Morse

Morse
Morse & friend

Sunday 23 August 2020

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 23rd August 2020

We started our week well with a very successful trip to the Sunday Market. Yvonne had everything we needed and we were able to get Glen's spelt & gluten-free breads, as well as eggs from Peros. We wore our new masks, chatted with stall-holders & friends who were queued up, & enjoyed croissants when we got home. 

Me wearing a bright mask to offset my black clothing - thanks again, Glen Tandberg

We overdosed on footy for the rest of the day - watched the replay of Carlton's amazing last kick win; saw the Doggies smash the Crows after an even start; ditto the Saints over the Bombers, and when the Eagles were doing the same to the Hawks, we watched the first episode of the new series of Last Tango in Halifax. I didn't think there could be any more twists and turns in this brilliant series, but of course, there were plenty, with much more to follow. 

Our neighbour, Rob, delivered some scones fresh out of their oven, with jam & cream during the afternoon - a very welcome unexpected afternoon tea, which we enjoyed. 

On Monday, School was all about Ancestry. I had asked Wes to explain & show me what he does. I discovered he uses a programme called Family Tree Maker, which he has bought outright & syncs it with Ancestry.com, which is owned by the Mormon Church, which has final say on usage. I was most impressed by all the work he has done, although discovering that Bad King John was an ancestor of mine wasn't so impressive! Wes is going to download his Family Tree programme onto my computer so I can check for corrections for the Saundry family. 

Afterwards I delivered my latest crop of knitting to the Daylesford Neighbourhood Centre, where beanies, jumpers, scarves, berets, gloves & rugs are available to be collected by anyone who needs them. Meanwhile Wes took advantage of the sunshine to bathe a pair of very dirty Labradors, before putting some bread, cheese, tomatoes & flowers across the road at no 77 in time for our new neighbour, Ellie, who was arriving later that day. 

Ellie's cards & flowers

That night, after Wes hosted a very successful chat with 14 other St Bernard's Secondary School old boys, we shared a large prawn & scallop pizza with chillies, which he collected from Bill & Sophie's Pizza place. They have taken over the old Town Hall Café in Vincent Street and everyone has been raving about their pizzas. We were very pleasantly surprised by the quality & quantity of the food. We were keen to support local businesses by ordering takeaway meals & we'll definitely have one of these pizzas again. 

Morse & Lewis snoozing after their bath!

I look forward to Tuesdays as I usually have a few Zoom calls to make starting with my sister, Leanne, then friends such as Jan Pengilley or Terry Borg, and this week I had the bonus of a lovely chat with another old friend, Marilyn Preston, who is in Torquay with her husband, Bobby. 

On Wednesday, it was wet, so I let Wes walk the boys on his own, while I cooked rice & pumpkin for Lewis & Morse, got a load of washing on, washed my hair & had our house ready for Sandra's arrival at 7.30am to clean. She was thrilled that our new neighbour appreciated how sparkling her house was when she arrived. We took the boys out for a couple of hours to give Sandra a good chance to clean - delivered goodies to Nick & Robyn, pumped water at Leitches Creek, visited the Council to organise a new green bin (has to be done online), picked up some punnets of pleasure at Wombat Hill Nursery...and arrived back home in time for Sandra to give Lewis & Morse red apples before she left.

That afternoon, we enjoyed a good chat with Mike & Linda Kirby in Queensland. They are living a very different life from us - able to mix with friends, go out to restaurants, use swimming pools, get suntanned etc etc. 

On Thursday it was raining again early, so I stayed home while my three boys walked. When I visited Coles supermarket around 7.15am it was very quiet & shopping felt safe. Kathy Lazzaro & I had a Zoom chat booked, but I was coughing a lot so we didn't talk for long. When the rain stopped I walked into town to the Post Office, as we are still expecting the masks we ordered four weeks ago. No sign of them yet - thank God for our neighbour Glen's thoughtfulness in making us three masks each - we are very appreciative and grateful. 

Some of our beautiful daffodils on the dining table

We were able to do two complete laps of Lake Daylesford on Friday to make up for shorter walks in the rain and the boys spent most of the day sleeping, except for when they helped Wes & I in the garden. We had some long pots just crying out for colourful annuals - I did the planting & Wes positioned them on the fence out of the reach of Lewis & Morse. I chatted with Leanne & local friend, Sue, while Wes had a very social 24 hours with Zoom chats with old friends - Bobby, Danny & Tom, and later with Ged, Malcolm & Squiz. 

During the afternoon we had heavy rain, hailstones & sleet but no snow, although some parts of Daylesford were lucky enough to score some flakes. That night Carlton beat Gold Coast in a very inaccurate game in the Top End in front of a vocal and excited crowd - most of whom were barracking for Eddie Betts!

Yesterday morning was far too wet to walk, but we did get snow. I drove through it to the Post Office, where everyone was smiling & enjoying the sight. 

Wes took this photo after the snow had stopped falling in the backyard 

We declared it a sitting in front of the fire sort of day - listening to the Coodabeen Champions in the morning, and watching footy games (4 in total) during the afternoon & evening. I made a batch of vegetable soup using up all our leftovers, which was perfect for dinner, after Wes had served poached eggs on toast for breakfast. 

This morning it was far too wet to walk again, so the boys had an early breakfast, which they love & I went back to bed with a pot of Jasmine tea & The Sunday Age crossword. Bliss. We're about to brave the elements & visit the Market.

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