We donned our Daylesford Doggies beanies for our trip to the Daylesford Market last Sunday, where the locals were abuzz with the excitement of winning the footy & netball Grand Finals. Then we learned that Lyndall Jenkin, a friend since we moved here in 98, had won the Central Highlands League raffle, where first prize was a new Toyota RAV.
We headed off to Daylesford Cidery, which we had not visited for 15 years, when it was started by David & Sally Stagg, along with her equestrian centre. There was no food available at that time, only cider tastings. For some years now there has been plenty of room for visitors to sit and try the various ciders and/or indulge in the wood-fired pizzas. We were meeting our old friends, Mike & Linda Kirby, their daughter, Lauren, and her partner, Daniel, for lunch, before they headed back to Melbourne after a weekend to remember in Daylesford.
We had a lovely catch-up and enjoyed meeting Daniel, who is a Melbourne person. He and Lauren have recently moved to Elwood for work & study, and are very happy in their flat - a very different life from the Gold Coast. Mike & Linda flew down to spend some time with them both, and luckily for us, fitted in a weekend here.
The last vase of daffodils, picked before the sleet & snow!
On Monday, after shopping, we had School, where I needed help to find all my Documents on my mobile phone. I was looking under Docs, instead of Word, and was getting myself very confused. Wes very kindly sorted that all out for me over our apple & coffee scrolls, before he went out into the garden to spend some time trimming, weeding & mowing. Later that day, I was absolutely over the moon to receive an email from the MCC advising me that I had been successful in the AFL Grand Final seat ballot for the first time in 10 years.
We had to wake early on Tuesday so I could have my fortnightly chat on Messenger with my aunt, Jeff, in Lincolnshire. I was very keen to hear how the visit of my younger sister, Paun, and her husband, Brian, had gone last week, and as I suspected, they all talked non-stop & reminisced about all the times they had met up over the years. It sounded like a lovely visit and Jeff was thrilled to have seen them both again.
Jeff & Paun
Then I caught up with my other sister, Leanne, on our regular Tuesday Zooms. The highlight for her, I am sure, is seeing Morse, as she is such an animal lover. I was able to tell her that on Monday's walk around Daylesford cemetery, he had caught a small bunny and carefully carried him, alive and unhurt, to Wes, who freed the bunny & put him in a different field. We have never seen Morse kill anything - birds, bees, flies, stuffed toys, creepy-crawlies & now bunnies have nothing to fear from him.
We had booked our 6-monthly COVID boosters at Springs Medical Centre & went there late morning to have them. We met a new doctor, Scott Freeman, who made sure we knew what we were doing and left us in the hands of a very capable nurse. She suggested we wiggle our toes as she plunged in the needle, and neither of us felt anything much or had any reaction. Win, win!
Morse having a sunbath
Later that day, we saw on FB that Palace Cinemas have taken over the Regent Cinema in Ballarat & will be re-opening on 3rd October. They are offering to re-employ former staff as well, which is wonderful. Every time we've been to Ballarat since the Cinema closed, we have felt so sad, as it is a beautiful art deco building and a very comfy venue to watch films. We immediately became members of Palace Cinemas in support of this move.
Because I am spending so much time in bed, I bought some new nighties, dark colours that won't show up spilt food! They have little stars dotted over them, which look just like grains of rice. I'm going to ditch the lighter colours as it is very hard to eat dinner in bed without spilling something 🤣 - for me anyway.
While Judi & I played Mah Jong on Wednesday at Muffins & More, Wes vacuumed the floors, so everywhere was looking good when I returned home. There is still lots of excitement in town over the Grand Final wins and I was able to congratulate a few of the people involved when I was shopping.
On Thursday, Wes was part of an interesting Jackson Group Zoom session on the US Election, chaired by Paul, and led by Klaus & Larry. 13 people attended from four Continents, which is amazing, and they have all been invited to guess the result and by how much. Then I chatted with Old Friends - Kathy, Karen S, Joyce & Lib, where footy was the main topic, as well as our various ailments, as most of us had been coughing last Zoom.
The next morning, Wes decided to see if he could change the washer in an outside tap, but fell at the first hurdle, as he couldn't work out how to turn off the water. He spoke to Les, who said he had trouble first time too, and popped around to show him where the tap was hiding in our front garden - apparently it is cunningly disguised as a bush. Meanwhile I had another good chat with Leanne and we made plans for our next visit, which will be after Grand Final weekend.
We were visited by these beautiful rosellas, who swung on the branches of the apricot tree, before plundering the sugar cane mulch in the herb pots
Fiona, Les, Chloe & Brodie all arrived at our front door later that morning, and Les discovered that the tap needed replacing, rather than a new washer. Morse & Brodie played to their hearts' content while we chatted and Morse couldn't believe his luck with Les came back again with the new tap to install, even more time with one of his favourite people.
That night we watched the Sydney Swans easily beat Port Adelaide - all the commentators had picked them to win, as they have such a talented team, and have been the best side this year. Yesterday afternoon, we watched Geelong & Brisbane in front of a huge crowd of 93,000 at the MCG. Geelong, the favourites, won the first half, but the Lions came out like a different team after half-time, won the 3rd quarter and stayed ahead to win by 10 points in a thriller. What an exciting Grand Final awaits us!
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