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Saturday, 12 October 2013

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 50th birthday celebration, which I may not make if this morning’s ennui is any indication.

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