Daylesford Summer Dispatch - 7th December 2025

 
Typical Snoopy!

Even though it was 30th November last Sunday, I decided to bring out the Christmas decorations a day early, as it was raining and we were having a quiet day at home. I put the wreath on the front door, hung the bells over the decking, and placed the various decorations we still have in their allotted spots. Most of them are gifts from Viva, and it is lovely to think of her as I unpack them from the chest at the bottom of our bed.

Christmas in Strathmore 2003 - Karen, Wes, Leanne & Viva 

Mondays are always busy - Wes & Morse managed to walk before the rain came down; I did the weekly shopping at Coles, where most items are now in their forever homes, and we failed to resolve our School discussion, which was changing from NBN to Fibre to the premises. When we tried to make the change, there was nothing on offer in spite of an email alerting us to the possibility. We'll have to make a phone call instead. 

Wes had hoped to get out in the garden to weed while I was out doing chores - buying stuff from Tonna's; returning a full tin of Jasmine tea to The Convent; donating glassware to The Salvos, collecting prescriptions & checking our PO Box. We don't have a letterbox, so all our mail goes to our PO Box, unless something is addressed to the street number, in which case we may or may not receive it! He was unsuccessful as it kept showering on & off, and it wasn't worth the risk of getting soaked. However, he was busy chatting - Barbara in NZ, Danny in Brisbane, and Paul in the Cotswolds made for a very social day. 

Roses to celebrate the first day of Summer

On Tuesday, after my Zoom with Leanne, we prepared the lounge for the arrival of a Christmas tree, and Wes headed off to select it. He came home with the perfect tree, and I had great fun decorating it. We usually come close to divorcing over these trees, but it sat perfectly in its bucket, and we were amazed. A first in our lives together!

Before & after - very happy indeed!

We had been very sad to read of the death of Bev Dale, wife of Brunswick Rotarian, Kev. We had a lot to do with both of them, and the most memorable was a trip to Hong Kong in 1997 with them & the Tyrrells. They were fun to be with, and Kev will be very lost without his soulmate. The funeral was held at Fawkner on Tuesday afternoon, and Wes was able to postpone an appointment with his GP to attend.

Kev & Bev on a Hong Kong boat trip organised by Bill Friend

We woke on Wednesday to a cool morning ushering in a very warm day. I delivered newspapers to Spring Park Nursery, went for a walk along Vincent Street, and returned home to try to book AFL Gather Round tickets for next year. Wes vacuumed & washed floors around me, while Judi waited to hear whether I would make Mah Jong or not. I was successful in getting a Multi-pass to all four games at the Adelaide Oval, and we are thrilled. We booked our accommodation with Rosie back in September, and now we have tickets! I eventually got to Muffins & More around 11.20am in time to have a pot of tea & share news with Judi before her friend, Mirella, arrived to have lunch with her. 

We decided to visit Blake's, our specialty grocer, after I had finished my Zooms on Thursday. First was with Terry Borg in Hawthorn, and we enjoyed a great chat - her daughter, Laura, was arriving home the next day, and there was a lot to be done, culminating in a big Christmas party on Sunday for the family. Then the Old Friends wished Kathy well for their trip to Mexico, before chatting about our own Christmas plans.

Our dogwoods are looking even more spectacular in December

At Blake's, we found all the items we needed for Christmas lunch with Leanne, and resolved to go back there a few days before the 25th to buy all the goodies we had spotted. Wes suggested we go for a walk around Lake Daylesford, something we haven't done together in quite some time. It was a lovely walk, especially when we met old friend, Maureen Dean, who has moved back to Daylesford after a trial retirement in Kilmore. At the end of our walk, we stopped at Walter's cafe, run by Natasha Hall, daughter of another Daylesford friend, David, and enjoyed hot drinks & home-made mince pies. She was thrilled to see us and we exchanged news until business got too busy!

That afternoon we sat down in the air-conditioned lounge to watch Day 1 of the 2nd Test. Mitch Starc removed two batsmen very quickly, and at one stage, the Poms were looking in strife with 4 wickets down, but they rallied, mostly through Joe Root, who was unbeaten on 135 at stumps, to be 9/325.

Next morning, Wes washed Morse, before heading out to the garden to trim, weed & mow. I bought some punnets of pleasure to replace some ailing pots, and Morse walked around disconsolately for a couple of hours, as most of his bedding was in the wash. 

I woke yesterday morning to discover we were 6/378, 44 runs ahead of the Poms, with every batsman making a contribution. It was showery weather here, which wasn't ideal for the 74th Daylesford Highland Gathering. We braved the rain and watched the Parade of Bands in Vincent Street, meeting a new resident, Margaret, while we were there. She had come down from the Sunshine Coast about 12 months ago, and was now throwing herself into everything Daylesford has to offer - the festivals, U3A, the walking & writing groups, Aperitifs - making friends along the way. Before the Bands marched, we were treated to a parade of West Highland Terriers who were piped up & down Vincent Street, some wearing kilts, and all well-behaved.

Some bands wore raincoats & some didn't

We were glued to the cricket again in the afternoon. What an innings by Mitchell Starc, who top-scored for Australia with 77, helped by Scott Boland on 21 - all out 511. When we woke this morning we discovered the Poms were 6/134, still 43 runs behind us. The match will be over today unless Ben Stokes can produce a miraculous innings. 

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 30th November 2025

 
Dear Snoopy!

Last Saturday night, we were switching stations to see The Ashes, as well as the Carlton AFLW team play Brisbane up there. The Lions were far too good, but Wes was delighted with the Blues improved season and not too disappointed they didn't make the Grand Final. 

Our Sunday started well, but after the Daylesford Market, and breakfast, I suddenly felt very tired and decided to spend the day in bed. This was the right move and I felt much better when I woke on Monday, which was good, as we had a busy School session to get through. 

We had decided to look at our Emergency Travel & Hospital bag to see what needed to be improved. Firstly, we couldn't find the list, mainly because the word, emergency, wasn't in it! Then we couldn't find the small suitcase, which we thought we had used last year to hold what we needed if we had to evacuate during Summer. Eventually, we decided we must have unpacked it once the fire danger passed and donated it to the Salvos, as it wasn't really big enough for all we wanted to pack. What a relief to realise that, after we looked in all our storage areas for the elusive suitcase. Wes is threatening to use his father, Ray's, Gladstone bag in the future!

This is our best season for herbs - parsley, pink thyme, Winter savoury, coriander, oregano & mint - plenty for the chef to choose from

On Tuesday, it was another perfect Spring day, and after I chatted with Leanne, I went back to Coles to buy orange juice, which I hadn't been able to find the day before. Eventually, a lovely helpful staff member, Kylie, and I found it in a section labelled "Butter". It will be good when the renovations are finally complete, hopefully next month, and shopping goes back to normal. Wes got out in the front garden and weeded & whipper-snipped, while I picked a beautiful bunch of roses for the front entrance.

Ashram, Perfumed Passion, Munster Wood, Julia, Guy Savoy & Freesia

The heavens opened with a vengeance on Wednesday morning, which caused Wes to cancel floor washing, mainly because Morse wasn't prepared to go outside in the rain. I curtailed my walk around Vincent Street, and dashed into Muffins & More early to keep dry. Judi & I had a fun morning & she won every game bar one, which was great. There were lots of noisy locals in the café again this week, which is good for business. 

On Thursday, after our respective Zooms, we drove to Ballarat as we needed stationery from Officeworks that we can't buy in Daylesford, plus a vest from Kathmandu for me, and spirits from Dan Murphy that we also can't get in Daylesford. We repaired to Wen & Ware café for lunch afterwards - hot drinks & toasted sandwiches. The meals are fairly simple at this café, but always fresh & tasty, and the staff are so friendly that we feel very comfortable. It was as busy as we've ever seen it, mostly full of women shopping for Christmas decorations or beautifully gift-wrapped presents. 

Another beautiful selection - Guy Savoy, Munster Wood, Freesia, Ashram & Don Bradman

On Friday, after Wes walked Morse, and I chatted with Leanne, we had a long overdue catch up at Bad Habits café with Fiona & Les Groundwater. There was so much news to talk about, mostly on their side, but we did entertain them with the tale of the missing emergency bag. We all agreed that whatever happened, our dogs would be fine, as our cars both had leads, bowls, water, treats & bedding in them permanently. 

Yesterday was a lazy day. We slept in until 6.50am as it was too wet to walk Morse around Daylesford Cemetery. We had tea & toast for breakfast, followed by a good read of Saturday's Age and a little bit of computer work. I booked some rooms, mostly at The Hotel Windsor next year, which will enable me to attend Collingwood's night games, as we have lots of them. 

Wes has enjoyed a very social week catching up with friends & family either on Zoom, WhatsApp or his mobile - Terry Larkins was first cab off the rank, followed by one of two chats with Barbara Simpson, then Helen Hanrahan, his sister, Denise, the Jackson Group, Barbara again & finally his cousin, Amanda Testro. All the ways we can communicate were improved and enhanced during COVID, and we remain very grateful that we can stay in touch even though we are often far away from those we are chatting with.

Finally, there was plenty of sport to choose from yesterday afternoon - I saw the Melbourne Stars beat the Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL at the Junction Oval, and, at the same time, the Prime Minister's XI got off to a good start against the Lions at Manuka in a two day pink ball game that the senior Poms decided not to participate in. Last night North Melbourne won their second AFLW Grand Final at Princes Park, easily beating Brisbane by 40 points, to set up an enviable record of success over the past two years. 

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 23rd November 2025

Time for Sally & Charlie Brown again!

We've had a very busy & social week for a change! On Sunday, after I published my Dispatch, we went to the Daylesford Market to get fruit, vegetables, eggs & dog treats. Once that was successfully done, we came home, and Wes bathed Morse, while I washed our goodies & put them away. We were both tired from our visit to Leanne the previous day and elected to have a quiet time reading papers & books & cuddling Morse!

Our first roses for the season - Munster Wood, Guy Savoy & Perfumed Passion

On Monday, Wes had a birthday, and he had decided to bake a whole trout for our lunch. He seems to do this kind of cooking very easily and it made for a beautiful, relaxed meal, sitting looking out over Lake Daylesford & the Wombat Forest. Before lunch, we spent some time looking at Dottotech's 5 favourite free apps, and learnt about Google Forms, which we hadn't used before. 

Baked trout with asparagus & Dutch cream potatoes

Over the past few years, we have had a tradition of celebrating birthdays with Bob White, and this year was no different. We took him to The Pig & Whistle Hotel in Trentham East back in March, and he shouted us lunch at Jackie's on Vincent on Tuesday. We enjoyed an excellent meal each, washed down with Captain's Creek rosé. We were amazed to discover when chatting with Jackie's wife, Lisa, that she had her fifth child on Grand Final day. Their oldest is 12 and now they have another beautiful little girl. She assured us that 4 girls & 1 boy is enough!

Old Friends are the Best Friends

Before going to lunch, I had Zoomed with Leanne, and then tried chatting on WhatsApp to see how that went. We both enjoyed it and will try doing it again. It offers similar extras to Zoom, including the ability to share screens. Later in the morning, we Old Friends were finally able to Zoom with Libby in Gladstone, with the help of her daughter, Becky. We all enjoyed the chat very much, and Becky has offered to facilitate it once a month, which we appreciate. 

On Wednesday, it was time for my fringe trim, followed by Mah Jong with Judi at Muffins & More café, which was surprisingly busy & noisy, mostly full of locals, including Les Pitt, who hasn't been well after a fall. Everyone was thrilled to see him & say hello & welcome back. As it wasn't raining, Wes was able to do the floors, and I came home to a very clean house. 

Flowers from our garden with Rhododendron blooms from Bob

The next morning, I had an early Zoom with Terry Borg, and caught up with her news - her younger daughter, Laura, is returning from Thailand, having adopted two of the many young girls she has looked after during her time there. We had a lovely chat, and normally I would then catch up with Old Friends, but we had spent 40 minutes together on Tuesday, so cancelled our regular get-together. As a result, I kept feeling I was forgetting to do something important!

Beautiful dogwood coming into flower

Friday was windy - Wes did some trimming, weeding & mowing, while I chatted with Leanne & then Jan Pengilley in Maleny. We had a dreadful connection via Zoom, so tried WhatsApp instead, and it was much better. I was so pleased I had experimented in using it earlier in the week with Leanne. 

At lunchtime, we headed to The Convent, where we were catching up with old friends, Di Lyttleton & Jeff Bain, who had brought their sister-in-law, Sue Lyttleton with them. We had been to Sue & Vin's combined 80th birthday party on 1st March this year, but had never met Sue before, and until Friday, never had a conversation with her. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her, and had some wonderful chats, many of which were started by our surroundings, as Marija had put us in the former Mother Superior's Parlour, which was perfect!

Sue, Di, Jeff, Wes & Karen

The 1st Ashes Test in Perth had started while we were at lunch, so we tried not to look at the score, and watched on delay, until we caught up around 5.30pm. What an amazing first day - 19 wickets, with Starc the destroyer in the Poms' first innings, and Stokes, Archer & Carse putting the fear of God into the Aussies in our first innings.

Yesterday we had planned to visit the Daylesford Show, which is always fun, but I was too tired after our busy week, so Wes went into the garden, while I read Saturday's Age newspaper, did crosswords & relaxed until Day 2 of the Test began at 1.20pm our time. Then we were glued to the TV as we watched the Poms fold for 164, followed by an amazing innings by Travis Head, who opened with Weatherald, and hit a swashbuckling 123 off 83 balls, aided by Marnus Labuschange, who looked good on 51 not out. The only thing wrong is that the Test finished so quickly - we were looking forward to 3-4 days of intrigue. 

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 16th November 2025

 
Love it!

We started our week with the usual visit to the Daylesford Market, where we collected wonderful fresh fruit & vegetables from Yvonne, while Morse devoured his cut up pear. Then back home to quickly put it all away and get on the road to meet Kathy & Gerard Lazzaro for brunch at Code Black café in Brunswick. We spent a very enjoyable 90 minutes there enjoying interesting meals and catching up on each other's news & plans.

Sharing stories with Kathy & Ged

The next morning, Wes & Morse were able to walk in light rain, where the ibises and ducks were ready to play at the Daylesford Cemetery. Meanwhile I did the supermarket shopping, picked up savoury croissants for breakfast, and put out the bins for the street. We devoted School to talking about Christmas, planning our annual letter and email. Then it was time for me to have a massage with Sarah Hunt, where we discussed a range of topics and ended up with me offering to loan her books by Louise Penny & Ann Cleeves from our library. While I was with Sarah, Wes mowed the back lawns, much to the delight of all our birds.

Our first Golden Beauty rose this season

On Tuesday, it was pouring rain until about 9am. I headed into town, then to Juls for a manicure. When I arrived back here, just in time for 11am Remembrance, the new armchair had been delivered and was sitting in the bedroom, waiting for me.

 

So thrilled that it fits in well & is very comfy

We were pleased to wake to a dry morning on Wednesday, and Wes took Morse for a long walk at Daylesford Cemetery, where the ibises & ducks were ready & waiting. Judi & I played Mah Jong at Muffins & More café, which was full of locals. When I came back home, the floors were sparkling clean, and Morse was sulking as he gets put outside while Wes is doing them.

By Thursday, we were enjoying lovely Spring weather again. I delivered newspapers to Spring Park Nursery early, before Wes & I settled down to our Thursday Zooms - his was on the interesting topic The Decline of Trust in Institutions, while I chatted with Kathy, Karen S & Joyce, mostly about eyes, and Joyce's latest beautiful handiwork, which is now on her bed.

Wes & I continued what has become a Thursday tradition of going out for brunch, and we visited a café I have never entered before - Himalaya Bakery, which serves simple meals - eggs on toast, toasties, soup, home-made pies etc. It used to be totally vegetarian, but I noticed bacon & meat have found their way onto the menu since the latest owner took control, and there were a few tradies coming in for pies & sausage rolls while we were there. We enjoyed the friendly atmosphere, our meals and teas, and will definitely return. 

Friday was another perfect day, and although Jan Pengilley and I waited to Zoom with each other at different times, everything else went well. Barry, the fisherman, crossed the road to find out if we were all OK as we hadn't been to Lake Daylesford recently. It was lovely to see him and briefly catch up on his news, before his wife, June, arrived, and needed to be driven to an appointment.

Wes spent the morning in the front garden, where I have been doing a bit of weeding each day, in an effort to lighten his load. He did some serious weeding, trimming and then mowed the verge at the end of Duke Street as a favour for James & Yoko at #80, and Daniel & Tania at #77.

Beautiful pink azalea in the front garden

Yesterday we drove to Strathmore to visit Leanne, armed with fruit scones, while she provided homemade strawberry jam & whipped cream to go with them. I had recently gone through my medications and given the out of date ones to the pharmacy for disposal, so suggested we do that together with hers, which was much easier with two checking everything. 

Last night Wes was delighted when his AFLW team easily beat Hawthorn to progress to a Preliminary Final next Saturday night in Brisbane against the Lions. The Blues looked very good and are playing great footy at the right end of the season. 

Our new favourite Blues player, Sophie McKay, who is starring in her first year under her sister's Captaincy

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 9th November 2025

 
Spoilt Snoopy

Once again, we were very sad to learn of the death of a friend, this time John Scarffe, from Porcupine Ridge, who has been unwell for some time. He & Bronwen became our friends when we met at Daylesford Rotary, and we have stayed in touch after their move to Moonee Ponds. John was good company and he will be missed.

This lovely photo of Bruce Bavin, Wes & John Scarffe was taken on a wintry night when Daylesford Rotary took the train to Musk

We were shocked to learn that another local friend had died - "Bloody" Bob Kennedy, unofficial Mayor of Glenlyon. He & Wes met in the early 2000s, when Wes was Mayor of Hepburn Shire. Bob always told him that it didn't include Glenlyon. They enjoyed each other's company, and Bob worked hard to harmonise Glenlyon which was split at that time. When he came to Daylesford, he could usually be found at Muffins & More café, where we would exchange a few words and he would ask after Wes. 

Bob - an unforgettable character

After a dry, sunny weekend, we had a deluge of rain on Monday, mostly in the morning, and everywhere looked so green and healthy & happy. Daylesford was still full of visitors spending the Melbourne Cup Long weekend here, and it was best to park your car & walk to wherever you wanted to go, as cars were crawling along the main streets. 

After I did the supermarket shopping, Wes & I tackled cleaning the study, which was well overdue. I got the easy part - dusting & polishing, while he did the floors. The windows were going to be done as well, but it was pointless while the rain was around. 

Our double Japanese wisteria is looking very pretty

We had a wonderful Melbourne Cup day. It was wet & cool here, so we decided to just sit and watch the races on TV, having a bet on each race. Of course, the focus was the Cup, and we were both very keen on Half Yours with Jamie Melham in the saddle, and my roughie was Middle Earth, which ran third. We had quinellaed 4 horses and were hoping Middle Earth could run second, but Goodie Two Shoes finished better. We were in tears, so thrilled for Jamie, who became the first female jockey to win the Caulfield/Melbourne Cup double. This photo shows her after the race with Michelle Payne, the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup back in 2015.

That night, Wes had a lovely long Zoom chat with our friend, Paul Jackson, in Oxford. We had cancelled dinner, as the cheese & tomato toasties Wes provided at lunch were so filling, we didn't need another thing. 

We woke to more rain on Wednesday, and we both think we have never seen our garden looking so good. A couple of roses have bloomed, but we'll need some more sunshine, before we get a proper showing. Morse turned 7 and we celebrated by singing Happy Birthday, while he waited patiently for a dog biscuit covered in Vegemite, which he loved!

Wes did his usual thing of vacuuming & washing the floors, while I played Mah Jong with Judi. We both tried some different hands, which was easy to do as Muffins & More was very quiet, with just a few locals and no big groups. 

Oaks Day was much better weather than the Cup. Wes & Morse had a lovely walk together early, before I had a Zoom with Terry Borg, which had to be aborted as she was quite unwell and coughing. Then I caught up with Old Friends - Kathy, Karen S & Joyce. We chatted about the races, eyes, gardens & books, and the time flew by. Once again, Wes & I enjoyed watching the main races, having a few bets, and even making a small profit on the afternoon.

That morning, Wes & I had headed to Muffins & More, for a long overdue catch up with John Smith, husband of Dot, who died last year. John hasn't been in good health since we last saw him, but he was thrilled to be out, seeing us, and wore the Fair Isle jumper I knitted him back in 2014. 

John chose the colours & was pleased with his jumper, although as he said, it can't be worn when you are tinkering with tools in the shed!

After we had finished brunch with John, we drove to Ballarat, as we needed fish, spirits, smoked salmon pieces, and wanted to visit some furniture shops to find a chair for me for our bedroom. We stopped at Christies Furniture in Howitt Street, where we were the only customers, and the co-owner listened to my needs. We bought a lovely chair & almost matching ottoman, which will be delivered on Tuesday. 

The next morning, after a good chat with Leanne, we put Morse in the car and drove to Ballan to spend time with Rob & Dene. We had our usual lovely visit, with a beautiful morning tea, and plenty of treats for Morse. Their garden is looking good, and we had lots to talk about & share. 

Morning tea, Rob with Morse, & flowers from both our gardens at our front door

Yesterday was wild & woolly, so we stayed inside, read The Age, and watched the final day of the Flemington Cup Carnival, previously called Stakes Day, but now renamed Champion Stakes Day. We managed to get 1st & 3rd in the main 4 races, but no collects, as I had taken our horses in quinellas! Still we've had a good carnival, enjoyed some wonderful racing and are only $20 down on our original outlay.

Carlton's AFLW team had a resounding win over West Coast at Princes Park in dreadful weather, and now face Hawthorn next weekend. Wes was delighted with their win.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 2nd November 2025

 
Linus is very young to have learnt this lesson

Last Sunday was wet, and I squibbed going to the Daylesford Market when Wes & Morse set off early at 7.15am, which turned out to be the perfect time - no other dogs, and Yvonne was ready with all the food she sets aside for Morse. I ended up spending the day in bed, as I had no energy, and felt much better for doing that. Both our AFLW teams won in the afternoon - the Blues easily beat GWS & we played a great last quarter to get in front of Gold Coast. Both games had to stop for lightning, even though they were played in two different states. Then we found a You Tube video showing Alana King's 7/18 against South Africa - a World Cup record and a wonderful display of spin bowling. 

On Monday, after shopping, Wes & I watched another Steve Dotto video, this one on Zoom bombing, and how to protect your privacy. We already did most of what he suggested, but it was a timely reminder to check our settings, which we each did. 

It was a gorgeous day on Tuesday, and while I had a Zoom chat with Leanne, Wes got into the garden - weeding, edging & mowing. We're still waiting for the first rose to open, but another couple of days like this one should do the trick. I chimed in with some weeding after I'd gone into Vincent Street for a few chores.

Our beautiful Japanese maple is doing its Spring thing again

Judi & I were able to play Mah Jong on Wednesday, after Wes & I had been to Daylesford Hair & Beauty - me for a fringe trim & him for a haircut. We really like the salon, especially because Elise is very community minded and she & her staff get involved in everything going on in Daylesford. 

We both had Zooms on Thursday morning - Wes enjoyed the Jackson Group, which had an open discussion, ranging over many topics of interest, particularly AI. Meanwhile I caught up with Kathy, Joyce & Karen S, and we were a little more lowbrow, although literature did enter towards the end! 

We had decided to go to Bad Habits café, at The Convent, after our Zooms finished, and enjoyed a beautiful breakfast in the stunning surroundings. The Convent gardens are exquisite in any season, and a joy to walk through on your way in & out. We were able to say hello to Tina, the owner; Marija, who is her right-hand; Tenielle the barista, and Steven on the desk. As well, old friends, Bill & Steve, were there & we had a quick catch up before a friend joined them for morning tea. 

Our banksia rose arbour is looking splendid at present

We arrived back here in time for the 11am Zoom, where Kathy & I had a good chat, waiting to Lib to join us. That didn't happen, so we realise it is probably in the too hard basket. We'll hope to get in touch with her another way, and have asked her daughter, Becky, for her advice, and she has offered to facilitate a Zoom when she is visiting Lib, which is great.

On Friday, I had another good Zoom with Leanne, before visiting Springs Medical Centre to see my podiatrist. He was heading home to New Zealand yesterday with his partner & baby son, to do some serious showing-off I imagine. While I was away, Wes got busy preparing pots for sowing the Spring vegetables. I planted basil, baby carrots, zucchini & dwarf beans, and we look forward to a good crop of everything - fingers crossed.

Our very first sweet peas ever are starting to bloom & I can see them from our bedroom - bonus!

Yesterday was a beautiful day - I had an early appointment with Dr Ellie at Springs Medical, which is now a fully bulk-billing practice, which is wonderful news for all the locals who aren't babies or pensioners (we were already being bulk-billed by most doctors). We had a good chat - booked me in for a full examination by a nurse in January; discovered that I should have been taking two asthma medications instead of one, etc etc, plus I got a chance to commiserate with her as a Geelong supporter after their unexpectedly poor showing in the AFL Grand Final. 

Talking of footy, the North Melbourne AFLW team has broken a long-standing record held by Geelong since 1952/53, when they won 23 games straight. North beat Hawthorn on Friday night with an easy victory to record their 24th win in a row. They have not been beaten since losing the 2023 Grand Final. What a team!

In the circle singing the song after the win

When I arrived back home from my appointment I joined Wes in the garden, and did some more planting. We had bought a couple of miniature carnations, as well as a lovely white ground cover. The carnations are in pots near the back door, and the ground cover in a wheelbarrow not too far away. All three plants have beautiful perfumes, which we will enjoy for some time to come. 

It was the most perfect weather for Derby Day, and over 86,000 people went to Flemington to enjoy the races, enter the fashion competitions, and spend time with family and friends amid the famous roses. We were lucky enough to score a couple of quinellas and can't wait for Cup Day on Tuesday, although the weather might not be quite as good. 

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 26th October 2025

 
Perhaps Morse looks for them as well, as he eats lots of rice

After we visited the Daylesford Market, Wes & I went to Lambley Nursery & Gardens in Ascot, about 30 minutes away, to find some ground covers for the garden. It seems that is what everyone wants at present, to help cut down weeding & they didn't have anything that appealed to us. On our way home, we stopped at Spring Park Nursery, where Chris found three ground covers & two beautiful new daisy bushes, which are all going to fit nicely into our garden.

On Monday, after I did the supermarket shopping, School was spent deciding what vegetables we would grow this Spring. We've decided on Dwarf Purple Beans, Blackjack Zucchini & Baby Carrots. The potatoes we planted last year have come back, and we have plenty of herbs, except for Basil, which we'll try as well. As it was raining gently, we had a short walk around the garden looking for spots for our new plants & admiring the growth everywhere. We even found our first rose hidden in a bush.

This beautiful rose is called Perfumed Passion

Later in the morning, I had an excellent remedial massage with Sarah Hunt, where we discussed the ABC Radio National Top 100 books of this century. We both agreed that the choices reflected Book Group genre - I have only read 15 of them, she & Wes a handful. Very few of the books we voted for made it to the Top 100, and we've certainly never read the No 1 choice - "The Boy Who Swallowed the Universe", which has also been a successful film. 

We had an interesting experience last weekend, when someone knocked persistently on the front door. Wes was downstairs and didn't hear it, while I was in bed, and reluctantly answered it. The woman standing there was looking for help - she and 7 other friends had driven down from Echuca to stay for a few nights at Brindabella, @74 Duke Street, and when they went in, the beds hadn't been made or the place cleaned. They had booked through AirBnB a year ago. 

I asked Wes to handle it, and he did wonders, getting in touch with the owner, and giving advice to the visitor of how to proceed. Brindabella has been out of action for some time as there have been two separate burst pipes in our street, which pumped water straight onto their property and flooded the downstairs section. The visitor later rang to say they had stayed at a motel for the night, and were moving to another property for the remainder of their stay, and she wanted to thank Wes for all his help.

On Tuesday, I had a good Zoom with Leanne, before doing a few chores in the main street. I had to return home quickly as Wes wanted to wash the car after he did some trimming in the front garden. I went out to chat to him at one stage and looked into our pond, where I discovered we had heaps of tadpoles - looks as though we won't run out of frogs any time soon!

We were very sad that afternoon to read on Facebook that our friend, John Smith, had died last week. We hadn't been in touch over the past month and are sorry that we didn't realise just how close to death he was, as we have known him for 35 years. We shared some wonderful times with him & his wife, Jan, when we were insurance brokers, and then again, here in Daylesford, where they had a caravan, and later, bought a holiday house. 

John & Jan at the door of their motorhome

There were all sorts of dramatic weather warnings for Wednesday, and I was very relieved when Judi decided not to drive here from Ballarat for Mah Jong. The rain was very heavy, and everywhere was slippery underfoot. Hepburn Council closed some of their offices and the Daylesford Library in anticipation of the strong winds that were forecast. They arrived around lunchtime, along with the sun, and the rain stopped for a while. We were lucky not to experience any damage.

On Thursday I had a busy morning - first a Zoom with Terry Borg, who was heading out for a busy day; followed by a chat with Old Friends - Kathy, Joyce & Karen S, where we shared some laughs, reminisced and made plans to catch up again later in the hope that Libby could join us. Sadly that didn't occur, but we all enjoyed seeing each other twice in the one day.

Wes had invited me to brunch at the Glenlyon General Store, which we had in between Zooms 2 & 3. It was lovely to go back there, sit at the small oak drop-side table and enjoy yummy meals & hot drinks in front of an open fire. The café area was very quiet for a change, which made chatting very easy. 

Our weeping Japanese maple is doing its Spring thing again

Friday was busy - Wes gave Morse an early bath, before having a Zoom discussion with the Jackson Group core. He had hoped to get some gardening done, but it rained early which put a stop to trimming & mowing out the back. So we three had a quiet day, which was good as we were off to Strathmore the next morning to visit Leanne.

Our visit to Leanne went well. She was pleased to see us and had made another batch of strawberry jam, which went well with the scones from Gusto. Wes had taken some geranium cuttings to fill an empty spot in her garden, and added good soil and mulch to help them along. I showed Leanne some of the benefits of Phone Link, which we had downloaded on her desktop & mobile on an earlier visit. She was delighted with the ability to send texts & receive phone calls from her desktop. 

We arrived home in time to see most of the races at Moonee Valley at the last meeting there before everything changes. The current grandstands & track configuration are being demolished to allow for housing close to Puckle Street. Hopefully the Cox Plate will be back at the Valley in a couple of years time. The racing was exciting & Via Sistina won the main event just, over her stablemate, Buckeroo. 

Neck & neck just before the finishing post