Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 27th September 2020

Last Sunday we had a successful visit to the Market, followed by a lovely breakfast at The Food Gallery. It was so good to see Pasquale, Toni & Neeto, as well as friends Robert & Deb, who just beat us in & had the table by the window. Wes had his favourite breakfast of poached eggs, bacon & tomato sauce, while I had one of my favourites - the rosti stack with poached eggs & smoked salmon. Pasquale was so excited he made us all extra hot drinks, which we couldn't finish as I was due back home by 9.30am for a Zoom chat with Leanne. She is always very patient if I keep her waiting and I was only in trouble because Lewis & Morse were upstairs with Wes, who was reading The Age, instead of being down in the study with me saying hello to her.

We were both tired after our busy weeks, so took it easy, watching footy games, including a most exciting match between the Cats & the Swans, which Sydney came within a whisker of winning & sending the Cats to an Elimination Final instead of a double chance. 

We had quite a storm during the night with thunder & lightning & a few mls of rain, so decided not to walk early, much to the delight of Lewis & Morse, who really appreciate an early breakfast. I went back to bed with a pot of tea & The Age. We had planned to do a refresher course on reconciling our accounts in Reckon, but the latest Visa statement hadn't arrived in time. We postponed School until Tuesday & got started on our next big project, which is cataloguing & labelling our paintings, at the same time as moving them around. We're starting in our bedroom & working from there. I suspect this will take a few weeks!

More front garden glimpses

Judi & I were delighted to be able to catch up in person for brunch at the Food Gallery instead of via Zoom and spent a very happy hour chatting & enjoying our tea & food. That night the Pies just weren't good enough to beat ladder leaders & Minor Premiers, Port Adelaide, so we have to travel to Perth and face the West Coast Eagles there after some time in quarantine. 

It was wet again on Tuesday, but we were able to walk, along with a handful of hardy locals, before the rain set in. I had a morning on the phone chatting via Zoom to Leanne & to Terry Borg. Later on Wes had a long chat with Bob White, and then relaxed while I cooked dinner for a change. We were able to start watching shows that have been waiting for a break in the footy - Singapore Grip, Halifax Retribution and White House Farm. The boys were impatient to go to bed and couldn't wait for the first episode of Halifax Retribution to finish!

Barbara Simpson sent us all an email letting us know she had moved into her new home in Inglewood, NZ, and was getting settled. Here she is chatting with Wes from her new space. She is collecting Bobby, her cat, this week, and hopes to get her car from Auckland very soon as well.

On Thursday, after doing the shopping & changing the sheets & towels, I found myself rapidly running out of energy and back in bed for a couple of days. Wes was wonderful making meals & G&Ts, as well as looking after Lewis & Morse. On Friday afternoon we were lucky enough to have 20 minutes of snow - not heavy enough to last, but very pretty while it swirled and floated.

Yesterday I was able to get up & dressed and felt much better than I had. We had hoped to make a serious start our Operation Artworks project, but that has had to be postponed - hopefully we can make a start this coming week.

We're off to breakfast with Judi & Janine at the Food Gallery, after we visit the Sunday Market. Pasquale can't have big tables indoors yet, so we are starting back on our Sunday Breakfast routine in a small way. Very exciting indeed!

Our last daffodils, including some erlicheer, which were supposed to have arrived first, but dragged their feet!

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 20th September 2020

When I left you last Sunday, we were heading off to the Sunday Market, where Ken Matheson had made good his promise to draw up a hopscotch grid at the entrance/exit. He got into trouble from the Market organiser, who told him we weren't here for fun, but I couldn't resist using it, nor could another friend, Jenny, and we both complained that the squares were too large - more suitable for blokes than sheilas!

In the afternoon, the Blues were insipid against the bottom team, Adelaide, which was very disappointing for all the Carlton supporters. We did like the comment passed on by Jane Barrett that one fan would "swap McGovern for a party pie" No arguments in this household!

Judi delivered a bag of baby hellebores on Monday morning, which I enjoyed planting after we had School. We had hoped to focus on Zoom etiquette, but the You Tube videos we found tended to be slanted towards those applying for jobs. Then we tried to find a way we could share our Google Contacts for free and failed, which was very disappointing. 

Wes spent the morning in the backyard & it was dry enough for him to mow the lawns. I walked to the Post Office and checked out our newest shop, The Farmer's Wife, which has moved in next to Winespeake Cellar & Deli in Albert Street. As three clothing shops have closed during the pandemic, it will be interesting to see how it fares.

After chatting with Judi via Zoom, I headed back to Vincent Street to collect our latest Tonna's order, and discovered that Danielle Tonna had arranged for us to be able to order Maltese pastizzi in the future. Yum! While I was out, I picked up copies of The Local for us & our neighbours, and met David & Sandy sitting in Vincent Street having a lunch outing. 

Lewis & Morse sleeping on Wes's lap after a busy morning in our garden

That night Collingwood managed to beat Gold Coast at the Gabba, but it wasn't a victory for the ages. It does get us into the Finals, where we wil probably play West Coast in Perth & exit immediately. At least we are there again this year. 

On Tuesday, after our walk etc, I put a second coat on the table, which I use as a desk in the study these days. It has come up very well & Wes would like me to perform similar miracles on all our other furniture that didn't get re-done before Gerard Bugden closed his Wood Shed. While Wes watered & weeded in the front garden, I walked to the Post Office and back, before making some vegetable soup & picking this vase of Spring flowers, inspired by Terry Borg, who had put a beautiful arrangement up on Facebook. 

We were delighted to read that restrictions were to be eased in Regional Victoria from last Thursday and were looking forward to a few more freedoms, although life has been much easier here than in Greater Melbourne. 

We had a busy Wednesday with Sandra back cleaning. Wes and the boys spent time in the garden, while I delivered egg cartons to Gillie, magazines & spuds to Nick & Robyn, pumped water at Leitches Creek, and had a haircut with Lyndal at the Cutting Studio in Howe Street for the last time. Lyndal is moving her business to home and I'm looking forward to my first appointment there. She lives close by, in King Street, so it will be quite convenient. 

In the afternoon we had a good Zoom catch up with Mike & Linda Kirby, who were sporting straw hats and looking very well indeed. We discussed the realities of COVID-19, which aren't really impacting on Queenslanders to the same degree as Victorians. We also chatted about the footy - Mike barracks for Essendon, Linda for Gold Coast & their daughter, Lauren, is a Richmond supporter. We suspect Lauren will be the happiest of the three at the end of this season. 

Spring glimpses in our front yard - daffodils, strawberries, native violets, baby hellebores etc

We were very glad we could walk Lewis & Morse on Thursday morning - the Bureau had predicted 50% chance of rain, but it didn't eventuate, so we enjoyed an hour or so around Lake Daylesford. When we arrived home, Wes had his chat with Paul Jackson, Barry Hansen & Mike Hodson, where the topic was Brexit. 

Meanwhile, I went shopping at Coles, and was still unpacking groceries when it was time to chat with Kathy Lazzaro. We had a good talk about how we are both going, our knitting projects, and the suffering of families here in Victoria that have lost loved ones to COVID-19. As Kathy reiterated, it is so different from death caused by flu, where families & friends are permitted to visit dying loved ones. With COVID, there can be no visits and very small funerals that are unable to do justice to the person who has died, nor give those grieving the comfort they need. 

I sat down to a late breakfast of raisin toast with our own fig jam, but Tonna's rang to say our pastizzi had arrived and needed to be collected at once as they have no freezer facilities. So much for tea & toast! By the time I finished chores, cut up & froze fish, and made the bed, it was midday & time to read The Age & do the crosswords. 

Wes cooked this beautiful rainbow trout with steamed butternut pumpkin & our own snow peas - very yummy meal

On Friday we were able to do two laps of Lake Daylesford without any trouble, and after our early chores were done, Wes headed into the front yard & I settled down to chat with Leanne on Zoom, followed by a Skype chat with my sister-in-law, Mary. We are going to try Zoom next time, as the reception wasn't as good as we would have liked. 

Wes has had a great cooking week - as well as the rainbow trout, he made his Daylesford version of Cullen Skink, or chowder, which was absolutely yummy, especially with the addition of a healthy teaspoon of hot paprika. He has also served his salmon pasta special and made perfect pizzas using Stella's flat bread. 

Yesterday was another lovely day. Wes bathed the boys with Lewis the winner of the dirtier dog competition. They then proceded to play chasey all over the yard in an attempt to get back to normal levels of grubbiness. Part of their fun is for Morse to take Lewis's collar from him, which he does regularly. The problem arises when we notice and have to find it - under bushes, hidden in dirt, under the stairs or in a flower bed. It is black, of course, which adds to the difficulty. 

Last night the Blues were very competitive against the Lions and could have won but for a bad second quarter. The rain finally arrived here, as well as in Brisbane, and we were able to get our walk in this morning, getting wet just in the last 5 minutes.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 13th September 2020

We started last Sunday with Wes walking the boys, followed by our trip to the Market. We arrived at 8am & there were already short queues for Yvonne. She noticed our Labrador masks & was most amused. While I stocked up on our usual fruit, vegetables for us & the dogs, Wes bought some potato bread, croissants & eggs. 

We came home to have a quiet breakfast as we always feel we have been on the go on Sundays - 5.30am we get up & it's usually about 9am before we relax for the first time. 

Last week I forgot to mention our teams' performances - that's because they were forgettable. We had better luck barracking for the Saints & Doggies on Sunday afternoon in a couple of close games. 

We had to cancel School on Monday morning as I had a dental check up in Ballarat. Wes came with me, which was lovely and visited Officeworks while I had my appointment. I received a glowing report from my dentist, which is always good news. By the time we got back home again, we felt we had been to Melbourne & back. It must be quite a few weeks since we have driven that far. 

Striped beanies have been occupying me over the past couple of weeks - you can tell I was running out of plain colours!

On Tuesday, I had quite a social morning on Zoom & Wes took advantage of the opportunity to vaccum everywhere & wash the floors. This nearly drove Lewis & Morse crazy as they want to be where he is most of the time and he had shut the dog door so they couldn't get to him. They pestered Glen next door instead as she tried to go for a stroll around her garden. I had lovely long chats with Jeff in Lincolnshire, Leanne in Strathmore, Terry in Burwood & finally Judi, here in Daylesford, before I ran out of voice.

Wes gave up on the Blues in disgust when they couldn't kick a goal in the first quarter & a half against the Swans & couldn't believe that Carlton had won when we woke the next morning. Suddenly finals were on the agenda again, the birds were singing, and he cheerfully replanted a camellia that the boys had inadvertently uprooted! Meanwhile I did my usual Wednesday chores, before having a delightful Zoom chat with local friend, Janine; spent some time teaching Judi how to set up a Zoom meeting, and then hosted an enjoyable catch up with long-time friends, Kathy, Karen & Joyce. 

Lewis & Morse zedding while they wait for dinner - it's hard to work out which body part belongs to which dog!

Wes also had a big dental appointment which involved a filling & an extraction. He came home to watch the replay of the Carlton game before agreeing to lie down & recover. His next appointment is a check up in 6 months' time, which is wonderful. It took about 24 hours for him to feel back to normal, so the boys missed out on a walk on Thursday morning as I can't manage them on my own, especially if we meet another dog or a stranger!

Gail White, in Katoomba, sent me this photo to show me what she has done with all their Brian Nash birthday cards over the years - she rotates them, and now that they are no longer living in Daylesford, no doubt, they bring back good memories

Thursday was quite social for me - did the Coles shopping in an almost empty store at 7.15am & chatted footy with the staff members; finally met our new neighbour, Ellie, when I was picking daffodils in our front garden; caught up with Fiona's news; spoke with my sister, Paun, and sister-in-law, Anka, to let them know we had decided we would not be travelling to Melbourne for Christmas, and that I had chatted to Leanne about this & she was fine. I have also decided not to go to the Boxing Day Test, in the unlikely event it is held at the MCG, as I am not ready to leave our COVID-free bubble of Daylesford and travel into Greater Melbourne yet. It is only 15 weeks to Christmas and I can't see that life will be back to normal by then.

We took the boys for a long walk on Friday - two circuits of Lake Daylesford - which wore them out - before Wes headed into the back garden to do some weeding, planting & planning. After I had lovely Zoom chats with Leanne, and with Dot, I joined him as we rejigged the greenhouse, organised some more annuals into hanging baskets & moved the upstairs planters to allow baby spinach to join them. Our snow peas are prolific in the greenhouse & we will have our first taste for dinner tonight. 

This wonderful selection of wool from Kathy Lazzaro was waiting for me at the Post office - perfect timing & much appreciated

We decided to have fish and chips as our takeaway meal on Friday night, along with every other diner in Daylesford. Wes had a 70 minute wait, but it was worth it! We'll try another weeknight next time. Lewis & Morse enjoyed leftover chips the next night & couldn't wait for them to come out of the microwave.

Yesterday, we were expecting 20mms rain, which didn't eventuate. We were able to do our normal Lake Daylesford walk, but Wes decided not to wash Lewis & Morse as he usually does on a Saturday in case the rain bucketed down. It didn't, but they were pleased to have their bones & play before settling down for a serious sleep before dinner. We both listened to the Coodabeen Champions, who were very entertaining, before I started knitting and watching footy, and Wes spent some time in the study on his computer. We were both very sad to read of the death of Kelly Fookes, who, with her husband, Rob, ran a little cafe in Vincent Street for a short time. We really enjoyed their company & Kelly was far too young to have left us.

Daylesford Spring Dispatch - Sunday, 6th September 2020

We started Sunday with a lovely walk around Lake Daylesford, followed by a successful trip to the Sunday Market, where we picked up all we needed & Glen's bread. We enjoyed croissants after we had unpacked, and then I had a Zoom chat upstairs with Leanne, so she could see Lewis & Morse asleep (for a change). 

We had organised a Breakfast Group Zoom chat with those of us who know Jan & John Smith, to celebrate John's birthday. They were in Tweed Heads at the time, heading for Coff's Harbour on Monday. It is the biggest Zoom chat I have ever experienced - we had 9 screens going with 13 participants in all - us, Judi & Michael, Barbara, Jan, Gail & Terry, Janine, Jan & John, Gillie & Aileen. Thanks to everyone - the general opinion is in favour of another one next month & we hope that David & Sandy & Glen will be able to join it. Sorry we don't have a photo to show you - next time!

We did some gardening afterwards before settling down to read The Age & get ready for the big game between our teams. I watched from the bedroom with a G&T & knitting, while Wes was in the lounge with a rum & coke & the boys. At half-time I suggested to him that the Rosary beads were duds, but the Pies got their act together in the second half & we were able to get a win - most unexpectedly.

These little cuties are Isla & Olive, daughters of Celia & Cory Durie - Olive seems to have found everything under the sun to wear for the Blues

We started Monday with a lovely walk around Lake Daylesford before School, which involved sorting out what needed to go into our new safe. We are quite thrilled with it & have all our important papers, money and back-ups in there - labelled and with an inventory. Like most safes, it is so dark inside, we've positioned a torch next to it so we can see the contents! We've also collected all our keys, labelled them & have them sitting in a Key Container, so we just have the one spot to look for keys of any description. 

We had decided to have another COVID-19 test as we both had runny noses & coughs. This time we were able to have it done locally in Daylesford, which was wonderful. We then went into isolation until we received our results, which meant that Glen Tandberg had to take over delivering The Local. However, we knew that we had tested negative within 27 hours, which was great service & a big relief. 

Beautiful big camellia courtesy of Marjorie Atkinson - this flowers in the last week of August without fail

Wes was able to spend much of Tuesday in the garden with his assistants - so much to do and enjoy with daffodils, hyacinths, lavender, rosemary, daphne, camellias & daisies in profusion. Our snow peas & baby spinach are growing well in the greenhouse & our potted herbs on the main decking are coming alive after their Winter hibernation.

One of my projects this week was to stain our original dining chairs, and possibly the table as well. I use the table as my desk in the study, but the chairs are in use most days, as we never got around to buying chairs to match our beautiful English Oak dining table. Those of you who remember coming to 246 Brunswick Road for dinner parties will recall that you had to bring your own chairs, as we only had four!

On Wednesday, which was cold, but sunny, I did my usual deliveries & pumped water, while Wes worked in the front garden, where the daffodils are in abundance. I continued staining chairs, made some pumpkin soup & relaxed before it was time to catch up with the Kirbys for our fortnightly chat just after lunch. This didn't happen for various reasons, but we were ready as you can see in the photo below!

Karen & Wes with our footy-themed Labrador masks 

That afternoon, Wes hosted another Zoom get-together of Past Players - former Mayors & Councillors, and it was a big success. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and want it to continue. 

We ordered dinner from Jackie's on Vincent as this week's takeaway meal & it was very yummy indeed - I had coconut prawns in a chilli sauce & Wes enjoyed his usual Mongolian beef. We had Grandma's dumplings for sweets. Glenda & Joe Rozen were also having a Jackie's meal to celebrate Joe's birthday, and our neighbours, Rob & Dene, had a Jackie's meal on Thursday night as it was Rob's birthday. 

Wes had a project putting sleepers in front of our newest rose garden - to protect the roses & catnip from Lewis & Morse. We both went out briefly on Thursday morning - me to the Post Office, and Wes to Mitre 10 to get tent pegs, and we returned home to this.

Lewis taking advantage of our absence to explore between the sleepers & the wire!

By Friday, it was apparent to both of us that I had overdone things & needed a rest. I stayed up as long as I could but ended up with dinner and bed and was ordered to stay there yesterday. This was the right thing and I feel much better today, after a day spent doing crosswords, reading Agatha Christie books & finishing series 1 of Rosehaven on TV. Wes was wonderful - looked after the boys, cooked breakfast & dinner & produced a G&T at just the right time.