Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 21st June 2020

We woke to a wet morning last Sunday, followed by mist & finally a dry day emerged. It was quite busy at the Market, with lots more locals out & about. We were able to get everything we needed, including Dutch Cream potatoes, pigs’ ears & Spelt bread – spuds for us, ears for the boys & bread for Glen next door. We came home & enjoyed croissants for breakfast with some of Nick’s plum jam, while Lewis & Morse tucked into the end of the celery with great gusto. It will be good when we are able to take them to Market with us again & they can have their second breakfast on shredded cabbage!

 A photo from earlier this year showing Lewis & Morse tucking into cabbage

We lit the fire in the afternoon & watched all three games of footy – surprise wins in Sydney by North over the Giants & Essendon over the Swans, and St Kilda had a good win over the Doggies in Melbourne.

Barbara rang Wes to let him know that our mutual friend, Gary Ashley, had died peacefully that day with his husband, Kim Lyden, by his side. We have very happy memories of fun times with Gary, especially back when Kim was running Café 3460 & Gary would feed Bilbo & Frodo with Vegemite toast on Sunday mornings when we turned up for breakfast. It started with accidentally burnt toast one day and very rapidly moved into toast especially for them & didn’t they love it!

Gary & Kim at Café 3460 back in 2007

We were able to walk early on Monday before the rain set in & Daylesford was shrouded in mist. At School this week, we decided not to watch any more Steve Dotto You Tube videos until we have sorted ourselves and Google out a bit more. Wes taught me a few tricks with numbers in Excel spreadsheets instead. I discovered I had forgotten more than I remembered and was grateful for his guidance.

We then had our first real outing, (since isolation) and took the boys on a trip to Ballarat. I had to return my bracelet to the jeweller as they had forgotten to remove a link when they repaired it back on 10^th March. I had hoped they could do it on the spot, but they were too busy & promised to treat it as a priority. Sure enough, they sent me a text late that afternoon to say it was ready.

Then we queued up at the big branch of our bank, NAB, as we needed to appear in person to allow Wes to have access to our credit card in Internet Banking. The card is in my name and he has a supplementary card himself. We had even taken our passports in case we needed lots of points, but our drivers’ licences & Visa cards were sufficient.

Finally, we stopped at Dan Murphy’s, which was quiet, and stocked up on Hendricks gin, Irish whisky & Bundaberg Rum. There were lots of roadworks along the way home and we felt sorry for the workmen struggling in the rain. Lewis & Morse behaved very well & only woke up when we pulled into the carport.

This stunning arrangement of yellow roses, from Wombat Hill Florist, courtesy of Mike, Linda & Lauren Kirby arrived late that afternoon – we’ll enjoy them for some time to come & the heavy square glass vase they are in will be put to good use in the future.

I woke up without a voice on Tuesday morning, so Wes had a Skype chat with my aunt, Jeff, instead of me. I am sure he entertained her, and she would have gone to bed laughing! Apart from early morning, when we walked the boys, it rained on & off all day and we were all happy to stay warm & cosy inside. Wes & I spent time sorting out Gmail & I changed our email addresses wherever I could.

Wrong season for us but I couldn’t resist this lovely Snoopy & Woodstock cartoon

It was a dry day on Wednesday, so after the walk, I did my longest drive since early March – started with a delivery of Epicures from The Age, plus empty jam jars to Nick & Robyn Massaro in Porcupine Ridge. Nick makes lots of jams & preserves & appreciates the jars, while Robyn loves to cook and reads Epicure avidly. Next stop was Leitches Creek to pump mineral water, but someone had broken the pump handle, so I had to use the pipe water instead. Not too much of a hardship, except that you have to be on hands & knees.

My final stop was Gems & Jewels, in Ballarat, to pick up my bracelet. The traffic wasn’t too bad & I arrived back home in time for a cup of tea before hosting the fortnightly Zoom catch up with Kathy Lazzaro & Karen Stevenson. We are trying to persuade Joyce Spiteri to join us, even for just a minute, but my emails to her, and messages to her husband, Manny, are falling on deaf ears to date.

That afternoon, Wes drove to Trentham, to catch up with his cousin, Glenn Testro. He hasn’t seen Glenn since Marilyn’s funeral, on 3^rd March. They had a lovely time together, with lots of memories & laughs. On the way home, Wes ordered fish & chips – our first this year I think – and we did enjoy the chips & blue grenadier cooked so well at Daylesford Seafood.

On Thursday morning, after our walk, it was time for Wes to have another chat with Cotswolds friend, Paul Jackson & his Indiana mate, Barry Hansen, so I did the shopping at Coles, which was quiet & peaceful at 7.15am. We had to put the car back into Howe Automotive for a couple of things that needed doing after last week’s service. The boys get to travel to & from the factory & are most amused by these short trips. Lewis had mislaid his collar & we were unable to find it in the dark – Wes tracked it down under the nectarine tree in the orchard when we got back home.

Wes & Barbara went shopping at Coles at 9.30am, when it was much busier, and indulged in hot chocolates at the Chocolate Mill afterwards. There were only 4 other customers there, so no problems with spatial distancing.

 

A collage of photos from our wedding – Top - me with my dear father, Perc; Wes & I: Bottom: Wes & I with Terry Gauci & Deane Wells, and mingling with friends & family. Thanks again for all the comments on the photos – much appreciated.

We were delighted to be able to take the boys out socialising on Friday morning and sat outside The Food Gallery with our hot drinks & toast. Both Lewis & Morse were very well behaved, probably because no little dogs came along to spoil their enjoyment and everyone who saw them smiled & said hello.

This wonderful cartoon has appeared on Facebook before, but I need to share it as it sums me up perfectly, as Wes pointed out. He finds making me a cup of tea a thankless task – there always seems to be something wrong with it. Of course, I think making the perfect pot of Jasmine tea is easy peasy.

Yesterday we enjoyed listening to The Coodabeen Champions in the morning, before settling down to an afternoon of footy. Collingwood was able to beat St Kilda at the MCG, and later that night, Carlton had an unexpected & very welcome win over Geelong at Kardinia Park. I only lasted until half-time & was thrilled for Wes when he told me they had won by 2 points in a nail-biter. The big news was the positive COVID-19 test of Essendon’s Irish footballer, Conor McKenna, and subsequent postponement of their game against Melbourne today. This news had the effect of the persuading the Victorian Government to reduce the numbers of people allowed in homes & restaurants, which is very sensible.

We are getting ready to go to the Sunday Market, after which we are celebrating our wins with breakfast at the Food Gallery. If the rain holds off, Wes might get into the garden, or even wash Lewis & Morse, who are quite muddy this morning after our walk & a post-prandial run around the back yard.