Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 23rd October 2022

 
It's been that way here for the past week or so 

Our week started well with a great visit to Leanne. No NDIS cleaner had brought a vacuum cleaner for the past three weeks, so we took ours & Wes gave everywhere a good clean, much to her delight. We also helped fill her bins, took some stuff for the op shops & enjoyed a good chat to boot! We were both tired by the time we arrived back home, where Morse had tried to bury his big bone in quite a few spots & had fallen asleep in exhaustion!

There used to be a third rhubarb plant in this bed before the bone was buried here

On Monday, Wes decided we needed entertainment for School as I was having a procedure to remove growths afterwards, and he chose the wonderful 1969 film, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring a very young Maggie Smith. What a wonderful film, based on the excellent book of the same name by Muriel Spark.

Maggie Smith in the title role

When we arrived for my appointment with Dr Ellie, she had chatted with another doctor & they had both decided it would be preferable to try freezing the growths off, rather than cutting them. I was very happy with that decision, so Ellie did some aggressive freezing & we'll see how they are in a fortnight.

It's been a busy week for Zooms - two good chats with Leanne, a lovely catch up with Jan Pengilley in Maleny, as well as a most enjoyable talk with Old Friends. Plus, I had a manicure with Juls, which can take anything from 1-1.5 hours depending on how much she has to say; a fringe trim with Lyndal, who has been working hard keeping her trotters on dry land during this rain, and a long-overdue brunch with Rhonda at Cliffy's.  

Instead of playing Mah Jong this week, Wes & I met up with Dot & John at Muffins & More for cuppas & a chat. The café was busy as usual & we greeted a few friends, as well as enjoyed seeing visitors gaze in amazement at the size of their meals! 

New doona cover in celebration of warmer weather

We were very sad to hear of the sudden death of old friend, Ron Paoli this week. Wes discovered Ron was in palliative care on Wednesday & exchanged texts with him - by Thursday he had died. There will be a celebration of his life next month. We met Ron & his wife, Rina, through Brunswick Rotary in the 80s & stayed in touch over the years. He will be missed.

Ron & Rina celebrating 59 years of marriage earlier this year

Yesterday was Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley Racecourse - we decided to reprise our successful betting strategy of the previous week, and took a 4-horse quinella & trifecta in the Gold Cup, followed by the Cox Plate, plus a running double in those races. We saluted in the Gold Cup & got the running double, which put us ahead again. It was a stunning Cox Plate win by the 4-year-old stallion, Anamoe. 

In between watching the races, I saw the AFLW Collingwood team get comprehensively beaten by North Melbourne, which is looking like a Premiership threat at the end of the season. It was no better when the cricket started - the Kiwis blasted our bowlers to score 200 in our T20 game & we were all out for 111. Not an auspicious start to our campaign for back-to-back titles. 

Thanks to Jane Knox for this lovely recent photo of our friends, Terry McDonald & David Knox at dinner in Sydney