Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 27th October 2013

We started our week with a lovely breakfast at The Food Gallery, where Gail & Terry regaled us with stories of their wonderful six weeks away overseas. We had all missed them and enjoyed catching up and hearing all the highs and lows of their travel in Italy, England, Malta & America.

One of the things I have been doing recently is rereading letters written by me and to me during the early months of 1977. At that time we had just moved into 246 Brunswick Road, Brunswick, and Wes was working in Paris and Frankfurt. Squiz had arrived back in Australia from overseas and was living with me as he was penniless.

Sitting at the front door of 246

During that time I got my licence to drive our dear little yellow Mazda 1300; Lib and I learned Japanese cooking, which we found disappointing after the excitement of Chinese cuisine; I was feeding friends and family at least three times a week; we were off to see David Castles in the group, Sidewinder, at least once a week, and Jeff & Kev were moving to Melbourne from Perth and house-hunting in the Mulgrave area. Greg & Pauline Delaney had moved to Berkeley for Greg to study at uni there, and they wrote often. We haven’t seen them in years, but Paun tells me they came into the café at Tathra recently and sent their love.

Wes has been busy slashing & mowing Barbara’s lawn as her usual gardener, Jonno, hasn’t been around lately and everywhere was getting too overgrown. I envy him his energy as he mowed our lawns as well and has been digging out 100 weeds per day during the week.

Jane and Liz from gym asked me if I would play Mah Jong with them on Monday morning as they are learners and hadn’t been to class for a few weeks. So I said yes and enjoyed it very much – they use the same book as the rest of us in Daylesford, but their teacher has taught them to hide discarded tiles which means you really have to remember what has been thrown out and can’t frantically search to see if you can still get a Mah Jong.

           

   Jane & Liz at lunch

It had been too cold and wet for golf so Wes drove to Trentham anyway and had brunch with Bob & Kirk at their favourite spot, Chaplins, which seems to be the equivalent of Café 3460 and everyone’s favourite coffees are remembered. They enjoyed catching up as Bob & Wes have been friends for over 30 years.

In the afternoon we had invited Judi & Michael over for drinks to celebrate his birthday. Wes had bought some yummy cheeses and nibbles from Tonnas and we managed to demolish almost 4 bottles of wine between us over a couple of hours.

On Tuesday after gym, Wes did some more mowing and gardening, while I had a face rub with Emma at EKO Skin Care. She is the most delightful beauty therapist and it is a pleasure to spend time with her. Tuesday is my washing & ironing day so having a facial really adds to the day. Wes made macaroni cheese for lunch and then had a rest in preparation for the ALP meeting that night. He took Barbara and reported there was a good attendance. We are so very proud of our local member, Catherine King, who is the new Shadow Minister for Health, and she was there and gave an excellent speech.

On Wednesday it dawned cold and wet and windy, so there was no more gardening and we both spent time in front of our computers before I went to Mah Jong and Wes took Barbara to Ballarat to go shopping and have lunch. I spent the afternoon starting the Fair Isle jumper again and catching up on episodes of Rosemary & Thyme, which are lightweight but entertaining, especially Felicity Kendall’s acting.

Bobby, Fraser & Tom on a boys’ night out in 1999

Wes missed gym on Thursday as he was driving to Melbourne to visit Joan Testro in the morning and Tom Tyrrell in the afternoon. He spent a very enjoyable time with Joan, who is still on a high after her spectacular 90^th birthday celebration and they reminisced about her early days on the stage. Then lunch with Tom and a long interview with him which covered memories of St Joseph’s Primary School, before Wes set off home, arriving tired but happy with his day.

On Friday it was too cold for golf, so we allowed ourselves a sleep-in. Wes did some gardening at our place and Barbara’s then took her supermarket shopping before making us a yummy lunch. When I spoke with Viva she was excited to be having a visit from Peter & Anka yesterday.

Another cold morning on Saturday so we did our supermarket and butcher shopping, replaced the mop which had broken, said hello to heaps of friends who were also out early and then collected Nick & Robyn Massaro to take them to a long overdue thank you lunch at Mercato. For as long as we have known them, Nick & Robyn have kept us in jams, preserves and jellies and all we do is provide the empty bottles! We did enjoy spending three hours together chatting about all sorts of things, while eating and drinking some of the finest food & wine Daylesford has to offer.

I watched the Cox Plate with interest and admiration for the young apprentice jockey, Chad Schofield, who lead from go to whoa and gave his 3 year-old horse, Shamus Award, every chance to win the finest race in Australia. We hadn’t backed it, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment as I really appreciated his brilliant ride.

Today we are off to breakfast after the Sunday Market, then we are driving to Castlemaine to help our friend, Valerie, who can’t operate her new laptop or phone. I am quite sure that both will be easy to get going, but as Valerie is 81, she just needs a few pointers to cope with the latest technology. When we return home, I think we will have a very quiet afternoon, as we have a busy week starting with lunch guests tomorrow and finishing with shifts at the Daylesford Art Show over the weekend.

Enjoy your week.

 

Patrick Millman in party mode

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 20th October 2013

When I left you last Saturday, we were both recovering from a busy and emotional week and our ennui lasted through Sunday as well. Wes got up early and walked the boys before I took them to the Sunday Market and we then joined Judi, Barbara, Gillie, John & Jan for breakfast with Danny & Min as guests. Danny had brought Min to Daylesford for the weekend and taken him to some of his favourite spots – Tuki for the fishing experience and the yummy roast spuds; Hepburn golf course for the kangaroos; Vincent Street for shopping; the Daylesford Hotel balcony for a drink, and Jimmy’s Bar for dinner as they couldn’t get into The Lake House. We discovered also that John & Jan have decided to move back home to Sandhurst and visit Daylesford in their motor home, instead of living in Daisy-Lea.

On Sunday, Daylesford turned on the four seasons in one day for them – it was cool and overcast early, then the sun shone, before we had a very serious hailstorm and strong winds followed by more sunshine. It’s a good thing the boys aren’t scared of storms!

The next day was another quiet one – we had hoped to play golf with Gillie, but it was wet early and rained intermittently all day. While I did some shopping, Wes found a castle that was given to his family by William the Conqueror (Coughton Court, Warwickshire), so Bilbo, Frodo & I had to tug our forelocks for the rest of the day. These days the castle is owned by an Indian cricket fanatic (and wealthy person we assume).

 

Finally on Tuesday we heard from Celia that she had given birth to a healthy baby girl, Isla April Durie. We are so thrilled for her and Cory that all 6lb 11oz of Isla made it safely into our world.

 

I had a rather social day – after gym I met Glenn Mack for a cuppa at Gracenotes Café, where Chris, the owner, was run off his feet with 14 customers by 9.30am. When I returned at lunchtime to meet Rhonda, there were only 3 of us and Jasmine was there to help. Who would be in hospitality?

Wes and Secundus (aka Warren Pengilley) went to Brian & Roberta’s home that night for a Cowboy and Whisky Night. I dropped them off and Peta Hawker brought them home in her taxi. It sounds as though it was a brilliant night and Secundus has been put in charge of the next one. Wes’s contribution to the evening was a bottle called Writer’s Tears, but there were so many whisky bottles that it didn’t get opened!

On Wednesday after playing Mah Jong for an hour, we headed off to the Springvale Botanical Cemetery to attend the service for Alan Edgoose. Lib was flanked by her children, Becky and Paul, as well as Paul’s wife, Helen, their two children, Oscar & Macy, and Tom. Her brother Bob & his wife, Geraldine, had driven down from Lockhart, and there were plenty of old friends including us, the Stevensons, Doug & Margaret, Bob & Gayle & Glenda. Wes had worn a shirt closest in colour to Geelong’s dark blue and I had on my best jeans in honour of Alan. He would have been thrilled with two renditions of We Are Geelong at the end of the service.

We drove straight back here afterwards as Wes was taking Barbara as his guest to a special Rotary meeting that night to raise money for mental health. The Guest Speaker announced the frightening statistic that more than $2M is lost per annum on poker machines at the two venues in this area.

 

Rotarians & Guests wearing hats of every kind

We were both totally exhausted on Thursday after gym, and as the weather went from cold to very cold to hailing, decided to have a very quiet day inside keeping warm and catching up on Ancestry (him) and knitting and reading (me), in front of the fire. The boys just love days like that.

Meanwhile there were terrible fires in NSW and especially frightening for Gail & Terry, whose family live in the Blue Mountains and for Judi & Michael, whose best friends live in Blackheath. We were very relieved when there was no loss of life or property for them.

On Friday Wes caught the train into town try out Myki at Ballan Station; to visit the Registry Office; to have a coffee at Pelligrini’s and lunch in Little Bourke Street. I took the boys out to pump water at Leitches Creek, and then visited Dot & John to see if the Fair Isle jumper I am knitting him is going to fit…and it is too small. I am using a pattern book that is 20 years old and we think that wool has changed a lot in that time, which is why the tension is so wrong. So I will pull out the back and start again with the biggest size and cross all my fingers and toes that I get it right.

Wes had a most enjoyable day and was very impressed with the help given him by the Births Register and the Adoption Register. Both bodies will see if they can trace his mother’s parents.

 

Emily Knox with her mother, Jane, just before Emily flew out on Wednesday to take up a job in London

Yesterday I was extremely fatigued and went back to bed after about an hour up trying to do things. This CFS is a most insidious thing and I am only grateful I didn’t get it when we were running Maloney Insurance Brokers. I spent the day reading, doing crosswords, watching the races and resting and feel much better this morning. Let’s hope it stays that way for a while. Wes worked on Ancestry, did some gardening, fixed Barbara’s internet, cooked lunch and helped set up for a Rotary barbecue at St Michael’s Primary School today.

 

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Saturday, 12th October, 2013

 

When I left you last week, we were heading off to a long lunch at Kazuki’s and what an exciting experience we had. We have known Martin, the maître d’, from his days at The Lake House, but we were delighted to find Bronwyn Liddelow as his assistant. We met her when she was quite a young girl volunteering with her father, Peter, at the Info Centre on Saturday afternoons, and then again as a waitress and helper on the Spa Country Railway on the Saturday night Champagne Train or the Sunday rides to Bullarto and back.

 

We cannot fault this restaurant and were looked after brilliantly for 2.5 hours once we told them we wanted a slow lunch. We started with a Japanese whisky for Wes and a Pimms No 1 Cup for me before our entrees of oysters served three ways & Moreton bay bugs dumplings arrived, each with a different glass of wine. The same happened for our main courses of John Dory and duck. We were given sparkling sake with our black rice pudding, which was accompanied by brown rice ice cream, and the final wine was a fortified Champagne with cheese.

The restaurant offers a Japanese approach to Daylesford local produce and its wine & spirits list has to be seen to be believed. The website is http://kazukis.com.au/ if you want to read about it further, and my review can be found at http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g499623-d2261727-r179987797-Kazuki_s-Daylesford_Victoria.html.

Needless to say the rest of the day passed in a pleasant haze – Wes had an afternoon nap, while I pottered around reading and looking after the boys. We were in bed early and slept very well!

On Monday it was a cold, crisp, but dry morning so we headed to Trentham for 10 holes of golf. We each had our share of pleasing shots, but I managed to lose one of my two remaining pink golf balls in dense foliage and Wes found himself on adjoining fairways more than he would like. I cooked lunch for a change – special fried rice with bacon for Wes and with bean sprouts for me.

When Noeline Brown spoke to the U3A last week she mentioned ehealth, which is an online registration that allows your health details to be accessed by a practitioner over the internet. I decided to register and it is very easy to do, especially if you are already online with Medicare or Centrelink. The link is https://ehealth.gov.au if you are interested.

Wes and I both suffered at gym on Tuesday morning (after our golf the day before), and then he drove to Ballarat to collect Barbara and bring her home. Her procedure had gone well and there were no issues to worry about, so she was thrilled to come home so quickly. Wes has been feeding Bobby the cat, collecting her mail and doing her washing while she has been away.

 

Bilbo & Frodo came on a long walk with me – I needed to bring in John & Jan’s bins and collect their mail and it was a perfect     morning to take them. Tuesday is my washing and ironing day, so I have plenty of free time in between loads of washing to go for walks or make phone calls. I met up with our friend, Bill Longley, who hasn’t been well, and makes himself walk around the Lake on his good days.

I try to ring Viva every day and chat for 15-20 minutes. She and Leanne are very relieved now that Smokey the cat is back to normal and we made plans for us to drop in on Friday morning on our way to Yarraville for lunch with the Stevensons & Prestons.

 

Wednesday was another cold morning with a beautiful Spring day following. Wes acted as Barbara’s carer after first walking and then washing Bilbo & Frodo, who promptly punished him by digging in the garden (something they rarely do) to get themselves thoroughly dirty again. Sandra, our lovely cleaner, couldn’t understand why they hadn’t come to greet her when she arrived at 8.30am until I explained they were locked out until they were dry and/or clean again. I played Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie and Carol visited us to catch up on everyone’s news. Wes took Barbara to lunch at the Daylesford Bowling Club, where they had lashings of corn beef and mashed potato for $12!

David Knox in a lolly shop in Oxford

We had an unexpectedly very social afternoon – it started with a lovely long phone call from Jane Knox to make plans for her visit to Melbourne during Days 2 & 3 of the Boxing Day Test, and was followed by David & Penny Reilly dropping back our exercise bike that David had borrowed to help him get back to normal after a double knee replacement operation. We had invited Glenn & Gillie to drinks at 4.30pm and they arrived to find the Reillys still here, so we drank plenty of wine while the three knee replacement survivors swapped stories and Wes & I told everyone about Kazuki’s.

We received the wonderful news via Facebook that our nephew, Rohan Fell, has been accepted into The International College of Management, Sydney, to do a Bachelor of Sports Management, which is what he has been keen to do for some years. We are so thrilled for him and wish him the very best.

Liam, Rohan & Warwick Fell in celebratory mode!

Some other good news is that Warren’s sister, Denise Anderson, has bought herself a Mazda 2 called Zoe, and loves it to bits. She told me on Sunday she would like to pick it up and hug it! We feel a bit the same about Dolly Grey. Denise hadn’t been able to drive for years because of her epilepsy, so now she no longer suffers from that, she has been brave enough to have lessons and buy herself a car. Her whole family is very proud of her.

Yesterday we learnt of the deaths of two friends – Libby’s husband, Alan, had suffered a massive stroke as well as kidney failure about 10 days previously and Lib let us know that he had died peacefully the night before.

Libby & Alan on their wedding day 2009

Andrew Mengyel rang Barbara to tell her that Jenny Godfree, with whom we had all worked in OAMPS, had lost her battle with ill-health the day before as well. I first met Jenny many years ago when I was Treasurer of Adsum, the women’s insurance networking group.

Andrew, Jenny, Syd and Barbara in Daylesford 2007

We went to Melbourne to visit Viva for the first time since Smokey was so sick. Viva was looking well and pleased to see us. Leanne had taken advantage of our visit to go to Queen Victoria Market, so we missed out on seeing her. It was a good visit although Smokey wouldn’t relinquish the comfortable chair for Warren to sit in.

Then we drove to Yarraville to Café Fidama, where we enjoyed a long lunch with Lovely & Malcolm and Marilyn & Robert. We drank a toast in memory of Alan, and Lib was very much on our minds. It was so long since we had seen each other that we were almost shouting each other down to ask questions and provide answers. I had been reading some letters I had written and received during the early part of 1977, when Wes was working in Paris and then Frankfurt, and it was fun to share the memories.

We drove back home to a pair of hungry Labradors and an early night. It had been a busy and emotional day, and we were struck yet again with the fragility of life. Carpe Diem!

It’s a lovely day here, but I am so tired after the busy week that I think I will send this off to you today and rest. Wes is making fish pie for lunch and we are due to visit friends in Newlyn this afternoon for a casual 50^th birthday celebration, which I may not make if this morning’s ennui is any indication.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 6th October 2013

We started our week with a lovely day on Sunday after a cold start, followed by a wet, windy day on Monday after a warm start! Wes did lots of gardening, while I washed the cars and had a walk to make up for missing out on golf yet again. I can’t believe how tired I am after my trip to Melbourne for the footy, even though I was very sensible and didn’t try to do too much.

I keep forgetting to tell you that I won a double pass to see the film, Stories We Tell, at the Kino last week. As I wasn’t up to going that night, we gave the passes away and the friends who saw the film really loved it. I am keen to see it and hope it will be shown locally soon.

Our tulips are looking splendid at present – lots of red, yellow & multi-coloured are in flower and the pink camellias are drooping with the weight of their beauty.

On Tuesday we were wakened by an enormous storm with winds that swirled around and flung bits of the garden hither and thither. The boys got saturated eating their morning bones as nowhere escaped the wild rain. We went to gym and suffered with new programmes to challenge our muscles that had been relaxing for a week or so. Later, Wes was able to get out in the garden and mow the lawn as well as trim the edges. He has been planting roses and lavender on the perimeter of the lawn closest to our study and hopes that shortly our senses will be assailed by fragrance and colour.

In The Age this week there was an article about saving the Lead beater’s Possum, which caught my eye as I have just finished reading a Gerald Durrell book Two in the Bush, published in 1966 about his trip to New Zealand, Australia & Malaya. In it he talks about the need to save this exact same possum and the steps being taken at that time! Interestingly he felt the minute he arrived in Australia that he could have lived here…for someone who spent much of his life on Jersey, a tiny island, it was a surprising comment.

We had a hailstorm shortly after Wes finished mowing, then the sun shone brightly as we drove to Tylden to collect bags of manure (very country indeed).

Wednesday dawned cold, but fine, however the rain poured down mid-morning and Mah Jong was cancelled as Dot’s husband, John, wasn’t well. I decided to give Valerie the chance to cancel driving to cold Daylesford from warm Castlemaine and she jumped at it! Viva sounded good when I rang her – Smokey has had the stitches removed post his operation and seems to be back to normal and delighted to no longer be wearing an Elizabethan collar.

Here is a photo celebrating Celia’s impending new arrival – Karen with Penny, Lauren with Myles & Rosie, Celia & Greta

On Thursday it was a lovely morning, so after gym, I got into my glad rags and went to the U3A AGM, where the guest speaker was Noeline Brown, Commission for the Ageing, and long-time much-loved Australian actor. She spoke very well about coping with the ageing process and ways to delay the onset of dementia etc. We discovered mid-speech that it was her 75^th birthday, so Lee & Bronnie, who were in the kitchen preparing lunch, provided a chocolate cake with candles and we all sang Happy Birthday. There was a very good attendance and both the President, Di Bretherton, and outgoing committee member, Judi Allen, (who introduced Noelene), spoke very well.

In the afternoon I had my last massage with Ann Holden. She has decided to retire from treatments, with a couple of exceptions, and enjoy her hobbies and her grandchild, soon to be grandchildren. I have enjoyed having a regular massage with someone who is also a friend and I will be sorry to lose the contact, although our paths will cross in other ways.

 

 Waiting patiently for breakfast toast in the courtyard

of the Food Gallery

Friday we awoke to 0°, followed by another lovely sunny day. We had hoped to play golf, but it was far too cold until about 9am, by which time the course would have been quite busy. I went to the U3A Morning Tea at the Food Gallery, and complimented the committee on their excellent AGM the day before. Wes worked very hard in the garden before making a yummy lunch and then spending the afternoon on Ancestry.com. I have been knitting madly – with a few things on the go….including a Fair Isle jumper for Dot’s husband John and I need a break from it every now and again. I did finish a purple cardigan for Greta’s daughter, Penny, and she seems to have been wearing it every day since it arrived in the post!

Yesterday was the Farmers Market, where Wes and I did the early shift before he drove Barbara to Ballarat where she is spending a few days in hospital having a procedure. Then we went to Malvern to celebrate Joan Testro’s 90^th birthday. This was a wonderful occasion, as always, with the highlight being a world premiere presentation by Joan of a song written especially for her, called Baby, Baby. And didn’t she wow us all! There were about 50 family and close friends and we particularly enjoyed catching up with Joan’s three daughters, Lexie, Stacey and Mandy, and their families. As well, Warren’s sister, Denise was there, and his cousins Glenn & Gary & Gary’s wife, Kaye. We were served a sumptuous afternoon tea washed down with Prosecco, and left at 5pm with the birthday girl still singing along to the keyboard and accordion.

Denise, Joan & Mandy in 2008

This morning we have been busy – there was no breakfast because the two most regular attendees, Barbara and Judi were unavailable – one in hospital and the other in Caloundra visiting her mother. Wes has gone to Ballarat to visit Barbara, after feeding Bobby the cat and checking everything is OK at her place. When he gets back we are off to lunch to celebrate 13 years today since I retired – trying local restaurant, Kazuki, which we have not visited to date, and it does have one hat in The Age Good Food Guide.

The boys and I went to Leitches Creek early to pump water and I’m so pleased we did – we had a magic country experience. We were on a dirt track when suddenly a pair of young kangaroos bounced out in front of us and proceeded to hop in unison across the road – now to the left and then to the right. We slowed to 10km and eventually they turned right as we turned left. On the way home they were waiting by the side of the road and repeated the performance until eventually they went left this time and we turned right. Bilbo & Frodo didn’t know what to think so they cried, also in unison.

On Friday night, Jane sent me text messages from the Sydney Best and Fairest Count, where she was lapping up all the excitement courtesy of her friend, Neil, who had invited her. It made me think of the many glamorous Copeland Trophies Wes and I had attended, mostly in the 80s and early 90s. And then I remembered the very first we went to – it was 1980 or 81, just after I became a Collingwood Social Club member, which I still am, and back in the days when female Social Club members weren’t allowed in the Social Club on match days!

We took my dear father, Perc, to the Copeland that year, and it was celebrated on the second floor of the Social Club in Abbotsford. We were served party pies and sausage rolls on cardboard plates….a very low-key affair. The highlight for Perc, and also for us, was that we got found ourselves in the lift with four men – the Rose brothers, who all played for Collingwood – Bill, Bob, Kevin and Ralph. With a big grin on his face, Perc shook all their hands and introduced them to us.

There’s that grin again – Perc as father of the bride outside Newman Chapel on a cold Friday night!