes, such as new tree plantings & more bins, but the water level has dropped in the Lake and we are desperate for rain.

Back home & Wes spent some time marinating the meats and deciding how he would cook everything now that a barbecue was out of the question with a Total Fire Ban Day. I had set the table the day before, and made the brandy butter, so I could settle down with a pot of tea & ring my family members, none of whom I was going to see that day. I also rang a few friends & we all promised to catch up very soon.

I think our guests were very pleased to have their meal indoors. We did sit outside for an early drink & nibbles provided by Leon, but it was getting very hot & windy by the time we were serving lunch. Wes had outdone himself yet again offering perfectly cooked steaks, pork & snapper. Our extra guest, Madeleine, who would have been on her own otherwise, contributed smoked salmon & fresh peas, which complemented the tomato salads Denise had made & the potato salad from Barbara. Afterwards we had pudding, using Viva’s recipe, which probably came down from her grandmother, with brandy butter & whipped cream for those who don’t drool over brandy butter. Coffee & teas were consumed with mince pies and chocolates, courtesy of Shaun. By the time we fell into bed around 8pm, the dishwasher was onto its last load, and everywhere was looking good again.

On Boxing Day, we were up at 5am, and I packed & finished the cleaning up while Wes walked Bilbo before we set off for Melbourne in very welcome pouring rain. Wes dropped me at the MCC gate, and I had my first experience of the new improved security – I can only give it the thumbs up – cheerful, non-threatening staff with lots of welcome smiles and chatter. The doors opened as I arrived and I was able to get upstairs to my favourite Bay N47 and secure a seat in the back row – perfect.

I went back to join Wes and we drove to the new breakfast spot – the Square & Compass in Clarendon Street, near the corner of Victoria Parade, where we met Pete & Anka, exchanged gifts, and enjoyed very yummy breakfasts & time together. They had driven because of the rain, so Wes only had to drop me off at the G again and put my suitcase in at Rydges Melbourne Hotel in Exhibition Street, before driving to Strathmore to spend time with Leanne.

The rain stopped, the cricket was only delayed an hour and all the time lost was made up that day. It was freezing cold in the MCC as we couldn’t escape the wind, but I was very happy with my seat behind the bowler’s arm and with easy access to the toilets.

The rest of my stay followed the same pattern – up early, walk 30 minutes to the Square & Compass, enjoy a yummy breakfast (I tried 4 of the meals on offer) with Gillie Gough on 27^th & Danny Millman on 28^th.

This chia pudding with raspberries, kiwi fruit, passionfruit ice, blue berries & flowers was probably the pick of the meals

There is no argument in my mind – this is a great breakfast spot and I only wish their teapots were a little more capacious!

Most nights when I got home I was tired, but happy to walk across the road to the Yum Cha café, where I was greeted warmly and enjoyed Hunan chilli prawns one night, braised chilli fish another night & dim sum with chilli salt & pepper squid on the third.

We were shocked to read that part of the Daylesford Secondary School had burnt down in the early morning of 28^th December, especially as the fire appears to have been deliberately lit. The Principal is hopeful that the school can start the first term on 27^th January as planned. Many of our friends live in Smith Street opposite the school and it must have been very frightening to wake to the sound of fire engines and the sight of flames and the smell of smoke.

Wes has done lots of driving – the trip to Melbourne and back on Boxing Day was followed by a drive to Melbourne Airport at 11pm the next night with Michael Ivanchenko to collect Judi Allen, who was returning from her visit to her mother, Mavis, in Caloundra. Their car has been overheating which meant Michael couldn’t safely make the trip on his own. Wes offered to drive there instead, for which Michael & Judi were very grateful.

He spent time with Barbara, taking her to lunch at The Grande one day, as well as working in her garden. He also showed the latest Star Wars film on Tuesday morning. He then had to drive to Melbourne & back to collect me today (after I enjoyed an early walk around the Carlton Gardens)...and turn around and make lunch later on.

Meanwhile Callum Preston married Maureen Wyse in her hometown, Seattle, with his parents, Robert & Marilyn, his brother, Heath, and his family – Sarah, Charlotte & Ruby – on Boxing Day in a very joyous ceremony. We wish them well in their life back here in Melbourne.

Have a very Happy New Year – may 2016 be kind to us all and I’ll be in touch again shortly.