Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 25th March 2018

We are so devastated for my sister, Paun, her husband, Brian, & their three sons, who have lost their home & business, Cliff Place, in the dreadful Tathra fires, which have decimated this very beautiful seaside town. Initially, everyone is grateful that nobody died, but once reality sets in, it is very difficult to cope with the loss of everything. The fire jumped the Bega River so quickly that residents had very little time to pack cars before evacuating.

I want to thank all my friends who have sent messages asking if Paun & Brian were OK. A lot of you don’t know them, but you knew that I had a sister living in Tathra & it has been a great comfort to me to know that you are thinking of them & wishing them well. We feel so very helpless down here, miles away from them & unable to do anything other than support.

While Paun & Brian were fleeing the flames last Sunday, we were in an Irish pub, The Snug, in Sydney Road, Brunswick (site of Nick D’Agostino’s restaurant from many years ago), catching up with dear friends – Danny Millman, Tom Tyrrell & Deborah Fowler, & Marilyn & Robert Preston. The pub food & service was nothing to write home about, but it was wonderful to be together again after such a long time.

Mostly Peace roses with a couple of Oklahoma & Sweet Intoxication thrown in!

This week we went to Ballarat to see Finding Your Feet, a wonderful film directed at our age group & covering just about every issue we are facing. It stars Imelda Staunton, Celia Imrie & Timothy Spall, who all act their socks off & are assisted by lots of well-known actors with lesser roles.

Men’s footy started in earnest this week, which meant the importance of the Women’s Grand Final was lessened to some extent. It was a close, low-scoring exciting game won by the Western Bulldogs, one of the two pioneering women’s clubs. One member of the team, Jenna Bruton, is a farmer in Trentham, so we have had an added impetus to support the Doggies.

Yesterday, after getting the Doggies over the line, we drove to Melbourne to see Collingwood play Hawthorn at the MCG. We arrived early, which gave us time to have a couple of drinks & watch the passing parade from the MCC Blazer Bar. It had rained very heavily everywhere in the morning (at last), but it was dry & muggy in Melbourne & I didn’t need a coat. The Pies were no match for the Hawks, who played a much slicker game & won easily.

This morning is cool & we’ve had some more rain (30mls in our gauge), which is a big relief to everyone as tanks will have filled again & the dry, yellow earth will soon be covered in green. Fortunately, there is no breakfast this morning, as we are tired after our late night. I’ve taken Bilbo to the Sunday Market, where the main topic for discussion is the rain.

One of Rohan Fell’s friends, Bella, started a GoFundMe on Facebook, called ‘Fresh Start for the Fells’, which has raised nearly $17,000 so far. It is a great way for friends & family to contribute money easily, as there are more than enough donated clothes & foodstuffs.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 18th March 2018

ChillOut Parade last Sunday was the biggest & best in its 21 years. There were 10 of us for breakfast – Gail & Terry made a rare, welcome appearance & David & Sandy brought Sandy’s mum, Mavis, who enjoyed it all very much & promised to return.

We got a good viewing spot in the centre of Vincent Street in the middle of a huge, happy crowd & enjoyed the cars, motor-bikes, floats, bands, police, emergency services & other marching groups, including the Pink Magpies, representing Collingwood Football Club.

  

                                                       

The next morning was quite cold & windy, after the perfect weather for the party at Victoria Park. Bilbo & I went to The Food Gallery for a pot of tea & watched as a passing parade of hungover, tired visitors & locals wandering into the cafés for recovery breakfasts. Most of the visitors were moaning that they hadn’t packed anything warm & were freezing to death.

We decided to buy a new TV for the lounge & Tim installed it on Friday. We had been reluctant to upgrade as we knew anything we bought wouldn’t fit in the lovely timber cabinet we had made in Buninyong all those years ago. We decided to see how it looked on top of the cabinet & it works perfectly. I was particularly keen with the footy season upon us & absolutely everything is much clearer & more enjoyable to watch. Wes put the old TV up on Daylesford Grapevine & it was gone in 30 minutes, collected by a woman from Newlyn with 4 kids.

Women’s Footy (Magpies & Lions) was the first thing we watched on the new TV!

We had been invited to lunch at Di & Jeff’s place last Thursday, along with Judi & Michael & Jan & Warren (Secundus), so we dolled up a little, grabbed 4 dozen very fresh oysters & some prawns from our wonderful Daylesford Seafood Bar & headed to West Street for a delightful 4-hour lunch with good friends. Everyone had contributed to the meal, but we did leave Di & Jeff with lots of washing up after we had gone home!

Yesterday Wes suggested breakfast at Boathouse Daylesford & we were their first customers on the dot of 8.30am opening time. We love having a meal here with the stunning views of Lake Daylesford, the excellent menu & wonderful service provided by Susanne & Claire.

 

Wes, in green, about to tuck into waffles & strawberries, as the sun streams through the window.

This week’s vase – Hot Cocoa, 4^th July, Freesia & Peace roses

Finally, here are the beanies & berets I have been knitting over the Summer months. They will soon be needed by Keeping Daylesford Warm, as the cooler mornings & nights set in.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 11th March 2018

Once again, we enjoyed a fun breakfast at Larder last Sunday, with Danny in attendance & David & Sandy in good spirits & making lots of conversation. Danny drove Wes to Melbourne Airport, where Wes caught a plane to Brisbane and spent his first two nights catching up with his friend, Deane Wells & his son, Danny, before detouring to Caloundra to visit his cousin Ronda, & her daughter, Kim. Finally, he drove to Hope Island, on Queensland’s Gold Coast to spend the remainder of his time with old friends, Mike & Linda Kirby. As a bonus, he had a coffee & chat in Brisbane with Bryce Hatton, who used to work with us at Maloney Insurance Brokers.

Bilbo has been quite confused and kept looking for Wes, especially at night, when I put his bed next to my side of our bed and he wasn’t sure he wanted to be there at all. However, when I produced his rug, he quickly jumped onto his mattress and assumed his look of sublime happiness that is only produced by food & this rug.

We’ve been doing the early morning walks together as well, and there have been no complaints when I don’t get up until 5.55am. It is pitch dark at that time & we need a torch to navigate the path.

Over the past year or so, Council has invested plenty of labour into getting Lake Daylesford looking good, and we are particularly appreciative of the smoothed & widened paths. We are not so sure about the stockade look – groups of timber poles, about 1 metre high, forming a fence or break. However, there has been much planting of trees & grasses; the main playground & picnic area has had a thorough overhaul; most of the bins have been replaced, and there are concrete slabs bearing stories about early Daylesford dotted around the place. The Lake is still full of fish, ducks & geese & plenty of birdlife. While Danny & I were in Canberra, some geese were deliberately run down by a car, which is very upsetting. We say hello to them all each morning & love the way they form a circle to protect their young from the wild ferocious Labrador.

This week’s roses – Peace, Big Red, Shirley’s Rose & Hot Cocoa

I’ve taken advantage of being on my own to wash all Bilbo’s bedding; run cleaning agents through the dish-washer & washing machine; eat special fried rice every second night; have a lovely lunch with Michael Ivanchenko at Boathouse Daylesford; enjoy a long cuppa with Annie Smith & her Irish water spaniel, Maisie, at Larder; catch up on Trip Advisor ratings, and pick more tomatoes & chilies than we can eat!

Karen at the Arboretum in Canberra for all of you who complained there was no photo of me from our trip!

While Danny & I were in Canberra, we were shocked to learn that our dear friend, Joyce Spiteri, was in hospital recovering from a triple by-pass. The latest news is positive & we hope to be able to visit Joyce & Manny once she is back home & well enough to receive visitors. As well, Danny & Karen’s son, Patrick, fell off his bicycle in a freak accident, and shattered two bones in his leg. He has had rods inserted & is back home again, where he is on crutches for 6 weeks.  

Wes flew back into Melbourne on Friday afternoon & I drove to the airport in plenty of time, so I could be there at the Gate Lounge to greet him. He was thrilled, as he had been when Deane turned up at Brisbane Airport to delighted to see Wes again & have life back to normal.

From the top- Deane & Danny Wells; Wes with Lola Kirby that he threatened to bring home in the plane with him as they hit it off so well & Wes with cousin Ronda Smith & her daughter, Kim Barker   

Yesterday was another hot day, and after Bilbo had been bathed & consumed a bone, I took him with me for a cuppa at The Food Gallery. We sat outside, caught up with Pasquale, the owner, who has been recuperating after an operation, and spent a very pleasant hour or so just watching the passing parade.

In the afternoon, I watched the Collingwood women beat the highly-fancied Brisbane team in Moreton Bay in occasional torrential rain. They were delighted with their second win of the season against such good opponents. Later, the men had a good win against the Doggies in Moe, after a slow start.

We watched the 1^st quarter of the men’s Carlton & Hawthorn game, which was in Tasmania. It clashed with the Test cricket in South Africa, so we kept swapping channels & eventually went to bed with Carlton well behind Hawthorn & Australia seemingly on top in Port Elizabeth.

It was such a surprise to wake this morning & find that the Blues had beaten the Hawks by 5 points in a high-scoring game & that South Africa were 20 runs ahead with 3 wickets in hand in their 1^st Innings.

This weekend is the 21^st ChillOut Festival & people of every shape, size & persuasion find their way here for the 4-day celebration. We are particularly looking forward to the Parade after breakfast, as it should be a celebration of marriage equality after years of frustration & angst.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 4th March 2018

Last Sunday we enjoyed a fun breakfast at Larder with most of the usual crew. Bilbo had loved his trip to the Sunday Market &, after eating his cabbage, dipped his head into the buckets of fruit that Corey was about to bag up!

Danny Millman arrived mid-afternoon and we sat around watching Adelaide & GWS AFLW play an exciting draw, before sharing a yummy meal together inside as the wind blew a howling gale outside.

The next morning, Danny & I set off for Canberra around 7.30am & had a good run, stopping only in Holbrook for a light lunch at the bakery. We arrived at our accommodation, Knightsbridge, in Kingston, around 4pm. We had a beautiful, 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom apartment with fully equipped kitchen & laundry, a dining table seating 8 & three flat screen TVs. That night we went for a walk to the Kingston Foreshore & had an enjoyable Thai meal by the Lake. Needless to say, we both slept well that night!

During the next four days we saw plenty of Canberra sights & walked 40kms in total. We started each morning with a good breakfast & finished each night with an early dinner & had very few disappointments along the way.

Highlights include:

·        Tour of Old Parliament House

·        Film on the construction of New Parliament House, followed by Question Time there

·        The Arboretum – including a walk, a visit to the Bonsai Gallery & stunning 360° views of Canberra

 

·        Canberra Botanic Gardens

·        A visit to Danny & Karen’s old home in Waramanga, which is still very recognisable after 35 years

·        Clonakilla Winery, where we bought some bottles & enjoyed sitting in their lounge area with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc & a cheese platter

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Dinner at Timmy’s Kitchen, Manuka, with my brother, Peter, and his wife, Anka

·        Being amazed at the change in Civic, which used to be such a hub of activity and is now very quiet indeed

·        Visit to the Canberra Museum, which has an excellent, huge display setting out exactly what happened when The First Fleet arrived in 1788 & the many terrible mistakes made by the British invaders, not least of which was ignoring the centuries of knowledge of the land by its original inhabitants

·        A drive around Yarralumla

·        The anticipation before the Aussie Rules pre-season game at Manuka Oval, where Collingwood failed by 10 goals to match the intensity of Greater Western Sydney, much to the dismay of the many Collingwood supporters there! A plus was spending more time with Peter & Anka

  

Peter, Anka & Danny before the game started!

 A visit to Moncrieff, one of the newer Canberra suburbs, almost on the NSW border, which is where Peter & Anka now live. They treated us to a very indulgent morning tea!

·        Long visit to the National Gallery of Australia, where we were amazed to find a room full of Albert Namatjira paintings; a room full of Arthur Streeton 1^st World War paintings & drawings; a room with the entire Sidney Nolan Ned Kelly series & one of Monet’s Waterlilies, that I hadn’t seen before. We checked out Blue Poles, as well as the select group of Australian artists, including this wonderful painting by C Douglas Richardson ‘The Last of the Flock’

·        A final meal at a Kingston Italian Restaurant, ‘La Dolce Vita’, where Danny had Veal Marsala to die for & my Scallop Risotto with chilies was pretty hard to beat as well.

We arrived back home yesterday around 4pm, after another good trip, where the highlight was listening to Winx win The Chipping Norton Stakes at Randwick for the 3^rd year running & her 16^th Group 1 win. This is her 23^rd win in a row, but she eclipses the record of the undefeated Black Caviar, who boasted 15 Group 1 wins in her career of 25 straight wins.

Wes had been shopping and prepared roast lamb with vegetables for dinner, much to Danny’s delight, as he had tried and failed to find a ‘Roast of the Day’ on offer anywhere we looked in Canberra.

While we were having fun in the ACT, Wes had kept everywhere watered, as there has been no rain; walked Bilbo each morning; shopped, washed & ironed; spent time with both his friend, Barbara, & his sister, Denise; kept up his computer work & most importantly, very kindly represented us at my uncle, Kevin Saundry’s, funeral at St Monica’s, Moonee Ponds on Tuesday morning. On the way, Wes collected my brother, Peter, who flew down from Canberra, and they met my other brother, Terry, at the church. After the funeral, Terry & Peter wanted to have some time together, so Wes was able to visit my sister, Leanne, and give her the order of service booklet, much to her delight.