Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 27th April 2025

 

No-one told Snoopy to read the fine print!

We started our week with me doing the Market shopping, where everyone was very sorry to hear about Wes and his fall. Morse needed lots of treats & bones and Jeff, the dog treat man, was very generous, throwing in all sort of extra things once he heard what had happened. Not sure that Morse has forgiven me yet for going without him, but I couldn't hold on to him and do the shopping successfully!

On Monday morning, I drove us to the Emergency department of St John of God Hospital in Ballarat, where we were second in the queue and looked after promptly. Dr Anthony was hopeful that there were no breaks, and x-rays proved him right. We spent 2.5 hours there & everyone was helpful and considerate, with all of them agreeing that ladders are forbidden from now on. 

We celebrated with tea & Hot Cross buns on our return home, where Morse was very relieved to see us. Wes has been inundated with wonderful messages of love & support, for which we are both very grateful. The outcome is so much better than it might have been.

A cheerful corner of marigolds in the back garden

After walking Morse in the cemetery early on Tuesday, I did the supermarket shopping; had a Zoom with Leanne; kept an appointment with my doctor, Ellie, who was sorry to hear about Wes, and gave me some good advice. Then I popped in next door to see Glen, who was having a few days away, to find out what I could do in the way of watering and looking after things. 

We have arranged automatic Federal Election postal voting, and our envelopes were in our PO Box when I checked. We quickly filled them in and posted them the same day.

That afternoon, we drove back to Springs Medical for our flu injections. We walked in & were seen immediately, didn't even have time to sit down. Neither of us had any adverse reaction to the shots & are pleased to have had them in the hope we don't get this rotten flu. We caught up with Nick & Robyn Massaro, as well as Max Primmer while we were there, and Nick rang later to see if he could help in a practical way, which was lovely.

Our Weeping Japanese maple in the front garden turning colour

On Wednesday, Wes & I both had hair appointments at Daylesford Hair & Beauty and I dropped him back home before playing Mah Jong with Judi for a couple of hours. We shared the wins and tried a few more hands, which is always satisfying. At lunchtime I received an email from the Australian Electoral Commission confirming they had received our votes - amazing!

The bunnies are back at Daylesford Cemetery, so our early morning walks are full of joy as Morse spots & then chases a bunny until it disappears in one of many hidey-holes. On Thursday, after a good walk, I had an excellent Zoom with Old Friends - Kathy, Joyce, Lib & Karen S, where we all shared our Easter stories.

We were expecting lots of rain on ANZAC Day, but it was dry when Morse & I walked early, and there were plenty of people at the Dawn Service, which I couldn't attend as Morse would get too agitated. I had hoped to go to the 9am Eganstown Ceremony that we love, but was Zooming with Leanne, and realised she needed me more. Her support worker is on holidays, as is her exercise physio, so her only visitor at present is Jimmy, who cleans every Wednesday. 

Petunias looking very pretty in the wheelbarrow

Wes & Morse drove me to Ballan Station at midday, and I caught a very pleasant train to Southern Cross and then an extremely packed train to Jolimont Station and the MCG. I was fortunate enough to have bought a reserved seat under cover in the 50 year Member bay, where I enjoyed a good view of the ANZAC ceremonies and then the football. Considering the weather, it rained all afternoon, the crowd of 92,044 was astounding and it made for a wonderful atmosphere. Honours were even in the first half, but the Pies were able to get ahead halfway through the 3rd quarter and weren't headed after that. 

I left at 6pm when the Final Siren blew and made my way back to Southern Cross in time for the 6.35pm Ararat train, which stopped at Ballan, where Wes & Morse were waiting for me. Thanks to everyone for your messages, before, during & after the game - all were much appreciated.

Yesterday, we had breakfast in Gordon, a little country town, about 10 minutes out of Ballan, with Rob & Dene. Everyone in Gordon who wasn't at Gordon's Café or the Farmers' Market across the road, was at the Gordon Football Ground watching underage footy & netball competitions before the main games at 2.30pm. 

Above Dene & Rob, below Wes & his crutches - we had this quirky little room all to ourselves for 90 minutes, which was perfect for catching up

Like much of the world, we were very sorry that Pope Francis has died. He was a force for good; humble; internationally visible and concerned for peace and the poor. Let's hope the new Pope is similarly inclined.

Daylesford Easter Dispatch - Sunday, 20th April 2025

Last Sunday, we had been invited to have breakfast with Jenny & Graham Ellender, friends who used to live in Daylesford, but have been in Craigburn, a suburb of Adelaide for the past 9 years. We found their place easily and were welcomed by their 18 month old dark brown Labrador, Ellie. Ellie likes to get around with a friend in her mouth as you can see from the photo below. 

Sorry about the quality, but the sun was shining & Ellie is very dark brown - however, you can see her friend easily!!

After an enjoyable 90 minute catch up, we drove back to Adelaide, found a park and went to the Art Gallery. Not much had changed since our last visit, but there was an interesting Asian art exhibition, mostly centred on Krishna, and featuring very old artefacts including a 400-year old rug, and 1,000 year old pottery.

As it as very hot, 34℃, we came back here for a rest, watched some more footy and went back to Chef Dong for dinner. No Smith & Shaw sauvignon blanc this time, we stayed on Jasmine tea as we had the big drive home the next day. 

Our drive went well, we made good time, and our longest stop was at Horsham, where we had spotted on Trip Advisor that Conroy Pies got 5 stars for best bakery in town. We stopped there and bought fresh salad sandwiches for brunch. We can't recommend Conroy more highly, clean, well-set out, huge selection of fresh pies, sandwiches, pastries, cakes etc and very friendly smiling staff. 

We were thrilled when we arrived home to discover that Glen had kept all our punnets of pleasure alive, as well as the cucumbers & lemons. While Wes checked computers & TVs etc, I unpacked and got the first of two loads of washing going. We had decided to debrief regularly at 5pm, and when Wes arrived upstairs to pour a brandy & dry for each of us, I was still working on the laptop, which was on South Australian time - oops!

Spot the two cucumbers!

We had ordered a mushroom pizza from the Daylesford Hotel, and demolished it with a glass of Italian red we had found in the Adelaide Central Markets. Both were very yummy and went well with footy shows, which we were keen to see. Wes asked me what I had most missed about home, apart from Morse, and I replied Foxtel, especially the footy commentary and discussions.

We woke at 6am on Tuesday after a good sleep, and I headed off to Coles Supermarket, where Mari greeted me very happily as I had been missed. While Wes caught up on computer stuff, I then went fruit & vegetable shopping at Tonna's, and finally, collected prescriptions from Bloom's the Chemist. Meanwhile Wes went to Eureka Kennels in Ballarat to collect Morse, who got a very good report - he was even good on his walks! Morse was so thrilled to see us both and to be back home, but he was very sleepy and couldn't keep his eyes open for long.  

We were all tired by 5pm that night - there is always so much to do when you arrive back home after a break. I fed Morse early, had a G&T with Wes and a debrief, before retreating to bed to watch footy shows until it was time to go to sleep. Even Morse didn't bother with his usual nightly routine of checking the neighbours and snored gently most of the night. 

We enjoyed walking around Daylesford Cemetery on Wednesday morning in the early light without needing a torch. However, there were no bunnies, but as Leanne pointed out when I Zoomed with her afterwards, they were probably very busy delivering Easter Eggs!

While Judi and I played Mah Jong, where honours were even, and we tried some games we don't often play, Wes spent the rest of the morning doing home handyman chores & watering in the backyard. 

By Thursday, we were back in the swing of things - Wes enjoyed an excellent Zoom with the Jackson Group, where the topic was Social Media Impacts & Risks, which encouraged a good debate with differing views. My Old Friends Zoom included Lib, Kathy, Karen S & Joyce and we were all delighted to catch up after a couple of weeks' break, and talked about our Easter plans among other topics.

That night, Collingwood had a good, and unexpected win against Brisbane at the Gabba. I was very proud of our team and the way they played, honouring Jamie Elliott's 200th game in style.

It was a late night, but we were all up at 6am on Good Friday to walk around Daylesford Cemetery, before coming home to give Morse a bath and relax with fresh, yummy Hot Cross buns from Baker's Delight. 

Then our lives changed - Wes was up a ladder putting the Collingwood flag back (it had blown down in strong winds), when he fell backwards and landed in the garden. I was upstairs ironing and saw it happen, so arrived quickly to help him up and check nothing was broken. He was very bruised and his knee was swollen and painful. Once we got him to bed, we were able to ice the knee regularly and put Arnica on all his bruises. It was very frightening and could have been so much worse. I have forbidden climbing of outdoor ladders and Wes agrees. Our indoor timber ladder is exempted as it only has 4 rungs & is very sturdy.

Fortunately, this standard Red Riding Hood rose broke Wes's fall - we've patched it up and hope it might survive

The Blues easily beat the Kangaroos in the afternoon, which cheered him up. Yesterday, I took Morse to the Cemetery for his walk, and he coped very well with just me, although he raced in to tell Wes all about it when he arrived back home. We were due to visit Leanne for Easter, but had to postpone that, and Wes has had to cancel a few activities he had planned for this week.

Glen arrived yesterday morning with her crutches for him to use and Wes immediately felt more confident with them. I had been to the pharmacy to get a compression bandage, which also had an instant effect. He and Morse resumed their usual positions in the lounge and both felt better for that!

We're having a quiet Easter Sunday, and hoping to see the doctor on Tuesday morning when Springs Medical re-opens. It was lovely to finally have some rain overnight and everywhere looks fresh and happier for the drink of water.

Adelaide Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 13th April 2025

 

Not sure grandparents relate to Sally the way she would like!

Last Sunday morning we decided to go for a walk around Gosch's Paddock, which was very short-lived as we encountered groups of runners around every corner. So we returned to Swan Street and started walking along it until we reached Cremorne Street, where we saw the intriguing sign pointing to the Cremorne Pleasure Gardens. We followed this sign to Dover Street and found a delightful little garden at the end of the street. 

Wonderful plaque celebrating the re-opening of the Pleasure Gardens by Commissioner Alex Gillon. Apparently the original Pleasure Gardens held up to 5,000 people & were the site of restaurants, hot air balloon launches & areas for dancing, and the end of the Annual 888 marches celebrating the 8 hour working day.

We then caught the no 70 tram back into town for a Red Emperor yum cha catch up with Old Friends - Kathy & Gerard Lazzaro, Karen & Malcolm Stevenson, and Marilyn & Robert Preston. Our host, Simon, gave us a large round table in a corner, where we were well looked after with Jasmine tea, yum cha dishes & alcohol. As the restaurant wasn't busy, we managed to spend 2 hours there, sitting around long after we had finished eating & drinking.

Karen, Gerard & Marilyn

Malcolm, Kathy & Wes

On Monday, we had made plans to spend time with Terry Borg, especially as we had missed her 80th birthday bash. We met at Touch Wood café in Bridge Road, Richmond, and spent a very happy hour or so over brunch. She had brought us home-made jams and a book to read, which were all very welcome gifts. 

Then we went across the road to Katmandu, where a very nice sales assistant from Ballarat, helped me find some new pants & a top. Next we caught the no 75 tram in Bridge Road, which took us into Flinders Street, and went to see the free Graffiti Exhibition at The Outsiders Gallery, in Flinders Lane. Karen S had told me about it the previous Thursday, and I'd spoken with Marilyn & Robert about it on Sunday, as their younger son, Callum, had done much of the work reinstalling the sewing room from the Rone "Time" Exhibition, which was part of this display. The highlight was some amazing works by Banksy, and we felt very pleased we had visited. The Exhibition is perfectly positioned as Hosier Lane nearby is full of street art and visitors taking photos of it. 

Iconic Banksy images

We caught our no 70 tram back to our accommodation after that and I threw out two pairs of pants and a top in celebration of new clothes! We were tired after our socialising and walking and enjoyed a quiet afternoon catching up on emails, The Age, book-reading, crosswords etc. Wes offered scrambled eggs for dinner and when he broke open the three eggs we'd brought with us, there were 7 yolks - surely a world record!

Wes came up with the brilliant idea that we spend our last day before driving to Adelaide with a trip to Blairgowrie, especially Pearse Road, where we shared a holiday house in the 80s & 90s with Sherryn & Paul Danaher. We arrived at no 17, and discovered it was on the short-term rental market. As there was no car in sight, we snuck in and were thrilled to discover that Paul's sunken cocktail garden next to the carport was still there. We weren't so thrilled when we parked at the end of the street and tried to find the secret path to the beach, to discover from a local, Fay, that the Council had closed it off, and that dogs are not allowed on the beach at any time of the year. We went for a walk along the back-beach path and reminisced about all the wonderful times we had spent there, mostly with friends and often their kids. 

We hadn't eaten, so stopped at the Blairgowrie Bathing Box café, where we were greeted by lovely staff and fed inexpensive, yummy, enormous meals, which we couldn't finish! Afterwards we drove to Sorrento and marvelled at the changes in the main shopping area there, although we couldn't find the wonderful ice-cream shop that was usually our reason to drive there.

Lovely photo of Wes at the café

Big breakfasts - the spinach, mushrooms, tomato & avocado were particularly well cooked & the meals were attractively presented

When we arrived back at Cremorne, we decided to pack as much as we could, so we could get away quickly and early the next morning as we had to drive to Adelaide. We headed off at 6.40am and arrived at Athelney Cottage just after 3pm, where Rosie had our room looking welcoming. We decided to go for a walk to Hsin Fortuna in The Parade, Norwood, and enjoyed our Cantonese meal, including flaming prawns.

Our lovely big room in Athelney Cottage Studio

On Thursday, we woke early and headed to Pantry on Egmont, which we had found and enjoyed last December. We reprised our favourite meals - Turkish eggs for me, and poached eggs, bacon and tomatoes for Wes.

Yummy breakfasts and the view from the café

Then we drove to the Adelaide Markets, where we found 6 new books, a runny cheese, an Italian red wine and boxes of Jasmine tea. Armed with all this, we came home for a rest before heading to the Adelaide Oval for Adelaide vs Geelong, the opening game of Gather Round. We were less than impressed when we tried to work on our laptop and nothing happened. Eventually Wes consulted AI, and was given instructions for a hard restart, which did the trick.

We thoroughly enjoyed the first game of footy, where Adelaide dominated the opening half before Geelong got their act together and won by 19 points. It was a beautiful night and we were sitting close to the action in a pocket, with a great view of the goals as they were kicked. 

On Friday, we slept in after our late night and had tea and toast for breakfast here before heading out to Adelaide's Rundle Mall to get some footy atmosphere, pick up The Age newspaper and come back via Adelaide's beautiful Botanic Gardens to see their Chihuly Exhibition, which closes at the end of April.

That night we walked back to the Adelaide Oval, where we had seats up on Level 5 of the Riverbank Stand, to see Collingwood play Sydney. It was an even game in the first half, but the Pies managed to get on top in the 3rd quarter and win. We came home to glasses of white wine and our runny cheese to celebrate.

Yesterday, we had a slow start until it was time to walk back to the Adelaide Oval for the Carlton & West Coast match, which started at 12.50pm. It was very hot, 32℃, so we took it slowly. Fortunately our seats were under cover on Level 3 of the Western Stand. It was an error-ridden match, but Carlton were far too good and won by 12 goals. Wes was thrilled to have a win, but frustrated by the errors.

We decided to have an early dinner at Chef Dong that night to celebrate, so after we had cooled down at home, we drove there and enjoyed another wonderful meal - the highlight was a whole flounder steamed with ginger & spring onions. My photo doesn't do it justice!

Melbourne Autumn Dispatch - Sunday , 6th April 2025

 
Ha Ha!

We had a very good visit with Leanne last Sunday. Morse took some persuading that he wasn't going to the Daylesford Market at 7.45am, but the sight of a dried marrow bone cheered him up enormously and he was sound asleep when we returned. Wes spent most of his time at Strathmore watering, pruning & weeding the garden, while I showed Leanne a few tricks to make navigating her TV easier. We drove home through wild winds which caused quite a bit of havoc everywhere.

On Monday, it seemed odd not to go to Coles for supermarket shopping, but we had a good School session, tidying up our wine deliveries and making time to catch up with friends, as well as sorting out some appointments. Late morning, I had a massage with Sarah, which was just what I needed. Wes worked in the garden, and in the afternoon we both made a start on holiday packing. 

These are our red hydrangeas which have dried to a beautiful colour

On Tuesday I had a lovely early chat with my aunt, Jeff, in Lincolnshire, followed by a good catch up with my sister, Leanne. Then I was due for a manicure with Juls, but when I arrived, she had forgotten I was coming on a Tuesday, and her nephew was asleep in her studio. We postponed the manicure until the next day and I came home to do some more packing, as well as finalise all the last minute payments & entry codes for our trip. 

While Wes did his usual vacuuming & washing floors on Wednesday morning, as well as planting, watering, washing Pearl and packing, I had an early fringe trim, before playing Mah Jong with Judi. Then I drove to Hepburn to have my delayed manicure. By the time I got home I was exhausted and so pleased I was already packed. We went through our checklist and discovered we had thought of just about everything for a change!

By Thursday morning, Morse had twigged that something was up. We walked him early and while I was chatting with Old Friends - Kathy & Karen S, Wes drove him to Eureka Kennels in Ballarat and met one of the dog walkers, who knew Morse well. He has been housed next to a young female Lab having her first visit to kennels.

When Wes got home, I had everything ready to be put in Pearl and after a quick check that I had switched everything off and locked all the doors, we headed to the Old Glenlyon General Store for brunch, which was a great start to the trip. 

My meal of salmon gravlax with sour dough, crême fraiche & pickled vegetables was as yummy as it looked, while Wes reprised poached eggs with bacon & tomatoes

We then had a fairly good drive to Cremorne, which is a little suburb near Richmond, within walking distance of the MCG and checked into our apartment. We chose this place because it is a great location, and we can park the car. We were on level 5, the top, with floor to ceiling views of the MCG, the Rugby Stadium, and Gosch's paddock, as well as the Melbourne skyline. 

That night, we walked to the MCG, and chose a spot for Wes to wait for me after the game and make sure I found my way back. Everything looks so different in the dark, especially when you are part of 80,000+ vacating the ground. The footy was marred by swirling winds and occasional rain, but Collingwood put together an excellent 3rd quarter and ran out winners after being headed early. We sat with a glass of wine after we got back and unwound before going to bed very late for us. 

We had a slow start to Friday, but eventually caught the no 70 tram into town and had lunch at Red Emperor in Little Bourke Street. I had been dying to introduce Wes to this beautiful restaurant and, as Collingwood won the footy, I got to choose our lunch spot. We opted for yum cha and thoroughly enjoyed our meal and excellent service.

Yesterday, we had a wonderful catch up with Tom Tyrrell & Deb Fowler at Ten Square Café in Hardware Street. Wes had picked the spot from Trip Advisor, and we weren't disappointed. We all enjoyed our meals and were able to sit chatting for 90 minutes, which was a bonus. Afterwards, Wes & I went to NGV Australia, which wasn't busy, and enjoyed an hour or so wandering around some familiar & new paintings. 

We loved this painting by Isa Riely - Waterfall at Mt Macedon and can't wait to see it next time we visit

Wes had the brilliant idea when we left the NGV that we should ride our no 70 tram all the way to Wattle Park, and we did - seeing suburbs we used to know quite well but haven't visited in years. The tram driver was happy for us to stay on at the terminus, so we changed seats to be facing the way we were travelling on the trip back. When we finally read the day's Age newspaper, we discovered that oldest Lone Pine tree is planted at Wattle Park - we would have gone to find it if we had realised!

Us enjoying spending ages on a tram!