Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd July 2016

 Dear Friends, it was another cold Sunday last week, with the threat of black ice still around, so we travelled carefully to the Market and then to breakfast, where we enjoyed a long, fairly serious chat about the effects of the vote by the UK to leave the EU. None of us can understand it, and it appears to have been an anti-immigration vote as much as anything else. We hope our cousin, Leigh, and her husband, Simon, are not adversely affected by it.

We will have a chance to discuss this in person, as Leigh, Simon & Simon’s daughter, Charlotte, are all travelling to Australia early next month. They fly into Melbourne on the Saturday morning, and we are meeting them for brunch on Sunday before taking them to the MCG to see Carlton play St Kilda. Leigh is a Carlton fan and is keen for the other two to see Aussie Rules. I have bought guest passes & reserved seats in the MCC, so there will be plenty for them to look at if the footy doesn’t grab them. Two days later, after visiting Leanne, they are driving to Daylesford to spend two nights at Lake Daylesford Cottage, before heading off to Tathra to see my sister, Paun & her husband, Brian, on their way to Sydney, finishing their trip with some days of R&R at Port Douglas. They are hoping to catch up with my brothers, Terry & Peter, and their wives, Mary & Anka, as well as some of Leigh’s many friends in Oz.

After breakfast, I made a big pot of minestrone soup, which we enjoyed with olive sourdough bread, fresh from the Sunday Market – I bought the loaf three minutes after it was delivered to the bread stall.

Wes finally got into the garden on Monday, as it was dry in the morning. He and Bilbo enjoyed an early walk, and I had a fun session at gym. Barry had written a new programme for me, but left it at his home, so we worked off someone else’s sheet with a few changes. I spent 25 minutes on the phone to Deo at Telstra, trying to get some action – no one wants to take responsibility for my lost phone and both Deo and a later ‘follow-up’ caller from Telstra suggested that I should be ranting & raving at our local Telstra shop. I object very strenuously to this – Keith has looked after us brilliantly for the last 18 years and I believe his version of events.

Enough said!

We woke on Tuesday to find that our dear friends, Bobby & Marilyn, had made a special trip to St Columba’s Island on the Isle of Skye to find Viva’s tree & see if the scarf we tied there two years ago had survived. Sadly it had gone, but they left some flowers and thought of her. I was in tears with their kindness.

We are really enjoying following their trip around Scotland with them and they keep us informed with lots of photos. They have eaten at places we suggested, done walks we loved and, in spite of the cold and single lane roads, are having a great time. We can’t wait to catch up with them on their return and chat at great length about what they have done.

On Tuesday, I gave ‘Finding Dory’ a miss and drove to Strathmore to spend time with Leanne instead. We had a good visit, but it was amazing the difference in weather in 100 kms. I left and returned to Brigadoon, but Strathmore was bathed in sunshine & 15º.

Two stunning views of Lake Daylesford taken at 6.30am by Robyn Lawrence

Wes did a double shift at the cinema as it is school holidays, which he followed with a meeting at the Food Gallery and a visit to Margot to collect her computer, so he can do some upgrades for her. My computer is running well after its visit to hospital, but the mobile has still not been replaced, and the dishwasher has a burnt out motor, which needs replacing.

Valerie, Dot & I enjoyed our games of Mah Jong on Wednesday morning – the heater was fixed; the café was full of happy visitors and locals tucking into big breakfasts & pancake stacks, and the staff never stopped smiling and being helpful. Meanwhile, Wes spent time with Barbara as usual – she has a foot infection, so has been advised to have as much bed rest as possible to help the antibiotics do their work.

The 30^th June dawned cold and wet. The boys walked early, but it never really got above 4º (feels like -4), so we spent the morning on the computer. I had decided to change all our passwords again and this seemed like a good time to do it, while Wes had set himself a deadline of that date for research on the family tree…..now the hard work of writing the stories begins in earnest.

There was a boys’ film afternoon at the Pengilleys’ place, so I drove Wes and Jeff Bain there, where they were joined by Brian Nash & David Hall, for a solid afternoon of eating, drinking, watching a film (The Bridge of Spies) and solving most of the world’s problems. We agreed that Wes & Jeff would catch a taxi home when they were good & ready, but Jan Pengilley kindly did the honours around 8pm.

On Friday, we were excited to have a visit from Libby Tyrrell Edgoose, with her friend and former next-door neighbour, Jan di Luca. They drove up from Ivanhoe and brought some drier weather with them. We had lunch at Boathouse Daylesford, where Susanne & Claire looked after us beautifully. The minute Lib & Jan decided to go home it started to rain again, and within a short time, we were back to wet & grey weather.

Jan & Lib enjoying the views of Lake Daylesford as we chat over a glass of pinot gris before lunch

It ended up a very busy day for both of us – the phone was running hot in preparation for yesterday, as Wes was Captain of the Glenlyon voting booth.

I visited Keith at our local Telstra shop to see if he had any more news on my lost phone – he didn’t, but as I was leaving Wombat Hill Nursery, (armed with little plants to replace my much-loved geraniums that the rosellas destroyed), I received a phone call from Graham, a manager at Telstra to let me know that he would be sending me a replacement phone that day and to ask me what I would like. I opted for the updated version of the LG phone that was lost, and asked him about the two months’ rent that we had paid. He agreed to send me $150 in vouchers, which rose to $200 by the time we finished talking. This is a very satisfactory outcome after 9 weeks since my phone stopped working. Fingers crossed that the phone arrives safely.

Wes and I had very different mornings yesterday – he walked Bilbo early in the light rain and mist, then packed the car and set off around 7am to get the Glenlyon Hall ready for handing out ALP How to Vote Cards for Catherine King. I met Judi at Jackie’s on Vincent for a yummy breakfast omelette and catch up, after walking around the Farmers’ Market across the road, where I caught up with local producers, as well as wonderful Rotarians – Bronnie, Ron, David & Gordon. We both walked around town afterwards redirecting visitors who were heading to the Daylesford Primary School to vote. For the first time in our memory, the polling booth was in Smith Street at St Michael’s Primary School.

Lovely photo of Wes being visited by another True Believer, Lauren Matthews-Nicholls, at Glenlyon Polling Booth

When I got home, Wes had dropped back briefly to warm up, recharge the mobile and sit down, before heading back to do another shift at Glenlyon.

It was a busy night – I made dinner while Wes settled down to watch the Election broadcast on a wide spectrum of channels, most of which were ruined by giggling females or people talking about results that didn’t match what was on the screen. Early signs were for a reduced Coalition majority, but we woke this morning to find that Labor had done better as the night wore on, and as I send this, we still don’t know which party will be in government. Our local member, Catherine King, has comfortably held her seat, which is a testament to her hard work here and as Shadow Minister for Health.

I left the political broadcasts at 7.25pm to watch the Carlton & Collingwood game on the TV in our bedroom. After the stunning game in the afternoon between Sydney & Western Bulldogs, which resulted in a 4-point win to the Doggies at the SCG, I didn’t expect as high a standard in our game, which the Pies managed to win by 2 goals in a low-scoring scrap. It was lovely to see the first game of Jack Silvagni, the third generation of Silvagnis to play for Carlton. Both his father, Steve, and grandfather, Serge, were watching on proudly. He is a natural, who seems to have no fear, and with this nerve-wracking debut behind him, he will only improve.

Jack in long sleeves, like his father, SOS, getting out a handball against Mason Cox with Nathan Brown in the background

Bilbo is getting anxious at my feet, so it must be time to venture out into the early morning mist and collect some provisions at the Sunday Market, before catching up with friends for breakfast upstairs at the Food Gallery.