I
had bought a beautiful rose called ‘Olde Fragrance’ from Ken Rae at the Sunday
Market, so Wes planted that in the front garden, and I wandered around cutting
the few roses that had survived the strong winds of the past two mornings.
In
the afternoon, we had been invited to the 60th birthday party of
Steve Bowie, who lives with his partner, David Wilson, in a beautiful home in
front of Dene & Rob, our neighbours. There were 100 friends & rellos
expected during the afternoon and we spent a couple of most enjoyable hours
there before we had to come back home. David & Steve are very generous
hosts and had employed Gary Thomas, who runs ‘Spade & Blade’ to do the
catering. There were jugs of Pimms, champagne, delicate little canapés served
on tiered cake stands and plenty of wait staff making sure everyone had a drink
& bite to eat. We spent quite a lot of time catching up with Rob & Dene
– they might live next door, but we don’t get to just chat very often, and we
all enjoyed it.
On
Monday morning at gym, I finally did a chest press, my first since my
operation, and, although I lifted 5 kg less than previously, I was able to do
it easily and without any pain, which was a big relief. Wes picked me up
afterwards & we went to Wombat Hill Nursery to collect some potting mix, as
we need to refill our beautiful big pots out the front, which ended up being
home to wasps instead of fennel.
At the end of our
street as I walked to gym....
Lovely photo of Leon
Anderson at Coburg Cemetery at the grave of his great-grandparents – Ron &
Ruby Maloney, AKA The Tossing Testros
Judi
& Michael arrived at 11.45am to swap cars – Judi was on her way to
Melbourne Airport to visit her mother, Mavis, who turned 90 yesterday and they
were reluctant to drive their overheating Subaru that distance & back. When
Michael returned around 3pm, we had invited him to share a late lunch/early
dinner with us. Wes made his famous fish pie and Michael had brought a cold
bottle of Chandon, as well as two yummy cheeses and biscuits, so we cut out the
poached peaches we had planned to serve as sweets & got stuck into the
cheese & Shiraz instead.
We
didn’t watch the Oscars but were delighted to discover that Mark Rylance won
Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘The Bridge’. Wes set off on Tuesday
morning to show ‘Spotlight’ and we had a better than usual audience because it
had won Best Film. We were both blown away by the film, which rates up there in
the ‘Best Film Ever’ class. Afterwards, we met at the Food Gallery for
croissants and a very necessary debrief. Don’t miss it if you haven’t already
seen it!
As
I was leaving gym on Wednesday, I received a message from Dot to say she wasn’t
feeling well enough to play Mah Jong, so Valerie and I played, as Valerie was
already on the road to Daylesford from Castlemaine. We had a lovely morning and
shared the honours evenly, playing some of the trickier hands, which are much
easier to get with only two players.
Meanwhile
Wes had decided to take Barbara around Lake Daylesford to take advantage of the
improved path. They walked down with Bilbo and enjoyed it all until the brake
stuck on Barbara’s wheelchair. Wes and Bilbo walked back home, collected tools
and the car, fixed the problem and finished the walk. By the time I arrived
back, they were both recovering from their exertions, as the day was getting
hotter. That afternoon Wes had promised to visit Janine Hawker in Musk to help
her with her printer & computer, which he duly did. I defrosted the other
half of our ‘Gusto’ quiche and made a couple of salads for dinner, to save Wes
having to turn around and cook when he came back.
We
had bought tickets in Gold Class to see ‘The Lady in the Van’ on Thursday
morning at Ballarat and headed off very happily to enjoy a couple of hours of
Maggie Smith brilliance. We just loved the film, which was much more of a story
than the trailer had led us to believe, but we were perhaps the only ones in
Gold Class who were delighted with it – most others said it wasn’t what they
expected.
Afterwards
we walked to Doveton Street to find ‘Harry Limes’ (no apostrophe), which was
rated very highly for its food. The menu was lengthy and diverse, but the
tables had paper cloths and the chairs were comfy, so we stayed. Big mistake –
our Salt & Pepper squid appeared to have arrived pre-prepared from Coles, sitting
on an equally already prepared ‘Greek’ salad with some of the toughest feta
& tasteless olives we have ever encountered. Wes was keen to have a glass
of wine, but fortunately was never offered a glass, as we are sure it would
have been very ‘vin ordinaire’.
We
left quickly and drove to look at the ribbons tied on the fence around St
Patrick’s Cathedral and then into the old Cemetery where Wes showed me the two
monuments to the Eureka Stockade miners & soldiers – suitably a distance
from each other. He also took me to see the extensive Chinese section, where
the graves are well tended and the inscriptions have been reprinted on the
headstones
On
Friday, Wes headed off to Gisborne to play golf with Tom Tyrrell, Danny Millman
& Bobby Preston. I did the shopping early and walked Bilbo around the
Gardens, as it was too hot to go on the Bushwalk at Sailors Falls.
Afterwards
I turned 2kg of our tomatoes into pasta sauce, using parsley, dill, oregano
& basil from our garden.
Wes
arrived home late afternoon – he had really enjoyed his time with old friends
and had managed to play a few good shots, even if Danny left everyone else for
dead and claimed the trophy.
Danny & Bobby
at Gisborne.....Kevin Hoolihan with his grandson, Archie (7) &
grand-daughter, Amelia (2) at Torksey Lock, Lincolnshire
Yesterday
was a little busier than we expected – Wes walked Bilbo early, put my henna on
for me and then gave Bilbo a bath. Around 9am, I set off for the Farmers’
Market and Wes drove to Tylden looking for manure for our big pots out the
front, which have been empty since the wasps’ nest was cleared. At the Market,
I chatted with Ken Rae, who had brought a selection of Perfume Delight roses for
me to choose from, and then with Michael Ivanchenko & Gillie Gough, who
wandered onto the Daylesford Primary School oval as we were heading home.
Wes
arrived back to say that he had bumped into Dave & Angela Carey, who were
parking the car and coming in for coffee. Wes & Dave were at St Bernard’s
College together and Dave spent his working life as a publican, so he knows
everyone & everything, but we do have a love of Collingwood in common.
Dave in the under 14s
cricket side at St Bernard’s in 1960
Victor
& Anna Szwed dropped in a big zucchini for Bilbo, and Rob from next door
called to me to say we had ducks in the bottom of our garden, but by the time I
put Bilbo inside and found my phone to take a photo they had flown away.
I
turned on the TV to see if the Davis Cup doubles tie was being televised and
discovered that Lleyton Hewitt had come out of retirement to play with John
Peers against the might of the US Bryan brothers. It was wonderful tennis –
typical of any game featuring Lleyton – he is never beaten until the final
point. We have to win both reverse singles today to advance any further and
everyone is wondering if Lleyton will play again instead of Sam Groth, who had
a tantrum or two during his singles loss on Friday.
In
the afternoon, we settled down to watch Collingwood & North Melbourne play
in 40° heat in Wagga. There was a good crowd and atmosphere and the game was
close, with the Pies holding on to win by 8 pts.
Bilbo
& Wes were up early this morning for a walk around Lake Daylesford in the
dark. Bilbo is now sitting at my feet waiting for me to finish writing this
& put him into the car for whatever adventures this Sunday morning holds.
After we pump water at Leitches Creek and buy fruit, vegetables, bones & a
Perfume Delight rose at the Sunday Market, we will be having breakfast with
Barbara, Margot & Janine. Wes is hoping to get into the garden before it
gets too hot, as another 33° day is forecast.
Karen outside the Law
Library at Melbourne Uni last month
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