Dear
Friends, we were joined by David & Sandy last Sunday for breakfast, as they
were spending the weekend at Porcupine Ridge. It was lovely to see them both
and they invited us all to come and visit later in the day. Wes and I decided
to take them up on their offer – Barbara was keen to go, but we all thought it
would be better if we checked to see if the house was wheelchair accessible
first.
After
breakfast we took Bilbo home – he had enjoyed Bam Bam’s company at The Food
Gallery and was ready for a sleep, and we headed off to the Dharma School
Autumn Fair. We met Judi leaving as we were arriving and she pointed us in the
direction of the yummy cakes. We bought slices of both carrot & coconut
cakes and took them with us when we visited David & Sandy at ‘Doolin’.
Sandy, David, Bam Bam
& Karen with deer behind us and sheep in front of us and gums as far as the
eye can see.
We
enjoyed seeing them both so very happy and hope that their Box Hill home sells
quickly and they can spend more time here very soon.
We
came home to discover that Rob & Dene had been baking hot cross buns and we
scored a pair of buns and some fig & ginger jam to go with them. Wes
invited them in for drinks at 5pm and it was nice enough to sit out on our
verandah with a Best’s Sparkling Shiraz, a Wensleydale cheese & plenty to
chat about.
On
Monday, Wes and Bilbo walked early, while I went to gym and had a very good
session, the best since my operation. I am back to how I was before I went to
hospital and in some cases, better, which is very reassuring indeed. Afterwards
Nick Massaro arrived to give me a massage and we enjoyed a catch-up chat during
the hour. He brought us a jar of mulberry jam, so we were spoilt for choice on
Good Friday.
It
was a perfect day for painting, so I started on the dog decking, which Wes had
scrubbed for me. I have never used a roller & tray before and it was quite
exciting seeing the transformation appearing so quickly. There are lots of
fiddly bits that require the brush, but I got the first coat down, which is
always the hardest.
After
a particularly yummy fish pie for lunch, I spent a quiet afternoon. I had hoped
to do some more painting, but that was enough exercise for the day. Wes spent
the afternoon on the computer writing what I think is his best short story so
far, after a morning spent gardening in the front.
Lovely recent photo of
Kathy & Ged’s grandchildren – Jessica holding Olivia with Maya by her side
and Jack & Daniel in front.
We
are enjoying the cool nights & early mornings that Autumn brings – during
the day, we are experiencing temperatures in their early 20s, which is plenty
warm enough for me!
The
film on Tuesday morning was ‘Trumbo’, which I quite enjoyed. It was a bit too
‘American’ and a bit too long, but well-acted and put together and really
brought home to me the damage that was done to the Film Industry in Hollywood
by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the period from 1945-1975.
Wes wasn’t as impressed as I was, as I discovered when we debriefed over
croissants at The Food Gallery afterwards. In the afternoon, I had a facial etc
with Alanna at EKO, while Wes honed his short story: 1958 – “A Start – From
Brunswick to Sherwood Forest”.
We
all slept in on Wednesday morning, even Bilbo wasn’t interested in getting up
until 6am, and I went off to gym while Sandra cleaned our house and Wes spent
time with Barbara. As I was leaving the gym, our paper person, Steve, pulled up
alongside the car and gave me the local papers for our street, which I happily
delivered. At Mah Jong we were given lovely Cadbury Easter eggs by the smiling
staff at ‘Muffins & More’ and enjoyed a fun morning, where Valerie and I
think Dot must have cheated, as she won all the games that were won! When I got
home, I took Bilbo for a walk around the Botanic Gardens – as usual, we were
the only ones walking that we saw, and he was able to cool down with a dip in
the pond.
Glorious sunrise by
the Lake with Barry the fisherman, taken by Gillie Gough
On
Thursday morning, Bilbo and I had a long overdue catch up walk & cuppa with
Annie Smith & her Golden Retriever, Rosie, who is 12 years old, which makes
her a little older than Bilbo.
We
walked around Lake Daylesford together and then sat on the decking at The
Bookbarn, enjoying the lovely views from that spot. Wes had mowed the lawns and
gardened while we were out.
In
the afternoon I decided to take out half the tomato plants as they were
starting to be affected by the cold mornings – I picked as many of the unripe
tomatoes as I could in the hope that they would ripen in a basket in the
lounge, which gets plenty of sun. Judi & Michael dropped in during the late
afternoon, as they had collected some dry-cleaning for me while they were in
Ballarat. Their car was behaving perfectly and they were very hopeful that the
right leak has finally been located and fixed.
We
love Good Friday – traditionally we go for a long walk in the morning before
coming home to Hot Cross Buns with berry jam. We went to Trentham, which was
misty and damp and did the Wombat Trail, which incorporates the old racing
track. It is about 7km in total and we didn’t meet another soul while we were
walking. On our return, after buns with mulberry jam, I tackled the dog decking
and did all the brush painting that the roller can’t get to. The sun was
shining, there was no breeze and it was perfect weather for painting.
Leon
arrived around 2.30pm with gifts galore – Easter Eggs, Hot Cross buns, an apple
pie, some old copies of the Sporting Globe, The Age & The Herald, the
latter two dated 23rd November 1963, where the only story was the
assassination of John Kennedy. After we chatted for a while, Wes took Leon for
a drive around Barkstead, Victoria Park and the Daylesford cemetery. They
picked me up at 5pm and we had a couple of drinks at the Farmers Arms hotel, which
was very busy at that time.
When
we got home, Wes cooked a smoked salmon pasta, and showed Leon how he does it.
We were thrilled that Leon was OK about chillies, the meal was lovely and we
finished it off with apple pie with berries & cream, while watching a
Foxtel programme on Geelong’s Daniel Menzel and his recovery from 4 knee
reconstructions, which culminated in his playing footy again towards the end of
last year.
Yesterday
we were all very slow to get going and happy to have a quiet morning in
preparation for the drive to Melbourne and Pat Millman’s wedding. We laughed
our way through the Coodabeen Champions, especially the brilliant song entitled
“Sing another Pies fans are thong-wearing nongs songs” to the tune of “Another
Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”.
We
had a lovely time at The Spotted Mallard, where Patto & Kate had an
excellent marriage celebrant, who was on their wavelength and kept the
formalities to the absolute minimum. We were thrilled to spend time with Danny,
Lovely, Malcolm, Lauren & Travis, Greta & Harry, Celia & Cory &
to meet their baby, Olive. Danny gave his usual excellent, amusing and
entertaining speech and Patto did himself proud with a good speech that picked
up on things Danny had said, as well as covering all bases with his thanks. He
and Kate are very happy together and we were grateful to have been invited to
share in that happiness.
The
big downside of the night was the inexplicable loss by the Pies to the Swans at
the SCG, where Jane Knox assured me they were all having a brilliant night,
while we checked the score constantly in utter disbelief at Collingwood’s
apparent inability to kick goals. Wes is starting to feel that a 9 point loss
to Richmond wasn’t such a disaster after all!
A few photos from the very happy
night
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