1977 Climb Every Mountain Choral Society Cricket Match
Viva above & below Robert Preston, Manny, Shane & Joyce Spiteri
Dear Friends, we have been enjoying some wild and woolly weather lately and especially early this morning – we had received warnings about a strong wind, but no-one mentioned the heavy rains which woke everyone in our area I am sure. We have suffered no damage with the wind, but if Ian Tinetti hadn’t removed some branches from our remaining gum tree, I am sure our backyard would be littered with them now.
My health is improving slowly but I am still tired well before I should be. However, last night I stayed up, made dinner and went to bed straight afterwards and am hoping to do the same again today. I’d like to be out walking but it isn’t particularly good weather for walking just at the moment – Wes set out with Bilbo and Frodo at 6am and they were back sopping wet in 3 minutes.
Since I last wrote, Wes has been busy with Hepburn Voices, the Family Trees, our history, cooking our meals and spending time with Barbara. He rings her every day, shares time with her at least 3 times a week – going for a drive, having hot chocolate, playing Chess, helping fix her computer etc as she has been housebound a lot with this weather and she is unable to do her hydrotherapy at present. The boys are very happy to sit on their downstairs bed near Wes while he types away and only come upstairs if they think I am getting a meal ready and might give them a treat.
We haven’t been able to play golf, so have been relying on walks, Strong Classes and the exercise bike to keep fit and warm. I am having weekly massages with Ann at present, which are wonderful – I enjoy the therapy as well as the chat as we are old friends. I did play Mah Jong with Dot last Wednesday and we had a most enjoyable morning playing children’s rules and catching up on each other’s news, as well as sharing the Mah Jong wins fairly evenly. Tomorrow Carol will be there as usual, but Valerie will be missing, so hopefully we can play children’s rules most of the morning. (Children’s rules means that we don’t build the walls and can have lots more games, but Carol likes building the walls and we usually play with her set, so have to oblige her. She did win two games of Scrabble yesterday, so perhaps she will take pity on us tomorrow).
Judi got some shocking news at breakfast on Sunday – her 30-year old only niece was in an induced coma in intensive care in Brisbane shortly after returning home from a holiday in Bali. Her parents were overseas in Thailand although they have arrived back now and her brother, Luke, was down from Maleny to keep an eye on her. Today’s good news is that Coby is breathing on her own again. Judi is trying to get update with everything in case she has to suddenly fly up to Queensland either to visit Coby or to be with her mother and sister, brother-in-law and nephew.
As well John & Jan were told later in the day that their daughter-in-law’s young brother had died accidentally, so they are also in shock. Glenn, who was also at breakfast, had to return from Melbourne on Monday to attend his first mother-in-law’s funeral.
Gillie flew to South Africa last night to be with her sister, Wendy, who has had a hip transplant and will need Gillie’s care as she returns home from rehab. Judi was going to look after Gillie’s PO Box, but I am now doing that as Judi has enough to worry about.
On Friday I finally had the manicure and pedicure that had been booked for 10 days earlier, with Michelle at her home just before she shifted out. She and her husband split up about 12 months ago and settlement on the house is this week. She and her two young children have moved to Macadam Street, the next street to us, so she will be within walking distance next time I go to see her.
We had organised a lunch party for Saturday some weeks ago and decided to go ahead and see how I lasted, so on the morning I made pumpkin soup and collected some good crusty bread and yummy olives, while Wes prepared roast lamb and umpteen vegetables. Our guests were Jan & Warren Pengilley, Di Lyttleton & Jeff Bain, and Sandy & Nigel Dempster. Jan & Warren assure us they have only lived in Daylesford for 2 years, but it seems as though we have been friends forever and time spent with them is always a treat. Di & Jeff have been around for much longer, but our paths don’t cross often enough and we love to be in their company. Sandy & Nigel have just moved into town after being in Bullarto, which is 10 minutes away and very cold and we are keen to rekindle a good friendship with them that has been neglected.
Lunch went brilliantly – it started with our discovery just as the first 4 guests arrived early by taxi, that the bread, which had been sliced for me, was in fact mostly crust, with big holes inside it. We all laughed about it and decided to cope. Jan had brought some lovely cheeses for afters and Di had found some rich chocolates to accompany coffee, so we were very spoilt for food. As well everyone had brought interesting wines. All the soup was consumed, the roast was carved by Jeff, and demolished along with the roast vegetables and Wes then produced baked apples stuffed with raisins, sultanas and ginger, and drizzled with messmate & peppermint honey. These were most popular, but we somehow managed to get through cheese and chockies and Spanish dessert sherry, bushmills, muscat etc etc. Everyone left around 5pm and as soon as we had cleared the table I went to bed and got up again at 2-hourly intervals to unload and reload the dishwasher.
Karen, Judi, Gail, Barbara and Gillie at breakfast
The next day, after our lovely breakfast thanks again to Kim & Gary, Wes and I drove to Melbourne to finally visit Viva. We had a lovely visit and had managed to get some early white & burgundy tulips from the Riverina, which delighted her. We had hoped to get to the Carlton vs Swans game afterwards, but Wes was very good and we stayed with Viva until she was tired and ready to go back to bed. Wes drove to Docklands and we got a park under the ground and were in our seats one minute after the start. He was happy to leave at ¾ time as the Blues had blown the Swans away by then, and it meant we would get home in daylight. I was most grateful as I was quite asthmatic for some reason and it was good to get back here and into bed.
Yesterday I was planning to walk around the Lake with Rhonda at 9.30am but it was still raining and blowy so we met for a cuppa at ‘Gracenotes’ instead. Jasmine was very welcoming, the fire was roaring and not only did Rhonda and I enjoy a long overdue chat, but both Annie Smith and Ann Holden joined us and I think we were there for nearly 2 hours. I very rarely see Annie socially these days and it was wonderful to spend time together again. We have shared so many great times together, especially when David was alive and we went on dog holidays, or had dinner for four cooked and served by Rhonda at her lovely home.
While Wes was spending time with Barbara in the afternoon, after he had enjoyed lunch at Daylesford House Cafe, I caught up with chores on the computer, cleaned the fireplace, made a bread and butter pudding and tried very hard to stay up until dinnertime and I did!
On a completely different note, I have been meaning to talk about changes to Daylesford for all of you who have been here, or used to live here, who are always wanting to know what is happening, so I’ll try to remember to include a bit of info each Dispatch. Let’s start with our little bit of Duke Street – no 80 is owned by 2 blokes, who are friends with the 2 blokes who live in front of them in King Street, but they didn’t know that until they bought the house. Usually the house is on the holiday market, but once a month they spend the weekend here, which is good. No 76 on our other side is rented out most weekends; no 74 has its owners back living in it for a few months while their home in Raglan Street is being renovated; no72 has new owners who visit occasionally on the weekend; Barbara lives across at no 77; no 75 is empty and workman keep coming and doing a bit then going away again; no 73 is empty after Margaret, who goes to Europe for our Winter, left and her grandson has also gone; Ann does her massages from the back of 73; and finally no 71 has much less land than it used to since Liza sold the back of her property and nearly all the pine trees were felled. She still offers accommodation, massage, readings and has various animals that she looks after.
Maloney Manor, 246 Brunswick Road – home for nearly 25 years
