Last Sunday we had our final breakfast at the Food Gallery
as they will be closed today & New Year’s Eve. It was good fun with
everyone giving gifts to pets & Aileen arriving with homemade shortbread,
ginger nuts & choc chip biscuits to share. Pasquale & Toni had given us
Ferrero Rocher chockies & lit a Christmas candle in welcome.
We were glued to the radio & TV until the end of the
third Test, when Australia was able to regain the Ashes after an exciting 5
days’ play. Steve Smith was a worth Man of the Match & it was good to see
Josh Hazelwood rewarded with an 8-wicket haul after bowling so well.
Daylesford has become quite festive this year with two
large decorated Christmas trees at the roundabouts in Vincent Street, as well
as bunches of dried gum leaves tied to verandas with different coloured big
bows. Quite a few houses have serious Christmas lights & we enjoy driving
around admiring them if we can stay awake long enough for dark to fall.
We have been worried about dear Bilbo lately as he didn’t
seem quite himself, so Wes took him to the vet last Monday. We were reassured that
all his lumps & bumps are nothing to worry about; that the film over his
eyes is normal ageing & not cataracts, & that his slight arthritis can
be helped by half a tablet each night before dinner. We have already noticed a
big difference in his energy levels & he is able to climb stairs more
confidently than he was before he started the treatment.
Judi & Michael had given Wes a Gift Voucher for Wine & the Country, which is a delightful wine shop & bar
close to home. We invited them to join us to spend it, which seemed only fair.
Lots of sparkling shiraz was consumed with a glass of French champagne for
Judi. We shared a yummy cheese platter as well.
Michael & Karen
On Thursday we had planned a trip to Melbourne to catch up
with Greta, Harry & Penny, but that had to be postponed until after
Christmas, so we had an early breakfast at Larder
& allowed ourselves an indulgent day of reading newspapers & books.
While we were at breakfast our garbos emptied the green bins, so I had to wait
until the yellow bins were done to give the driver our Christmas card &
gift. This involved numerous false alarms when I thought I heard the truck, but
eventually he arrived, six hours after he usually does the recycling bins. It
was worth the wait as the driver was very thrilled & made sure he didn’t
knock over a single bin in our street!
Latest vase of roses –
including St Patrick, Big Purple, Don Bradman & Governor Macquarie
Dinner that night was fresh oysters & prawns, courtesy
of our wonderful Daylesford Seafood Bar – all we added was crusty bread &
two flavours of Tabasco sauce. We’ll never forget eating fresh oysters in
Dublin with four different bottles of Tabasco – Leigh Murrin was with us &
I am sure she feels the same.
Bob Conroy’s funeral was huge on Wednesday morning at St
Peter’s Catholic Church. Wes was unable to come with me as he had promised to
mow Barbara’s lawns for her, so I walked down early while Sandra was cleaning
our house & snared one of the few remaining seats 20 minutes before the
scheduled start. The two main eulogies were amusing, heartfelt & told me
lots about Bob & by the looks on the faces of the locals around me, I
wasn’t the only one learning a few things.
Yesterday, while Wes gardened in the morning, I made the
brandy butter for our Christmas pudding. It really feels like Christmas to me
when I’ve done that simple task & spooned it into our Wedgwood Sterling Dog
Bowls (small round bowls suitable for nibbles, much too expensive to feed dogs
from). In the afternoon we had been invited next door, along with Barbara, to
have afternoon tea with Rob & Dene.
This was most enjoyable – we were fed home-made shortbreads,
mince pies, sausage rolls, cheese rolls, smoked salmon sandwiches, raspberries &
chocolate, washed down by Seppelts Sparkling Shiraz. As we left, Dene presented
us with boxes of wombat-shaped shortbreads & a Christmas cake.
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