Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 30th April 2017

Dear Friends, we enjoyed a lovely long lunch with Kyahl & Loz last Sunday, after a fun breakfast at the Food Gallery with Judi, Barbara, Janine & Margot.

Wes had excelled himself with a vegetarian pasta, salad, sweets & cheeses – I set the table & arranged the flowers – a trick I learned from Annie Smith many years ago, when David used to do the cooking & wanted her out of the kitchen!! They brought a beautiful bottle of French pinot with them, which they picked up at ‘Wine & the Country’ here.

On Monday morning, after walking Bilbo around the Lake a little later than usual, I stopped at our Post Office to pick up a parcel & discovered two bags of wool from friends of Kathy Lazzaro. Kathy had told them about ‘Keeping Daylesford Warm’ and how donations of wool were much appreciated, so they pooled their unwanted balls & sent them to me. I was very chuffed indeed.

Stunning lilies from Annie Smith – now into their 3^rd week!

ANZAC Day dawned cold & wet, so we decided to miss the Dawn Service and observe the ceremony at Eganstown instead. It was beautiful, as always, with the highlight of Sallie Harvey singing unaccompanied ‘And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda’.

Afterward we went for breakfast at Boathouse Café where we were looked after well by Susanne & Claire as usual. Wes very kindly drove me to Woodend, where I caught the train to Spencer Street & changed for Jolimont & the MCG, where I joined 87,000+ for the traditional (23 years now) clash between Collingwood & Essendon.  The ceremonies were moving, the joint banner was respectful & the game was played in an excellent spirit. Essendon were worthy winners by 3 goals.

On the way to the station, we had dropped off my Summer knitting to Jodie in Wheatsheaf. She has taken over running ‘Keeping Daylesford Warm’ from Mel & was most appreciative of the 20+ brightly-coloured beanies & berets, plus boy’s jumper & matching beanie that I had for her.

You never quite know what is around the corner, and I learnt that with a vengeance on Wednesday just as I was finishing off my gym routine and took an unexpected tumble. Luckily, I landed on my bottom, but managed to sprain my right wrist when I flung my arm out to break the fall. I was delighted to discover that I hadn’t broken it and am merely inconvenienced for a couple of weeks. Like everyone who has taken a fall they didn’t expect, I needed some rest and ended up with a couple of days in bed. Poor Wes had to collect me from the gym & take me to the doctor & later walk back up to West Street to pick up my car, rather than leave it out overnight.

On Friday, we were back at the Springs Medical Centre to get our flu injections & an extra pneumonia jab for me. The two nurses decided to administer both shots at once and did so on the count of three, standing on either side of me.

As well as looking after me, Wes is helping Barbara, whose car wheelchair was damaged when it fell from the roof-rack about two weeks ago. The car is drivable in spite of some damage, but she can’t use it properly until the wheelchair is back in place. Hopefully the ‘mad inventors’ in Ballarat will be able to fix it and prevent that happening again.

We have had to cancel some activities and postpone others. Each day I can do a little more with my right hand, but lifting, carrying & gym are all out for a while. This morning Wes has walked Bilbo early & taken him to the Sunday Market in my stead. After that he is off to Sailors Falls Estate for the morning to help with grape-picking.

Carlton beat the Swans yesterday in an unexpected victory, and Wes is thrilled to bits, especially when their Freo recruit, Alex Silvagni, played so well on Buddy Franklin. The worst part of the game was the dreadful fall onto his head by Swan Gary Rohan, who is in Epworth Hospital having scans after knocking himself unconscious. We were very upset watching it on TV – it must have been far worse to have seen it happen live.

Our Sydney friends, Jane & David Knox, had to say goodbye to their 18-year old cat, Dora, this week. We have been thinking of them – all pet owners dread that time & we know how much they are missing Dora.

We had hoped to get to the footy this afternoon, to see Collingwood play Geelong, but have decided it is just too much, so will watch it on TV instead & hope for an upset win over the unbeaten Cats at the MCG!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 23rd April 2017

  

Dear Friends, I do hope you enjoyed Easter Sunday. Mine was a mixed bag – it started well with the Market & I came home to yummy chilli fried eggs, which lasted me until dinner time.

Yummy eggs with Jasmine tea & special teacup

Wes, Maisie & Bilbo all drove me to Woodend to catch the 12.25pm train as that got me into Spencer Street to meet David Lazzaro & spend 1½ hours with him. This was another highlight & we enjoyed our chat, before parting ways – him to head upstairs to find his sister, Jess, and her fiancé, Eri, with his brother Freddie, keen to learn all about Aussie Rules.

I was sitting in the middle level, close to the action – if only there had been some to enjoy! It was a terrible game of footy & Collingwood played particularly badly. With 8 minutes to go and victory a dream no more, I headed for the exit & caught an earlier train home, to be met by Wes & dogs with sympathetic looks on their faces. A big glass of red wine went some way to restoring my good spirits.

Our Japanese Maple is looking more vibrant every day & we miss being able to discuss its beauty with Joan Testro, who always wanted more photos of Japanese Maples, particularly as hers very defiantly stayed green all year round.

Annie Smith arrived back from Singapore on Easter Tuesday morning & collected Maisie. Both dogs were very excited to see her & I suspect Maisie was just as tired as Bilbo was – he spent the rest of the day zedding, while I washed all his bedding that she had used. I wonder if Maisie woke Annie at 5.30am for a walk on Wednesday!

  

Wes had suggested we go for a drink at ‘Wine & Country’, a delightful wine bar opposite the Information Centre, so we set off on Tuesday afternoon at 4.30pm. Bronwyn Liddelow was on duty, so we left the choice of wines to her & enjoyed five different styles between the two of us – I think Wes liked the Beaujolais best, while I thought my Heathcote shiraz was very special indeed. We saw lots of friends, including Judi, Michael & Gillie, who were meeting others there for a celebration. We also spotted David Innes, who we have not seen in months & had a joyous catch-up with him.

Needless to say the next morning was a very slow start, and we agreed that I would walk Bilbo at 7.30am around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, which is always a treat & absolutely empty at that time of morning.

We are lucky enough to be visited by this pair of kookaburras at present – such a thrill to look out & see them perched on the garden arch.

Last Thursday we fulfilled a 40-year ambition, when we attended a morning concert of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber ensemble playing Mozart’s ‘Divertimento in D for Strings’; followed by Mendelssohn’s ‘String Octet in E-flat’. We had bought tickets when we first saw them advertised on 1^st January this year & were lucky enough to get the middle of the front row, which was a stunning position from which to see & hear. About a week before the concert, we received word that the world-famous violinist, Joshua Bell, would be joining the Ensemble for the Mendelssohn Octet. What a treat that was – he is absolutely mesmerizing & makes his violin sing unlike any other performer I have ever seen. We had wanted to see the Academy ever since our first visit to London in 1977, where we fell in love with the church of St Martin in the Fields & each visit since we have hoped to find the Academy performing – no such luck!

Afterwards we had lunch at ‘Waterfront’ on Southbank, where we enjoyed fried sardines, followed by perfectly cooked hapuku (one of our favourite fish). We first came across hapuku after we had been to Sri Lanka in 1979 & came home wanting to cook dishes using the seer fish of that country. ‘Canals’, the famous fish mongers in Carlton, advised hapuku & laughed when I wanted to order one. They suggested one or two steaks would be plenty & when the fish arrived, I could see their point.

We had travelled to & from the concert by train – drove to Woodend, parked the car & enjoyed an hour’s ride into Spencer Street AKA Southern Cross Station.

On Thursday night, the rain started & didn’t stop until mid-morning yesterday, giving us around 45mls in all, which was wonderful & well overdue. Wes had put the motor-mower in for service after he mowed Barbara’s lawns – good timing all round.

Our Lincolnshire aunt & uncle – Jeff & Kev Hoolihan have been in the wars & are currently both in hospital – fortunately the same one! We hope they will both be back home in Torksey Lock very soon indeed.

The outpouring of grief in our part of Australia over the unexpected death of John Clarke, comedian, actor & political commentator, has been amazing. We are feeling very bereft indeed & will miss ‘Clarke & Dawe’ at 6.55pm every Thursday night on the ABC.

As well as the mower needing a service, Sandra left us a note to say that our vacuum cleaner had packed up, and we discovered that our rice cooker had a slow leak. We went to Bi-Rite, where Tim was able to sell us a new vacuum cleaner, and order in a new Breville Multi-Chef Cooker. The cost of a replacement bowl was $45, so we preferred to pay a bit extra & get a new unit.

As I look out over our back yard, the magpies & rosellas are happily foraging for bird seed & worms, there is a mist over the Lake & Wombat Forest, our grass is green & shining with dew & there are glimpses of yellow & russet coloured trees through the gums.

Bilbo is sitting happily at my feet, waiting to go to the Sunday Market & then breakfast. We have Kyahl Anderson & his fiancée, Loz Sanders, coming to lunch, so it will be a very social & stimulating day for us all. 

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 16th April 2017

Dear Friends, when I left you last Sunday, Bilbo & I were heading off to the Sunday Market, with no idea that we were going to be pelted with rain the minute we arrived. There were only a few brave stall-holders & they were all clinging onto their stands in the hope they would stay rooted to the ground. Yvonne was very grateful to Marjorie Atkinson & me as we were her only customers at that time!

We ended up with 90mls in 24 hours & lots of storm damage over the Shire, including trees on roads & driveways, which the wonderful SES spent their time removing. Next door at no 76, a tree on the road verge split in two & one half ended up lying on the front gate. Fortunately, the visitor there had not parked his car in front of the gate, as most visitors do, or it would have been a wreck. Breakfast was a fun affair with Margot able to climb the stairs; a surprise visit from Glenn Mack, & lots of interesting conversations. David Castles had driven up through sleet from Box Hill, and we were pleased to have his company, while Bilbo had to share his bed & grub with Bam Bam.

We lit our open fire for the first time this year and enjoyed the warmth until we suddenly discovered that the house was filled with smoke. We suspect that Sandra, who cleans very thoroughly, had altered the damper setting at some stage, which meant the smoke went out instead of up. Wes fixed that up & we settled back to watch a very soggy but entertaining game of footy at the MCG, where the Blues finally won a game by 15 points over Essendon.

The film this week was ‘Beauty & the Beast’, which I was keen to see as I really like Emma Watson (Hermione Granger in Harry Potter). I found the film most entertaining, with wonderful effects. There were 30 of us in the audience & not all the popcorn was being eaten by small children!

Dot & I met as usual at ‘Muffins & More’ on Wednesday morning to play Mah Jong, but Ann-Maree & Heather had sold the business & finished up two days earlier, so we were wondering what it would be like. Much to our delight we were greeted by Bella & Lily, who usually serve the drinks & food on Wednesdays & everything was pretty much the same, even down to the vases of flowers on the tables.

Our friend, Annie Smith, was spending Easter in Singapore & when I discovered that no-one was available to look after her 7-year old Irish Water Spaniel, Maisie, I quickly offered & was just as quickly accepted. Maisie & Bilbo are very excited to see each other in the street, but we find they are both spoilt only dogs, who are having trouble accepting that someone else is getting the pats & treats.

On Good Friday, when we like to go for a long walk together, we took them to Trentham, where we walked the Wombat Trail, which has been enhanced by the very recent inclusion of the Wombat Loop, which cuts out any streets on your way to the Trentham Racecourse (except for crossing the highway at one point!).

Bilbo & I in the beautiful forest leading to the Racecourse

We had been invited to lunch by old friends, Al Ebenreuter & Kathy Hancock, so we left the two dogs together with dried bones & the run of the house, while we spent a very enjoyable three hours being fed & watered not too far away in Bridport Street. On our return, we were delighted to find the house in one piece and both dogs asleep, but in different rooms & on different dog beds.

Bilbo & Maisie with their bones – so funny!

Aussie Rules Footy was played on Good Friday for the first time ever. A crowd of 42,000+ turned up at the Docklands Stadium to watch the game, which was a tight-fought entertaining contest, lost by North Melbourne to the Doggies with the last kick of the match. I’m not particularly thrilled with footy being played on Good Friday, but I did enjoy watching the game.

Last night Wes did an extra shift at the Daylesford Cinema to help out, as there is a shortage of available volunteers over Easter. He was very pleased to have missed Carlton’s game against the Gold Coast, which they lost after being even at half-time.

This morning we are not off to breakfast as the Food Gallery announced it wasn’t opening until 10am on Easter Sunday, because of the penalty rates. I noticed they have relented & decided to open at 9am, but Barbara had already cancelled breakfast as 10am is too late for most of us.

So, after Bilbo & I return from the Sunday Market, Wes & I will have chilli eggs as a special treat. I have a seat at the Collingwood vs St Kilda game this afternoon, which is being played at the Docklands. Wes is going to drive me to Woodend to catch the Bendigo train into Spencer Street, which is right next to the stadium. This gives me the option of coming home on the Ballarat or Bendigo lines – neither has enough trains running, but the Bendigo trains are about 5 minutes after Ballarat, so if I miss the first, I can catch the next one.

I wish Wes well with feeding the dogs on his own. We have been putting their bowls on opposite sides of the house & that worked perfectly until last night, when they both ran to one side for Maisie’s dinner & then back into the kitchen to watch me making Bilbo’s meal. Wes eventually got Maisie on her own & fed her well before Bilbo started, as she is a very slow eater.

Happy Easter to you wherever you may be – we hope you enjoy a wonderful day with family or friends or both. We’ve given out some bags of eggs & received some lovely ones in return.

When I returned from gym on Wednesday to get changed for Mah Jong, this is what greeted me in the lounge, when I popped my head in to let Sandra know I was back!!!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 9th April 2017

Dear Friends, it has really felt like Autumn this week – cool nights & mornings, followed by warm (but not too hot) days. The roses are starting to bloom again & I have planted snow peas in the box that contained the cucumbers.

We have enjoyed a very social week. On Monday, we had lunch together at ‘Jackie’s on Vincent’, where we were beautifully looked after by Lisa & Jackie.

                        

The next day was lunch at ‘Boathouse Daylesford’ with Judi, Michael & Danny. It was great fun & we sat in a table by the corner, eating, drinking & laughing for 3 hours or so. The mussels here are sensational, and Wes & I can’t go past them, especially with calamari beforehand!

Judi, Michael, Danny & Wes

I also spent a night in Strathmore with Leanne, as we had a few things to achieve together. Smokey, the cat, doesn’t bat an eyelid when I arrive and apart from losing one of his favourite spots on Viva’s bed, doesn’t seem to be inconvenienced in any way.

We were thrilled to have a visit from Michael, Linda & Lauren Kirby at the end of the week. They stayed at ‘Double Nut’ self-contained accommodation, owned by Glenda & Joe Rozen, which put them right in the heart of things. Wes met them late on Friday afternoon for a drink at ‘Wine & Country’, and returned home in time for a most exciting game of footy, where Collingwood was fortunate to beat the Sydney Swans by a point at the SCG. Unexpectedly, David Lazzaro was at the game with Jessica & Daniel – what a game to see! Jane & David Knox were there with their friends & Jane was kind enough to send congratulations to me even though she would have been feeling quite exhausted & upset at the end.

We started our morning with a walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, which Mike & Linda loved. Bilbo was pleased to have their company as well. Here we are posing at the iconic vision that was the opening of the show ‘Bellbird’ for so many years.

Our next stop was ‘Larder’, where Martin greeted us warmly, congratulated me on the Pies win, and looked after us with very yummy breakfasts. As we were heading to Tuki for lunch, Wes & I were reluctant to indulge in our usual meals as we wouldn’t have felt like eating until dinner time. I tried the rice pudding, which was delightful & light, and Wes had the muesli, which he declared a winner.

Then we set off on a tour through some of the villages of the Hepburn Shire – Eganstown, Blampied & Smeaton on our way to Clunes. All three were taken with Clunes & in particular the main street, which they could easily envisage as a film set. Presently, a remake of ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ is being partially shot there, but there was no sign of the set when we drove through.

Since Wes & Brian have been going out most Fridays looking for iconic images of the Hepburn Shire villages, Wes has even more stories to relate & he drove us through some amazing countryside, pointing out where aborigines had been massacred; where large townships had existed briefly during the gold rush, and where families had been farming for generations. Lauren was keen to see sheep and fortunately we passed some alpacas & emus as well.

Fishing at Tuki – Lauren, Mike, Linda & Wes

The Kirbys just loved Tuki – we had a ball watching them fish – Mike caught 4, Linda 1 & Lauren had a beauty on her line, but it got away. Rob & Jan Jones looked after us brilliantly as usual & we had a perfect table behind glass with endless views of sky, mountains, volcanoes & water. The trout were perfectly cooked & everyone else tucked into the Tuki lamb & beef as well.

Wes drove us home via Maldon, where we stretched our legs, wandered into a few shops & had hot drinks in ‘Le Sel’, where those with room, indulged in a cake or pastry. It was pouring rain by then, much to our delight, as we are desperate for rain & there are 10mls in the gauge this morning.

We drove back home through Franklinford, Mount Franklin, Dry Diggings & Hepburn Springs, before dropping Mike, Linda & Lauren back at ‘Double Nut’. They had planned to return to our place later for wine, bread & cheese; but when the rain was pelting down, we all decided to cancel that so they could stay warm & cosy where they were.

We watched the footy until it was time for bed, and both evening matches were most entertaining. Freo beat the Doggies, appropriately, as they were the last team to beat the Doggies last year. Richmond had a good win over West Coast, Geelong were too good for Melbourne and Adelaide prevailed in the Showdown against Port Adelaide, which was a complete sellout at the beautiful Adelaide Oval.

Bilbo & I are about to head off to the Sunday Market in the gentle rain, before going to breakfast. Margot will be joining us again today after recovering from her recent operation and David Castles is hopeful of getting there with Bam Bam as well. The Kirbys have a 12.30pm flight home today, so we are not expecting them to have time to join us, much as it would be lovely to see them once more before they go.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 2nd April 2017

Dear Friends, we’ve said goodbye to daylight saving this morning with an extra hour’s sleep. For a while, our early walk around the Lake will be done in partial light, but before long, we will be back to needing the torch for the entire time we are out.

Once again, we have enjoyed some lovely highlights in our week. We had an unexpected visit from an old insurance friend, Mark Silviera, who was here with a bunch of motor cyclists who were doing their annual tour of part of Victoria & finished up with a weekend in Daylesford. He was sporting leathers & a very fancy bike, and we enjoyed sitting out on our veranda over a cup of tea catching up on news.

I’ve been able to pick lots of produce lately and am very proud of growing a handful of cucumbers & dwarf scarlet beans, as well as our best crop of zucchini ever & more tomatoes than we know what to do with! We have two varieties of chives, mint & parsley, as well as pots of French tarragon, spicy rocket, basil mint, Greek oregano & lemon thyme.

All the roses are in flower again & we both particularly love ‘Hot Cocoa’, which is prolific. This arrangement came from one of our two bushes & there are already enough blooms on it again to fill another vase. Not only is it a stunning colour, but it also has a lovely perfume.

                                                                                                                     The 4^th & final Test in India has been riveting and we are finding it very hard to stay awake until stumps each night, which is 10pm. We just didn’t have an answer to their bowlers, especially Judeja, who was a very worthy man of the match.

                                                                                                                                            

I’ve had a couple of unpleasant health experiences this week. On Tuesday, I went for my bi-annual eye examination at our local optometrist. Like most people, my eyes really don’t like stuff being squirted into them & resist as much as they can. However, after three lots of liquid and the usual tests, Sarah suggested she could spot a freckle on my left eye & wanted to photograph it, just to be sure it wasn’t something sinister. This involved a squirt of something numbing followed by some blinding flashes as she took 4 photos. The good news is that it was purely a change in pigmentation that is nothing to worry about; but the bad news was that I couldn’t really see very well. I had hoped to see the 10am film, ‘Patriot Day’, but walked along the street to let Wes know I would have to go home. Luckily, I ran into Brian Nash, who was looking for Wes as well & he drove me home, where I sat quietly with a pot of jasmine tea & a Labrador for company. It took 2 days before the dizziness disappeared & the feeling of bruising subsided.

The next morning at Mah Jong with Dot, I had a severe asthma attack, probably caused by a strong perfume and we had to finish early, so I could go home. I was quite exhausted from the coughing & wheezing, so went to bed after feeding Bilbo & was waited on with a G&T & yummy stir-fry.

We had planned a trip to the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show at the Exhibition Gardens & when I realised that Collingwood was playing Richmond that night, we decided to have a very quiet morning, visit the Show in the afternoon, have dinner & see the footy at the MCG.

We did all that & enjoyed our time at the Flower Show. This was our favourite exhibit in the small garden section (the Hobbit Garden if you don’t recognise it). 

   

                                           

We had parked at the carpark on the AFL side of the MCG & caught trams to & from the Flower Show in Carlton. We arrived back at the G in time to have a meal in the Hugh Trumble café downstairs. As usual, two friendly staff members greeted us at the door & asked if we were happy to share a table, which of course, we were.

Lovely photo of Wes tucking into a huge parma – never again I believe!

We had great seats & the only downside to the match was Collingwood’s inability to capitalise on their opportunities in front of goal. Richmond thoroughly deserved their win, but weren’t top 8 material by any means.

We escaped from the carpark quickly & were home & in bed before midnight. We had left Bilbo tucking into a huge dried marrow bone & he wasn’t looking for dinner when we walked in the door!

The next morning, I was absolutely exhausted, so we decided it would be best if I spent the day in bed, which was the right thing to do. I spent my time reading, doing DA’s cryptic crossword, sleeping & eventually watching a most exciting rematch of last year’s Grand Final between the Western Bulldogs & the Sydney Swans at the Docklands, which was narrowly won by the Doggies.

Yesterday Wes volunteered to show the Lego film at 3pm, so Bilbo & I went to see Daylesford play Beaufort at Victoria Park. In spite of the wind, the kicking for goal was excellent & when I left at half-time, Beaufort had 9 goals, 1 point & we had 5 goals, 1 point. We lost by a larger margin in the end.

Bilbo looking relaxed with his back to the action – not worried about balls coming over the boundary at all!

Now I am sitting looking out into the garden at the parrots & magpies waiting for me to scatter seed. Bilbo is at my feet to make sure I don’t go to the Market without him, so I’ll try to remember to take him with me. Ditto with Sunday Breakfast – hopefully we won’t leave him behind at home then either – as if!!!