Dear Everyone, after
breakfast last Sunday, Wes and I drove to Dot & John Smith’s home in
Western Avenue, to present John with the Fair Isle jumper I have been knitting
him and finally finished. He was tickled pink and showed Wes the new
dining-room table he has been making, while I spent time with Dot, who is
recovering from a particularly nasty operation on her left foot. She is in a
lot of pain and getting around in a wheelchair. It will be some time before she
is able to play Mah Jong, even if we come to her home to play.
After some time at
home, where everything had thawed out after 0° and frost, we set off for
Melbourne, where Wes dropped me at the MCG and drove on to visit Joan Testro,
who is back home after rehab. He had a much better time than I did, although it
is always a special treat to spend time with David Lazzaro. Collingwood didn’t
really turn up to play Essendon and it made me realise just how lucky we
supporters are, as that very rarely happens to us. By ¾ time I couldn’t watch
any more, so walked to the pick-up spot where Wes arrived about 5 minutes
later.
We had hoped to
play golf on Monday, but we were both tired from the previous day, so I opted
for a lazy start to the day, while Wes got up early to walk Bilbo. I did get
energised once I was up, and made some Thai pumpkin soup before walking Bilbo
into town for an hour’s stroll. We had to deliver things to Judi, and as it was
a dry day with some blue sky, there was no excuse not to get out in it. Meanwhile
Wes drove to Trentham anyway to have morning tea and celebrate Bastille Day with Bob White at Chaplins. They had a good catch-up and
Wes arrived back with a boot full of manure for the garden.
That night he
chaired a well-attended ALP Meeting at Daylesford
Tarot Readers, which is a very inviting environment and is attracting good
numbers and stimulating discussions. Bilbo and I were in our beds by the time
he arrived home!
Tuesday reverted to
type with incessant rain and a dull grey sky. I had to scrap plans for a walk
to EKO, where I was booked in for an
overdue facial etc. Wes very kindly dropped me off and picked me up.
Jane Knox & Terry McDonald
selfie at the SCG last Saturday night
That afternoon I
received lovely phone calls from Jane Knox (on her way back home after a short
trip to the snow) and Gayle Gibson (who also left the footy at ¾ time).
I had offered to
drive to Castlemaine on Wednesday to help Valerie with her computer, and even
though it was Brigadoon here, I knew the weather would be better there, and I
felt well enough, so off I went in the mist and rain. As soon as I left the
Hepburn Shire, the temperature soared up, visibility improved and I arrived
much earlier than expected, which gave me time to go to the IGA there and get
some boxes of starch (unavailable in Daylesford). Valerie and I had a very
productive morning and hopefully I solved some of her issues.
Meanwhile Wes was
able to spend some time gardening under cover at Barbara’s place. He filled her
new pots with soil and manure and they planted climbers etc. Then he cooked her
a roast chicken lunch.
On Thursday I went
shopping at Tonna’s early – they open at 7am and I want to encourage them to
continue doing it, and then had a haircut with Morgan at Spice. I had a long chat with Leanne during the morning before
preparing a basket of goodies to take to Gillie who had invited us to lunch.
Gillie is the most generous person you could wish to meet, so we bought a
bottle of Pimms No 1 (her favourite tipple) added a bottle of Angove grenache,
a couple of cheeses, some quince paste and oatcakes all the way from Nairn in
Scotland, where Wes has forebears.
While we were there
at lunch Daylesford enjoyed some snow. It started as a flurry, and then quickly
turned into serious snow, but sadly it didn’t last long enough to be a nuisance
on the roads! Our time with Gillie was wonderful, as always, and she fed us
well with a fish pie, beans & carrots and anchovy toast.
Gillie & Karen enjoying the
snow
We came home and
lit the fire and enjoyed a restful afternoon reading (him) and knitting (me). I
was keen to do some mindless knitting after the Fair Isle jumper, so posted on Daylesford Community Noticeboard on
Facebook and was contacted immediately by Keep
Daylesford Warm, who want me to knit 20cm x 20cm squares. This is perfect
and I can start to use the many balls of bright colourful acrylic 8ply that
Viva gave me last year.
It was freezing
again on Friday morning, but Wes bravely took Bilbo out for a brisk walk before
he and I headed off to Trentham to welcome Glenn Testro to the area. I had
managed to get both DA crosswords out before I got up at 7am, so was feeling
very pleased with myself. We filled a box with fresh fruit and vegetables from
Tonna’s, picked up a bag of spuds on the way and arrived at Newbury (Trentham
South) to find the sun shining in through the windows of Glenn & Marilyn’s
new home. Glenn took us for a walk around some of the property and it really is
a delight. The main house is beautiful with vaulted ceilings and plenty of
windows, the bungalow is perfect for their son, Tyson, and there is a big
garage, a proper potting shed, a wood shed and a couple of follies in the
garden.
We dropped in on
Bob White as we were leaving to see how he was feeling, but no-one was at home,
so perhaps he was enjoying a coffee at Chaplins.
Wes made a beautiful mushroom & pumpkin risotto for lunch and just as I
was cleaning up, John Smith arrived at the front door with a beautiful bouquet
of flowers to thank me for knitting his jumper. What a lovely surprise that
was! Dot was in the car and looking better than she had on Sunday morning.
The sun finally
emerged that afternoon, so Wes got into the garden and did wonders as usual. He
had invited Barbara to dinner to watch the footy with him and made them both chicken
pasta, while I ate leftover risotto. I gave the Blues a chance as North
Melbourne often drop the games they should win, especially after beating teams
above them on the ladder. And so it came to pass – Carlton put in a good,
four-quarter display of tackling, running, good kicking and high marking and
won easily in the end.
1974 and Wes is wearing his
kaftan while sitting on the front steps of 12 Scott Street, Essendon – as you
can see our first home needed some work done to it!
On Saturday we
awoke to that unusual feeling – Carlton had won and all was right with the
world. Wes got stuck into the front garden and I had planned to join him but it
was too cold and I couldn’t breathe properly so decided to have an indoor day
and salved my conscience by cleaning cupboards while listening to the Coodabeen Champions. After a
particularly yummy fish dish lunch, I spent the afternoon barracking for St
Kilda as they totally demolished Fremantle in the upset of the season. It was
most exciting and we were thinking of all our St Kilda friends and how chuffed
they would be.
This morning Wes is
off to the ALP Country Conference in Melbourne with the branch Treasurer, Peter
Symons, while Bilbo and I are going to Coles, the Sunday Market and breakfast
at The Food Gallery.
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