Morse

Morse
Morse & friend

Sunday 19 February 2023

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 19th February 2023


Last Sunday we enjoyed some light rain during the morning. After the Market, Wes & Morse drove to Ballan to water Rob & Dene's garden while they were busy relaxing in Thailand. Morse ran around looking for them and tired himself out, spending the rest of his day under a rug sleeping. 

It's been a busy week, so busy we spent Monday School planning it! I had a massage with Sarah that morning, followed by a lovely lunch with Janine & Judi at Bad Habits Café, where we were spoilt by having the best table in the room. We enjoyed catching up on each other's news - after years of seeing each other most Sunday mornings over breakfast, we have to make special efforts to spend time with each other these days. 

On Tuesday, we started with an early Messenger chat with my aunt, Jeff, in Lincolnshire, and while Wes got into the garden, I had a Zoom catch up with Leanne, followed by a manicure with Juls in Hepburn, which is always fun. Juls, & her husband, George, used to live next door to us at #80, and our friendship spans over 20 years. We enjoyed more Zooms on Thursday when Wes caught up with his Overseas Friends, and me with Old Friends, and I even had a Zoom yesterday with Jan in Maleny, as our usual Tuesday spot hadn't suited us. 

We were very sad and shocked to hear of the death of Maryanne Phelan, one of Wes's cousins, who we met before the 200th Anniversary of the arrival of the McShane brothers in Tasmania. She was nervous about going, and Wes and I drove to Woodend so she could meet us & feel more comfortable. She and her husband, Kelvin, attended the celebrations in June 2018, and she has been a mainstay of Wes's "Cousins' Zooms", which are held on the first Thursday each month. We had both spoken to her recently when she rang to say she wasn't well enough to be part of the February Zoom. Maryanne will be missed by us all. 

Wes & Maryanne in Pontville, Tasmania

Wes had a telephone consultation with his doctor, who advised him that we could go ahead & book our 5th COVID boosters, which we did at once & will be having this Thursday afternoon, where we will no doubt meet up with friends doing the same thing at Springs Medical in Daylesford. 

We had booked tickets to see "Time" the installation by Rone, (Tyrone Wright), at the Flinders Street Station ballroom area, which is on the third floor. Wes contacted Callum Preston to see if he and his wife, Mo, would be available to catch up with us while we were there. They had a free morning & took us on a 90-minute tour of the stunning exhibition, of which Callum is the set build director & Mo a set decorator. We were blown away by the work that went into all the sets, which acted as backdrops to the beautiful female images that Rone is famous for. We can't recommend this more highly, but if you can't get there, this YouTube video will give you an idea of what you are missing. Don't watch it if you have tickets as it will ruin some of the surprises. 

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjALPGfk9qk

Mo, Callum, Karen & Wes at Union Kiosk

Our whole expedition to Melbourne went well - we arrived at Ballan Station early enough to get free Seniors' train travel tickets; had enough time at Flinders Street to get hot drinks before the 10am session; not only spent 90 minutes at "Time" with Callum & Mo, but also had yummy, toasted sandwiches for lunch with them at Union Kiosk. We caught the early afternoon train home & drove back here to find Morse had been sleeping & hadn't missed us too much!

As if we hadn't enough on our plates, I had booked our cars in for service with Ballarat Mazda on Friday, so we duly drove there by 8am, collected a courtesy car, and drove to our favourite Ballarat café, Lekker, for breakfast. We had our usual meals - Tuki sausages for Wes & Matt's special for me. Afterwards we popped into Gems & Jewels to get my anklet repaired, visited the NAB to get some cash & got a park outside Regent Cinemas in time for the early showing of the Irish film "The Banshees of Inisherin". This film is perfectly cast, beautifully written & acted, and has the Irish Civil War as its backdrop. There are some very funny moments until the film slowly turns into a tragedy, which we won't forget for quite a long time. 

Yummy breakfasts at Lekker - they even have Jasmine tea!

Once again, we got home to find Morse was OK & had been sleeping off the exciting, dried bone he had been given to let him know we would be awhile. The same thing will happen this morning after the Daylesford Market. We are off to Strathmore to visit Leanne and implement Stage 3 of her garden, as well as help with a few other issues that have cropped us since our last visit three weeks ago. 

The 2nd Test in Delhi has been a welcome relaxation these past two afternoons, especially as the rejigged Australian team is more competitive than in the 1st Test and the match is nicely poised. ABC radio announced that the smog levels in Delhi yesterday were 100 times that of Melbourne & the TV picture shows that. We have been thinking about our visit there for Test cricket back in 2008, where it was muggy, smoggy & a challenge to cricketers & spectators alike. 
Wes, Karen, David & Teena at Delhi - 3rd Test 2008

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