Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 31st October 2021

 

Not too many people stand up to Shroeder

We started our week at the Daylesford Sunday Market, as usual, followed by a trip to Trentham for a bag of Bernie's Dutch Cream Potatoes, which are sold by the side of the road. I've never gotten tired of buying things like this - it really feels as though you are supporting the grower & the produce couldn't be fresher. 

On Monday, we discussed Christmas as our School - we need to think about our letter, make sure we have up to date addresses & emails & plan our lunch with Leanne. We were amazed looking back over the year at all that has happened, even though we have been in lockdown for so much of it. 

Not sure who is the more comfy - Lewis with his legs splayed or Morse with one of his in Lewis's ear

The next morning after lovely long chats with my aunt, Jeff, in Torksey Lock, Lincolnshire, and Leanne in Strathmore, I headed off to Muffins & More for a catch up with Judi. We spent a very pleasant hour chatting over tea & toasties & made a date with the owner, Kelly, to resume Mah Jong this coming Wednesday morning. 

When I arrived back home, Wes had organised for us to watch a Scottish film called Sunset Song, which was made (with the help of Luxembourg) in 2015. It is quite long - 2.25 hours, but rivetting. It was a book, which was made into a play & now a film set at the start of the Great War and dealing with the hardships endured by a young daughter of a farmer. It is available on SBS On Demand if you are interested.That afternoon I spent at EKO, having a long overdue facial & foot massage with Emma. 

On Wednesday Sandra cleaned, so Wes spent the morning in the garden - weeding, trimming & mowing. He found a rose that had flowered & another iris, as well as our carnations, Banksia rose (that now covers an arbour) and seaside daisies. The poppies are about to open & in the front, our bush peas are thriving. Meanwhile, I did deliveries, picked up 8 tomato plants at Spring Park Nursery, which has endless wonderful varieties, pumped water at Leitches Creek & arrived home in time to get changed for lunch at Larder with Gillie. 

That was an interesting experience - haven't eaten there in a long time & I knew none of the staff, so had to produce my licence to show that I am a local. Gillie & I had nearly 90 minutes together in peace & quiet as density numbers still applied. I made the mistake of ordering scrambled eggs on crumpets (yummy, but filling) & wasn't really able to eat dinner that night. Wes cancelled the tuna steaks & we played around with cheeses, bread & butter cucumbers & steamed asparagus spears. 

On Thursday, after Wes had an excellent Zoom on China with the Jackson 8 & I'd had an equally enjoyable chat with Kathy & Karen, we headed off to the Convent Gallery for brunch. We had booked the table in the window, which gives us a view of the gardens & were warmly greeted by Marija, who is front of house & Beck, who is an excellent & caring member of staff. Our breakfasts were beautiful & we enjoyed spending time together in a peaceful & quiet environment. 

Wes took this photo as the sun came through the window

We woke at 5.10am on Friday as Lewis & Morse joyously found their way into our bedroom. We had experienced wild storms & strong winds & somehow Lewis had managed to slide open the heavy glass door that separates our decking from the kitchen. There didn't seem any point going back to sleep, so we got up, fed them their breakfast & rescued our copy of the Age, with a view to tea & toast & an early read. Suddenly at 5.30 the house was plunged into darkness, and we realised very quickly this wasn't just our house, but all of Daylesford. Later we discovered it was a lot of Victoria. Powercor sent us a message saying we should have power again by 2pm, then 3pm & finally by 8pm. 

We got dressed warmly, lit the fire and cuddled the boys for much of the morning. Neighbour, Glen, provided us with a thermos of hot water & offered us a portable gas stove, but we decided the barbecue would be enough to make dinner if the power still wasn't on. At lunchtime, we had a brandy & dry, a glass of red wine & a cheese platter to revive us. I must confess to turning on the ceiling fans a couple of times in the afternoon to get rid of smoke from the fire & being quite perplexed that they weren't working 🤣

The power came on unexpectedly just after 4pm, when Wes had recharged our mobiles by sitting in the car with the engine running & the boys sleeping in the back. We checked that our computers & TVs were still working OK & around 6pm Wes started cooking our dinner (remember the 5.10am start). The power suddenly went off again, but came back before 8pm & dinner was rescued. Needless to say we were in bed straight after we had eaten. 

Yesterday morning, Wes had suggested we have a trial run eating breakfast at Koukla, where the Breakfast Group is meeting next Sunday. We are so pleased we did, as there were a few things to learn. We wanted to sit outside, so checked in & went looking for menus, which are accessed by the QR Codes on each table. We duly found the menu, ordered & then waited. My tea only arrived after three requests for it - the staff were friendly, but not as helpful as they could have been. Fingers crossed it works better next Sunday - at least we are prepared for these issues. 

Me again, sitting outside, masked & sorting out how to get to the Koukla menu

We spent the rest of the day backing horses, gardening & catching up on computer stuff that we couldn't do the day before. I planted all our tomatoes (10 in total - 6 different varieties) & some more chillis, while Wes filled up our green bin with weeds from the front garden. Derby Day is always a very special day on the racing calendar & we remembered many happy times we spent at Flemington with friends over the years. We decided to box four horses in a quinella in each race & were lucky enough to win in 4 out of the 9 races. We now have a nice little nest egg to spend on the Melbourne Cup races this Tuesday. 

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 24th October 2021

This is rather topical with the UK recently taking the very backward step of abandoning their move to metrics - when I worked at the Australian Standards Association in the early 70s, the Poms were way ahead of us with Metric Standards in print

We started our week with our usual visit to the Sunday Market, where we caught up with a few friends, parted with $60 & came home with 4 bags & 1 basket filled with fresh fruit & vegetables & home-made yo-yos for afternoon tea. The boys love the visit & happily sit in the car watching the passing parade after they have seen Yvonne & eaten their shredded cabbage.

On Monday I finally was able to join my three boys on the early morning walk & we were all thrilled. It wasn't too cold, there was no wind & we didn't see another soul, just the latest brood of ducklings being ushered away from us. School was looking at playwrights and we started with the incomparable Alan Bennett & one of his 1978 offerings Doris & Doreen starring Prunella Scales & Patricia Routledge with a cameo by Peter Postlethwaite. This 80 minute film is available on You Tube & we highly recommend it, especially if you have ever worked for the public service or similar large organisations. 

We both got into the garden after that & planted our zucchinis, some cucumbers & some chillis. I also put a couple of tomatoes in pots away from the frosts to see if they will work outside our bedroom window, like last year. Wes weeded, mowed & staked & we can't wait for the roses to bloom, especially as we have only one tulip & one iris so far. 

Above - zucchinis planted in bottomless pots to protect them from snails & slugs & below, Wes's favourite azalea doing its thing in the front garden next to the pond

On Tuesday, I spoke with Leanne & then Terry Borg, both of whom were pleased with the easing of Greater Melbourne restrictions which came into effect on Friday. Lewis & Morse were keen to say hello to both of them - getting a reward of a treat at the end is more than enough incentive! Afterwards, we watched the film The Broken Shore, based on a book by Peter Temple & featuring a who's who of Australian actors. We both really enjoyed it & thought it was provocative on a number of levels. 

We were able to spend time in the garden most days this week & so were most people in Daylesford I suspect. Wednesday was a perfect day & gardeners everywhere were mowing, clipping, weeding & cleaning up. Judi had given Wes a bag of baby hellebores and he found a number of shady spots just perfect for them. 

I'm rather thrilled with this photo which is true to the colours we saw when we walked around Lake Daylesford early on Thursday 

After I had a good Zoom chat with Kathy Lazzaro & she told me about the wonderful red sky in Burwood, Wes & I went to the local Mitre 10, to buy a replacement drill. He used to have a drill, but loaned it out & can't remember when or to whom, so we needed to replace it as there are a few jobs around the place that need it. We were lucky to get Tim to serve us & ended up with the perfect drill, some new kneepads & a couple of planter pots to replace those that have turned into toys for Lewis & Morse! Speaking of which, here's this week's lovely snap. 

 Sorry, this photo is no challenge - most feet & tails are visible!

On Friday, we were advised that the Foxtel technician we had been waiting 10 weeks for would be arriving between 8 & 9am. He eventually surfaced at 10.15am & discovered water in the conduits of both TVs which is why we have been unable to get ABC & SBS on our bedroom set. We toyed with the idea of removing Foxtel from that room, but it is so handy for watching cricket & footy in bed that we decided yet again to keep it. 

The other big drama was that my teapot & teacup both went to God that morning, so I was standing outside the door of The Magic Pudding Homewares when Chris opened at 10am, to get replacements. He sold me a better teapot which doesn't have any weak points & I was able to get a beautiful cup with magpies on it. Wes is relieved that he won't be asked to glue bits of this teapot back together. 

Yesterday we watched the races on WS Cox Plate Day. We reined in our spending & ended up losing about $30. We were both full of memories of Cox Plates spent with friends at the lovely Moonee Valley course. 

Here are Greta & Danny Millman ready for the races back in 1998

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 17th October 2021

 

If you were lucky enough to live with us in the 70s/80s when we were in Maloney Manor in Brunswick Road, and found yourself in the Pink room, you too might have had this complaint, as Wes was in the study next door typing with two fingers on his portable Olivetti until all hours!

We've had a better week, with my health on the mend & some good things happening. On Monday, after shopping, we watched a film on the life of Chopin, made in 2010 & with incredible footage of Arthur Rubenstein & Daniel Barenboim playing. We learnt a lot about Chopin the person, and his love affair with George Sand & came away with a better appreciation of his music. 

On Tuesday we watched the 2010 UK film Made in Dagenham, which follows the fight by the women machinists in the Ford Factory to get better pay & ultimately equal pay for women. It is a very powerful film that moved us when we first saw it. All people of our generation are very well aware of the iniquity of pay rates for women, let alone recognition of us as equals. If you haven't seen it, it is on SBS on Demand. 

Last week I delivered the latest lot of beanies & jumpers to the Daylesford Community Op Shop, where the women taking my box of goodies asked me to thank Di, who makes most of the jumpers as they are very popular. As well, I managed to break the glass decanter that houses my gin (empty at the time), and was able to find a pre-loved Stuart crystal partner for Wes's whisky decanter at the Daylesford Mill Markets for a very reasonable price.  

For those of you who like working out whose legs & tails are where - another photo of Lewis & Morse getting very comfy

On Wednesday, Wes drove us all to Ballarat so I could visit the Linda McCartney photographic exhibition, which is part of this year's Ballarat International Foto Biennale. I had changed my ticket 4 times - twice because Ballarat went into lockdown & twice because I wasn't well enough and I daren't try to change it again. How lucky was I - no-one else at the Exhibition (in the beautiful Art Gallery of Ballarat) for the first 30 minutes & plenty of space to wander at my own pace. I must confess I had expected more Beatles photos, but there were lots of Paul McCartney, mostly in Scotland with their children. We visited The Mull of Kintyre some years ago & I was thrilled to recognise the scenery, the sheep & the horses. 

            My favourite photo by Linda is this study of Twiggy                    à la "Girl with a Pearl Earring"

The sadness of Ballarat, especially in Lydiard Street, was the number of empty shopfronts, mostly cafés, which depended on the Gallery & Cinema for much of their business. As there have been COVID cases recently there, we didn't do anything else except visit the NAB to get some cash. We discovered that our usual branch had also closed, another victim of shutdowns. Here in Daylesford we have been so lucky - so many local businesses are well patronised by those of us who live here, and although their profits are down, they are still surviving. In fact, one shopowner told me that he plans on closing over weekends once Victoria re-opens as it is so hard to keep track of those who are masked & vaccinated.

On Thursday, Wes was delighted that our Daylight Saving meant his chat with the Jackson 8 started at 7.30am our time and he was able to walk the boys beforehand. I took them out with me to deliver jars & magazines to Nick & Robyn, and then we went to Leitches Creek to pump water. I arrived home with a coffee scroll for Wes (his usual reward for spending two hours on a Zoom chat), before spending a very pleasant 40 minutes with Kathy & Karen on Zoom myself. We all had something to look forward to after the chat, and mine was spending over tea & a toastie with Judi at Muffins & More, which has re-opened inside. We both felt very comfortable there & spent a lovely hour catching up. 

We still can't take the boys socialising outside the Virgin Café, which was our habit on Friday mornings, but it should re-open very soon. Instead I was able to chat with Jan Pengilley after my early catch up with Leanne. Then into Vincent Street to get new name tags for Lewis & Morse as the writing had worn out on their original ones.

Yesterday as it was raining, we didn't walk the boys, but took ourselves to Muffins & More for an early breakfast. They were doing a lot of business, which was great to see. We enjoyed our Nordic eggs with spinach, and left after we finished eating as there were customers queued waiting to get in. On our way home, we dropped by Wombat Hill Nursery to get some more punnets of pleasure for Wes to plant, and stakes in preparation for our tomatoes which will be planted on Melbourne Cup Day, which falls on 2nd November this year. 

Bush peas going crazy with French tarragon to their left & broccolini to their right & various sages & thymes behind

Yesterday we enjoyed watching the Caulfield Cup day races, although we didn't have enough collects! Wes is in charge of Cox Plate next Saturday & is planning to do better than my quinellas & trifectas. I felt well enough to stay up for dinner & it was lovely to sit at the table together with the WBBL on in the background.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 10th October 2021

 
This is another old but beautiful Peanuts cartoon - we are so lucky to have two & most of the time we're all together

Thanks for all the good wishes that came in last Sunday - much appreciated. We went to the Market as usual & came home with far too much of everything, so were able to share with our lovely neighbours. There are still only produce stalls operating, so the Market is quite small & easy to get around. We didn't need anything else as we have enough dog bones to last for three months & plenty of chilli olives for us. 

On Monday morning I did our food shopping at Coles as we were out of Jasmine rice for Lewis & Morse & starting to run low on important items like Vegemite, smoked salmon pieces & tonic water for G&Ts 🤣. We decided to spend School uploading various documents that Centrelink required (or else they would stop our pensions) and ran into trouble at the first hurdle. We had each completed a 5-page & 14-page document & Wes had written a covering letter. Once we uploaded the letter into the space for documents, there wasn't room for either of these required documents, (which had to be scanned JPGs or PDFs). 

Eventually Wes decided it would be easier to take the hard copies to our local Centrelink sub-branch & deliver them in person. After completing & signing a long document stating he hadn't been overseas & didn't have COVID etc, he was allowed into the office, where three helpful, but idle women, were waiting to assist. When he came back home, he decided to cover our backs by uploading a short letter to Centrelink explaining what we had done. God knows how people whose first language isn't English or who aren't confident or competent with computers & paperwork cope with our bureaucracies!

I woke on Tuesday feeling much better after a good sleep & enjoyed chatting with Leanne, followed by Terry in our regular timeslots. Lewis & Morse had stories for Leanne - wardrobe malfunction on the walk for Lewis & an evil duck who wouldn't get off the path & had to be circumvented for Morse. We keep thinking how lucky we are to have chanced upon two such delightful labradors. 

I had hoped to join Wes & the boys on the morning Lake walk on Wednesday, but it was too cold & I was still asthmatic, so gave it a miss & read the Age in bed with a pot of jasmine tea instead! Afterwards, I drove into Vincent Street to visit the Post Office & get some dog biscuits, as well as visit David & Annie Smith's grave to leave some rosemary - it is a year since Annie died & 14 years since David's sudden death. 

On Thursday morning, I enjoyed the weekly chat with Kathy & Karen & we were all delighted by some good news that Kathy shared about a friend of hers. Being able to drive 15kms in Melbourne has made a difference to lots of people & it is possible to catch up in parks with family members much more easily, as well as just walk somewhere different. 

These photos were taken one afternoon, about 30 minutes apart!

That night Wes had three Zooms, one after the other - a fabulous catch up with cousins; followed by an ALP Members' disability action plan webinar; and, finally a local ALP branch meeting. He took a bottle of good shiraz downstairs with him, which got him through the 2.5 hours. 

I had hoped to walk on Friday morning, but it was too cold & I was too asthmatic - couldn't even get out into the garden, where I have cucumber & zucchini seedlings as well as basil & tomatoes to get started in the greenhouse. Wes spent the morning shifting three roses from outside our bedroom to a bed at the bottom of the back garden, in front of our double wisteria, which we hope might bloom this year. Yesterday he moved our four lemon trees into the front as that double brick wall is so warm, it might just encourage them all to fruit at last!

Yesterday was dog washing day, which meant putting all their bedding through the machine - 1 did 7 loads in all - these boys are very spoilt with their sheepskin rugs, pillows, blankets & Afghan rugs! In the afternoon, we had a few bets on Caulfield Guineas day, and managed a couple of wins & a quinella. It wasn't enough to cover our outlay, but at least we now know a lot more about the Spring Racing Carnival fields than we did. 

Daylesford Spring Daylight Saving Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd October 2021

 

This is a very old cartoon, but one of my favourites

We went to bed early last night to cope with the start of Daylight Saving in most of Australia. After about 3 weeks of being able to see where we were going on our morning Lake Daylesford walks, we are back to darkness and Wes tells me there was no-one else around. Shortly we'll head off to the Sunday Market, where Yvonne will have chopped cabbage ready for Lewis & Morse, as well as bags of produce to feed them for the coming week. Ken will carry my bags to the car while Wes goes in search of eggs, bread & perhaps a new rose. 

I've had a great week of socialising via Zoom, starting with Ian & Robyn Robinson last Sunday; Kathy & Karen on Thursday, & Leanne on Friday. Wes joined me to chat with the Robinsons and also had his own sessions with Barbara Simpson. We were booked to catch up with the Kirbys but I was confined to quarters with bronchial asthma for about 48 hours, so missed out on them, and my Tuesday chats with Jeff & Leanne. 

When we turned around to see where the boys were after our chat with the Robinsons, this is what greeted us!

Our film this week was the other Shane Maloney book Brush Off, which we enjoyed, set as it was around the Melbourne Arts Centre with a wonderful cast & an excellent screenplay by John Clarke, who allowed himself a cameo role. 

On Wednesday we went for a drive to get out from under Sandra's feet. I still wasn't feeling wonderful, but kept my appointment for a trim with Lyndal and let Wes do the driving & delivering that is my usual fortnightly routine. We ended up in Trentham & bought a bag of Dutch Cream potatoes from one of the local farmers. They are so fresh & last for ages.

I've ended up back in bed by mid-afternoon each day - just got no energy at all. This is what happens - you feel on top of things, do too much & pay for it. I was even starting to think perhaps I had shrugged off chronic fatigue, but no such luck. Still, there are much worse things to have wrong & it isn't life-threatening. I'm getting lots of reading & re-reading done & have been watching the Indian Women's team give the Australians hell in our only cricket Test on the Gold Coast. 

While Melbourne is wearing the mantle of most-locked down city in the world, we have some more freedoms, but are treading gently, especially after Coles & Cellarbrations were listed as Tier 2 sites early in the week. I cancelled shopping & will do it early tomorrow or Tuesday & Wes is out of whisky, but drinking brandy instead. We will remedy that this week.  

The garden is looking lovely as I sit here in the study watching the birds fight over their seed & oats. Rob & Dene's oak trees are coming into leaf, our roses are green & healthy, the lavender is out & there are still a handful of daffodils nodding away. No sign of our tulips or irises as yet - we have that to look forward to. 

Double dose of labs - Lewis & Morse curled up together in a patch of afternoon sun