Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 5th March 2017

Dear Friends, because there were only three of us available for breakfast last Sunday, Barbara cancelled it, so after the walk & Sunday Market, Wes & I headed to Hepburn Springs to try breakfast at Blue Bean Love Café. It was funky, as most Hepburn places are, and we enjoyed good service and an enjoyable breakfast together.

In the afternoon, we were visited by our lovely neighbours, Rob & Dene, who came to chat over cups of tea & ended up with glasses of wine when Brian Nash also arrived!

Monday was a perfect morning – after our early walk, where we were delighted to see Barry the fisherman back after 3 weeks in Thailand, I headed to gym & Wes tackled the overgrown jasmine in the front garden.

We had lunch at Boathouse Daylesford with Libby Stewardson, an old friend of Joan Testro, and her daughter, Anne Mallen. This was the perfect venue to chat with people I had never met before and we spent a very enjoyable couple of hours together. Libby has lived in Switzerland for the last 50 years – moved there for her husband’s work with 4 children under 5 – which must have been quite a challenge. Anne is the oldest & she shares her time between England & her home in Footscray.

We shared memories of Joan and learnt all about life in Switzerland. Libby, aged 83, comes to Australia every year to catch up with family & friends.

The last official day of Summer was a hot one – we walked early, then Wes went off to the Daylesford Cinema to prepare to show the film, A United Kingdom. I had a fringe trim & then joined 15 others to see this well-acted, true story, which we all enjoyed very much.

While Wes was catching up with Bob White at The Food Gallery, I went to EKO to have a facial & manicure with Emma & Alanna. This is always a lovely experience and I emerge feeling much better for the treatments.

Peaceful entrance to EKO

Margie Thomas dropped in to home in the late afternoon to discuss the future of the cinema & brought a gift of 1 dozen eggs, which were very welcome indeed.

On Wednesday, the first day of Autumn, it was another hot day. We walked early, I went to gym and then played Mah Jong with Dot until it got too hot. Dot was very excited to tell me all about her grand-daughter, Bethany’s, wedding the previous Saturday. Wes spent the morning with Barbara, but they worked indoors solving computer issues instead of venturing outside into the heat.

At 5pm Wes headed off to Sailors Falls Estate, where Rob & Marg McDonald were again hosting Aperitifs. Quite a few of their guests were also heading to the Daylesford Cinema that night for a Rotary presentation of a 60 minute film showing Seven Women of Nepal, who have been helped by a young Australian woman Stephanie Woollard, who took pity on them when she realised (aged 19) their plight as disabled and therefore, scorned women in Kathmandu. The cinema was full & everyone was moved by what she has achieved in getting women to learn to read & write.

Bilbo & Bunny fast asleep!

We were due for a fortnightly day off and had planned to visit Cinema Nova in Carlton on Thursday to see a few films, especially ‘Lion’, which we had missed here. I discovered that we could see it in Ballarat, so we headed there for the 10.30 session and found ourselves in the comfort of the back row of their Showcase cinema. We loved the film and particularly admired the acting of Dev Kapel, whose Australian accent was faultless.

After lunch at the Knife, Fork & Spoon, across the road in Lydiard Street, we headed back & found ourselves upstairs in an old Gold Class cinema to see the stunning film, ‘Fences’, which features Denzil Washington at his very best. In fact, every actor in this film is wonderful and I was pleased to read that the original play won a Pulitzer Prize for drama back in 1987. The playwright, August Wilson completed the screenplay before he died in 2005.

Yummy lunch in Ballarat – crab omelette for me & vegetable lasagne for Wes

On Friday, we walked early under a star-filled sky, before I went shopping at Coles. Wes dropped me off in Camp Street, and I joined 12 others on a lovely walk through a part of Wheatsheaf I have never been before. One of the walkers, Vera, asked me if I knew of anyone who could fix concrete tanks. I said not, but promised to ask the question on the Daylesford Grapevine when I got home, and sure enough I had two helpful replies in 5 minutes and was able to ring her with a name & phone number.

Wes & Brian visited Powlett’s Hill, which has very little apart from a dirt road and a stunning derelict crofter’s cottage with fruit trees and Fool’s gold rocks. Brian gave Wes a beautiful painting he had done surreptitiously of Wes & Bilbo on the Wombat Trail in Trentham. We have found a spot for it on the wall right next to ‘Karen & Casper’.

We were very sorry to read during the week of the sudden, but peaceful death of Betty Amsden OA, a great philanthropist, who we were lucky enough to meet a few years ago at a Guide Dogs of Victoria lunch for supporters. She died aged 90, after a lifetime as an accomplished businesswoman who established one of the first modern aged care facilities in Australia. She chose to give her money away during her lifetime, and the Tributes to her continue to flow in from beneficiaries of her largesse – The Arts Centre, The Australian Ballet, Victoria Opera, to name but a few.

Yesterday we heard that Danny Spooner had died peacefully after a very short battle with his aggressive cancer. Everyone has lovely memories of the special concert he put on recently – he knew how much he was loved and had the perfect chance to say goodbye.

Wes answered an emergency call from the Cinema and helped out at the 5.30pm session of ‘Lion’, which was well-attended and enjoyed by everyone there. He met someone who knows the family & was able to confirm the accuracy of the film. Meanwhile I had a huge washing & ironing day back here – put on the first load at 5.30am before we went walking & folded the last towels at 7.30pm. In between there was plenty of sport to keep me going – three exciting women’s footy games; one close men’s game & a fabulous first day of cricket at Bangalore, where the Aussies bowled out the Indians for 189 & were 0/40 at stumps.

We have been invited to ‘Du Fermier’ in Trentham to help celebrate Bob White’s 80^th birthday today and are looking forward very much to doing just that!