Dear Friends, it has
been quite a week since I gaily wrote up last Sunday’s Dispatch and restarted
the computer to send it off. That was the end of the computer for some reason.
Happily, I had put the Dispatch up on my Blog, http://karenmaloney5.blogspot.com.au/, which saved all the work, but everything else was lost.
I went off to the
Market while Wes tried to sort it out with our Tech Experts, and when I got
home, he had decided he would give breakfast a miss and see if he could get
anywhere. When I arrived back, the experts were asking for us to back up
everything on an external hard drive, which my computer lacks. So we had to
wait until Monday when we could visit Bi-Rite at Mitre 10 and pick one up.
At lunchtime, we
headed off to the MCG to see Collingwood play Hawthorn and arrived in time for
a drink at the outside bar where we had taken the Murrin family three weeks
ago. Amazingly the game was totally engrossing and the Magpies only lost it in
the last 30 seconds. The atmosphere was electric, like a Finals game, and we
were both so pleased that we were there to experience it.
On Monday, after an
early walk, we visited Mitre 10, where Tim sold us a hard drive and back home
we went to spend the rest of the day in front of our computers. Sadly, the
back- up didn’t work on the hard drive, so all my files and folders were wiped
out.
While Wes went off to
show the film, Central Intelligence, (but nobody turned up, so he, Malcolm,
Angie & Ethan had a wasted morning), I drove happily to Ballarat Mazda as
it was time for our little Mazda 2 to be serviced. I arrived in plenty of time
only to be told that Mazda had moved to an industrial estate in Wendouree, and
the receptionist very kindly printed out a Google Map, as I am not familiar
with Wendouree at all.
I finally found them
and was feeling flustered and upset, which no-one seemed to appreciate – ‘but
we sent you a text message yesterday’ was the response to my queries. I
discovered that there was a courtesy bus, so went into the waiting area, where
I promptly muted the wretched breakfast programme that was showing, to the
applause of the other occupant. I have since realised I could have changed
channels to ABC News 24 – maybe next time!
Karen, the bus driver,
dropped us off at Myer in Sturt Street and I did a few chores before heading to
Errard Street for my appointment with a naturopath recommended by my
podiatrist, Victoria Armstrong. We had just started our session when I noticed
she was very distracted and discovered that she had expected a refugee Sudanese
family at 9am that morning and they had only just arrived. They had travelled
from Mildura with a sick child and had gotten lost. Naturally I gave up my
appointment for them and wondered what else could go wrong!
The next thing was a
phone call from Mazda to say my car was ready an hour earlier than expected and
Karen was on her way to pick me up. She was very helpful in giving me
directions on how to get back home without retracing my steps and when I went
to pay the bill it was free, except for the new windscreen wiper inserts which
I request every service.
That afternoon, we
finished the download of all the programme updates from when we bought this
computer, which was running Windows 8 at the time. This was another long
afternoon, but by the time we went to bed, I had managed to get my toolbars
back, my sheep photo on the desktop and Reckon, Skype & e-Wallet working.
The next morning, I
spent restoring my Documents & Photos from back-ups and discovered that I
had only lost about 10 days of work, mostly because I had forgotten to back up
on Saturday when everything worked briefly – my own fault. Then I went for an
enjoyable cuppa and catch up with Judi at Muffins & More, while Wes went
over the road to work in Barbara’s garden. She had caught a bad cold from one
of her carers and spent much of the week resting in bed.
That afternoon was
spent recreating my Calendar back from the Google one and reinstating recurring
events, which don’t sync very well. Finally, I had to get my printer to talk to
the computer again, which involved downloading drivers and umpteen updates, but
that issue is now resolved as well.
We had decided to go
to Bacchus Marsh on Thursday as part of our exploring days, but changed our
minds and visited Avoca instead. First we took Bilbo to see the Blowhole, which
is looking spectacular after all our rain, and on our way back, detoured to see
if Bryce’s Flat was cut off by running water and sure enough it is. There used
to be a very high bridge over the creek, but Council in its wisdom replaced it
with a very low concrete slab, so every time we have rain it is impassable by
car or foot.
Bilbo & Wes at the Blowhole
We dropped Bilbo back
home and drove the scenic route to Avoca, spending a little time in Clunes
& Talbot on the way there. We arrived too early for lunch, so decided to
visit a winery and chose St Ignatius. We are so pleased we did – Sylvia, who
looked after us, and her husband, are from Argentina, and they moved to
Melbourne in their early twenties. This winery was their dream and they do
everything themselves. We particularly liked their Chablis, Cabernet & 2014
Shiraz, so bought a mixed dozen before heading to the Avoca Hotel for lunch.
This hotel was a very
pleasant spot with a good wine list and plenty of interesting wines available
by the glass. The dining room menu offered Tuki trout, which I couldn’t resist,
and kangaroo, which Wes enjoyed.
We drove back home
through Creswick and vowed to go back soon to explore Avoca and its interesting
old buildings and wineries further.
That night Wes went to
a social evening for Daylesford Cinema volunteers, which was held at Horvat’s Supper
Club.
On Friday, we slept in
for a change, and I went shopping at Coles too late to be able to take Bilbo on
the 9am Bushwalk. So I walked him around Lake Daylesford instead and let him
have a swim in the flat shallow area. Wes was able to spend the morning in the
garden, much to his delight, and we were back at our computers after lunch –
him trying to catch up on all the work he was unable to do while Tech Experts
were using our computers, and me trying to download my favourite photo manager
– Microsoft Office Picture Manager, which has disappeared with Office 365 2016.
I eventually did it, took control of my photos and finally could start on this
week’s Dispatch!
Yesterday we had a
lovely three-hour lunch at The Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs with friends, Jane
Barrett & John Webster & Roger & Val Roberts. Amazingly, three of
those four are Poms, who are all delighted to be living in Daylesford. We had
plenty to chat about as well as enjoying our beautiful meals. Wes, Roger &
I had the snapper, which we couldn’t fault – note the clean plates!
L-R John, Jane, Val,
Wes, Karen, Roger
Wes discovered when we
arrived home that he had lost his good glasses and went back to retrace his
steps, while I turned on the TV to watch Collingwood play Williamstown in the
reserves footy, as advertised. Instead Channel 7 was showing Geelong &
Essendon, which was a good, high-scoring game, but not what I wanted to see! The
Pies won well and are into a Preliminary Final in a fortnight.
This morning there is
a message on Facebook that Daryl Raine has found some glasses and as his
business, Aqua Viva, is next door to The Surly Goat, we are very optimistic
that these glasses belong to Wes. Bilbo & I are off to pump water &
stock up at the Sunday Market. The usual breakfast has been cancelled as
everyone is busy, but Wes had suggested taking Barbara to the Boathouse instead
if she is up to it, so that’s what we will be doing for Daddy’s Day.
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