Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 8th January 2012

Dear Friends, we are just back from the first Café 3460 breakfast for 2012, and sadly there won’t be too many more as it has been sold and will probably settle around early March. Kim & Gary are delighted that they haven’t been on the market for months and will enjoy their last few weeks I am sure. Kim produced another splendid meal, which was only outdone by Gail’s incredible stories involving wobbly trailers, unpicked surgical stitches & a takeaway Chinese Christmas meal. John & Jan were missing as they are getting ready to sail on the Dawn Princess to New Zealand tomorrow, a trip that Annie Smith is doing with a girlfriend later this month.

It poured with rain during the night & we awoke to a humid Brigadoon – the boys missed out on their walk & their trip to the Sunday Market, but we took them to Café 3460 for toast & vegemite delivered to the back of the car, then Wes brought them home & collected Barbara. I hadn’t seen anyone for New Year, so it was good to catch up with Judi (who has been unwell), Michael & Glenn as well and hear a little of their news (in between Gail’s stories). Gillie is quite sick, possibly with whooping cough, so we missed out on her company.

Kim’s tortillas

During the week we walked the boys together early, did some gardening, watched an amazing Test from Sydney, visited my specialist in Ballarat, who encouraged me to continue with what I am doing, and finished the rearrangement of kitchen & dining cupboards, which was necessitated by items being put back in strange places after the big clean-up post our kitchen fire. As well, Wes took Barbara to Ballarat for an appointment and for hydrotherapy; I spent some time with Annie Smith catching up on her news and trying to help her become boss dog with Mizu, and I spent three hours with Viva giving Leanne a much-needed break.

We were visited by Ben & Leanne, who stayed overnight. They brought a hazelnut chocolate cake for sweets, and we didn’t offer to let them take the leftovers home! Leanne is a wonderful cook. Wes did a stunning roast chook stuffed with cracked wheat, onions, parsley & curry plant on a bed of sage, as well as yummy baked salmon with heaps of vegetables. The next morning, I walked Bilbo & Frodo, while Wes & Ben had a game of golf at Trentham, and when Leanne woke up she went for a jog around the Lake. We met up at ‘Bocconcini’ for breakfast and they went home as they were looking after David & Helen’s three children for the afternoon.

I’ve been enjoying playing ‘Words with Friends’ with David Knox and was lucky enough to make the word, SQUEAKY, which earned me 182 points. We are still playing that game & I have just hit 511, which is a personal best. David is beating me in the other game we are playing concurrently. It’s a lovely way to keep in touch with him. Jane sends me messages all the while, but David is only an occasional correspondent. If you are interested in downloading it - www.wordswithfriends.com – very similar to Scrabble, but you can play on your phone or via Facebook.

I have been reading the latest Ian Rankin, courtesy of Marjorie’s Kris Kringle & enjoyed it immensely. I now have the latest P D James to enjoy, as soon as I finish Val McDermid, whose most recent book reintroduces a stunning baddy, Jacko Vance, from a much earlier novel featuring Tony Hill. While I madly read, do cryptic crosswords & logic puzzles to help me rest; Wes is spending lots of time on the family tree & family history. He has such an enquiring mind that he searches for ‘why’ so much more often than I would and discovers amazing things as a result.

Wes has our garden looking a picture. The roses are prolific & I have managed to keep at least two vases full of fresh flowers since New Year, as well as take a small bunch to Viva every time I visit. She loves the perfume of them, even if she can’t actually see them. Her sister, Jennifer (AKA Jeff), is recovering slowly but surely from her back operation & we hope it has been the success it appears and that she will be free from pain for the first time in a long while.

We did the early shift at the Farmers’ Market yesterday and it was a great experience. All the locals come early and enjoy catching up on news, and at least four Rotarians who weren’t rostered to work, turned up to help. Afterwards we had breakfast at ‘Gracenotes’ with old friends, Sheila & Vaughan. They have recently returned from a long trip overseas – they stayed three months longer than they expected, as a friend in America was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer and they went to spent time with her and her partner & their one-year old baby son. They have a big home & property here in partnership with Sheila’s sister, Liz, and they have decided to sell the house. Liz is a Supreme Court Judge and needs a permanent home in Melbourne near the court. Sheila & Vaughan are quite enjoying the thought of being homeless for a while and deciding what to do about it! They are also Labrador lovers and lost both their labs in the past 18 months. Before they replace them, they want to spend some more time in America with their friends and in Perth with Vaughan’s family.

Next week, we start to get back to normal activities –Rotary, Strong, Mah Jong etc. I am always amazed at how quickly that holiday time after Christmas flies by. We are desperate for Sandra to come back & make the house sparkling again, I need a haircut, massage & manicure and the third Test in Perth starts on Thursday, so there is lots to fit in this week.