Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 25th August 2024

Poor Linus - Snoopy is far too smart for him!

When I left you last Sunday, we were heading off to the Daylesford Market, where we bought lots of fruit & vegetables, caught up on some local gossip, discussed a few footy games, and came back home to put everything away before driving to Strathmore to visit Leanne.

We had a good visit - I was able to help her with a couple of queries on her mobile phone, we emptied a plastics cupboard that had gotten out of control, and discovered that my younger sister, Paun, had given Leanne a USB with a couple of films for her to watch and she didn't know how to access them. We solved that and she was delighted. We also showed her how to access her photos on the TV, which is digital, but not a Smart TV. 

On the way home, we bought a quiche at Gusto Bakery for dinner, and a raspberry cake for afternoon tea. Then we travelled to Essendon North to pick up some Maltese pastizzi, only to discover the lovely café had closed its doors. I'll have to persuade Danielle at Tonna's to get some in for us again, as she did during COVID. 

From the top - hellebores and têtê-a-têtês on Lewis's grave, and mass daffodils bordering the back lawn

Late in the afternoon, we settled down to see if Carlton, who were fielding an inexperienced team, could beat West Coast Eagles over in Perth. Amazingly, they didn't just beat them, they won handsomely, and one of the two debutants, Ashton Moir, looks as though he has the X factor needed to succeed in AFL footy. 

On Monday, after supermarket shopping, we sat down with our scrolls and hot drinks to discuss what to do with our herb pots on the verandah. This was School for this week, and we nutted out a solution. The possums have been getting to all the herbs and killing them, so we moved the pots away from easy access at the railing and plan to cover them to protect them from future damage. Wes did all the hard work on this, I just replaced the herbs we had lost & planted them in the freshly-prepared pots.

We were very sad to read of Black Caviar's death at 18, after giving birth. She was such a wonderful horse, unbeaten in 25 starts, and we all took her to our hearts, as she was so brave, even winning at Royal Ascot. Her foal died two days later.

We woke to light rain on Tuesday morning, but Wes took Morse for a run while I chatted with my aunt, Jeff, in Torksey Lock. Afterwards I caught up with Leanne, who was pleased with what we had done on Sunday, and looking forward to her week. The rain bucketed down, which made for an inside day!

It was Brigadoon on Wednesday, and didn't lift until 10.30am. Judi was unable to play Mah Jong, so I returned home after my fringe trim. Wes & Morse went & pumped mineral water for me and we both tried to buy some herbs from Wombat Hill Nursery, but it wasn't open. Obviously a quiet mid-week in Daylesford. 

On Thursday morning, we had an early start so Wes could be ready for his Jackson Group Zoom at 7am. The topic was "Living in a Post-Shame World", led by Mike Hodson, and it produced a robust discussion, which ran out of time before it was over. 

Our new neighbours at #77 gave me this beautiful fruit basket that afternoon, because they are grateful that I put out & bring in their bins for them. They are weekenders and I give them peace of mind. What a lovely generous thought - with a gorgeous card to boot!

I had suggested to Wes that we have breakfast at Muffins & More on Friday, after my Zoom with Leanne, and he agreed. We invited our neighbour, James, to join us, and he was pleased to experience a locals' café with us. We met a few characters on the way in and while we were there. He had brought us home a gift from Japan to thank us for looking after #80 for them while they were away, so we shouted him breakfast and he loved the pancakes.

Finally - enough daffodils to fill a vase this week!

That night Collingwood played their last game of the season at the MCG against Melbourne. We celebrated with fish & chips & a vintage Cofield Sparklng Shiraz, and the Pies put on a display worthy of the reigning Premiers. At 10pm, the game was stopped for 27 minutes as lightning was in the area. We turned the TV off at that stage, as we were too tired to wait, and I watched the remainder of the last quarter yesterday. 

As usual, Morse & friend were rivetted by the footy!

We enjoyed some sunshine most of Saturday. I walked up to the Daylesford Primary School to support the monthly Rotary Farmer's Market & came home with vanilla slices for afternoon tea. Wes had hoped to attend a couple of poetry sessions as part of the Words in Winter Annual Festival, but when he checked, the programme had been changed and the poetry reading was no longer available.

There are three wonderful games of footy this afternoon, and until they are played we won't know the make-up of the Final 8. Carlton plays in the middle, against St Kilda, who have produced some good footy recently, so it will be a hard-fought match.