We had a lovely Sunday last week – our usual walk around Lake Daylesford
in the dark with Lewis & Morse, followed by pumping mineral water at
Leitches Creek, before visiting the Sunday Market, which had quite a few more
stalls & was very busy. We were able to buy five Friesia roses from Ken Rae
of Spring Park Nursery; replenish dwindling supplies of dog treats from Jeff;
indulge in fig & aniseed sourdough from Stella’s bread (Ken & Steve),
and fill up our basket & bags with fruit & vegetables from Yvonne. We were watched by four grey kangaroos as we
drove to Leitches Creek. They were at the Daylesford Cidery on Dairy Flat Road,
Musk and when we were returning, they had moved onto Janine Hawker’s property.
Afterwards we went back to The Food Gallery for an
early breakfast before the Daylesford visitors arrived. We are most impressed
with the attitude being taken there – hand sanitiser at the door, a book for
customers to write their name & contact details, plenty of distance between
tables & yummy food, with friendly service. We had a good chat over our
meals and only left when we realised all other tables were taken & we had
better free ours up!
That weekend was spent listening to the Beethoven Top 100 on ABC Classic
FM, apart from breaks for the Coodabeens, phone calls & Wes’s visits to
Barbara. I had a lovely chat with dear friend, Joyce Spiteri, and we laughed
for 20 minutes or so. She couldn’t wait to meet her two grandsons, who were
coming home from hospital last Tuesday.
On Monday morning School was the most
dramatic we have experienced. We watched and listened as Steve Dotto told us
the advantages of Google Calendar & Gmail and both of us were struck by his
arguments. We have spent this week trying to get our heads around working in
Google first, instead of Outlook. Even this Dispatch comes to you via Gmail.
It’s probably worth making a note of our gmail addresses as we are continuing
to use this platform, which is frustratingly different, but has many advantages
over Outlook:
It did seem strange to be spending Queen’s
Birthday Monday at our computers, instead of being away somewhere or at the MCG
for the traditional game – Collingwood & Melbourne. At 4pm we watched the
Big Freeze as a player from each team did an ice routine.
Later we had a Zoom farewell to friends, Gail
& Terry White, who are returning to NSW after many years in Daylesford.
They are moving to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, where their daughters live
with their families. We’ll miss them both.
Lovely photo from last year at Jackie’s on Vincent
L-R Wes, Terry, Karen, Gail, Joe & Glenda
We were delighted to find a wonderful glass
cabinet with golfing memorabilia at our front door on Thursday – a farewell
gift from Terry & much appreciated (see photo of page 5).
Wes spent Tuesday in the garden while I wrestled
with a couple of issues that we had in moving from Outlook to Google. I solved
them much to our delight and we are soldiering on, although finding everything
very strange to start with. We have been able to get our @bigpond emails
diverted to Gmail, which was the biggest worry – we won’t be getting rid of @bigpond
any time soon, so please continue to use the old email addresses if that suits
you better.
After -2° as we walked around Lake Daylesford,
the sun shone bravely & it was a perfect day for being outside. I had a
Skype chat with Leanne & a Zoom catch up with Jane Knox. Jane had some
lovely stories about her late father, Frank, and we shared our feelings about
the resumption of footy among other things.
I couldn’t start the car after lunch when I
wanted to go for a walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, so took the
Mazda 6 & had help from Wes on my return with the jumper leads. He drove
the Mazda 2 to Hepburn and stayed out for about 20 minutes, which solved the
problem. The poor little car has had very little use during ISO, which is
probably why it misbehaved. I’m sure getting frosty that morning didn’t help
either.
On Wednesday morning, while Sandra cleaned our home & Wes spent time
with Barbara, I had a long overdue manicure & pedicure with Alanna at
Spa+Beauty Hepburn Springs. I felt very comfortable visiting as Alanna has
excellent hygiene practices & had taken on board all requirements by the
Victorian Government for Day Spas.
Lewis & Morse catching the sun
The next morning was another cold one – we walked around Lake Daylesford,
Wes with the boys on the joint lead & me wearing gloves & picking up
rubbish that has been left & that I can see – mostly Kleenex & takeaway
coffee cups. We stop after each of the bridges and Lewis & Morse sit to
receive a treat before we continue on.
When we get home, Wes opens blinds etc, while I get breakfast ready –
warm rice, half a chopped raw zucchini, a couple of chopped celery sticks,
ditto carrots & a dollop of Greek yoghurt. I add some warm water to their
bowls to make sure they are getting enough liquid. They both love to lick their
yoghurt spoon before racing downstairs & sitting anxiously waiting as I
walk more slowly down the slippery outside steps. Lewis takes more time than
Morse, so I make sure Morse’s bowl has more warm water & if I have the
amounts just right, they finish at the same time, swap bowls & check to
make sure the other bloke hasn’t left any!
Friday was our 50th Wedding Anniversary. We had hoped to
reprise our honeymoon by driving to Sydney & back over a week & had
booked everything, including the footy, before isolation came in. Thanks to
everyone who sent or delivered cards & gifts, who sent messages, texts, rang
or commented on FB – your thoughts are all much appreciated.
We celebrated with lunch at Boathouse Daylesford and reminisced to our hearts’ content about all we have experienced
& achieved together. The photo shows us in the Mayfair Room at the Southern Cross Hotel (sadly gone & much missed). We didn’t want a reception, which suited
us, and both sets of parents, as none of us was in any position to pay for one,
and our friends couldn’t afford presents. Instead, after the ceremony at Newman Chapel,
we went back to our family homes and chatted briefly to guests who had gone
there, before checking into the hotel.
Here we are at Boathouse – Wes has the lemon mousse with sparkler
courtesy of Susanne & Claire & I’m about to tuck into grilled calamari.
It will come as no surprise to learn that Wes had mussels & chips for his
main course.
We were pleased to see footy back on our screen
again after such a long break. In order to last the distance on Thursday night,
when Collingwood & Richmond played, we took the boys for a walk around
4.30pm and had our pre-dinner drinks 30 minutes later than usual, with dinner
another 45 minutes behind. The game was so close, it was impossible to go to
bed before the end & the draw was a very fitting result.
Wonderful gift from the Whites – needs to go in
the Pool Room!
Yesterday’s footy was a very mixed bag. We
enjoyed the close game between Brisbane & Freo, with the Lions holding on
for a win, before settling down to watch Carlton play Melbourne. The Blues were
held scoreless in the first quarter, which was most unexpected & very
disappointing. However, they rallied and almost won, losing by one point in a
very tight last few minutes.
When we woke this morning, we discovered that
Gold Coast had beaten West Coast easily, in a great boost to their stocks; and
Port Adelaide had walloped Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in front of 2,500
spectators. We are both sure the addition of fans made a difference to the players
and it certainly enhanced the atmosphere.
It rained heavily overnight, but we had a dry
walk around Lake Daylesford with the boys. Now we are off to the Sunday Market,
which will have 70 stalls this morning, so we’ll need to get there early before
it gets too busy. After gardening & computer work this morning, we are
looking forward to another afternoon of footy with two games in Sydney &
one in Melbourne to watch.
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