Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 26th August 2018

 

Just as I sent last Sunday’s Dispatch, we were lucky enough to have some snow flurries here. It didn’t last long but was beautiful to watch. Needless to say, it was freezing outside & the Sunday Market traders were doing it tough!

There were only three of us for breakfast, so we went to Boathouse Daylesford on Lake Daylesford & enjoyed lovely meals & great service sitting in the window watching the weak early sunshine make its way onto the water. That afternoon Wes & I had been invited to afternoon tea with Rob & Dene, to say goodbye as they headed to the UK & France this week.

I seem to have had a very busy week with lots of appointments – gym, podiatrist, facial, haircut etc. Wes has been able to get into the garden & everywhere is looking better for his work. Our first bulbs have just bloomed – tête-à-têtes, which are such happy yellow flowers….

…just like our latest rose, called My Yellow, which has a beautiful perfume & delicate petals

On Wednesday, I went to visit Leanne in Strathmore & we had a very enjoyable time sorting out emails & photos on her computer.

We had offered to pick up Judi & Michael on their return home from the Sunshine Coast. They were due to land at 6pm on Thursday. We set off early & of course, experienced no hold-ups at all & I was at their gate lounge waiting by 5.30pm. This was fortuitous, as while I was walking around the Virgin area, seeing how different it was from Qantas, who should I spy but the entire Collingwood team heading towards me & their flight to Perth for yesterday’s game against Fremantle. Everybody was very excited to see them, but the overwhelming impression was that they were all shorter & slighter than we expected, apart from Taylor Adams & Brodie Grundy, who are both quite solid. My favourite player, Tom Langdon, is quite small & slight, which makes his efforts at full-back even more remarkable.

Judi & Michael seemed thrilled to be met at the gate & it was useful to have an extra pair of hands when we collected their luggage. Wes had been watching planes land & listening to the incredible events in the Liberal Party while waiting & we were all pleased that we had brought our station wagon, which had plenty of room for our passengers & their luggage. We had an easy trip home in the dark & left Judi & Michael to settle back into home. We were delighted to hear that the service for Mavis had gone as well as it could with around 50 in attendance.

My brother, Peter & his wife, Anka, flew to New York on Wednesday. Here they are catching up with our cousin, Leigh, outside the Museum of Modern Art. Leigh & her husband, Simon, are in New York giving Simon’s daughter, Charlotte, an 18^th birthday to remember.

Yesterday, Wes attended the wedding of Siobhan Ward, daughter of Josephine in Melbourne. Wes was a big support to Jo when Siobhan was young, and we have followed her life & career with interest.

She married Simon at the Melbourne Museum at 2.30pm, followed by a reception at Quat Quatta in Ripponlea at 6pm. I would love to have been there but couldn’t do both. Fortunately, Wes was able to get an Airbnb room in Elsternwick, about 1km from the reception. His host, Eva, offered to give him breakfast this morning, which I am sure he will enjoy before he heads back home (about 2 hours’ drive). It was a perfect late Winter day in Melbourne with the sun shining & not a breath of wind.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 19th August 2018

We have been overwhelmed by all the expressions of sympathy & love from friends, family & Facebook friends. Thank you to everyone who has found time to put down some comforting words. We have especially enjoyed the funny memories that a few of you have shared with us & somehow it helps to know that Bilbo was loved by so many people.

When I arrived at the Sunday Market, both Yvonne & Ken were there to greet me with hugs & tears. Yvonne had let the other stall-holders know & there were lots of expressions of sympathy, as Bilbo was a well-known character early each Sunday. When I told Ken Rae from Spring Park Nursery that I wanted a rose for Bilbo’s grave, he immediately found a beautiful red Best Friend, from the RSPCA, which Wes has planted.

At breakfast, Janine arrived with a lovely bunch of liliums & Gillie made a very rare appearance, so she could give us hugs & let us talk about Bilbo. The downside was that after giving us such a good experience the previous week, the Hotel Frangos café was underwhelming this time. Our table wasn’t ready, the teas didn’t arrive until I went up to the three waitresses who were chatting around the coffee machine, the meals were served without cutlery & the noise level was most unpleasant once a large family with a rowdy toddler arrived.

We had decided to walk around Lake Daylesford after breakfast & on our way we met a couple with a pair of young Labs in training to become Guide Dogs. It was so good to pat the puppies & admire their energy. We plan to have some time to grieve Bilbo, do some jobs around the house & garden that are better done without puppies, have a break & then introduce Lewis & Morse to Daylesford sometime in January. They will struggle to be as cute as the two in the photo above, but I am sure they will find their way into our hearts very quickly.

 

At gym on Monday, there were lots more hugs from friends who had read the news. When I arrived home, Wes was working in the front garden & wondering why he bothered to lock the side gate as he went up & down the path with his wheelbarrow. Nick Massaro came to give me a massage & we both agreed it was rather quiet & uneventful without Bilbo. Nick always brought him a treat & then spent most of the massage time trying not to step on his feet, as he often went to sleep under the table.

It was lovely to have lunch at Boathouse Daylesford with Michael Ivanchenko, where we were spoilt by Susanne & Claire, as usual. Michael headed off to Caloundra on Tuesday to be with Judi as her mother, Mavis, died peacefully that morning.

There was a scheduled power cut for 4 hours on Tuesday, so like lots of locals, we headed to Ballarat to the Regent Cinema & chose to see the film, The Wife, starring Glenn Close. This is probably the best film we have seen this year. The story is compelling, the acting & direction superb & it is hard to fault it in any way.

We arrived home to find this beautiful arrangement of flowers from my sister, Leanne. However, when we went downstairs to check our computers, the modem was misbehaving badly & it took the rest of the afternoon to sort it out & get us back on track.

We had hoped to catch up with friends on Thursday, but that didn’t work out, so we drove to Healesville instead, where we had lunch at a tiny Italian café & deli called Essenza. Wes drove us through countryside to get there & we stopped at Lancefield for morning tea at MAD Cafė, that we remembered from a previous trip. On the way home we used the ring road, but there had been a big accident, so we were held up for quite a while.

Yummy pizzas served on cheese boards

I had booked the Mazda 2 in for new tyres on Friday morning, and thought I would fill in the time by having a pot of tea at The Food Gallery, while Wes had his first go at washing our windows from the outside, using a handy washing tool with telescopic handle, which we borrowed from our neighbour, Rob. Jamie at Daylesford Tyre Service forgot about my little car & got caught up rescuing someone with a flat tyre instead. When I rang him to see what was happening, he was most apologetic!

Deep red liliums from Janine cheering our front entrance

Yesterday Wes drove me to Woodend Station early & I caught the train to the MCG, where I met up with Danny Millman for a lovely day at the footy. I had been able to get a Balcony Pass for him, so we found our seats & walked out of the ground up to Square & Compass Café for a most enjoyable brunch. Matt, one of the owners, told me they had served breakfast to 10 of the Port Adelaide players earlier that morning.

Back at the MCG, we found Gayle Gibson & made arrangements to meet for a drink at half-time. Then David Lazzaro arrived & we had a drink in the Percy Beames bar, where we were joined by his best friend, Matt, over from Tassie for the match & his friend, Jonathan. It was a most entertaining interlude as we all reminisced about our favourite & worst memories. I even managed to forget about Bilbo for a short time.

The match started slowly, but by half-time we were looking the goods in a tight contest. We met up with Gayle back in the bar & watched Winx win her 26^th race in a row in her usual style – so far back in the field that you think she can’t possibly win & suddenly accelerates & leaves her rivals well behind at the finishing post. What a champion mare!

Winx winning the Winx Stakes at Royal Randwick yesterday & breaking Black Caviar’s record of 25 wins in a row. Black Caviar was never beaten in her career, which was amazing. Winx won 4 of her first 10 starts & is the world’s top-ranked filly or mare & Australia’s leading money-earner in history

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 12th August 2018

We started our week with a lovely breakfast at the new café at Hotel Frangos. Barbara had booked a table & they were expecting us when they opened just before 9am. We were seated in the sunshine, the noise level was manageable, the staff were friendly & efficient, & we all enjoyed our different breakfasts. Even David, who always has raisin toast – this was very thickly cut & came with cinnamon butter & jam. Yum! We’re off there again this morning. It is such a bonus being able to book a table & Barbara can get in there easily, unlike most of the cafés on the other side of Vincent Street.

Entry to the café & David & Warren waiting patiently outside. David was worried about the change but enjoyed it very much!

We listened to David’s stories about his huge road trip to Western Australia & thought he looked very relaxed despite the thousands of kms he had travelled in his new big Mazda.

Afterwards, I went for a long walk in the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. I needed to get over my crossness from the footy the night before & I was lucky enough to meet the one person I wanted to see on my travels. We had been shocked to hear on the grapevine that my local GP, Greg Stewart, had suffered a heart attack. It was reassuring to speak with his colleague, Jon Barrell, & hear that although he had endured some setbacks, Greg was recovering well in Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne.

We had been invited to morning tea with Nick & Robyn Massaro, long-time friends, who bought Brian Nash’s painting of their place last November. Warren took Brian to Porcupine Ridge on one of their excursions in 2017 & Brian loved the property & thought it was perfect for him to paint. They asked us, plus Brian & Roberta, so we could see the painting in situ. Robyn is a wonderful cook & had made gluten-free lamingtons & a fig cake, which were all beautiful. We did enjoy sitting around their dining room table chatting, as well as meeting their dog, Jack, who gets very excited when visitors arrive & then needs to sleep!

Nick, Robyn, Brian & Roberta in front of the painting. Wes put this up on FB & it attracted lots of comments

We were all delighted to welcome back our lovely cleaner, Sandra Frost, who has been in Thailand & Fiji, enjoying a well-deserved holiday. She is still on Fiji time, so we were very understanding & glad that she was prepared to come back & get us all sparkling again.

Wes & Barbara were involved in the resurgence of Hepburn Voices that afternoon with an interview of well-known local historian, Les Pitt. Wes has handed the tapes over to the Daylesford Museum & there is plenty of interest to keep them going. I suspect the problem lies in a lack of skilled interviewers & video-recorders of the human kind.

I have been knitting squares for a while, having a break from beanies & gloves & scarves. We were able to deliver 49 squares to Jodie from Keeping Daylesford Warm to send on to the person who has volunteered to crochet them all together into a rug. The squares are mostly pink, blue & white, with plenty of multi-coloured & bright shades. I’ll be pleased to get back to the beanies for a while as squares aren’t as exciting to knit.

Wes & I visited Leanne on Thursday, where we were both able to help her with a few things that are just too hard for someone living on their own. On Friday, Wes finally got into the garden again & I had a relaxing breakfast with Gillie at a new café, Pancho, with excellent staff & wonderful food. We were delighted to find it just about filled with local friends, including Glenda Rozen, our first Daylesford friend, and the person who sold us our home here 20 years ago in August 1998.

That afternoon, suddenly, Bilbo had a seizure. We had an hour with him before taking him to the vet, where we decided that we owed him a peaceful death, rather than subject him to the probability of further seizures. He was confused, frightened, couldn’t stand up & couldn’t see. Andrew, the vet, told us that he might recover, but that he would probably have more seizures. We weren’t prepared to risk that & let him die quietly with us at his side. Yesterday, Wes buried him in the dog graveyard, next to his brother, Frodo, and their predecessor, Casper.

We have been overwhelmed by the messages of support & love that have found their way to us. Wes asked me to put something up on Facebook & I included the above photo, which produced so many beautiful comments. We also appreciate the visits, phone calls, texts & emails that helped fill our day yesterday.

The house felt so empty that we decided to go to Melbourne in the afternoon. Wes dropped me at the Docklands where I met up with dear friend, David Lazzaro, & his son, Daniel, to see Collingwood beat Brisbane in a scrappy game that keeps our final four hopes alive. Wes went to see a film, Beirut, that helped distract him for a couple of hours. We encountered snow flurries as we were driving home last night, which was rather wonderful!

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 5th August 2018

Last Sunday turned into a very chilly day with sleet during the afternoon, so we opted to spend our time in front of the fire, watching the various footy games that were on. The Doggies played Port Adelaide in Ballarat, where the conditions were icy to say the least. No wonder their coach has requested that they play their games there earlier in the year from now on!

On Monday, I was delighted to be able to get back to gym & was warmly welcomed by everyone, especially the Richmond supporters after their fine win over the Pies. I was careful not to do too much & came home for a rest & read of the Age afterwards, before washing both cars as they were due for trips to Melbourne during the week. Wes got out into the garden & was thrilled to be able to do some cleaning up. It is still very wet underfoot, great for weeding, but not much else.

This happens at our house at 5.25pm each night – so funny!

On Tuesday we drove to Melbourne, via the airport, where we dropped Judi off as she was catching a plane to Queensland to visit her mother, Mavis, who had broken her hip in a fall. I spent the morning with Leanne in Strathmore, while Wes took his nephew, Leon Anderson, to breakfast at The Boot Factory, which used to be where the prisoners worked in Pentridge Prison. Wes was very impressed – easy to park, good range of meals & excellent coffee.

The next morning, while I went to gym, Wes headed off to Bulleen for Terry Lane’s funeral, which was attended by over 500 people, many from the insurance industry, where he was so well-known & liked. It was a nightmare to get there & Wes was pleased he had allowed over 2 hours. I took Bilbo for a late morning walk in the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, where we met a few couples enjoying a stroll in the sunshine.

Bilbo in the fernery at the gardens.

On his way home, Wes stopped in High Street, Northcote, wandered into a barber shop & discovered the young owner had also gone to St Bernard’s College. I think they enjoyed sharing stories about their time in Essendon.

We decided to have a quiet day at home on Thursday, which was a very wise decision, as we were both tired after travelling, especially Wes who had done all the driving.

On Friday, it was too wet to walk early. I had made arrangements to catch up with Gail White that morning, and we enjoyed a very happy 90 minutes or so in The Food Gallery, as she updated me on the latest cruise she & her husband, Terry, had taken with Terry’s twin, Lyn & other friends.

Beautiful purple & white hellebores in our front garden – they are just loving the wet weather!

Yesterday we had breakfast at Boathouse Daylesford, one of our favourite spots to eat here. Susanne & Claire were pleased to see us & we enjoyed our meals & hot drinks very much indeed, looking out at the rain falling gently on Lake Daylesford.

One of my early morning routines, feeding the birds – magpies, parrots & small brown birds (not sure what they are), has become even more exciting since I bought some chopped up meat to put out. The magpies are delighted & getting bolder in their demands. As I look out, there are about 50 birds eating seeds or searching for worms in our back lawn. Bilbo is very restless – he knows something is happening, not sure what!

We spent the rest of yesterday listening to the Coodabeen Champions on the radio, followed by various games of footy. It has been an amazingly close round so far – Richmond beat Geelong by 4 pts; Hawthorn held off the fast-finishing Dons by 4 pts; North won over Brisbane by 3 pts; Adelaide pipped Port by 3 pts in a controversial finish & Sydney were too good for Collingwood by snapping a late goal & winning by 2 pts. The only other game was a puzzle with the Doggies held goalless in the first quarter, only to pile on 15 goals to 5 in the next 3 quarters & beat St Kilda by 6 goals.

I was very disappointed with the Pies play against the Swans – I know we have had injuries, but so has every other team. We were flat-footed, especially in the 3^rd quarter, where we allowed the Swans to kick 5 goals to nil. We’ll find ourselves out of Finals contention unless we can win our remaining three games against Brisbane, Port & Fremantle.

This morning, after the Sunday Market, we are off to try a new café for breakfast. It is part of the Hotel Frangos & has an interesting menu for us to try. We do enjoy Larder, but it is very noisy & we are hopeful this place might enable us to hear each other more easily.

A fun photo from 1990 – Karen, Wes, Karen AKA Lovely & Joyce at that year’s National Insurance Brokers’ Ball – we always enjoyed these occasions.

Wes is hoping to get out into the garden after breakfast as we are not expecting rain again until tonight. In the meantime, he is busy documenting all the convicts he can find in his family tree & there are plenty of them!