Morse

Morse
Morse & friend

Sunday, 19 April 2020

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 19th April 2020


Once again, we were blessed to be able to visit the Sunday Market & get our fresh produce including plenty of goodies for Lewis & Morse. It had been misty and cold when we walked around Lake Daylesford, but the sun was shining & the stallholders were cheerful. Wes bought croissants for us & Rob & Dene & we delivered Easter egg thank yous to Ken & Yvonne, both of whom were delighted. Later that morning we received chocolate bunnies from Rob & Dene with a delightful Power Point card.


Here I am with Rob & Dene’s Hot Cross buns, being watched eagerly by Lewis & Morse – as if they are going to get any!

Back home, we unpacked & washed everything, put it away & proceded to demolish our croissants, before ringing family & friends to wish them all a Happy Easter. Some more goodies arrived at our front door – Easter eggs from Judi & Michael; a cyclamen & eggs from Glen, and a dozen bottles of red from Woodstock winery via Rob the local delivery man.

On Monday, our “school” was me teaching Wes how to use Reckon (aka Quicken). He is used to obtaining reports, but have never inputted transactions before & learnt how to balance it with our NAB Internet Banking. The hour flew by & we both enjoyed it. Wes felt very empowered afterwards, so I have suggested that he balance the Nab Visa card when the statement falls due next week, which will give him an even better understanding of how it all works.

We’ve enjoyed some perfect Autumn days this week – cool to cold mornings, followed by slightly warmer mornings & positively balmy afternoons of 19° or so. Wes has been in the garden most days & we’ve each made phone calls, as well as cleaned out cupboards or files or boxes that had been put away for a rainy day.
My special project for the week was cleaning out the cupboard under our internal stairs, which opens into Wes’s bathroom. I knew some of the things that were there, but was surprised to find a huge plastic container full of dog towels that I had forgotten, as well as a box of soft toys, some of which had belonged to Bilbo & others were gifts to Lewis & Morse, when they were too young to do anything other than tear them apart. I produced two of the toys that night & they weren’t sure what to do with them, especially when we put them on their bed at night. Next morning the toys had been deposited on the dog decking!



Wes, Morse & Lewis in front of our favourite Lake Daylesford maple

We are really enjoying our catch ups with friends. Apart from chatting to see how they are, we think it is important to recognise & remember  Birthdays & Anniversaries, especially now when celebrations are low-key.

·        Leanne & I speak every second day & I re-introduced Skype so she can see & chat to Lewis & Morse
·        Kathy Lazzaro & I have a 20 minute chat each week & never fail to be grateful that she & Ged got home from Spain when they did.
·        I speak with Judi & Michael most weeks, often about which books Michael would like to have delivered to their front door on Monday mornings after our walk. In the past I have delivered Traveller & M from our weekend Age newspapers, but, as there is no travel, I am sending Good Weekend & Sunday Life instead.
·        We are receiving unexpected but very welcome calls from people like Ted Bailey, who was a friend from Brunswick Rotary days. He & his partner, Wendy, have moved into The Breeze, a brand-new retirement complex in Point Lonsdale. He moved out of Queen Street, Melbourne, just in time.
·        Wes is ringing or hearing from old friends like Tom Tyrrell, Danny Millman, Squiz Murray. John Hardwick & Bob White, as well as Daylesford friends – Aileen O’Reilly, David Hall, Jeff Bain & Joe & Glenda Rozen. He & Ben Lazzaro are keeping in touch too. He is having regular chats with Paul Jackson in the Cotswolds via Skype.
·        Wes has also spoken with his sister, Denise Anderson, & his nephews, Leon & Shaun.
·        My sister, Paun Fell, and I are speaking most weeks and I chat with my sister-in-law, Mary Saundry and my brother, Peter Saundry, occasionally. We also chat with my Aunt, Jeff Hoolihan, in Lincolnshire on Skype regularly & our cousin, Leigh Murrin, in Luxembourg. As well, I have been playing telephone table tennis with Gayle Gibson & Karen Stevenson, occasionally getting the latter when she isn’t watering plants on the roof!
·        I’m keeping up to date with Dot Smith via Skype messages & the occasional phone call & seen her husband, John, at Coles; have spoken with Cathy O’Toole & spotted her husband, Peter Widdop, also in Coles. Ditto Ellis Ebell, rejoicing in an outing to Coles, while his partner, Frank Page, regales us daily with stunning photos of Lake Daylesford. I am also chatting to Annie Smith & her daughter, Fiona Groundwater regularly.
·        Of course, we see our neighbours, Rob Griffin & Dene Roberts, on one side & Glen Tandberg on the other. Wes visits Barbara Simpson across the road every day & keeps in touch with her via Skype as well. We also spot Gillie Gough when we visit the Sunday Market & have a long-range chat with her. 


Unbelievably we still have enough blooms to fill two of our vases & one of Dene’s each week.

On Wednesday morning, after our walk, we delivered a big bag of jumpers (thanks Di Lyttleton), beanies & berets to Jodie Duckworth who is managing Keeping Daylesford Warm. She has been liaising with Springs Medical Centre, the Pharmacy & Sallie Harvey, at the Food Bank & hopes to be able to distribute warm things via these three options.

Sandra Frost came to clean & did a wonderful job. Wes spent the morning across the road with Barbara helping her pack boxes, as well as doing some shopping for her. It used to be easy to stay out of Sandra’s way as I would be playing Mah Jong, but these days it’s a matter of moving from upstairs to downstairs & back again. Lewis & Morse love her visits & run around outside our house trying to see which room she is in, so they can watch her as they count down the minutes until she gives them each an apple before she leaves.

I keep forgetting to tell you that we have lots of kookaburras laughing at us as we walk around the Lake each morning. It is such a beautiful & unique sound & we feel very lucky to hear them, even if Morse would rather they didn’t frighten him when they suddenly start laughing in stereo above his head.


 Two stunning photos of Lake Daylesford courtesy of Frank Page – we saw the incredible sky above, but were too early for the perfect mirror image below, which was the day before.

When I went to Coles Supermarket on Friday morning, I was delighted to see that there were very few shoppers and plenty of stock on the shelves. I had been unable to buy cornflour, but that was available and the only items that were low were rice & flour & handwash. I wear cotton gloves that I wash when I return home & feel very safe with the procedures in place at Coles. Ditto the Post Office and pharmacy.

This week I was due for a fringe trim & manicure. Fortunately I had a proper haircut with Lyndal 4 weeks ago & it was easy to snip a little off my fringe. My nails had grown long, so I chopped them off & did my best to give myself a manicure. I do miss Alanna & our chats, ditto Emma when it is time for a facial again next week. Not sure I can easily replicate that!

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