Dear Friends, we
had an unexpected visitor at breakfast last Sunday when Glenn Mack joined us
for an hour. It is always good to see him and we covered a wide range of
topics, as usual. Janine was back from her family holiday at Coconut Island in
Thailand and was very keen for Daylesford to think about a treetop restaurant
just like one they had visited in Phuket.
Back home I got
stuck into painting the underside of the outdoor table, while Wes spent quite a
bit of time in the front garden. Bilbo opted for a snooze inside. I picked a
vase of lovely roses, which look beautiful on the dining room table. We have
decided not to get a Christmas tree this year, but I have put out my favourite
decorations and the house looks very festive, especially with lots of Christmas
cards arriving.
Close to You, St Patrick, Big
Purple & Donald Bradman roses in a vase from Leanne
It was good to get
back to gym on Monday & Wednesday, although Barry has me on a new
programme, so I am quite sore from using muscles that haven’t been tested for a
while. I also had a lovely massage with Nick Massaro, our last for the year.
The Tuesday morning
film was ‘The Dressmaker’ and I had an appointment at Springs Medical Centre at
9.30am. The doctor was running late and I didn’t get in to see him until 10am,
but Wes promised to delay showing it as long as he could, and I arrived at my
seat just at the end of the promos, which was a great relief. I loved the film,
especially the stunning acting by Judy Davis, who left everyone in her wake.
Afterwards we had
lunch at ‘Larder’, which we haven’t visited in years – ‘Bocconcini’ was closed
for renovations & ‘The Food Gallery’ was closed for pre-Christmas mid-week
break, so we had to try somewhere new. We were greeted warmly by our waitress and
both enjoyed a surprisingly tasty and interesting butterfish salad, which was
very reasonably priced at $18.50. If only we had known, we could have caught up
with Judi & Michael who were sitting in the courtyard having lunch with
friend, Kasey & her son, Eliot.
Our lovely
next-door neighbours - Dene &
Rob at the Highland Gathering Parade
It has been so hot
this week that we have been trying to get anything strenuous done before the
afternoon, so I have been getting up when Wes & Bilbo go walking &
painting chairs or washing the car or walking Bilbo if we have slept past
5.30am. Bilbo has been given a ‘Christmas Friend’ by Judi & Michael’s dogs,
Maddy & Major, and he loves it to bits. Leanne thinks it is ‘Winnie the
Pooh’, but whoever it is, the bright red & yellow seems very attractive to
our darling Labrador.
The news on Rodney
Peacock is better and he has been moved out of Intensive Care & into a
ward. He has even been able to put up the occasional message on Facebook. Nicole
& Janine who are doing most of the shifts at Daylesford Clothing are hoping
that he will be able to recover slowly and not feel he has to get back to his
shop before he is ready.
Our good friend,
Danny Millman, retired on 3rd December and I enjoyed catching up
with him over the phone to hear about what he has been doing & his plans
for 2016. He is particularly excited about golf lessons that were a gift from
Aspex Consulting when he left. I have also chatted to Karen Stevenson (AKA
Lovely), as she & Malcolm will be heading to Caloundra as well for
Christmas and we hope to see them on their return. Another good friend, Gayle
Gibson (AKA Loud Gayle) also rang to catch me up on her news & I was sorry
to hear that she has been to another two funerals since her father’s death. We
will see each other on Boxing Day at the MCG. Finally, I rang to congratulate
Kathy Lazzaro who has decided to retire next month – we are very thrilled for
her as well.
One very enjoyable
aspect of Christmas is giving thank you gifts to those people who make life
easier – we are very appreciative of our Garbos; of Steve, who delivers our
newspaper and tries to get it under the carport if the morning is wet; of Nick,
who doubles as a handyman as well as a masseur; of Emma & Alanna at EKO; of
Lauren & Jeanette at the Daylesford Cinema; of Barry at the gym, and of
Sandra, our wonderful cleaner. Like many people, we have long ago given up on
presents for family & friends, as we don’t want for much, and this year we
decided to donate to Guide Dogs Victoria again. The Breakfast Group members
exchange gifts for dogs & cats & it is always fun going to the local
pet shop to choose items for Bobby, Maddy & Major & Aileen’s &
Margot’s cats, as well as gifts for Leanne’s cat, Smokey.
One night, Wes took
Barbara to a CFA Fire Awareness seminar, where he learned a few tips, but found
the instructor very unaware that in a tourist town like Daylesford; your next-door
neighbours probably aren’t there most days as the house is on the holiday
rental. This week’s heatwave has us very conscious of the dangers of an errant
spark or a deliberately lit fire and we have our running away bag packed with
essentials.
On Thursday
afternoon, I delivered Wes to the Pengilleys’ home for a boys’ afternoon &
evening of whisky, red wine, food & a film. The other boys, Brian Nash
& Jeff Bain, enjoyed themselves as well as their ‘host’ Warren Pengilley,
who is unable to look after himself after years of being waited on hand &
foot, so Jan came home around 5pm to make sure all was going well.
The Bushwalk was
cancelled on Friday morning because it was a total fire ban day, so I took
Bilbo around the Gardens at 7am and let him have a swim in the pool at the
bottom of the waterfall. Wes set off on a date with Greta & Penny and they
decided to meet at the Melbourne Museum, rather than their original plan of the
Zoo, as the Museum would be much cooler.
Greta & Penny at the Museum
Wes tells me that
they had a wonderful time together mostly in the kids’ area, although he made
sure they all looked in on Phar Lap before they left. He arrived home with
fresh oysters for us to enjoy with a glass of sparkling Shiraz. However, our
replacement set top box had arrived from Foxtel, so he decided to handle that
first. Three hours & two Indian call centre assistants later, we now have
no stations on the bedroom TV except for channel 2 and have lost all the
recorded programmes. We also only have channel 2 on the lounge TV, but haven’t
lost the recorded stuff – however, we can’t watch it! Foxtel has agreed to send
out a technician, but he won’t be here until Tuesday, probably arriving at the
exact time we are both out! And all I wanted was to be able to relax watching
the fun of the Big Bash each night while enjoying Adam Gilchrist’s entertaining
commentary.
Yesterday was to be
the hottest day of this streak, so we made sure both air-conditioners were on
overnight and awoke to a cool house. Wes and Bilbo walked early and spent their
time clearing up the mess left overnight from people too hot to sleep, who
chose to frolic by Lake Daylesford instead.
Rob & Dene had
invited themselves to our place for Christmas drinks in the afternoon – they
provided all the nibbles, if you can call smoked salmon on pikelets, cheeses,
olives & roasted eggplant ‘nibbles’. They also brought a bottle of Seppelts
Sparkling Shiraz, which was quickly demolished, so we finished off our bottle
of Bests and opened another. We did enjoy spending time together and chatting
about Daylesford, our past lives, what we had done this week & were
planning to do over Christmas etc.
We’ve awoken to
another very hot morning, but relief is in sight as rain and lower temperatures
are expected sometime today. Bilbo & I are about to go out pumping water at
Leitches Creek, then we will visit the Sunday Market & moan about the
weather, before joining a handful of others for the last Sunday Breakfast of
the year.
I probably won’t
get a chance to send you a Dispatch before I head to the MCG for the Boxing Day
Test, so I’ll catch you up on my return. We have Warren’s sister, Denise, her
partner, Barry, two of her sons, Leon & Shaun, and Barbara coming here for
Christmas lunch. We have decided on a barbecue and everyone is providing some
part of the meal.
The next day we
will leave here very early and Wes will drop me at the MCC gates to find a seat
before we join Peter & Anka for breakfast at a new location – ‘Square &
Compass’ in Clarendon Street. Wes will drop them back at their hotel after
breakfast, but I should be able to walk to the G from there. After dropping my
bag at ‘Rydges Hotel’ in Russell Street, Wes is going to visit Leanne and spend
some time with her before driving back here, where Bilbo will be very pleased
to see him.
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