Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 26th April 2020

When I left you last week we were heading off to the Sunday Market, where Yvonne was organised & waiting for us with dog fruit & vegetables & all the things we normally buy packaged & ready to go. I put these items into our own drawstring washable bags for her to weigh & then for me to wash once we get home. It’s a great system that we had instigated before the onset of COVID-19. Wes bought us croissants for breakfast, which is fast becoming our new Sunday morning tradition & a loaf of wholemeal sourdough (both from Stella’s bread), which he shared with Barbara. We’ve still got plenty of dog treats & bones, even though Jeff isn’t at the Market, as he delivered a big order to us a couple of weeks ago & will do it again if needed. We just have to find a new supplier for eggs, as we used to get free-range ones from Jeff.

We’ve had another week of keeping in touch with friends & family, as well as knitting, crosswords & reading – me; and gardening, reading & cooking – him. Our Monday morning class was to get our heads around Zoom in time for Wes to have a chat that afternoon with Danny, Tom & Bobby. We did have an excellent School, using a You Tube tutorial by Steve Dotto, which explained Zoom simply & easily, and Wes was pleased to catch up with old friends afterwards.

The link to Steve Dotto’s tute if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5VU8cmEnTs&lc=z22airczmparinwfuacdp43ak31qkqwmabft1bha2s1w03c010c

Lewis learning to love his new friend – Bilbo’s favourite soft toy. Not sure it is a big success yet!

During the week, tree fellers got stuck into some dead gumtrees in the back yard of a house in King Street. The trees were blocking our neighbour, Glen’s view of the Lake, and partially obstructed our once sweeping view of the Lake and up into Vincent Street. Glen & her daughter, Sarah, have just discovered Cornish Hill & the maze of walks behind us and are enjoying exploring a new area when they walk each day.

I had my first telephone consultation with my doctor, Greg Stewart, who decided a couple of weeks ago to stop seeing patients & work from home via the phone only. As he had a serious heart attack a couple of years ago & is in his 60s, this is a very sensible decision. I was able to get my Seretide prescription; tell him how I was faring in the lockdown; reassure him that my asthma & tiredness, although both more prevalent than usual, were manageable, & be congratulated that all my various tests were up-to-date & none needed to be done again until next year at the earliest. Once again, the system worked well & the prescriptions appeared in my MedAdvisor app the next day.

This beautiful red teapot arrived unexpectedly this week addressed to me at 80 Duke Street, which is Rob & Dene’s address. I checked with them & much as they would love the teapot themselves they hadn’t ordered it. According to the docket I had ordered & paid for it & it was shipped from England on 29^th March. Neither the supplier nor the store can tell me who bought it and I am reluctant to use it until I discover that it is actually meant for me! Can anyone throw any light on this mystery for me?

We’ve been trying through this period of being at home to limit our drinking to Thursday through to Sunday. We have had mixed success – some weeks it is easy, on other weeks, we get to Tuesday & are desperate for a glass of red wine. I hear from friends that this is a common complaint & we are certainly being told that it isn’t ideal!

On Thursday, after his fortnightly chat with Paul Jackson, Wes learned how to balance our credit card on Reckon. He did very well, but wants to do it again next month, as there is so much to remember. Our dear friend, Tom Tyrrell, taught me Quicken many years ago & I am so grateful to him for giving me that skill.

Here is our neighbour, Rob Griffin, working from his study next door. He has a beautiful view on three sides with trees galore wearing their Autumn colours.

And he can see & be seen by Lewis & Morse, who love him dearly.

Barbara’s car needed to spend 24 hours in Ballarat, so Wes accompanied her there on Wednesday & Thursday. They visited Officeworks & Wes was most impressed with their set-up that made shopping very safe. He found the driving tiring after 6 weeks or so of not driving anywhere much, an experience that many of us can relate to.

We were pleased to see our friend, Robert, who had a bad fall two weeks ago, back walking around Lake Daylesford early. He has stopped walking in the dark, but still doesn’t have a mobile phone, so Wes gave him our whistle to put around his neck. I bought it many years ago when I first joined the Bushwalking Group here – some of our longer walks were done by only 3 or 4 of us & we were advised to carry a compass, map & whistle at all times.

  

I took this photo at dawn on Friday morning trying to get the beauty of the late Autumn colours as well as the cuteness of Morse & Lewis (who is on the right with his silly sit)

We decided to honour ANZAC Day by listening to ABC Classic at 6am when they played the Last Post. At the same time, Christ Church bells rang out around Daylesford. Lewis & Morse were happy to stop walking & observe a minute’s silence, especially when given a treat afterwards. We were blessed with the most amazing pink sky as dawn broke.

Wes had another Zoom chat at 9am with Gerard Lazzaro & Malcolm Stevenson, his first as the host, and is feeling very confident about the technology.

Later we observed another minute’s silence at 11.30am during the Coodabeen Champion’s radio programme on ABC Grandstand. Finally, I watched a very moving montage from the MCG at 1pm when a Lone Piper played the Last Post to an empty stadium and images of the previous 24 years of ANZAC Day Collingwood & Essendon matches were shown. We did miss going to Eganstown at 9am for the delightful & very personal service there, which finishes with tea & home-made ANZAC biscuits. How glad we are that we visited Gallipoli some years ago & have a much better idea of what our servicemen encountered on landing there.

Gallipoli rosemary growing in our front garden. We gave sprigs to our neighbours yesterday

In the afternoon, we watched a replay of the 1995 game between Collingwood & Essendon that attracted a crowd of just under 95,000 people & resulted in a draw & no doubt ensured that this fixture would continue. I have been to every one of the past 24 games and look on it as a highlight of the AFL Calendar. The atmosphere is electric & the day is not so much about the footy, but respecting those who have served their country in both Australia & NZ.

This morning we have woken to constant rain, wet enough to cancel the walk, which meant the boys were fed very early, which always suits them. We’ll head off to the Sunday Market around 7.50am & I am planning on making minestrone soup on our return.