Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 27th September 2015

Dear Friends, shortly after I sent last week’s Dispatch, I received an email from Glenn Mack telling me I was a very cute 3-year-old. I’m starting to think that might have been my finest age! Later, I heard from my aunt, Jeff Hoolihan, who remembers the outfit being made by her mother, Doll, and all the angst caused by the tartan pattern, which had to be matched perfectly.

We enjoyed a fun breakfast, where one of the conversational topics was the origin of ‘nature strips’. It is definitely an Australian term, but not necessarily an Australian invention and even Wikipedia wasn’t able to explain the origin satisfactorily.

Afterwards Wes & I spent a quiet Sunday – the sun was shining and birds singing, but neither of us had the energy to take much advantage of it. Wes had executor duties to perform and I decided to do the washing and ironing a day early as we were expecting visitors for lunch the next day.

Monday was fine early and late, but deteriorated in the middle, while Lovely & Malcolm were here. They arrived with Asiatic lilies and a good bottle of Pfeiffer’s Chardonnay and we fed them Wes’s seafood pasta with green salad, followed by a cheese platter and coffee and chocolates. It was a wonderful visit with lots of interesting conversation and the Seppelts sparkling Shiraz started it off perfectly. They left after 3 hours with plans to walk around the Lake......

I cleaned up while Wes had a rest before collecting Jenny Beacham and driving to Ballarat Uni for Q&A. Sadly neither of them got to ask their questions, but they did enjoy the experience and were very impressed with Bill Shorten and the professionalism of the Q&A team.

Hellebores in the Gardens

The next morning was a slow start as Wes had arrived home just before midnight. He set off to do a double shift at the Daylesford Cinema, while I walked Bilbo around the Gardens before joining him to see the lovely Australian film ‘Oddball’ starring Shane Jacobsen among others. One of the other volunteers had already seen the film and was happy to man the desk while Wes joined me, and Jeanette joined her husband, Ken, in watching the film. There were about 50 in the audience and amazingly all of the children were spellbound and quiet. This film is a true story set in Warrnambool, where a chicken farmer stumbles upon a way to save the fairy penguin population from the foxes that are preying on them as they return home each night to Middle Island.

The next film on show was ‘Blinky Bill’, which was also well attended. Everyone turned up for that shift and Bronnie Lamb, who was showing the next film, arrived very early and suggested that Wes come home, which he did with much gratitude, and promptly went to bed, where he could cough his heart out without worrying about disturbing anyone else.

He usually spends Wednesday mornings with Barbara, but she was busy at a meeting in Bendigo, so Wes agreed to spend the day in bed and much to my surprise, he kept his promise. I went off to gym, and then Mah Jong, while Sandra was cleaning and I arrived home to find both my boys lying on the bed quietly in perfect companionship. After feeding Wes lunch, I took Bilbo to the Gardens for a walk, where it was beautiful in the sun and freezing in the wind. 

Valerie and I had spent an enjoyable time together, although we were both very worried about Dot, who is in hospital with pneumonia and a urinary tract infection. Fortunately, she is in Daylesford Hospital, which makes it easy for her husband, John, to visit her. One of her daughters, Annette, has been staying with John and helping out, which must be a big relief for Dot & John.

Bilbo taking advantage of Warren’s absence to get comfy on our bed!

On Thursday, we had a visit from an electrician provided by the Bendigo Bank, which had offered to change all our old down light globes into new led globes. I had gone to Ballarat early as I needed a few things, and we were both lusting after another vanilla slice or two! All 32 remaining globes were changed in just over an hour, which was wonderful. I arrived back home to find Wes feeling very tired after being up and about for 5 hours. He had to fill Barbara’s car with petrol for her, which he did while I took Bilbo for a walk around the Gardens. When he got home, he went back to bed and was happy to be looked after for the rest of the day.

Friday was a lovely day, although the wind was chilly. I did the shopping at Coles and decided against joining the Bushwalkers on the Domino Track in Trentham. Bilbo and I went for a long walk around the Gardens and Railway Station. Bilbo enjoyed a paddle in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Wes managed to stay up all day, but wasn’t able to do much apart from some necessary paperwork.

Bilbo paddling in the water

We went to bed to watch the Preliminary Final between Hawthorn & Fremantle in WA. Freo started like a bomb, but were soon reined in, and were unable to score enough to beat the rampaging Hawks.

Yesterday was another lovely day. I took Bilbo up to the Gardens again, and he managed another paddle before we came home. Wes had a quiet day, although he is looking better now that he is coughing less. I did some gardening, primarily to divide up the fennel and plant each piece into a big red pot out the front. I also put the zucchini into the garden beds and shifted some of the baby spinach. Our ‘black’ tulips....look more like deep pink to me....are opening, just as the last of the daffodils are out.

Wes cooked some Atlantic salmon for lunch, which we accompanied with our own broccoli. There wasn’t a lot but it was extremely yummy. After lunch, he made his way back to bed as he was cold, his head was stuffy and he was coughing and sneezing. I feel so sorry for him, especially as he isn’t used to being unwell and gets very cross about the whole business!

Last night we enjoyed the second very exciting Preliminary Final, where West Coast recovered from a slow start and overcame North Melbourne, who threw everything at them. I think West Coast is the team with the best chance to beat Hawthorn, so it should be a great Grand Final next Saturday.

We have woken to a beautiful, but cool morning in Daylesford, with an expected top of 21°. Wes feels much better than yesterday, so will be joining us all at breakfast. Bilbo and I are about to go out to the Sunday Market, which will be a big one with school holidays and the good weather tempting more stall-holders than usual.

Our friend, Dot Smith, is home from hospital, which is very good news indeed. We look forward to seeing her back at Mah Jong again very soon. 

  

 Terry & I aged 6 & 4 standing in the front garden at 34 Balloan Street, Coburg

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 20th September 2015

 

Dear Friends, when I left you last Sunday, Bilbo and I were looking forward to pumping mineral water, the Sunday Market and breakfast, especially as Margot would be back and giving Bilbo an extra treat or two. Margot brought her friend, Gladys, with her, and Gail White arrived saying that getting up early wasn’t so hard after all! We enjoyed a good chat, catching up on Margot’s holiday in Coolangatta and Judi’s latest visit to Caloundra to see her mother, Mavis.

Afterwards Wes spent a frustrating 90 minutes or so trying to get Foxtel to recognise the free-to-air stations on our TVs and finally spoke to a supervisor, who agreed to send out a technician. Imagine our joy when that technician came at 9am the next morning and re-tuned all the stations, saying they had not been done correctly the last time.

Stunning photo of a friend’s home being moved from Hepburn to Daylesford in 1910 – pity the poor horses!

I was unable to watch the Collingwood seconds playing Sandringham in a cutthroat final, but Leanne kept me up-to-date with scores, and after the Magpies led for most of the match, we were overrun at the end. The same thing happened to sentimental favourites, Richmond, at the MCG, that afternoon, when they were unable to maintain their early lead, and lost to North Melbourne narrowly in front of 90,000+.

On Monday, Wes took Bilbo to Victoria Park for a different early walk, and I decided to walk to gym, where I hadn’t been for six weeks. The walk was a good idea, as I didn’t feel so stiff when I arrived. Everyone was pleased to see me and I did a sensible routine, before walking back home again via the Post Office, Tonna’s and the Pharmacy.

We had invited Terry Larkins & his partner, Lyn Richardson, who live in Gisborne, and Bob White, who is in Trentham, to come to lunch, and it was a perfect day for visitors. Wes spent the early morning gardening in the front before getting settled in the kitchen and creating wonders, as he does. I set the table, arranged the flowers, made sure there was enough cold white wine, and iced water.

Terry and Lyn arrived just before midday, which was 30 minutes earlier than we expected, but Wes coped very well and just kept on chopping and preparing, while I took Lyn on a tour of the house. We realised, as this house has been around for 11 years, that their visit was very overdue, as the last time Lyn came to our house, we were in the old weekender.

Lunch went well – Wes had made his best fish pie ever and accompanied it with drumsticks smothered in coriander seeds and peppercorns, as well as green beans. Terry & Lyn had brought some cheeses, so I added a yummy French blue to their choices, and we finished up with Eton Mess using freshly bought strawberries & raspberries. Everyone sat around over coffee and chocolates until it was nearly 4pm and Bob wanted to go home to walk his dog, Rusty.

Bob with his grandson on Fathers’ Day before the Collingwood vs Essendon game

It was a minute after our guests left that Bob rang to let us know that Malcolm Turnbull had decided to challenge Tony Abbot for the job of Prime Minister. We watched ABC 24 until we were saturated in news of the spill and went to bed not knowing the result. Even AFL 360 got into the act with Robbo challenging Gerard Whateley to be the main compere – Gerard won with allegedly 95% of the vote, Robbo 2% and Undecided 3%!!!

 I couldn’t sleep properly and woke just after 10pm to discover Malcolm had won and Australia was rid of Tony Abbot at last. I let Wes know and we both slept very happily after that. Even though it probably means that the Liberals will have another term in office, I much prefer the sort of government Malcolm Turnbull offers Australia to the shame I, and so many others have experienced, under Tony’s leadership. I have to go back to Billy McMahon’s time to remember a similar feeling, and fortunately, his reign was cut short as well.

After 21° on Monday, we listened to the rain fall steadily through the night, and needed to put the heating on when we got up, as the temperature had fallen by at least 10°. It was too wet for Wes to walk Bilbo before he went to the Daylesford Cinema to show the film ‘Trainwreck’, which he told me I would not enjoy. I had the morning at home apart from walking Bilbo when the weather improved. We had leftovers for lunch and then I suggested Wes go back to bed as I thought he was looking very tired and his cough had returned. He rejected the idea and went downstairs to work, but within 30 minutes, he was back again, saying I was right and he needed to lie down.

Me aged three, wearing a dress made by my grandmother, Doll Munro

Wes was much improved on Wednesday, but I persuaded him to lie in bed reading The Age until just before Sandra arrived to clean. Once again I walked to gym, had a good workout and walked back home again. On the way, I ran into our neighbours, David & Steve, who live in front of Rob & Dene’s house. They have bought a home in Yamba and we thought they had moved there permanently, but it is a Winter escape only. Later I took Bilbo for a walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens and bought some fresh Atlantic salmon steaks for lunch, which Wes baked to perfection in the oven, and I provided salads.

I was absolutely thrilled to still have energy after all that exercise in the morning, so took advantage of the lovely weather to do some potting of seedlings. I had emptied out the greenhouse and it was looking very sad indeed. Now it has grosse lisse and roma tomatoes, as well as zucchini and coriander seedlings. I have planted a few small geraniums in pots to provide colour – the cockies are destroying the pansies, so I hope they will leave these plants alone.

Geese at the corner of Houston & King Streets – they’ll be at our house next!

We were very sorry to hear from Janine Hawker’s son, Paul, that his father, David, had died on Monday at Daylesford Hospital. He has been unwell for sometime as a result of strokes and lately discovered that he had cancer too. Janine and her daughter, Peta, are away in Russia on a short cruise, which they have decided to complete before returning to hold a memorial service for David.

Wes had been invited by Peter Gavin to go to the Celtic Club on Thursday, for ‘St Pat’s Day in Spring’, so he asked Tom & Danny to come along, and booked Danny’s spare bed for the night, much to my relief. He set off in the early afternoon looking great in his new green jumper. Meanwhile I had spent lunchtime at ‘Jackie’s on Vincent’ catching up with Judi and spending a very leisurely 1½ hours together. We knew most of the other diners including Jasmine Sinclair, who used to own it when it was ‘Gracenotes’.

In the morning I had walked Bilbo twice around the path of the Botanic Gardens, mostly because I just love all the hellebores which are still out – there is every shade from cream to deep purple, and the hyacinths, which range from white, yellow and pale pink through to the deepest burgundy. Bilbo loves the fernery, where he can brush his face along the fish ferns and we both enjoy the running water, which cascades down into a small pond.

Wes, Tom & Danny enjoyed a lovely night together at the Celtic Club, sampling whiskies, drinking Guinness and eating bangers & mash. They shared a taxi home, which was very sensible. The next morning Wes bought croissants for he and Danny to share for breakfast before coming back home via ‘Sunny the Indian Barber’.

Tom, Wes & Danny – two out of three wearing green!

Bilbo and I had an interesting night, which started with him sound asleep by my side of the bed, until I woke unable to move at 1.48am to discover he had jumped onto the bed and was wedged up next to me, leaving me with approximately 10cm of bed. I tried to push him away, but he turned into an immovable Labrador and stayed that way until 6am, when I tempted him off the bed with a bone. Later we went supermarket shopping, then walked around the Botanic Gardens before coming home and gardening for a while.

Wes cooked a colourful pasta lunch on his return and then spent the rest of the afternoon resting. We went to bed to watch the footy but it was all over at quarter time, with the Hawks playing at their absolute best and the Crows no match for them at all.

Yesterday I set off to Strathmore early to visit Leanne. We had a good visit and I arrived back home in time for a yummy risotto. My two boys had enjoyed a quiet morning, reading The Age and relaxing in the sun. After all the driving, I find I am quite tired when I get home and happy to spend the rest of the day reading, listening to the radio and doing the crosswords.

We settled in that night to watch North Melbourne play Sydney at the Olympic Stadium, and although, Sydney tried their hardest, they were no match for the Kangaroos in the second half, especially as they were missing quite a few of their star players.

This morning Bilbo and I are off to the Sunday Market, then breakfast. We have nothing planned for the rest of the day, as Monday is a busy one, especially for Wes. We are excited to be having a lunchtime visit from Lovely (Karen) & Malcolm, whom we haven’t seen in ages and tomorrow night, Wes has been invited by the ABC Ballarat to be an audience member at ‘Q&A’, which will feature Bill Shorten. He asked me if I would like to go with him, but I suggested he take someone a little more politically savvy, such as Jenny Beacham, instead. She accepted with pleasure and they are both looking forward to their evening together.

Waterfall & pool in the fernery, Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 13th September 2015

Dear Friends, we had a very quiet Fathers’ Day, which suited our head colds nicely. I made a boiled fruitcake and a big pot of minestrone soup, which we enjoyed while watching the footy on TV. Much to my horror, after getting Melbourne over the line, I was unable to do the same for the Pies who went down by 3 points to Essendon in a close-fought exciting match, which gave all my Bombers friends hope for next year.

A lovely thing happened at the Sunday Market – we had asked Ken Rae the day before for a plant to go in a big tub that spends most of its time in the shade – when I arrived at the Market, Ken had a line of eight different plants for me to choose from. I eventually picked this pretty little philoteca, called ‘Flower Girl’.

On Monday, we had invited Peter & Cathy for lunch. This was the third date we had made, and even though neither of us was feeling 100%, we were very reluctant to change it. I decided not to go to gym, as I was too asthmatic, but didn’t call off a massage with Nick Massaro, which was well overdue. During the massage, our home phone kept ringing and we both started to worry that someone was trying to contact us urgently. Unbeknown to us, Warren had gone across the road to check up on Barbara, so Nick brought me the phone and I answered it to discover Peter Widdop on the other end, calling off lunch, as he was so unwell!

Table set for lunch

When Wes arrived back, Nick let him know the news, and instead of spending the morning in the kitchen, he was able to pack away the food he had bought and go back to working on the computer, where he is following up on classmates and teachers from his school days at St Bernard’s College, Essendon. We ended up lighting the fire as it was such a cold, wet day and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon watching the flames.

That evening Warren joined at least 100 others who braved the cold and rain to hold a candlelight vigil at Burke’s Square in honour of Aylan. This was happening all over Australia and we could only hope that Tony Abbot took notice of it and all that Angela Merkel has done in response to the Syrian refugee plight....and eventually he did.

By Tuesday, Warren was starting to feel unwell himself, and after showing the film ‘Last Cab to Darwin’ to an appreciative audience of 40+, he came home, lit the fire, heated up some soup and spent the afternoon reading and dozing with Bilbo at his feet. Meanwhile I drove through the rain to Melbourne Airport, to collect Margot Jordan, who was returning from 5 weeks in Coolangatta, where she had rented a large modern apartment overlooking the water. I arrived back in time to have some soup myself and head off for a relaxing couple of hours with Emma at EKO.

Our lovely fire

Wes decided to spend as much of Wednesday as he could in bed and, after a restless night, got some sleep before Sandra arrived to do the cleaning. I was still too asthmatic for gym and there was no Mah Jong as the café, ‘Muffins & More’, closed this week while Ann-Maree and her friends went to China for a holiday.

The morning was spent staying out of Sandra’s way, doing a few chores, making a date with Leanne for the next day, and discovering that I had missed out on a Grand Final ticket in the MCC ballot, which means an early trip to Melbourne and queuing on the day. As well, I worked out how to download Windows 10, as it wasn’t happening automatically. Gillie and I caught up for a yummy lunch at ‘Harvest Café’ and Gillie gave me half a dozen freshly laid eggs to take to Leanne.

I drove back to Melbourne on Thursday after doing some shopping for Leanne in both Daylesford & Woodend, leaving Wes and Bilbo sound asleep. Leanne and I had an enjoyable, productive morning and I was amazed when I returned home to find Wes up, dressed and making spaghetti with smoked salmon for lunch.

By Friday, we were both feeling much better and I went Coles shopping early. While Wes mowed the lawn, I took Bilbo for a walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. We were all happy to have had some exercise and the garden looks so much better for the haircut.

Looking down the back yard and across to the Wombat Forest

We had a late night watching the West Coast Eagles run rings around Hawthorn in a fast, furious game of footy. In the meantime, the Aussies fell to the Poms again in the second last One-Day cricket match, which means the 5^th game will decide the winner.

Yesterday we had decided to drive to Kyneton to see the Avenue of Honour, before all the daffodils were past their best.  Kyneton was really jumping with a Farmers’ Market in Piper Street and cars parked up and down both sides of the street. On the way back, we deviated into the Kyneton racecourse and watched a single jockey walking his horse out of the course at the completion of early morning training.

Back home we came into Daylesford via Hepburn which was festooned in red & blue balloons to celebrate Hepburn Under 18s reaching the Grand Final, which was being played that morning at the North Ballarat oval.

We couldn’t drive past ‘Jackie’s on Vincent’, where we stopped for porridge and an omelette and chatted to Jackie & Lisa about the business. They are open 6 days a week for lunch & dinner, as well as breakfast on weekends, and offer a take away menu to boot. Lisa told us that she has sent their young daughter back to China for 6 months, as they don’t have the time to manage her as well as the café!

Bilbo didn’t come with us as he had enjoyed an early walk with Wes followed by a bath and a good brush, so he was happy to spend the time in bed.

After listening to the Coodabeen Champions – a must on Saturday mornings from 10-12 on the ABC -  (can’t believe they have been broadcasting for 35 years and are still as fresh, humorous and relevant as they were when they started) we caught up on computer work and The Age.

In the afternoon, we, and 40 others, went to see ‘Last Cab to Darwin’. What a stunning Australian film – tackles so many issues and is beautifully written, directed, shot and acted...whatever you do, don’t miss seeing it.  

We arrived home to barrack for the Swans against Freo & then the Doggies against the Crows and were totally unsuccessful. We’ll hope for a change of luck with the Tigers this afternoon!

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 6th September 2015

Dear Friends, after spending last Sunday in bed, I was finally able to get up and dressed on Monday morning. I headed off to Coles, which was quite exhausting and spent the rest of the day quietly, doing washing & ironing, before retreating to bed in the mid-afternoon. When I was speaking to Leanne, she had told me that Golden Nugget Bakery in Ballarat had won the Australian 2015 Best Vanilla Slice Award. I passed this information onto Wes and he duly dropped into the Bakery after his appointment with his hearing specialist that afternoon. 

The specialist thought Wes was on the borderline of needing hearing aids, that his hearing had improved gradually since he lost it when he was sick in July, and that he should have another hearing test in a year’s time and take it from there.

We weren’t disappointed with our vanilla slices and have declared them best ever – and yes, one is enough! Leanne was delighted and I suspect that next time I go to visit her I may have to travel via Ballarat.

Wes has also filled the bedroom with jonquils, which have such a beautiful scent and remind us, in spite of the weather, that Spring is upon us. Tuesday morning, the first official day of Spring, was -3°, with water pipes frozen and the grass white. However, the sun was out early, and we enjoyed a beautiful day. As I was still coughing and sneezing, I decided not to go to see the film ‘Wild Tales’ as I didn’t want to annoy the other patrons with my noises. There were only a handful of locals to see the film, but they all enjoyed it.

One of the good things about being unwell is that you can give yourself permission to read avidly and I have been enjoying working my way through some of the books that belonged to Viva that Leanne gave me when we were tidying up the garage. I had never read Anita Shreve and am now a big fan – I’d put her on the same pedestal as Anne Tyler. Viva had some priceless Ruth Park novels I was missing, as well as the occasional Ellery Queen or Helen MacInnes treasure.

The temperatures were much higher on Wednesday morning and I decided to go to Mah Jong, even though I was coughing, as I didn’t want to disappoint Dot & Valerie, especially as ‘Muffins and More’ will be closed next Wednesday, so we will miss that week. However, the wind was freezing and none of us really warmed up all morning in the café. I came home and went straight back to bed, which was the best thing to do.

Bilbo getting up close & personal – must be dinnertime!

Similarly, on Thursday we had a biting wind, which sent all our daffodils nodding, and blew the remaining birdseed off Fawlty Towers. One of the very forward cockatoos came up to the window of the study to ask for more food, but as we don’t want to encourage them, we shooed it away. I went out to collect the mail from our PO Box and buy some pasta at Tonna’s Fruit Supply and was nearly blown away.

1965 Matriculation Class at St Bernard’s College Essendon featuring Warren Maloney & his best mates, Tom Tyrrell, Gerard Delaney & Greg Delaney as well as Laurie Wordsworth & Chris Meehan among others

And me in 1965, growing my hair after a disastrous short cut the year before from which I have never really recovered!

On Friday, it was a much better day, but the wind was still biting, so we cancelled plans to drive to Kyneton for the Daffodil Show. I went shopping at Coles to get back into the routine of Friday shopping, and later Wes took Barbara there for her big shop. We spent the rest of the day very quietly and I was pleased that I was able to stay up until 8.30pm for a change.

We woke to another cool morning, but without the cold wind, so Bilbo & Wes enjoyed their walk together and around 9am, we headed to the local Farmers Market, where we were more successful at meeting up with friends than buying anything! I still didn’t have any energy so spent most of the day watching footy – first the VFL Magpies winning their Elimination Final against Werribee and then the exciting Geelong & Adelaide game, as well as the Western Bulldogs vs Brisbane match. Sadly Carlton was no match for Hawthorn and will be pleased this year is over.

I was very taken with a story on Facebook, that first made headlines in March this year, although I had not read it before. A family in Sydney decided to raise a Magpie fledgling when they were advised that a wildlife shelter would not think it worthwhile saving as it had lost its mother. This family has been so successful that the Magpie thinks it is one of them and the photos are astonishing.

This morning we have another frost. Bilbo was very happy to be given an early bone and came straight back to bed when he had finished. He very thoughtfully presented Wes with a bottle of ‘Edradour’ whisky for Fathers’ Day, and I was thrilled when I found a pair of Stuart crystal whisky glasses in the Glengarry pattern that matches the rest of our crystal-ware. The pattern has been discontinued, so I was very lucky to find them. Wes was thrilled with both gifts.

Shortly Bilbo and I will go to the Sunday Market where we will also do some shopping for a friend who has been in hospital and isn’t confident about going out on her own yet. I am not sure what the rest of the day holds – we had hoped to see the Australian film, ‘Last Cab to Darwin’, but it clashes with Collingwood’s final game this afternoon against Essendon, so will be watching the footy instead.

My dear father, Perc, with me in the front yard of our first house in Coburg.

Thinking of him and all the other fathers today.

We’ve got a lovely social week coming up and are hoping that our head colds will go away and enable us to enjoy ourselves. I’ll be in touch again next Sunday.

Happy Fathers’ Day!