Thanks to Judi for this lovely Christmas Snoopy
It seems like a good idea to send this Christmas Dispatch a day early, as I will be in Melbourne getting ready for Day 1 of the Boxing Day Ashes Test tomorrow morning. We've walked the boys & are heading out to Cliffy's for hot drinks & socialising with local friends. Around 10am we'll pack the car, give Lewis & Morse giant marrow bones, and drive to Strathmore to share Christmas lunch with Leanne.
When I last wrote, we were leaving Adelaide & driving home in one go. We got away at 8am & arrived back here at 4.30pm to find that Judi had left tomatoes, cheese, croissants, juice & home-made shortbreads to welcome us. We unpacked, got the loads of washing started & watched the cricket with hot drinks & yummy shortbreads. By the time I went to bed England had lost 2 wickets & all three loads of washing were dry.
Judi had left some purple flowers as well & I added some of our many roses to the vase
On Monday, after sleeping well back in our own beds, we were up early - me to do Coles shopping & Wes to visit Yvonne, who had our fruit & vegetables ready for us to collect at her home in Wheatsheaf. While I put everything away, Wes collected Lewis & Morse from Creswick Kennels, where there was a drama as our EFT payment hadn't showed up in Janelle's bank account. I printed, scanned & emailed a copy of our bank receipt from Saturday & she let Wes take the boys with him. Usually money transfers in a matter of hours, but this hadn't occurred for some reason.
Lewis & Morse were delighted to be home & kept licking & kissing us both. They said hello to Rob next door, got stuck into bones & then fell asleep in their comfy beds with not a care in the world. That afternoon we had a most successful Zoom with Mike & Linda in Hope Island - we wore our cricket yellows & they were decked out in Christmas attire.
On Tuesday life seemed back to normal - we got up at 5.25am, got organised & headed to Lake Daylesford for a walk. Barry the Pom fisherman wanted to avoid chatting about cricket with us after his team lost the Second Test in the final session the night before. We encountered a few runners, but Morse was more relaxed than usual & apart from growling at ducks (useless animals apparently), he didn't bark or get distressed.
I had an early chat with my aunt, Jeff, in Lincolnshire, wishing her a happy family get-together, and then talked to Leanne, who had lots to tell me about her week & preparations for our day together. She was delighted to see Lewis & Morse, and even happier when they collapsed with exhaustion & snored 😴😴.
After those chats I met Judi for breakfast at Muffins & More. We enjoyed a good catch up before I set off delivering thank you gifts to the staff there, to Luke at the Post Office, to Tim at Bi-Rite & to Steve who delivers our papers. That just left the Garbos & I set a Christmas bag up on the bins on Thursday morning.
Wednesday was my usual busy morning delivering old copies of The Age to Spring Park Nursery; leaving jam jars, Epicures & The Local at Porcupine Ridge for Nick & Robyn, and visiting Daylesford Cemetery to put fresh rosemary on Annie's grave, which now has a proper cover & amended gravestone.
Next stop was Lyndal for a haircut & I was delighted to see last year's Christmas gift (a hand-painted small plate with red poppies) was on display with a candle burning. We had a great chat while she tidied me up and then I headed to Hepburn to see Juls & have my last manicure for the year. We had lots of laughs, but I was exhausted by the time I arrived back home, where Sandra had cleaned everywhere beautifully. Wes had been working in the back garden - weeding, mowing & trimming with the help of Lewis & Morse of course.
On Thursday, after our walk, I made a big batch of brandy butter to go with the Christmas pudding, before enjoying a good catch up chat with Kathy Lazzaro. We were making plans to meet for breakfast on Day 3 of the Boxing Day Test & chose The European, only for me to discover that it wouldn't be open, nor would it be serving breakfast any more. How disappointing - it is such a classy place to meet before the cricket. So we decided to go somewhere even classier & are meeting at One Eleven@The Windsor instead.
That afternoon we had a lovely neighbours' catch-up under Glen's cherry tree - Rob & Dene catered lavishly, we all brought bottles of sparkling shiraz & Glen provided the beautiful setting of her shady garden. We exchanged gifts, toasted the future & Wes & I promised to host next year's event.
Wes took this photo of me, Rob, Dene & Glen
Yesterday Wes collected the King Island crays, oysters & prawns that we had ordered from Peter at Daylesford Fish Supply. We ate the oysters last night and are taking the rest to share with Leanne for lunch today.
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