Don't you just love Lucy!
We started our week last Sunday with a delightful visit to the Daylesford Market, dropping papers & magazines to Judi along the way, and catching up with a few friends while we were there. Morse was in heaven - there were no other dogs, and everyone gave him a pat or made a fuss. Then, while I unpacked our week's fruit & vegetables, he and Wes drove to Ballan to check out Rob & Dene's home, make sure plants were watered and that there was no damage from the storms of the past week.
I spent the afternoon watching AFLW games and was delighted when Collingwood beat Freo at Victoria Park in front of an enthusiastic crowd. Carlton weren't so lucky, finding scoring very difficult against North Melbourne, who must be early favourites for the flag. Essendon played their first home game at Windy Hill and were well-supported there as they beat the Saints.
On Monday, it was a beautiful day after a cold start. We had decided to spend School seeing if we could follow the instructions to reset our laptop and we couldn't. Wes emailed them yet again, telling them that we would like them to reset it, or give us a new laptop. I am quite sure we won't be touch Lenova again, as they have been slow to assist and happy to throw it all back on us even though the laptop is faulty and still under warranty. They eventually agreed to refund our money and we hope to return the laptop to Officeworks in Ballarat & chose a new one tomorrow.
Morse & friend catching up on sleep
I started Tuesday with an early chat with my aunt, Jeff, and cousin, Leigh, in Lincolnshire. It was wonderful to see Jeff looking well again, and to catch up with Leigh and hear about the latest holiday she & Simon had. Afterwards I had a good Zoom with Leanne, and we made plans for our visit today. It's been a while since I've been to Strathmore, and it will be good for us to see each other, and for me to help with a few jobs. Meanwhile, Wes went back to Dr James to have his ears syringed clean again, and he is very relieved to be able to hear properly.
Les came to install our new skylights in the upstairs bathroom & toilet, which involved him wearing an Akubra while he spent ages up on our roof. The original skylights had diffusers, one of which had collapsed and broken, and the other of which was about to do the same. He still has some more work to do in the downstairs bathroom, as well as touch up painting and fixing a reluctant sliding door.
On Wednesday I took Morse with me when I delivered newspapers to Spring Park Nursery, followed by Epicures & The Local to Nick & Robyn, finishing with pumping mineral water at Leitches Creek. He just loves going in the car, and is very obedient. I arrived home in time to enter the MCC Reserved Seat Grand Final ballot, and was delighted to see that 50-year members have a dedicated section. It has been some years since I fluked a reserved seat & my fingers and toes are crossed, especially if Collingwood are good enough to get there.
Fragrant Erlicheer flowering in the back dog graveyard - Casper, Frodo & Bilbo are all buried there, while Lewis is in the front
Wes vacuumed and washed the floors, which dried quickly in the Spring sunshine, before having lunch at the Daylesford Royal Hotel with old friend, Bob White. Judi & I were busy playing Mah Jong or I would have asked to join them both.
On Thursday I enjoyed a good chat with Kathy, Karen & Lib and we caught up on Lib's news as we hadn't been able to speak with her last week. Meanwhile, Les was busy patching woodwork in the downstairs bathroom, and Wes was out weeding, mowing & tidying the back, which all looks great with plenty of yellow daffs still waving their heads. I bought some punnets of pleasure - dwarf marigolds & chain of pearls lobelia, which I have planted in two of the boxes on the decking.
Nothing quite matches the beauty of Glen's plum tree next door
We decided to have breakfast at Pancho on Friday morning, in case the footy went badly that night. James, our neighbour, at #80, was here on his own, and was thrilled to be invited to join us. We spent a very happy hour chatting over our yummy meals, and learnt about his far-sighted parents, who left Edinburgh in the early 60s with his older sister & brother, for a better life in Australia. Amazingly, James's father ended up a sub-editor at The Age, at the same time as Glen's husband, Ron, was the main cartoonist, and they would have known each other.
That night, Carlton played Melbourne in a close, tense game in front of 96,000+ and won it by 2 points with an amazing goal in the last minute. Wes was delighted, as were all his Carlton friends, and many non-Blues fans, as it was such a good win. Carlton were 15th on the ladder at Round 12 this season, and now they play Brisbane in a Preliminary Final next Saturday for a place in the Grand Final.
The Carlton scarf and Morse in position for the footy
Yesterday was another lovely day. We allowed ourselves a sleep-in after the late night, and after giving Morse a bath, Wes drove them both to Ballan to check on Rob & Dene's home for the last time this trip, as they arrive back next Sunday after a wonderful holiday. That night we watched Greater Western Sydney beat Port Adelaide by 4 goals at the Adelaide Oval. GWS will now play Collingwood on Friday night for the other place in the Grand Final.
Finally, we were very sorry to hear of the death of Ron Barassi. He has stood tall in the landscape of Australian Rules football - firstly as a player with Melbourne, then a playing coach for Carlton, a coach at North Melbourne and Melbourne, as well as at Sydney, at a time when all these clubs benefitted from his influence. He is remembered as a huge influence on the game, and one of the most important in the history of the AFL.
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