Dear
Friends, we enjoyed a good breakfast with some interesting conversations last
Sunday. I was so well organised that I had baked a fruitcake before we headed
off to the Food Gallery and we were very pleased to tuck into it during the
afternoon. The local CWA had a market at the Daylesford Town Hall, so I popped
in after breakfast, but most of the goodies were hand-knits and I can produce
them easily enough myself. There were some gourmet dog treats, but Bilbo
doesn’t really appreciate gourmet and in the past, I have found that
stockpiling homemade dog treats doesn’t pay as they go off.
Bilbo & I waiting
for friends to arrive for breakfast
Wes
was delighted with Carlton, who played with determination to beat Geelong in
front of a large, vocal crowd at the Docklands. I heard the ABC radio say 30
minutes before the game that the roof was closed, but the lights weren’t on – fortunately,
that was rectified in time for the match. The Pies tried hard in their
mid-afternoon game, but didn’t make the most of their early opportunities with
some wayward kicking and the Bulldogs were able to run all over us at the end.
I spoke with a friend who was at the match and she said it was dark and cold at
half time, so I made the right decision not to go.
Bam Bam arrived at
breakfast wearing his nice warm new coat handmade by Jeannie at Village on
Vincent – his owner, David, has ordered a tartan one for him as well!
On
Monday, we all slept through 5am, probably because it was 0° and still that
temperature when I went to gym at 7.45am. One of the Carlton footballers, Dennis
Armfield, was on the front page of The Age, so I persuaded Wes to stay in bed
having a good read about the footy, before he tackled vacuuming & cleaning
our cars. After gym, I walked back into town & met Judi at the Food Gallery
for a long catch-up over pots of tea, which we both enjoyed. Margot arrived
while we were there to spend time with her friend, Adrian, who does gym with me
on Mondays & Wednesdays.
As
is often the case after a cold morning, the afternoon was a beautiful sunny
one, so after lunch I walked Bilbo twice around the Botanic Gardens, which was
once more than he wanted to go! Wes completed a very fine short story about his
family entitled ‘1944-1949 Booming Babies’ and I read it before he headed off
to see Jenny Beacham to drink red wine and discuss his concept for a Hepburn
Family Research Centre.
Tuesday
was even colder with -2° showing when Wes & Bilbo went walking at 5am. I
had a doctor’s appointment, which meant I raced into the Daylesford Cinema a
few minutes after 10am, but fortunately the shorts were showing and I was able
to get myself settled before ‘Eye in the Sky’ started. What a stunning modern
wartime thriller – it was so good in just about every respect. Don’t miss it if
you haven’t already seen it – Helen Mirren is such a versatile and accomplished
actor, that, at the very least, it would be a shame to miss her performance.
I
spent the afternoon picking the remaining chillies from our plants before the
frost killed them all and put the healthiest plants into the hothouse in the
hope we would get one more harvest. Wes arranged a meeting with interested
parties to work on the Research Centre plan and sent off the details to them
all, before heading back to the Daylesford Cinema to show the film ‘Eddie the
Eagle’ as the regular 6pm projectionist was unable to turn up.
It
was another freezing morning on Wednesday, so there were only 4 of us at gym,
which means no waiting to use equipment and plenty of room to spread out. I
headed off afterwards to Mah Jong; while Wes went over to Barbara’s place to
wash her car and whatever else she needed doing. When I arrived back, I took
Bilbo for two laps of the Botanic Gardens and noticed the first jonquil bulbs
bravely poking up from the ground.
Valerie Lefel &
Dot Smith at Muffins & More in the middle of our Mah Jong morning
We
have been inundated with cockatoos since Fawlty Towers was put into our garden
and this past month they have been particularly destructive, pulling out
seedlings, chomping away at the timber on the house and chasing the magpies
& rosellas away. Acting on advice, I bought some tinfoil pieces and have
them hanging in the trees, as well as on the decking and, apart from one
persistent cockie, it seems to have worked. Instead of putting birdseed out on
the feeder, I have been strewing it on the lawn and the cockies aren’t
interested in grazing the way the other birds do.
With
the Federal election looming, we asked if we could have a poster for our garden
supporting our local member, Catherine King, and here she is, nestling amongst
the hedges & roses.
We
enjoyed a lovely lunch at Bad Habits Café at the Convent Gallery on Thursday –
my belated Mother’s Day lunch with thanks to Bilbo. Just as we finished eating,
along came the owner, Tina Banitska, and she sat down for a chat. Both her
parents are in their late 80s and deteriorating rapidly and she desperately
needed to talk about them as well as share some funny stories. It was a good
finish to our time out together and we resisted all her efforts to buy us
drinks or our lunch as a thank you for listening.
In
the afternoon, I was thrilled to find enough energy to do an hour’s painting
out the front. I started doing the railings on the ramp about 6 weeks ago and
it was good to get back to them, although I needed the gardener to trim some
branches of the maple so I can get close to the back of the slats.
On
Friday, after supermarket shopping, Judi & I met with our dogs for a walk
around the Botanic Gardens followed by pots of tea at the Food Gallery.
Judi with Maddy &
Major & an anxious Bilbo
Wes
gardened in the back & front and after cooking us a beautiful lunch of
Atlantic Salmon with broccolini & rice, he headed off to Melbourne to
attend a free seminar ‘Find your Black Sheep in the Archives’ put on by the
True Crime Writing Panel at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne.
This was most interesting & has provided him with food for thought and
discussion.
On
his way, he visited Leanne, and they had a good time together – he went laden
with eggs, honey, parsley, mint & lemons, and arrived back home with a
cake, wine, mustard & chilli chips!
On
Saturday, I delivered The Age to Judi & Michael as Rob & Dene were in
Sydney for the weekend and hadn’t stopped their papers. Wes & I had been
invited to have morning tea with Glenn & Denise and we arrived at their
place to find freshly made scones with homemade jam & cream. We contributed
a Boston bun and I don’t know about them, but we cancelled lunch & thought
we would have our fish for dinner instead! We hadn’t spent time with them both
in ages and did enjoy catching up, especially as Denise has retired from full
time work since we last saw her, and she is looking very happy & healthy because
of being able to pick and choose her projects.
It
was cold enough to have the open fire lit, which was lovely and we spent the
afternoon & evening in the lounge watching footy. The Blues had another
good win against Brisbane & we also watched parts of two other close games –
Hawthorn & Melbourne, followed by Geelong & Greater Western Sydney. The
second-named teams matched it with their opposition for three quarters, but
then were overcome in the last quarter.
This
morning Bilbo and I have a busy time – we are off to pump mineral water, then
visit the Sunday Market, followed by Sunday Breakfast with friends both human
& canine. I will be leaving early to drive to Melbourne for the footy –
Collingwood are playing Port Adelaide at the MCG, and I am glad I have booked
an undercover car park spot as the wet weather has made a mess of the MCG car
park.
However,
Wes has discovered that the big car has a flat battery, so we may not be able
to do all the jobs I set myself before we go to breakfast. Hopefully we can
start the car with jumper leads and all will be well.
David
Lazzaro sent me a message last night to say he was going to the footy, and I
have just bought him a Guest Pass so we can sit together in the MCC. I don’t
often get to watch a game of footy with David these days, so this is a real
treat. Fingers crossed that the Pies play well in spite of three changes to the
team with injuries from last week’s match.
Here is my latest crop
of beanies & berets for Keeping Daylesford Warm – I am now knitting a
cabled scarf with matching hat for something different!
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