Lovely photo of Wes back in 2003 in our study
Dear Friends, we have just said goodbye to Joyce & Manny Spiteri, who have spent the weekend with us, and what a lovely time we’ve all had. I first met Joyce back in late 1972, when she was very pregnant with her second son, Shane, and we became good friends almost instantly. We have been lucky enough to share in so much of their lives – Wes was Mark’s Confirmation sponsor, and we are both Matthew’s Godparents. We have always enjoyed each other’s company, and when we saw them at Manny’s Mum’s funeral just before Christmas, we decided we would persuade them to come and visit us.
They arrived on Friday night, so we had dinner together at the Farmer’s Arms where we shared a table with Jenny & Eddie Beacham, Candy Broad & Hal Swerrison. Candy and Manny knew each other through the ALP, as Manny has been a union organiser for the TWU for a number of years. We had a lovely meal and a fun night.
Yesterday after a leisurely start, we headed off on the big tour of Daylesford and surrounds – we sampled mineral water & spring water, we looked at three Lakes, we had a cuppa at ‘Gracenotes Café’, and ended up at ‘Tuki’for lunch. We made Joyce & Manny catch the fish, which did take a while as 2 of the fish Manny caught took one look at him & jumped back into their pond! Rob & Jan Jones at Tuki looked after us as they always do – we had the best table, lovely service and a beautiful lunch.
We came home via Smeaton, Kingston, Blampied, Eganstown etc and spent the rest of the day relaxing and chatting. Wes served fresh fruit for dinner as none of us was hungry and we drifted off to bed after Samantha Stosur lost her tennis match. I watched the Bushrangers lose their first Twenty20 ever at the MCG and it was to the dreaded enemy – NSW!
Today, I walked the boys early to give Wes a sleep-in, then Joyce joined me at the Sunday Market, and we all went to Café 3460 for breakfast. Joyce & Manny were pleased to see Judi again after a number of years and to meet Michael, while Barbara and Joyce had worked together at OAMPS and were also thrilled to catch up. Gail had some wonderful stories from her two days in Sydney last weekend, and, as she has a Maltese son-in-law, had us all laughing with her understanding of the Malts.
We spent the rest of our time together wandering around the main shops in Vincent & Howe Streets, after a successful visit to the Mill Market, where Joyce found the perfect present for Katia, their newest grand-daughter. Wes and I were lucky enough to find the much-needed new bedside lamps at Theo’s shop, ‘Finishing Touch Decor’’. Joyce was very impressed that Theo gave us a lamp to take home to see if it would work or not, and that he then gave us a generous discount on the price. Meanwhile she replaced her favourite sunhat that had gone missing – its twin was in the doorway of ‘Benjamin Bandicoot’and on special to boot!
We ended up at ‘The Chocolate Mill’, where we had cooling drinks, ice cream and let Joyce & Manny choose some chocolates. They very kindly bought us some as well and Wes can’t wait to get into it. They have been very generous guests – Manny arrived with produce from his garden, 2 bottles of red wine and a cherry tree that he had propagated for Wes, as well as often beating Wes to the punch when the bill arrived. Bilbo & Frodo have enjoyed their company and have been very well-behaved. Joyce is beginning to see the advantages of 2 dogs, much to Manny’s horror.
Our week has been busy, but full of fun – we played golf on Monday morning after I did my Strong Class – not as well as we would have liked, which gave us impetus to play again on Friday. That afternoon, we collected Judi & Michael and drove to Melbourne to see ‘Don Parties On’ with Garry McDonald in the title role. We all loved the play – it was so true to the lives we are all living and the whole audience was most appreciative.
I spent some time back at the Info Centre teaching Fae how to do the Stats, as well as making umpteen visits to the Post Office to collect replacement shelves for our fridge. The first shelf that arrived was too big, the next shelf that arrived was attached to someone else’s order, so we now have a spare in case I break another shelf cleaning the fridge.
On Wednesday we had a good visit with Viva in the morning – she has been laid low with injuries to her legs and has had to visit the doctor every three days to have the dressings changed. She was quite tired, but pleased to see us both. Then we caught up with Ian & Robyn Robinson to see ‘Not Quite Out of the Woods’by the Wharf Revue Co led by Drew Forsythe. We all agreed it was the best revue we have ever seen and Amanda Bishop’s portrayal of Julia Gillard is absolutely spot on. That night we went to Rotary, where the guest speaker talked about Men & Relationships. It was lovely to see our friends again – some for the first time this year.
Wes found this lovely photo of Jessica Lazzaro’s christening 2002
L-R Jess, Kathy, Ben, David, Helen & Ged
Judi & I drove to Ballarat on Thursday for our first facials for the year. I went shopping at Snowgum and found a pair of lightweight pants and 2 tops, which were on special. I have had to discard some clothes that are worn out and needed replacements. That night Wes cooked a beautiful meal with barbecued scallops on coconut rice, from Matthew Hayden’s cookbook.
We played an early game of golf on Friday with Gillie and Michael, where Wes and I both improved our game – thank God. We ended up back at Café 3460 for brunch, where Wes decided that Kim’s back garden cried out for a ‘Garden Party’. Kim quite liked the idea, but asked it if could be put on hold for a while.
Wes has enjoyed a lovely week doing lots of work on Ancestry as the programme arrived in the mail at last. He took Barbara to the Bathhouse for hydrotherapy, and has finished some reports that have been hanging over him. We have played a few games of Scrabble, where honours are even, and we are both enjoying the books we are reading at present. I am loving ‘The Birthday Present’by Barbara Vine, and he has started ‘The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society’. We are both very impressed with the Australians efforts in the One Day games against the Poms and it is looking good again this afternoon.
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