Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 28th February 2016

 

Dear Friends, what a great time we had at breakfast last Sunday – everyone had stories to tell – we were all pleased to see Wendy & Alex and I suspect they were all delighted to see us again. Judi told everyone the latest on their car; Margot regaled us with a story of a cat on a lead that sits on the counter of a local shop; Barbara told us about the cat she used to walk on a lead, and how many cats like being at workplaces, and she was upstaged by Wendy, who used to have a Siamese cat that leapt up onto the toilet to wee! Wes told everyone about Wendy & Roberto’s romantic liaison and about Anita, the refugee we had met, as well as describing his adventure with Foxtel the previous Friday.

Wes and Bilbo waiting patiently for the Breakfast group to arrive – upstairs at the Food Gallery

We came home to do gardening and plant the beautiful Diana, Princess of Wales rose I had bought that morning from Ken. When I arrived at Yvonne & John’s stall, Yvonne produced dill, fennel, salad onions, leeks & fiery red chillies – all items I had been asking for and unable to get recently. She was very pleased with herself and we were delighted with the extra produce. There were even dog apples available again, so Bilbo is a very happy dog indeed.

Stunning, perfumed Diana, Princess of Wales rose

Wes was keen to go to the Trentham ALP Branch meeting in the afternoon to hear Prof Hal Swerrisen speak and catch up with Bob White and I had planned to go with him. However I was finally tired after our busy week and when I discovered that Barbara had rung to see if the venue was wheelchair-friendly, I realised that he wouldn’t be on his own after all and happily bowed out of going. Unfortunately, Barbara couldn’t get into the brand-new home, even with the portable ramp she had brought, so they had to come home again.

On Monday, Bilbo & Wes were up early in the dark to walk around Lake Daylesford and catch up with Barry, the fisherman, who was back from his latest trip to Thailand. I went off to gym and was pleased with what I could manage to do. On my return, Nick arrived to give me a long overdue massage and he angled the table so that we could both watch the cricket.

Wes spent most of the morning in the garden and tidied up the front, which needed some pruning and watering. We had discovered a wasps’ nest in one of our big pots and Nick offered to don his beekeeper gear and poison them, an offer we very gratefully accepted.

This week’s selection of roses in pink, peach & yellow tones

On Tuesday, Shane, the Foxtel technician, promised to visit at 8am. He finally arrived at 3.30pm and announced that he had no idea what was causing the problem. Wes had installed everything correctly and we should have not been experiencing any issues. He left after an hour, we had a very late lunch/early dinner, watched an episode of ‘Jack Irish’ and discovered we had no local channels! Nick created a diversion by arriving suited up in his beekeeper outfit to poison our wasps’ nest, which took him no time at all.

The next morning, after gym, Judi arrived in ‘Dolly Grey’ and I took over the driving to Winchelsea, where there was an Exhibition of the costumes from the recent Australian film, ‘The Dressmaker’. It took us 90 minutes to get there, with very little traffic, as we were quite often on back roads, and we joined a fast moving queue. Amazingly, the woman in front of us was someone Judi knew and they were both surprised to find each other there. 

The Exhibition was very well done, although I was disappointed that Judi didn’t get to see some of the lovely furniture in this beautiful old home, as nearly everything had been removed to make way for the costumes, hats & huge still shots from the film. We spent a good hour wandering around before finding our way to the café at the back where Judi shouted Devonshire teas. She drove back home, which gave her a chance to drive using our Tom Tom, and I showed her how the cruise control worked as it is different from the one in their automatic car.

Beautiful fragrant old-fashioned Perfume Delight rose on our tea table at Winchelsea

Back in Daylesford, we came in here to find Wes on the phone to Stacey from Foxtel – he had emailed her with the latest problems and she came up with a way to solve them – by the time he had hung up, we had local stations and instant Foxtel, a huge apology and an extra month of reduced payment.

The weather cooled down overnight and it was quite pleasant when Wes & Bilbo walked early in the dark. My most important job for the day was to get MCC Visitors tickets for two AFL matches where I am taking guests this year, so I was seated in front of my computer in plenty of time to do this, and managed to get undercover reserved seats.

Mid-morning I walked to the Daylesford Town Hall to be part of a very appreciative audience listening to Jenny Beacham talk about some of the highlights of her life & career, as part of the ‘Interesting Lives’ series introduced by Keira Lockyer. Jenny & Eddie moved to Carlton in 1971 from the country and her memories of Carlton resonated with me, as we were living in Brunswick on the borders of Carlton & Parkville at that time and shared many similar experiences.        

                                                                  

She talked of 1984 when Eddie became Lord Mayor of Melbourne, which was a year that Warren was Mayor of Brunswick & another audience member, Pam Jenkins, was Mayor of Collingwood. Jenny was lucky to meet Nelson Mandela, which rates very highly in her list of unforgettable moments.

Jenny was the first female State Secretary of the ALP and a long-time friend and staunch supporter of Joan Kirner. After the talk and a quick chat with Jenny, who remembers Mary (Molly) Owen very well, and was interested to know she was still alive aged 95, I collected my car key from Judi and retrieved Dolly Grey, which had been cleaned and polished to within an inch of its life.

On Friday morning, Bilbo & I finally walked with the Daylesford Bushwalkers (shorter walk), which was from the Blowhole to Bryce’s Flat. Everyone welcomed us warmly – one of the walkers had a big basket of homegrown produce that she was offering around – Jack Walker agreed to sit in the passenger seat with me, and off we set for a lovely stroll. Sadly, everywhere is very dry and there wasn’t any water to be seen in the creek as we walked along. Bilbo was the big winner at morning tea – two apples, one pear, two cores and some banana. On the return journey, I was able to spend time with Vera Killingback, whose husband, George, died in November last year.

Après the walk – Bilbo having a kip!

Wes spent time in the garden, cleared out the wasps’ nest and took the four Foxtel set-top boxes back to the post office.

That night we watched Collingwood’s first pre-season game against Geelong at Kardinia Park – not a happy hunting ground for the Pies in times gone by. It was a great game and the Maloneys were delighted when we were able to hold on for an 8-point win.

Yesterday we were up and on the road before 7.30am to visit Leanne (me) and Leon Anderson (Wes). We arrived at Strathmore armed with tomatoes & zucchini, parsley & rosemary from our garden, as well as a few shopping items. Wes dropped me off and spent an enjoyable time with Leon showing him the family graves at the Coburg Cemetery. Leanne and I did a few chores together as well as chat over cups of tea (me) and coffee (her). On our way home through Strathmore, we stopped at ‘Gusto’ the local bakery and bought one of their huge yummy quiches, which only cost $19.50. We ate some for lunch & froze the rest for another meal.

Bilbo and I are about to go out and pump water before descending on the Sunday Market and then breakfast with friends at the Food Gallery.

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 21st February 2016

Dear Friends, when I left you last Sunday, we were heading off to the Sunday Market, followed by breakfast. We enjoyed some wonderful conversations as well as yummy meals – yoga meditation, veggie gardens, Alzheimer’s to name but a few.

When we arrived home, I took over the kitchen briefly to make a big bowl of potato salad before Wes prepared and marinated chicken drumsticks & Atlantic salmon fillets for lunch. David & Helen Lazzaro arrived with their three children – Jessica (14), Maya (11) & Daniel (8). We sat on the decking, as it wasn’t too hot and had some very interesting conversations indeed. Helen & another teacher are heading to Cambodia in June with 18 students as part of an Outreach programme. Their three weeks includes a five-day trek and part of the preparation involves a walk from Daylesford to Mt Franklin, staying there overnight and returning on Sunday. This is happening on the long weekend in March, which is our ChillOut Festival and a very busy time indeed.

We sent them home with nectarines & tomatoes, after having enough of each to distribute to everyone at breakfast & the boys next door. As everyone with stone fruit knows, you have a very small window in which to pick the fruit – miss it and the birds are the winners!

It was a beautiful day on Monday, so Wes & Bilbo walked early and I went to gym. Wes spent the morning in the garden and filled up the green bin with garden waste. I watched the Aussies polish off the Kiwis to win the first Test by an innings & 52 runs. Nick had been due to give me a massage, but was unable to keep the appointment as he had hurt his back and couldn’t lift his very heavy massage table.

The next morning Wes found it was damp underfoot as he and Bilbo walked around the Lake – there wasn’t enough to register in the rain gauge, but the plants were all most appreciative. After dropping Wes at the Cinema, Bilbo and I headed to Leitches Creek to pump water before I went back to see the film ‘Joy’. Wes and I both want those two hours back – what a dreadful schmalzy film – we had hoped it would be the celebration of the success of a determined female inventor, but no such luck and I can’t understand how Robert de Niro was persuaded to play her appalling father.

Wes had invited Jeanette & Lauren to lunch afterwards to say goodbye to Lauren who is off to uni – I joined them for 10 minutes and quickly enjoyed a scone, jam & cream at the Food Gallery, before walking to EKO for my 1pm appointment with Emma.

EKO’s beautiful outdoor waiting area 

Sadly, it wasn’t to be, as my appointment hadn’t been transferred from the manual book to the new computer system, so I went back home and read Magda Szubanski’s autobiography instead.

On Wednesday, Wes spent the morning over at Barbara’s place working in the garden and chatting, while I survived a bad asthma attack at gym (caused by a very strong perfume) and then enjoyed a morning of Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie. We always have lots to talk about and it is sometimes a struggle to stop talking and start playing!

We had decided to go to Melbourne for the day on Thursday, as we were keen to visit the National Gallery of Victoria and see the Andy Warhol – Ai Weiwei major exhibition at St Kilda Road. We drove to Melville Road, West Brunswick, parked the car and caught the no 59 tram into town. This is a lovely ride as it goes through Royal Park and by the side of the Zoo, before heading into William Street past the Children’s Hospital. We had a pleasant walk along the side of the Yarra to the NGV and headed straight for the Members’ Lounge when we arrived for a hot drink. The friendly staff member on reception organised our free tickets into the Exhibition (members are entitled to one free ticket per year) and brought them to us as we sat with our drinks.

We found the Exhibition was beautifully curated, immense in size and almost too much to take in. Neither of us has ever really understood Andy Warhol on any level, but this is a huge body of work and there were lots of very excited schoolchildren swarming all over everything. We were more impressed with Ai Weiwei, especially his incredible wooden map of China, which uses ancient timbers and confronts you early on in the piece. His photos and videos were most interesting and instructive and we had information overload by the time we wandered out again.

A friendly staff member suggested we go upstairs to the European Art for something different and we did particularly enjoy the French Impressionists room and this painting which neither of us had ever seen before, and which we will not forget in a hurry.

“Anguish”           by Alfred Schenck (1878)

We were desperate for a yum cha lunch, so wandered into Southbank to the Red Emperor Restaurant, which had shifted down a floor since we were last there, and enjoyed some very fine delicacies, accompanied by fiery chillies and lots of Jasmine tea.

Then back on the East Brunswick tram to Lygon Street, where we went to Cinema Nova to see ‘The Belier Family’, the film that everyone has been talking about. I found it hard to get into to start with, especially as the mother overacts dreadfully, but we both were very pleased we saw it, and Wes managed to cry at the end. One of the best things about the Nova is their wonderful choc-tops, which are still the biggest and best in town.

We walked back to the Coburg tram through Melbourne Uni, which is gearing up for the start of the year in the next couple of weeks. It was very nostalgic indeed – we spent very happy times there in 1968-69 before earning money so we could get married came in between getting degrees. We visited the Public Lecture Theatre, the Cafeteria, the Law Building, Library and Lawn and even spotted the NAB, where we opened our first joint bank account in 1969 with $1.

We finally arrived back home, tired but happy, around 7.15pm and I opened the door to the Dog Room AKA the laundry, to find a very indignant Bilbo checking the time and barking at me to feed him at once or else!!! Bilbo never barks – so this was very funny.

On Friday, I headed off to do Coles shopping before getting my nails done by Alanna in time for yesterday’s wedding. Leanne rang me to say she had received a parcel I posted to her on Wednesday – we keep being told the post will take longer and longer, but this arrived in 2 days and she was tickled pink. I spent the rest of the morning stewing the remainder of our nectarines, while Wes mulched, mowed and clipped the garden, before coming indoors to try to install the new Foxtel set top boxes we had been sent in the post.

Nearly 8 hours and 8 phone calls later, Wes had installed the replacement set top boxes. 6 of his phone calls were frustrating times spent with underlings, so he decided to comment in upper case on Foxtel’s Facebook page and very quickly got the response he wanted. We have our fingers crossed that all is well and the last and most effective person he spoke with has booked a technician for Tuesday just in case we experience difficulties between now and then.

Yesterday we were up and about – me to bake a fruit cake and stew the rest of the nectarines, and Wes to double check everything Foxtel to make sure that I could watch the 2^nd Test when it started in Christchurch at 8.30am our time. At the lunch break, we went to Wombat Hill Nursery to pick up the lemon tree Wes had ordered as our wedding gift to Wendy & Roberto. Donna suggested it had grown at least a foot since it was bought – she wrapped it well in red, green & white and we made it fit snugly in the station wagon.

Back home we watched just about every ball in Brendon McCullum’s record-breaking innings – what a great day to have been at the cricket, whichever side you followed. From the minute he arrived the nature of the game changed and he has put NZ in a much better position than it dreamed of during the morning session.

Wendy Owen & Roberto Antonini being married at Rip View, Point Lonsdale

We decided to feed Bilbo at 2pm before we set off to drive to Point Lonsdale and that seems to have been a very wise decision as he was quite content when we arrived back home 6 hours later.

Wendy & Roberto’s wedding was a very happy, loving affair and we were thrilled to have been invited. It was wonderful to see Wendy’s mother, Molly Owen, again – she is 95 and still sharp as a tack. After the ceremony, we went for drinks and canapés at Pasquini’s Bistro in the main street, where we spent most of our time speaking with Anita, a Croatian refugee, who arrived here 15 years ago with not a word of English. She and Wendy have been friends for quite a few years and Wendy recently edited her PhD.

We left after the short speeches and before the barbecue, delivering our gift of a Meyer Lemon tree (with budding lemons) to their home on our way. Wendy & Roberto met 13 years ago – it was love at first sight, and they have been trying to live permanently together ever since. Roberto has finally retired and decided to leave his family and friends in Italy and live in Australia for most of each year.

This morning Bilbo is waiting patiently for me to take him to the Sunday Market, before we head to breakfast, where Gillie will be coming with her sister, Wendy, and her husband, Alex, who live in South Africa. We are looking forward to seeing them all again.

Finally, it has been interesting living with one car – because I am not anywhere near as active as I used to be, we are coping quite well and find it easy to keep each other informed about our needs and to go out together if need be. Judi & Michael got their car back on Thursday and drove it to Castlemaine on Friday to see how it went. Sadly, it overheated again, so the problem is not yet solved, and the car has gone back to the mechanics.

Lovely photo of our Sydney friends – Jane & David Knox, happily reunited with their daughter, Emily, in Tokyo

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 14th February 2016

 

Dear Friends, our week started very well indeed. After a trip to the Sunday Market, we joined Barbara, Judi, Janine & Margot for breakfast at the Food Gallery, where we shared funny stories and overfed Bilbo, who was able to see clearly in through the window as all the obstructions had been moved. He spent his time eyeballing Margot, who usually spoils him rotten and she didn’t disappoint.

Wes and I had bought tickets to see the film of a live performance of The Importance of Being Earnest, starring David Suchet, which received rave reviews last year in London. So we headed off to the Regent Cinemas in Ballarat and joined the queue of like-minded early birds all determined to sit in the back rows. We were totally entranced by this production, which starred some very accomplished young actors as well as Michelle Dotrice, as an unforgettable Miss Prism. David Suchet was wonderful, but not as good as Ruth Cracknell, who remains the best Lady Bracknell we have ever seen. Wes reminded me that we went to Mietta’s for a drink after seeing her in the play in 1988 and were delighted when she turned up there as well.

We had hoped to partake of afternoon tea at Craig’s Hotel afterwards, but we were too late, as it had already started when we arrived there at 3.15pm. So we came back home, opened a bottle of sparkling rosé and had fish & chips instead!

On Monday morning, I ventured to gym for the first time in 4 weeks. Barry had thought about what I could do and most of my programme now concentrates on legs, with a little manageable arm work. I found I was exhausted after an hour and pleased to come home for a rest. Meanwhile Wes planted this beautiful rose, Father’s Love, in the Labrador cemetery at the bottom of our garden.

That afternoon & evening, the cricket was very exciting and NZ fully deserved their victory and retention of the Chappell-Hadlee trophy.

I was very disappointed to miss out on seeing ‘He Named Me Malala’ on Tuesday morning as I had an appointment with Andrew Lowe and couldn’t get one early enough to allow me to do both things. However, I was very thrilled that Andrew was pleased with my progress, which is slow, but good. I popped into the Daylesford Cinema to let Wes know, but he was watching the film, so I left the car keys with Lauren, who had already seen the film and was manning the desk and walked back home, where Bilbo was delighted to have company again.

I think I must have been more anxious than I had expected as it wasn’t long after lunch that I went to bed for a rest. Andrew had told me to go back to taking 2 Panadol each night and that certainly dulls the pain.

Valerie, Dot & I played Mah Jong again on Wednesday morning. The staff at Muffins & More had moved all the tables and we were able to sit right in the middle instead of against the wall. We had a fun morning with quite a few interested onlookers, most of whom had never heard of or seen Mah Jong. Wes spent the morning helping Barbara to pick fruit from her trees and encouraging her to do what he did with our nectarines – stewed them, so we can enjoy them on our breakfast cereal or muesli each morning.

On Thursday, there was a fund-raising showing of the film ‘An Affair to Remember’, so we went along to the 10am session along with 90 others and were plied with a generous morning tea as well. We loved the film, which neither of us had seen before – Deborah Kerr & Cary Grant – two great actors who obviously enjoyed working together.

Lovely photo of Michelle Marazakis with her two children, Mikaela, who has just turned 10 & Michael, who is nearly 8, at Mikaela’s birthday party.

After lunch, Wes took Barbara on a big shop at Coles and arrived home just before Margot came to have her computer fixed. She wanted to come to our place – we suspect to spend time with Bilbo and he was delighted to see her until he realised she hadn’t brought anything for him to eat.

When her laptop was working again, Margot took her leave; Wes sat down for a quick drink and then headed off to the Daylesford Hotel for the first ALP meeting of the year. Bilbo and I were in bed by the time he arrived home, stimulated by an interesting meeting.

The next morning we all slept in. I went shopping at Coles early and then at Tonna’s as we are expecting David & Helen Lazzaro & their three children, Jessica, Maya & Daniel for lunch today and we needed to make sure we had plenty of provisions. I watched most of the first session of the First Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, where the Aussies were able to get some good early wickets, before leaving to join over 20 others at one of Anthony Ash’s U3A talks – this one entitled The Five Elements. Judi arrived after hosting her U3A Book Group, which had met early to allow 4 members to get to this session. Anthony is always entertaining and interesting and we enjoyed his talk very much. I left before the end as I had promised Wes to be back by 1pm in time for lunch and the last session of cricket.

Yesterday we were up early and on the road to Melbourne by 7.30am armed with provisions, roses, herbs and produce from the garden for Leanne, as well as gifts for Ben, Leanne, Jack & Olivia Lazzaro. Wes dropped me off at Strathmore and headed to Brunswick to see them all before arriving back in time to have a coffee with Leanne as well. We left her and were back home in good time to see Adam Voges batting magnificently and he was unbeaten on 176 by the end of the day.

Bilbo enjoying new pillows courtesy of Auntie Leanne

I am sitting in the study looking out into our garden, which is full of roses in bloom – especially red, yellow, orange & pink. It is a still dull morning and we are very pleased to be expecting a top temperature of 22°, which is 10° lower than yesterday. Bilbo is by my side waiting for the invitation to hop into the car and join me on my trip to the Sunday Market.

Perc in 1944 in RAAF dress – aged 25, and 22 years later with Viva & four of his five children at 1 Morrow Street, West Brunswick – Leanne, Karen, Pauline, Perc, Viva & Peter

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone – I’ll be in touch again very soon.

Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 7th February, 2016

Dear Friends, when I left you last week I was hoping to get to the Sunday Market, but we decided that it would be better if Warren went instead as the rain was pelting down. So he duly did and came home with fruit, vegetables, eggs & dog bones. We had 32mls in total, but Ken Rae, at Spring Park Nursery in Eganstown had 75mls and his back yard was flooded. He stayed at the Market for a while, but very few hardy souls were around and he decided he could do more good at home.

We took Bilbo to breakfast as we could put his bed out of the rain; so Margot, Judi & Janine all tried to make up for what he had missed by not getting cabbage leaves from John at the Market. I think he was more than amply compensated, especially when Margot gave him a slice of toast with butter & vegemite – just like Gary Ashley used to do at Café 3460. The six of us enjoyed some good topics during our meal – we discovered that Judi & Michael were again without a car, so as soon as we arrived home we checked our diaries for the week and decided we could easily manage with one, so drove the Mazda 2 over to their place, much to Judi’s delight. Janine has retired from work – her final day at Daylesford Clothing had been the previous Friday and she was thrilled to be fancy free. Wes regaled us with some of his stories from his visits to cemeteries the previous week; Barbara chimed in with a couple of graveside coincidences, and Judi updated us on Tulku Rose’s current state of health, which isn’t wonderful.

On Monday, Wes and Bilbo were able to walk early after sleeping well. Wes spent most of the morning in the garden, removing an old ornamental passionfruit vine, which was threatening to take over the back fence, pruning some bushes and doing a few handyman jobs that mean there is a lot less squeaking at our place! I walked into town while it was still cool and wasn’t too sore afterwards. Apart from the exercise, it is good to do a little bit of socialising as I have been like a hermit the past couple of weeks.

After a haircut with Lyndal, I joined 21 others watching the wonderful film – Suffragette. When you see how those women struggled to be taken seriously as equals, entitled to the vote, their own money, a fair wage etc, it is especially disappointing to see some of us take it all for granted. Wes & I found it particularly galling in Scotland, when touring the Parliament in Edinburgh in 2014, to meet young women who did not intend to vote in the next election, as they didn’t think they could make a difference. How very wrong they are.

Afterwards we had bagels for lunch at Cliffy’s, next door to Wombat Nursery, where we met up with Bill, who used to take his wife to hydrotherapy in Ballarat when Warren was there with Barbara. He told us that his granddaughter, Coco Jack Gillies, who is 10 and lives in Sydney, played Olivia, Shane Jacobsen’s granddaughter, in Oddball. We remembered enjoying her acting and he is hopeful that she will go a long way.

In the afternoon, Danny sent us a message (including this lovely photo) to announce the arrival of Celia & Cory’s daughter, Olive May, sister to Isla.

It was delightful to wake on Wednesday and find cooler weather and some more rain. Wes & Bilbo were able to walk at 5am, while I slept for another hour. It was my first morning back at Mah Jong since mid-December and we were all keen to see each other & catch up, as well as play a few games.

What was even better was the warm welcome we received from Muffins and More as we ordered our hot drinks prior to a good chat. Sadly, Dot & John’s lovely dog, Lucy, had been put down over the weekend and Dot was understandably still upset. Lucy was an excellent companion & went on all their caravan trips with them.

Valerie having a chat before we start playing.

I had a quiet afternoon watching the Kiwis make mincemeat of the Aussies in the first One Day Game at Eden Park. Wes & Barbara went to Aperitifs at Al & Kathy’s place, and from what Wes told me it seemed to have been a very successful and enjoyable event.

When we woke on Thursday, it was to discover that during the incredible windstorm our precious Japanese Maple had been knocked out of its pot and was lying down along the side of the house. Miraculously there was no damage, not even to the smallest branch and Wes was able to put it all back together again. I went shopping early to Coles before meeting Janine Hawker at Daylesford Organics for a cuppa & catch up chat.

Afterwards I came home to yummy salmon, broccolini, spring onion, red pepper & chilli spaghetti, which Wes and I ate while watching Who Do You Think You Are featuring Davina McCall, who discovered very interesting and strong men on both sides of her family tree – one in England & the other in France.

In the afternoon, I received a lovely surprise when Wombat Hill Florist delivered another beautiful arrangement of flowers, this time from Leigh & Simon Murrin in London.

It was lovely to spend time with Judi on Friday morning – we drank Jasmine tea at the Food Gallery and caught up on each other’s news. Meanwhile Wes did serious pruning in the garden, mowed everywhere and picked a basket of

nectarines & plums from our trees. They are not quite ripe, but we can’t afford to leave them on the branches any longer or Bilbo and the birds will eat them.

Yesterday we awoke to a beautiful morning although it was still dark when Wes & Bilbo arrived home from their walk. I stayed in bed doing the Age crosswords before some gardening. We set off to visit Ian & Robyn Robinson at Chewton as we had a rose to deliver to them in memory of Robyn’s mother, Dulcie.

It is quite a few years since we have been to their country home and we enjoyed seeing all the improvements they have made lately. There is a lot more light everywhere and stunning views from the decking and lounge. Bilbo was allowed inside and enjoyed being patted and spoiled by four adults instead of two.

In the afternoon, I enjoyed watching the second One-Day match, where Australia was able to turn the tables, although it was a close game until the very end. Two fine partnerships made the difference – Warner & Khawaja at the start and Mitch Marsh & Hastings at the end. New Zealand is blessed with a very clever and competitive captain in Brendon McCullum, who never gives up until the last ball has been bowled.

As I sit here watching the sky turn pink over Daylesford, I am grateful yet again for the decision in 1998 to buy a holiday home here. We knew very soon after we moved in that we wanted to live here full-time and, although, we would love a little bolthole in Melbourne near the MCG, we don’t regret our move at all. Every day brings beautiful sights, smells and experiences and we have made so many wonderful friends here, as well as keeping in touch with our old friends. We are very blessed indeed.