Dear
Friends, as promised we are getting back to normal here at Maloney Folly. When
we arrived back from breakfast last Sunday, Rob McDonald arrived with 13
bottles of Sailors Falls Pinot Gris, an invoice for 12 of them and a plate of
freshly caught yabbies. He stayed chatting and patting Bilbo for a while, which
was lovely. Later that afternoon Wes packed some fishing gear and we sat in a
secluded spot by the side of Lake Daylesford teaching Bilbo all about fishing.
He liked the sweet corn bait the best, and seemed delighted just to be with us
and doing something different.
On
Monday after the early walk we prepared for our lunch with Danny, Greta &
Penny. We had hoped to sit outside by the barbecue and Wes put up the umbrella,
cleaned the decking and got everything ready, but it was too hot and there were
too many flies, so he and Greta cooked lunch and we ate inside in the
air-conditioning. Penny is delightful and is crawling in a fashion. She and
Bilbo liked each other very much and he did a lot of licking, while she did a
lot of patting.
Penny meeting Bilbo
for the first time
Tuesday
was a stinker and Wes cancelled all plans to get out in the garden as it was
too hot for anything. We walked early, went to gym, I did the washing and he
spent time on the computer, mostly on Ancestry.com. I spent the late morning
catching up with Cathy O’Toole, four months after she and Peter moved into
their new home in Little Street. She looks very happy and it was good to spend
a peaceful time with her discussing our news and swapping anxiety stories.
In
the afternoon we had a visit from a local couple who have just started up a Shading Solutions company, to see if
they could come up with an outside blind that would make our bedroom cooler on
these very hot days. Later Nick Massaro arrived to give me a long-overdue
massage. He brought a treat for Bilbo, tomatoes for us and a jar of mulberry
jam that is crying out for raisin toast or Hot Cross buns.
The
cool change on Wednesday was very welcome and we enjoyed our early morning
walk. Then I went to Mah Jong, where there were four of us again, which makes
it doubly difficult to get these new hands we are playing. We feel as though we
have rejuvenated our interest in the game, even though we are quite slow as we
keep having to refer to our books. The Muffins
& More Café is very accommodating and as always the game becomes a
talking point for other customers.
Wes
and Barbara had lunch at Gracenotes, and he spent some time helping her with
various things.
On
Thursday I drove to Melbourne to catch up with Leanne, which we both enjoyed. I
was able to help her with a few things and we swapped stories about Viva and
did some reminiscing. Fortunately I got back here before the hottest part of
the day. We had hoped to get to the Farmers
Arms Hotel for drinks at 6pm for Fae Wilson, but I was too tired after my
busy day, so we stayed home and had an early night…for a change!
Greta & Penny with
Danny in the background and Bilbo in the foreground
We
decided it was too hot for golf on Friday, so drove to Ballarat to see The Book Thief. We had hoped to see it
locally at The Rex Theatre, but it
was closed for compliance issues and we thought we would miss the film
altogether if we didn’t become proactive. I guess we are both pleased we saw
it, but I do agree with a review that suggested it was better left as a book.
Emily Watson was superb in her role and the young Liesl was well-played by Sophie
Nélisse, but we felt the film lacked light and shade – everyone was either a
goodie or a baddie, and neither of us was ever fully engaged with what was
happening.
We
had left Bilbo for 4 hours, the longest we have been away from him since Frodo
died, but he seemed OK on our return, although he then didn’t leave our sides
for the rest of the day. Wes spent a couple of hours with Eddie & Jenny
Beacham, Candy Broad & Hal Swerissen in the afternoon as they discussed the
Macedon Pre-selection kerfuffle, where the rank & file preferred candidate,
Christian Zahra, has been gazumped in favour of a woman who lives in Northcote.
We watched the second Twenty20 match
between Australia & England at the MCG, which attracted a crowd of 64,000.
If we had been living in Melbourne I think we would have been there as well to
see Brad Hodge, who fielded brilliantly but missed out on batting as Cameron
White & George Bailey brought Australia home easily.
A beautiful glimpse of
the Lake at dawn
Yesterday
after the early morning walk, Wes bathed Bilbo, and both of them were a little
sad as it wasn’t quite the game it had been with two dogs. We then went to the
monthly Farmers’ Market, where Wes found an interesting hot venison salami. We
caught up with local Rotarians and friends, including Gillie & Judi with
dogs as well. Bilbo loved the whole thing and played with all the dogs that
came near him. Wes spent the morning in the garden before it got too hot, and I
updated my Book Inventory with Bilbo at my feet.
Sadly
there aren’t enough Asians living here for Chinese New Year to be celebrated in
style, but we are hoping for a very good Year of the Horse and hope that those
of you who are able to celebrate enjoy the wonderful food, the scary dragon and
all those drums beating.
This
morning we’ve enjoyed the cool of the walk, although we picked up about 20
discarded cans & bottles & chip packets along our way. Bilbo has eaten
his bone and is waiting for the trip to the Sunday Market, which will be
followed by breakfast & for him, toast with vegemite.
An early omen for 2014
– a pair of magpies who keep visiting our verandah & particularly like the
hanging basket with pigface growing in it
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