Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 31st March 2019

 

So good to be back to normal with a great new computer & nearly everything ticking along nicely. There are enough minor issues to keep me busy, but they are only minor!

We started our week with the usual activities – walk around the Lake, visit to Sunday Market (lots of pats & cuddles for Lewis & Morse) and breakfast at The Food Gallery. There were 8 of us, including David & Sandy, who we hadn’t seen since early January. The service is so good at this café, and we felt very comfortable.

Wes showed the film Mary Queen of Scots to a paying audience of one (Barbara Simpson) at the difficult time slot of 12.30pm. I spent the afternoon watching various games of footy, including the other AFLW Preliminary Final, which was won by Adelaide in a canter, setting up a meeting with Carlton early this afternoon.

Quite a few of our friends have health issues at present & St John of God is playing host to some of them. Hopefully they will catch up with each other & even better, come back home soon.

Our only health issues were Lewis & Morse, who were booked into be neutered on Monday. We cancelled all activities for the early part of the week and prepared to welcome home a pair of hungry, sore, sorry for themselves young Labradors that afternoon. The only thing they were was hungry! They breezed through their operation, coped with being roused at if they even looked at their own or each other’s bottoms & went back to collecting sticks, uprooting geraniums, hiding rocks & pool parties with gay abandon.

Lewis & Morse finally having a rest!

We didn’t walk them on Tuesday morning, but after we had fed them, they were still starving, so we gave them bones, which occupied them most of the day. I needed mineral water from Leitches Creek, which we made a family outing & they were quite excited to get in and out of the car.

On Wednesday they were raring to go at 5.55am, and we took them around both side of Lake Daylesford. They both walked well & were delighted to receive treats for their good behaviour. Lewis even jumped into the back of the car (first time ever) with the lure of a treat inspiring him.

I travelled to Northcote on Thursday afternoon & checked in at Danny’s place before we caught the train to the MCG for the big game against Richmond. We arrived in time to have dinner in the Hugh Trumble Café. We had to share our table with a bloke from Mount Gambier who dominated the conversation – Matt had put $10 on Mason Cox to kick the first goal at 10/1 – he would have been delighted when Cox duly did.

Mate wearing my 2019 Pies cap

Danny & I had a great night, enhanced by finding old friend, Geoff Noble, was sitting in front of us. We had not expected to win, let alone by 44 points. It was one of those nights – nothing went right for Richmond -they were missing two of their best players, Alex Rance & Bacher Houli, Jack Riewoldt hurt his wrist, the ball didn’t bounce their way & the free kicks went our way. After our disappointing start the previous week, we were delighted to go home with a win.

I came home via Strathmore and visited my sister, Leanne. We did a lot of work on photos on her computer. When I arrived back home, Lewis & Morse were thrilled to see me, especially as Wes was out catching up with old friend, Ron Brown.

 Robyn & Ian being greeted enthusiastically by Lewis (black collar) & Morse (yellow collar)

We were delighted to catch up with the Robinsons yesterday when they called in for a late morning tea on their way home to Carlton North from Chewton. Lewis & Morse were thrilled to meet them as well & gave them a wonderful welcome.

Wes has had a busy time helping our friends & family again this week. He took Barbara shopping at Coles; helped Nick Massaro fix up Barbara’s TV; spent time with Gail White yesterday assisting her with a travel claim and made lots of phone calls catching up with friends & family members who are struggling at present. He coped with walking the boys on his own on Friday morning, for which I am very grateful, as I cope with the late night footy so much better when I can stay over with Danny in Northcote.

We tried very hard to get Carlton over the line late yesterday afternoon, against Port Adelaide in Adelaide, but couldn’t quite do it. When the Blues play well, they look good, but can’t quite sustain their game plan & losing Charlie Curnow early didn’t help their cause.

We woke to gentle persistent rain this morning and decided to feed the boys rather than walk them. They coped very well with this but won’t be as happy when I head off to the Sunday Market without them.  There is no shelter & it would be madness to try to cope with a couple of wet frisky labs while stocking up with fruit & vegetables. Everyone will be thrilled to bits with this rain as dams have been drying up.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 24th March 2019

I am so sorry to have taken so long with this Dispatch. On 13^th March, computer started saying ‘no’ and continued to do so until it was impossible for me to log in to anything. We think it was a Windows 10 issue. My computer was fine with 10 until an update, so I stopped all updates, but suspect that one went ahead anyway & my computer couldn’t cope any more.

Of course these things happen on the weekend, so we waited until last Monday when Tim would be at Bi-Rite so we could get his advice on the best replacement for my HP Envy 23. The new computer is quite stylish with cream surround & keyboard – very like the white stripes in the old Collingwood woollen jumpers! I had done a full back-up on the previous Sunday, so have only lost a few things which will be easy to replicate.

Morse & Lewis post their mud-party – just one water-logged pot plant was the cause of this!

Since I last wrote we’ve done the following: 

• Had a couple of games of golf at Trentham & continue to hit enough good shots to bring us back for another round   Taken Lewis & Morse on regular early morning walks around Lake Daylesford & occasional afternoon strolls, training them most of the time, but allowing them ‘playtime’ when it seems like a good idea         
  
                                                                                 
• We hosted a very long, lovely lunch with Marilyn & Robert Preston & Danny Millman (aka Mate). The conversations flowed non-stop, Wes provided a great barbecue meal with endless courses & we demolished some prosecco, a couple of excellent reds & quite a few beers.                                                                      
• Mate stayed over, which was most enjoyable. Wes made pizza for dinner that night & in the morning Mate & I headed to The Food Gallery, for Mate’s ‘second-best breakfast ever’! Lewis & Morse were delighted with his company & probably gave him enough licks & attention to last him until next time he visits

• ·        Delivered 18 beanies & berets to Jodie, who runs Keeping Daylesford Warm, and was asked to knit more scarves & gloves, especially for children

 

• ·        Watched both the Collingwood & Carlton AFLW teams have good wins in their final games for the season. Carlton progressed to the Preliminary Finals and won their match against Fremantle yesterday to put them in their first Grand Final. The Pies only won one game, but they have a young & exciting team & hopefully will play better in 2020. 

• ·        Watched what we both thought was the best ChillOut Parade ever. There was such an atmosphere of joy & friendship & so many people marching together – it was quite moving & we loved it. Before the Parade, we had breakfast sitting outside The Food Gallery, with Judi & Barbara. Lewis & Morse were at our feet & very well-behaved. They attracted lots of pats & cuddles, which suited them very well. Our neighbours, Dene & Rob, joined us for a coffee before the Parade started & we were most appreciative of our friend, Max Primmer’s outfit, although he couldn’t get into the cafe for a coffee afterwards.

 

• ·        Last Sunday we returned to The Food Gallery, where the expected 5 of us turned into 8. Barbara was able to get in through the front door using a ramp & Andrew went out of his way to make sure it was as easy for her as possible. It makes such a difference when you can just have a coffee, which suits friends like Aileen, and our new next-door neighbour, Glen. Conversation flowed, we welcomed back Janine, who had been on ‘The Daylesford Cruise’, and learnt a little about Glen, as well as sharing news of our busy weeks. 

• ·        I did my usual gym, had a fringe trim, a manicure & a facial and spent time reading, knitting & doing crosswords as relaxation. I am quite well (touch wood), but find I need to rest most afternoons if I am going to cope with the early morning walks, which are usually followed by gym, golf or supermarket shopping. 

• ·        Wes showed a couple of films – one was a fund-raiser thank you to the CFA for their wonderful work during our recent fire in Hepburn. This was attended by over 80 people with CFA & their families given free admittance & Rotary providing a free sausage sizzle for them. The film was A Dog’s Way Home. The second was Capharnaum, where a small audience of 11 was mesmerized by this brilliant depiction of the reality of life in refugee camps. 

• ·        Rescued the herb garden from enthusiastic attention by a pair of amateur gardeners. They briefly stopped uprooting geranium shoots to remove our precious chilli plants. Wes came up with a large piece of netting & some small poles & so far it has stayed intact.                                                                                                                                           
• ·        I spent a lovely morning with Judi doing the Howe Street shops after pots of Jasmine tea & muffins at Muffins & More. It has been two years since we last did this together & so many of the shops have changed hands. We still don’t know how all the women’s fashion shops manage to survive! We found that Vinnie’s now stocks Manchester at very reasonable prices, that eCasa has taken over the chemical-free cleaning market since Fiona closed Daylesford Aromatherapy & that Manteau Noir now stocks the complete Aesop range. We did all of Howe Street & one side of Vincent Street before I couldn’t do any more. We’ll have to do the other side soon!                                                                                
• ·        Wes spent last Wednesday morning helping Barbara as usual & Thursday morning in Strathmore doing gardening jobs to help Leanne. Afterwards he visited Danny Millman in Northcote to catch up with our God-daughter, Greta, & meet her son, Jeremy. On the way home, he was able to pick up my new computer which had arrived at Daylesford Bi-Rite. That night Carlton played 2 good quarters, which wasn’t enough to beat a rampant Richmond in the opening game of the season. 

• ·        My turn to travel to Melbourne on Friday, which I did for the footy. I checked in at Danny’s place in Northcote & found Danny & Tom sitting in the backyard discussing footy after a successful round of golf. Sadly, Collingwood’s first match didn’t end up the way we would have liked, and we were not good enough to beat Geelong in front of 78,000+. I drove back home yesterday morning after breakfast with Danny & Kim. 

Kim tucking into a croissant at Tinker

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 10th March 2019

This morning we are back to The Food Gallery, where we will be sitting outside in a good position for the ChillOut Parade. This is such a highlight – I’ll have a selection of photos next week.

Life doesn’t always pan out the way you expect. When I sent last week’s Dispatch off, we headed to the Sunday Market, where we found the regular stall-holders very worried about Steve, the Stella’s bread man, who hadn’t arrived to sell the bread. In the way of markets, his helper, Ken, was on the phone to the police; Yvonne had provided the name of someone who lived near Ron in Ballan & that someone had gone to his house & could see him lying on his bed; Yvonne & Cory were selling the bread to customers, and the chap in charge of the Sunday Market found himself superfluous. During the week, I rang Yvonne to find out what happened to Steve (who has already suffered one stroke that left him damaged on his left side). Apparently, the police woke him up from a very deep sleep & he drove himself to the Market where he proceeded to abuse Ken for contacting them!

There were only three of us at Boathouse for their last breakfast service & we are very sorry they are stopping this meal. It was quiet early, but as we were leaving the outside decking was almost full & very busy indeed.

Lewis discovering he can jump too – only as far as the ottoman, unlike Morse, who can leap straight onto Wes’s lap

When we arrived back home, Rob from next-door, came to tell me that when he & Dene went in to cuddle the boys (while we were at breakfast), he noticed both of them very interested in the gap between the garden & their decking, next to the side gate. While Rob was watching, Morse started climbing Wes’s ladder, which rests against the house & Rob thought we might like to move that ladder before Morse mastered climbing it! Which we did.

I forgot to mention the amazing 31^st consecutive win by Winx on 2^nd March. This is a world record & the owner intend to retire her after 2 more runs, both in Sydney. 23 of her wins are Group 1 races, which is phenomenal.

On Monday, we had the postponed & very welcome visit from Karen (aka Lovely) & Malcolm Stevenson. We had called them off because of the Hepburn bushfire last month. They arrived early & bearing a wrapped gift for the boys. This used to be a lovely tradition – usually at Christmas & our labs were always very excited to open their gifts. It stopped when someone gave them a present with food in it instead of a toy.

We had a wonderful catch-up and they both loved the boys & thought they were very handsome & good fun to play with. I had suggested that long trousers would be the go, rather than shorts, and they were both pleased with that advice, as Morse, especially, can get very excited & scratch bare flesh by mistake! We had planned a barbecue, but it was too hot to cook outside, let alone sit there, so we sat in the air-conditioning instead with the boys on Malcolm’s feet.

On Tuesday, we decided not to play golf, as we were both tired & it was quite warm early. We were so pleased with this decision, as our new next-door neighbour, Glen, introduced herself to Wes, who was gardening out the front. He brought her in to meet me & the boys & she seems like exactly the sort of neighbour we had hoped for & didn’t get with Esther. Her husband, Ron, died 12 months ago so she has moved here from Queenscliff, and is renting in Macadam Street (one street across from our little bit of Duke Street), while she waits for some internal work to be done on her house. She has two female poodles, a daughter & grand-children in Wheatsheaf (about 12 minutes away) & can’t wait to get stuck into the garden.

Later that morning, Jan Pengilley visited us, mostly to see how the boys had grown, but we did enjoy chatting & catching up with her latest news. She had last seen Lewis & Morse on 7^th January, the day after we brought them home & they were still very small.

Jan brought a gift for Wes – hand-crocheted face washer & edged hand-towel. We had discussed these at breakfast one morning & she offered to make one for him. It is rather beautiful & very soft on your skin.

It was such a relief to wake up to cold weather on Wednesday morning. We walked around the Lake in light rain, which was wonderful, but not enough. I headed off to gym (much easier on cool days) and then caught up with Judi over pots of Jasmine tea & muffins at Muffins & More. Meanwhile, Sandra was busy cleaning our house & locking the boys away from under her feet, & Wes was helping Barbara with various chores including filling her car with petrol.

Morse & Lewis exhausted after chasing each other around the backyard

Sandra used to give Bilbo & Frodo an apple as she left & we decided the time was right to institute this routine with Lewis & Morse. We had a couple of small red apples & I was watching as she made them sit & gave them the apples. They had never seen red ones before & immediately dropped them, as though they were balls to play with. It took quite some time & effort to persuade them to eat the apples & it was most amusing to watch!

I visited Leanne on Thursday & we did lots of things together, including cleaning her oven door, now that I have worked out how to do it! It was a beautiful day after a cold morning & I drove via Kyneton for a change of scenery. Wes enjoyed a quiet day at home playing with the boys, working in the garden & doing great things on Ancestry.com.

On Friday, after shopping, I caught up with Dot over a cuppa at Muffins & More. She & John have lots of doctors’ appointments coming up, so we decided to have a break from our get-togethers until after Easter, when hopefully their lives will be a little less busy. Wes had planned a barbecue for our lunch, but when he lit the flame it fizzled out quickly, so he had to cook inside & we ate outside in the beautiful weather.

Wes took this photo of me updating the laptop, so we could Skype with Leanne & introduce her properly to Lewis & Morse. Lewis is at my feet, looking after me!

Yesterday we were very excited as we were expecting a visit from Ian & Robyn Robinson. Wes bathed the boys & we gave them their first dried bones (pork) & very yummy by the look of it. Sadly, the Robinsons had tyre issues & couldn’t drive here, but had to go to Kyneton (from Chewton) where someone was able to get their car driveable to get them back to Carlton North. We’ll have to make another date.

We had bought morning tea, so invited our neighbours, Rob & Dene, in to share it with us, which they did very happily before heading off to the annual Lost Trades Fair at Kyneton Racecourse, with their friends, Liz & Bill.

We spent the afternoon watching games of footy – both men’s and women’s with quite a lot of dog-cuddling as well. We are desperate for some serious rain & no matter how much watering we do, it is never enough. The roses are OK, but we have lost a dogwood & a couple of bushes & it looks as though the figs will never ripen this year.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd March 2019

 

This morning will be our last Sunday Breakfast at Boathouse, as Susanne & Claire have decided to concentrate on lunches & dinners, which are more profitable for them. I imagine they pay a hefty rent for their prime position & that it is an economic decision, rather than a lifestyle one.

We’ve had a very busy week (aren’t they all since Lewis & Morse arrived?). The last week of Summer has been very hot, so we have tried to achieve as much as we can before it gets unbearable outside. The boys cope by having pool parties – one starts it by putting his feet in the largest water bowl & the other joins in until they are jumping up & down in the bowl & have covered themselves & the decking with water. I find I am cleaning the glass sliding doors & windows every couple of days, especially at puppy level.

Lovely relaxed photo of Lewis, Wes & Morse

We are having mixed success with training. They are definitely walking on the leads better and are more obedient in the house, but when Wes took them for their injections on Monday, they played up so badly they broke the yellow lead they were on (which is a lead for two dogs). Fortunately, there was a spare in the car & we have another spare which has now moved into the car to replace the second lead. The vet gave them a clean bill of health & said they were in excellent condition and weighed exactly the right amount for their age (4 months).

On Tuesday, we played our first game of golf at Trentham since 2015. We were both a bit rusty but hit enough shots to remind us how much we enjoy the game. There have been a few changes at the course with many of the old pine trees felled, however, it is still a beautiful area & $20 for 10 holes seems very reasonable indeed.

Karen putting, having landed the ball close to the hole for a change!

We were halfway down the fairway of the 10^th hole when we realised we were both exhausted, so stopped playing & came home for a rest. I was able to take it easy for the afternoon, but Wes drove to Mornington Hospital (3 hours each way) to visit an old insurance mate, Bill Friend, who has had a massive heart attack. Bill worked for GRE Insurance & went out of his way to support Maloney Insurance Brokers over many years. I would love to have gone with Wes, but we couldn’t leave the boys for 7 hours in the heat of the day.

The next day I spent some time with Judi, catching up on her news, while Wes helped Barbara with her garden & garage tidying. We have friends coming for barbecue lunches soon & decided we should check that it was actually working, so had our first barbecue in about 3 years. My trout & Wes’s pork chops cooked perfectly & the boys had their first real bones, which they loved!

Me again, this time pumping water at Leitches Creek, which is one of the most accessible mineral water springs in our area – about 10 minutes’ drive from home

We have been trying to acclimatise Lewis & Morse to being out & about with people and tried to do that on Thursday morning before it got too hot. Firstly, we went to the Council offices to register them, then to Daylesford Mind Your Pet to get new collars, as they have grown out of their baby ones. When we got to Cliffy’s, every outdoor table was taken & all we could do was introduce them to Donna Thorneycroft, who owns Wombat Hill Nursery next door.

We tried again on Friday morning, after I had done the supermarket shopping & it was a big success. We went to The Food Gallery, where we could park our car out the front & tied them up to the outside umbrella. Lots of people, some we knew & others we didn’t, stopped to say hello & have a pat. One local man, who we have never met before, dragged up a chair & gave them some serious cuddling time, which was wonderful. Wes & I had beautiful breakfasts & hot drinks & decided that The Food Gallery is probably our best bet. That side of the street is in shade in the morning & with our car parked out the front, we didn’t have to worry if the boys fell into the gutter (which Lewis did a couple of time when he lost his balance in his excitement).

Yesterday was yet another very hot day & the boys enjoyed their early morning bath after walking around Lake Daylesford. They also took every opportunity to put their feet in their water bowls before charging back inside & leaping up onto Wes for a cuddle!

This very appropriate Snoopy cartoon landed in my Inbox last night!

We watched the Carlton & Collingwood women play an entertaining game of footy last night, with Carlton prevailing for the third year in a row, much to Wes’s delight, especially as the Carlton blokes held on for an exciting win against Essendon in their first game of the pre-season rounds.

We’re off to the Market shortly, fortunately in cooler weather, although it is going to get hot again. Relief is in sight with rain & lower temperatures coming very soon. We can’t wait!