Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 11th August 2024

 
Birds on Bicycles!

I was happy to say goodbye to Gordon House last Sunday morning, but did enjoy a brisk walk around town before I left. Starting in Little Bourke Street, I wandered down Swanston and then Flinders and hit the Treasury Gardens, where I found a beautiful Memorial Garden dedicated to our Emergency Services. 

from the top - entrance, overview, water feature

Needless to say I was very pleased to see Wes & Morse pull up outside the Princess Theatre at 10am to bring me back home. There was a big accident on the Calder Highway just after Green Gully Road, so we diverted via the Old Calder & Melton Highways to the Western Highway and arrived home about 15 minutes later than planned, which was better than being stuck in stationery traffic. 

Wes presented me with the Maloney Cup when we walked in the door, which was very kind, as he was bitterly disappointed with the loss. I unpacked, had lunch, did a load of washing & was in bed by 3pm, recovering from my very late night. Wes cooked a beautiful prawn pasta dish and I watched footy & Olympics until I fell asleep. 

We woke on Monday to find a grey day, but no frost. I did the supermarket shopping & other chores before we sat down to our scrolls & hot drinks for breakfast. Wes took care of some outside cleaning activities and I cleaned the kitchen before retiring for the day!

It was Brigadoon on Tuesday until mid-morning, not icy, but cold and dark for the early walk. I had a good chat with Jeff in Torksey Lock, followed by a Zoom with Leanne, who was looking good & very thrilled to see Morse, as well as me, when she came online. Wes spent the morning giving the front garden a prune & shape, while I discovered I had no energy left, so cancelled the rest of my day's activities and took it easy.

Above - bush peas happy in the greenhouse, and below - our first and only daffodil in the Golden Anniversary garden

We had arranged that Wes would collect John Smith on Wednesday morning & bring him to Muffins & More for coffee & a toasted sandwich before Mah Jong. It went well and John seemed to enjoy himself very much, and was pleased to see Judi & receive her condolences. Judi & I shared the games we won and I left her waiting for friends to join her for lunch.

Most mornings I go for a walk around the main streets of Daylesford before or after I check our PO Box. Sadly, quite a few shops are becoming or staying empty. So many businesses survived COVID, but they haven't been able to continue on as many of us rein in our spending. Colour Me Cooper is the latest place to close its doors - it had two shops and the bigger one in Howe Street, which has been around for nearly 20 years, is the one to go.

Wes enjoyed a very successful Zoom with the Jackson Group on Thursday morning, where the topic was The View from South-East Asia, presented jointly by Prasad & Rod. I followed him with an Old Friends Zoom, where I was joined by Kathy, Lib, Karen S & Joyce. Afterwards I visited Juls in Hepburn for my monthly manicure - she never stops talking, but in the gaps I have managed to convert her to footy & following Collingwood. Provided the games are close, she is a convert!

Our first daphne - there were enough sprigs to give Glen a small vase as well

Collingwood travelled to Sydney to play the Swans on Friday night, and after a slow start, took the lead and held it until the final 5 minutes of the game. That kind of loss is always hard to bear, as we supporters were daring to dream that our tilt at the Finals might not be over!

Yesterday I finished another wonderful book by Tracy Chevalier, called The Glass Maker, which is set on the island of Murano, near Venice. It is an amazing story that follows the fortunes of a family of glass-makers over 6 centuries, with incredible detail. I found it hard to put down, like all her books, which are so well-researched and edited. Thanks to Kathy Lazzaro for the recommendation.

We spent a quiet day after our late night watching the footy - there is always Saturday's Age newspaper which takes some time to read, and more games of footy in the afternoon & evening, as well as Olympic highlights. So far this round, the biggest margin in the footy results has been Geelong over Freo by 11 points, every other game has been under a goal.