Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 13th May 2018

Last Sunday, after breakfast, we drove to Clunes for the 11^th Annual Booktown. It was a warmish, sunny day & we parked easily at the footy ground, before paying our $10 entry fee & hitting the bookshops & stalls, which were everywhere in the main street & beyond. After about 90 minutes, we had as many books as we could carry & were looking for a cuppa, when we bumped into Gail White, who had been trying to contact us to let us know she & Terry were there. We grabbed a table & sat down with our hot drinks to catch up on each other’s news. It was the perfect finish to another great visit to Clunes Booktown.

We’ve been busy again this week. I’ve visited gym twice; been to Strathmore to spend time with Leanne; taken Bilbo for a late morning walk in the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens; looked everywhere for an old knitting pattern for fingerless gloves (thanks Kathy Lazzaro for emailing two when I asked for help); played Mah Jong with Dot (& won most games for a change) & caught up with Janine Hawker for a long chat over a cuppa at the Food Gallery.

Bilbo enjoying the Autumn leaves on the lowest walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens

Wes has spent ages in our garden & has mulched & spread lucerne over the whole of the front as well as some of the back. He took Barbara swimming in Ballarat & did a big shop with her afterwards. He had the excitement of meeting up with a 5^th cousin, Maryanne Phelan, who lives nearby in Romsey & who will be at the 200^th reunion of the arrival of the McShane brothers to the shores of Tasmania.

We are going to Tassie, primarily so Wes can attend this reunion next month, but also to spend time in Hobart, visit MONA, learn fly-fishing in Strahan & go on a food & wine cruise around Bruny Island among other delights. Sadly, our friends of over 35 years, Rick & Jan McClean, won’t be there. We are sorry not to be catching up with them both. However, we are very relieved that the incredible rain in Hobart hasn’t done any serious damage to their home other than cleaning up afterwards.

Karen at breakfast last Sunday waiting for our friends to arrive at Larder

We’ve had over 80mls of rain in a very short time with some very strong winds as well. The rain is so welcome & we were promised arctic conditions, but it hasn’t been as bad as expected. Musk & Bullarto did have some snow flurries, but it wasn’t cold enough here for that.

We had planned a day out on Thursday, possibly exploring parts of Geelong, but we had the chance of visiting Joe Rozen in St John of God, Ballarat, where he has started his rehab, so opted for that instead. Before we visited Joe, we went to the Regent Cinema to see the latest Agatha Christie adaptation Crooked House. We were both very disappointed with this film as it ignored the central character in the book, Aristide Leonides, who is the original murder victim. Glenn Close does a great job in her role as his sister-in-law, but nearly everyone else is either badly cast or overacts or both. I loved the setting & costumes of this film, but it was let down by a suspicion that no-one in it had actually read the book!

We had a lovely one-hour visit with Joe, who was looking much better than we expected. He was delighted to see us & once we got Carlton’s woes out of the way (runners instead of footy boots, bad umpiring & bad kicking – personally I think the grey jumpers are appalling too) we had lots to chat about!

Today I am off to Northcote to stay overnight with Danny Millman. We are going to see Collingwood play Geelong at the MCG & have our fingers crossed that the Pies can continue their good run of form. Wes was delighted with Carlton’s win over the old enemy, Essendon, yesterday afternoon. We sat in front of the open fire & enjoyed watching that & other games, including a nail-biter between Adelaide & Port.

As I won’t be here for breakfast, Wes took me to Boathouse Daylesford yesterday, courtesy of Bilbo Baggins, to celebrate Mothers’ Day. Claire & Susanne welcomed us warmly & we enjoyed their scrambled eggs & smoked salmon on bagels before heading home & getting stuck into inside chores, as it was far too wet to venture outside.

We arrived home from breakfast to a phone call from Barbara that her cat, Bobby, had been injured. Wes immediately went across the road & collected Bobby to take him to the vet. He has been treated & is recovering. Bilbo is just about back to normal after his operation, although he has perfected the art of being under our feet, no matter where we want to go, he’s already there & not budging for anyone!