Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 24th April 2022

 
I just love the look on Lucy's face!

According to Google, this is my 600th Blog - obviously, I have written more than that as I didn't publish them online at the start, but I am thrilled to have stayed in a regular pattern of communicating with friends & family. It all began when we moved here to Daylesford from Brunswick in 2000, and everyone wanted to know what the attraction was & what we would do with our time. So, I started talking about our days & it wasn't long before you all agreed that we were enjoying a great life here. The main drawback is being 90 minutes from town & friends, footy, theatres & cinemas.

If we were still in Brunswick, we may not have these two delightful Labs, pictured tucking into shredded cabbage with sliced pears at the Daylesford Sunday Market, 

courtesy of Yvonne & Ken.

One of the things I have done recently to help me rest in the afternoons, is take out a free 3-month subscription to Disney+, courtesy of more of my Telstra Gold Member points. I missed the wonderful Beatles documentary, Get Back, when it was in the cinemas & am loving seeing this previously unseen footage. We're trying to find other shows of interest as well.

Wes really enjoyed his trip to the MCG last Sunday - catching the train (everyone masked) was much easier than driving & trying to find a park. He had fun going to the Harrison Room and being told by the Carlton speaker that the Blues are in with a chance this year & he also enjoyed being able to sit where he liked, even behind the goals for two quarters. I'm sure the ghosts of Ray (his father) & his wonderful cronies were there with him & helped get the Blues over the line after an unexpected second half resurgence from Port Adelaide.                                

                           

Below is the complimentary drink as everyone starts to arrive & to the right is the serious drink with the pie & sauce.  

On Monday morning, we had a wonderful School session watching one of our favourite authors, Donna Leon, whose creation Guido Brunetti, has given us so much pleasure in over 31 books. If you are interested in seeing her speak about how she writes & why she no longer lives in Venice, please follow this link:

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DZRACFUst0-8&sa=D&source=calendar&usd=2&usg=AOvVaw3g-_ZdcXjnRuhHBN9e67Oh

We've enjoyed 40mls of rain which came mostly on Monday & Tuesday & filled the tanks as well as soaked the ground, which was desperate for it. Wes managed to walk the boys most mornings, in spite of the wet weather, because they really love that start to their day. My role is to get their breakfast ready, then go back to bed with the Age newspaper & a pot of tea. 

Because it was so wet on Tuesday, and because I had a very rare morning without a Zoom chat, we made the decision to go to the Regent Cinema in Ballarat to see the film, The Duke, starring Jim Broadbent & Helen Mirren. What a wonderful film it is - so very English, beautifully cast & scripted & a true story to boot. There were only 8 of us in the Showcase cinema, so we felt very safe. Do see it if you get the chance. 

On Wednesday, Dot was unable to play Mah Jong, and I was coughing, so we cancelled our get-together & I had a quiet day here, which meant my cough reduced & I caught up on reading, knitting, ironing & TV watching, while Wes spent time on Ancestry. Lewis & Morse were delighted to have our company, and spent their time moving from bed to bed - sometimes together, at other times alone. 

Leanne & I had a Zoom chat on Thursday as we were both busy on Friday morning & I followed that up with a delightful catch up with Kathy, Lovely & Lib. We are enjoying being able to support each other in our various health & life issues & it does help to have the empathy of old friends at least once a week. As it was dry, Wes got out the front & did some serious pruning, giving our garden lots of extra light & space to breathe. 

Friday's appointment was at Breastscreen in Ballarat for a preventative mammogram, available free every two years. Wes put the boys in Sammy & very kindly drove me there, buying vanilla slices & pies for dinner while I was being x-rayed. Lewis & Morse coped well with the time in the car - good practice for our little holiday next month. 

Yesterday we ventured to the Daylesford Farmers' Market, in the Primary School grounds, to pick up some plants from Ken, and buy eggs & chilli olives from the Peros family. Wes, of course, bought a sausage from the sizzle, and chose the Istra one which was very flavoursome indeed. It was a perfect morning & quite a few visitors & locals were out & about enjoying the ANZAC long weekend. 

L - Wes chatting to Victor Szwed & R - Ron Brown, Alan Harrison & Glenda Rozen keeping the sausage sizzle going

Wes worked hard in the garden on our return - moving the carnation tubs into shelter in preparation for Winter, uprooting the annuals which were on their last legs, planting our new purple & yellow daisies, and giving everywhere a good soaking.

In the afternoon, we watched an exciting close game at Ballarat, where the Crows beat the Doggies by a point in front of an noisy crowd. Last night, the Blues were beaten by Fremantle over there, which was disappointing, but Wes was pleased they had fought back.

Daylesford Easter Dispatch - Sunday, 17th April 2022

 

This cartoon is worth it for the look on Lucy's face!

We've enjoyed this week leading up to Easter, although town has been busy with all the visitors who pour into our Shire over these holidays. Even our little piece of Duke Street has been laden with cars - all good for the economy of the Shire!

I was so tired after my trip to Melbourne to see live footy that I took it very quietly last Sunday - went to the Market and that was about it. Spent the rest of the day watching other footy games and Wes was disgusted when Carlton reverted to their previous style of footy & couldn't beat the Gold Coast Suns. When we chatted to the Kirbys the next morning, they were elated as both Essendon & Gold Coast had won.

We had each applied for a Travel grant from the Victorian Government & Wes was successful, so decided we would have a short 'dog holiday' & introduce Lewis & Morse to the beach. We have booked a house in Inverloch, not an area we know well, but it is close to a dog beach & there are plenty of walks that we can enjoy together. We're doing this next month from 16th to 20th May & are quite excited. The most fun will be packing the four of us, dog bedding & our clothes into our little Mazda 2, Sammy. 

That afternoon I had my fifth massage with Sarah Hunt & we both agreed that she had gotten me back to how I should be. I am very impressed with her skills & enjoy spending the hour with her every four weeks. I will continue with regular remedial massage & hope not to get into pain with my neck (or anywhere else) again. 

On Tuesday I had an early Messenger chat with my aunt, Jeff, in Torkey Lock, Lincolnshire. Now that there are only 9 hours difference, I am happy to forgo a walk with my boys to talk to her, as she is still awake & alert at 9pm her time. After that I chatted with Leanne & we made plans to visit her on Good Friday after she wasn't well enough for us to see her last Sunday, which was our usual day. 

The next day was Mah Jong where Judi proceeded to win games with gay abandon, in spite of promising to play 'difficult' games & give Dot & me a chance. We enjoyed a fun morning as usual and I was pleased to come home & relax as I'd been on the road since 8am doing deliveries, visiting the Daylesford cemetery & then having a fringe trim with Lyndal.

That afternoon Wes set off for Newlyn for an afternoon of fishing, while the boys & I took it easy & waited for his return. He really enjoyed it & you can see by the photo that it was the perfect afternoon. All he needs now is to catch that brace.

Wes led the discussion with his overseas friends early on Thursday morning and they grappled with the concept of historical thought pieces - e.g. Would you have joined the barricades? After I chatted on Zoom with old friends, Kathy & Karen, I headed to The Convent for brunch at Bad Habits Café with our neighbour, Glen. We hadn't spent time together for ages & it was lovely to sit & catch up, although the Café was as busy as I have ever seen it & we were pleased we had gone at opening time of 10am. 

This is Glen's beautiful view from her back balcony

That afternoon, I realised I had done too much yet again & went back to bed, coughing & asthmatic & with absolutely no energy. When I fell asleep before half-time, the Pies were being beaten by Brisbane, so I was delighted to read when I woke that we rallied & only lost by 7 points. 

Wes was very good & understanding & went to visit Leanne on Good Friday on his own, armed with roses, Hot Cross buns, jam & our toaster. Leanne was thrilled to have his company & input, as she has been down in the dumps with not feeling well physically.

Yesterday I had an appointment with Dr Ellie, to get the second lot of blood test results & Wes came with me in case there was a serious issue that needed tackling. The good news is that there was no abnormality with my second test & I am as well as I can be. Except that I'm not - next step is a lung function test in Ballarat when I can get an appointment, but Ellie agreed that being asthmatic & coughing would exacerbate my chronic fatigue, so she gave me a prescription for prednisolone, a corticosteroid that decreases your immune system's response. Fingers crossed that works & if not, the lung function test might hold the answer. 

Lewis & Morse at night with fluorescent collars 🤣🤣

Meanwhile, Wes has been involved with public & private meetings to solve the issue of The Rex, a building that was going to house the Council officers, the library, a cafe & a cinema. Work has stopped as it was going too far over budget & now Council, against the wishes of the ratepayers (we need a ratepayers' association here) has abandoned their plans & left the future up in the air. 

He has also been looking after the garden, watering, mowing & weeding, as well as moving plants from pots into the ground & making space for three more roses - in the front, where the tomatoes were a spectacular failure this year! As well, he keeps up his twice weekly chats with Barbara Simpson in NZ & is fielding calls about the upcoming Federal Election on Saturday, 21st May, as well as the local issue of The Rex. 

Today, after the Sunday Market, he is driving to Ballan to catch the train to the MCG for the Carlton vs Port Adelaide match@ 1.40pm. As a 'new' member of Carlton, he has been invited to a function before the game, where he will listen to a speech, be able to buy food & perhaps get a free drink voucher, and, if he is really lucky, snaffle a seat on the second level, instead of taking potluck in the 'Carlton section', where no seat is guaranteed. Fingers & toes crossed that the Blues bring their A game to the match!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 10th April, 2022

Thanks to Judi for this wonderful follow up to last week's Snoopy 

Last Sunday, after an extra hour of sleep, we were up & about enjoyed finishing our Lake Daylesford walk in daylight, so we could admire the colours of the trees as they turn red, yellow & orange. After the Daylesford Market trip, where Yvonne & Ken had sliced pears again on top of the cabbage for Lewis & Morse, we came back here to find room in the fridge & fruit bowls for all our produce, before Wes set off to the MCG via Leanne in Strathmore, where he was dropping in for a catch-up chat. 

Sadly, he was unable to get within cooee of the MCG & there was no parking available anywhere, caused by the 66,000 at the G & thousands more at the International Flower Show. He arrived home at half-time in the game, having missed the exciting first quarter, when the Blues were unstoppable. Fortunately, they prevailed to win by a point against the fast-finishing Hawks. 

I had been glued to the Women's International One-Day Cup Final between Australia & England in Christchurch, where Alyssa Healy hit 170, the highest individual score in a Final by a male or female, to anchor our innings. In spite of a swashbuckling batting display by Nat Sciver (148n.o.), England were unable to resist our bowlers & we won by 71 runs.

We decided to play hookey from School on Monday & headed to Cliffy's for breakfast, which is much easier to do now you can book online again. I don't enjoy queueing up & it was worth it as we were ushered straight to a table. Wes had the bircher muesli, which looked very inviting, and I lashed out on Laksa eggs, which was a light, but fiery combination of flavours, very reminiscent of Sri Lankan cooking. 

Afterward we collected the boys & headed off in search of Autumn leaves. First stop was Maldon, where we were disappointed, but found a wonderful place to sit with our thermoses. Then we drove to Castlemaine, but the beautiful old trees there hadn't reached their potential, so we drove back home via Hepburn Springs, which easily had the most colourful selection we had seen anywhere. 

Karen at the Garden Room at Blackwood Ridge

Wes with Morse & Lewis at Darky's Hut, Maldon

One for the Morse & Lewis fans

Laksa eggs at Cliffy's

 

The rest of the week has gone smoothly. Wes has emptied 4 compost bins & spread the contents down in the bottom garden. He finished pruning, did some mowing & has everywhere looking lovely, especially with our lovely Autumnal days. 

I've had Zoom chats with Leanne, Kathy, Lovely & Lib as well as played Mah Jong with Dot & Judi, where Judi continued on her winning way until the last game when I prevailed for a change. 

We had decided our lounge needed freshening up and ordered some new cushions & a throw rug, which arrived on Thursday. We are delighted with the result after we re-arranged everything. Even the boys have new pillowcases courtesy of Auntie Leanne. 

From the top - new sage cushions; Lewis enjoying the fresh pillowcases, & lovely photo of Judi with more than her share of Flowers & Seasons at Mah Jong

We had arranged for both of our cars to be serviced together on Friday at Ballarat Mazda & set off early in Pearl & Sammy. We had been offered a courtesy car, which we accepted, as Mazda is in Wendouree, quite a way from Ballarat proper. First stop was Café Lekker for breakfast. We have been visiting this café for many years & it is always the same - great staff & yummy meals at reasonable prices. Since we were last there, they have converted more of the floor spaces to cubicles, which feels very safe indeed. Wes had Tuki lamb sausages with onions, tomato & potato roesti, and I had Matt's Special, which is poached eggs on smoked salmon with lemon & capers on Turkish bread. 

We had a few chores to do in Ballarat, so set off after breakfast and accomplished them all fairly quickly. We had been given a Mazda 3 to drive & it was just like Pearl, so very easy to manage. We made our way back to Mazda & sat in the waiting room, which gave us a chance to speak with Andy, who sold us Sammy, and he said things were quiet at present, mostly because they have a shortage of cars, especially the CX3, which has a waiting time of 8 months! The boys were thrilled to see us when we returned home & got extra cuddles to make up for our absence. 

Yesterday Wes drove me to the Docklands in Melbourne to see Collingwood lose to the West Coast Eagles - a game we should have won easily as the Eagles are so depleted through COVID. However, I did enjoy being at live footy again & it was wonderful to find my chauffeur outside the exit. We realised it was the first time we had driven Pearl at night & were amazed at the technology that had her turning our lights on & off high-beam when required. 

Thanks to Judi for this stunning mask, which kept me feeling very safe in the 30,000+ crowd

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd April 2022

 

One for all the writers - with thanks to Gillie!

The big news today is that Wes is off to the footy to see Carlton play Hawthorn this afternoon. He has mastered Carlton's incredibly complex ticket retrieval system & although he has been allocated a seat, he has been advised he is in a 'first in best dressed' section & can't expect to occupy that seat!

We've had a busy week as we both get back to normal health & feel up to doing things. Wes has enjoyed Zoom chats with Barbara Simpson, Jeff Bain & his Overseas Friends, while I've contacted Jeff Hoolihan, Leanne Saundry, Jan Pengilley, Kathy Lazzaro & Lib Edgoose. As well, we had a cuppa with Dot Smith & her husband, John, at Muffins, in lieu of playing Mah Jong. 

I visited my new doctor, Ellie O'Connor, for the results of my blood tests & while 99% were normal, one was unclear, so had another blood test on the spot & will find out the results on Easter Saturday morning. 

We had both hoped to achieve heaps in the garden this week, but it has been wet, windy & not the best weather for what we each wanted to do. Lewis & Morse found a way into the Roma tomato patch & ate all the ones that were ripening, leaving only the hard green ones. Fortunately, they couldn't get into the zucchini area, so we keep harvesting small, but perfect zucchini. The beans are appearing, the cucumbers are finishing, and the figs remain small, green & hard. If only they would grow & soften, we would have Kathy & Ged's problem - what to do with all these figs?

Here is a recent photo of our friends, Terry & Gail White, now resident in Katoomba near their families, after many years in Daylesford

Wes went fishing on Wednesday in his special spot, Bolwarrah, and this is the view from behind his rod

Our lovely neighbours, Rob & Dene, have sold their home & settlement is on 1st July. We are all going to miss them, but they have sold to a couple who intend to live here, so that is a bonus & we will enjoy getting to know them. I imagine Rob is going to miss being loved to death by Lewis & Morse - nobody staring at him with wagging tails as he works in his home office. 

Along with lots of people we know, we were glued to the Shane Warne Memorial Service on Wednesday night at the MCG, which culminated in the renaming of the Great Southern Stand to the Shane Warne Stand. It was a perfect celebration of his life & we were amazed at the breadth of his philanthropy & his friendships. 

On Friday we had an unexpected & most enjoyable catch up with Karen (AKA Lovely) & Malcolm Stevenson, who spent a couple of nights in Hepburn Springs with friends & had time for lunch at Bad Habits café at the Convent Gallery with us. We enjoyed yummy meals & wonderful service, as always, there and were able to linger at our table for almost two hours. 

Wes, Lovely, Karen & Malcolm in the special corner table

Yesterday was another special meal - we headed back to the Garden Room Restaurant at the Blackwood Ridge Nursery to try their Autumn set menu. It was just as stunning a meal as our two previous visits - even better for me as I was able to have a fish main course for the first time - a perfectly cooked Blue Eye fillet. The restaurant is small - inside seats about 24 & it rained all the time we were there. There is so much glass that you feel part of the herb gardens that surround it. 

Lovely photo of Wes in his Icelandic jumper with Korean chicken entree

We spent the rest of the day immersed in footy - the two best AFLW sides won their Preliminary Finals & play each other next Saturday afternoon at the Adelaide Oval, where we hope Melbourne will win their first flag against Adelaide, who already have two Premierships. Afterwards we watched Gold Coast not come out to play against Greater Western Sydney, and settled down for the Collingwood & Geelong game at the MCG. It was an amazing match & when the Pies kicked 9 goals in the 3rd quarter, I didn't expect that we would lose. However, Geelong got back into gear seriously & kept us goalless in the last quarter, while kicking 7 themselves to win the match. We switched quickly to the cricket in Pakistan to cheer ourselves up & found Australia was 3/8 in the 3rd One Day game. Not surprisingly we lost!