Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 22nd February 2015

Dear Friends, we had a fun breakfast last Sunday with Gillie & Gail both joining us after some weeks’ absence. Films were once again a topic and Gail entertained us with her stories. Bilbo did very well out of leftovers, especially from Margo, who refused to give him toast unless it had a smear of butter and a scrape of jam on it.

We had expected to feel very tired after our late night, but rallied well. I spent the afternoon watching the India vs Pakistan game at the Adelaide Oval, which had lots of atmosphere and a brilliant century by Virat Kohli. Meanwhile Wes tracked down Jenny Gidley, who was a very good friend of both of us, and who was to have been in our wedding party until Mick Griffiths died, shortly before we were married. We often think about her and her friend, Sue, both of whom I met at Melbourne Uni. As usual neither of us can remember how we drifted apart. Jenny is now a Doctor of Psychology & President of the World Futures Studies Federation. She was equally delighted that Wes had found her and we are making plans to catch up soon.

On Monday, we were visited early by Rohan, the Collingwood supporter plumber, who works for Gary Wilkinson, also a Collingwood supporter. Rohan plays for Hepburn Football Club and is as nice a young man as you could wish to have in your home, but perhaps you wouldn’t want to meet him on a footy field as he models his game on Joel Selwood of Geelong. Rohan fixed the loose fitting & dripping pipe in the downstairs basin; installed a new showerhead that can be handheld in the downstairs shower; changed the washers on the taps in one upstairs basin, and tightened the spouts on both basins, all within 2 hours. We were very happy indeed.

Wes went to see Andrew Gallagher, physio, during the afternoon, and came home sore, but with massage exercises for his ankle. Meanwhile I watched Ireland beat the West Indies in a surprise result in the ICC World Cup. It was great for the Irish & they had plenty of supporters in NZ to cheer them on.

Stunning photo by Dale Callahan of last Friday’s storm

On Tuesday it was very chilly early and I decided not to go to Trentham for a game of golf and risk coming home with a cold as we were hosting Aperitifs the following evening. Wes spent the morning in the garden, mowing & hosing & cleaning up in preparation for Aperitifs. I did some shopping, re-potted some growing chilli plants, and tidied inside the house.

Pink & white roses enjoying the sun in our front garden

After lunch I washed the decking windows...not that anyone will notice, but we feel better for doing these jobs, especially with about 50 visitors on a perfect afternoon.

Bilbo and I enjoyed another dark, cool walk on Wednesday before I went to gym. As I was putting out the bins, I discovered that there was a leaflet, delivered sometime after 7pm the night before, alerting the street to the information that our road would be resurfaced after 7.30am that day. As we live in a dead-end street, we were in danger of being imprisoned or not being able to get back in, depending on the timing. I was lucky enough to get back from gym, get changed and leave again before the road was done. Wes was gardening out the front when it happened and was able to make sure that the surface extended right into no 80 next door, which should solve some of the problems we encounter with cars unable to gain purchase on the shale there.

Dot, Valerie and I had a most enjoyable morning playing Mah Jong, even if Dot won every game bar one! After a sandwich with Valerie, I returned here to pick flowers, rearrange the furniture and prepare for Aperitifs. Wes had hosed everywhere, put up the umbrella on the decking and brought up extra chairs. 

About 30 minutes before the start, Bronnie & Lee arrived with all the yummy food we had ordered – platters of mini toasted brushetta with three different toppings, sausage rolls, Thai chicken cakes, coconut prawns & Indian carrot fritters. We also put around bowls of various nuts, rice crackers & chips, all of which disappeared as well.

Glorious Valentine lilies

We were thrilled with the turn up of 50 or so – if you don’t know about Aperitifs, or can’t remember, it is a fortnightly event that has been going for about 12 years or so. People are invited to come with their drinks & glasses and mingle with others at a different host venue during the hours of 5.30-7.30pm. The hosts provide snacks and the guests take home their dirty glasses and empty bottles. This was our 6^th hosting – we roster ourselves on every two years during February, which has sometimes been boiling hot, sometimes we have broken a drought with heavy rain, and last night we enjoyed perfect weather of around 23°. We met about 10 or 12 new people, welcomed many who had never been to our home before and said hello to some old friends.

Predictably we were exhausted the next morning, but Wes somehow got up and walked Bilbo, leaving me to spend a couple of hours in bed with the Age and a pot of tea. I decided to walk into town to get the mail and a couple of other things and took Bilbo with me. Just as we were about to start, a huge truck arrived putting a topping on our new road surface, so we walked along the side of the road out of the way of the hot tar and as we got to the end of our little bit of Duke Street, up came the garbage truck. I tried to let the driver know, but couldn’t get his attention, and he couldn’t see the tar truck as the driver was down Rob & Dene’s driveway making sure he did a good job of surfacing there. Wes assures me there was fun and games as the trucks met outside our place. Glad I missed it.

We decided to go out for lunch to celebrate surviving the night before and we chose ‘The Argus’ at Peppers’ Springs Retreat, in Hepburn Springs. It was a perfect day for sitting in the garden and we both ordered the poached salmon with broccolini & hollandaise. We weren’t prepared for the magnificence of the fish – it must be the best cooked piece of salmon ever! Afterwards we shared a platter of Victorian cheeses with a glass of Spanish sherry.

That night Wes went to the Volunteers’ Monthly Meeting of the Daylesford Community Theatre and got to see ‘The Imitation Game’ as a bonus afterwards.

Ben Lazzaro had rung Wes and suggested an early game of golf at Trentham on Friday, so I walked Bilbo in the cool before doing some Coles shopping, pumping water at the Mineral Reserve in Hepburn and apologising to the Bushwalking Group that I would be missing today, as I had a chance to catch up with good friends. Leanne & Jack met Wes & Ben at Chaplins Café in Trentham after the golf, and I arrived about 5 minutes later. We spent a very enjoyable hour or so catching up on each other’s news and reacquainting ourselves with Jack, who is now well over 2 years old and has loads of energy matched by a beautiful smile.

 Ben & Jack

Karen & Leanne 

The Lazzaros drove off home to Brunswick via the berry farm and the Maloneys drove back to Daylesford and enjoyed sitting out on the decking having barbecued fish & fresh salads for lunch.

Late afternoon we had a visit from Rob next door bearing a large bag of pears from their trees, so I invited him in for a drink, and then called across the fence to Dene who joined us as well for an hour or so. They are delighted with the new road surface and thrilled that they no longer have to cope with shale when they are backing out of their driveway.

Yesterday we were up early again – Wes walked Bilbo and we gave him a big marrow bone to occupy him while we drove to Melbourne – me to visit Leanne, and Wes to catch up with Joan Testro. Leanne wanted us to have an old cabinet that used to hold pianola rolls, because we had always admired it, so we drove the Mazda 6, which was big enough to hold it. Wes brought a trolley, which helped very much and we cushioned it well in the back. After a coffee and quick look around the garden, he headed off to Caulfield North, and I spent the rest of the morning with Leanne. I had promised to clean the china cabinet for her – it’s been my job for most of my life, even when I no longer lived with my parents, and I do enjoy doing it, although I never wanted to own one myself! After re-arranging furniture in the lounge, we then tackled the shower screen, and made some headway there, all of which pleased Leanne very much. She is doing a great job of looking after the unit, but there are some tasks which are much better attacked by two than one.

Salvia in the front garden

We arrived home for a late lunch, a bit of a rest and then off to Barkas Street, Daylesford to celebrate Malcolm Boadle’s 60^th birthday. His partner, Chris Soper, is the real party person, but Malcolm was enjoying being in the limelight for a change. There were about 30 people there, nearly all of whom we know, and it was most enjoyable to have a catch up chat with friends like Paul & Robyne, Glenda & Joe, Denise & Rodney, Elli & Al, Peter & Cathy, Penny & David.

We stayed for two hours then came home and were in bed early after Wes watered the front garden. It’s just as well the One-Day Match between Australia & Bangladesh was washed out at the Gabba, we would never have lasted until the end.

It’s a hot morning today and Bilbo and I are about to go to the Sunday Market. We’ve had an early walk and he cooled down with a dip in the Lake. After the Market, we three are off to breakfast and then a very quiet day is planned here as we are off to Melbourne again tomorrow, this time by train, to meet Kathy & Ged in the city for lunch and wish them well for their big European holiday, which starts shortly.

Congratulations to our uncle Kevin Hoolihan, pictured here marrying our aunt, Jennifer Munro, all those years ago – he has just turned 80 and enjoyed a lovely family celebration with his family around him. We managed to find a café in Balham, that makes lamingtons, so cousin Leigh very kindly bought a box yesterday on her way to visit Kev in Lincolnshire...they went down a treat I believe!

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 15th February 2015

 

Dear Friends, we were a very good group at breakfast last Sunday with Jon, Aileen, John & Jan joining Judi, Janine, Wes, Barbara and me at our big round table. We non-J people felt quite out of it I can assure you. Bilbo was thrilled to see Jan Smith again as she always spoils him, and Judi had a large piece of toast to share with him, so he was a very contented boy. Conversation was fun and varied with Wes telling everyone about the RSL interview he, Barbara & Eddie had done; Jon wanting to know about the changes in Daylesford; Aileen, Jon & Judi sharing thoughts on films they had seen recently, and the Food Gallery staff kept busy providing hot drinks and raisin toast (most popular order by far) with our usual waitress, Kerry, on holidays in NZ.

Wes walked Bilbo on Monday because he felt his ankle was much better. They enjoyed a peaceful walk in the dark and cool of the morning. Meanwhile I got loads of washing done, and went to gym at 8am. Afterwards Nick Massaro came to give me a massage while Wes was working in the garden. We sat outside for lunch with barbecued steak & fish and leftover salads I had made for Jon’s lunch on Saturday.

That evening Barbara drove Warren to the ALP Branch meeting, where they had an excellent turn-up and discussed all the hot topics, of which there are plenty. After the meeting, people moved to the Daylesford Royal Hotel for food & drink.

Smiling faces at the ALP Branch meeting – Barbara is sitting next to our local MP, Mary-Anne Thomas

On Tuesday I walked Bilbo early and met my hairdresser, Lyndal, who was trying to get back into shape after spending 5 days in Sydney drinking it dry as a way of celebrating her 29^th birthday! Or that’s what it looked like on Facebook. Wes had a doctor’s appointment at 9am, so couldn’t play golf, but I decided to give it a go and was the only person on the course until 9am, when a large group of men arrived. I hit some good shots and some not so good and one or two absolutely terrible shots, but it was a cool and windless morning and the Trentham course was looking a picture. Meanwhile Wes got the good results of his blood test and then visited Aileen at her home with a container of blackberries from Barbara’s garden.

View of the 2^nd green (par 3) @ Trentham

Afterwards I met up with my hairdresser again for a fringe trim, before going to a U3A Monthly Lunch at Daylesford Healthfood & Organics (previously the Harvest Café). There were 25 of us and we all enjoyed healthy, mostly vegetarian food, with lots of yummy salads. I came in with Judy Filshie, who has been a member almost as long as I have. She is now dependent on a walker, so we manoeuvred her up the single step into the side of the café that had been earmarked for us. We were joined by Graeme Stuart, another long-time 

member, and Ann Milton, who is a fairly new person to the Daylesford area. She and her husband bought the beautiful property previously owned by Roger & Val Roberts (artists) and have grand plans for its redevelopment.

In the afternoon Nick Massaro came back to fix a lovely old Jacobean chair that had suddenly decided to come apart at the top, and he also tried to fix a bathroom tap that had come loose, but that is a job for the plumber, as parts need replacing and we have a small leak. Bilbo was delighted to see Nick, but very disappointed when he didn’t get a treat. Usually when Nick arrives to do my massage, he has a dog biscuit in his bag and Bilbo gets very excited indeed.

Wes walked Bilbo on Wednesday and I went to gym, before having another lovely morning with Dot & Valerie playing Mah Jong. Dot’s hand was swollen and she was in some pain, but winning all the games of Mah Jong we played, helped take her mind off it. The café was very busy all morning and we had to sit at a different table from our usual one.

I arrived home to find Wes relaxing after a big morning of gardening. Then he left to accompany Barbara to Springs Medical Centre for a procedure, before they went to have ice-creams at the Sugar & Ice shop and watched the world go by, until it was time to do another RSL interview.

On Thursday, I took Bilbo out early for a dark walk and later we pumped water at the Sulphur Spring at Hepburn Springs Reserve. Our local fruit shop, Tonna’s, opens at 7am on Thursdays, so I try to shop there before 9am to encourage them to keep doing it! We are so lucky to have such a wonderful place, as it stocks everything under the sun you could need to make meals from all around the world, and if they haven’t got it, they’ll get it for you.

Beautiful roses from the garden including Black Caviar, Big Purple, Freesia & St Patrick

I had a completely free day and earmarked the morning to sorting out my filing cabinet, which needs to be relabelled every now and again. That was a very satisfying task and I even found the Tudor exercise book that I used to write down everything about our wedding, in amongst poetry. I was earning $32.50 per week & Wes $40 per week, and we budgeted $250 for our honeymoon, which was a week in Sydney, by car, primarily to see the stage show, Hair.

Wes walked Bilbo early on Friday and I did the supermarket shopping, which cost $17 courtesy of $100 worth of Flybuys points. Bilbo and I then joined the Bushwalking Group, which took us on a very pleasant walk in the bush between Leonard’s Hill & Bullarto South. There were 7 of us on the short walk, including two old friends, Martin & Patricia Atkinson, who usually do the long walk. 

Patricia is a diabetic and wasn’t feeling up to the long walk this morning, so I did enjoy catching up with them both. Martin & I learnt Cryptic Crosswords together back in the early days of U3A, and I will never forget Patricia arriving for Warren’s launch of his campaign, Hepburn First, to get onto the Hepburn Shire Council, in the beautiful grounds of Anderson’s Mill in Smeaton – she had a large marrow bone with her for Casper, as she knew he would be in attendance and thought he might get bored and hungry!

I arrived home to discover a huge bouquet of Oriental lilies, allegedly from Bilbo, who had made known his wishes during the walk that morning. They are just beautiful and I’ll take a photo of them as soon as the blooms open.

That night Wes had another lesson as a projectionist, this time with good friend, Bron Lamb, and the film was ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ which was made 40 years ago and occurs on St Valentine’s Day, 1900. There were 14 in the audience, mostly mothers bringing their daughters who hadn’t seen the film before.

Sunset on Wednesday night courtesy of Frank Page

Yesterday it was my turn to walk Bilbo and after 10 mls of rain overnight it was a very pleasant, if also very dark, walk. About halfway around the heavens opened again, but as Bilbo was getting a bath on his return, I decided we would just enjoy getting wet, which we did.

I rang Leanne, who sounded very chirpy, read Saturday’s Age, and then we hit the road around 11.30am heading to the MCG for the Australia vs England game in the ICC World Cup. We had gone in a ballot for lunch in the MCC Members’ Dining Room, and were successful. Lunch was lovely, we had a table for 2, and it was a great way to prepare for the game. Our seats, bought in December 2013, when MCC Members had first choice, were perfect. We were on Level 2, the Balcony, slightly to the right of the pitch and five rows from the front. 

It was exhilarating to see Australia play so well, and especially good to see Aaron Finch & Glenn Maxwell perform on their home ground, as well as the three Mitchells, who took all the wickets between them.  The difference in attitude between the two teams was marked – England were sloppy in the field and the Aussies were sparkling from the word go. Apart from James Brown’s excellent innings of 98 not out, they must have been very disappointed.

We left at the fall of the 6^th English wicket, feeling quite rightly that nothing would be better than Steve Smith’s acrobatic catch to dismiss Jos Buttler. It was a good decision, and we were home just after 10pm, where Bilbo greeted us with open arms and a demand for dinner. I discovered some Sweet Decadence chocolates by the side of the bed, so we polished them off with cups of tea, made a decision not to get up early to walk Bilbo this morning and fell asleep. Bilbo appears to be fine with this decision as he was given his bone as usual and he is now waiting impatiently for us to go to the Sunday Market.

Wes enjoying lunch in the MCC yesterday

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 8th February 2015

Dear Friends, one of the many topics at breakfast last Sunday was the current series of ‘Sherlock’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch & Martin Freeman. Wes and I both love it and we are both devotees of Sherlock Holmes as created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, however both Margot & Janine are very upset about the modernisation of the stories and Janine, at least, much prefers Jeremy Brett in the role. I liked Basil Rathbone best as the traditional Sherlock Holmes, but am blown away by the inspired casting & writing of this very modern adaptation. It reminds me of the excitement I felt when we saw Robyn Nevin in a suit, playing Mark Antony in an MTC production of ‘Julius Caesar’ in the 90s.

The rest of our day was fairly peaceful and quiet with a bit of gardening done, a visit from Rob next door with a jar of jam from their plums, and an early night – we couldn’t even stay awake to see if Andy Murray could beat Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open and discovered in the morning that he couldn’t!

Our mate, Danny, has been in hospital having tests and came home on Monday. We offered to go down and look after him, but his family, especially his daughter, Greta, has been ready, willing & able to do whatever is needed. We hope he will be fighting fit again very soon.

Wes walked Bilbo early and I went to gym – while Wes planted the latest rose, ‘Neptune’ , I had a pot of tea and a game of Mah Jong in a little café called ‘Buffalo Soldier’, near Coles, with Jane & Liz & Brian. There is no food served, just coffee, and tea (if you are lucky) and the place was jumping – lots of mothers, the odd father & even a dog, catching up after dropping their kids at school &/or kinder; people calling in for a coffee before or after shopping, & our table playing Mah Jong with the biggest tiles I have ever seen.

Later I visited EKO for a facial with Emma and met Annie Smith who was having the same with Angelina. We are so lucky to have this peaceful little oasis that can only take 4 people at any one time. Wes dropped me off & picked me up, making a yummy chilli, prawn & pea risotto in between times. We watched Tony Abbott speaking to the National Press Club and attempting to use his speech to bolster his popularity both within & without the Liberal Party. He excused his changes of policy by saying he had been forced to make changes because of the mess his government inherited, at the same time as he told Bill Shorten that anything he says ‘is set in stone’. I think most Australians would prefer that he dump knighthoods instead of passing over responsibility to the Council of the Order of Australia, and that he stand by his promise for paid parental leave, which was a cornerstone of his push for government.

On Tuesday I took Bilbo for the early walk and was delighted to discover that we finally have seven dispensers of bags for dog droppings on the Lake walk. Most dog owners carry them anyway, but you never know when you might need more than you think! It was a cool and dark morning, but we were expecting a warmer day by the afternoon. Wes enjoyed a slow start to the day and didn’t try to do too much. I visited Brian Nash & Roberta Donnelly to order some of Brian’s lovely cards before spending a very enjoyable hour catching up with Trish Nield at Gracenotes Café. As we were leaving her very good friend, Di Riley arrived, so I left them to it.

Wes had a blood test first thing on Wednesday morning, and while waiting in the queue caught up with lots of locals similarly placed. After walking Bilbo, I had a quick breakfast then off to gym, which is very enjoyable now that Barry is back to normal classes. At 9.45am I met with Valerie and Dot for Mah Jong where we had a fun morning. It was Dot’s birthday and she had received lots of phone calls before she came out to join us. We had invited her husband, John, to join us for lunch, and I had also asked Wes if he was free to be a surprise guest. He duly arrived bearing pink roses from the garden, and we had a lovely lunch together chatting about our ancestors etc.

In the afternoon I was bushed, so just rested, while Wes, Eddie Beacham & Barbara interviewed another RSL man about his experiences, both wartime and afterwards. Wes really enjoyed meeting him and said the footage they have filmed will be a wonderful legacy to his family, especially the great-grandchildren, who are probably too young to appreciate him and his way of speaking, which has just about died out.

We had hoped to get to Aperitifs at Al & Kathy’s place, but decided to have a quiet evening instead and Wes cooked a yummy pasta dish with broccoli.

Bilbo & I enjoyed another early walk around the Lake, with a full moon shining onto the water to help guide us. We were laughed at by kookaburras, honked at by geese, quacked at by ducks and avoided by two early joggers. Barry the fisherman was out trying his luck – he dresses all in black and can be quite frightening to encounter if it is dark and he is walking towards you!

Later in the morning I met Judi for a cuppa at Gracenotes again, and we spent a very pleasant hour and a bit catching up on each other’s news. It was a hot afternoon, so I didn’t do much after lunch, but read after doing the day’s crosswords and some Logic Problems. My reading has been quite varied – Henry James short stories, followed by a couple of Kerry Greenwood books, with her newish character, Corinna Chapman. I like nearly all her characters in this series, and it is fascinating learning about bakeries and living in the heart of Melbourne, but her plot lines are thin and the denouements are mostly unbelievable. Now I have dipped into Helen McInnes, who was a very popular writer of espionage, especially in the 50s & 60s. In between that I read some Michael Innes, whose character, Appleby, I particularly enjoy, and ‘Adrian Mole, The Cappuccino Years’ by Sue Townsend who died recently.

Our very cute Bilbo Baggins...resting

On Friday, it was very hot, so I cancelled plans to walk around Castlemaine with the Bushwalking Group, decided not to go to the U3A Morning Tea, and did some Coles shopping, bought some seedlings, found some buttons to go in the middle of the poppies I am knitting, and fixed my printer which had been misbehaving very badly instead. Wes picked apples and pears from Rob & Dene’s fruit trees and spent the late morning peeling & cooking them with Bilbo ably assisting. We spent the afternoon and evening watching the political situation unfold with the announcement of the Tuesday spill in the Liberal party.

Yesterday we were up early again, although not as early at Bilbo would have liked, but 5.03am was very dark and he happily went back to sleep until 5.45am. We were expecting our visitor, Jon Stephens to arrive around midday for 12.30 lunch with Jenny & Eddie Beacham, so Wes and I took it in turns to get the barbecue food prepared. I took Bilbo to the Farmers Market looking for heirloom tomatoes, but had to settle for a nice selection of Black Russian & vine-ripened from Tonna’s instead.

Jon arrived just before Eddie & Jenny, with the excuse that the country air had stimulated him and he had been stopping the car frequently to jot down snatches of songs that he found himself composing. Lunch was a lovely, long affair with the five of us sitting out on the verandah under the umbrella, until it got too hot and we moved inside. Wes cooked some porterhouse, chicken drumsticks & salmon, all in different marinades and they were all enjoyed very much. Jon had the chance to tell us all what he has been doing over the past year or so and we all got the chance to congratulate Jenny, who has been accepted to do a PhD on ALP voting trends in Rural Victoria over the past 30 years. Not bad for a 77-year old!

Eddie, Jenny & Jon sitting around the table with Dot Maloney’s prized coffee set in use

Jon went for a sleep around 5.30pm and didn’t emerge until 9pm. Wes had stayed up to feed him, which he duly did and they enjoyed another good chat until Bilbo complained that it was past his bedtime.

This morning, Bilbo & I enjoyed a cool walk around the Lake – the rain last night was very welcome and the temperature has dropped quite a bit. Jon is still asleep, but is hoping to join us for breakfast before having brunch with Nick & Lindsay at The Good Food Store, and then a final coffee with Mary Ellis at the Glenlyon General Store on his way home to Docklands.

We are looking forward to seeing John & Jan Smith, who arrived in Daylesford last night and are staying at the Victoria Park Caravan Park – it seems like months since we saw each other, and they will be at breakfast as well. 

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 1st February 2015

 

Dear Friends, after breakfast last Sunday I came home and planted more of my bush beans, taking up all the spare vegetable beds out the back in the hope that Wes won’t notice! I also planted some spring onion seedlings and hope they may survive as well. Wes is enjoying rereading correspondence from friends and family during the early 70s at present, and reminding me of friends who have moved out of our lives over the years for whatever reason. He is scanning all these letters, so if there should be a fire, all our memorabilia will be on a USB in our running away bag.

Bilbo and his friend, who doubles as a chin rest!

In the afternoon, we went to the Daylesford Cinema to see “Into the Woods”, which I enjoyed very much and which Wes hated. My memory had let me down as I thought he liked the stage play with Lisa McCune some years ago, but he assured me he hated that as well.

That night we cried as Rosie Batty was named Australian of the Year, and immediately decided we needed to do something ourselves locally to help eradicate domestic violence. Rosie has been such an inspiration since her 11-year-old son, Luke, was killed by his father in February last year after cricket training. Wes has put a note up on the Daylesford Community Grapevine and there seems to be quite a lot of interest in tackling this issue, which is so often hidden by its victims.

On Australia Day itself, we decided to drive to Great Western and sample a couple of wineries, with a view to purchasing some sparkling reds in particular. I walked Bilbo early while Wes had a sleep-in, then I washed the cars, which had been neglected since before Christmas. By 8.45am we three were on the road to Adelaide, and enjoying the very different scenery. We stopped for morning tea at the same rest spot that we had stopped at back in May last year, before heading to Best’s Winery, which was just around the corner.

We were warmly greeted by the staff and after trying four wines, bought some of their sparkling Shiraz and a couple of bottles of rosé. We were invited to tour their cellar and given a comprehensive guide to help us with the history and where to go. It was fascinating, with lots of dusty bottles behind barrels and we learned that some of the red gum supports had been in place since 1860. When we arrived back here, we discovered that one of the staff had given us a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, which was a lovely surprise.

Our second stop was Seppelts, which is a huge place, with lots of parking, picnic tables, barbecues and grassed areas. Interestingly there were more people at Best’s, and we discovered that one young woman was looking after the visitors at Seppelts, where there had been three at Best’s. She was hoping for help to arrive at midday. We bought some Riesling and Shiraz there and were given a generous discount.

We decided to come back home then, which pleased Bilbo enormously, as he decided that this driving for hours in the car lark wasn’t what it was painted, and he was keen for some home comforts. Wes cooked a yummy pasta dish and we settled down to match Australia vs India ODI, which was washed out by rain in Sydney.

Karen in Best’s cellar

During the afternoon Rob & Dene from next door arrived with lamingtons they had made – so we sat out on the decking with cups of tea & coffee and ate the lamingtons with great gusto. Wes produced a bottle of Pfeiffer’s Topaque (Tokay) and Dene was very pleased when he was given the remainder of the bottle to take back home.

On Tuesday morning Bilbo and I were followed by a friendly dog all the way around the Lake, so I rang Wes and asked him to meet us near The Lake House so we could collect the dog and bring it home with us and try to find its owner. Sadly we couldn’t persuade the dog to get into the car and eventually it ran away from us, so Wes put up a message on the Daylesford Community Grapevine. This dog is a real escape artist and Gillie had put up a similar photo the previous week. The dog doesn’t have a collar, which makes it impossible to catch it. We have a lot of sympathy for people with escape artist dogs, but we can’t understand the lack of a collar.

After gym I had a cuppa with Jane Barrett & Josie McKenzie and we discussed the serious topic of asylum seekers. Jane teaches some of them English and was very chuffed to have found a home here in Daylesford for a young Iranian refugee, who is a qualified welder looking for permanent work. She advertised on the Daylesford Community Grapevine and he was offered a home with a family within minutes.

That afternoon Wes headed off for his next lesson in projection at the Daylesford Community Theatre, and arrived back early as he didn’t want to watch the film again. We tried to get Nick Krygios over the line against Andy Murray, but the latter was too wily and experienced. Nick is a very exciting player and we look forward to watching him play for many years to come.

On Wednesday Bilbo & I were followed by the friendly dog again and it appears from postings on FB that the owner lets the dog out for a run – we haven’t come across him until this week, but others have. When Sandra arrived to clean, Bilbo was delighted to see her and they spent the first five minutes having cuddles. Sandra had to put her cat down last week, and is missing him very much.

I fell in love with this photo of six cuties, especially the second from the left!

Dot, Valerie & I enjoyed a fun morning playing Mah Jong and after a sandwich with Valerie, I came home to rest. Later in the afternoon I had to go to bed and stayed there more or less until yesterday morning when I had enough energy to get up and do a few household chores. Wes was very kind, producing yummy meals, and doing everything that was needed. He even washed Bilbo yesterday morning after they went for a walk early.

Sadly we had to cancel lunch with friends, Al & Elli Barnes, Bron Lamb & Trish Nield, which we had been looking forward to very much, as I wasn’t up to it. I missed gym, an appointment with Brian Nash and a catch up with Ann Holden. Hopefully I will be back on top of things again very soon. Everyone was very understanding which helps.

This morning I woke to discover that Serena Williams had won her 19^th Grand Slam at the Australian Open; that the Socceroos, who had looked outclassed had won the Asian Cup in extra time, and that Queensland Premier, Campbell Newman, had lost his seat in a disastrous election result for the Liberals, who had swept to power in a landslide only 3 years ago. It is also the first February I can remember starting off with a low of 9°, and an expected high of 18° with rain. The long range forecast for this month is very good for those of us apprehensive about bushfires, as we are only expecting a couple of days in the low 30s with most days reaching a maximum of high 20s.

Wes has walked Bilbo again and shortly we will head off to the Sunday Market, before enjoying breakfast at The Food Gallery with five other friends. I plan an afternoon watching Australia vs England in the final of the 3-nation 50-over cricket competition, which is a forerunner to the opening game of the ICC World Cricket Cup, which starts on 14^th February with these same two teams playing at the MCG.

Memories of Oban in October 2014