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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.
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