Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 13th February 2022

 

Poor Woodstock!

As you might have guessed from last week's Dispatch, this has been another quiet one, with lots of cancellations. I managed to get to the Sunday Market, but spent the rest of the day quietly, watching the Australian Women's team win the Ashes at the Junction Oval in their second ODI against England. Wes had an excellent visit with Leanne, doing some odd jobs, repairs, fixing her computer & printer, and having a good chat about how she is going. 

On Monday, I did the supermarket shopping, then collected Wes who had dropped our Mazda 6 back at Howe Automotive to see if they could fix the transmission problem. By the time the car was ready at 6pm that night, I was back in bed, so we left it there to collect the next morning. 

I felt quite a lot better on Tuesday & settled down to watch the Women's final ODI against England, changing the sheets & towels during the drinks breaks & doing the folding & ironing through the lunch break. It was good to still be up, having fed Lewis & Morse their dinner & share a drink & chat with Wes around 5.30pm, although that wore me out & he kindly served dinner in bed. 

Thanks to everyone who has been in touch wishing me well - most of you have worse health problems than I do & I am grateful to know you are thinking of me. I don't think I'll ever get used to not being able to do as much as I'd like, even taking getting older into account. 

Wes & the boys have spent much of the week gardening in the mornings, resting over lunchtime & computer work in the afternoon. Those not actually using the computer tend to extend the rest time until it gets close to dinner & then they come alive with a vengeance. 

Morse & Lewis catching up on sleep on the left & a small vase of perfect roses at the front door on the right

I was thrilled to be able to host a Zoom chat of old friends on Thursday morning, with friend, Libby Edgoose, joining us for the first time. Kathy, Karen & I were delighted to see her, &, specially to hear her news of a move to a retirement village in Gladstone, about 20 minutes' drive from her daughter, Becky. I've known Lib since I was 18 and we've shared much together over the years - obviously not recently since she moved to Queensland, but we have lots of fond memories as do Kathy & Karen. 

            Lib & Karen outside Chaplin's in Trentham in 2014

I was also able to chat with Leanne on Friday via Zoom, which was important as we hadn't talked for a week & she had lots to tell me. When you live on your own, it must be so hard, not having anyone right there to share things with & I am happy to listen to the latest news on her carers, doctor, NDIS etc, as well as discuss anything she needs to run past another person. 

Yesterday, our neighbour, Glen, gave us 3kg of her beautiful plums, which I turned into 2kgs chutney & 1kg of stewed fruit with some pears. I was thrilled that I could concentrate on the recipe and felt very chuffed to have achieved something concrete this week! We celebrated with fish & chips for dinner & watched Carlton's AFLW team play Fremantle in WA as we ate. Darcy Vescio's opening goal was easily the highlight as the Blues were no match for the Dockers for the rest of the match. Fingers crossed that the Pies can do a little better this arvo against West Coast.

I leave you with a rare photo of Morse (left) & Lewis sleeping with their heads at the same end of the bed!