Dear
Friends, when I left you on Monday we were eagerly awaiting news that our
cousin, Michael and his wife, Kelly, in Berkshire, had become parents. Amelia
Hoolihan arrived on time, safely and is the apple of her father’s eye already.
Jeff & Kev are very proud grandparents again, and Leigh is a very thrilled
aunt, who is busy looking after older brother, Archie.
Very special moment as
Kelly & Amelia sleep....
The
next morning while I spent time being pampered at EKO with Emma, Wes and Glenn
Mack tackled the greenhouse, which had arrived in a flat pack of course. Lunch
didn’t get served until 5pm by which time the workmen were in need of a glass
or two of a good red! Next year I believe I am being given a new front door mat
instead. The funny story out of this is that Glenn brought every tool he owns
to our place and after 2 hours he and Wes discovered that the small tool,
called 102, in the flat pack, actually worked and was the only thing that would
get the bolts etc in position!
Here is Bilbo minding
some of Glenn’s gear
And here is the
finished product with the proud workmen inside!
Wes
produced a very yummy pasta dish for lunner (or whatever you call a very late
lunch/early dinner) with broccoli, mushrooms, handmade pasta, chilli, parsley
and prawns. And a very early night was had by all....
On
Wednesday there was a frost early, but it turned into a beautiful Autumn
afternoon yet again. I spent the morning playing Mah Jong with Dot &
Valerie. Valerie’s friend, Paula, who shared her birthdate but was 15 years
older @ 96, had died the day before, so Valerie was feeling very sad. This didn’t
improve when I told her that Peter Curtin, actor, married to Ailsa Piper, actor
& writer, had died suddenly on Monday. They lived in Glenlyon when Valerie
did and she knew them both very well and was quite shocked.
Barbara
hadn’t been well all week, but Wes was able to take her to lunch at Gracenotes Café, their usual Wednesday
date, and spend some hours with her before coming home to relax. He had mowed
everywhere in the morning and filled the bins with garden waste.
After
gym on Thursday I had promised to focus on the greenhouse so we found some
green shade-cloth, discovered it was exactly the right size to provide the
backing for the greenhouse and went to Jenkin and Thomas to buy double-sided
tape and bungees, with the help of Lyndall Jenkin. Amazingly we were able to do
all this and Wes even found a perfect stand to put inside with a couple of
shelves to hold the plants. After yummy fish pie for lunch, I spent some time
moving French tarragon, parsley, rocket & chives from the front garden beds
into the greenhouse.
Wes
managed to walk Bilbo early on Friday morning before the rain bucketed down and
golf plans were cancelled. I set off to Ballarat for my bi-annual breast
screening, buoyed by the knowledge that my reward was lunch at Kazuki with Wes, Di Lyttleton & Jeff
Bain. And what a lunch it was! We enjoyed three magic courses, demolished four
bottles of wine, and shared a cheese platter with Sandy & Donny Breen, who
were having a quiet lunch in another room. I spotted them when I went to use
the toilet, so Jeff invited them to sit with us for a while.
Di
and I met many years ago, when I was on the U3A Committee and she was keen to
be involved but wasn’t living here permanently. Our friendship was firmly
cemented when we had a golfing week together at Golfers Resort, Yarrawonga
about 3 years ago. We had very wisely shared a taxi to Kazuki and back. I don’t know about Di & Jeff, but we weren’t
good for much for the rest of the day and had a very early night.
Jeff and Di enjoying
Kazuki with us
Yesterday
was frosty, but the sun emerged after a while, so both of us did some
gardening. I went shopping early, did some chores and listened to the Coodabeen Champions while Wes planted
bulbs galore in Barbara’s garden.
Here is another of
Danny’s photos from the lily pond house at Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens – there
was such a response to last week’s photo, I thought I should share this one as
well.
We
drove to Melbourne for the Collingwood vs West Coast game, and we are so
pleased we went. Wes wanted to come with me, so I booked seats under cover in
the MCC, and we had a good view on the wing, out of the wind. The game was one
to remember with great goals, individual brilliance, one on one contests and an
amazing win by the Pies after we lost Nathan Brown in the first quarter &
Jack Frost in the second. Part of me would have liked to see the Eagles win as
that would have cheered our dear friend, Norma, who continues her battle
against ovarian cancer with immense bravery and spirit.
We
were home by 9pm and watched from bed (with cups of tea & coffee) the second
half of the Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn game at the Adelaide Oval, where Port
withstood a couple of Hawthorn surges to win and consolidate their spot on top
of the ladder.
This
morning Wes and Bilbo have been for their early walk and I’m about to go out to
pump mineral water at Leitches Creek, before going to the Sunday Market to fill
our fridge with yummy local fruit and vegetables, replenish the dog bone bag and
perhaps pick up an exciting plant from Ken of Spring Park Nursery.
More Icelandic poppies
in bloom...
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