Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 27th October 2019

We did enjoy breakfast last Sunday – there were only 6 of us & we were able to involve the whole table in our chats, rather than breaking into groups of two or three. We had all been shocked by the ABC exposė of what happens to many racehorses when they reach the end of their careers (or don’t have one at all). This cruelty isn’t restricted to horses, but the behaviour at abbatoirs did seem particularly barbaric.

Late morning we headed to Lyonville, about 12 minutes away from Daylesford by car for their Bake-Off Competition. Although we arrived an hour after goods had to be in situ, the judging was still going on & the little Lyonville hall was packed with anxious entrants wondering if their cakes or savouries would be judged highly. As we were leaving, we spotted Gail & Terry White, who were about to enter, and had a lovely catch up chat with them.

  

Lyonville Hall above & cakes & savouries 

Wes got cracking in the garden on Monday because it was so beautiful. When I arrived back from gym he already had two wheelbarrow loads of weeds that he proceeded to mulch into the back garden by mowing over them.

Lovely pink lilac from the front garden

It was time for me to plant our zucchini seedlings into one of the vegetable patches in the front. I grew these from seeds & am thrilled with the four plants that took & are healthy & happy.

That afternoon, I met up with Jan Pengilley at Wine & the Country to chat about her garage sale the previous weekend & thank her for the beautiful bamboo & ivory Mah Jong set she has given me. We had a wonderful time & were joined after an hour by Wes, who had a couple of glasses of local rosė instead of the bubbles we were enjoying.

Beautiful old Mah Jong set from Jan & all the tiles are there. Looking forward to playing a game or two with this very soon.

Wes had a very busy Tuesday – he took Barbara for a drive to Franklinford in the morning & had an interview with a local in the afternoon with a view to recording her life story as part of his Oral History project. I went for a mid-morning walk and spent most of my time looking after Lewis & Morse, who really miss Wes when he is out of sight.

I had hoped to play Mah Jong with Dot on Wednesday, but she had an unexpected visit from one of her daughters & grand-daughter, so missed out on the opportunity to use the special set. I went to Muffins & More anyway & had a big pot of Jasmine tea, while I did The Age crosswords.

Wes visited Leanne on Thursday as she needed help getting her cat, Smokey, to the vet for a check up. It was a very hot day, so Lewis & Morse & I stayed inside reading & sleeping – you can guess which of us did what!

We had hoped to meet up at 9am on Friday morning out The Food Gallery, but it was raining when I came out of early gym and Wes & the boys were there to pick me up, which was very thoughtful. Later we had lunch with Annie & her daughter, Fiona, at The Food Gallery, where 3 of us tucked into their very yummy seafood chowder, which is always on the menu.

It was lovely to wake to a cool morning yesterday. We were able to walk the boys before the rain came down & even drove to Leitches Creek to pump mineral water as I had drunk it all. The boys had their baths when we got back & enjoyed bones as their reward for behaving well. Wes & I felt like a quiet day watching the racing at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate Day. It was an exciting programme, but we didn’t manage to recoup our outlay. Plenty of winners & places, but only a couple of quinellas. We reminisced, as we usually do, about the many wonderful days we spent at Moonee Valley, both working there & later as members.

Most memorable Cox Plate – Jan McClean, Wes, Danny Millman & me

27^th October 1990

Daylesford Sunday Dispatch - Sunday, 20th October 2019

What a lovely start to the week with a visit from John & Jan Smith joining us for breakfast at The Food Gallery. Pasquale & Toni were thrilled to see them as well & we overstayed our usual departure time catching up with their news, talking about health, dogs, golf & trips. Aileen was there as well, which is always a plus.

Jan Pengilley had given us some of her husband’s books, so I spent the rest of the morning adding them to our Inventory & labelling them as gifts from her & Warren (AKA Secundus).

In the afternoon we took Lewis & Morse to Chaplin’s in Trentham for some socialising. It wasn’t a huge success – Mel wasn’t there & her staff were very keen to finish on the dot of 3pm. We sat in the wrong place & had our knuckles rapped, Wes’s mocha was a cappuccino & I could have stood a teaspoon up in my “very weak” tea. However, it is a lovely drive to Trentham, especially when you are not passing through on your way to Melbourne & we enjoyed the countryside.

Lewis & Morse with Wes on the veranda of Chaplin’s

I’ve been trying to walk around town each morning & am enjoying catching up with friends as I do. I try to have a little project for each walk – a gift to buy, serviettes from the $2 shop, buying or posting cards, and just enjoying the sunshine. Wes usually spends each morning in our garden & we are very lucky that he does, especially now as the lavender is looking splendid, our rhododendron is about to flower, the maples are coming into leaf & the roses are thick with foliage promising a bumper crop of flowers very soon. As well all the herbs are thriving since Lewis & Morse have been thwarted from getting to them & my zucchini seedlings are almost ready to plant.

Pear tree blossom and scarlet & purple pansies add to the colour in our garden

It’s been a big month for weddings - post Grand Final & beautiful Spring weather make for perfect timing.

Emily & Daniel Cook - Emily is the daughter of Becky & Adam Turner & the grand-daughter of Libby Edgoose & Tom Tyrrell.

Terry, Ben, Katrina & Victor Borg – we first met Terry & Victor in 1982, before Ben was born!

Rhonda & I caught up for lunch – something we both enjoy & don’t get to do enough. We went to Larder & I had their yummy Nourish Salad Bowl, which comprised beetroot, kale, almond & paprika hummus & sesame seeds among other ingredients.

Judi & I played Mah Jong again. Dot was seeing a specialist and didn’t get back from Kyneton in time to join us.

A highlight for me was seeing Downton Abbey at the Regent Cinema, Ballarat. I drove there early in heavy rain & discovered to my delight that the 9.45am session was in the Gold Class Cinema & that I was the only one there. I collected a large Jasmine tea from the café & proceeded to enjoy every minute of this sumptuous film. So many good actors – well-written & all the loose ends tied up. Like lots of us I am very sorry to say goodbye to this series.

We took Lewis & Morse to sit outside The Food Gallery on Friday morning & think we will make this a weekly event. I went to early gym & walked to the café to be met by Wes & the boys at 9am. We had hot drinks & raisin toast & the boys settled down more quickly than the last time we tried this.

Yesterday it was pouring rain as we started off for our walk, so we stayed in the car, drove to Hepburn Springs in case it was dry there (it was raining) & came back home to give them early breakfast. Wes decided against bathing them as it would be pointless. They would only get even dirtier playing in the mud. Instead, he headed off to the bakery & bought croissants for us, Rob & Dene & Barbara.

Two lovely tulips we picked before Morse got them

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 13th October 2019

We’ve enjoyed another social week – must be something to do with improved weather, although Tuesday’s wind was very cold indeed & everyone I saw was back into Winter coats & scarves, including me. There were 9 of us on at breakfast on Sunday morning, which made for some good conversations. We are being joined by John & Jan Smith today, which will be lovely as it is ages since we have seen them. Pasquale & Toni at The Food Gallery will be thrilled as well.

My blast from the past photo last week generated quite a few comments, especially as I had omitted to say where we were. That was because I didn’t know, but after some work by others & a look for more photos on that date, we discovered it was taken at Curly Joe’s, which was our home away from home in Sydney Road, Brunswick, for many years.

Here is a photo from Hoong Lau in 1998. From left – Malcolm Stevenson, Wes, Tom Tyrrell, Karen, Robyn Robinson (standing) Fraser Gibson, Karen Stevenson, Ian Robinson & Gayle Gibson

I had brunch with Jane Barrett at Harvest Café, which was a vast improvement on the last time I had been there, probably 2 years ago. We enjoyed yummy meals and my tea was Jasmine pearls, which is very special. Jane & her husband, John, are not long home from a very successful trip based around catching up with some of his classmates from 40 years ago in Manchester. He spent a day at the Test there as well, and they had time in Liverpool & Wales, before they headed to Paris & Normandy, returning home via Singapore. Jane puts up lovely photos on FB & it was good to hear her talk about the story behind them all.

I hope you enjoy Sally as much as I do – poor Charlie Brown, he doesn’t have a clue how to reply!

We had a small drama on Wednesday morning when we arrived back home from our early walk only to discover Lewis was no longer wearing his black collar. Wes went straight back to the carpark at Lake Daylesford but there was no sign of it. I was just about to ring Judi & ask her to keep an eye out when she & her friends walked around the Lake, but before I did, I went outside to look & found it at the bottom of the stairs. Lewis had obviously lost it sometime during the night & neither of us had noticed when we put the lead on to go walking! We were very relieved as replacing tags can be an expensive & inconvenient business.

Beautiful daphne from our own small bush courtesy of Nick Massaro

Dot couldn’t join Judi & me for Mah Jong this week. However, Judi did really well & she now has 8 different games at her fingertips. She even changed hands mid-stream & won, which I am sure gave her heaps of confidence. We are so lucky to be able to sit & play at Muffins & More on a Wednesday morning for the price of a pot of tea & a muffin.

I also spent some time with my sister, Leanne, in Strathmore, while Wes looked after Lewis & Morse, which is always a challenge on your own. They keep looking for whoever is missing. I came home with a pumpkin quiche from Gusto, a yummy bakery in Napier Street, Strathmore. By the time Wes was serving it for dinner, I was in bed, exhausted. This hasn’t happened for some time, I am pleased to say, and after a good night’s sleep, I was back on top of things.

Gail White & I caught up for a late breakfast at The Food Gallery as well. We first met many moons ago when her husband, Terry, was still in Sydney, at Aperitifs in Porcupine Ridge. I invited her to join the Breakfast Group, which was meeting at the Black Cauldron at that time. She came & enjoyed it enough to continue getting up early & joining us all.

Beautiful painting of Spring Flowers in his backyard by Brian Nash

Wes, Brian Nash, Jeff Bain, Danny Moynihan & Jan Pengilley had fun at a Boys’ Afternoon at David Hall’s place, where they saw the 1949 version of The Third Man, starring Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles & Trevor Howard. Jan was an honorary bloke for the afternoon (representing her dear husband, Warren AKA Secundus, who died last December), and had well & truly gone home when I arrived to pick up Wes & Brian, who were very chirpy after nearly 5 hours together.

  

We had another not entirely successful day of punting on the Caulfield Guineas yesterday. We were looking for quinellas & kept getting first & third or second & nothing. However, we picked up a win with the last race, which means we were only down $10 for the day & have funds for the Caulfield Cup!

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 6th October 2019

This morning it was quite a shock to wake to dark again when we rose at 5.50am. It won’t be long before the days get longer & we will be complaining of too much daylight. Our week started with a lovely breakfast at The Food Gallery, where David & Sandy were last-minute acceptances joining us, Barbara & Janine. Nearly everyone chose something different to eat & we felt obliged to leave before 10am as there were queues out the door. Good for business, not so good for locals enjoying a lazy meal together.

Wes spent the afternoon at Franklinford with Peter O’Mara, while I had a quiet one reading the weekend papers, doing the crosswords & watching the Australian women win a T20 against Sri Lanka in fine style at the beautiful North Sydney oval.

We’ve had the sort of weather this week that makes you get out into the garden. I have finally planted some seedlings in the planter boxes – basil, two kinds of parsley & basil mint, as well as zucchini seeds in the hope I can produce some baby plants. We have herbs in the pots above the boxes – lemon savoury, two kinds of chives, marjoram, sage, lemon thyme, marjoram & French tarragon.

Wes has been repairing damage to beds caused by excited Labradors playing chasey, as well as planting pennyroyal & seaside daisies. All the rosebushes are in full leaf & we still have the occasional daffodil & hyacinth – not sure where the tulips went this year or perhaps, they are yet to appear. The lavender is out, the rosemary is flourishing, camellias are at their prettiest & one of our lemon trees is finally budding!

We had planned to walk the Wombat Trail on Tuesday morning as the weather seemed perfect. Lewis & Morse were very happy to have breakfast at 6am & stood around watching our every move, waiting to see what would happen next. We drove to Trentham & started the walk at 7.30am, finishing 90 minutes & 8.5km later. After giving the boys an apple and a big drink of water, we headed for Chaplin’s, where we sat on the veranda & enjoyed mushrooms on toast with feta to accompany our hot drinks.

Top - Karen with Lewis & Morse in the old Trentham racecourse & below - Lewis & Morse at Chaplin's

We were delighted to see our old friend, Bob White, turn up while we were sitting there and met three of his friends as well. Chaplin’s was busy as usual with Melanie greeting everyone by name, smiling as she remembers what you like to drink, which makes you feel so very welcome.

On Wednesday morning, we were pleased to see our friend, Barry the fisherman, back in position after 5 weeks in Thailand, where he had to solve problems on two projects. He was looking well but feeling the cold. We had hoped Lewis & Morse would be weary after their long walk the day before, but youth is on their side & they were frisky & excited despite the early frost.

Judi & I played Mah Jong & she now has 6 different hands at her disposal, which is fantastic. She is learning very quickly & it won’t be long before it suddenly all makes sense. Dot was unable to come & we did miss her. Wes helped Barbara with a big shop at Coles Supermarket, which was no doubt a social time for them both.

Nick Massaro had mentioned while he was giving me a massage that he was looking for a fridge to store his honeycomb as he now has 4 beehives & his little drinks fridge wasn’t adequate. Wes & I were delighted to be able to help with our spare fridge, which is a good Fisher & Paykel, that we found handy when we were hosting Christmas mornings & Aperitifs. Now that we don’t do those things, the fridge has only been in use to hold tulip bulbs. Nick & Warren were able to get the fridge onto Nick’s trailer on Friday morning while I occupied Lewis & Morse by involving them in a Skype phone call with Leanne.

Wes with his very attentive sous-chefs learning how to make fish pie!

Wes had spent Thursday with Leanne & helped her with some jobs she can’t manage. Meanwhile I visited my doctor, Greg Stewart, where I discovered that I have strained a ligament in my foot & am taking anti-inflammatories in the hope that helps with the discomfort. Afterwards I had a lovely lunch with Di Lyttleton. Whenever we see each other, we always have so much to talk about & had promised we would meet for lunch & we finally did. We chose Larder and it was a good choice, as the café has an excellent front-of-house manager, who makes sure everyone is happy. We both had the Nourish Bowl to eat – a beautiful quinoa-based salad that was even yummier than I remembered.

After gym on Friday morning, I came home to washing & ironing, crosswords, phone calls & resting after a busy week. Wes got lots done in the garden, both with & without help. As well, I oiled our 40 years old wooden ladder & had to put it in the bathroom to dry as Morse was very attracted to the O’Cedar. Michael Ivanchenko had kindly made a new top step for it & I was keen to protect the wood from marks & spills. It’s come up a treat!

Our foray into the Spring Racing Carnival yesterday was a total failure. We were both very happy to watch the race at Flemington & Randwick, with the 1^st Women’s ODI against Sri Lanka at the beautiful Allan Border oval in Brisbane. We’ll hope for better luck next week.

A blast from the past – June 1999

L-R: Wes, Brendan, Lib, Karen, Malcolm, Karen (AKA Lovely) & Tom

The boys are pacing anxiously as I write this, begging me to finish so we can go to the Sunday Market, where Cory will have prepared cabbage for them to eat & Geoff will have a treat ready for them as well. We’re in no hurry to leave as we expect things to be running behind this morning with the start of Daylight Saving.

We’ve got our fingers & toes crossed for Ash Barty in the final of the China Open after she snuck in last night in the 3-set thriller. We are missing the footy & watching AFL 360 each night, but there is plenty happening with player movement between clubs & the Men’s cricket will be starting soon.