Snoopy proving very hard to please for Charlie Brown
Our Sunday was a foggy but dry one, and we were able to go to the Daylesford Market, where Ken had cut up a pear for Morse, and was rewarded by lots of tail-wagging. Yvonne had found some huge mushrooms for us, which Wes wanted to steam with bok choi and she had that as well! While I bought everything else we needed, Wes & Morse headed off to Jeff, the dog treat man, for dried pig's ears and fresh eggs - always an interesting combination.
We arrived back here and went to work - it takes me a good 30 minutes to wash everything and put it in bags in the crispers, and then I clean the kitchen benches as they are usually due. Meanwhile Wes cleaned out the fireplace and reset it for the afternoon's footy on the TV, and filled up a green bin with garden clippings.
We watched Brisbane & Sydney play a wonderful game of footy in the early afternoon - it was worthy of a Grand Final, and Brisbane won by 2 points in a nail-biting finish. Carlton also won, beating North Melbourne by 19 points, but they were far from impressive, and Wes was very relieved when the final siren went.
We woke to the great news on Tuesday morning that President Joe Biden had bowed to pressure and decided not to run again, throwing his weight behind his Vice-President, Kamala Harris. It was foggy and very cold early and my phone suggested snow was around, but we didn't get any. The fog lifted by lunchtime, but it stayed a very grey day.
I had an early appointment with my doctor, Ellie, who assured me that the sun had been shining in Ballarat when she drove through, and it was only at Dean that the mist engulfed her. She did a few procedures, we had a chat, and I made another appointment for 5 weeks' time. I arrived back home in time for Tim from Daylesford Bi-Rite, who had promised to install a splitter on our main antenna so we can watch TV from the TV, as well as through Foxtel.
Carolyn, Soom, partner of Chris, Patrick & Tom
On Tuesday, we woke extra early at 5.30am, so I could be ready to have a Messenger chat with my aunt, Jeff, in Torksey Lock. We hadn't caught up for a month and it was so good to see her again. She is still waiting for her house to sell, and the prospective buyers have not had any offers on their own home yet. Wes reseached this aspect of real estate about a month ago and discovered that in Australia, the average time between putting your home on the market & selling was 33 days. In the UK, it is 150 days. Jeff has another 7 weeks to go!
Great photos of my family - my brother, Peter, and my cousin, Leigh above, and Peter's wife, Anka, and my aunt, Jeff, mother of Leigh, below when they all caught up in Manchester last month
The sun shone and we enjoyed blue skies and 13° during that day. I also chatted with my sister, Leanne, via Zoom, and we made plans for our visit to her today. Meanwhile, Wes tackled cleaning and vacuuming both cars, filled them with petrol and checked the tyres. This was an overdue job, but the weather has not been conducive to cleaning anything outside!
That afternoon we were shocked to read that Peppa Sindar had died. We first met her in Daylesford, with her husband, Russ Wilkinson, who we had known when we lived in Brunswick. Russ & Peppa were staunch supporters of U3A Hepburn Shire, and while Russ was teaching us all Mah Jong, Peppa offered classes in Crochet and encouraged budding actors. Before Russ died some years ago, they moved to Ballarat, and she continued her acting career with the Ballarat National Theatre. She had just finished performing in their latest play and died suddenly aged in her late 60s.
On Wednesday, we went for a family drive to Ballarat as there was no Mah Jong. We had a number of chores to perform and enjoyed getting most of them done. We were home late morning and I was able to collect my new reading glasses, which were ready after only a week.
There was constant rain again the next morning - no chance of walking Morse or working in the garden for Wes. He participated in a Jackson Group Zoom discussing the impacts post-elections in India, EU, France & the UK.
I had a Zoom chat with Old Friends - Kathy & Karen S, before heading into town for more chores. It doesn't feel like chores when you know everyone wherever you go - even the young man in Coles wanted to discuss how small mobile phones were in the early 2000s. I told him I was around when 007 car phones came in and he has seen pictures of them! That afternoon my distance glasses arrived and I could see the difference when I drove home wearing them.
We woke to a misty morning on Friday, but Wes was able to take Morse to Daylesford Cemetery for a good run. I was due to chat with Leanne by Zoom at 8.15am and set it all up at 6.30am. When I came downstairs to the study at 8.10am, my computer was in the middle of a giant upgrade, which meant I had to quickly power up the laptop in the Guest room. Leanne thought I looked healthier in that room, so perhaps I should continue using the laptop!
Wes went off to spend a couple of hours with his sister, Denise, who was celebrating her birthday. He had offered fresh croissants and blackberry jam to start her day, while catching up on her news. Meanwhile I changed the sheets & towels, my usual Friday morning chore, then spent some time in Vincent Street searching for a new shopping bag, but had no luck.
That night, Carlton played Port Adelaide at the Docklands under the closed roof. Wes was very nervous about this match, so we had a yummy meal of giant prawns from Ballarat Seafood beforehand. I wish I had taken a photo - Wes pan fried them in tarragon & spring onions and served them with a tarragon & parsley dipping sauce & a small green salad. The Blues ran out of puff in the last quarter & lost by 14 points - Harry McKay pulled out just before the game started with illness, and then the sub, Jack Carroll had to replace David Cuningham in the first quarter.
Yesterday was dog wash time, and I took the opportunity to wash all Morse's bedding, much to his disgust. I got started early and by 10.30am everything was back in place, which was a relief. We settled in front of the TV and an open fire at lunchtime to watch a replay of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, which was very different indeed. Some aspects dragged on too long, but the overall vision was magnificent, utilising so many of the beautiful buildings of Paris as well as the Seine.
Then we moved on to footy matches until the Swimming heats that night, which looked very hopeful for Australia. We woke to the news that Ariane Titmus had won Gold in her 400m freestyle event, and the Australian women also won Gold in the 4 x 100m relay. As well we won a rare road cycling Gold when Grace Brown won the individual time trial in a slippery race around the wet streets of Paris. We also picked up two Silver medals in the Swimming.
Katie Ledecky, Ariane Titmus & Summer McIntosh - great rivals
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