Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 10th June 2012

Dear Friends, it seems ironic that we are celebrating the Queen’s Birthday weekend here, while she gave her other subjects a long weekend to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee last weekend. Perhaps we in Oz didn’t take it seriously enough. I’m taking Black Caviar’s trip to Royal Ascot very seriously and just love this cartoon that Carol sent me from the Herald Sun during the week:

Gillie sent me a very handy link to Powercor - www.powercor.com.au, where you can register your National Meter Identifier (NMI), an 11 digit number on your power bill, so that you can be notified of power outages and when you might expect power to resume. She assures me that we all got a letter telling us that but I don’t remember receiving it and we are pleased to now be on their SMS list.

We’ve just returned from an interesting breakfast – Michelle, the owner of Harvest received a phone call from her chef’s brother to say the chef wouldn’t be coming in today – so she had rung a replacement and our meals would be later than usual. We decided to stay, enjoyed our hot drinks & then were pleasantly surprised when our meals arrived quickly, although there was some confusion over who was having toast & who wasn’t! At least the boys didn’t miss out.

Denise Anderson, Joan Testro & Amanda Testro in 2008

We’ve had a busy but good week – on Sunday, Wes dropped me at the footy, while he visited Joan Testro for a chat and a whiskey! David Lazzaro asked me to get him a Visitor’s Pass, so we could sit together in the MCC and we enjoyed chatting and reminiscing about our many years of watching Collingwood together. One of the first people I saw when we walked in was John Stapleton, a friend from Melbourne Uni days. He hasn’t changed except for the colour of his hair! At half-time, the interview on the big screen was with Teddy Potter, my all-time favourite footballer. He was as modest and self-deprecating as I had hoped and when asked his favourite memories, said he loved watching the champions he played with go about their game. The Pies had an easy win and it was great to watch some of our youngsters getting a chance to show their skills.

On Tuesday, I drove in shocking weather to Melbourne to visit Viva. It was a good 2-hour visit, which allowed Leanne some free time. Viva is looking very well, and her mind is as sharp as ever. Gillie had given me some eggs for her and Viva assures me that Leanne used those eggs to make her omelettes for lunch three days in a row. In the afternoon, Wes and Barbara went to Ballarat where they had a number of things to do and then he shouted her afternoon tea to celebrate the publication of her book about her father. We saw a copy of it at breakfast this morning and it is a wonderful achievement – 110 pages full of history and photos.

While Wes worked hard in the garden on Wednesday I joined Carol, Dot & Valerie for a morning of Mah Jong at Harvest Café. In the afternoon we hosted a very good Rotary Arts Show meeting – Wes and I had put a lot of work into it and we were pleased with the commitment from the other members, all of whom went off having undertaken to perform various tasks. Our biggest issue is sponsorship and I was delighted the next day when Ann Holden, my masseuse, offered a Gift Voucher, to start us off. Thank you Ann – you are very generous.

That night at Rotary, Jan Pengilley chaired a meeting looking at the past year in retrospective. Wes helped her with a power point presentation. He and I were delighted with the unanimous support for the Art Show. We will be handing over editorship of the Rotary Bulletin at the end of this month – it’s been enjoyable but it is a big commitment to be available most Thursday mornings in the year to write an interesting & relevant 3-4 pages.

After the Bulletin on Thursday, Wes did some gardening, while I had a massage, and then attended U3A Morning Tea, where there were 4 potential new members. Judi, who is President until October, was delighted. She got the membership up to 175 in her first year, but a number of people, like Warren & Barbara, have not renewed, as there are no classes of interest to them at present, so new Members are in demand.

We were expecting Josephine Ward to come to lunch – she had made the date the previous week, but was planning to visit on her way home from Bendigo after seeing the Grace Kelly Exhibition. We didn’t know if she had bought a ticket, and if so, for which session, so it was lovely to hear from her at midday, when she said she would be leaving Bendigo and driving to us. She got a little lost trying to find out part of Duke Street, but arrived full of beans and we shared a lovely lunch of soup, followed by Wes’s speciality of steamed asparagus with poached egg on top, and finished with a King Island blue cheese. We finally ushered her out the door at 4.30 pm in the hope she would get home before it got dark.

I have been feeling more energetic this week, so have been trying to walk where possible. On Friday morning Gillie and I made arrangements to meet at Red Star Café for breakfast, so I walked to Hepburn Springs, which takes about 55 minutes from our place. We enjoyed a lovely 90 minutes together, then she and I drove back into Daylesford, where I left her at the chemist and walked back here. Wes and Barbara drove to Melbourne for the Carlton vs Geelong game that afternoon – Wes wasn’t looking forward to the game and he was very disappointed that Carlton, although they started well, didn’t finish off and were beaten again. It was Cheryl’s birthday and I left her a message wishing her a happy day. She rang back and we enjoyed chatting and catching up – Sharyn & Shane and their 3 boys were coming that night for the weekend, as was Andrew, who was staying overnight. She assured me that she has snaffled the middle grandson, Jules, as an Essendon supporter, and enjoys sharing her passion with him.

 Cheryl’s handsome grandsons - Aidyn, Luke & Jules Owen

On Saturday I walked the boys so Wes could have a sleep-in. We walked through town and then to Glenn Mack’s house to check if he had received any mail into his letterbox, which he had; and ditto to John & Jan’s house, and they had as well. On the way we met Marjorie and gave her & Ginnie a surprise as we walked past their home, ditto Michelle and Anthony who were outside Harvest Café at 7am and weren’t expecting anyone to walk past, let alone me with Bilbo & Frodo.

While Wes was washing the cars and later the boys, I walked back into town to replace my gloves and everyday shoes, which had both developed fatal holes during the week, then visited the Spa Quilters display at the Daylesford Primary School. I can only marvel at the beautiful, accomplished work done by some of our local friends.

Wes had invited Georgina Meadows and their mutual friend, Sue Riley, to drinks at 5pm yesterday afternoon, but we hadn’t heard whether they were coming or not. At 4.30pm we got changed, lit the fire, turned off the footy and put on classical music, set up a cheese platter, put the French Champagne on ice and waited to see what happened. Just as we were deciding they weren’t coming and thinking of ringing our friends to join us, in they came with Sue’s husband, Jim and another friend, Robyn, in tow. Wes is responsible for Sue making the decision to stand as Deputy Mayor for the City of Melbourne, something she did successfully some years ago and she is still in that position. She was delighted to see us again and they were obviously all having a wonderful visit and promised to return at Melbourne Cup time for the Art Show, especially now that Georgina is on our committee.

Sue Riley

Jane & David Knox are continuing to enjoy their holiday – Jane sends me photos every few minutes it seems and here is one of the best. They are travelling with another couple at present, who are Essendon supporters, so I imagine things could have been tense after last night’s incredible win by the Swans who gave up an 8 goal lead to nearly lose the match in the last quarter. The Pies are playing tomorrow and I have been unable to give away my spare ticket, so I will be there on my own. I had been going to take John Smith, but he is in Darwin or thereabouts and won’t get back in time!

My favourite of Jane’s photos – this is a view of an Inca Greenhouse

The rest of today is going to be fairly quiet after our busy week and we have lots on over the next 7 days. I’ll talk to you next Sunday! 

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd June, 2012

Dear Friends, Winter has set in with very low temperatures first thing in the mornings lately, usually followed by bright, sunny days, although rain is expected over the next week. Wes played golf on Monday, and we met afterwards at Harvest for brunch, then in the afternoon he interviewed Warren Pengilley (photo below) for two hours as part of Hepburn Voices.
Carol wasn’t feeling well on Tuesday so I shopped for her and spent some time chatting afterwards. When I arrived home Sherryn rang and we enjoyed a lovely long catch-up call, as it was months since we had spoken with each other and we had both been overseas during that time. Viva is going well, I have spoken with her most days and she sounds a little stronger each time we chat.

Wes and I have both spent time in the garden –he has done lots of pruning, while I’ve mulched the vegetable patches in the back garden, much to the delight of Bilbo & Frodo, who watch everything we do very keenly, and enjoy helping!

Judi & I went to Bendigo together to see the Grace Kelly Exhibition and we are so pleased we did – her frocks are in amazingly good condition and even ones we thought looked very ordinary, looked wonderful when she was wearing them. We were able to watch old footage of her at her engagement & later when famous actors came to visit her and Prince Ranier in Monaco.

On Friday Nicole came to cut my hair and she brought her younger son, Liam, who was feeling off-colour, much to the delight of Bilbo & Frodo, who played happily with him.
Yesterday we did the early shift on the Farmers’ Market – we always enjoy doing that together – catching up with local friends and making visitors welcome. Afterwards Barbara & Gillie joined us at Gracenotes for brunch. In the afternoon Michael & I went to see Daylesford just fail to beat Bungaree in a match they had been expected to win.

Jane & David Knox sent this beautiful photo from Colonia in Uruguay

Jan & John are in Coober Pedy and have decided that they won’t hurry home, but will go to Darwin, Broome, Perth etc and drive back across the Nullarbor. We are all delighted that they are going to extend their time away and make the most of having driven that long distance. John was especially thrilled when Melbourne recorded their first win for the year with an unexpected victory over Essendon.

We were a small group at breakfast with the Smiths & Whites & Glenn all away. However, we ranged over a number of topics and Aileen amused us by describing her brother & elder sister, who seem to be extroverted and out there, while she is quiet with a wicked sense of humour. The good news at Harvest was that their heater is now working properly, so we were much warmer than we have been over the past couple of weeks.

There have been a number of changes in town recently – a photographer who took over a large shopfront in the main street has closed, as he could no longer afford the rent. That shop has now been filled by Alpaca Passion, which was further down the road in a smaller, darker space, that they are very happy to vacate. There are new owners at the Modern Day Bakery and they have given the place a facelift. The Bendigo Bank is going great guns & there are two new vacant shops next door to it. They will probably be snapped up as soon as they are completed. We have another second hand store – Former Glory, which is struggling to compete with our three charity shops and the Mill Market. There is a community garden next to the Library and that is a big success with lots of produce and no shortage of volunteers to work in it or donate mulch, leaves & soil.

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 27th May 2012

Dear Friends, it’s another cold morning here in Daylesford, but we’ve been warmed by a wonderful visit from Lauren & Travis & Myles Kennedy, who had been camping overnight at Jubilee Lake and were on their way to Tuki for trout fishing followed by lunch. Myles is just the right size and shape for Bilbo & Frodo, who enjoyed licking him to death and being kissed & cuddled in return. Lozza is looking fabulous at six months’ pregnant and Trav was full of excitement explaining his new business and how being self-employed allows him to spend more time with Lozza & Myles. Bilbo & Frodo have enjoyed their usual busy morning so now they are sound asleep at our feet, exhausted by playing with a 3.5 year old!

Trav & Myles paddling  

We had a huge day yesterday ourselves and are very pleased with our decision to miss the Carlton vs Melbourne game this afternoon at the MCG in favour of watching it on TV. We visited Viva, who is looking the best we have seen her all year; then drove into town, where we were lucky enough to fluke a guided tour of the Fred Williams exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre. We loved his paintings & feel as though we should go back for another look before the exhibition closes in July.

We then grabbed a sandwich & glass of red before seeing the play, ‘Australia Day’ with Geoff Morrell in the main role. I really enjoyed it and got lots of laughs, but Wes wasn’t as impressed. We loved seeing a play on a Saturday afternoon with a more responsive audience than we usually experience with Wednesday matinees! We drove home in the rain listening to St Kilda beat Sydney in honour of Lenny Hayes’ 250^th game.

Our evening was spent glued to the TV trying to get Collingwood over the line against the rampaging Adelaide Crows at Footy Park in Adelaide. After 3.5 very close quarters, the Pies were able to pull away and win comfortably against the odds.

It has been a very cold week here, especially on Friday with constant rain, strong winds and extreme cold. Nearly all the leaves are blown off the trees and everywhere looks like Winter at last. Our lawn at the back is carpeted with oak leaves and in front our vegetable beds have been covered by dogwood leaves.

Lozza contemplating life with another baby perhaps?

Carol was well enough to join us for Mah Jong last Wednesday and we did enjoy being all together again and playing games in between chatting. Perhaps we did more chatting than playing, but what the heck! We were warm as toast in the Ice Cream Parlour, but when we arrived for breakfast this morning the heater was playing up and only blew cold air until about 10am when it suddenly shifted into gear!

On Thursday we invited Gillie & Jan to lunch and sat happily at the table for three hours chatting and sharing a lovely meal. Jan misses John very much when he is away, (he has been in Singapore & Borneo for the week), so we thought we could fill in one day for her. Gillie invited her for lunch again on Friday, and she spent Monday in Bendigo with her twin sister, so her time was fully occupied. John arrived back yesterday sans luggage, and they drove to Echuca to celebrate their son, Andrew’s, 40^th birthday. Later this week they are heading off in their motor home for a big tour of the Northern Territory.

Wes and I have enjoyed reading in front of the fire when the weather was too bad to work outside, although he has continued to prune madly in the front which will give everything in the garden the chance to see whatever sun there is over the next few months. He and Barbara went to Ballarat for a physio appointment in lieu of hydrotherapy. We also have caught up with friends on the phone, the email and through Chess & Words with Friends.

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 20th May, 2012

Dear Friends, we woke to zero degrees this morning, but Wes was very brave & walked the boys in the cold, although all of them were pleased to get back home into the warmth. The sun was out by the time I was driving to the Sunday Market and we were blinded temporarily as we drove straight into it on our way up the hill.

We were a lovely small group at breakfast this morning and enjoyed some very interesting conversations. Having Kim, Gary & Aileen join us has widened our horizons and we listened to Aileen tell us about her son, Chris, who lives in Geraldton, where he feels at home. Judi was back from a week in Caloundra with her family. She & Michael were able to spend lots of quality time with her mother, Mavis, as well as see her sister, Sue, and her niece and nephew, Coby & Luke. She gave us all little packets of Queensland nougat, which was lovely.

Wes & Barbara are about to go to see Carlton play Adelaide at Docklands Stadium and they are both hoping the roof is closed so they will be warm. It doesn’t seem to matter where they sit, wheelchair spaces are often near doorways – no doubt to make access easier, but they are the coldest spots in any stadium and anyone in a wheelchair is very susceptible to chills because they can’t get up and walk around to keep warm. Barbara succeeded this week in getting a Companion Carer pass after seven years of trying. She hopes this will make life a little easier and cheaper for whoever is accompanying her.

We’ve had a good week, starting with a good decision not to go to the footy on Monday night, where the Saints were unexpectedly all over Carlton. We didn’t get to play golf as it was either too cold or too wet in Trentham. Wes spent some time with Barbara, taking her to hydrotherapy & shopping. I was able to help Carol, who unfortunately broke a front tooth on Mother’s Day, and was not well enough to go shopping. Marjorie took her to the dentist in Castlemaine on Wednesday, and she has to return in a fortnight. I drove her to her doctor on Friday and he was pleased with her progress post the stent, but doesn’t want her driving again yet. We did some shopping, visited the library and then had a cuppa together at Harvest Café.

We had hoped to have caught up with Mary Goodall, who used to live here, but has moved to Eltham. Mary was in town for a few days & no doubt enjoyed taking her Labrador, Cleo, on some familiar walks, as well as seeing old friends. However, the week flew by and our paths didn’t cross.

I played Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie again, which was lovely and we enjoyed good chats, as well as sharing out the wins. At Rotary that night, the speaker was Peter Cummins on Stroke Prevention, which is a very good topic for our age group. Peter has developed a computer programme for Rotary Art Shows and we hope to have a good chat with him about it when the time comes for us to hand over the reins of the Daylesford Rotary Art Show.

We had a busy day on Thursday – I spent an hour with Glenn catching up on his news, then Wes and I drove to Ballarat, where we visited our upholsterers to organise recovering of our lounge suite, which was ruined in our fire last year. Then I had a mammogram, we visited Craig’s hotel for a hot drink, and ended up at Regent Cinemas having a quick bite to eat before seeing ‘The Way’ the film about the Camino de Santiago in Spain. This is a walk that many of our friends have done, including David & Annie Smith & Norma Hutchins. We loved the film and haven’t stopped talking about it. It is well cast, well written and very well acted with Martin Sheen in the main role.

On Friday we headed into town in the afternoon and had intended to see the Fred Williams exhibition at the Ian Potter Centre before the footy, but the traffic was incredible and we got a park near the MCG at 4.30pm which was too late to go to the Gallery, which closes at 5pm. So we walked into Little Bourke Street and enjoyed an early meal at Westlake. Wes ordered a deep fried whole flounder which was cooked to perfection and matched the scallops and green vegetables he had chosen.

As I said to David, little did I dream when I took him to his first game, aged 4, that later he would have three beautiful children, all Pies supporters, to take to the footy! L-R Jess, David, Daniel & Maya

We walked to the G with pre-match nerves in full control and took our seats amongst a mostly Collingwood crowd all feeling the same. The Geelong supporters were much calmer as their team had beaten us decisively in three games last year. However the Pies started the game full of running and but for some inaccuracy in front of goal, would have been comfortably ahead at quarter time. David & Helen Lazzaro came to say hello at half-time and I suggested to Helen that she leave at that point as she seems to be a good luck charm for the Cats. Fortunately she took that in the right spirit!

The Cats came back with a vengeance in the last quarter, especially once Dane Swan was injured, and when they drew level with two minutes to go, we all felt sick. Amazingly the Pies regrouped and kicked the last two goals to win. The Cats kicked 5.12 after half-time and must be ruing their lost chances. We got home at 12.30am and were both exhausted after the long day and the effort of getting the Pies over the line.

Close up of Daniel Lazzaro as caught by the Collingwood cameras before the Footscray game

So we made a decision to sleep in yesterday. I got up briefly at 6am to give the boys their bones and tell them to go back to sleep as well. I stayed in bed, listening to the Coodabeens and then watching the footy games all afternoon. I even managed to watch the replay of our game. Wes went off to Council to see the plans for the redevelopment of Vincent Street (our main drag) between the roundabouts. It would be lovely to remove traffic from that area using the Florentine model of allowing deliveries up until 10am, and then banning cars for the day.

Wes enjoyed watching whatever he liked on the lounge TV, as well as going shopping and preparing a beautiful meal of fish & asparagus for me and a roast chook for him. The boys preferred sitting around him in the hope of leftovers.

I have spoken to Viva every day this week and she is sounding good, although tired since her visit to her GP on Thursday, where she was given a good report and told she was in better shape than this time last year. I had hoped to visit her soon, but we have decided to leave it until next weekend, as she has a busy week of Health Service visitors.

Wes has continued to do wonders in the garden and is very pleased with himself that he moved the citrus trees to the Lemon House (the space under the decking outside the guest bedroom) just before our first frost this morning. I’ve planted umpteen broad beans on Norma’s advice to help the soil where the tomatoes were, and Wes has shifted around many of the pots to give them a new lease of life and to confuse the boys, who have to dodge them when they do their big run from the main decking to their decking!

Please enjoy your week and I’ll be in touch again next Sunday.

God-daughter, Carolyn Murray at Disneyland & the Grand Canyon with her friend, Krystal

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 13th May 2012

Dear Friends, Happy Mothers’ Day to everyone. My boys remembered and I have a lovely card & three great books to read – Adam Gilchrist’s autobiography, Jock McHale’s biography & a delightful little book of stories about the Appian Way. I have just spoken to Viva, who I visited yesterday, and Leanne has showered her with gifts, including a Mother’s Bag from Darrell Lea full of her favourite things, so she is feeling very spoilt. I took her some brightly coloured lilies yesterday, and while I was there a beautiful bunch of white roses and chrysanthemums arrived from Peter & Anka, so the unit looks lovely with vases of flowers everywhere. Viva was looking good, much stronger than when I had last seen her and with her sense of humour intact. This is best explained when she was telling me everything Leanne had given her this morning and in the middle of it all, added and ‘a set of six steak knives’, which made us both laugh until we coughed!

Me at the Pitti Palace

We’ve had a good week, although it has been cold these past few days and Wes has lit the fire, which makes for great warmth, good smells and the best atmosphere. The boys are curled up in front of it, as close as they can get without being singed. I think they are telling us that we let them get cold at breakfast this morning – when Gary fed them their toast, he told us that they weren’t happy at being out in the cold, so we put them in the back of the car and went back to our scrambled eggs.

We welcomed Aileen back this morning after three weeks away in Perth, where she found looking after grand-children, driving her son’s car and being expected to take children to the zoo more than she had bargained for, so soon after her husband, Roy’s death. She told us some great stories and Kim & Gary chipped in with some of their own, while Gail was either drawing breath or eating her breakfast. Gail & Terry are going on a cruise unexpectedly – Terry’s sister rang to say she had booked them a cabin on a 9-day cruise as it cost $490 per person – it was irresistible at that price! Kim & Gary pricked up their ears as they had been thinking about a cruise as well.

At the start of the week Wes and I spent some time designing and then sending out an advance notice for the 2012 Daylesford Rotary Art Show and we have had a good response with lots of artists acknowledging the email and Rotarians promising not to go away over Melbourne Cup weekend, so they can be around to help out.

Barbara with her family during her trip to NZ in March

By Wednesday, I was ready to socialise again, so I joined Dot & Valerie at Harvest Café, where we were made very welcome and play Mah Jong for 2.5 hours! Carol had been going to join us, but she was rushed to hospital on Tuesday with chest pains again, and has had another stent put in. She is now back home and feeling much better, thank God. We all got a terrible fright, especially as we heard nothing all Tuesday after she had rung me early to say she was being collected by ambulance. Daylesford Hospital had sent her to St John of God in Ballarat, where she had spent hours in emergency on a trolley until they found her a bed and decided what to do.

Our local window washer, Jason Olver, and a mate, came on Wednesday to wash our windows inside and out, as it has been about 18 months since that was last done and we can’t believe the difference. Wes has been busy since pruning trees and bushes so that we have uninterrupted views of the Lake again and can make the most of the weak Wintry sunshine.

Meanwhile Wes drove to Melbourne for a delightfully indulgent day – he parked in Brunswick, caught the tram into town, had a haircut at ‘Vince & Dom’s’; met up with our financial adviser, Anthony Starkins, for lunch; spent an hour in St Paul’s Anglican Church being a visitor; browsed bookstores; had a drink or two with Jon Stephens at his favourite bar, and finally enjoyed a good chat & Italian meal with Ben Lazzaro, where Carlton’s fortunes were high on the agenda. He arrived home about 10.30pm, tired, but very happy with all he had done.

Lovely photo of Carol

I started Thursday with a massage from Ann, which was lovely, but was quite tired after my busy day before, so spent most of the rest of the day sitting in front of the fire playing WWF and doing crosswords etc. On Friday I had lunch with good friend, Sheila Hollingworth, who is about to go to America for about 3 months to help a friend of hers who has cancer and a young family. We met at ‘Wombat Hill House’, which was lovely and warm and has great views of Autumn in the Botanical Gardens, but which charged me $14 for my bowl of soup & piece of bread!

Yesterday I drove early to Melbourne to visit Viva and was home again by 1pm. We packed up the boys and went to the local footy, where we were most impressed by Daylesford’s game against Clunes. However, it was so cold, that we left at half-time and came home to watch the Greater Western Sydney team register their first win in front of an appreciative audience in Canberra. I hoped that my brother, Peter, might have been there, as he gets very few opportunities to see footy live these days. We also watched in awe as Black Caviar won her 21^st straight win without changing into second gear. I hope our cousin Leigh will be able to get to Royal Ascot to cheer her on when she runs there next month.

Thanks again to everyone who has stayed in touch – sorry I haven’t been able to answer all your calls yet – I will! Today I am feeling better than I have for quite a while, so will try not to do too much and fall back again.

P.S. Our dear friend, Norma’s son, Steve Butler, wrote a wonderful warts & all article about her journey with ovarian cancer in yesterday’s West Australian – please follow this link if you would like to read it - http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/13667412/inspiring-mothers-love-of-life/

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 6th May, 2012

Dear Friends, I’m sitting at my desk looking out over the garden & Lake & noticing that the brightly coloured trees are steadily losing their leaves in preparation for Winter. Our own trees are still looking magnificent but the wind has blown the leaves off the poplars that line the walk around the Lake.

I’ve had a very quiet time of it since I last wrote. I was feeling completely depleted of energy, probably a reaction to Viva’s recovery, which was unexpected and rapid, plus the onset of bronchial asthma. So I have been in bed most of the week trying to rebuild energy levels and fight off the bronchitis. I put up a Skype message saying ‘Thank God for Wes & WWF’ as Wes has been magnificent looking after everything here and ‘Words with Friends’, a Facebook game that you can play on your mobile, has kept my brain active after I have done the day’s crosswords & Logic Puzzles.

Wes has also had to look after Barbara as she couldn’t do much with one arm in a sling, so he prepared her meals three times a day, went over to move her around as she couldn’t propel her wheelchair easily and put her to bed every afternoon. On Wednesday he took her to the doctor, where she got more antibiotics & the doctor declared the worst was over. By Thursday she was able to be taken by him to a lunch meeting of the Oral History Group, and on Friday she only needed his help for an hour or so during the afternoon which was good, as he spent much of the day catching up on sleep himself.

Yesterday I had my first outing and went food shopping at Coles Supermarket & Tonna’s Fruit Shop, while Wes did the shift at the Farmers’ Market. We decided it was too cold for me to stand there for 2.5 hours handing out leaflets. While I was making minestrone soup, he met Barbara for breakfast at Gracenotes and today he is driving her to the footy, which is at Docklands, and they should be warm and dry with the roof closed there. Barbara can get around in her electrical wheelchair, but she can’t drive yet.

This morning before breakfast, although I have not been joining in the morning walks again yet, I took the boys early to pump water at Leitches Creek, and then to the Sunday Market, where we stocked up on fruit, vegetables, eggs & dog bones. Then off to a very enjoyable breakfast, although the boys weren’t given their toast until nearly 10am, by which time they had just about given up and were looking mournfully at us all through the windows as we guiltily ate our own meals. I had dressed them in their Winter coats, so they attracted even more attention than usual.

It was lovely to catch up with everyone after a very quiet week – Gillie & Kim are all looking better for having left full-time employment; Gary is enjoying having Kim’s help with their accommodation, as well as being able to go out during the week; Judi is preparing for a week’s holiday in Caloundra, where she & Michael will catch up with her family; John is off to play golf at Cobram; Jan has caught up with her Melbourne friends & is happier for that, and Barbara is looking much better than she did a week ago, when she had been bitten & scratched by the rogue cat.

I haven’t been to visit Viva yet as I don’t want to pass on any germs, as well as not being up to the drive. Hopefully I can do that soon and give Leanne a break from 24-hour care, as well as providing a visitor who isn’t part of Mercy Health Care.

Thanks to Carol Bruce, David Knox, Shaun Anderson & Terry Borg for all the games of WWF, and to everyone else who has rung, emailed or Skyped asking after me and Viva. Special thanks to Glenn for the big bunch of irises I found at the front door on Friday – much appreciated.

We are sorry not to be going to Clunes over the weekend for ‘Booktown’. This time 12 months ago, we had Mike & Lorna staying with us for the weekend and we finished their visit with a fun trip to Clunes, where Wes caught up with Bob Hawke who was guest of honour.

I did forget to tell you last Sunday that we went to see Colin Friels in ‘Red’ the play about the artist, Mark Rothko, We have loved Colin since we first saw him in the film, ‘Malcolm’ many moons ago & he is an actor very at ease on stage. We quite enjoyed the play, although the scenery shifting was distracting & unnecessary. The onstage chemistry between Colin & his young co-star, André de Vanny, was fantastic, especially towards the end, and the audience was most appreciative, which delighted them both.

Enjoy your week and I’ll be in touch again next weekend.

Lovely photo of our Rome guide, Daniela, next to the biggest hyacinths ever!