What a lovely week we've had. Started our Sunday with a good visit to the Market, followed by breakfast with Judi & Janine at
Larder. There weren't many options available, and although this cafe does the COVID distancing well, it is an extremely noisy venue, pitched at a much younger clientele than us!
I've been overdosing on cricket, which is very indulgent, while Wes has done the cooking, looked after the garden & kept up to date on the computer. The Indians played so much better than they did in Adelaide and fully deserved their win in the 2nd Test.
We also visited the area's newest cafe, Virgin, which is part of the renovated & rejuvenated Bellinzona. Judi & Glen joined us & we were all impressed by our meals. The first menu developed when the cafe opened in early December was very basic, but we were able to choose from an omelette, pumpkin pancakes, Canadian, Pepperonata eggs & simple eggs with side serves. We were pleased we visited early as it quickly filled. On a sunny day it would be beautiful to sit outside in the garden.
Wes & Glen had the pancakes & Judi enjoyed the Pepperonata eggs, while I loved my omelette
Wes and I had breakfast also at Harvest Cafe on Tuesday morning after a lovely long Zoom chat with my cousin, Leigh, and her husband, Simon, in Luxembourg, where she is working from home, and will be until September 2021 at least, according to her employer, PayPal. It was so good to see them both and to chat about some serious issues affecting people like them who usually live & work in England. Brexit is having lots of run-off effects that many of its supporters didn't consider - Leigh says Vodaphone has upped its phone charges as they are no longer bound by EU regulations; it is hard for British citizens to travel to EU nations for any length of time, and getting back to England is no longer possible for so many people stranded in European countries (and vice versa).
Leigh with her bottle of 1947 Para Port, given to her many years ago by her dear father, Kevin, who died 12 months ago.
We had our last School session for the year on Wednesday morning, instead of Monday, because of the Test. We decided to finish off the Art Inventory, which still needed some labels, some re-thinking and some photos to be taken. We completed that successfully and will start 2021 by tackling the area under the main decking, which has grown like Topsy over the years!
As the week went on, we weren't surprised that Victoria had some COVID cases. Some of us seemed to think that the danger had passed, even though so many travelled interstate to spend Christmas with family & friends. We were especially vulnerable to those from New South Wales and so it panned out. In Daylesford many of the visitors were unmasked; walked spread out over the footpath, and seemed to be taking very little care of those who live here. Fortunately the Victorian Government immediately cut down numbers & made mask-wearing compulsory inside again.
After our most peaceful New Year's Eve in ages, we woke early & took the boys for a long walk - a circuit of Lake Daylesford followed by the Twin Bridges walk. They spent much of the rest of the day sleeping & had to be bribed to get out of bed to greet Leanne on Zoom. The mess around Lake Daylesford had continued to increase, however, it did not culminate in a dreadful amount of rubbish on New Year's Day, as is usually the case - probably because fireworks & large groups were banned.
Lewis & Morse posing for the camera on Christmas morning
When we were debriefing that night, Wes told me about a wonderful simple mobile phone, KISA for Seniors, which I knew nothing about. It would have been brilliant for Viva towards the end of her life, when our phone number was the only one she could remember. If you have older parents or friends, and haven't heard of it, check out the website https://www.kisaphone.com.au
Yesterday morning Wes spent watering our back & front gardens in the hope it would bring the rain we have been promised all week. The boys had a bath, which meant three loads of washing - towels & bedding, and I was very relieved to be able to sit and watch T20 cricket that afternoon.
Sadly, we now have a COVID case in our Shire in the Blampied to Allendale area. Hopefully the person is self-isolating & hasn't travelled too far outside of their postcode. We'll have to be extra vigilant, after 10 months of no cases here.
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