We have been overwhelmed by all the expressions of sympathy
& love from friends, family & Facebook friends. Thank you to everyone
who has found time to put down some comforting words. We have especially
enjoyed the funny memories that a few of you have shared with us & somehow
it helps to know that Bilbo was loved by so many people.
When I arrived at the Sunday Market, both Yvonne & Ken
were there to greet me with hugs & tears. Yvonne had let the other
stall-holders know & there were lots of expressions of sympathy, as Bilbo
was a well-known character early each Sunday. When I told Ken Rae from Spring
Park Nursery that I wanted a rose for Bilbo’s grave, he immediately found a
beautiful red Best Friend, from the
RSPCA, which Wes has planted.
At breakfast, Janine arrived with a lovely bunch of liliums
& Gillie made a very rare appearance, so she could give us hugs & let
us talk about Bilbo. The downside was that after giving us such a good
experience the previous week, the Hotel Frangos café was underwhelming this
time. Our table wasn’t ready, the teas didn’t arrive until I went up to the
three waitresses who were chatting around the coffee machine, the meals were
served without cutlery & the noise level was most unpleasant once a large
family with a rowdy toddler arrived.
We had decided to walk around Lake Daylesford after
breakfast & on our way we met a couple with a pair of young Labs in
training to become Guide Dogs. It was so good to pat the puppies & admire
their energy. We plan to have some time to grieve Bilbo, do some jobs around
the house & garden that are better done without puppies, have a break &
then introduce Lewis & Morse to Daylesford sometime in January. They will
struggle to be as cute as the two in the photo above, but I am sure they will find
their way into our hearts very quickly.
At gym on Monday, there were lots more hugs from friends
who had read the news. When I arrived home, Wes was working in the front garden
& wondering why he bothered to lock the side gate as he went up & down
the path with his wheelbarrow. Nick Massaro came to give me a massage & we
both agreed it was rather quiet & uneventful without Bilbo. Nick always
brought him a treat & then spent most of the massage time trying not to
step on his feet, as he often went to sleep under the table.
It was lovely to have lunch at Boathouse Daylesford with Michael Ivanchenko, where we were spoilt
by Susanne & Claire, as usual. Michael headed off to Caloundra on Tuesday
to be with Judi as her mother, Mavis, died peacefully that morning.
There was a scheduled power cut for 4 hours on Tuesday, so
like lots of locals, we headed to Ballarat to the Regent Cinema & chose to
see the film, The Wife, starring
Glenn Close. This is probably the best film we have seen this year. The story is
compelling, the acting & direction superb & it is hard to fault it in
any way.
We arrived home to find this beautiful arrangement of
flowers from my sister, Leanne. However, when we went downstairs to check our
computers, the modem was misbehaving badly & it took the rest of the
afternoon to sort it out & get us back on track.
We had hoped to catch up with friends on Thursday, but that
didn’t work out, so we drove to Healesville instead, where we had lunch at a
tiny Italian café & deli called Essenza.
Wes drove us through countryside to get there & we stopped at Lancefield
for morning tea at MAD Cafė, that we
remembered from a previous trip. On the way home we used the ring road, but
there had been a big accident, so we were held up for quite a while.
Yummy pizzas served on
cheese boards
I had booked the Mazda 2 in for new tyres on Friday
morning, and thought I would fill in the time by having a pot of tea at The Food Gallery, while Wes had his
first go at washing our windows from the outside, using a handy washing tool
with telescopic handle, which we borrowed from our neighbour, Rob. Jamie at
Daylesford Tyre Service forgot about my little car & got caught up rescuing
someone with a flat tyre instead. When I rang him to see what was happening, he
was most apologetic!
Deep red liliums from
Janine cheering our front entrance
Yesterday Wes drove me to Woodend Station early & I
caught the train to the MCG, where I met up with Danny Millman for a lovely day
at the footy. I had been able to get a Balcony Pass for him, so we found our
seats & walked out of the ground up to Square
& Compass Café for a most enjoyable brunch. Matt, one of the owners,
told me they had served breakfast to 10 of the Port Adelaide players earlier
that morning.
Back at the MCG, we found Gayle Gibson & made
arrangements to meet for a drink at half-time. Then David Lazzaro arrived &
we had a drink in the Percy Beames bar, where we were joined by his best
friend, Matt, over from Tassie for the match & his friend, Jonathan. It was
a most entertaining interlude as we all reminisced about our favourite &
worst memories. I even managed to forget about Bilbo for a short time.
The match started slowly, but by half-time we were looking
the goods in a tight contest. We met up with Gayle back in the bar &
watched Winx win her 26th
race in a row in her usual style – so far back in the field that you think she
can’t possibly win & suddenly accelerates & leaves her rivals well
behind at the finishing post. What a champion mare!
Winx winning the Winx
Stakes at Royal Randwick yesterday & breaking Black Caviar’s record of 25
wins in a row. Black Caviar was never beaten in her career, which was amazing.
Winx won 4 of her first 10 starts & is the world’s top-ranked filly or mare
& Australia’s leading money-earner in history
No comments:
Post a Comment