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!
No comments:
Post a Comment