Daylesford Summer Dispatch - Sunday, 4th February 2018

 

Last Sunday’s breakfast was at Koukla, where the service & friendly welcome by our friend, Andrea Holmes, was lovely. We weren’t all that impressed by the menu, which contained lots of rich, heavy dishes not suitable for Summer, or by the 15-year old male waiter who dropped Judi’s poached eggs on to the floor! It was very crowded & noisy as well, so we will continue our search by trying Larder this morning.

Floreat perched on the fountain this morning – he hopped in for a bath & drink as well!

After breakfast, I visited the Daylesford Museum, for the Fabrics, Threads & Stories exhibition, which was a fascinating history of Daylesford through photos, handcrafts, objects & video. I particularly loved the 1861 Daylesford Temperance Banner, which has just been restored at a cost of $10,000, by the same people who restored the Eureka flag, as it is the only other similar flag or banner in existence in Australia.

Here it is 18 months ago before restoration

We had hoped to go to Richmond for the Lunar Festival, which was being attended by the Guide Dogs, but it was too hot to leave Bilbo or Daylesford & travel all that way for even worse weather, so we watched the Poms beat the Aussies at the new Perth Stadium, which looks very impressive indeed. We also kept an eye on Roger Federer in the Australian Open Final but fell asleep before he beat Marin Cilic in a 5-set marathon.

Sweet Intoxication – our latest beautifully perfumed rose from Ken at Spring Park Nursery

This seems to have been a week of postponements & cancellations. I have been feeling really well & coping with everything until suddenly I found myself too tired to do anything much. We had planned to see The Post in Ballarat on Monday but postponed it because we didn’t want to leave Bilbo alone in the heat. When it came to Tuesday, I couldn’t face the drive (only 40 minutes) to Ballarat & back, so we postponed again until Thursday & I spent much of the day in bed resting, which was the best thing.

This week’s roses – Hot Cocoa, 4^th July, Friesia, St Patrick & Sweet Intoxication

Dot & I played Mah Jong & chatted. Dot usually beats me most games, but I am fighting back & managed to win a couple of times. Both our husbands are very keen to know how we have fared, so it has become a lovely joke between the four of us.

We didn’t end up getting to Ballarat to see any films as I just didn’t have the energy & wanted to save myself for yesterday’s trip to Melbourne to the Pop-up Globe Theatre to see Much Ado About Nothing. We had been planning to go since the theatre arrived back in September 2017 & yesterday was the last day!!!

We weren’t disappointed. The troupe was amazing, full of energy & wit – it was a perfect morning in Melbourne, we found a free park nearby & had time for a hot drink before the show started. We had opted for Middle Level, which was comfortable & facing the stage front on.

Wes sitting in the sun as we wait for hot drinks before the play.

We had left Bilbo with a marrow bone & came home to find him sound asleep & cool, which was a big relief. Our friends, David & Sandy, had to put their dog, Bam Bam, down yesterday & while we are sympathising with them, we are also aware that Bilbo won’t be around for too much longer, so we are making the most of our time with him.

Our friend, Nick Massaro, visited on Friday to clear our gutters & was amazed to find heaps of old dog bones in one spot. The crows have been stealing them for years & now we know where they ended up! Bilbo & Frodo were always most perplexed when they returned to find their bones had disappeared from the decking where they had left them!