We had another lovely trip to the Sunday Market, collected croissants
& bread from Ken & Steve, fruit & vegetables from Yvonne, and Portuguese
custard tarts from a young couple. We also had a quick chat with friends Gillie
Gough and Aileen Reilly, as well as our neighbour, Glen. It was cold, but not
windy, for which mercy the stallholders were most grateful.
It was too wet on Monday to walk the boys, but we settled down to School with great enthusiasm & it was another
success, as we both listened to Steve Dotto talk about Google Contacts. Both
of us have now cleared them out & imported our Outlook Contacts to Google,
which is very satisfying indeed! We also had a quick look at Excel spreadsheets
& that might be another topic for School in the future.
Terry Borg & I enjoyed a lovely chat on Zoom afterwards & I passed on my new knowledge to her. It was so good to
catch up on news of her & her family & to see her looking well &
happy.
One of the unfortunate results of the pandemic has been that neither
Leigh nor Simon Murrin has received a birthday card in Luxembourg and two
second-hand books I ordered in March won’t be arriving for months as their
carrier isn’t delivering to Australia at present. I have been sending cards
extra early to family & friends around Australia as a result. And I thought
I had better send my sister, Paun’s, birthday gift early and of course it
arrived in Canberra two days after I ordered it & well before time!
Lewis & Morse getting acquainted with new friends – both stuffed toys
were favourites of Bilbo
On Tuesday afternoon, I had a most enjoyable facial with Emma at EKO and
she tells me I have been going to her for seven years, which doesn’t seem
possible. I felt very comfortable with my appointment & was most impressed
to discover no-one else was there – staff or other clients. Emma had done this
because of my immunity issues and was doing the same for another client this
week. We had a great catch-up chat and my skin felt so much better for her
care.
Wes spent the day collecting manure & soil & working in the
garden, fertilising, propagating, and tidying up. Lewis & Morse love it
when he spreads wet newspaper around as they can then shift it to whatever part
of the garden, they think it should be! Wes told me he had 13 projects for the
day & only achieved 4 of them! I suspect he had given himself too big a
load as he certainly didn’t underachieve.
Wes’s orderly rows of propagated plants
Meanwhile I did something that gave me great pleasure & that was make
my first ever fig & ginger jam. I picked every last fig on the tree, laid
them out on trays in the sun & hoped that some of them would ripen enough
to be cooked. I got 600gms worth which made 2 jars of jam, so I won’t be
distributing largesse to anyone. The jam must sit in the dark for three months
– I’ll let you know how it tastes in September!
The next day, while Wes was visiting Barbara, I had a fringe trim with
Lyndal, followed by a walk along Vincent Street. Life is returning to the new
normal, with more shops re-opening this weekend, and favourite restaurants
& cafes such as The Food Gallery, Boathouse & Muffins & More getting back into the swing of hospitality. As
far as I can see only one business has closed and that was a specialty home
décor place in Howe Street. We are extremely fortunate indeed that more didn’t
shut their doors permanently. It seems that some landlords were very generous
and suspended rents, some gave their tenants a month’s free rent & some
reduced their rents.
Kathy, Lovely & I had another Zoom chat & all three husbands
appeared as well to say hello. Wes & I thought everyone was looking good,
happier for having had haircuts & seeing their families again, but still
being careful with spatial distancing.
Now that our 113 rose bushes have finished flowering, I thought I would
make a collage of some of my favourite arrangements. Hope you like it!
On Thursday I had a completely free day & as Wes had this fortnightly
chat with Paul Jackson & now his friend, Barry Hansen, I decided to do the
Coles shopping early that day instead. What a great decision that was – Coles
had supplies of fresh Yellowfin Tuna, so I bought up big.
Wes spent the morning in the garden doing heaps of mulching, tidying
& mowing, with occasional help from the sous-gardeners. It was a beautiful
warm day with lots of sunshine & I walked into Vincent Street to visit the
Post Office & see how things were looking. The street was busy & there
were already plenty of visitors in town, with rumours that accommodation was
booked out for this Long Weekend.
Dear Sydney friends, David Knox & Terry McDonald at dinner at chez
Knox, with suitable spatial distancing - no Jane as she took the photo.
On Friday, we were delighted to be able to sit outside The Food Gallery with Lewis & Morse & have hot drinks
& a light breakfast. This was Wes’s first real coffee in 11 weeks, or so
& he enjoyed it very much. The café was full (15 people max) of locals, all
taking our last chance to enjoy Vincent Street before it was overrun with
visitors. The boys loved being out in their Winter coats and received lots of
compliments on their good behaviour.
We spent yesterday at home. The boys were bathed, and all their bedding
washed, which takes up most of the day. We each made some phone calls &
caught up with friends celebrating birthdays – June is our busiest month for
celebrations.
Wes found a perfect marinade for the yellowfin tuna, which I had bought
and cooked our steaks to perfection. He also made a yummy vegetable curry as
well as some old favourites during the week – spaghetti with cooking salmon,
chilis & red peppers is my absolute preference if he is making dinner. If
I’m cooking, we have special fried rice or a creamy penne pasta or minestrone
soup with crusty bread. I used to have a huge repertoire, but those days have
gone, and while Wes will try different recipes, I stick to the trusty old meals
that I’ve been making forever.
Carpet roses are still going strong, but they don’t like being picked and
brought inside!
This morning it is cold, but not too bad as there is no wind. I picked up
a few pieces of litter when we walked around Lake Daylesford early, but there
wasn’t a big mess anywhere & no-one else was out & about.
We are heading off to pump mineral water at Leitches Creek, then the Sunday
Market & finally breakfast out, our first in weeks and we are quite
excited. We’ll go somewhere that opens early & isn’t too busy to fit us in.
I do hope you are all enjoying this weekend, whatever you are doing. Stay
safe & well.
One of my favourite photos of us from 2009 – on Sydney Harbour
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