There was much excitement
at Flemington Racecourse as the first of Black Caviar’s foals, a 2-year-old
filly named Oscietra, ran in her first race. She is quite tiny, and led
gallantly for about 800 metres, before being passed by 2 other horses. That
night was the Big Bash Derby at the MCG, where the Melbourne Renegades beat the
Melbourne Stars by 7 runs in front of almost 72,000 fans.
Stunning long & short stemmed roses from our
garden
We woke to a cool
morning & misty rain on Monday, which made for a lovely walk around the
Lake.
Afterwards, while Wes
gardened in the front, I took Bilbo for a second walk up by the Daylesford
Station and base of the Botanic Gardens. We didn’t meet another soul during
this time.
Judi rang to say that
our good friend, Glenn Mack, had suffered a heart attack the day before &
was in St John of God Hospital, getting the best of care. He later had 4 stents
inserted & came out of hospital on Thursday afternoon, which is a tribute
to his fitness & sensible eating regime.
Wes showed the film,
‘Queen of Katwe’ on Tuesday morning. Judi & I were among the handful that
turned up to see it. And what a wonderful film it is – we haven’t stopped
talking about it. It is a true story set in Uganda and beautifully written,
acted & filmed. Afterwards we had a light lunch at the Food Gallery, which
was very busy, and has employed our friend, Andrea Holmes, to help with the
holiday crowds.
I’m afraid I turned
into a couch potato after that & spent the afternoon watching Day 1 of the
3rd Test at Sydney. We missed David Warner’s record-breaking century
before lunch, but enjoyed seeing Matt Renshaw, aged 20, turn his maiden century
into 150+ by stumps.
Both Wes & I had
appointments to see Dr Greg Stewart on Wednesday – we both needed
prescriptions, we both had excellent blood pressure and only I was due to have
a blood test, which I did on Friday morning after the shopping. While I watched
Day 2 of the cricket, Wes spent hours mowing Barbara’s lawn, so that it would
look good for her return on Friday night. He had visions of mowing the verge at
the end of the street as well, but it was too hot.
Wes had offered to
take our friend, Danny Spooner, to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in
Melbourne on Thursday morning. Danny has been diagnosed with inoperable &
incurable cancer in his lungs & brain and has decided against chemo, but is
happy to have help from Peter Mac to manage his pain. We enjoy chatting on the
drive in – Danny has a very good attitude to his illness and fate, which makes
it easy to be with him. He is a world-renowned folk singer, born in England,
who made his way to Australia in 1962. We first met him at Melbourne Uni and it
was a thrill to find him living here in Daylesford with Gael Shannon when we
bought a house here in 1998.
Our next stop was the
Ian Potter Gallery, (the Australian arm of the National Gallery of Victoria),
where we bought tickets to see the John Olsen Exhibition, after a refreshing
hot drink in the Members’ Lounge. What an incredible body of work he has
produced. I enjoyed his poetry and writings as much as his paintings, and we
both liked seeing the recent interview with him, where he talked about most of
the major works in the Exhibition.
We found time to look
at a couple of rooms of Australian art, especially John Brack’s ‘Collins St,
5pm’ and its partner painting ‘The Bar’, as well as Fred Williams’ ‘Upwey’ – which are three of my favourite
paintings of all time.
Then off for a yum cha
lunch with Tom & Deb at Westlake in Little Bourke Street. We were to have
been joined by Ian & Robyn, but Ian injured his knee the day before and had
to retire hurt from all social engagements. He has since emailed to say it
looks as though the damage isn’t as bad as first thought and he hopes to be off
the crutches soon. When we arrived back here it was evident that Bilbo had
spent most of the day on the couch!
Me at Westlake without a hat as everyone keeps
telling me!
On Friday morning, we
three went for a walk around Victoria Park, where the footy is played, where
the Show is run and where lots of dogs congregate in the late afternoon on the
soccer field. We were impressed by the work that had been done by Council which
will make parking at games or functions in the Clubrooms a little easier than
before. There has been a big clean-up & some lovely plantings as well.
Wes & Brian Nash
spent the morning together at Eganstown Catholic Cemetery, Blanket Flat &
the Deep Spring mineral water area. They tried to find Corinella Falls, but
only got lost and retired to the Swiss Mountain Hotel at Blampied for a cool
ale and chat.
Wes spent the
afternoon mowing Danny & Gael’s back lawns. Someone on a ride-on mower had
done the front areas, but Wes brought home 4 big garbage bags full of clippings
after he was done. He had time for a shower & change before heading off to
Melbourne Airport to collect Barbara, whose flight arrived at 7pm. By the time
he got back here around 9.30pm, he was absolutely exhausted.
Yesterday I took Bilbo
for the walk to let Wes have a sleep in and rest his back after all the mowing
& driving. He tried to work in the front garden, but finally was persuaded
to come in & watch the cricket & later enjoy a snooze. I took Bilbo
with me to the Farmers’ Market & then into Vincent Street to collect
prescriptions. We met so many people, including Glenn’s partner, Denise, and
caught up on the latest news.
Late in the afternoon,
Wes went with Barbara to collect Bobby, the cat, at Guildford. She had intended
to collect him on Monday, but Wes wasn’t available then or today, so opted to
get him earlier. Wes was looking much better by the time he set off – I had
been quite concerned as he had really been pushing himself. I had hoped that he
would have a break while Barbara was away, but then we found out about Danny
Spooner, and the opportunity to drive him into town, and then to mow his lawns
couldn’t be ignored.
It is already 25˚and
very humid here this morning. Bilbo & I are off to the Sunday Market before
we join our friends for the first breakfast at the Food Gallery for 2017.
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