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.