Morse

Morse
Morse & friend

Sunday, 31 May 2020

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 31st May 2020

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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