We started our week with another lovely breakfast at Boathouse, where we were joined by
Aileen. Judi was pleased to be with her friends again & we listened to some
stories about her time with her mother, the kindness of strangers & the
success of the memorial service that she & her sister, Sue, had organised.
I arrived back home at the same time as Wes pulled in back
from his overnight stay in Melbourne after Siobhan & Simon’s wedding. We
chatted over cuppas & caught each other up on news, of which he had by far
the most.
We’ve been enjoying walking around Lake Daylesford most
days if the weather permits. If not at 6am, I like to go around at 8am, when it
is quiet or late morning if I have been at gym.
Wes has planted two tree ferns in our garden. When we were
in Tassie in June this year, we fell in love with them again & ordered a
couple from Ken Rae at Spring Park
Nursery. He finally produced them at the market on Sunday, & we are
tickled pink as they look very healthy & are just starting to uncurl some
fronds. One is in the back under the decking & the other is by the pond in
the front up against the wall. Both are sheltered, will get lots of water &
enjoy some sunshine, but not too much!
This pair of Pacific
Black ducks (thanks David Castles) were on the step looking as though they
wanted to join gym on Monday morning – perhaps they liked the music playing!
We are delighted to welcome a new neighbour this week.
Esther moved into no 76, the house that was briefly for sale next to us, and
she assures us she is here to stay. Wes & I have both introduced ourselves
to her – he to offer assistance & me to let her know that her recycling bin
disappeared early one morning (I suspect it was collected accidentally by the
truck emptying the bins). As I was chatting to Esther, mutual friends from Sister George arrived – with a big
recycling bin in the boot of their station wagon! We don’t know anything about
Esther yet and look forward to spending some time with her when she is out of
panic mode unpacking & settling in.
Early morning birds
finding their seed & rice under the frosty lawn
I’m very excited that Collingwood finished in the top 4
& has a double chance in this year’s finals series. We start by playing
West Coast at the new Perth stadium. I did consider making the trip, but it
would be too exhausting as the AFL package gets you there & back in two
days!
It was so cold on Wednesday morning that I had to wait 20
minutes for the hot water pipes to defrost & was nearly late for gym. There
were only 4 of us in attendance & I suspect we weren’t the only ones with
no hot water. Plus, those who lived out of town would have been nervous of
black ice on the roads. Once the sun came out it was beautiful – Barry’s 9.30am
class was probably packed.
We were due to have a day out on Thursday, but as the rest
of the week was busy we opted to see a film at Ballarat instead. We had a few
chores to do on the way & had time for lunch before the film, so tried Jade Inn, a very enjoyable &
friendly Chinese restaurant in Sturt Street with lots of variety on the menu.
Wes had pork with blackbean sauce & I demolished a plate of Szechuan
prawns.
Wes saw the film, Blackkklansman,
recommended by his friend, Tom, while I watched The Book Club, as both films finished at the same time. My film was
entertaining & I enjoyed watching Diane Keaton & Jane Fonda, two
excellent actresses.
We had been invited to lunch on Friday to celebrate the ‘end
of Winter, beginning of Spring’ by Di Lyttleton & Jeff Bain, who live about
5 minutes away from us. We were delighted to be part of their guest list, which
included Georgina Meadows, who we met at the same time as Di in the early
2000s; Roger & Val Roberts, who are painters that we first encountered when
we were running the Daylesford Rotary Art Show, & Norma & Jim Foster,
who we have not met before & enjoyed spending time with. Di produced her
usual spectacular meal – soup, huge cold platters of fish & chicken, yummy
sweets with an enormous cheeseboard to finish. Conversation flowed around a
wide range of topics with lots of laughter & some serious moments as well.
Yesterday we drove to Euroa, (via Kyneton to see the
daffodils), where we had a lovely visit with Warren’s nephew John, his wife,
Dannielle, & their 4 children, Malachi, Kalarni, Dublin & Irish. The
family is building a new home on a large property a few kms outside of Euroa
& we were able to have a guided tour before settling down to lunch at the
local Chinese restaurant, Flam Shan,
where we were brilliantly looked after by owner, Connie.
clockwise - Wes, John,
Kalarni, Irish, Malachi, Dannielle & Dublin
We’ve already walked around the Lake this morning & are
looking forward to breakfast at the Boathouse
with friends after visiting the Sunday Market, followed by a quiet day at home.
No comments:
Post a Comment