Dear Friends, I left you last Sunday as we were about to go
out to help Bill Longley celebrate his 80th birthday at Captain Creek Organic Winery, which is
about 15 minutes’ drive from Daylesford. Bill & Sue had invited about 30
friends and family for a relaxed, informal lunch and it was a huge success.
Bill gave the shortest speech on record; we caught up with some of our oldest
Daylesford friends (in time, not age) and felt very honoured to have been
included in the guest list. Doug May who runs the winery is a most affable and
attentive host, and we were pleased to see that every table in his restaurant
was filled at least once during the afternoon.
Bill Longley,
potter, in 1988, his works are still written about & we are lucky enough to
have one of his lovely salad bowls courtesy of David & Helen Lazzaro
We arrived back home to watch Rory McIlroy storm home and
beat Adam Scott by one stroke in a most exciting Sydney Open, and Wes did some
gardening and watering before we retired to bed, exhausted but pleased by our
very social day.
On Monday it was fine and there was no excuse not to go to
golf, so off we headed at 7.15am. We didn’t play our finest shots, although Wes
did Heather proud on the 8th with the best play of the morning and
we were thrilled to have gotten back to Trentham after quite a while away. So
long away in fact that the Greens supervisor who was about to tee off came to
check that we had paid for our rounds. We explained we had been members for 6
years!
More roses –
Freesia, Just Joey & Black Caviar
After gym on Tuesday Wes dropped me at EKO for a facial while he visited Jeff Bain who is recuperating
from a hip replacement operation. His visit was very welcome, and he left in
time to collect me at 11.30. Lunch was a grand affair with a Tuki trout for me
and Tuki lamb for him, mashed potatoes and peas and a lovely NZ sauvignon blanc
to go with it all.
It poured with rain all night and we awoke to much more
pleasant temperatures on Wednesday. Wes accompanied Barbara to Ballarat for her
annual spinal clinic appointment and Dot and I played Mah Jong at Muffins and More, a café across the road
from Harvest Café, which is still
closed for renovations.
I came home and booked tickets for the ICC One Day Cricket
World Cup, which is being held in Australia & NZ in February/March 2015.
The MCC negotiated an early offer of good seats to its members and we decided to
take it up. We have tickets for 3 of the 5 matches at the MCG including the
Final and all the seats are in the Pavilion area of the MCC. As the World Cup
is an international event, MCC members are not automatically entitled to seats,
but we have been very well looked after and will be sitting in the best seats
in the ground.
Finally it was time for the long-awaited 2nd Test
and after gym we came home to see what the Aussies could do in Adelaide. We
were glued to the TV and radio all day and felt honours were even at the close.
On Friday I had a dental appointment first thing in Ballarat
and asked Wes to come with me in case I couldn’t drive home. I was having two
old fillings removed and replaced and was very pleased when I emerged, bruised
and battered and numb, that Wes was there. We got home in time for the cricket
and spent most of the day watching and listening as Clarke & Haddin batted
Australia into a great position.
Yesterday we did the early shift at the Farmers’ Market for
the last time, as we have decided to retire from Rotary at the end of this
year. I am unable to get to meetings unless they are held during the day and we
both feel we have done as much as we can to further the causes of Rotary in
this community.
Wes, Ron, Jan,
Alan, Karen & Victor on duty yesterday
Much to our surprise we were presented with a beautiful
basket of vegetables and a stunning rose, Hot
Cocoa, as we finished our shift. Our President, Jan Pengilley, is a very
thoughtful person who never stops saying thank you. Wes has planted the rose
where we can see it easily from the study.
This morning I will take the boys to the Sunday Market as
usual, then off to breakfast where we will catch up with John & Jan, who have
been on a three-week Asian cruise, as well as Judi, Aileen and Barbara. Apart
from watching and listening as Australia wins the second Test, (or it is washed
out), we have tickets to this afternoon’s 20th Anniversary Concert
by the Victoria Chorale, which was started by Val Pyers.
clockwise from left
- Paul, Martin, Robyne, Ian, George & Josie at Bill’s 80th
Bill
with flowers for his daughter, Cherida, with Sue and their son, Jeremy
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