Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 25th January 2015

Dear Friends, we did have a lovely day at the cricket in the MCC last Sunday with Danny. Just as we were heading to have a drink in the Terrace Café, along came Loud Gayle, who was looking for us. She joined us and we quickly demolished a lovely bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc, before it was time to get back to our seats and watch the start of play. Gayle’s friend, Heather, arrived just as we were leaving. It was good to see Mitchell Starc bowl so well, and Rohit’s innings of 138 was inspirational. However, by 9pm we three were tired and decided to leave rather than get home after midnight. We dropped Danny off at Northcote and enjoyed a very easy run home listening to the exciting conclusion of the game, which Australia won with an over to spare.

The next day we were all bushed – I spent the day in bed; Wes made a yummy lunch & spent some time on the computer as well as reading, and Bilbo slept right through 5.30am and didn’t even look for a bone! One of the reasons for this inactivity was the power surge at 3.15am which turned on our bedroom light and woke us up. Wes tried to turn it off using the remote control, but no go, and he eventually went to the fuse box and turned off all the lights there. When he turned them back on again, the bedroom light stayed off thank God and we all tried to go back to sleep.

I took this photo at 6am on Tuesday morning, when the sky suddenly turned a fiery red and the reflection on the Lake was beautiful. After gym Nick Massaro came to give me a massage, which was very welcome, and he offered to fix one of our dining room chairs which has a broken spindle. I took him up on that offer with alacrity as you can imagine – we have no hope of doing that sort of repair.

Wes went to Trentham early for a game of golf, which he enjoyed and then caught up with a friend, Judith McNamara, who wanted to chat over a coffee at the Glenlyon General Store. He visited the nursery on his way home and brought me an advanced pimento capsicum plant, which I have re-potted and placed on the veranda in the hope it likes that spot.

In the afternoon we had been invited to David Hall’s place for afternoon tea and he invited Barbara as well. His home is not at all wheelchair-friendly, but Wes managed to get Barbara up the various levels and in via the kitchen. We spent a couple of hours chatting with David and his daughter, Natasha, who is living with him at present after a couple of years spent as a nanny on a boat travelling the world. It is lovely for David to have her company as he is understandably quite lonely since Lorelle died, even though his friends in Daylesford have been very supportive.

The next morning Bilbo came around to my side of the bed at 5.22am, but I told him to go back to bed until 5.30am and amazingly he did! It was another dark morning and quite warm early, but we had a lovely walk and woke up a few of the ducks that were sleeping in. Gillie told me that one mother duck originally had 11 ducklings, which had dropped to 7, but the only mother duck I have seen has only 3 ducklings, which she is guarding very jealously indeed. I haven’t seen any cygnets this year – our black swans usually have a couple of babies, but perhaps they are in hiding or have gone elsewhere.

Flat leaf parsley, chillies and nasturtiums thriving under the dogwood out the front – I am giving the vegetable beds a break this year, hence all the potted produce!

There was no Mah Jong this week as Valerie was unavailable, so Judi & I took the opportunity to have a good catch up over breakfast at Gracenotes Café. Chris, the chef, has decided on a career change and has joined the Victoria Police Band as a piper, and he starts work next Tuesday. He has an excellent apprentice chef who will look after the kitchen during the week, and he will do the weekend shifts for as long as he can. Chris was the piper on Johnny Farnham’s hit, You’re the Voice, many moons ago, and one of the driving forces behind the Daylesford Pipe Band. He is very excited about his new job and even chopped off his waist-length grey plait for the interview.

Meanwhile Wes worked hard in our garden, picked a basket of plums from Rob & Dene’s tree next door, before heading across the road to garden at Barbara’s place. I took some plums for Judi and Wes poached ours in ginger syrup and they look & smell wonderful.

In the afternoon he & Barbara went to the Daylesford RSL to interview Bill Longley again for Hepburn Voices and didn’t get back until late. We had hoped to go to Di & Jeff’s Aperitifs, but were too hot and tired to get there. I hope I’ll be OK when we have our turn, which is next month. We traditionally have a turn every two years, and the last time, I asked the Daylesford Belles, Bronnie & Lee, to do the catering, which made it a lot easier. Needless to say they have been booked again.

On Thursday, Bilbo happily waited until 5.30am before getting up with me, and we enjoyed our walk around the Lake, especially his swim among the ducks. After gym I spent an hour back at Gracenotes catching up with Jane Barrett, who has been busy this year and only just back at gym. Her husband, John, has left his position as manager of the Hepburn Bathhouse and taken up a job in Melbourne, based in Prahran. Jane’s daughter, Beth, found him a little mouse-hole to live in, and the three of them have been busy tarting it up as it dates back to 1848 and was originally built as servant’s quarters at the back of a big home in Toorak.

Wes drove to Melbourne for the funeral of his uncle, Bert Barnes, which was held in Mt Alexander Road, Essendon. It was very small with Denise & Barry, John, Leon & Shaun & Wes making up half the numbers. Denise was grateful for a lift back to Daylesford and they stopped at Chaplins Café in Trentham for hot drinks & scones.

In the meantime I spent the rest of my morning working in the greenhouse and garden beds, transplanting my spring onions, bok choi & chilli seedlings. I still have to put more beans in beds and have my fingers crossed that the cucumbers will eventually become big enough to transplant as well.

We all slept in until 5.45am on Friday, which meant the walk was done in daylight for a change. The only downside to that is that other dog walkers were starting to appear and most of them thought it was OK to have their dogs not on leads, even though there are plenty of signs advising this isn’t the case. It was a very muggy morning, and after I had done the supermarket shopping, I decided that Bilbo and I would give the Bushwalking Group a miss as they were travelling in Sailors Falls which is quite hot and there was nowhere shady for a break. This meant I could visit the Wombat Hill Nursery and buy some more potting mix for us, as well as for Leanne.

Wes mowed the lawns, which was a huge job, and everywhere looks much better for it. The roses are blooming madly, the lavender is having another flowering, the seaside daisies are indestructible and even the apple, plum, pear & fig trees are bearing small quantities of fruit. Fingers crossed that we get to harvest them.

Figs, apples, rhubarb, pears & plums under the watchful eye of the fruit thief

I rang the Robinsons who were back from three weeks away in Myanmar, Delhi & Singapore. Not only did they bring back summer colds, but arrived home to find all the power out with the fridge urgently needing to be emptied. In spite of this, they both sounded good and positive and Ian goes back to specialists next week to see how his health is going.

Yesterday I drove to Strathmore early to visit Leanne, armed with potting mix, rose food, punnets of pleasure and all my gardening equipment – gloves, fork, trowel & kneeler. We had a cuppa together first, then set about transplanting two roses that weren’t happy where they were, putting seedlings in an empty blue pot by the front door and making plans about future improvements, to be done when the weather is a little kinder. Leanne gave me some stakes for our tomato plants and a lovely cake to bring home to Wes. Lunch was leftovers from the day before, as Wes has been cooking up a storm and there is too much in the fridge for one little Labrador to demolish on his own.

We were shocked to learn that our friend, John Smith, had been admitted to hospital last Monday, when he woke up with no memory of the three previous days. Jan rang us to let us know as we had made plans to catch up over the long weekend. John is now at home and off all medication in an effort to see what may have caused this malfunction.

This morning Bilbo and I have been for a walk early and are off to the Sunday Market. Then we will have breakfast at The Food Gallery, and Wes and I are planning a visit to the Daylesford Cinema to see ‘Into the Woods’. Neither of us is particularly big on celebrating ‘Invasion Day’, but we do rejoice in living in the Lucky Country. A wonderful article in yesterday’s Age newspaper suggested Captain Cook didn’t set foot on Australian soil until 28^th April, 1770, and that we are celebrating Governor Phillip raising the Union Flag & having a drink to the King at Sydney Cove on 26^th January, 1788 instead!

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 18th January 2015

Dear Friends, we headed off to the Regent Cinemas in Ballarat last Sunday afternoon to see ‘The Hobbit – Battle of the Five Armies’ in Gold Class and enjoyed ourselves very much indeed. We probably ordered too much food & wine and saw trailers to five films that we have no interest in viewing, but it was a fun afternoon. Bilbo slept contentedly back here as he had eaten so much at breakfast he really wasn’t in desperate need of dinner.

On Monday we had a cool walk around the Lake early before the day turned into a muggy one. I finally finished changing all our passwords, which has taken me nearly four weeks to complete, and Wes spent some time in the garden, where he has taken up propagating in a bed specially set aside for that purpose, using pipes given to us by Judi & Michael.

Back to gym for me on Tuesday, where I had a new programme to learn, and friends to catch up with! Bilbo and I walked earlier and it was very dark until 5.45am, so I decided to try to get Bilbo to stay in bed until 5.30am & maybe eventually 6am, which would be perfect!

After gym I went to EKO for a manicure, and then spent a lovely hour and half with Gillie at The Food Gallery, where we ranged over a number of topics and I came home with some good ideas for my seedlings. Meanwhile Wes had driven to Bulleen, via Trentham to pick up Bob White, for Maureen Dubock’s funeral. It absolutely poured with rain all morning in Daylesford and I kept hoping that the funeral was able to proceed without too much trouble.

Bilbo sniffing the Black Caviar rose outside our study

We had about 50mls of very welcome rain here in Daylesford, but the Food Gallery’s kitchen was flooded and they had to close, which was very disappointing for them as they were doing lots of business with visitors and locals coming in out of the wet.

Wes arrived back in late afternoon – the funeral had gone well and he & Bob had caught up with lots of old Brunswick Rotarians. And yes, the rain had held off until they were leaving. He had a quick rest then off for another lesson in front of house at the Daylesford Cinema, which he passed with flying colours, as he came back with an appointment to learn to be a projectionist with Stan Harris on Saturday afternoon.

Dot, Valerie & I were thrilled to see each other and catch up on news as well as play a few games of Mah Jong on Wednesday. After lunch, I went to the Daylesford Library as I needed to rejoin – one of the many things I discovered while changing passwords. That went very smoothly indeed and I must get back to borrowing books from them instead of trying to own everything I read – we have books behind books on every shelf of the bookcase and under the stairs is filled with boxes of books as well.

Wes spent the morning over at Aileen’s home as her front room had flooded in all the rain. He and the plumber, Gary, were able to fix the blocked guttering. He then spent time with Barbara before coming back here and relaxing with Ancestry.com for the afternoon. That evening he went back to the cinema as friend, Bronwyn Lamb, was doing a roster on her own. I think they enjoyed catching up as Bronwyn has been travelling for the past year or so after selling the Massage Healing Centre.

I decided to ring Paul & Sherryn Danaher, who have been very good friends for years, as it was ages since we had spoken. I was lucky enough to catch Paul at home, and have a lovely chat, before Sherryn walked in the door and I caught up with her as well. After an hour on the phone, I was exhausted – one of the chronic fatigue symptoms that hasn’t lessened is that I find socialising quite tiring after years of thriving on it. It is very frustrating indeed, and the busier my friends are, the tireder I seem to get! I do hope this goes away eventually.

After an early night, I was feeling good the next morning and didn’t wake Bilbo until 5.30am. Our walk was a delight as I barely needed the torch – just where shale etc had washed away on the roads and paths to and around the Lake. While I was waiting to go to gym I printed some 2015 U3A stuff and discovered my latest printer can print back to back without my assistance – shame I didn’t know that when I was running off the Christmas letter!

Beautiful Oriental lilies – week 2 & they are still going strong

Wes and I both spent some time in the garden and I planted my bush bean seedlings and am hoping for a bumper crop of small, green beans in the next few weeks. The spring onion seedlings are looking good, but the chillies and cucumber are still a bit slow. Wes thinks the possums might be feasting on them at night and keeps reminding me to shut the door of the green house. 

                                               Bush beans below...

  

That afternoon we had been invited to Trish Nield’s new home in Smith Street for a small housewarming. We had a lovely time and there were only about a dozen guests, all of whom we knew. Where Trish lives was originally designed for holiday accommodation and about 30 individual homes were put on the one big property. At the time we locals were all up in arms as it was going to change the nature of Smith Street, which has some lovely old homes and gardens in it as well as the Secondary School & the Catholic Primary School. However, over time, locals have moved into the estate and there are very few places left on the holiday rental market. Single women in particular feel very comfortable there and since the running of the Body Corporate has moved from the investors to the owners, the place looks great.

On Friday Bilbo and I enjoyed a beautiful walk around Lake Daylesford early – there was mist rising and it looked more like Winter than Summer.

You can just see the lights of the Boathouse Café and a solitary duck swimming across the Lake

Afterwards I did the weekly shop at Coles, which I enjoy doing early. I have belonged to Flybuys since they started and it doesn’t take me long to earn 20,000 points and get $100 free shopping there. All the staff are friendly, greet me by name and ask after Bilbo.

The Bushwalking Group started up again that morning, so Bilbo and I joined two others for the shorter walk from Tipperary Springs to Twin Bridges. It was a cool morning, perfect for walking, and we saw a huge black wallaby crashing through the bush and bounding over the creek during our travels. There were plenty of ripe blackberries to be picked and eaten, although Bilbo much preferred his apple at morning tea. The rest of the walkers did the longer trek to Bryce’s Flat and back, but I don’t think Bilbo would have lasted the distance.

Meanwhile Wes drove to Torquay to play golf with Tom, Danny & Bobby at the renovated Torquay Golf Course, which is run by the RACV. They played 18 holes and Bobby won the money box trophy that Wes had provided. After lunch and a visit to Bobby’s wife, Marilyn, at their holiday home in Torquay, Wes drove back here, arriving home almost 12 hours after he left. He looked sun-kissed, tired but very happy; although his ankle complained about the amount of driving and walking he had done during the day.

Yesterday it was another cool morning and we had an enjoyable walk around the Lake before I drove to Hepburn Springs to pump water at the Sulphur Spring as my favourite spring, Leitches Creek, is still closed. Wes went back to Aileen’s place to help fix her air-conditioner and see what else needed doing after the flooding.

In the afternoon Wes went for his first training as a projectionist and stayed on to help front of house as the cinema was short-staffed. He has a million ideas of course, and so would I if I was getting involved, as like most community activities, it has grown beyond its initial expectations and the infrastructure hasn’t changed with the increase in sessions & patrons.

Today, Bilbo & I were serenaded by birdsong all around the Lake, which was still dark with only a sliver of moon for most of our walk. After the Market & Breakfast, Wes and I are off to the MCG to see Australia vs India with Danny....should be fun. 

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 11th January 2015

 

Dear Friends, we had a lovely visit with Leanne last Sunday and did lots of reminiscing which seemed to be in order. We arrived with fresh vegetables and roses from our garden and left with a jar of home-made biscuits and a box of mince pies. As we drove into Daylesford we decided to stop for a drink at the Farmers Arms Hotel, where Wes enjoyed a Guinness and I had a Smith & Show sauvignon blanc. Suzanne, one of the two proprietors, came to chat and told us that her partner, Claire, was heading off to Israel for three weeks to catch up with family and friends.

On Monday it was cool early when I walked Bilbo and at 7am Wes and I headed off to Trentham for a game of golf. We had our share of good and bad shots, didn’t lose any balls and between us nearly had 4 par holes. Afterwards we went to Chaplins in High Street, Trentham, where Bob White joined us for coffee and croissants.

Back home and while Wes made a yummy fish pie, I visited Dot and John Smith, with a beautiful rose called ‘Remember Me’. Ken Rae from Spring Park Nursery had chosen it for me as Dot’s sister, Ann, lost her battle against cancer on Boxing Day, after seeming to be getting better. John had spent Christmas in hospital after complaining of pain the week before Christmas Day and is slowly coming good.

Finally the 4^th Test in Sydney started on Tuesday and I enjoyed watching Australia bat so well on a very emotional day, where so much was dedicated to Phil Hughes once again. This was the first Anniversary of Viva’s death and I received lots of lovely messages and even some flowers. We had gone to breakfast at The Boathouse Café, which still doesn’t quite have things right, and afterwards bought some beautiful Oriental Lilies for the hall table. Leanne received lots of phone calls, and we both agreed that we found our thoughts were peaceful and content. Viva had lived a good long life and she died at the right time.

Our view of the Lake from the decking of the Boathouse & my breakfast eggs, which looked wonderful, but were barely cooked and already cool when I received them

In the afternoon, Wes went off for his first training session as a volunteer with the Daylesford Community Theatre. He had offered to be a projectionist, but was told he would have to learn front of house first. He came home with lots of stories to tell, and is waiting to be posted to a regular shift. Back in the ‘70s I was a licensed projectionist with the Productivity Promotion Council, but things have changed just a little since then!

On Wednesday we received the sad news that Maureen Dubock, wife of Mal, had died of a massive heart attack unexpectedly in Sydney, where they were attending a wedding. Mal Dubock has been a good friend since Brunswick Rotary Club days and in his capacity as a funeral director was prepared to indulge Warren in his wish to have a Viking Funeral.

On the walk around the Lake, I was disappointed to find heaps of tinsel, bottles and bags, as well as a tipped over bin. I was able to pick up some of the rubbish, but Bilbo can be an inhibiting factor, so when I came back home, Wes put the information up on the Friends of Lake Daylesford FB site, encouraging walkers to take a plastic bag and help clean up, and when I went around the next day there wasn’t a sign of any of the rubbish.

Sandra came back to work and did a lovely job of getting Maloney Folly back up to scratch. Bilbo was particularly pleased to see her, as he likes the routine of her weekly visits and especially the apple she gives him before she leaves. Wes spent the morning in the garden, both here and at Barbara’s home, before chairing a meeting there of Hepburn Voices. I made special fried rice for lunch and we watched cricket for most of the day.

Jane & David Knox getting into the spirit of the Pink Test in Sydney

We had hoped to get in another game of golf, but the mornings were just too muggy, so we settled for computer work and gardening, although on Friday Wes took me to breakfast at Gracenotes Café, where we enjoyed much better food and service than earlier in the week. We caught up with Annie Smith, who had been trying to walk Rosie in between showers and was laughing at herself as that was impossible to achieve. I had been to Coles supermarket and had spent some time in the car until the rain eased before I could get out. Everyone we met had a smile on his/her face as the rain is so very welcome.

Judi had given us some cuttlefish ink and Wes finally found a pasta recipe that suited us and made the meal you can see using spiral pasta, prawns, salmon, celery and chillies. It was very yummy indeed and we look forward to experimenting some more with the ink.

Yesterday it was raining at 5am, so Bilbo got a bone and no walk, and I went back to bed for an extra hour’s sleep, which was very welcome. We had 20mls on Friday and a similar amount yesterday and the effect on the garden is wonderful – roses blooming, seeds sprouting and grass poking up everywhere.

Wes did some weeding as it is so much easier to do after rain and I persuaded some of my bush bean seedlings out of the seed tray and into individual pots. Meanwhile the other seeds are taking their time – we are waiting for cucumbers, spring onions, bok choi & chillies and this morning I can see the first signs of little shoots.

Hot cocoa rose, seaside daisies and the greenhouse

During the week I reread Ruth Park’s autobiography A Fence Around the Cuckoo and followed it up with D’arcy Niland’s The Shiralee. These two books are so very powerful – Ruth Park describes her childhood in New Zealand, that is such a foreign experience compared to here and D’arcy shows incredible compassion and understanding of the foibles of man, set in the more familar and understandable landscape of the Australia bush. I wasn’t sure what should be my next book, but Michael Ivanchenko kindly found and bought me a recent novel by Arnuldur Indridason, the Icelandic crime writer, and I think it will fit the bill.

The Indians managed to bat all day and force a draw at the Sydney Test, and I think, under their new captain, they will become a force away from home. He is a superb batsman and competitor and like Michael Clarke & Steve Smith, leads by example. It was so cool here when we were watching the last day that I even did some knitting! Some friends put photos of themselves sitting in front of an open fire, but we didn’t quite have to go that far, although we did need the heater going most of the day.

This morning I walked Bilbo in the dark, while the rain held off. It does look and feel as though we will get more rain, which should fill the tanks and encourage the grass some more. As soon as I finish this Dispatch he and I will go to Hepburn Springs to pump water from the Sulphur Spring before heading to the Sunday Market to stock up on fruit & vegetables from John & Yvonne, bones from Geoff, and perhaps a rose from Ken. We are hoping to see Margo at breakfast – she has been away on a cruise since before Christmas and it will be good to catch up with her and hear about her travels.

This afternoon Wes and I have seats in Gold Class in Ballarat to see The Hobbit – The Battle of the Five Armies. We could see it locally, but 2.5 hours is a long time in those seats and we really enjoy the GC experience in Ballarat, where there will only be about 28 of us watching the film.

Lovely photo of my sister-in-law, Mary aka Mimi, with her two daughters, Jessie & Michelle

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 4th January, 2015

Dear Friends, I hope you had a very good New Year’s Eve celebration and that you have been enjoying the few days we have shared so far of 2015. Since I retired it always takes me a little while to get in the swing of the New Year and I have been guilty of sending Irish Anderson, (born on 2^nd January), a card suggesting she was a year younger than she really was!

We spent a very enjoyable time sitting under Glenn’s walnut tree on the afternoon of the 31^st with Glenn’s partner, Denise; Judi & Michael, and Glenn’s good friend, Bob Waterhouse. Red wine and bubbles flowed as we celebrated Glenn’s birthday and the end of 2014. Back home we had oysters and prawns sitting out on the decking, and somehow found room for a slice of pudding & brandy butter.

We were in bed early as usual but were woken at 11.57pm by lots of noise created by the crowds that had gathered to see the fireworks at the Lake House, which is just across the road from us. I hadn’t realised they were celebrating 30 years in business in Daylesford with a full 10 minutes of fireworks and our main concern was that Bilbo was OK and not spooked. He was very happy to be with us and showed no ill effects of the constant noise. It is always sad to read about all the pets that get very scared and escape from home when illegal fireworks are set off nearby.

I had promised to walk Bilbo in the morning, but didn’t feel like it at 5am when he came around to my side of the bed and started pushing his nose into my face. Wes gave him a bone and we went back to sleep again. But I didn’t get off completely– from the minute I got up until I finally relented and took him for a long walk at 10am, he was at my heels, making little noises and trying to push me in the direction of the front door. When I did agree, he did a little dance of delight – á la Snoopy!

On Christmas Eve, I had a long Skype call with my aunt, Jeff, (aka Jenny Hoolihan), who was looking forward very much to spending time in London with daughter, Leigh, her husband, Simon, and son, Mike, with his wife, Kelly, and their two children, Archie & Amelia. However her husband, Kev, came down with a bad case of the ‘flu, which she promptly caught and they were confined to quarters. Leigh visited them in Lincolnshire for a day and promised that they will all catch up once the sickies are well again.

I love this time of the year when you have to think twice to remember what day it is, let alone the year, and we have enjoyed the first few days of 2015 very much, with no regular commitments to observe. Wes has spent hours in the garden and it is looking a picture – I can pick roses almost every day, which is very indulgent, and his borders of seaside daisies are in full bloom as well.

On Friday I decided to take down the decorations as the tree was just starting to lose its freshness, and we removed it with a minimum of fuss and mess – looks as though that small, squat size is the way to go for the future.

Denise and Warren’s uncle, Bert Barnes, celebrated his 100^th birthday on New Year’s Eve at Ardmillan House, where he has lived for the past few years. His wife, Norma, died about 3 years ago, but Bert was determined to get to the century. Denise & Barry, John & his 5 children, and Leon, all celebrated that achievement with Bert, who quietly died the next day after fulfilling his dream. He had a very long and fruitful life, and he and Norma were especially close to Denise and her family.

Yesterday we had hoped to go to the Farmers’ Market here, but it was cancelled with the total fire ban and strong winds that were expected. I walked Bilbo early to let Wes rest his ankle and I expect we enjoyed the best of the day, although it was already 26° just after 5am. Later, while Wes hosed, I bought some larger pots for our tomato plants as they are thriving in this hot weather after starting life in our greenhouse.

As usual Daylesford, like many other holiday spots, is full of visitors, which is great for all the traders, and just means we locals get out and about early to do our shopping, when we can still get a park. Apart from that and the very full recycling bins, (which are emptied fortnightly), the only area of complaint is the state of the Peace Mile walk around Lake Daylesford. However, it may well be locals who are sitting there eating and drinking until all hours and forgetting to put their cans, bottles and cardboard boxes in the bins. The Council has doubled the number of bins and there is very little rubbish left sitting at the base of them for the birds to pull apart. Yesterday morning I filled two plastic bags with cans & bottles, left the rest for the next lot of walkers, and left the towels, bathers & thongs for their owners to find!

Today started with a walk around the Lake with Bilbo in the cool, after the very welcome rain last night. There was very little damage with only a few small branches on the path and a few puddles to avoid. We had stayed awake late (for us) last night watching the Melbourne Stars beat the Melbourne Renegades in the T20 game at Docklands, where the temperature would have been very warm as the roof was closed. I had to wake Bilbo to go walking, which made for a pleasant change and we avoided all the crying that goes on when he is wide awake and we’re not.

After shopping at the Sunday Market and breakfast at the Food Gallery, Wes and I are driving to Melbourne to spend some time with Leanne. I had hoped to visit her on Tuesday, which is the anniversary of Viva’s death, but it looks like being a very hot day so we are going today instead. As I look out the window the rosellas are feeding on Fawlty Towers for the first time since New Year’s Eve and everywhere in the garden is looking a little greener than it was yesterday.

Enjoy your week and let’s hope the Aussies can win the Pink Test in Sydney.

Releasing the doves at Viva’s funeral – Terry, Karen, Peter, Leanne & Paun