Morse

Morse
Morse & friend

Sunday, 14 June 2020

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 14th June 2020


We had a lovely Sunday last week – our usual walk around Lake Daylesford in the dark with Lewis & Morse, followed by pumping mineral water at Leitches Creek, before visiting the Sunday Market, which had quite a few more stalls & was very busy. We were able to buy five Friesia roses from Ken Rae of Spring Park Nursery; replenish dwindling supplies of dog treats from Jeff; indulge in fig & aniseed sourdough from Stella’s bread (Ken & Steve), and fill up our basket & bags with fruit & vegetables from Yvonne.  We were watched by four grey kangaroos as we drove to Leitches Creek. They were at the Daylesford Cidery on Dairy Flat Road, Musk and when we were returning, they had moved onto Janine Hawker’s property.


Afterwards we went back to The Food Gallery for an early breakfast before the Daylesford visitors arrived. We are most impressed with the attitude being taken there – hand sanitiser at the door, a book for customers to write their name & contact details, plenty of distance between tables & yummy food, with friendly service. We had a good chat over our meals and only left when we realised all other tables were taken & we had better free ours up!

That weekend was spent listening to the Beethoven Top 100 on ABC Classic FM, apart from breaks for the Coodabeens, phone calls & Wes’s visits to Barbara. I had a lovely chat with dear friend, Joyce Spiteri, and we laughed for 20 minutes or so. She couldn’t wait to meet her two grandsons, who were coming home from hospital last Tuesday.

On Monday morning School was the most dramatic we have experienced. We watched and listened as Steve Dotto told us the advantages of Google Calendar & Gmail and both of us were struck by his arguments. We have spent this week trying to get our heads around working in Google first, instead of Outlook. Even this Dispatch comes to you via Gmail. It’s probably worth making a note of our gmail addresses as we are continuing to use this platform, which is frustratingly different, but has many advantages over Outlook:
·        karenmaloney.KM@gmail.com
·        maloneywarren84@gmail.com

It did seem strange to be spending Queen’s Birthday Monday at our computers, instead of being away somewhere or at the MCG for the traditional game – Collingwood & Melbourne. At 4pm we watched the Big Freeze as a player from each team did an ice routine.

Later we had a Zoom farewell to friends, Gail & Terry White, who are returning to NSW after many years in Daylesford. They are moving to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, where their daughters live with their families. We’ll miss them both.

             Lovely photo from last year at Jackie’s on Vincent              
L-R Wes, Terry, Karen, Gail, Joe & Glenda

We were delighted to find a wonderful glass cabinet with golfing memorabilia at our front door on Thursday – a farewell gift from Terry & much appreciated (see photo of page 5).

Wes spent Tuesday in the garden while I wrestled with a couple of issues that we had in moving from Outlook to Google. I solved them much to our delight and we are soldiering on, although finding everything very strange to start with. We have been able to get our @bigpond emails diverted to Gmail, which was the biggest worry – we won’t be getting rid of @bigpond any time soon, so please continue to use the old email addresses if that suits you better.

After -2° as we walked around Lake Daylesford, the sun shone bravely & it was a perfect day for being outside. I had a Skype chat with Leanne & a Zoom catch up with Jane Knox. Jane had some lovely stories about her late father, Frank, and we shared our feelings about the resumption of footy among other things.

I couldn’t start the car after lunch when I wanted to go for a walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens, so took the Mazda 6 & had help from Wes on my return with the jumper leads. He drove the Mazda 2 to Hepburn and stayed out for about 20 minutes, which solved the problem. The poor little car has had very little use during ISO, which is probably why it misbehaved. I’m sure getting frosty that morning didn’t help either.

On Wednesday morning, while Sandra cleaned our home & Wes spent time with Barbara, I had a long overdue manicure & pedicure with Alanna at Spa+Beauty Hepburn Springs. I felt very comfortable visiting as Alanna has excellent hygiene practices & had taken on board all requirements by the Victorian Government for Day Spas.

Lewis & Morse catching the sun

The next morning was another cold one – we walked around Lake Daylesford, Wes with the boys on the joint lead & me wearing gloves & picking up rubbish that has been left & that I can see – mostly Kleenex & takeaway coffee cups. We stop after each of the bridges and Lewis & Morse sit to receive a treat before we continue on.
When we get home, Wes opens blinds etc, while I get breakfast ready – warm rice, half a chopped raw zucchini, a couple of chopped celery sticks, ditto carrots & a dollop of Greek yoghurt. I add some warm water to their bowls to make sure they are getting enough liquid. They both love to lick their yoghurt spoon before racing downstairs & sitting anxiously waiting as I walk more slowly down the slippery outside steps. Lewis takes more time than Morse, so I make sure Morse’s bowl has more warm water & if I have the amounts just right, they finish at the same time, swap bowls & check to make sure the other bloke hasn’t left any!

Friday was our 50th Wedding Anniversary. We had hoped to reprise our honeymoon by driving to Sydney & back over a week & had booked everything, including the footy, before isolation came in. Thanks to everyone who sent or delivered cards & gifts, who sent messages, texts, rang or commented on FB – your thoughts are all much appreciated.

We celebrated with lunch at Boathouse Daylesford and reminisced to our hearts’ content about all we have experienced & achieved together. The photo shows us in the Mayfair Room at the Southern Cross Hotel (sadly gone & much missed). We didn’t want a reception, which suited us, and both sets of parents, as none of us was in any position to pay for one, and our friends couldn’t afford presents.  Instead, after the ceremony at Newman Chapel, we went back to our family homes and chatted briefly to guests who had gone there, before checking into the hotel.


Here we are at Boathouse – Wes has the lemon mousse with sparkler courtesy of Susanne & Claire & I’m about to tuck into grilled calamari. It will come as no surprise to learn that Wes had mussels & chips for his main course.

We were pleased to see footy back on our screen again after such a long break. In order to last the distance on Thursday night, when Collingwood & Richmond played, we took the boys for a walk around 4.30pm and had our pre-dinner drinks 30 minutes later than usual, with dinner another 45 minutes behind. The game was so close, it was impossible to go to bed before the end & the draw was a very fitting result.

Wonderful gift from the Whites – needs to go in the Pool Room!

Yesterday’s footy was a very mixed bag. We enjoyed the close game between Brisbane & Freo, with the Lions holding on for a win, before settling down to watch Carlton play Melbourne. The Blues were held scoreless in the first quarter, which was most unexpected & very disappointing. However, they rallied and almost won, losing by one point in a very tight last few minutes.

When we woke this morning, we discovered that Gold Coast had beaten West Coast easily, in a great boost to their stocks; and Port Adelaide had walloped Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval in front of 2,500 spectators. We are both sure the addition of fans made a difference to the players and it certainly enhanced the atmosphere.

It rained heavily overnight, but we had a dry walk around Lake Daylesford with the boys. Now we are off to the Sunday Market, which will have 70 stalls this morning, so we’ll need to get there early before it gets too busy. After gardening & computer work this morning, we are looking forward to another afternoon of footy with two games in Sydney & one in Melbourne to watch.

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