Poor Snoopy, what a deprived life he leads - a bit like Lewis & Morse! Welcome to my last Autumn Dispatch, even though we've had a few wintry days, that season doesn't come upon us until Tuesday, and we will have our fingers & toes crossed that we get some snow sometime during the next three months.
Last Sunday when I left you it was still very cold, with frost on the lawn & garden. By the time we had visited the Sunday Market, and had a lovely breakfast at the Woodshed Café, it was thawing out & Daylesford was thronged with visitors everywhere - at the Market, in the cafés & shops & particularly at Lake Daylesford. We could barely get around, especially late morning, when we drove to Springs Medical Centre to get our flu injections (at last). We were lucky enough to score Beth Quinn, wife of our doctor, Greg Stewart, and she was happy to do both of us at once, and to give Wes THE pneumonia shot he was missing (Prevnar 13). We usually get our injections together & aren't sure how that happened, however it has now been fixed.
We had decided not to go to see Collingwood & Port, especially as I was still so tired from our abortive attempt the day before, so we settled down to a few chores before watching three games of footy. The Pies lost by a point to Port after leading for most of the game. We just became too defensive & scared of making mistakes.
Monday School was physical activity as we cleaned out a stationery drawer & the yellow cupboard at the front door. Both were treasure troves of surprises as well as throwouts & we felt much better once we had done it. Wes then swept up the Autumn leaves once again before washing both cars.
Glen's girls - Nellie & Willow sharing a snooze in the sun
That afternoon we attended a celebration of our friend, Annie Smith's life, at the Convent Gallery. Annie's daughter, Fiona, and her family all came over from Freo & we were lucky enough to be two of the 100 guests they were able to invite. Annie had at least 300 Daylesford friends, which made it very difficult for Fiona to choose. We enjoyed catching up with some old friends & raising a glass of champagne to Annie at 5pm, her usual time for bubbles.
On Tuesday morning, Wes walked the boys, so that I could chat with my aunt, Jeff, at 6.30am our time (9.30pm hers) & that worked well. I was able to prepare the boys' breakfasts before having a shower & making a pot of tea to lubricate the voice! Next was a good Zoom catch up with Leanne & we finished our call in time for me to speak with Jan Pengilley in Maleny. Our usual timeslot wasn't convenient for her, so we rescheduled for Friday morning.
Then I went to see Alanna for a manicure before Wes & I collected Judi & drove to Ballarat to see the Australian film. "June Again", starring the wonderful Noni Hazelhurst. We three loved the film & are so pleased we saw it. It was pouring rain when we emerged and stayed that way until early the next morning.
Early morning rituals - me putting coats & leads on Lewis & Morse
When we walked around Lake Daylesford on Wednesday, our way was blocked by fallen trees just past Monet's Bridge. The boys weren't too sure what was happening when we turned around & retraced our steps, but provided they got treats at the usual spots, they were happy. The small lake out the front of Lake House had broken its banks & the path was submerged in water in a couple of spots, which made for tricky manouevring.
After I did my rounds of deliveries, I had a fringe trim with Lyndal, who had been doing repairs to horse fences after the storm. Then Judi & I met to play Mah Jong at Muffins & More & had a most enjoyable morning, although we did miss Dot, who wasn't well enough to join us. We tried a variation suggested by the book we work from, which was to play a Goulash for the last game & instead of discarding tiles, to place them in their trays instead. Once we got used to it, it was easy & meant we had fewer tiles to pack away at the end of the game.
On Thursday morning, it was a 5am start so that Wes could catch up with his Pom, Scot, Yank & Indian Zoom friends. I set off to Coles for my usual weekly groceries only to discover the carpark extra busy and customers walking out with large packs of toilet paper under their arms. At this time we didn't know if there would be a lockdown or for how long, but we did know that something had to happen with over 100 potential COVID sites, since an International traveller arrived in Melbourne & tested positive, after a fortnight's hotel quarantine in Adelaide.
Kathy & I had our usual Thursday morning Zoom chat & were joined by Squiz Murray, which was a lovely surprise. We all met when working for the Dept of Labour & National Service, back in 1972, and the friends we made from those four years I was in the Public Service have remained friends for life.
Shortly afterwards the 7 day Victorian lockdown was announced & we were sorry to realise that for the second time in 12 months, our dear friend, Libby Edgoose, would be unable to catch up with family & friends. She lives in Queensland & we were to have seen her next Friday for lunch. We are sorry to miss her, but very pleased that the State Government has taken this step as the latest rash of COVID 19 positive tests is growing & there are too many hot spots for anyone to feel safe.
I was meeting Judi & our friend, Sue Longley, for lunch at Bad Habits Café, and decided to walk there. I took my umbrella in case the rain returned, and rather bravely undertook the serious hill in Central Springs Road. Everyone I met on the way was pleased we were going into lockdown and I was most impressed when I arrived at The Convent Gallery to find masks indoors were already mandatory. We enjoyed wonderful service from Bec Walker, and very yummy lunches & were so pleased we managed our get-together before the lockdown.
As I was leaving to walk home, I received a text message from our pet shop, letting me know that the dog bed we had been interested in, had unexpectedly arrived at their shop. I rang Wes who picked me up & we went straight there, unable to get within cooee as everyone was still busy buying up toilet paper from Coles.
We think Morse & Lewis rather like their new bed!
On Friday, we donned our masks before doing two rounds of Lake Daylesford & everyone we met was masked, which was very encouraging. It's just a shame that people can't get their injections easily now that they can see how important it is to be vaccinated against COVID-19. We enjoyed our first day of lockdown & I even cooked dinner for a change - mushroom & spinach cream sauce over penne.
Yesterday, we did the same two rounds of the Lake and had plans for outdoor activities which we postponed, as it was cold enough for snow & no-one at our place wanted to go outside. We listened to the Coodabeen Champions before settling down to watch the footy. Meanwhile, our Freo friends, who are still here with lockdown, sent a photo of their new family member, Brodie, that they collected on Thursday. We are so pleased, because Maisie's death has left a large hole in their lives.
Les with Brodie, a 7 month old male rescued kelpie
Collingwood & Geelong's total score of 14 goals, 28 behinds made for a very frustrating afternoon, especially as the Pies couldn't score a goal in the first half. Amazingly, we lost by only 10 points. Our neighbours, Dene & Rob delivered a piece of beautiful homemade lemon curd & passionfruit sponge during the last quarter, which lifted our spirits.
We woke this morning to find that Essendon had beaten West Coast over in Perth, which is no mean feat. We were the only people out walking & we did two complete laps again, which really tires out Lewis & Morse. We're about to go to the Sunday Market, masked & distanced, before coming back home. We have our fingers crossed for the Blues against the Swans in Sydney this afternoon.
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