Daylesford Chillout Dispatch - Sunday, 10th March 2013

Dear Friends, we’ve just returned from the Parade in the main street, after a lovely breakfast at The Food Gallery with eleven other friends & two dogs. We got a great position standing on the roundabout, which was where the Parade started. There were heaps of motorbikes, three bands, Dolly Diamond, vintage cars, dancers, gay families and Sir Lancelot astride a beautiful horse.

 

This rather stunning motorbike takes three in comfort, especially under their rainbow umbrellas; a much decorated Sir Lancelot & Danny, Judi & Karen watching the Parade

Aileen asked me this morning at breakfast if we had been busy this week and I had to stop and think…. We started with a very hectic Sunday – Clean Up Daylesford Cemetery was a big success with over 50 volunteers in the morning. We had brought our urn, borrowed John Smith’s generator to boil the water, and gave out umpteen cups of tea & coffee & cold water, accompanied by Bronwen Scarffe’s home-made biscuits. We have received very positive feedback from a lot of people; they were especially delighted to have been given hot drinks! We also provided Band-Aids, sunscreen, chairs & implements & the toilets had been cleaned & equipped with paper for a change. Barbara sat in the shade checking volunteers in and out, which freed me up to do some weeding & keep an eye on the urn.

 

Mark Rak & Jim Swatman with a huge barrow of weeds on their way to the skip 

We finally left the cemetery at 12.30pm and went home where we had quick showers, changed & drove to Sailors Falls Estate Winery, about 10 minutes away, for Bill & Sue Longley’s 50^th Wedding Anniversary party. Quite a few of the volunteers were there as well & we were all surprised to see each other again so soon. It was a lovely function – wood-fired pizzas under umbrellas amongst the trees, followed by indoor cake cutting.

We were both very tired the next day after our physical exertions, so cancelled golf and spent a very quiet day at home instead. After gym on Tuesday we visited Glenn Mack who was home from his second knee reconstruction. He has been very lucky to have his partner, Denise, looking after him for the week, as he is still in quite a lot of pain and looking pale & wan.

In the afternoon Wes went with Barbara to Ballarat to get her wheelchair car cover repaired as an over-enthusiastic helper had buggered it up! We were both still tired from Sunday, so had another very quiet night.

On Wednesday I played Mah Jong with Dot at Harvest Café, and when Gail White popped in and saw us playing, she told us how much she missed it…we promptly asked her if she would like to be our new fourth and she was delighted. Dot is away next week, so Gail & I are going to meet and play children’s rules as a way of getting her back up to speed. Afterwards I had a manicure with Michelle. That night Wes went back to Sailors Falls Estate, where Rob & Marg McDonald were hosting Aperitifs, then onto Rotary.

 

We had planned a very quiet day on Thursday in preparation for a trip to Melbourne to celebrate Viva’s birthday, but she wasn’t feeling very well and asked us to postpone, which we did. We decided that we would go to Melbourne anyway, as we had a clear day, so caught the train in, using free vouchers, and had a lovely five hours away. We went to the National Gallery of Victoria where we saw the Neo-Impressionist exhibition, as well as a stunning display by a German, Thomas Demand, who does the most amazing things with paper… including this Grotto. Google him if you have time.

 

We  then went in search of an outfit for me for Leigh’s wedding and after about an hour found the perfect clothes in Myer. Wes picked up some casual clothes at Target as he is off to Brisbane on Tuesday for a few days with Deane, and we celebrated with yum cha at our old favourite, Dragon Boat.

Yesterday morning I went shopping early as we were expecting Danny & Kim sometime in the afternoon and wanted to offer drinks on the verandah. It was lovely to have their company, and instead of eating out somewhere, they were persuaded by Wes to stay and he served seafood risotto and Tuki lamb, followed by fruit salad. We watched Collingwood unexpectedly lose to Brisbane Lions… we had a very inexperienced side playing, so perhaps we weren’t taking the Pre-Season Cup too seriously.

                                   

Breakfast this morning, both ends of the long table!