Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 18th December, 2011

Dear Everyone, this will be my last Dispatch for 2011, by the time I write again we will be enjoying New Year’s Day. Daylesford is cool & wet today – we love this weather, but not everyone does! Our breakfast this morning was fantastic with yummy food, exchanging of small gifts and much hilarity. Rhonda joined us, which is always delightful and took some photos, as did Barbara. A small selection is shown here.

Gail’s backview; Barbara; John

We’ve just enjoyed a lovely visit from John, Dannielle, Malachi, Kalarni, Dublin & Irish. They made their annual pre-Christmas trip from Cohuna to visit John’s mother, Denise, and they always pop in to see us as well. Bilbo & Frodo were delighted to see the 4 kids, but were also very pleased when they went and are now sound asleep snoring at our feet, absolutely exhausted!

John chatting to Gail; Jan & Gillie, and Judi & Michael, who were sorely missed at breakfast today.

We were shocked to discover this morning that our dear friend, Carol Bruce, was rushed to St John of God in Ballarat early today with suspected angina. Fortunately both her daughters live in Ballarat and will be able to visit and do whatever needs to be done. Fingers crossed she is OK and will be home for Christmas.

We’ve had an interesting saga with our new dishwasher – after being promised it would be here during the week, we were sad that nothing had happened so Wes bombarded the assessors and claims manager with emails and we were promised a dishwasher on Friday. Sure enough one arrived – but it was stainless steel and the wrong model, so it went back and the right model in white was delivered early yesterday. While I was in Melbourne the plumber came to install it and we are thrilled to bits to have it in time for Christmas. We are so over washing up!!!

We arrived at the MCG just as the MCC Members’ gates opened and got excellent seats in the balcony. Then downstairs to the Hugh Trumble Café for a yummy dinner and chat, upstairs to say hello to Gayle Gibson and her friend, Heather, and then the Twenty20 match began. We missed the toss of the coin by Elizabeth Hurley, but saw it on TV while we were eating. It was an exciting atmosphere, but David Warner was far too good for the Melbourne Stars – as Captain, fieldsman and batsman he was unsurpassed. Let’s hope he opens for Australia against India in the Boxing Day Test.

The beautifully restored ticket box at Victoria Park – you can enter through the old turnstiles...

I stayed the night at Northcote and drove back here this morning and am now looking forward to having a very restful afternoon after our lovely visitors.

During the week, Wes has enjoyed quite a social time – he went to a glorious 5-hour lunch on Sunday at Di & Jeff’s place, I had been invited, but wasn’t able to get there and went to bed in the afternoon instead. On Tuesday night, Barbara had invited him to the Club 30 picnic dinner by the Lake and they were both pleased when the weather fined up enough to make it a good night; Wednesday was Rotary’s break-up and on Thursday he and Barbara went to the Christmas drinks put on by the Bendigo Bank.

During the week he and Barbara went to Ballarat for an appointment; he tried to play golf but the course was full, and he spent many hours on the computer doing family tree & history as well as receiving some lovely phone calls and emails, and looking after me & the boys. I had a couple of walks into town, got my nails and hair done and went to the Strong break-up lunch with Gillie, where we discovered Judi was also in attendance (we thought she might have had her fill of Christmas activities before she went to Caloundra to spend a week with her family, but we were wrong). It was good to see her and also my friend, Fay, who, like Gillie, has had a knee reconstruction and will be coming back to 6.30am Strong next year.

We have a good week coming up – Wes is playing golf with John in the morning, then we are off to see ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ with Geoffrey Rush; Steamatic are arriving on Tuesday to see if they can get the soot out of the lounge suite; Wes is spending the day in Melbourne with Secundus (Warren Pengilley) and plans to introduce him to Vince & Dom, the barbers in Little Bourke Street, as well as treat him to Pelligrini’s; and I am visiting the dentist and having a facial in Ballarat on Thursday. Before we know it Santa will have arrived and we will sit around a table for 12 with good friends and family and enjoy Christmas lunch together.

We wish you all a very happy Christmas and look forward to catching up again in 2012.

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 11th December 2011

Dear Everyone, two weeks until Christmas, and it looks as though it will be a cool, wet one according to the long range forecast on my phone. Today is cool and windy, but the sun is shining, after a night of thunderstorms and good rain. Wes mowed the lawns yesterday afternoon, which was great timing and he is weeding the front garden today.

Sharyn & Shane’s beautiful boys - Aidyn, Luke & Jules

We are just back from another lovely breakfast with nearly everyone there, except Michael and Gillie. Kim served his usual variety of yummy foods and we enjoyed catching up with each other’s news. Gail had her gall bladder removed by keyhole surgery last Tuesday and is progressing well enough to eat a hearty meal; Terry has discovered an app that allows him to play Rugby League on his phone and keep him in touch while he lives in the wasteland of Victoria; Judi is being kept busy with U3A activities before she heads off to Caloundra to catch up with her family next weekend; John & Jan are off to Bright for the week and have decided to put their Melbourne property on the market as Daylesford is now home; Glenn is thinking about camping in Bright during the week and going bike-riding with John there, and Barbara has been trying to give her cat, Bobby, more freedom and not liking it when he doesn’t come back the first time she calls him.

Wes has had an extremely busy week – he has been to Ballarat with Barbara on three days running, as she had her annual assessments and likes to have his company when this happens. They also went to the Horts Christmas dinner on the Tuesday night, and caught up again at breakfast this morning. On Thursday he went to Melbourne with John Smith to help him bring his desk and computer equipment back to Daylesford, and on Friday he took our station wagon to Jamie at Daylesford Tyres to get a set of new tyres put on, and while waiting had a coffee with Glenn at Wombat Hill House and then bought some new shoes to replace the ones that were wrecked when he put out the fire. He also went to Rotary and gave a submission to the Board afterwards with our suggestions for next year’s Art Show.

Kim’s Christmas tea cosy

My week has been much quieter – had morning tea with Gillie; ditto Ann & Judi; ditto Gail & Terry; Wes and I had an early dinner with Glenn, where he made a seafood stir-fry, and spent some time in Vincent Street buying gifts for dogs and cats. We aren’t exchanging presents with our family and friends, but have given a donation to Rotary’s Polio Plus Eradication Campaign instead.

Yesterday we drove to Melbourne to visit Viva and Leanne and had a great time. It is Leanne’s birthday today, so Kim made a fig & almond meringue for us to take. While we were there some lovely flowers arrived for Leanne from Peter & Anka. Viva was looking better and her bad eye is slightly improved. We stayed 2.5 hours, which was probably a bit too long and Viva was off to bed as soon as we had gone.

Wes brought the blue spruce inside on Friday and I spent the afternoon decorating it. We have put the tree in front of the fireplace for a change and moved the boys’ day bed from there to in front of the TV. They are not sure what they think of that. Wes was exhausted when he got home on Friday so he spent the afternoon catching up on sleep and looks much better today.

The assessor came back to see how the cleanup has gone and she has agreed that we can have the new dishwasher installed next week and that the flooring will be done mid-January. We are hopeful they will replace the cork tiles in the kitchen, lounge and hallway; and have suggested they see if they can cover the damaged underside of our bench top to save them from having to replace it, as that will be such a huge job. The kitchen and lounge walls need repainting and Kirsty is also getting the lounge suite cleaned again to see if the soot can be removed.

Our dear Aunt, Jeff, in Lincolnshire, has had her long awaited back operation on Friday and the early news is very good. Her surgeon is pleased and, although she is in some pain and discomfort, she is able to sit up and eat meals already. We have our fingers crossed that this will give her much better quality of life.

We’ve been glued to the cricket – Test cricket offers so much – each day brings a new twist – however, the Victorians, Siddle & Pattinson, are more than holding their own in the mostly NSW Test side. Well done. I’m looking forward to the start of the Twenty20 games next weekend as well. We are following the Melbourne Stars, who have signed Warne, in case you haven’t heard or read the news lately!

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 4th December 2011

Dear Friends, we are shivering here in Daylesford this morning, even though it is officially Summertime. The temperature is OK, but the wind is freezing, and anyone who left home in shorts or sleeveless tops this morning will be very sorry. Wes walked the boys, while I did the washing up (after a particularly lovely meal last night) & then I took them to the Sunday Market, where the stallholders were sheltering from the wind and hoping for some custom.

We were unexpectedly joined post breakfast by Kathy & Ged, who had decided on the spur of the moment to visit the five gardens open around this area today. They have set off to see the gardens and we hope to catch up with them again before they drive home.

The latest news on the kitchen is that nothing can be done until after Christmas as the job has become too big – new flooring, new benches, paintwork, carpentry and another clean of the lounge suite. We are hopeful of getting a replacement dishwasher soon, as there is nothing to stop it being installed so we can use it for the next month or six weeks.

The cleaners spent another day here emptying all our kitchen & laundry cupboards and drawers in an effort to remove the soot. Sadly our belongings were replaced in approximately the same areas, so I have been busy this week redoing them all, so that we can find things. However, it would have been a very depressing job to have undertaken ourselves, so we are grateful to have everywhere fairly clean again, although it is hard to get the floors looking good as the water dripping from the old dishwasher mixed with soot and smeared itself from the kitchen to the front door.

Scotch College then Daylesford Pipes & Drums

I’ve been fairly flat this week, missed Strong classes and haven’t really had much energy to do anything. Wes has been terrific, cooking yummy meals & making sure I have plenty of rest. I received a publication from the Chronic Fatigue Support Group, which made me feel that my symptoms are quite normal and I am not as worried as I was. Jane Knox and I have been swapping sympathetic Viber messages, as she is no good in the mornings, coming to life in afternoons, whereas I am the reverse.

Carol, Dot & Valerie & I all turned up for the last Mah Jong session of the year and had a fun time together on Wednesday morning. I’ve also had a massage, and on Friday I cooked the Christmas pudding, which was a most enjoyable activity, while listening to the cricket. The Kiwis started so well, but have lost the plot this morning.

Wes has been busy spending time with Barbara, attending Rotary, walking the boys daily and doing the Family Tree as relaxation. Yesterday we did the early shift on the Farmers’ Market, which meant we were able to walk into the street to see the Highland Gathering Parade afterwards. Barbara arrived about halfway through and joined us for brunch at ‘Gracenotes’, then Judi & her Sydney friend, Lynne, arrived after visiting the Farmers’ Market. Lynne has a wonderful sense of humour and she & Wes swap bon mots with gay abandon. Lynne is still here and we got to see her again at breakfast.

We have another Indian Restaurant opened up – Gillie & Glenn tried it on Friday night and gave it good reports, with generous serves and an interesting menu. We now have the choice of 3 Indian places, 2 restaurants offering take-away, and one with takeaway only. It will be interesting to see if they can all survive. There is also a new Japanese-inspired place, which is getting mixed reviews – everyone loves the food, not everyone likes the meagre portions.

I had hoped to visit Viva on Thursday, but she and Leanne were unwell, so my visit was postponed until tomorrow and now there is a message to say that doesn’t suit. Perhaps I will get there later in the week. Only three weeks to Christmas – we are being subdued in our decorations this year and will probably just bring our lovely blue spruce inside and put it in front of the fireplace. Enjoy your week and I’ll be in touch again next Sunday.