Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 6th August 2017

 When I left you last week, Wes & I were heading off to the MCG to see Collingwood play Adelaide. We decided to go early & catch a bit of the curtain-raisers, which didn’t happen, as we were held up on the Calder Highway & when we arrived, were able to meet up with David Lazzaro & his son, Daniel & spend a most enjoyable hour or so with them.

The footy was much closer & much more exciting than we had expected, although the Pies let the Crows come back from 50 points down to force a draw after the siren! At half-time I found Gayle Gibson in the Long Room with her friend, Heather, enjoying afternoon tea. I had hoped to buy her a glass of sparkling to celebrate her birthday, but we’ve taken a raincheck on that & she gave me a copy of a wonderful book entitled ‘The Collingwood Barracker 1853-1906’.

We arrived home to find that Bilbo, after he had finished his treat, had hopped onto Wes’s chair & appeared to have spent most of the day reclining there in luxury!

  

                                          

Although we were tired the next morning, I made it to gym, where Andrea delights in asking me to perform warm-up activities that involve simultaneous use of arms & legs & I just can’t do it, which is frustrating for me & amusing for everyone else. Fortunately, all our footy teams had won, so there was plenty of good conversation to be had.

Wonderful mug I saw on Facebook!

I took Bilbo for a walk into town, but he was most reluctant, even though the sun was shining & the frost had melted away. It is always fun to walk up & down Vincent Street with a bag & small shopping list, catching up with friends & feeling good when hard to find articles can be ticked off.

Earlier last month, our youngest nephew, Rohan Fell, graduated from the International College of Management, Sydney, with a Bachelor of Sports Management – so proud of him!

Wes showed the film, ‘20^th C Women’ on Tuesday morning & there were 3 of us in the audience. We all want those two hours back – it was a very long, very indulgent film with few redeeming features. Lunch afterwards at The Food Gallery was a lovely treat – seafood chowder to die for served by the same Andrea who puts me through hell at the gym.

 

Great photo of David Castles at The Food Gallery last Sunday morning, with Bilbo looking on from outside

After gym on Wednesday I caught up with Annie Smith & her Irish Water Spaniel, Maisie. We sat outside in the sun at Muffins & More & talked about our various trips this year as well as sharing memories of her husband, David, who died 10 years ago. Wes spent the morning with Barbara, helping her with NDIS & doing some work in her garden. Barbara’s new carers are proving to be wonderful, reliable workers – they arrive early & spot jobs that need doing before they are asked.

On Thursday, we had hoped to visit Werribee Open Zoo or even explore Sunbury, but rain was forecast for everywhere so we opted for Gold Class in Ballarat instead & saw Dunkirk, which we enjoyed very much.

Afterwards we went to the Ballarat Art Gallery where we saw three very different & interesting exhibitions – the first was an interesting display of collections of memorabilia, curios & other old items; the next was Liz Blizzard’s tribute to the strong women in her past, which she did by way of large paintings telling the stories, and the third was a series of stunning paintings by Robyn Mayo, who travelled through Central Australia between 1996 & 2013.

We had lunch at Knife, Fork, Spoon, where you are assured of a warm welcome & an interesting menu. Wes enjoyed a pulled pork bagel with coleslaw & I had the warm pumpkin salad. The meals are always attractively presented & the menu tells you everything that is in each dish, so there are no nasty surprises if you are allergic to any ingredients.

We came home as the rain started to find Bilbo sound asleep on his bed & looking as though he had barely missed us.

On Friday, Wes & Brian headed to Lyonville, Bullarto area & Wes took this beautiful atmospheric photo in the mist. I had planned on joining the Bushwalkers who were tackling Kidd’s Gully, but decided it was too wet & stayed home doing chores instead.

We had delivered 4 beanies & 30 squares to Keeping Daylesford Warm last Sunday – all the wool was courtesy of Kathy Lazzaro & 2 of her friends – thank you all so much. Items were distributed during the week & the current need is for more rugs, so I have been asked for 49 squares ASAP. I enjoy knitting them, especially as I found a great pattern that has me knitting garter stitch diamonds instead - cast on 3 stitches, increase 1 stitch on the 2^nd stitch of each row until you reach the desired side length & then decrease 1 stitch per row. It makes for a more even square & if you add colours, the stripes are most attractive on the diagonal.

   Some of my squares, which use up small lengths of wool

Yesterday, it was too wet to walk, so we opted for breakfast at Boathouse Daylesford instead. Their roasted mushroom dish with provolone, spinach, sweet corn etc is very yummy & we enjoyed sitting looking out at the mist over the Lake.

I decided not to go to the Docklands to see Collingwood play North last night as it was so cold & wet. Even though the Pies won, I am very comfortable with my decision, as it was a dreadful game of footy with lots of errors as well as some bad injuries on both sides.

This morning is another misty one with light rain falling. This won’t stop Bilbo & I going to the Sunday Market to get fruit, vegetables, eggs & possibly another bare-rooted rose, like this – Margaret Merril, which I bought last Sunday. It is a very fragrant tea-rose, which Wes has planted in a spot that could do with a couple more roses to keep it company!