Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 29th September 2019

Last Sunday we were pleased to see Sandy & David back at breakfast full of stories from their recent trip back to Penang, where they lived & worked for a year in 1996. They were both looking well & happy to be home, especially their property at Porcupine Ridge. Rhonda joined us for a coffee, and we enjoyed catching up with her as well.

I was quite tired from failing in my quest to get the Pies into the Grand Final, so spent the rest of the day watching VFL footy – first the Collingwood women, who beat the Bulldogs to claim their first Premiership and then the Richmond team, which were too good for Williamstown in a very close game.

In between we had a decadent & delightful afternoon tea with Rob & Dene, our neighbours, and heard some of their stories from their recent trip to Bordeaux, Spain & Portugal. By the time I had fed Lewis & Morse at 5.30pm, I was more than ready for bed & benefitted from the early night.

It had been raining when we woke on Monday morning, so I let Wes do the walking & headed off early to gym via Leitches Creek, where I pumped mineral water. Barry gave me a new programme at gym, so I have been sore in different spots this week. Wes managed to get some weeding & mowing done out the front before the rain settled in again.

Thank you flowers from Annie to us for walking Maisie for her

School holidays are a wonderful time to be driving to Melbourne, so I visited Leanne on Tuesday & had a delightful drive there & back for a change. We had a good visit & kicked a few goals. Wes had hurt his back weeding, so he had a quiet day sitting, reading & dog cuddling. We had smoked cod, oven-baked Dutch Cream potato slices covered in paprika & peas for dinner – what a treat!

On Wednesday, while Wes spent time helping Barbara, I met up with both Dot & Judi for Mah Jong at Muffins & More, which was as full as I have ever seen it – school holidays meant lots of mothers & children indulging in treats (scones, jam & cream, spiders, waffles & muffins) & all talking at the tops of their voices. We all won at least one game & enjoyed our time together.

We had been invited to morning tea on Thursday by Jan Pengilley & arrived to find her dying to tell us her story of preparing for our visit. She has recently had surgery & we had offered to bring something to eat, but she was determined to provide. Jan had prepared the perfect pikelet mixture until the moment when she broke an egg into the batter only to discover it was bad. She didn’t have enough milk to make another batch, so we had to make do with fruit cake & Venetian biscuits – both very acceptable if not quite as decadent as pikelets with jam & cream.

I was starting to get excited about the Grand Final by Friday, and spent the day doing the usual weekend chores of washing, ironing & cleaning. We took the boys out to Larder for a cuppa. Because of school holidays, everywhere was busy, but we found a spot out the back & Lewis & Morse enjoyed the experience.

Yesterday morning we started with breakfast at The Food Gallery before Wes drove me to Woodend Station to catch the train to the MCG. I was delighted to see old friend, Lyndal Jenkin, and her daughter, Brontë, in the waiting room. Lyndal is a Carlton supporter, but Brontë barracks for Richmond & aged 11, was off to her second Grand Final in three years. We enjoyed catching up as Lyndal currently lives & teaches in Birchip & I do miss her in my life. We play Scrabble on our phones & keep in touch that way, but it’s not the same as face to face.

I had a great seat at the ground, on the wing & only 14 rows back from the fence. There was an air of excitement everywhere & plenty of Greater Western Sydney supporters, both real & for the day. I think most of us expected them to play the aggressive, never-say-die footy that they brought last Saturday to defeat Collingwood, but sadly they seemed to have left that back at home & succumbed to Richmond’s phenomenal team game with barely a whimper. It was one of the most complete team performances I have ever seen, although Wes tells me it wasn’t very exciting to watch on TV. Because I was close I could really appreciate the effort that every single Richmond player made.

On the way home I found myself on the same train as Lyndal & Brontë, and Lyndal kindly offered to drive me from the station, which saved Wes & the boys another trip to Woodend & back.

It’s a cool morning here in Daylesford and we are about to head off to the Sunday Market, before breakfast back at The Food Gallery. It is hard to believe the footy season is over & we’ve got 4 months to wait until the women start playing again. In the meantime, we’ll have the Spring Racing Carnival & Cricket season to occupy us.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 22nd September 2019

What an exciting week it has been. Firstly the Poms won the 5^th & final Test at The Oval to stop Australia from winning the Series, but we do bring home The Ashes and lots of us no longer are bleary-eyed in the mornings from staying up too late watching just one more over!

Beautiful daffodils everywhere this year – we must have 300 bulbs planted by now

Sunday breakfast was fun with Glen keen to hear about Judi’s trip as she had missed the previous breakfast, and Wes & I sharing the story of our unexpected & intrusive visitors of the previous Friday morning.

Wes has been able to get quite a lot done in the garden – always with help, whether he wants it or not. There has been rather a lot of sunshine after some icy cold mornings (caused by wind, rather than rain) and as I sit writing this, I can see Lake Daylesford sparkling in the distance.

Before walking Maisie on Monday, I had a cuppa with Annie at The Food Gallery, where we said hello to some other friends, and updated each other on our past week’s activities. The secondary schools are now on holidays so everywhere is a little busier than usual, which I particularly noticed when I took Maisie to the Wombat Hill Botanical Gardens.

That afternoon Wes & I headed to Bi-Rite to buy him a new computer. His desktop had died & he had transferred everything to our laptop only to discover it didn’t have enough capacity or grunt to be workable. Tim was unable to help us as no computers or laptops that we liked the sound of were available until late October! So, we drove to Officeworks in Ballarat where the young friendly staff member found the very last HP 24” All in One computer, just like mine that we had bought from Tim 6 months ago. We grabbed it with glee & brought it home.

Wes spent most of Tuesday setting it up and downloading Office 365, Norton & Family Tree-maker as priorities. He is very pleased with the slimline, easy to use keyboard & very clear screen, as well as being back on Windows 10. During a break in downloading, we took Lewis & Morse for morning tea and sat outside The Food Gallery. This gave them a chance to greet George & Max & totally monster Judi, who was heading inside for a cuppa after Strong class with her fellow participants.

Lewis & Morse with their eyes on our raisin toast & jam!

We are loving being able to listen to ABC Classic on TV. Last Monday we heard on the radio that it was available on Channel 27. I couldn’t find that but on Radioline, at the very end of all the radio station apps, I discovered it and the sound is sublime coming from our smart TV’s speakers.

Judi & I played Mah Jong on Wednesday morning at Muffins & More, while Wes attended his Reconciliation Advisory Group, where he was disappointed to discover that the resolutions from the previous meeting hadn’t been put to Council yet.

Lovely photo of Maisie, the Irish Water Spaniel, on a walk with Wes around Twin Bridges

While Barbara’s car was being serviced on Thursday morning, Wes drove her to Trentham for breakfast at Chaplin’s, only to discover that both cooks had taken the day off & soup & toast was the order of the day. Meanwhile I went shopping at Coles, Tonna’s & the pharmacy & met up with lots of local friends during my time. It was one of those days where it feels good to be alive & everyone was out enjoying the sunshine.

By Friday, I was starting to get anxious about the footy yesterday. It was a warm but windy day, and after gym, I did all the weekend washing & ironing, as well as cleaning bathrooms & the kitchen to help settle my nerves. That night we sat down to watch the Richmond vs Geelong Preliminary Final and just as the game was about to start, we realised Morse was missing. He had somehow leapt the fence between our place & Glen next door & was sitting in her back yard looking confused & lost in the dark. Wes went in & retrieved him & spent some time yesterday morning adding extra wire to the height of the fence where it was at its easiest to vault!

Couldn’t resist this cartoon doing the rounds of Facebook

Wes & the boys drove me to Woodend Station so I could get an early train to Southern Cross & arrive at the MCG before 1.45pm when the gates opened for the Collingwood vs GWS Preliminary Final being played at 4.35pm. I was lucky enough to get a seat in my usual bay in the Balcony on the 2^nd level. Almost 78,000 fans turned up on a rainy afternoon to see Greater Western Sydney outplay the Magpies & make their way to their first Grand Final against Richmond next Saturday afternoon. The Giants really deserved to win, although we played very well in the last quarter & nearly stole a victory in the last minutes.

Thank you to all my many friends who sent supportive messages before, during & after the game. I particularly appreciated the virtual hugs I received afterwards. Wes & the boys were waiting at Ballan Station at 9.20pm when the special football train arrived there, which was lovely.

This morning I missed out on the early morning walk in the mist as I really didn’t have the energy. Wes has reminded me that the specialist who diagnosed my chronic fatigue explained that my body no longer produces enough adrenalin to get me through the day, which is why I spend most afternoons resting & why I need to take things easily after a day like yesterday. Apart from the Sunday Market followed by breakfast, our only activity today is afternoon tea with our neighbours, Rob & Dene, catching up on their recent wonderful trip.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 15th September 2019

We welcomed Judi back at breakfast last Sunday, after she & Michael had enjoyed a Kimberley cruise, followed by a week in Darwin. We all thought she was looking great & listened as she shared her stories. Aileen joined us, which was lovely & we wished her well as she heads off to Singapore for a short trip.

After breakfast, Judi & I went to the Primary School book fair, where neither of us was successful in finding specific books we were looking for. 

Our fire was still alight, so we banked it up & spent a relaxing day reading the weekend papers & catching up on episodes of Trapped, as well as the wonderful Turkish film, Mustang, which we had both missed seeing at the cinema. What a powerful story of five young orphaned girls fighting for their freedom away from arranged marriages, acceptable behaviour & virginity tests.

It was absolutely freezing on Monday morning when we walked the boys & it wasn’t surprising that only one other person was walking early. Some tree branches were down, but I think that was everywhere, as a wattle next door splintered & blocked the access road. Fortunately, Glen was out, or her car would have been seriously damaged.

We were as shocked as everyone else by the sudden tragic death of much-loved ex St Kilda footballer, Richmond coach & media personality, Danny Frawley, who has battled depression for much of his life. Although I never met him, I felt as though I knew him as a courageous & great footballer before he entered coaching & then the media. It took most of the week before I stopped thinking about him & his life decisions that caused him such depression.

On Wednesday it was lovely to play Mah Jong with Judi again. She didn’t take long to pick up where she had left off & won two of the four games we played. Wes spent the morning with Barbara, washing her car & helping her with decluttering. I think Spring has that effect on us all – I certainly know I am making brave decisions to give away items I probably won’t need again, such as baby wool & knitting patterns.

Kathy Lazzaro gave me another big bag of wool from one of her friends last Saturday & I delivered most of it to Claire at the Daylesford Library. She promised to make sure it made its way to Jodie & from there to some of the women who knit & crochet for Keeping Daylesford Warm.

Lewis & Morse continue to delight – except when they are being naughty, which isn’t too often. Lewis keeps bringing large sticks into the laundry, so he can gnaw away at them when he feels like it, and Morse has moved from daffodils to camellias & is bringing the decapitated flowers inside as well.

                                                           

                                             

Morse & Lewis resting after a big day!

Wes visited Leanne on Thursday & was able to help her with a number of activities & decisions. Afterwards he drove to Carlton to meet up with his oldest friend, Tom Tyrrell, and they enjoyed a long, slow Italian lunch locally.

Tom pictured here sitting on his new black & white cushions on his veranda chairs. Needless to say, there was much merriment about the choice of colour – much more Collingwood than Essendon!

Meantime, I took the boys out when I did the shopping at Coles & Tonna’s & they loved all the attention they got from the back window of the station wagon.

On Friday, I was pleased to get back to Barry’s gym & catch up with friends. I was able to do my programme quite easily, so haven’t lost too much strength & suppleness while the gym was closed. We are still walking our friend’s dog for her & it was my turn to take her to Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens & enjoy the grass & all the bulbs that are out.

When I arrived back home, Wes was tackling the mowing for the first time in ages when there was a knock on the door & we were visited by two people who had spent their early childhood in the house that we knocked down to build Maloney Folly. They were very excited & asked lots of questions, took photos & videos without asking permission & left us exhausted when they had gone. They understood why the original home had been pulled down and could tell us what life was like here in the early 60s.

We watched Geelong play much better to defeat West Coast Eagles on Friday, and Brisbane squander chances to beat Greater Western Sydney last night. We were channel hopping with the cricket, where Steve Smith stood tall with the bat & Mitch Marsh amazed us all with 10 wickets so far in the match. The Poms are looking determined not to let us win this last Test, much to their credit, even though we have retained The Ashes.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 8th September 2019

We had a wonderful Fathers’ Day, which started with a walk around Jubilee Lake. It was rather wet underfoot & we were shocked by the desecration of trees and undergrowth in the back section, but pleased by the addition of steps to the higher level, which makes walking from our home to the Lake a possibility again. The boys were spoilt rotten at the Sunday Market with cabbage & cuddles from early morning shoppers.

Breakfast was fun, as usual, with Jan, Glen, Janine & Barbara all sharing funny stories around the table at The Food Gallery. Afterwards we popped back home to collect Lewis & Morse & drove to Kyneton to see their beautiful Avenue of Honour, which is golden trumpet daffodils as far as the eye can see. 

We spent the rest of the day at home, reading the weekend papers, doing the odd bit of weeding, snoozing, picking our own daffodils & catching up with episodes of Series 2 of the Icelandic drama Trapped, which we love. Just as Wes was making dinner, we experienced a short wild storm which brought down a powerline on the other side of the road. Fortunately there was no damage & no loss of power to anyone in our end of the street.

We walked around Lake Daylesford on Monday morning, and had no need of the torch after the first 5 minutes. We met no-one which was surprising as it was dry & not particularly cold. We do miss the noise of the geese & ducks & I keep expecting to see them emerge from one or other of their favourite places.

We had hoped to play golf at Trentham on Tuesday morning, but it was raining there and the ground was very soft underfoot after overnight rain, so we went to Cliffy’s instead. And what a great decision that was! I caught up with Donna Thorneycroft & we chatted about Collingwood until Wes stepped in. He was then grabbed by Peter O’Mara for a chat! Gillie arrived & joined us, and quite a few other friends met up after gym for a cuppa & breakfast.

Dot still wasn’t well enough for Mah Jong, so while Wes helped Barbara, I drove to Ballarat to get a few things I couldn’t buy here, including a new phone cover. It was a perfect morning for a drive & it kept me out of the house and from under Sandra’s feet. She has enough to worry about with Lewis & Morse when she is cleaning. That afternoon, I visited Emma at EKO for an overdue facial & catch up chat.

Lewis & Morse sleeping in the sun

We finally were able to take the boys out into Vincent Street for a bit of socialising on Thursday. We headed to The Food Gallery late that morning after Wes had enjoyed a productive couple of hours in the garden & sat outside with our hot drinks. A couple of people were delighted to see them & one man took a photo. We’ll have to get back in the swing of doing this as it is good for all of us!

That evening we had drinks with our new neighbour, Glen, in her lounge overlooking her lovely garden & in time to watch sunset. Those of you who shared meals at 246 Brunswick Road (AKA Maloney Manor), will remember bringing chairs once numbers got above 4 as we never ever bought chairs to go with our lovely dining table, which seats 14. We had to take our own chairs to Glen’s place as she only has one chair at present, the rest are in storage. Back home we watched to see if Essendon could match the West Coast Eagles & when it was obvious they couldn’t, we switched over to the Ashes Test at Old Trafford, where Steve Smith was busy compiling a double hundred.

On Friday morning, Wes suggested we have breakfast together to settle my nerves & send me on my way to Melbourne with something that would last me until dinner-time. We went back to The Food Gallery & enjoyed the lovely service & yummy breakfasts that Toni & Pasquale provide. Wes washed the cars while I packed and then it was time to go.

Fraser Gibson starring just under Brodie Grundy’s right arm – front page of Thursday’s Herald Sun

After I checked into my Comfort Hotel in East Melbourne, I walked into town to the Kino to see Juliette Binoche in the intriguing film Who You Think I Am. She is a wonderful actress & this was a very modern story with a number of twists & turns. The rain had disappeared when I came out of the cinema, which was very welcome for the night’s game.

I met up with my brother, Peter, at 6pm & we joined the queue at The Terrace Café where we enjoyed a meal with Lyn & Mark, who had been standing behind us. They live in Warrandyte & don’t get to the footy as much as they would like. We really only had our love of Collingwood in common, but that was enough for us to enjoy spending time together.

Amazingly, the Pies were good enough to hold off a fast-finishing Geelong side & make their way straight to a Preliminary Final in a fortnight. Peter & I were up high on the 4^th level, but we had an excellent view on the wing & enjoyed sharing the experience.

Yesterday I met Kathy & Ged for breakfast at Square & Compass, before making my way home via Leanne, who needed some help & advice. My three boys were pleased to see me & Wes lit the fire & opened a bottle of sparkling shiraz in celebration. We spent the afternoon watching GWS beat Western Bulldogs & the evening flicking between Richmond’s demolition of Brisbane & Australia’s dominance of England at Old Trafford.

I was in bed early after my busy 24 hours & missed out on the walk this morning. We are about to head off to the Sunday Market & then breakfast to catch up with friends.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 1st September 2019

We very much enjoyed our Sunday with Kathy & Ged Lazzaro, which started at the Sunday Market – Yvonne was pleased that Kathy had the right money for her purchases & Ged was happy to put Marjorie’s fruit & vegetables in her car for her. After dropping the boys home & putting away our fruit & vegetables, the four of us headed to The Food Gallery, where we met Barbara & Jan for breakfast. Aileen popped in later to share a coffee. We had lots of very funny conversations, including some vintage John Hardwick stories.

Kathy & Barbara above & Jan, Wes & Ged below

We had offered the Lazzaros a trip to Trentham & they liked the idea, so we drove there via the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. We enjoyed walking along High Street, window shopping, buying Dutch Cream potatoes & finding a tiny Sunday Market at the Trentham Railway Station. After a drive around looking at the new estates, (as the population has doubled over the past decade), we went to Chaplins for cuppas, a chat & a shared late morning tea. Bettina Ralph has a photographic Exhibition at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, so we popped in to admire her work. The hotel was nearly full with lunch-time parties of family & friends, and we had to manouveur our way around the tables.

Kathy, Ged & Wes in conversation

Our week has been unexpectedly busy. We had planned a quiet one after last week, but things crop up & it has been good to be able to help friends by walking a dog, collecting parcels, delivering wool to Keeping Daylesford Warm in Wheatsheaf, and catching up on phone calls & emails.

We did see some kangaroos & a wallaby early one morning when we went to Leitches Creek to pump mineral water. Fortunately, Lewis & Morse didn’t react – Bilbo & Frodo used to get very excited indeed!

My brother, Peter, rang on Monday to see if I was going to the footy next Friday night, and if so, was I able to get him a ticket. I was & did. It will be lovely to share time with him.

I spent a day with Leanne, who had needed a new modem for her laptop & was able to install it and assure her that when NBN arrived, she wouldn’t need another new one, as it was exactly the same as the modem we got with NBN. Wes accompanied Barbara to an appointment in Ballarat and did a few chores while they were out.

Our daffodils finally emerged from hibernation & Morse promptly started removing their heads. We are doing our best to discourage this behaviour, which ranks along with digging up camellias, weeing on the seaside daisies and removing fronds from fledgling tree ferns! Lewis does very few of these things, but he likes to play with & chew up sticks of all shapes & sizes, preferably from Wes’s woodpile, which is not a popular move either.

Yesterday, we had a lovely early walk around Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. While Wes looked after the boys, I collected about 50 pine- cones, which are in abundance & lovely when we light our fire. I spent the day washing, ironing & cleaning silver, with occasional stops for pots of Jasmine tea & crosswords. Wes worked in Ancestry before heading out into the garden and potting up geraniums. We were both glued to The Coodabeen Champions, who always entertain & amuse. Their interview with Peter Daicos was very special indeed.

Happy 80^th Birthday Jeff!  (L-R) Jeff, Archie, Kelly, Amelia, Mike & Kev Hoolihan, Simon & Leigh Murrin

This morning we are off to the Sunday Market and then breakfast at The Food Gallery, where we will be joined by Barbara, Janine, Jan & Glen. Lewis & Morse spent a lot of time deciding what to give Daddy & eventually chose chilli chocolates from Sweet Decadence, where there is still a framed notice from 2004 celebrating the birth of chilli chocolates at the request of the then Mayor, Warren Maloney.

Happy Fathers’ Day to all of you out there celebrating. We’ll raise a glass to our much-loved Dads – Ray Maloney & Perc Saundry.