Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 15th September 2019

We welcomed Judi back at breakfast last Sunday, after she & Michael had enjoyed a Kimberley cruise, followed by a week in Darwin. We all thought she was looking great & listened as she shared her stories. Aileen joined us, which was lovely & we wished her well as she heads off to Singapore for a short trip.

After breakfast, Judi & I went to the Primary School book fair, where neither of us was successful in finding specific books we were looking for. 

Our fire was still alight, so we banked it up & spent a relaxing day reading the weekend papers & catching up on episodes of Trapped, as well as the wonderful Turkish film, Mustang, which we had both missed seeing at the cinema. What a powerful story of five young orphaned girls fighting for their freedom away from arranged marriages, acceptable behaviour & virginity tests.

It was absolutely freezing on Monday morning when we walked the boys & it wasn’t surprising that only one other person was walking early. Some tree branches were down, but I think that was everywhere, as a wattle next door splintered & blocked the access road. Fortunately, Glen was out, or her car would have been seriously damaged.

We were as shocked as everyone else by the sudden tragic death of much-loved ex St Kilda footballer, Richmond coach & media personality, Danny Frawley, who has battled depression for much of his life. Although I never met him, I felt as though I knew him as a courageous & great footballer before he entered coaching & then the media. It took most of the week before I stopped thinking about him & his life decisions that caused him such depression.

On Wednesday it was lovely to play Mah Jong with Judi again. She didn’t take long to pick up where she had left off & won two of the four games we played. Wes spent the morning with Barbara, washing her car & helping her with decluttering. I think Spring has that effect on us all – I certainly know I am making brave decisions to give away items I probably won’t need again, such as baby wool & knitting patterns.

Kathy Lazzaro gave me another big bag of wool from one of her friends last Saturday & I delivered most of it to Claire at the Daylesford Library. She promised to make sure it made its way to Jodie & from there to some of the women who knit & crochet for Keeping Daylesford Warm.

Lewis & Morse continue to delight – except when they are being naughty, which isn’t too often. Lewis keeps bringing large sticks into the laundry, so he can gnaw away at them when he feels like it, and Morse has moved from daffodils to camellias & is bringing the decapitated flowers inside as well.

                                                           

                                             

Morse & Lewis resting after a big day!

Wes visited Leanne on Thursday & was able to help her with a number of activities & decisions. Afterwards he drove to Carlton to meet up with his oldest friend, Tom Tyrrell, and they enjoyed a long, slow Italian lunch locally.

Tom pictured here sitting on his new black & white cushions on his veranda chairs. Needless to say, there was much merriment about the choice of colour – much more Collingwood than Essendon!

Meantime, I took the boys out when I did the shopping at Coles & Tonna’s & they loved all the attention they got from the back window of the station wagon.

On Friday, I was pleased to get back to Barry’s gym & catch up with friends. I was able to do my programme quite easily, so haven’t lost too much strength & suppleness while the gym was closed. We are still walking our friend’s dog for her & it was my turn to take her to Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens & enjoy the grass & all the bulbs that are out.

When I arrived back home, Wes was tackling the mowing for the first time in ages when there was a knock on the door & we were visited by two people who had spent their early childhood in the house that we knocked down to build Maloney Folly. They were very excited & asked lots of questions, took photos & videos without asking permission & left us exhausted when they had gone. They understood why the original home had been pulled down and could tell us what life was like here in the early 60s.

We watched Geelong play much better to defeat West Coast Eagles on Friday, and Brisbane squander chances to beat Greater Western Sydney last night. We were channel hopping with the cricket, where Steve Smith stood tall with the bat & Mitch Marsh amazed us all with 10 wickets so far in the match. The Poms are looking determined not to let us win this last Test, much to their credit, even though we have retained The Ashes.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 8th September 2019

We had a wonderful Fathers’ Day, which started with a walk around Jubilee Lake. It was rather wet underfoot & we were shocked by the desecration of trees and undergrowth in the back section, but pleased by the addition of steps to the higher level, which makes walking from our home to the Lake a possibility again. The boys were spoilt rotten at the Sunday Market with cabbage & cuddles from early morning shoppers.

Breakfast was fun, as usual, with Jan, Glen, Janine & Barbara all sharing funny stories around the table at The Food Gallery. Afterwards we popped back home to collect Lewis & Morse & drove to Kyneton to see their beautiful Avenue of Honour, which is golden trumpet daffodils as far as the eye can see. 

We spent the rest of the day at home, reading the weekend papers, doing the odd bit of weeding, snoozing, picking our own daffodils & catching up with episodes of Series 2 of the Icelandic drama Trapped, which we love. Just as Wes was making dinner, we experienced a short wild storm which brought down a powerline on the other side of the road. Fortunately there was no damage & no loss of power to anyone in our end of the street.

We walked around Lake Daylesford on Monday morning, and had no need of the torch after the first 5 minutes. We met no-one which was surprising as it was dry & not particularly cold. We do miss the noise of the geese & ducks & I keep expecting to see them emerge from one or other of their favourite places.

We had hoped to play golf at Trentham on Tuesday morning, but it was raining there and the ground was very soft underfoot after overnight rain, so we went to Cliffy’s instead. And what a great decision that was! I caught up with Donna Thorneycroft & we chatted about Collingwood until Wes stepped in. He was then grabbed by Peter O’Mara for a chat! Gillie arrived & joined us, and quite a few other friends met up after gym for a cuppa & breakfast.

Dot still wasn’t well enough for Mah Jong, so while Wes helped Barbara, I drove to Ballarat to get a few things I couldn’t buy here, including a new phone cover. It was a perfect morning for a drive & it kept me out of the house and from under Sandra’s feet. She has enough to worry about with Lewis & Morse when she is cleaning. That afternoon, I visited Emma at EKO for an overdue facial & catch up chat.

Lewis & Morse sleeping in the sun

We finally were able to take the boys out into Vincent Street for a bit of socialising on Thursday. We headed to The Food Gallery late that morning after Wes had enjoyed a productive couple of hours in the garden & sat outside with our hot drinks. A couple of people were delighted to see them & one man took a photo. We’ll have to get back in the swing of doing this as it is good for all of us!

That evening we had drinks with our new neighbour, Glen, in her lounge overlooking her lovely garden & in time to watch sunset. Those of you who shared meals at 246 Brunswick Road (AKA Maloney Manor), will remember bringing chairs once numbers got above 4 as we never ever bought chairs to go with our lovely dining table, which seats 14. We had to take our own chairs to Glen’s place as she only has one chair at present, the rest are in storage. Back home we watched to see if Essendon could match the West Coast Eagles & when it was obvious they couldn’t, we switched over to the Ashes Test at Old Trafford, where Steve Smith was busy compiling a double hundred.

On Friday morning, Wes suggested we have breakfast together to settle my nerves & send me on my way to Melbourne with something that would last me until dinner-time. We went back to The Food Gallery & enjoyed the lovely service & yummy breakfasts that Toni & Pasquale provide. Wes washed the cars while I packed and then it was time to go.

Fraser Gibson starring just under Brodie Grundy’s right arm – front page of Thursday’s Herald Sun

After I checked into my Comfort Hotel in East Melbourne, I walked into town to the Kino to see Juliette Binoche in the intriguing film Who You Think I Am. She is a wonderful actress & this was a very modern story with a number of twists & turns. The rain had disappeared when I came out of the cinema, which was very welcome for the night’s game.

I met up with my brother, Peter, at 6pm & we joined the queue at The Terrace Café where we enjoyed a meal with Lyn & Mark, who had been standing behind us. They live in Warrandyte & don’t get to the footy as much as they would like. We really only had our love of Collingwood in common, but that was enough for us to enjoy spending time together.

Amazingly, the Pies were good enough to hold off a fast-finishing Geelong side & make their way straight to a Preliminary Final in a fortnight. Peter & I were up high on the 4^th level, but we had an excellent view on the wing & enjoyed sharing the experience.

Yesterday I met Kathy & Ged for breakfast at Square & Compass, before making my way home via Leanne, who needed some help & advice. My three boys were pleased to see me & Wes lit the fire & opened a bottle of sparkling shiraz in celebration. We spent the afternoon watching GWS beat Western Bulldogs & the evening flicking between Richmond’s demolition of Brisbane & Australia’s dominance of England at Old Trafford.

I was in bed early after my busy 24 hours & missed out on the walk this morning. We are about to head off to the Sunday Market & then breakfast to catch up with friends.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 1st September 2019

We very much enjoyed our Sunday with Kathy & Ged Lazzaro, which started at the Sunday Market – Yvonne was pleased that Kathy had the right money for her purchases & Ged was happy to put Marjorie’s fruit & vegetables in her car for her. After dropping the boys home & putting away our fruit & vegetables, the four of us headed to The Food Gallery, where we met Barbara & Jan for breakfast. Aileen popped in later to share a coffee. We had lots of very funny conversations, including some vintage John Hardwick stories.

Kathy & Barbara above & Jan, Wes & Ged below

We had offered the Lazzaros a trip to Trentham & they liked the idea, so we drove there via the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. We enjoyed walking along High Street, window shopping, buying Dutch Cream potatoes & finding a tiny Sunday Market at the Trentham Railway Station. After a drive around looking at the new estates, (as the population has doubled over the past decade), we went to Chaplins for cuppas, a chat & a shared late morning tea. Bettina Ralph has a photographic Exhibition at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, so we popped in to admire her work. The hotel was nearly full with lunch-time parties of family & friends, and we had to manouveur our way around the tables.

Kathy, Ged & Wes in conversation

Our week has been unexpectedly busy. We had planned a quiet one after last week, but things crop up & it has been good to be able to help friends by walking a dog, collecting parcels, delivering wool to Keeping Daylesford Warm in Wheatsheaf, and catching up on phone calls & emails.

We did see some kangaroos & a wallaby early one morning when we went to Leitches Creek to pump mineral water. Fortunately, Lewis & Morse didn’t react – Bilbo & Frodo used to get very excited indeed!

My brother, Peter, rang on Monday to see if I was going to the footy next Friday night, and if so, was I able to get him a ticket. I was & did. It will be lovely to share time with him.

I spent a day with Leanne, who had needed a new modem for her laptop & was able to install it and assure her that when NBN arrived, she wouldn’t need another new one, as it was exactly the same as the modem we got with NBN. Wes accompanied Barbara to an appointment in Ballarat and did a few chores while they were out.

Our daffodils finally emerged from hibernation & Morse promptly started removing their heads. We are doing our best to discourage this behaviour, which ranks along with digging up camellias, weeing on the seaside daisies and removing fronds from fledgling tree ferns! Lewis does very few of these things, but he likes to play with & chew up sticks of all shapes & sizes, preferably from Wes’s woodpile, which is not a popular move either.

Yesterday, we had a lovely early walk around Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. While Wes looked after the boys, I collected about 50 pine- cones, which are in abundance & lovely when we light our fire. I spent the day washing, ironing & cleaning silver, with occasional stops for pots of Jasmine tea & crosswords. Wes worked in Ancestry before heading out into the garden and potting up geraniums. We were both glued to The Coodabeen Champions, who always entertain & amuse. Their interview with Peter Daicos was very special indeed.

Happy 80^th Birthday Jeff!  (L-R) Jeff, Archie, Kelly, Amelia, Mike & Kev Hoolihan, Simon & Leigh Murrin

This morning we are off to the Sunday Market and then breakfast at The Food Gallery, where we will be joined by Barbara, Janine, Jan & Glen. Lewis & Morse spent a lot of time deciding what to give Daddy & eventually chose chilli chocolates from Sweet Decadence, where there is still a framed notice from 2004 celebrating the birth of chilli chocolates at the request of the then Mayor, Warren Maloney.

Happy Fathers’ Day to all of you out there celebrating. We’ll raise a glass to our much-loved Dads – Ray Maloney & Perc Saundry.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 25th August 2019

Last Sunday we headed off to a small group for breakfast at The Food Gallery – us, Barbara & Janine. Everyone else was either occupied or on holidays. We enjoyed a fun chat, mostly about Janine & Barbara’s busy weeks & headed home to find Lewis & Morse had uprooted a camellia in our absence. Not a good move on their part!

Wes drove to Franklinford Cemetery to meet with Erica Higgins (also a member of the Reconciliation Advisory Group), to discuss advising the Council to provide an Information Site outlining the Aboriginal history of the area, the location of their & other gravesites as well as the historical & cultural aspects of this cemetery which dates back to 1842.

He came back here, changed clothes & drove to Essendon Football Ground for a celebration of the life of Maureen Curran, an old school-friend, married to Michael, also an old school friend, who died suddenly in WA recently. He arrived in time for the speeches & caught up with quite a few friends before heading off to visit old, dear friends, John & Carole Hardwick. John had been unwell & wasn’t able to be at the wake. Carole is a Richmond supporter & was on Cloud Nine after their gutsy win over the West Coast Eagles. The three of them had a wonderful time together and Wes was sorry to have to leave to come back home. Fortunately he arrived just before the heavens opened & was warmly welcomed by me & the boys, who had all missed him.

Lewis sitting on my lap while we watch AFL 360

It rained heavily during the night and although we had been expecting snow, none eventuated in the morning & we were able to go on our usual walk. There is no gym for a few weeks, as Barry Spall is unwell – missing it already.  

It was lovely to catch up with Gillie on Tuesday morning before my fringe trim. We don’t see each other often enough & she always has lots of share. We sat in the front window of The Food Gallery, before we headed off to our respective 10am appointments. I had visited Springs Medical Centre the day before & was amazed to find some of my beanies available on a table with free blankets as well. Perfect spot for Keeping Daylesford Warm to offer knitted & crocheted items.

Snow in Grenville Street last Sunday – that little bridge would have been impossible to cross – thanks Gail White for the photo

Wes swapped days with Barbara as he had an important meeting of the Reconciliation Advisory Group on Wednesday morning, while Dot & I met to play Mah Jong at Muffins & More. When I arrived, Dot & John were there with their friend, Ted, and we all had a cuppa together. Dot couldn’t play but we enjoyed a good chat in lieu. When Wes arrived home, I was delighted to hear how well the meeting had gone & how all his suggestions had been adopted.

Wes spent Thursday in Melbourne – first off, he visited my sister, Leanne, & helped with gardening & computer issues, then he had lunch with old friend, Peter Russo, who is also our solicitor & a very lovely man. I had an early dental appointment in Ballarat, because an old filling at the back of my mouth had started to crack. Jon Marin, my dentist, was careful & patient & I can’t believe how white that tooth looks with a modern filling instead of the old silver-coloured amalgam.

I came home to find Lewis & Morse asleep in their room after happily demolishing bones that were meant to occupy them & stop them from noticing the stakes & chicken wire arrangement now protecting our herb pots on the decking. So far so good!

Our daffodils have finally come out – very slowly compared to everyone elses. The tête-a-têtes were out a week ago, but the daffs have been hiding away & I suspect some heads were bitten off when they first dared to open.

We had breakfast together at Muffins & More after the early walk & shopping. It is a very casual & friendly spot & Maria Viola was thrilled to see us there & catch up, especially with Wes. The cost was good – 2 hot drinks & 2 filling breakfasts for $36.

Lovely photo of Wes at Muffins

In the afternoon, I drove to Northcote to stay with Danny Millman, and we went to the final Home & Away game for Collingwood, which was against Essendon at the MCG that night. Before the game we caught a tram to The Grace Darling Hotel for dinner. It was extremely noisy & full of footy supporters with the same idea – more Collingwood than Essendon, but certainly lots of large mixed allegiance groups catching up before the game. Essendon started well & had a good lead at quarter time, but injuries & inexperience caught up with them & the Pies were able to win & move back into the final Four.

Yesterday Mate & I had breakfast at a lovely new café in High Street, Northcote, Bicycle Thieves, about 10 minutes’ walk from his home. Great service, interesting menu & a good vibe. We’ll be very happy to go there again.

Dear friends, Kathy & Gerard Lazzaro, arrived for the weekend yesterday after I got home. We’ve chatted, eaten, watched footy & cricket & emptied a few bottles together. It’s been lovely & relaxing & we’re off to the Sunday Market & then breakfast together.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 18th August 2019

Last Sunday you may remember it was snowing as we went to the Sunday Market, which is at the Railway Station at the foot of Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. There were very few stalls & the stall-holders weren’t confident of a big crowd, apart from locals.

Lewis & Morse in their jackets watching the snow fall at our place: our backyard, & Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens as seen from our parking spot at the Sunday Market

We had a wonderful breakfast – our next-door neighbour, Glen, had finally moved in on Friday, and had woken to snow on her first two mornings in Duke Street. We are taking all the credit for this! Janine arrived wearing a white alpaca hat suitable for Nordic climes; Jan was looking lovely in purple & full of funny stories; Judi was rugged up & looking good in a beret & scarf; Wes & Barbara had braved the snow to get her from the car into The Food Gallery, where we were all still excited about two mornings of falls.

That afternoon the Blues played their best, but lost to Richmond by 5 goals, which was to be expected. We had lit the fire & spent an enjoyable few hours sitting in front of it with Lewis & Morse happy to be inside & warm.

This has been a lovely week – Wes has managed to work in the front & back gardens most days, as well as solve little mysteries on Ancestry in the afternoons. I’ve been raiding the Botanic Gardens for pinecones, as well as catching up with friends for chats, either in person, or on the phone. I’m also back to knitting beanies & enjoying the lovely range of coloured wools I have thanks to Kathy Lazzaro & Barbara Simpson.

On Tuesday, Annie Smith & I walked around Lake Daylesford at 9.30am (great to see it in daylight) and then had a cuppa at The Food Gallery, which was full of friends, all of them coming up to our table to say hello. My new project is repotting all our herbs & replacing those which have grown woody or just don’t look like making it through Winter. I collected 4 bags of potting mix & 10 small plants & have managed to do most of what I hoped without any interference from inquisitive labs!

Dot & I were able to play Mah Jong on Wednesday morning & in a very rare occurrence I won all the games! Dot’s husband, John, was very upset, as he had told her to win them all. We had a laugh & enjoyed catching up. Wes spent time with Barbara, and in the afternoon, visited Franklinford Cemetery on a successful search for gravestones of ancestors.

While Wes & the boys gardened on a lovely Thursday morning, I spent a most enjoyable time catching up with Jane Barrett. She & her husband, John Webster, are about to head overseas starting with an Ashes Test at Old Trafford, a reunion of old school friends for John and a quick visit to Liverpool, before they head to France & travel around the countryside. We met in The Food Gallery, which once again was full of locals with very few spare seats. We both popped into the Creswick Woollen Mills shop afterwards – Jane to buy a brightly patterned throw rug & me to buy a warm vest, to replace one which I had worn out.

Yesterday was a busy & exciting day. We had our usual early walk and were finally able to turn the torch off before the end of it. The downside of being able to see is that Morse, in particular, gets very excited when he sees birds & ducks & want to chase them all. Our neighbours, Rob & Dene, came in for morning tea to say goodbye before they head off on holidays. The boys were very thrilled to see them but settled down quickly & went to sleep in the sun, tired after their walk & bath.

We had a big afternoon of footy – firstly the Blues played well & were able to beat the Saints in an exciting close game. We only discovered after the match that the captain, Patrick Cripps, had been in hospital that morning, but was determined to play his 100^th game in front of all the friends & family for whom he had arranged tickets. Later on, Collingwood demolished Adelaide over there after a lacklustre start. In between, Brisbane & Geelong played an exciting & close game that was decided by 1 point & meant Brisbane replaced Geelong at top of the ladder.

   

Lewis & Morse asleep during the footy & daphne – our first blooms from a bush struck by Nick Massaro & given to us last year.

It was a big night at the cricket as well with Steve Smith hit on the jaw, but still top scoring. It should be an exciting last day with the Poms 104 ahead & 6 wickets in hand.  Now, we’re off to the Sunday Market & breakfast.                                                                    

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 11th August 2019

Last Sunday was a busy one. Next-door neighbour, Rob, joined the rest of us for breakfast, which was lovely. I left early to drive to the MCG, where I had a pre-paid car park at the Tennis Centre. I went looking for Gayle Gibson, and was very pleased when we were able to catch up for a  chat before the game. Collingwood had the good win we needed against the luckless Gold Coast. I drove back & arrived home in time to watch the second half of the Carlton game with Wes. He was disappointed not to win, but the Blues played very well to lose by only 4 goals with at least 4 of their best players out.

We’ve had quite a social time of it this week. I had gym on Monday & Friday, & Mah Jong with Dot & Judi on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday we had a delightful long lunch catch-up with Glenda & Joe Rozen & Gail & Terry White at Jackie’s on Vincent. When we are together we always wonder why it doesn’t happen more often, but it is hard to get 6 friends together in between doctors’ appointments, family commitments & routine activities.

L-R: Wes, Terry, Me, Gail, Joe & Glenda

Wes has been very busy in the garden, fixing up things Lewis & Morse have done either deliberately or accidentally while playing chasey around the back yard. We are eagerly awaiting the sight of our first daffodils, which should be here very soon – everyone else in Daylesford seems to have some in bloom, not us.

While Dot & I were waiting for Judi to arrive to play Mah Jong, we had a game & Dot won hands down – not just going Mah Jong but getting two bouquets as well. Here she is looking pretty pleased with herself. Judi is learning very quickly and we are delighted to have a third person to play the game with us.

Nick Massaro came to give me a massage again this week. Lewis & Morse were thrilled to see him & gave him a wonderful welcome, which increased in intensity when he produced treats!

We also had an unexpected & very welcome visit from our old friend, Glenn Mack, who was in Daylesford for a couple of days, and had time to catch up with us. He was also greeted warmly by Lewis & Morse & was quite thrilled when we put them outside after a brief time to say hello.

This week, I finally finished my culling of our library & we delivered another 3 boxes to Daylesford Primary School. We have down-sized to the tune of 22 boxes in total as 4 early boxes went to the Daylesford Op Shop before the school was happy to receive book donations. Their Annual Book Fair is on 7^th & 8^th of September & I am very keen to go in case I can find a few of the missing books I need to complete some of my favourite authors. Strangely, Wes isn’t at all in favour of adding more books just at present.

This Snoopy appeared with perfect timing this week

I had chosen last Thursday as my day to visit Leanne in Strathmore & it was easily my slowest trip to her in a long time. We came home from our early walk with the boys to find Daylesford shrouded in a very heavy fog (definitely Brigadoon weather) and that fog didn’t lift until I was outside of Woodend & about to hit the freeway. Of course, Melbourne had sun shining, 15º and no wind to speak of, while Daylesford didn’t see the sun all day & the temperature stayed in single digits.

On Friday, we woke after a wild, wet night to find 50mls of rain had fallen, no damage to our garden or home, and a couple of very wet dogs quite pleased to get an early breakfast in lieu of a walk around Lake Daylesford. I went shopping at Coles at 7am, filled the car with petrol, attended early gym (7.40am start), unpacked the shopping when I got home & changed clothes to visit good friend, Annie Smith. She had a house guest, Louise, who had made Portugese egg custard tarts for us to eat with our cuppas. Our original plan had been to walk Maisie, the Irish Water Spaniel, around Lake Daylesford, but staying warm inside was a much better idea.

We woke to light snow yesterday morning, which an hour later turned into serious snow. It was too wet to walk the boys, but not too wet to stand in the garden admiring the white cover over everything.

 Front garden & frozen pond

Back garden & Lewis & Morse after a play in the snow

After enjoying the snow, taking photos, chatting to neighbours who were doing the same, we went off to Mercato for breakfast. I was still tossing up whether or not to go to the footy and Wes wanted to persuade me to go. As we sat having our meals, the snow started melting & was replaced by light rain, so I felt it would be safe to drive to the MCG.

Wes enjoying pancakes at Mercato

I drove through sleet & rain but arrived safely at the footy, only to find a very strong wind howling its way around the MCG and turning all our umbrellas inside out. The Pies won, but were not impressive, as Melbourne is 17^th on the ladder & we should have been able to beat them by more than 3 goals. My drive home was similar – the closer I got to Daylesford the colder and stormier it was. I did get a very warm welcome from my three boys when I walked in the door.

This morning we woke to discover it had snowed again overnight and it is snowing now. We walked around Lake Daylesford in light snow leaving our foot & paw prints in the snow. Anyone in Europe reading this will probably think – snow, ho hum – but it is such a treat for us & two days in a row is unheard of!

We are off to the Sunday Market (those traders do it tough), before meeting up with friends for breakfast. The rest of the day will be spent keeping warm & dry inside, perhaps with an open fire, as we see how Carlton fares against Richmond this afternoon.

Labradors frolicking!

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 4th August 2019

Once again, we started our week with yummy breakfasts and great chats at The Food Gallery. Wes & Barbara were delighted after Carlton’s good win over Adelaide the day before, Jan Pengilley was ragged for being caught reading the Herald Sun newspaper, Janine was quizzed about her family, Judi told us about her fun visit to Melbourne & everyone sympathised with me after Collingwood’s insipid effort on Friday night.

Top -  Jan & Wes ; Below - Barbara & Janine at The Food Gallery

I was exhausted after a very busy couple of days, so was pleased to come back home & read the weekend papers, watch the afternoon’s footy games & sew up a couple of small jumpers I had been knitting for Keeping Daylesford Warm. After breakfast with friends the day before, I had driven to Strathmore to spend time with Leanne. We were able to get quite a bit done before I left her and arrived back here in time to support Wes who was watching the Carlton game.

On Monday, Wes walked the boys & I did early gym before he got cracking in the garden & I caught up on paperwork, paid bills & started looking at the coffee table sized books in our library. Last week I had finally finished our fiction section and we have fewer books to the tune of 15 boxes.

The games we play with our pets!

That afternoon, while Wes was busy writing up the Maloney stories, I walked around Lake Daylesford. I hadn’t walked there in daylight since the geese & ducks were relocated & it was incredibly quiet. There are still plenty of small brown ducks, and I spotted 2 white ducks, but all the characters have been removed.

After our early walk on Tuesday, we had breakfast at Cliffy’s, where the food & service is always good & Wes can indulge in porridge, while I usually have an omelette. We bought a camellia, which Wes then planted. He spent the rest of the morning cleaning up in the backyard, which is a constant battle. Just as everywhere looks good, the rain comes down, the boys play chasey and we have a mudheap again!

After our early walk on Wednesday, Wes headed off to help Barbara with a big shop at Coles and anything else she needed. I had a busy morning starting with a manicure with Alanna in Hepburn Springs, back to Daylesford for a fringe trim & finally a pot of tea with Dot & Judi at Muffins & More, where we gave Judi a lesson on how to play Mah Jong to see if she would enjoy it. And she did – wiped the floor with us, winning 3 games out of the 5 we played!

Janine & I had a long overdue catch up with lunch at Chaplin’s in Trentham on Thursday. Mel gave us both a very warm welcome, her café was jumping with every table in use & live entertainment over the lunch time. Afterwards, we went for a walk along the High Street, and agonised over the shops that are closing down, those that had no-one in them & were relieved to find the odd busy one.

After early gym on Friday, I spent the rest of the morning on our library, with occasional breaks for pots of tea & the Age crossword. I had been given enough wool to knit three small jumpers & delivered them with some beanies to Hepburn Health to be collected by Jodie from Keeping Daylesford Warm.

  

Wes had taped the film, Ladies in Black, for me, as I missed it in the cinema last year. It was a delightful Australian film, set in Sydney in 1959 in the department store, Goode’s. I was amused to discover that the Sydney/Melbourne rivalry was fit & well as there were constant references to the fact that no-one would think of going to Melbourne, even though the Paris End of Collins Street was alive with select boutiques & Georges department store then.

Yesterday was quite cold, so we lit the fire & enjoyed a relaxing day listening to the Coodabeen Champions, reading papers, watching footy & cricket, with a bit of puppy cuddling thrown in. I made a big pot of my vegetarian minestrone, and we enjoyed it for lunch & dinner.

Different sleeping styles of Morse (top) & Lewis

It’s a cold morning again with light rain. We’ve walked around the Lake & now we are about to head off to the Sunday Market. Then we are meeting Barbara, Judi, Janine & Jan for breakfast, before I head off to the MCG to see if Collingwood can beat Gold Coast!