Dear Everyone, I
left you early last Sunday as Bilbo and I were setting out on our busy morning
and Wes was about to drive to Melbourne to create mischief at the ALP Country
delegates meeting. As all the delegates live in and around Ballarat, it seemed
insane that they all had to drive to Melbourne, and when there was no Agenda,
and when no-one was allowed to see previous Minutes of Meetings, I suspect Wes
was in his element.
Meanwhile we had a
lovely breakfast at The Food Gallery,
although we did miss our usual waitress, Kerry, whose mother had died suddenly
in Melbourne the previous Monday. I had invited Janine Hawker to join us and I
think she will return – she really enjoyed listening to Gail’s stories about
her Japanese cruise, and she and Gillie seemed to hit it off well also. We
discussed the Daylesford Cinema and the range of films it is offering, and were
well-fed and watered, although not with the same care and attention to detail
that Kerry gives us. Toni & Pasquale, the owners, had thoughtfully put down
scoria at the back entrance to the café, never considering for a second, just
how difficult that would make it for Barbara in her wheelchair. We can only
hope they have fixed it in time for this morning.
I had some energy
when we arrived back home, so made a big quantity of minestrone soup and
cleaned a few cupboards, as well as tidying up the parsley bed as the plants
are finally going to seed. I planted flat leaf Italian parsley and it has been
generously abundant for months. The rest of the day was spent sitting quietly
watching the footy and knitting squares. Wes arrived home with some funny stories;
we ate our soup and were in bed early.
We had hoped to
play golf on Monday morning, but it was -1° and frosty, so decided that would
be postponed yet again. Wes did some gardening, planting yet another lovely,
fragrant, yellow rose from Ken Rae at Spring
Park Nursery.
Gene Tierney rose
I took Bilbo for a
mid-morning walk and we bumped into lots of friends and acquaintances,
primarily Annie Smith with her golden retriever, Rosie. Bilbo was so excited to
see her and they played happily together on their leads while Annie went to the
butcher & I visited the chemist next door.
Lunch was a very
exciting meal of baked fish with orange & rhubarb sauce. Amazingly,
although it was just for the two of us, it took just about every pot, pan and
implement we own to make. I’m not sure Wes is prepared to expend that much
energy again, but he did make double the sauce, so we can have an easier
version at a later date. During the afternoon we had an unexpected, but very
welcome visit from Brian Nash, and settled down to a long chat mostly about
footy and cricket!
Beautiful recent photo of our
sister-in-law, Mary Saundry, with her grandchildren –
Michael, Chiara, Mikaela &
Dante
Wes had another
Asylum Seekers Forum working group here that night and there was much hilarity,
which I discovered came from the home-brewed whisky that Peter Symons arrived
with. Apparently Jameson’s has nothing to fear. Bilbo and I retreated to the
bedroom to catch up on episodes of Lewis.
We woke on Tuesday
to find it was -3° and very frosty. Wes and Bilbo walked early before it got
too heavy and dangerous. Around 8am Wes tried gardening but had to retire
defeated as he was too cold to feel his fingers. Once the frost had melted I
took Bilbo for another walk into town, much to his delight. Sadly we didn’t see
Annie & Rosie again, but we chatted to a few friends and did some chores
along the way.
Wes has put in a
lot of work on the computer and has a nearly empty in-tray (a very rare
occurrence). So when the sun was shining brightly during the afternoon, he got
out the mower and made everywhere look neat and tidy again. Meanwhile I relaxed
and knitted more squares!
It was similar
weather on Wednesday – very icy early and no Age to boot. While Sandra was cleaning, Bilbo & I had another
walk into town, collecting mail from the PO Box etc. Then I met up with Trish
Goullet at Gracenotes Café to catch
up on all her news. Wes spent a few hours with Barbara as usual, gardening,
helping her put things away up high and being the passenger when her car was
taken for a run.
That afternoon Ann
Holden suggested a catch-up, so I went back to Gracenotes Café with Bilbo in tow and enjoyed some time talking to
her and hearing about what she has been doing since she retired from massaging
us. Meanwhile Wes had a very busy afternoon – he had been threatened with
expulsion from the ALP because of his vehement opposition to the imposition of
Mary Anne Thomas as the ALP candidate for the State seat of Macedon. Wes
doesn’t take these things lying down, so promptly sent a copy of this letter to
all his trusted ALP allies and the emails and phone calls haven’t stopped.
I got back from
seeing Ann to find him about to go out to see Candy Broad, former MLC, who
retired in May this year. His next appointment was with Glenn Mack, who needed
help with a matter they had both worked on some years ago, and finally he
collected his sister, Denise Anderson, and took her to the Daylesford Hotel for a drink to remember their father, Ray, who
died 13 years ago that day. Denise had never been into that hotel and enjoyed
the experience.
Perc, Viva, Dot & Ray outside
the Bullboar & Yabbie, Castlemaine, 1977
We had a big day on
Thursday after waking early to watch the Glasgow Commonwealth Games Opening
Ceremony. I was worried when it started as it looked fairly amateurish, but
once the night took over, the quality of the presentation improved enormously
and it was a most enjoyable event. We were very taken with the UNICEF tie-up
and duly donated, as would most others I suspect.
We set off in
pouring rain to drive to Melbourne at 9.30, where our first stop was Poynton’s Nursery in Essendon, where we
spent over an hour with Leanne, having a good chat and exchanging gifts. We had
bought her some local honey and she had bones for Bilbo. Leanne had been
invited by St Monica’s Church to
attend a special Mass for recently bereaved families and she had attended that
the night before and was very pleased she had. As we were leaving there we
decided to buy a gardenia for Tom & Deb, who had invited us to lunch at
their home in Carlton.
They had gone to a
lot of trouble and had put themselves out of their comfort zone by each
attempting a dish they hadn’t cooked before. Deb produced a very yummy seafood
risotto with a colourful and equally enjoyable salad, while Tom was in charge
of sweets. We did have a lovely relaxed time with them both and it was my first
visit since they did major renovations, and my first meeting with their dogs,
Mintie & Jaffa. We didn’t leave until after 4pm, which meant we caught a
bit of traffic trying to get onto the freeway, but were home by 5.45pm and
greeted by a very sleepy, tubby Bilbo, who had spent the day demolishing a
large marrow bone, courtesy of Leanne.
Friday morning we
were up again early – Wes and Bilbo walked in light rain, which steadily turned
into heavy and Brigadoon and by 8.30am we couldn’t see past our back yard. I
turned on the radio and TV to catch up on the Commonwealth Games and was
thrilled to hear that Anna Meares had won a Gold Medal. We then watched the
women swimmers break the World Record in the 4 x 100m relay, which was most
exhilarating. Sadly the fog didn’t lift until the afternoon, and I couldn’t
breathe, so I had to postpone a meeting with Rhonda and opt out of the U3A Flicks on Friday @ Barcaldine House.
Aged 3....not sure that dresses
and I have ever been a good fit!
I lit the fire and
spent a very relaxing day knitting, while the phone rang furiously for Wes. He
had decided to take advice to apologise to Noah Carroll, Asst State Secretary
of the ALP, who made the front page of The
Age, where he was nominated as one of the people behind the leaking of a dictaphone
recording of Ted Bailleu. His letter was brilliant and his fiercest supporters
were thrilled with the latest developments.
Yesterday Wes was
up early to walk Bilbo, clean out the fireplace and then just catch the 7.27am
Ballan train to the State Library in Melbourne where he had enrolled in an
all-day seminar on Ancestry. I did some early shopping as it was a much better
day than Friday, then walked Bilbo up to Tonna’s to get muesli ingredients. I
made a big batch of spicy pumpkin soup and baked a fruit cake before having a
breather and listening to the Coodabeen
Champions.
Our friend, Carol
Bruce, had let us know that she had decided to sell her home and move to
Ballarat to be closer to her two daughters, and her grand-daughter. The For Sale sign is now up, so I am allowed
to share this news. We will miss her, but know it is the right decision and she
is promising to return to Daylesford each Wednesday to play Mah Jong and catch
up with her other friends.
Wes arrived home
very happy with his experience and especially pleased that he didn’t have to
turn around and provide a meal! We fell asleep at half-time in the big clash
between Hawthorn & Sydney and missed the Hawks stunning 3rd quarter
which won them the game.
This morning it was
too icy for a walk, so we watched the Commonwealth Games swimming before
getting up to pursue our usual Sunday activities. Bilbo and I are heading out
to the Sunday Market, and then we three will go to breakfast, before Wes heads
off to the Glenlyon Food & Wine Fayre.
I was hoping to get there, but I have very little energy today so will conserve
it to help get the Pies across the line against the Crows later today!
1990 Cox Plate – a very memorable
afternoon with Jan McClean, Wes, Danny Millman & Karen in the Silks Lounge,
Moonee Valley
No comments:
Post a Comment