Dear Everyone, I
left you last Sunday as we were about to have a busy day. Rhonda & I
enjoyed a good catch-up over breakfast and at another table, John, Jan, Jan’s
sister, Jen, and Barbara, were also having breakfast at Gracenotes Café. After taking their little Daylesford home off the
market, John & Jan were made an offer they couldn’t refuse, and Daisy-Lea has sold. We will be sorry
that they are no longer a regular part of our lives in Daylesford, and they
have been good friends to Barbara as well, inviting her to join them for meals,
cuppas etc.
A selection of roses from our
garden including Don Bradman, Freesia, Dioressence, Hot Cocoa & Perfume
Passion
During our busy
day, we received an unexpected and very welcome visit from Kathy & Gerard
Lazzaro, who had decided to drive to Daylesford on the spur of the moment.
After spending some time chatting here, we persuaded them to follow us to
Trentham, where we were meeting Wes’s cousin, Glenn Testro, for a drink at the Cosmopolitan. Not only did Glenn arrive,
but also Bob White and his friend, Kevin, who had been to Woodend to a concert.
We made a fun group sitting around a table chatting over the latest release of
Passing Clouds very yummy shiraz cabernet. We said goodbye after a couple of
hours and drove home, picking up fish and chips on the way.
The next morning
was too wet for golf, which was a blessing, as we slept in. During the night a
fuse blew and turned out all the clock radios, TV lights etc and I woke in a
fright as everywhere was so very dark. At 3.30am Wes got up and reset the power
in the fuse box and everything returned to normal, except that none of us
wakened at 5am, not even Bilbo. As it was Wes’s birthday, I persuaded him to
have tea and toast in bed reading the paper, while Bilbo enjoyed a late yummy
bone.
Birthday cuddles!
Wes had an
important meeting with the CEO of the Hepburn Shire, so spent some time getting
ready for that and was pleased to get a good hearing over 90 minutes, as he
tried to inspire Aaron to get excited about the Lake Daylesford precinct. After
that Wes arrived back home and decided to make one of his yummy risottos and we
sat down over drinks while it was cooking. I had found a bottle of the Edradour Whisky which Wes had loved so
much when we visited their tiny distillery in Pitlochry, and Judi had dropped
by with a bottle of Talisker Whisky,
that is made in Carbost on the Isle
of Skye and is a lovely memory of our time there.
On Tuesday Wes and
Bilbo had a long early walk around town and I went to gym, before we had a
quick visit from Glenn Mack armed with a loaf of ciabatta, and then Nick
Massaro arrived to give me a long-overdue massage, which I enjoyed very much
and can now turn my head more easily in each direction! That afternoon we
visited David Hall, whose wife, Lorelle, died 6 months ago. We were looked
after with shiraz and smoked salmon delicacies and had a great chat with a man
who never stops seeing the big picture and whose head is always full of great
ideas.
Again a fuse blew
and we realised that something was wrong with the dishwasher, so consulted the Daylesford Community Grapevine on
Facebook to find someone reliable to come and fix it. Everyone recommended Barclays in Ballarat, so I rang them and
they will be out next Wednesday. In the meantime, it is back to washing up and
the tea-towels are getting a good workout.
Mah Jong on
Wednesday was enjoyable, although we discovered that our friends, Gail &
Terry White, had put down their cat, Aladdin, the previous day, and were very
upset, as Laddie had been a great friend for many years, especially here in
Daylesford. I dropped in to see Gail with some roses from the garden, and lots
and lots of books for her to read. Meanwhile Wes spent the morning working at
Barbara’s place before she took him to lunch at the Farmers’ Arms Hotel.
Bilbo turned 10 on
Thursday, so we sang Happy Birthday and gave him an extra treat of a dog
biscuit coated in Vegemite, which he loved, before he tucked into his morning
bone. After gym I cut some more roses, packed the laptop and photos and headed
to Strathmore to visit Leanne. We enjoyed an excellent visit, catching up on
each other’s news and I was able to show her some of the photos of our trip,
and particularly the ones taken at St
Columba’s Isle at Skeabost on the
Isle of Skye. Leanne had sent home a
yummy carrot cake and her gift to Wes was a bottle of Jamieson Irish Whisky, so
he is now spoiled for choice! I arrived back here mid-afternoon quite tired
from the drive and had a couple of hours rest before driving Wes and David Hall
to Neil’s place in Hepburn Springs for a Boys’ Night out. Wes had spent hours
in the garden and taken Barbara for a big shop, which was well overdue, and was
looking forward to a night of nonsense while watching a comedy.
The Bushwalking
Group travelled to Fryerstown on Friday and I took Judi & Di in my car. We
joined up with 6 others to do the shorter walk, which took about 2 hours, and
was very well led by Josie, who had lots of pieces of information to give us,
as well as making sure that we stayed together. I had hoped to take Bilbo, but
Josie had suggested the walk would be too hard for him. However the dog that
did accompany us didn’t have any problems, so I am a bit sorry that I didn’t
follow my instinct to bring him anyway. We were a very happy and congenial
group and I did enjoy especially spending time with Judi, Di & Josie and
catching up on their news.
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The Autumnal view from our window
in Pitlochry
When I got home Wes
was not long home from Ballarat where he had been for a haircut; to get some
underwear, socks & shoes, and most importantly, to buy his birthday gift of
a new office chair. Sadly it comes in a flat pack and needs to be erected! I
quickly showered and changed and we drove to Glenn Mack’s home, where he had invited
us & Gillie for a seafood laksa lunch. I’m sorry I don’t have any photos,
as lunch was a work of art and tasted as good as it looked.
Yesterday morning
after Bilbo had been on two walks – the early one with Wes and a later one with
me, we met our old friend, Ron Prophet, and his partner, Debbie, at Gracenotes Café for a catch-up breakfast
as they were in town for 36 hours or so. We all enjoyed a very yummy meal and
chattered away happily for about 90 minutes.
One highlight was the arrival of
Chris & Malcolm, with Chris hobbling and looking hung-over – he’d been to
his work break-up the night before and danced the night away! Malcolm was the
designated driver, hadn’t had a drink or a dance, and looked in much better
shape than Chris.
There is big excitement
in Vincent Street, with a new improved pedestrian crossing that includes two
trees and some very ugly plants in planter boxes. This has taken about 6 weeks
to create and includes a raised hump where pedestrians walk, which forces cars
to make way instead of playing Russian roulette with them.
Last night we
watched the first half of the International Rules game in Perth against the
Irish in the hybrid game that is neither one thing nor the other. There was one
marked improvement in the match and that was the performance of the Aussies,
who have been lacklustre for the past 4 years. They had a big enough lead at
half-time to stave off the late Irish charge in front of 38,000+.
Today after Bilbo
and I return from the Sunday Market, we will have breakfast at the Food Gallery
with Judi, Janine, Barbara, Gillie and Aileen. Then we are on the road to
Melbourne, where we hope to visit Joan Testro in Prahran and Mike Hill in
Brunswick.
Wes at the grave of Rob Roy
McGregor’s family and yes, it was raining when I took this!
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