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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