Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 11th October 2015

Dear Friends, we enjoyed a fun breakfast last Sunday and it was especially good to see Janine Hawker again after her trip to Russia and the Baltic States. Her husband, David, had died while she and her daughter, Peta, were on this trip, but her son, Paul, had urged her to continue with the trip as he could manage everything for her until her return. So most of the conversation at breakfast centred around Russia, although when Judi turned up wearing a dress, we all felt very underclad indeed. She was off to a birthday party in Geelong much to everyone’s relief, as we weren’t sure we could uphold the standard! This party turned out to be a wedding as well, so it was a good thing she was frocked up.

We also touched on caravan & camping parks, the fizzer of a Grand Final as far as non-Hawthorn supporters were concerned, and Bilbo was given plenty to eat as everyone had leftover toast.

Some of our beautiful tulips – deep purple, deep pink, red and yellow – they were too colourful to be hidden in the garden

Wes spent the afternoon helping Margot with her internet and after 4 hours he felt he had done all he could. She did ring back during dinner to say she needed his help one more time, so he very kindly drove back to Hepburn Springs and sorted out the final issue.

I walked to gym on Monday morning, had a good session, which was well attended, and was lucky enough to bump into Gillie on the way home. She can always be persuaded to detour into a café, so we popped into ‘The Food Gallery’ and spent a very pleasant 45 minutes chatting and catching up. Margot was there and told me how delighted she is with everything Warren had done for her.

I arrived back home to find serious gardening, mowing, clipping and watering going on. Wes is much better than he was, although he was still cold, even though the temperature was 28°. Some time ago, Leanne had given us a quiche, which I defrosted the previous night for dinner and we had the rest for lunch that day, with a green salad. Some of the ingredients for the salad came from our garden – baby spinach, chives & curly parsley.

Wes had asked me if I would like to have dinner at ‘Mercato’ that night to celebrate 15 years since I retired – 6^th October 2000. By mid-afternoon I still had energy, so booked a table and we headed off, making the most of daylight saving. As always, the staff was very attentive and our main course of poached salmon with long beans was very yummy indeed. Richard Mee, the chef, came out from the kitchen to say hello, and we chatted about how lucky we are to have him still here running the restaurant after all these years, and how fortunate he is to have such great staff and such wonderful food around with which to work miracles.

On Tuesday morning, we could barely wake up – so tired from the excitement of dinner out and a very hot night (for Daylesford anyway). Wes headed off to show ‘Oddball’ yet again, and I took Bilbo for a walk in the gardens before we met Judi at ‘The Food Gallery’ for cuppa and a catch-up. We managed to attract a few friends as we sat outside, most notably Jan Pengilley, who was delighted to see Bilbo in particular.

My favourite painting in the Horse Exhibition at the NGV – ‘Horses Bathing in the Sea’ by Lucy Kemp-Welch

The weather turned cooler on Wednesday, which was wonderful – I walked to gym and back and then met Valerie for two-handed Mah Jong. Dot is still in pain as her specialist tries to adjust her medications for her. Ann-Maree, who runs ‘Muffins & More’ told us we needed to attract another player or two and that she hoped we never left her café as she enjoys having us there. Wes spent the morning helping Barbara, and that night, he got back into the kitchen and made a lovely salmon, chilli and fennel spaghetti.

Bilbo got two walks on Thursday – one early with Wes and the other with me when I went to ‘The Cutting Studio’ for a fringe trim with Lyndal Conroy. I was looking like Cousin It, as I was a week overdue for the trim. Wes spent a couple of hours getting the front garden back into some sort of shape before we donned some better clothes and headed off to ‘Verey’s Funeral Parlour’ for David Hawker’s service.

It was a lovely celebration – Wes spoke very well and was followed by David’s daughter, Peta, and son, Paul. John & Jan Smith had driven up from Sandhurst, and we enjoyed seeing them again. After the coffin was removed, there was a light lunch & drinks served, which gave us all time to chat with other mourners as well as the family.

Our good friend, David Hall, was honoured at Government House last week with a Senior Achiever Award. David has been a guiding light behind so many good things in Daylesford – U3A, the ARC, Words in Winter to name but a few. Although he is in his early 80s, he never stops sharing his wonderful ideas and putting in the hard work needed to bring them into life. Everyone is delighted that he has been officially recognised and celebrated.

On Friday, after supermarket shopping early, I took Bilbo on the Bushwalk with 10 other ‘Spa Country Strollers’ as we are now called. Our walk took us into Glenlyon and it was a very enjoyable stroll by the side of the Lodden River and around the Glenlyon Reserve. Bilbo scored a pear, an apple, some banana & some mandarin pieces, so he was very happy with Morning Tea.

Wes had spent the morning in the garden – more mowing and clearing up and everywhere is looking good again. I can’t wait for the roses to start blooming as our bulbs are nearly all finished, and apart from daisies, camellias, lavender and rosemary, there is very little in flower.

The new cheese platter in use – we are thrilled to bits with it.

Yesterday I drove to Strathmore to spend the morning with Leanne. It wasn’t as hot as had been predicted, which made for a pleasant drive there and back. We had a good time together as usual and I was able to admire the garden, which has roses in bloom and is looking very pretty indeed.

At the U3A AGM on Thursday, which we missed, because we were at David’s funeral, Catherine King MP launched a new book about Daylesford called ‘Reflections’ by Keira Lockyer. This book covers the past 15 years of life and people in this area, so it should sell well. We haven’t bought our copy yet, but will. As well, Judi Allen was given the annual ‘Averil’ award for services to the Hepburn Shire U3A. This is a well-deserved honour, as Judi has given tirelessly of herself through her various roles on the committee and as President for two years and she continues to be a contributor and mentor.