Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 13th November, 2016

Dear Friends, I’m feeling much better than last week as I sit writing this. When I left you last Sunday, I was quite annoyed that I hadn’t recovered as quickly and well as I had hoped and had to say no to quite a few things. Wes did the Market shopping & then took Bilbo to breakfast, where he was finally able to see everyone again and enjoyed eyeballing Margot making sure she didn’t forget to feed him – as if!!!

Kathy & Ged had rung to see if they could visit; Ben & Leanne & the kids were in Daylesford for the day & wanted to pop in, and Glenn Mack invited us to lunch at Passing Clouds Winery with Judi & Michael. We had to decline all these lovely things as I wasn’t up to any of them.

We all slept in on Monday which was good and I was able to spend about 8 hours up & dressed, although I didn’t go anywhere or do anything more exhausting than change the sheets & empty the ironing basket. Wes spent the morning in the garden before the weather changed – he did heaps of weeding, mowing & trimming & everywhere looks green & lush. We can’t wait for our roses to start blooming – we seem to be much later than everyone else this year.

 Our weeping Japanese Maple, bought in memory of Joan Testro, is looking very happy & healthy out the front of our home

The 1^st Test finished in a very good win to the South Africans, whose bowling, batting & fielding left us looking very inadequate, especially as they were without their best batsman, their best bowler & their best fielder! Fingers crossed that this Test in Hobart goes our way or we will be watching a dead rubber at the Adelaide Oval in a couple of weeks’ time.

Wes showed the film, The Girl in the Train, on Tuesday morning, and I packed my cough lozenges and joined 15 others to see it. Wes sat with me and we both want that two hours of our lives back. The film was badly cast, had confusing time lines and failed to effectively highlight the main theme of the book.

After hot drinks, croissants & a debrief at The Food Gallery, we headed back home – me to chat to Leanne, and Wes to pick up Brian Nash & take him to Franklinford to show him the cemetery, which contains some of the few original native grasses of this area, as well as some interesting old graves.

I didn’t feel well enough to manage gym on Wednesday, but Dot & I met up at Muffins & More for a couple of hours of Mah Jong and a good chat. Afterwards Judi visited to check out what plants she needs to look after while we are away in Adelaide. Meanwhile Wes spent some time in Barbara’s garden before joining Jan & Warren Pengilley at Jeff Bain’s place to watch the American election results as they came through.

Like most Australians we know, we were absolutely flabbergasted and horrified by Trump’s landslide victory. I can’t believe the women of American voted for him in preference to putting Hillary into the White House & smashing the US glass ceiling.

On Thursday, we went to Vaughan Springs for a picnic. This is one of our favourite spots in our area, and we don’t go there often enough these days. Wes packed the picnic & then the car & we three headed off on a beautiful morning. We started with a walk to Glenluce Spring, which is sadly out of action, and then set up our chairs & table by the Lodden River, reading & listening to the sound of birds and falling water.

There is a lot to see at Vaughan Springs – even though it is a tiny little hamlet these days. There is a Chinese graveyard, a balancing rock, a model railway line, a giant slide, three mineral water springs, old trams up on hills, houses made of old railway carriages & it is the birthplace of Ball & Welch (1861), the Flinders Street department store that was part of our childhoods, but vanished in the 70s.

Spot the Labrador in the long grass at Glenluce

In its heyday, Vaughan Springs was called ‘The Junction’ and was very popular with the Chinese for alluvial gold & market gardening. These days there is a free, non-powered camping site close to the visitor area, and that was where we parked, as there was no-one camping.

Danny arrived on Friday for a two-night visit. It is always lovely to see him & he is the perfect guest – easy to please and fits in with whatever is happening. We had drinks & dinner out on the decking as it was such a good evening.

Yesterday we had a visit from Tom & Deb, & Mike & Kathey, who drove here and were then taken to Tuki for the unique experience there. We had a wonderful day – fishing before lunch was fun with Tom, Danny & Mike being competitive about catching the trout. Jan & Rob Jones were very busy, but had given us a table in a corner out of the way and we could make as much noise as we wanted while enjoying the stunning 180˚ views from where we sat.

Mike & Kathey at the table; Mike fishing, and Danny laughing – a fun day!

We came home via the little hamlet of Kingston to show everyone the beauty of that area and especially its Avenue of Honour, which is looking superb and is maintained by the locals.

Wes produced Eton Mess when we arrived home, and we sat around watching the cricket, which had been an Australia disaster – all out for 85 in the morning – victims of poor shots & excellent bowling.

On a sad note, we were shocked to discover that Don O’Connor & Sue Ewart had died in a single car accident this week. They were very well-known for their businesses – Timberbenders & Gentle Earth Walking, and they will be sorely missed here where they were much loved by the community.