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 17th 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!
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