Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 21st June 2026

 
With the Soccer World Cup on, I thought this was perfect!

Last Sunday was a beautiful sunny, but cold day. We had a good trip to the Daylesford Market and came home with our usual lovely haul of fruit, vegetables & Morse food (apples, carrots, pumpkin, zucchini, cabbage & broccoli), all of which he devours with gusto, usually accompanied by rice or pasta, and a dollop of yoghurt. 

We've had a quiet week with lots of rain stopping activities, but plenty of human contact. Wes has been in touch with Barbara in NZ twice; Terry Larkins in Gisborne; Helen Hanrahan in Lower Plenty, and his cousin, Gary Testro in Pascoe Vale. I caught up with my aunt, Jeff, in Torksey Lock; twice with my sister, Leanne, in Strathmore, and had a good chat with Old Friends - Kathy & Joyce.

Wes has continued to prune fruit trees and roses when the weather has permitted, as well as working on Ancestry; and a big project he is undertaking to put all of my Dispatches together. We're missing those I wrote in 2000, 2001 & some of 2002, but we have all the rest. I think he's enjoying re-reading them as he goes and sharing the memories with me. 

A stunning collage from ANZAC Day 2020, when the trees at Lake Daylesford seemed to glow red

Wes discovered that another Daylesford friend, Graham Ogden, had died, back in 2022. Graham was an expert on the Old Testament, and he and his wife, Lois, had done missionary work before we met them. They came here because their daughter, Mel, was living & working here. They both joined the U3A, and Graham took on the Presidency, which he carried off with aplomb. We really enjoying spending time with them, and were sorry when they left Lyonville to live in Ballarat. 

As well as playing Mah Jong with Judi, I also started to teach our neighbour, James, how to play. He is a quick learner and because his wife, Yoko, is Japanese, he found it easy to read the characters on the tiles, as Chinese & Japanese characters are very similar. We spent 90 minutes playing and he has booked me in again for tomorrow morning. 

The results of my CT scans came through and I had a telehealth call with Dr James to discuss them. It appears I have a cavity in my lungs, probably caused by chronic asthma, and germs are finding their way in there. This is causing the persistent cough and phlegm, so I am on an antibiotic regime of 60 capsules over 10 days to see if that will solve the issue. The other scan showed that I have no build up of calcium or anything else that is causing my cholesterol reading to show borderline. We were both very relieved with these results, and hope the aggressive use of amoxicillin will solve the lung issue.

Stunning sunset in May 2020

Yesterday I travelled back to Melbourne to see Collingwood host Port Adelaide at the MCG. Wes & Morse kindly drove me to Ballan Station, and in the afternoon, Wes took David Hall to Politics in the Pub a monthly event at the Farmers Arms Hotel here, before returning home to watch GWS & Carlton play at the Sydney Showgrounds. We were both delighted that our teams won - Carlton were too good by 23 points and the Pies prevailed by 26 points in a game marred by rain, injuries, interesting umpiring and a goal-less last quarter.

Before the game at the MCG the rain bucketed down