We had a fun time at the Sunday Market last week, even managed to snare some Dutch Cream potatoes! We all had croissants for breakfast and Wes’s plans to get into the garden were stymied by the cold wind & occasional showers. I had planned some phone calls & was able to do them in the warmth of the lounge.
Perfect Snoopy cartoon as Winter approaches
At school on Monday morning we watched another You Tube video by Steve
Dotto, where he compared Zoom, Skype & Appear.in. He uses Zoom in his business, but
loves Appear.in. We decided to remain with Zoom as so many of our friends are already using it,
as well as Skype for
one-on-one calls, as it seems to be a better quality than Messenger or Google. The main issue with all platforms, except Appear.in which doesn’t have an app, is that you need to
set up the call before making it, as the person/s you want to speak with may
not have that app or platform open at the time you choose. This doesn’t bother
us as we think it is good etiquette to set up our video chats at a convenient
time for each other & our friends.
Some glimpses of our walk from Bryce’s Flat to the Blowhole a couple of
weeks ago on a perfect morning
That afternoon, we went to Bill Longley’s funeral which was held locally
at Verey’s Funeral Parlour. We knew everyone of the 20 invitees, most of whom
had known Bill from the Bushwalking Group. It was a wonderful farewell, with
his daughter, Cherida, and son, Jeremy, delivering an entertaining, amusing
& thoughtful eulogy. We all stood up & toasted Bill with a glass of red
wine (his favourite tipple) and said goodbye in the sun with sprigs of rosemary
& red roses. We both found it very difficult to be socialising again, and
keeping a proper distance was almost impossible. However, we were so pleased to
have been invited, for Wes to have been asked to read the Ralph Waldo Emerson
poem “Success” and to be able to give our sympathy to Sue and
her family.
Tuesday was catching up with friends & family day, while Wes worked
in the garden. It was a perfect Autumn day and Lewis & Morse were thrilled
to help him sweep, mulch & mow the lower back garden. I spoke with my aunt,
Jeff, in Torksey Lock, then my sister, Leanne, in Strathmore, and finally, our
friend, Jan Pengilley, in Maleny.
After lunch, Wes & I went to the roundabout in Vincent Street for the
raising of the Aboriginal flag by the Hepburn Mayor, Licia Kokocinski, to
celebrate National Sorry Day (the
National Day of Healing that remembers Kevin Rudd’s apology to the Stolen
Generations back in 1998). There were just a handful of us there because of
social distancing, but we were proud to be able to participate.
Gary Lawrence & grandsons, Mayor Licia & Warren Maloney – I’m
there - obscured by Licia’s flowing jacket!
On Wednesday, while Wes helped Barbara with some chores, I went for a
local drive – pumped water at Leitches Creek, delivered jars & Epicures to
Nick & Robyn Massaro in Porcupine Ridge, and finished up with a stroll
around Daylesford Cemetery looking in vain for Nathan Cummings’ burial site. I
found lots of old friends, most of them gone too soon – David Smith, John
Clube, Joan Blythe & Trish Nield to name a few.
That night we stayed up late to watch the Coodabeen Champions Live Stream show on You Tube. Wes had bought tickets for
us, but you could watch for free. They were fund-raising for the Upper Murray
Football Netball League, which is in dire straits & we were happy to donate
$10 each. We laughed our heads off for two hours, when we weren’t singing along
to Greg Champion’s songs, or listening to the callers to Torch McGee. It was a
wonderful footy fix!
We were thrilled to hear that Jessica & Geoff Findlay are the proud
parents of twin boys, Ethan & Oliver, born on 20th May. Joyce
& Manny Spiteri, our dear friends, & Jess’s parents, will be delighted
to have two grandsons to add to their six beautiful granddaughters.
I’ve been chatting about kookaburras recently – we are serenaded most mornings
by them as we walk around Lake Daylesford, and we have a family that lives in a
nearby gum tree, who often visit, as do the magpies. Before we had Lewis &
Morse, the kookas were very brave & came to our decking to get pieces of
cheese to eat, and to chat with the magpies.
These photos were taken in 2018 and I particularly like the top photo
where the magpie & kooka appear to be comparing notes. There is no argument
as to which bird has the tuneful song, but the laugh of the kooka is magic!
When I was speaking with friends, Jan Pengilley, & later, Kathy
Lazzaro, I realised that I was feeling very reluctant to return to Mah Jong soon.
I emailed Dot & Judi & was pleased to discover that they felt the same
way. We hope to be able to play again, but it may not be until next year. I
have also decided not to go straight back to gym, which can re-open from 22nd
June. Barry, who runs it, says he will only open on Tuesdays & Thursday,
with small classes. This is all very sensible, but most of my gym friends have
families, not living here, that they will have been visiting & I don’t want
to risk putting myself in harm’s way. Lots of people like me have immunity
issues & are probably feeling the same way.
Friend, Frank Page, took this stunning early photo of Lake Daylesford
during Friday morning’s incredible mist. It was too dark for us to see let
alone take a photo.
When the mist finally rose, we had another lovely sunny day, but we had
already decided it would be madness to go for our usual second walk on Friday
mornings, as we would be in danger of falling over or tripping along the narrow
miners’ tracks.
There were quite a few visitors in Daylesford this weekend, not as many
as we’ll have next weekend with the Queen’s birthday long weekend. Some
accommodation places are re-opening & restaurants are cautiously preparing
to serve diners inside, instead of just doing take-away. The Hepburn Shire
Council has put up notices everywhere asking visitors to respect social
distancing and we just have to hope they do, although my experience with three
young men on Friday wasn’t a hopeful one, as they frolicked about Vincent Street,
taking selfies & touching everything in sight!
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