Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 19th July 2020

When I left you last Sunday we were heading out to deliver goodies to friends, including lemons stolen from Sue Longley's very prolific tree (she accused me later of not taking any as she didn't notice any difference). We then had breakfast at The Food Gallery, where Pasquale announced they were closing until Friday, putting my catching up with friends plans into disarray. 

Back home, while Wes washed the floors, I had a lovely Zoom chat with old friends, Ian & Robyn Robinson, who have been living at their country property in Chewton since the original lockdown restrictions came into place. It was great to see them & catch up on each other's news, as well as show off Lewis & Morse. 

That night, Wes was delighted when Carlton played very well to beat the Doggies on the Gold Coast. This win put the Blues into the Top 8, somewhere they haven't been for quite a while. 

Wes watching the footy with Lewis & Morse asleep on his lap

On Monday, we watched Steve Dotto talk about tips with Google Contacts & with handling Gmails. He made some very sensible suggestions & we immediately implemented one, which frees you from having to check emails incessantly. We now have an automatic reply to emails which advises you that we are no longer constantly checking & will respond next time we go to Gmail, which might be twice a day. We also learned how to easily add photos to Google Contacts, how to bulk label Contacts & were encouraged to abandon our practice of putting emails into Folders & use the Search engine instead. This last hint could be too hard to put into practice, but we'll certainly consider it.

Sherryn Danaher & I had a lovely long chat afterwards & she filled me in with all she does to keep herself busy during these weeks of lockdown. We both enjoyed catching up, but eventually my voice all but disappeared and we had to hang up. 

Great photo circa 1996 of Sherryn & Karen Stevenson at Stephanie's restaurant 

At lunchtime, I caught up with our first Daylesford friend, Glenda Rozen, who sold us our house at 78 Duke Street back in 1998. We met at Harvest Cafe, where the COVID-19 protocols were strictly adhered to, and enjoyed yummy lunches. Glenda & her husband, Joe, introduced us to so much of what we know & love about living here, and we remain in their debt. Thank you both - always great to spend time together.

On Tuesday, we enjoyed an hour long Skype call with my aunt, Jeff, and her daughter, Leigh, who was visiting her in Lincolnshire from her home in Luxembourg. Both of them were very excited to be together again, and we had lovely catch up - some serious COVID-19 talk, followed by lots of family nonsense & laughs. 

One of my favourite photos of Leigh & Jeff, taken 20 years ago

As part of a very social week, I then had a long Zoom chat with Leanne, so she could see & chat to, Lewis & Morse and later on took Sue Longley for her first ever massage at EKO with Emma. Sue was inundated with beautiful flowers when Bill died back in May, and we decided to give her a Gift Voucher for EKO instead. Sue had told me last week that she was ready for the massage, so I gave her my usual appointment & drove her there & back, so that she would feel more comfortable walking in the door. When I came to pick her up, I could see that it had been a big success and she was feeling & looking so much happier.

Even though she gave me a big bag of lemons, which I then shared with neighbours & friends, she also wanted to buy us afternoon tea. We headed back to Harvest Cafe and spent a lovely hour or so together & promised we would do it again sometime soon. 

These beautiful flowers were waiting for me on my return - thanks to Leanne for her Happy Anniversary wishes

Wednesday seems to have turned into delivery day for me and I headed off early with jars, lemons & papers for Nick & Robyn at Porcupine Ridge, before pumping water at Leitches Creek. Next stop was for a fringe trim with Lyndal, who thought she was doing a full cut & had to be reminded that I was still recovering from losing 5cm in length three weeks' earlier. 

Afterwards, I met up with Jane Barrett, again at Harvest Cafe, where we had a cuppa & I congratulated her on selling her latest home, and wished her well in their search for the perfect new abode, which they have until November to find. 

I arrived back here in time to host a Zoom meeting of old friends - Kathy Lazzaro, Karen Stevenson & Joyce Spiteri. We all worked together back in the early 70s & have shared so much over nearly 48 years. Joyce's husband, Manny, joined her in the chat for a while, and, as they were babysitting Jessica's twins - Ethan & Oliver, we got to see them as well. We are doing this catch up fortnightly & it works perfectly. If any of us feels the need to chat in between times, we ring.

This parcel was returned to our PO Box during the week - I sent it to cousin, Leigh Murrin, in Luxembourg for her special birthday - lots of all the Australian treats she misses most - and it never arrived. Four months later, we received it intact, but obviously undelivered!

 

On Thursday, after shopping, I organised a visit for us to 
Trentham Aged Care to catch up with a friend there. Meanwhile Wes took Barbara to Springs Medical Centre for an appointment. We both had quite busy mornings with split second timing to get to Trentham at the appointed hour - road works halfway along with red lights & delays of up to 5 minutes. 

That night, Collingwood unexpectedly beat Geelong in a low-scoring but exciting match at the new Perth Stadium in front of 22,000 fans. I suspect the rain stopped 8,000 people from attending, as 30,000 was the limit. Geelong lost their inspirational captain, Joel Selwood, early on, which helped the Magpies' cause. The game started at 8.10pm our time, which meant we watched the second half in bed, as it was well past our bedtime by then. 

On Friday, we took the boys for an extra long walk to help tire them out. With footy happening every night including tomorrow, we don't want them waking us any earlier than they have to! After a busy morning, making cauliflower soup for us & cooking rice & pumpkin for them, I made a couple of phone calls before heading off into Vincent Street for a catch up lunch with Di Lyttleton at The Food Gallery. We have been friends for a long time, but never see each other as much as we would like. This was a perfect way to do it & our time together flew by. We both had big bowls of the seafood chowder, which is a Food Gallery special, & I don't know about Di, but Wes cancelled dinner & served toasted cheese & tomato sandwiches instead!

Wow! This is me with Jeff Bain & Di Lyttleton 10 years ago next month, when we had a little holiday together - this photo was taken at All Saints Winery by Wes

Yesterday, I was ordered to stay at home & did so very happily. There were lots of chores that needed doing - washing all the dogs' bedding, a big basket of ironing, and cleaning the kitchen. Most of these jobs were done listening to the Coodabeen Champions and the afternoon was spent watching footy games, especially the very exciting Brisbane Lions win over Greater Western Sydney. 

We are off to the Sunday Market shortly as it is back on again this week, but just food stalls - so we will stock up on our usual fruit & vegetables from Yvonne, plus croissants & bread from Steve & Ken & perhaps a bag of Dutch Cream potatoes if that particular farmer is there.