Dear Friends, the weather has been kinder
this week, very little rain and lots of sunshine, which is drying out the mud
that has accumulated around everyone’s gardens and the walking tracks. With
school holidays, Daylesford is full of visitors and a walk around the Lake
means lots of encounters at any time of the day.
On Monday I realised I needed a day in bed
as my energy levels were severely depleted. Fortunately I was able to do that,
although I spent 5 minutes at the computer getting a ticket for the Grand
Final. I had missed out in the MCC ballot and couldn’t face the thought of
queuing up to join the hordes all vying for a good seat in the remainder of the
MCC area, so paid for an AFL undercover seat on the wing in the Great Southern
Stand.
Carolyn
Murray nursing her nephew, Thomas, second child for Damien & Jess Murray
Wes was very understanding about my loss of
energy and cooked a yummy lunch. He drove to Melbourne that afternoon to attend
Lorna Pitt’s 70th birthday celebration soiree with a few close friends. There were over 90 in attendance and he
did enjoy catching up with old political friends and sparring partners. I
watched the Brownlow medal on TV, hoping that Dane Swan could tie with Gary
Ablett. Wes arrived back before the count was over and we both agreed that Gary
Ablett deserved his second medal.
I felt much better on Tuesday for the rest,
so caught up on shopping, washing, computer work etc. Wes experimented with a
Chinese style meal at lunchtime and has decided that perhaps it is too fiddly
for him and he had better stick to pastas and risotto. On Sunday we had bought
a new heavy stainless steel Scanpan and he was really itching to make pasta and
use it, which he did that night to make up for the less than successful lunch
(which the boys loved). We were even able to have an early evening walk around
the Lake and had to drag Bilbo & Frodo back up our hill. I think the lack
of energy was caused by their being no reward at the end of the walk – they had
already eaten dinner and no more food was on the horizon until apples or pears
at bedtime!
Ava
& Genevieve - school footy dress up day – beautiful daughters of Matt
Spiteri & Sara Lacey
Dot, Valerie & I played Mah Jong on
Wednesday at the Harvest Café; Wes
mowed the lawns (probably the only day it was possible this week) and then had
lunch with Barbara. That night he went to an ALP meeting at the Daylesford Hotel. One of the few
positives to emerge from the Coalition’s election victory is that Laborites are
geared up to revitalise and re-energise the party, and Wes is no exception. He
came home full of ideas and had enjoyed the evening in stimulating company.
This week has been a break from gym and
both of us had envisaged playing golf a couple of times, instead it has been
wet, wild and windy most mornings and staying in bed reading The Age has been a much more attractive
proposition. It was exactly like that on Thursday – Ken delivered the paper
under the carport so it stayed dry, and I didn’t get up until I had done both
crosswords and the Word of the Day (a French one, so there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth among the regular readers).
Making
sure next door’s rhubarb stays alive while they are in France &
Sweden....successful!
We realised on one of our afternoon strolls
around Lake Daylesford with the boys, that it is exactly 15 years since we
spent our first weekend in our little holiday house here. On our second weekend
we were at the Grand Final barracking for North, when suddenly Adelaide kicked
goals galore and it was all over. We looked at each other and said, we could be in Daylesford, left the MCG
before the end (unheard of) and raced up here. It took so little time for
Daylesford to have us under her spell and we have never regretted the impromptu
purchase of 78 Duke Street which had led to such a huge change in our lives.
Later in the week I enjoyed a 2-hour lunch
with Gillie at Gracenotes Café, where
we caught up on news and learned a little more about each other and our
previous lives. Gillie is a very stimulating and interesting person to be with
and I always enjoy time in her company. Meanwhile Wes did some gardening,
shopped for the boys’ golf day lunch, and spent time on the computer, provoking
commentary on Facebook and writing outlines of some of the many relatives he
has found while doing the family trees on Ancestry.com.
Friday dawned cold, but dry, so it was with
much excitement that Wes packed the car and headed off to Trentham golf course
for his day with Tom, Mate and Bobby, with surprise lunch guest of Chris
Meehan. They all had a wonderful day and enjoyed Wes’s lunch at the Trentham Lake House! He took them to
Trentham Lake and barbecued marinated steaks accompanied by bread and salad and
wine. By the sound of things everyone enjoyed their time together.
Judi & I met for lunch at The Food Gallery and then I drove us to Barcaldine House to see the film Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress,
which Judi had recommended to the U3A Flicks on Friday group. Most of us had
already seen the film, but it is a beautiful and inspirational one and everyone
enjoyed it, and the scones, jam & cream afterwards.
Yesterday I decided to drive to Melbourne
to see the Grand Final. Wes very kindly offered to drive me, but he was tired
after his big day, and I knew he would much rather watch it with Barbara, who
had invited him over. He cooked them steaks for lunch and they were joined at
half-time by Aileen bearing lamb pies. I had an easy run into town, parked at
the tennis centre, collected my ticket and went for my traditional stroll
around the MCG, looking at the sights and soaking up the atmosphere. In spite
of the efforts of the purple army, there was very little excitement outside the
ground, apart from the Coodabeen Champions, who had a huge crowd hanging off
their every word.
The game itself didn’t really get into gear
until the third quarter, when Freo tried hard, but were no match for the
fitter, stronger and better prepared Hawks, who thoroughly deserved their win. I
left after the final siren and had another easy drive home in daylight.
However, I am feeling quite tired today and
looking forward to taking it easy after the Sunday Market and breakfast. It was
bitterly cold early this morning, which means a lovely day I am sure.
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