Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Tuesday, 8th April 2014

Dear Friends, when I left you last Monday I was off to spend time with Judi. We met at the Food Gallery, and spent a lovely hour or so catching up on each other’s news. Bilbo enjoyed all the attention he received sitting at the outside table and the funniest moment occurred when he spotted a wheelchair coming up the footpath. He got very excited and strained to the end of his leash in anticipation. When the wheelchair arrived and he realised it wasn’t Barbara, he turned his back, just as the delighted old man leant over to pat him!

Wes spent the day with Leanne as they had an appointment at Fawkner Cemetery to choose the headstone for Viva’s grave. That went very well and they celebrated by having coffee at the Mediterranean Wholesalers in Sydney Road, Brunswick. Wes had hoped to visit Joan Testro before coming home but it wasn’t convenient, so he arrived back at a reasonable hour very pleased with his day.

On Tuesday we had a good session at gym and then I drove to Leitches Creek to pick up Janine Hawker and take her to the Glenlyon General Store, where we sat at a quiet table with pots of tea and chatted for 90 minutes or so. Janine’s husband, David, isn’t well enough to live at home and has moved into Lumeah Lodge, the high care area of the Daylesford Hospital. That afternoon Nick Massaro came to give me a massage, which was very welcome indeed.

The promised rain sprinkled a bit on Wednesday, but not enough to prevent the early morning walk or Mah Jong with Dot & Gail. Wes gardened before going over to spend time with Barbara. She hasn’t been very well since her return from holidays, so he cooked her lunch and took her to the doctor. We had invited Glenn Mack for a drink at 5pm, which was lovely but interfered with packing plans – anything that stops packing is to be encouraged.

 

Front & side views of our new Firescreen – we ordered it last September as our Christmas present to each other & it finally arrived this week!

We got up bright and early on Thursday for our trip to Melbourne and drove Bilbo to Eureka Kennels, his first visit on his own. Then off to Ballan Station where we parked the car and caught the train to Spencer Street. We had a good trip, checked into Rydge’s Hotel in Exhibition Street and headed for Westlake for a yum cha lunch. Afterwards we walked to the Ian Potter Centre, where we saw some of the Melbourne Now Exhibition. After a rest back at the hotel, we went to the Kino to see the wonderful film, Le Weekend.

On Friday we tried very hard to eat congee for breakfast, but had no luck, so ended up at the beautiful Hopetoun Tearooms in the Block Arcade. Wes had crepes and I enjoyed raisin toast with pots of tea. Then off to the State Library, where we enjoyed a wonderful series of 18^th century Roman etchings by Piranesi, and got halfway through the Victoria Exhibition, which is a wonderful pictorial record of Victoria as a state starting in 1851 when we got ‘freedom’ from NSW. Back to our hotel to change for lunch at the European. And what a stunning lunch it was – we were joined by Lovely & Malcolm, Ian & Robyn, Danny, Judi & Michael. We have breakfast there very often, but rarely lunch and the food and wine lived up to all our expectations. The company was magic and before we realised, it was nearly 4pm and time to go.

Wes looking very resplendent on our way to lunch

On Saturday we ended up back at the European for a yummy breakfast and catch up with Terry Borg. Afterwards we walked through the Botanical Gardens, visited The Shrine in time for the noonday ceremony and saw The Beatles Exhibition at the Arts Centre. After a rest, we headed back to the Kino, where we enjoyed a film version of Private Lives starring Anna Chancellor & Toby Stephens. The Age gave it one star, which amazes me, as we think it was probably the finest version we have seen. It was a wonderful art deco set, the acting was superb and we were treated to a great theatre experience in more comfort than the Gielgud Theatre would have offered.  While we were waiting to get in I recognised Gillie’s friend, Yvonne, who was also waiting, and we caught up by sitting next to each other in the back row. She is also Seona Farrelly’s aunt and we know Seona through David Lazzaro, who is one of her best friends.

That night we headed off to the MCG where we met up with David Lazzaro for a drink before the game. It was much closer than I expected and there were plenty of highlights to compensate for our narrow loss to the Cats. We did enjoy being able to walk out of the G and back to our hotel instead of joining the queues for the trains.

We had a slow start on Sunday as we were meeting Marilyn & Robert Preston at 10am at Smith & Daughters, the brainchild of Maureen (Mo) Wyse and her partner Shannon Martinez. Mo is engaged to Callum Preston, who has worked so hard to help them realise their dream of a funky vegan restaurant at 175 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. We loved the whole thing – glorious fit out of an old bluestone building, fabulous juices and food, attentive service and competitive prices. We walked there through Fitzroy, visiting old haunts of Wes’s family including 97 Gore Street, which he remembers visiting.

Karen, Robert, Wes & Marilyn

After brunch and a further stroll around with the Prestons, we separated – Wes to visit Joan Testro, who is in Epworth Hospital following a fall, and me to wander around town. We met up back at our hotel before heading to the Kino yet again to see The Great Beauty, which did not live up to its 4.5 star rating. We were expecting a travelogue of Rome, but instead saw a self-indulgent look at Roman life through the eyes of a 65-year-old.

From there we walked to the MCG in time for the Carlton & Essendon game. Sadly Carlton was completely outplayed from the first bounce of the ball, so we left just before half-time and caught a tram back to the hotel, where we checked the scores and abandoned the Blues to their fate.

Yesterday we checked out in time to catch the 11.08 train to Ballan and were right on time to pick up Bilbo, who had been bathed and was being dried as we pulled up at Eureka Kennels. He was pleased to see us, but had obviously coped very well with his little holiday. By the look of him, he received plenty of treats from Andrew & Annette to compensate for being on his own!

It was lovely to come home but it took me all afternoon to unpack and wash & dry clothes. Wes cooked a lovely pasta lunch, mostly using produce from our garden – zucchini, parsley, chilies and tomatoes. Around 7pm I realised I was exhausted, so went to bed and Wes wasn’t too far behind after his 8pm Skype call with Terry & Peter.

Today Wes and Bilbo had a long walk early, then we went to gym and I spent the next 3 hours being pampered by Emma at EKO. I arrived back home to Wes’s famous and very yummy fish pie and now a quiet afternoon beckons, with gentle soaking rain as a background.

Wes at the State Library