Dear
Friends, last Sunday was another hot day here, so after breakfast, we spent
some time in the garden before it got unbearable. Wes filled the big pots for
me and I planted fennel and basil mint and re-potted some of my chilli plants,
which are thriving in this weather. The tomatoes continue to appear, and I pick
8-10 every day. It won’t be long before I can harvest the first of the fiery red
Thai chillies as well as the yellow and green ones.
Monday
was a huge day – we slept in until 6am, which meant Bilbo missed his early
walk, so I took him after gym and we strolled around the Wombat Hill Botanic
Gardens – the only ones doing so and admired the giant, colourful begonias on
display.
Wes
spent most of the morning doing wonderful things in the garden, before making
lunch for an old friend, Lloyd Chandler, who had decided to spend 24 hours in Daylesford. At
3pm, Margot arrived with her laptop & kindle for Wes to fix – neither of us
owns or has ever used a kindle, so that presented a bit of a challenge. At 5pm,
Wes set off to show the film ‘The Danish Girl’ to a fund-raising audience
organised by the Neighbourhood Centre. Sadly their publicity had not hit their
target audience and only 19 patrons turned up, all of whom enjoyed the film.
The
next morning was déjà vu, as I dropped Wes off early at the Daylesford Cinema
to show the same film to his 10am regulars. There were 20 of us and we all
loved the film, which deals with the true story of a woman born in a man’s body
in Denmark in the 1930s. Afterwards we debriefed over croissants and hot drinks
with Gillie & Jeanette at the Food Gallery.
That
night was the hottest March night in years and it was already 26° at 5.30am. We
are so grateful for our air-conditioning in the bedroom and lounge, which make
hot days and nights bearable.
Dawn was particularly
beautiful that morning – one of the few positives of the very hot weather
On
Wednesday, Wes walked Bilbo early and I set off for gym where we were sensibly
advised to reduce weights but keep up the reps. I left Wes in our garden when I
headed to Mah Jong and he spent the rest of the morning helping in Barbara’s
garden.
Dot
was well enough to come to Mah Jong and we three enjoyed quite a few games
together, with each of us winning a couple of games.
Wes
didn’t feel well that afternoon, so went to bed and rested/slept for the
remainder of the day. Bilbo & I had leftovers for dinner, and at 6pm,
Michael Ivanchenko arrived to borrow our Mazda 6 to drive to Melbourne Airport
to collect Judi, and later pick up his best friends, Roger & Vicky, who
were at the Holgate pub in Woodend. Later in the evening it started to rain at
last and we were all very excited indeed. By 7am the next morning, we had
10mls, which is enough to fill tanks and soak into the ground properly.
Wes
woke on Thursday still feeling unwell – we think he might have had sunstroke,
so spent the rest of the day in bed. It continued to rain on & off during
the day and we ended up with 20mls in total.
I
had a manicure at EKO with Alanna, followed by a lovely, relaxing lunch with
Rhonda at Wombat Hill House, which is beautifully situated in the Botanic
Gardens. We don’t go there often because there is no table service and lining
up to pay at the cash register seems to take forever.
As
well, the queue is always in the way of those preparing food, who seem to have
to jump in and out of the kitchen frequently. However, we did enjoy spending
time together and catching up with each other’s news. That night I made special
fried rice and Wes was able to eat some and enjoy it.
After
Friday supermarket shopping, I took Bilbo for two laps of the Botanic Gardens
before it got too hot & muggy. I had hoped to catch up with Judi, but was
feeling quite exhausted after that, so spent the rest of the day quietly at
home. Wes got up and discovered that we had no internet, so after trying
everything he could think of, he went to Bi-Rite, where Keith gave him one last
avenue to try, but sold him a new modem as well. Installing the new modem took
the rest of the morning and it was lovely to sit down over lunch and watch an
episode of Dr Blake, which is set in Ballarat and full of familiar scenery and
buildings.
Bilbo attacking his
bone collection with renewed energy after the rain
Yesterday
I was up early and off to visit Leanne at 7am bearing tomatoes, zucchini, herbs
& roses all from our garden. We spent a good morning together and I arrived
back here in time for lunch and the footy. Wes had been very busy indeed – gardening,
taking Barbara for a big shop and all the socialising that entails on a
Saturday morning, and finally making a zucchini quiche for lunch.
At
half time, when Collingwood was playing as though everyone had the flu, I
suggested to Wes that the second half wasn’t compulsory watching for Carlton
supporters. He gratefully went downstairs to work on the computer, until he
realised from the amount of applause and frequent score updates that the Pies
had emerged from whatever daze they were in and saw the end of a very exciting
match, where we held on to beat the Western Bulldogs by 2 points.
This
morning Bilbo and I are off to the Sunday Market shortly, then we will have
breakfast with Barbara, Judi, Margot, Janine & our neighbours, Rob &
Dene. At 10.30am, it will be the ChillOut Parade in Vincent Street and we are
all looking forward to that annual entertainment. Daylesford is chockablock
with visitors – all the houses in our street are full, and there should be a
huge crowd to watch the parade.
Last Sunday’s rose –
Perfume Passion
While
Wes and Bilbo were on their early morning walk today, I had a fright when a huntsman
spider fell onto me in the shower. I had been chatting to him and suggesting he
not lose his grip on the ceiling, but to no avail. I screamed which scared us
both and then flicked him out of the shower recess so he wouldn’t drown. I’m
hopeful he is finding a new home while I am downstairs – preferably out of the
bathroom, as he doesn’t like the noise of the hair-dryer and I don’t like the
thought of him falling on me again!
Newly potted fennel
and basil mint with Japanese Maple outside our bedroom
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