Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 28th June 2020

Last Sunday, we woke happily after both our teams were successful the day before. The boys were tired after a late night and slept heavily after our walk around Lake Daylesford. Once again, we were the only ones out at that hour. After I sent off the Dispatch, we headed to the Sunday Market, which is getting busier each time we visit. I still wear gloves (leather, disposable or washable) everywhere I go – handling goods, opening & shutting doors, visiting the Post Office & shops etc. Wes is a little braver, but makes sure he sanitises wherever he goes & washes his hands thoroughly before & after visiting Barbara, or anyone else. 

Five bare-rooted Friesias & 8 Walkers Catmint for our Anniversary Garden Bed.

We enjoyed our afternoon of watching footy infront of the open fire, until Wes had his ALP branch Forum on Zoom. He was very pleased with the discussion on “Australia’s Relationship with China”.

We had this delightful visitor sitting on top of
Fawlty Towers over the weekend. Perhaps he

was looking for his mate

That night Wes had a lovely catch up with some of his old classmates from St Bernard’s College, Essendon. Most of them need their wives to set them up for a Zoom chat and are delighted to see their old friends & chat about footy etc. 

We were lucky enough to have a beautiful sunny day on Tuesday and Wes was able to spend much of it in the garden, both here & at Barbara’s place. Lewis & Morse are always keen to help, but they had to stay inside at first, so that Leanne could see them during our Zoom chat. Later, I had a lovely catch up with Jan Pengilley and we have decided to make it a regular thing. She has Skype on her phone & it was good to see her again.

Wes planted all our roses & catmint and has put up an elaborate structure to stop Lewis & Morse from wreaking havoc. So far it has worked brilliantly. Fingers crossed.  

On Wednesday, while Sandra cleaned for us, I drove to Porcupine Ridge to deliver jars & Epicure to Nick & Robyn; pumped water at Leitches Creek (the pump handle had been repaired); filled up with petrol; bought new gardening gloves; collected an order from Tonna’s, and had a haircut with Lyndal at The Cutting Studio. Wes took Barbara to an appointment, before coming back to her place to solve a couple of issues on her computer. 

In the afternoon, I needed to have a quiet time, while Wes visited the
local dentist, something he has been meaning to do for some time. It
was an excellent experience for him and he had nothing but praise for
his young female Vietnamese dentist. We moved our Health Benefits
plan from Medibank Private to Qantas Assure some years ago & have
never regretted it, especially their refunds on extras. They paid 3⁄4 of
the bill, which is very generous & encourages you to continue. So Wes
has another appointment next month & is very happy to go.

We had a quiet Thursday - I did the shopping early at Coles, where the
staff told me that there has been a rush on toilet paper again and they
have had to set limits on rice, paper towels, soap etc. There was no
fish either, which was a first. It had been too wet to walk the boys early,
but the rain had settled by the time I went out.

Wes was able to spend some time in the garden, inspecting the new
garden bed and doing pruning of yet more ivy, before making his
regular visit to Barbara. When I cleared the PO Box, I noticed how busy
Daylesford was - there seemed to be plenty of visitors and quite a lot
of them staying for the weekend. We are very pleased that the police
are going to be a more visible presence, making sure that spatial
distancing is observed by everyone.

Our backyard lemon tree finally having
some blossom & fruit

On Friday, it was cold, but dry, so we took the boys on an extra long

walk before socialising them outside The Food Gallery. Lots of locals
said hello & one visiting young boy asked if he could pat them and was
monstered in return. He has his own chocolate brown lab, and didn’t
mind the attention at all.

While Wes caught up with old friends, Georgina Meadows & Susan Riley
at Chaplins in Trentham, I made some long overdue phone calls before
tackling & finally finishing the change of passwords, pins & email
addresses I have been doing for the past two months. I have also
fallen in love with Google Keep, their equivalent of Outlook Notes, and
went Coles shopping without a printed list, using the Keep Note on my
phone instead. I only forgot one item, which is par for the course, so I
am very delighted.

That afternoon, Wes had a Zoom catch up with cousins - he invited one
from each branch of the family - Gary Testro, Ronda Smith, Glenn Testro &
Amanda Testro. Amanda couldn’t make it, but the others did & were
most excited with the experience. It was a big success & he is hopeful
it can be repeated.

That night we watched GWS be far too good for Collingwood, even after they lost a couple of players to injury. We lost by 2 points, but it could have been much worse. It was a late night & we were all slow getting up for our walk yesterday morning. Wes gave the boys an overdue bath and said he almost had to scrub them clean. After they had their bones, they played chasey incessantly through the mud & were almost as dirty as before the bath!

This very sad look is because they weren’t allowed back

inside until they had dried & some of the dirt had fallen off!

Although we are not big soccer fans, we were delighted that Australia & New Zealand have won the rights to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup. I remember going to the MCG in 2000 with Gayle Gibson, to see women’s soccer, as part of the Sydney Olympic Games. We were most impressed with their skills, but the timing of the World Cup is such that the MCG won’t be available for many of the matches.

Last night Carlton & Essendon played an exciting close game which resulted in a one point win to the Blues. Wes is very thrilled with his team.