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