Daylesford Easter Dispatch - Sunday, 27th March 2016

Dear Friends, we were joined by David & Sandy last Sunday for breakfast, as they were spending the weekend at Porcupine Ridge. It was lovely to see them both and they invited us all to come and visit later in the day. Wes and I decided to take them up on their offer – Barbara was keen to go, but we all thought it would be better if we checked to see if the house was wheelchair accessible first.

After breakfast we took Bilbo home – he had enjoyed Bam Bam’s company at The Food Gallery and was ready for a sleep, and we headed off to the Dharma School Autumn Fair. We met Judi leaving as we were arriving and she pointed us in the direction of the yummy cakes. We bought slices of both carrot & coconut cakes and took them with us when we visited David & Sandy at ‘Doolin’.

Sandy, David, Bam Bam & Karen with deer behind us and sheep in front of us and gums as far as the eye can see.

We enjoyed seeing them both so very happy and hope that their Box Hill home sells quickly and they can spend more time here very soon.

We came home to discover that Rob & Dene had been baking hot cross buns and we scored a pair of buns and some fig & ginger jam to go with them. Wes invited them in for drinks at 5pm and it was nice enough to sit out on our verandah with a Best’s Sparkling Shiraz, a Wensleydale cheese & plenty to chat about.

On Monday, Wes and Bilbo walked early, while I went to gym and had a very good session, the best since my operation. I am back to how I was before I went to hospital and in some cases, better, which is very reassuring indeed. Afterwards Nick Massaro arrived to give me a massage and we enjoyed a catch-up chat during the hour. He brought us a jar of mulberry jam, so we were spoilt for choice on Good Friday.

It was a perfect day for painting, so I started on the dog decking, which Wes had scrubbed for me. I have never used a roller & tray before and it was quite exciting seeing the transformation appearing so quickly. There are lots of fiddly bits that require the brush, but I got the first coat down, which is always the hardest.

After a particularly yummy fish pie for lunch, I spent a quiet afternoon. I had hoped to do some more painting, but that was enough exercise for the day. Wes spent the afternoon on the computer writing what I think is his best short story so far, after a morning spent gardening in the front.

Lovely recent photo of Kathy & Ged’s grandchildren – Jessica holding Olivia with Maya by her side and Jack & Daniel in front.

We are enjoying the cool nights & early mornings that Autumn brings – during the day, we are experiencing temperatures in their early 20s, which is plenty warm enough for me!

The film on Tuesday morning was ‘Trumbo’, which I quite enjoyed. It was a bit too ‘American’ and a bit too long, but well-acted and put together and really brought home to me the damage that was done to the Film Industry in Hollywood by the House Un-American Activities Committee during the period from 1945-1975. Wes wasn’t as impressed as I was, as I discovered when we debriefed over croissants at The Food Gallery afterwards. In the afternoon, I had a facial etc with Alanna at EKO, while Wes honed his short story: 1958 – “A Start – From Brunswick to Sherwood Forest”.

We all slept in on Wednesday morning, even Bilbo wasn’t interested in getting up until 6am, and I went off to gym while Sandra cleaned our house and Wes spent time with Barbara. As I was leaving the gym, our paper person, Steve, pulled up alongside the car and gave me the local papers for our street, which I happily delivered. At Mah Jong we were given lovely Cadbury Easter eggs by the smiling staff at ‘Muffins & More’ and enjoyed a fun morning, where Valerie and I think Dot must have cheated, as she won all the games that were won! When I got home, I took Bilbo for a walk around the Botanic Gardens – as usual, we were the only ones walking that we saw, and he was able to cool down with a dip in the pond.

Glorious sunrise by the Lake with Barry the fisherman, taken by Gillie Gough

On Thursday morning, Bilbo and I had a long overdue catch up walk & cuppa with Annie Smith & her Golden Retriever, Rosie, who is 12 years old, which makes her a little older than Bilbo.

We walked around Lake Daylesford together and then sat on the decking at The Bookbarn, enjoying the lovely views from that spot. Wes had mowed the lawns and gardened while we were out.

In the afternoon I decided to take out half the tomato plants as they were starting to be affected by the cold mornings – I picked as many of the unripe tomatoes as I could in the hope that they would ripen in a basket in the lounge, which gets plenty of sun. Judi & Michael dropped in during the late afternoon, as they had collected some dry-cleaning for me while they were in Ballarat. Their car was behaving perfectly and they were very hopeful that the right leak has finally been located and fixed.

We love Good Friday – traditionally we go for a long walk in the morning before coming home to Hot Cross Buns with berry jam. We went to Trentham, which was misty and damp and did the Wombat Trail, which incorporates the old racing track. It is about 7km in total and we didn’t meet another soul while we were walking. On our return, after buns with mulberry jam, I tackled the dog decking and did all the brush painting that the roller can’t get to. The sun was shining, there was no breeze and it was perfect weather for painting.

Leon arrived around 2.30pm with gifts galore – Easter Eggs, Hot Cross buns, an apple pie, some old copies of the Sporting Globe, The Age & The Herald, the latter two dated 23^rd November 1963, where the only story was the assassination of John Kennedy. After we chatted for a while, Wes took Leon for a drive around Barkstead, Victoria Park and the Daylesford cemetery. They picked me up at 5pm and we had a couple of drinks at the Farmers Arms hotel, which was very busy at that time.

When we got home, Wes cooked a smoked salmon pasta, and showed Leon how he does it. We were thrilled that Leon was OK about chillies, the meal was lovely and we finished it off with apple pie with berries & cream, while watching a Foxtel programme on Geelong’s Daniel Menzel and his recovery from 4 knee reconstructions, which culminated in his playing footy again towards the end of last year.

Yesterday we were all very slow to get going and happy to have a quiet morning in preparation for the drive to Melbourne and Pat Millman’s wedding. We laughed our way through the Coodabeen Champions, especially the brilliant song entitled “Sing another Pies fans are thong-wearing nongs songs” to the tune of “Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song”.

We had a lovely time at The Spotted Mallard, where Patto & Kate had an excellent marriage celebrant, who was on their wavelength and kept the formalities to the absolute minimum. We were thrilled to spend time with Danny, Lovely, Malcolm, Lauren & Travis, Greta & Harry, Celia & Cory & to meet their baby, Olive. Danny gave his usual excellent, amusing and entertaining speech and Patto did himself proud with a good speech that picked up on things Danny had said, as well as covering all bases with his thanks. He and Kate are very happy together and we were grateful to have been invited to share in that happiness.

The big downside of the night was the inexplicable loss by the Pies to the Swans at the SCG, where Jane Knox assured me they were all having a brilliant night, while we checked the score constantly in utter disbelief at Collingwood’s apparent inability to kick goals. Wes is starting to feel that a 9 point loss to Richmond wasn’t such a disaster after all!

  

 A few photos from the very happy night

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 20th March 2016

Dear Friends, when I left you last Sunday, we were off to breakfast before the annual ChillOut Parade, which is the highlight of the Long Weekend for us here in Daylesford. This was the biggest and best parade in quite some time and there was a very relaxed atmosphere amongst the marchers – so much of what they have been fighting for has been achieved, and when Marriage Equality comes, as it must, it will be another big victory that has been so hard earned. I was particularly struck by the number of elderly and infirm involved – for some of them it would have been their first public outing and it is so sad that so much of their lives have been lived in fear and secrecy. Even the Daylesford Football Club marched and that would have been unthinkable not many years ago. Wes and I are very proud to live here, where difference is celebrated.

Thanks to Jane Barrett & Rhonda Lubin for some of these photos

Max as dressed by George Jackson (R)

We left our car parked in Central Springs Road, as there was no chance of getting it out for an hour or so after the Parade finished and walked home alongside other spectators who were on their way to Victoria Park for the celebrations there.

On Monday, we had invited Jeff & Di for drinks in the late afternoon, but we decided to turn it into an early meal and included Judi & Michael. I went to Coles to pick up some cheeses and dropped in some books to Michael on my way home. I ended up having a cuppa with Judi & scoring a couple of items of clothing that she had rescued from a friend who was decluttering – Judi thought they would suit me and, as usual, she was right. Wes spent the morning in the garden and everywhere in the back garden was looking much better for his ministrations.

We enjoyed a lovely time with everyone that night – plenty to eat, drink and chat about. Wes made a colourful and yummy pasta dish, I provided a cheese platter and managed to pour most of the drinks for a change (I usually settle in and forget). 

Bilbo ignoring the company and catching up on sleep with his friend

The film on Tuesday morning was ‘Carol’ and I was very keen to see it, as I am a real fan of Patricia Highsmith. Sadly, I found the film a bit too slow, although the costumes, scenery, dialogue and food were all very authentic 1950s. However, Wes loved it and we enjoyed a debrief with Jeanette at The Food Gallery afterwards. That night Wes had volunteered to show the film ‘The Danish Girl’ as the usual projectionist was unavailable. He reported a good crowd of over 30, all of whom were very taken with the film.

Chilli crop – 130 in total and this is just the beginning!

While I played Mah Jong after gym on Wednesday, Wes spent the morning over at Barbara’s place planting bulbs. Dot, Valerie & I had a good time although Dot won all the games! Afterwards I went to Daylesford Clothing to see if I could find an outfit for Patrick Millman’s wedding, which is coming up on Easter Saturday, and came home with a lovely top which will go well with my good black pants.

We had decided to visit the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show at the Exhibition Gardens on Thursday, so left around 8.30am to drive to North Carlton and join the throngs of like-minded visitors. We found a car park in Queensberry Street and walked to the Show from there. It was wonderful, not too crowded, with lots of interesting exhibits. We bought 10 different colours of hyacinth bulbs and hope to rival the Wombat Hill Gardens with our display this Spring. We also invested in some self-watering planter boxes and stands, which will make care and harvesting of our herb & small vegetable crops much easier.

We were walking past a few tents we hadn’t seen before and out popped John Anderson. It was lovely to catch up with him and their latest news. John & Dannielle & their kids live in Euroa, which is a very beautiful part of Victoria and we keep meaning to visit them, but they are kept very busy with 4 kids and a farm.

Lunch was at the ‘Yum Cha Café’, where Cherry, the owner, greeted us warmly. We enjoyed some Chinese broccoli, some dim sum dishes, calamari, and red bean pancake for sweets. When it was time to pay the bill, we discovered we had not been charged for our red bean dish, which was very generous indeed.

That night Wes attended a volunteers’ meeting of the Daylesford Cinema. This is sometimes a chance to suggest improvements and we are both very keen that the membership process is streamlined – at present there is no follow up when memberships expire.

This goes on every Wednesday morning when Sandra arrives

We woke to the sounds of glorious rain on Friday and ended up with 30mls in total, which was wonderful. I went shopping early at Coles and everyone was smiling – thrilled that their dams & tanks were filling and that they were cool again. Annie Smith & I had organised a date at Lake Daylesford for Bilbo & Rosie, and this had to be postponed, as it was far too wet.

I went to the hardware store to get some decking painting gear and came home with a deck scrubber, a roller with detachable long handle, a tray and some more of our slate coloured paint. Of course, it continued to rain on and off all day, so that job didn’t get started. Instead, I had a very satisfactory online chat with AGL and decided to move our gas & electricity accounts from Energy Australia to them, especially as they promise a minimum of paperwork. I am sick to death of weekly unintelligible bills from Energy Australia. As well, I wanted our bills deducted on the same day and that has never happened! For relaxation, we caught up with 2 episodes of ‘Cuffs’, which is the modern version of ‘The Bill’ and so well-written.

Great selfie of Jane Knox & her friend, Neil Jackson at the Sydney Swans jumper presentation night

Wes walked Bilbo early and had planned to start the deck scrubbing on his return, but the rain came down again and that job had to be postponed. This gave me a chance to get tickets for the Collingwood & GWS game at the Sydney Showgrounds, which is a beautiful stadium. Danny & I are going to have another trip to Sydney, this time in July, and Jane will join us at the game.

We listened to the Coodabeen Champions all morning – so good to have them back on air and giving us just the atmosphere we need with footy starting this Thursday night with the traditional Richmond vs Carlton game at the MCG. They were asking for listeners to tweet in if they had spotted footballers in the off-season, so I tweeted about seeing Dyson Heppell in Daylesford for the ChillOut Parade last Sunday and that got an airing – yippee!

After lunch, Wes decided it was a good chance to wash down the dog decking, which he duly did. I kept hoping to get out and paint, but we had frequent small showers during the afternoon, so painting was abandoned. I suspect it won’t be dry enough until tomorrow to start, which is OK.

This morning Bilbo and I are off to the Sunday Market again and then breakfast, which will be very welcome afterwards. David Castles may turn up for the first time this year – we are all looking forward to hearing his stories of life in Porcupine Ridge.

Perc & Viva on their wedding day 17^th March 1949 – at that time, St Patrick’s Day was the only day in Lent that Catholics could be married. Below Viva’s sister, Jennifer aka Jeff, in 1968 looking swish on her way off to a dinner dance

 This was taken yesterday when Dante Mammino’s team won their under 9’s premiership – Mary, Dante, Anthony, Terry, Chiara & Jessie – Congratulations!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 13th March, 2016

Dear Friends, last Sunday was another hot day here, so after breakfast, we spent some time in the garden before it got unbearable. Wes filled the big pots for me and I planted fennel and basil mint and re-potted some of my chilli plants, which are thriving in this weather. The tomatoes continue to appear, and I pick 8-10 every day. It won’t be long before I can harvest the first of the fiery red Thai chillies as well as the yellow and green ones.

Monday was a huge day – we slept in until 6am, which meant Bilbo missed his early walk, so I took him after gym and we strolled around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens – the only ones doing so and admired the giant, colourful begonias on display. 

Wes spent most of the morning doing wonderful things in the garden, before making lunch for an old friend, Lloyd Chandler, who had decided to spend 24 hours in Daylesford. At 3pm, Margot arrived with her laptop & kindle for Wes to fix – neither of us owns or has ever used a kindle, so that presented a bit of a challenge. At 5pm, Wes set off to show the film ‘The Danish Girl’ to a fund-raising audience organised by the Neighbourhood Centre. Sadly their publicity had not hit their target audience and only 19 patrons turned up, all of whom enjoyed the film.

The next morning was déjà vu, as I dropped Wes off early at the Daylesford Cinema to show the same film to his 10am regulars. There were 20 of us and we all loved the film, which deals with the true story of a woman born in a man’s body in Denmark in the 1930s. Afterwards we debriefed over croissants and hot drinks with Gillie & Jeanette at the Food Gallery.

That night was the hottest March night in years and it was already 26° at 5.30am. We are so grateful for our air-conditioning in the bedroom and lounge, which make hot days and nights bearable.

Dawn was particularly beautiful that morning – one of the few positives of the very hot weather

On Wednesday, Wes walked Bilbo early and I set off for gym where we were sensibly advised to reduce weights but keep up the reps. I left Wes in our garden when I headed to Mah Jong and he spent the rest of the morning helping in Barbara’s garden.

Dot was well enough to come to Mah Jong and we three enjoyed quite a few games together, with each of us winning a couple of games.

Wes didn’t feel well that afternoon, so went to bed and rested/slept for the remainder of the day. Bilbo & I had leftovers for dinner, and at 6pm, Michael Ivanchenko arrived to borrow our Mazda 6 to drive to Melbourne Airport to collect Judi, and later pick up his best friends, Roger & Vicky, who were at the Holgate pub in Woodend. Later in the evening it started to rain at last and we were all very excited indeed. By 7am the next morning, we had 10mls, which is enough to fill tanks and soak into the ground properly.

Wes woke on Thursday still feeling unwell – we think he might have had sunstroke, so spent the rest of the day in bed. It continued to rain on & off during the day and we ended up with 20mls in total.

I had a manicure at EKO with Alanna, followed by a lovely, relaxing lunch with Rhonda at Wombat Hill House, which is beautifully situated in the Botanic Gardens. We don’t go there often because there is no table service and lining up to pay at the cash register seems to take forever.

As well, the queue is always in the way of those preparing food, who seem to have to jump in and out of the kitchen frequently. However, we did enjoy spending time together and catching up with each other’s news. That night I made special fried rice and Wes was able to eat some and enjoy it.

After Friday supermarket shopping, I took Bilbo for two laps of the Botanic Gardens before it got too hot & muggy. I had hoped to catch up with Judi, but was feeling quite exhausted after that, so spent the rest of the day quietly at home. Wes got up and discovered that we had no internet, so after trying everything he could think of, he went to Bi-Rite, where Keith gave him one last avenue to try, but sold him a new modem as well. Installing the new modem took the rest of the morning and it was lovely to sit down over lunch and watch an episode of Dr Blake, which is set in Ballarat and full of familiar scenery and buildings.

Bilbo attacking his bone collection with renewed energy after the rain

Yesterday I was up early and off to visit Leanne at 7am bearing tomatoes, zucchini, herbs & roses all from our garden. We spent a good morning together and I arrived back here in time for lunch and the footy. Wes had been very busy indeed – gardening, taking Barbara for a big shop and all the socialising that entails on a Saturday morning, and finally making a zucchini quiche for lunch.

At half time, when Collingwood was playing as though everyone had the flu, I suggested to Wes that the second half wasn’t compulsory watching for Carlton supporters. He gratefully went downstairs to work on the computer, until he realised from the amount of applause and frequent score updates that the Pies had emerged from whatever daze they were in and saw the end of a very exciting match, where we held on to beat the Western Bulldogs by 2 points.

This morning Bilbo and I are off to the Sunday Market shortly, then we will have breakfast with Barbara, Judi, Margot, Janine & our neighbours, Rob & Dene. At 10.30am, it will be the ChillOut Parade in Vincent Street and we are all looking forward to that annual entertainment. Daylesford is chockablock with visitors – all the houses in our street are full, and there should be a huge crowd to watch the parade.

Last Sunday’s rose – Perfume Passion

While Wes and Bilbo were on their early morning walk today, I had a fright when a huntsman spider fell onto me in the shower. I had been chatting to him and suggesting he not lose his grip on the ceiling, but to no avail. I screamed which scared us both and then flicked him out of the shower recess so he wouldn’t drown. I’m hopeful he is finding a new home while I am downstairs – preferably out of the bathroom, as he doesn’t like the noise of the hair-dryer and I don’t like the thought of him falling on me again!

Newly potted fennel and basil mint with Japanese Maple outside our bedroom 

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 6th March 2016

 Dear Friends, here we are finally enjoying Autumn and the beautiful colours that the Hepburn Shire produces in order to celebrate this season. When I left you last week, we were heading off for breakfast at the Food Gallery and a most interesting time it was. We discussed Janine’s parents’ 70^th wedding Anniversary which was on 2^nd March; had a heated discussion about the RSL; talked about authors we enjoy, which was led by Aileen who loves reading Geraldine Brooks & Judi, who was recommending Jill Ker Conway to Wes; as well as films, old and new, especially as Aileen had been catching up on them while her mother, Dorothy, is in Creswick Care, giving Aileen two weeks’ respite.

I had bought a beautiful rose called ‘Olde Fragrance’ from Ken Rae at the Sunday Market, so Wes planted that in the front garden, and I wandered around cutting the few roses that had survived the strong winds of the past two mornings.

In the afternoon, we had been invited to the 60^th birthday party of Steve Bowie, who lives with his partner, David Wilson, in a beautiful home in front of Dene & Rob, our neighbours. There were 100 friends & rellos expected during the afternoon and we spent a couple of most enjoyable hours there before we had to come back home. David & Steve are very generous hosts and had employed Gary Thomas, who runs ‘Spade & Blade’ to do the catering. There were jugs of Pimms, champagne, delicate little canapés served on tiered cake stands and plenty of wait staff making sure everyone had a drink & bite to eat. We spent quite a lot of time catching up with Rob & Dene – they might live next door, but we don’t get to just chat very often, and we all enjoyed it.

On Monday morning at gym, I finally did a chest press, my first since my operation, and, although I lifted 5 kg less than previously, I was able to do it easily and without any pain, which was a big relief. Wes picked me up afterwards & we went to Wombat Hill Nursery to collect some potting mix, as we need to refill our beautiful big pots out the front, which ended up being home to wasps instead of fennel.

At the end of our street as I walked to gym....

Lovely photo of Leon Anderson at Coburg Cemetery at the grave of his great-grandparents – Ron & Ruby Maloney, AKA The Tossing Testros

Judi & Michael arrived at 11.45am to swap cars – Judi was on her way to Melbourne Airport to visit her mother, Mavis, who turned 90 yesterday and they were reluctant to drive their overheating Subaru that distance & back. When Michael returned around 3pm, we had invited him to share a late lunch/early dinner with us. Wes made his famous fish pie and Michael had brought a cold bottle of Chandon, as well as two yummy cheeses and biscuits, so we cut out the poached peaches we had planned to serve as sweets & got stuck into the cheese & Shiraz instead.

We didn’t watch the Oscars but were delighted to discover that Mark Rylance won Best Supporting Actor for his role in ‘The Bridge’. Wes set off on Tuesday morning to show ‘Spotlight’ and we had a better than usual audience because it had won Best Film. We were both blown away by the film, which rates up there in the ‘Best Film Ever’ class. Afterwards, we met at the Food Gallery for croissants and a very necessary debrief. Don’t miss it if you haven’t already seen it!

As I was leaving gym on Wednesday, I received a message from Dot to say she wasn’t feeling well enough to play Mah Jong, so Valerie and I played, as Valerie was already on the road to Daylesford from Castlemaine. We had a lovely morning and shared the honours evenly, playing some of the trickier hands, which are much easier to get with only two players.

Meanwhile Wes had decided to take Barbara around Lake Daylesford to take advantage of the improved path. They walked down with Bilbo and enjoyed it all until the brake stuck on Barbara’s wheelchair. Wes and Bilbo walked back home, collected tools and the car, fixed the problem and finished the walk. By the time I arrived back, they were both recovering from their exertions, as the day was getting hotter. That afternoon Wes had promised to visit Janine Hawker in Musk to help her with her printer & computer, which he duly did. I defrosted the other half of our ‘Gusto’ quiche and made a couple of salads for dinner, to save Wes having to turn around and cook when he came back.

We had bought tickets in Gold Class to see ‘The Lady in the Van’ on Thursday morning at Ballarat and headed off very happily to enjoy a couple of hours of Maggie Smith brilliance. We just loved the film, which was much more of a story than the trailer had led us to believe, but we were perhaps the only ones in Gold Class who were delighted with it – most others said it wasn’t what they expected.

Afterwards we walked to Doveton Street to find ‘Harry Limes’ (no apostrophe), which was rated very highly for its food. The menu was lengthy and diverse, but the tables had paper cloths and the chairs were comfy, so we stayed. Big mistake – our Salt & Pepper squid appeared to have arrived pre-prepared from Coles, sitting on an equally already prepared ‘Greek’ salad with some of the toughest feta & tasteless olives we have ever encountered. Wes was keen to have a glass of wine, but fortunately was never offered a glass, as we are sure it would have been very ‘vin ordinaire’.

We left quickly and drove to look at the ribbons tied on the fence around St Patrick’s Cathedral and then into the old Cemetery where Wes showed me the two monuments to the Eureka Stockade miners & soldiers – suitably a distance from each other. He also took me to see the extensive Chinese section, where the graves are well tended and the inscriptions have been reprinted on the headstones

On Friday, Wes headed off to Gisborne to play golf with Tom Tyrrell, Danny Millman & Bobby Preston. I did the shopping early and walked Bilbo around the Gardens, as it was too hot to go on the Bushwalk at Sailors Falls.

Afterwards I turned 2kg of our tomatoes into pasta sauce, using parsley, dill, oregano & basil from our garden.

Wes arrived home late afternoon – he had really enjoyed his time with old friends and had managed to play a few good shots, even if Danny left everyone else for dead and claimed the trophy.

Danny & Bobby at Gisborne.....Kevin Hoolihan with his grandson, Archie (7) & grand-daughter, Amelia (2) at Torksey Lock, Lincolnshire

Yesterday was a little busier than we expected – Wes walked Bilbo early, put my henna on for me and then gave Bilbo a bath. Around 9am, I set off for the Farmers’ Market and Wes drove to Tylden looking for manure for our big pots out the front, which have been empty since the wasps’ nest was cleared. At the Market, I chatted with Ken Rae, who had brought a selection of Perfume Delight roses for me to choose from, and then with Michael Ivanchenko & Gillie Gough, who wandered onto the Daylesford Primary School oval as we were heading home.

Wes arrived back to say that he had bumped into Dave & Angela Carey, who were parking the car and coming in for coffee. Wes & Dave were at St Bernard’s College together and Dave spent his working life as a publican, so he knows everyone & everything, but we do have a love of Collingwood in common.

Dave in the under 14s cricket side at St Bernard’s in 1960

Victor & Anna Szwed dropped in a big zucchini for Bilbo, and Rob from next door called to me to say we had ducks in the bottom of our garden, but by the time I put Bilbo inside and found my phone to take a photo they had flown away.

I turned on the TV to see if the Davis Cup doubles tie was being televised and discovered that Lleyton Hewitt had come out of retirement to play with John Peers against the might of the US Bryan brothers. It was wonderful tennis – typical of any game featuring Lleyton – he is never beaten until the final point. We have to win both reverse singles today to advance any further and everyone is wondering if Lleyton will play again instead of Sam Groth, who had a tantrum or two during his singles loss on Friday.

In the afternoon, we settled down to watch Collingwood & North Melbourne play in 40° heat in Wagga. There was a good crowd and atmosphere and the game was close, with the Pies holding on to win by 8 pts.

Bilbo & Wes were up early this morning for a walk around Lake Daylesford in the dark. Bilbo is now sitting at my feet waiting for me to finish writing this & put him into the car for whatever adventures this Sunday morning holds. After we pump water at Leitches Creek and buy fruit, vegetables, bones & a Perfume Delight rose at the Sunday Market, we will be having breakfast with Barbara, Margot & Janine. Wes is hoping to get into the garden before it gets too hot, as another 33° day is forecast.

Karen outside the Law Library at Melbourne Uni last month