Daylesford Dispatch - Saturday, 8th December 2012

Dear Friends, I thought I would send you an early Dispatch as later today I am off to Melbourne to visit Viva and Leanne, before I collect Wes from the airport after his highly successful week away in Queensland. He has enjoyed everything he did, especially the time spent with Ronda, Jay, Kim & John & their two boys. He has heap of stuff for the family tree… not that he needs any encouragement to spend time on it. He decided to spend his free time in Caloundra instead of travelling to Brisbane, so Deane drove to him for dinner on Wednesday night and they ate on the balcony looking out at the sea.

With Jay, Ronda & Kim post breakfast

Wes has also enjoyed early morning swimming, seen the latest James Bond film and found a Shingle Inn in Caloundra where he partook of afternoon tea. The one in Brisbane is an institution, it has been around longer than we have and was my grandmother’s favourite spot to go for many years until she discovered cappuccino, which they didn’t serve, as they were definitely a tea spot. A visit to Brisbane is not complete without something at the Shingle Inn in memory of Doll Munro.

Meanwhile back home I have been managing my time well and coping with the early morning walks with Bilbo & Frodo, as well as exercise class & even a game of golf with Gillie. We lasted 10 holes and celebrated with breakfast at Red Star Café in Hepburn afterwards. The café was full of Strong participants having their coffees after the 9.30 class. Gillie hadn’t played golf for nearly two years and did remarkably well, managing to outdrive me easily after a couple of holes. I hadn’t played for a fortnight, but until I hit the 10^th, you would have thought our situations were reversed!

I spent most of the rest of the week putting up Christmas decorations, writing Christmas cards, weeding, reading, doing crosswords, watching & listening to cricket & playing Words with Friends, as well as wading through emails that had built up, and putting in all the sporting dates for the next 12 months. On Wednesday we had our last Mah Jong meeting for the year and Carol let us know that her old group is reforming next year and will be playing in the library. She is delighted, as she just loved playing Mah Jong with them. Dot, Valerie & I will continue meeting, but will wait until next year to decide where.

Carol celebrated her 70^th birthday on Thursday & was thrilled to bits to reach the milestone. She doesn’t enjoy good health and has coped with lots of obstacles to reaching this particular birthday. She is celebrating with a family get-together at her place today, catered for by the Belles, Bronwen & Lee.

Yesterday I had a very busy morning – after walking the boys and enjoying a glorious sunrise – a pink & gold shimmer on the Lake, we drove to Leitch’s Creek to pump water, only to discover the spring was closed. So I drove back to Sutton Spring, which used to be my favourite, walked down the steep hill & discovered that the pump had a new, easy to use handle, and that the bridge which had been washed away in a violent storm about 8 years ago, had been replaced. The boys weren’t impressed with their long wait for bones, but they love being out in the car, so I think I am forgiven.

Then I washed both cars, showered, rang Viva & drove to Gracenotes Café, for a late breakfast with Janine Hawker. Janine husband, David, is not enjoying good health, but she had found the time to send me a card when she discovered I had chronic fatigue, so we decided to meet and catch up. We both enjoyed our time together, and I felt sufficiently energised afterwards to buy a quiche & salad for our dinner tonight.

I also went to Daylesford Clothing to check out the clean-shaven Rodney Peacock, who shaved off his beard & moustache to raise $3,500. I have known Rodney for nearly 30 years & have never seen him without his famous moustache. He assured me that he is growing it back again as fast as he can! Rodney used to be a barman at Collingwood Football Club in the 80s when I was involved there and he, an Essendon supporter, had to pretend to follow the Pies. It was a lovely surprise to both of us to meet up again here shortly after we moved to Daylesford.

Today we enjoyed a lovely walk with only the ducks, geese & swans for company. Then I did some early shopping at the supermarket, with the boys in the back of the car watching everything that goes on.

Now I plan to read Saturday’s Age, grab an early lunch & head off just after midday. Let’s hope it doesn’t get quite as hot as we have been promised.   

  

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 2nd December 2012

 

Dear Friends, I am just home from a trip to Melbourne this morning. Wes & I got up at 5.15am & I showered while he walked the boys, then I drove him to Melbourne Airport to catch a plane to Brisbane and enjoy a week off. He is having lunch with Nice Michael, Linda & Lauren at Sanctuary Cove, staying overnight at Mermaid Beach, then driving to Caloundra to spend time with his cousin, Ronda, her husband, Jay, and hopefully their daughter, Kim. On Wednesday he will drive back to Brisbane and have dinner with Deane; then he has a couple of free days, which might be spent near the water, swimming & getting sunburnt!

He has been planning this trip for ages as Ronda is keen to tell him lots about the relatives she knew best, so he has taken the video camera and is looking forward to being inundated with information. A short phone call with Ronda is one that doesn’t last an hour, so I am sure he will come back with heaps of stuff for Ancestry.com.

       Wes in Queensland mode!            

                                                                                  The boys will have to get used to me walking them in the mornings, but provided I remember to give them a bone afterwards I am sure they will be fine. I have deliberately planned a quiet week and won’t be going out at night as every day will have an early start.

After dropping off Wes, I visited Viva, who was looking great, now that she is starting to feel better. Leanne had taken advantage of my visit to go shopping, visit the library etc with a clear conscience, but I was sorry not to see her as well. I stopped at the Sunday Market when I got back here to collect fruit & vegetables from Yvonne. I was worried she would have run out of most things by 11am, so rang & ordered what I needed yesterday & she had it set aside for me, which was lovely.

After I finish the Dispatch I am going to cook the Christmas Pudding, then cook a smoked salmon omelette for breakfast/lunch & sit down to see how the Australians can save this Third Test!!

We’ve enjoyed our week, with Wes tidying up all the worries in his in-tray so he could go away feeling virtuous; he also took Barbara to hydro, did lots of weeding & watering, which brought rain, which means more weeding; cooked yummy meals every night, and went to Di Lyttleton’s 70^th birthday party at the Hepburn Springs Golf Course last night, where he claims to have danced with every female there! I decided not to go as I would not have been able to get up early this morning & I am so pleased I didn’t cramp his style as he got home at midnight.

I drove to Ballarat to the dentist on Thursday, which was a scorcher, and dropped in to Target to pick up a couple of long t-shirts for nightwear. They were priced at $15, but when I reached the register I was charged $5.88 each –how does anyone make money on that I wonder, definitely not the Chinese person who made them.

Yesterday morning we spent on the gate at the Farmers’ Market and missed out on the Highland Gathering parade of bands in the main street. Afterwards we had breakfast in Gracenotes Café, where we were joined by Annie Smith & Barbara Simpson. Wes had hoped to go to Victoria Park in the afternoon with Barbara to see the bands performing, but he was in panic mode to get everything done & had to forgo that pleasure.

Last year’s Highland Gathering photo

 

On Wednesday we went to see Elling, a Norwegian play being put on by the Melbourne Theatre Co. It was too long, but we did enjoy it – the message was something that reverberated with an older audience –if you keep people in care and then release them out into the world, of course they won’t be able to cope immediately. They need time to learn how to look after themselves and to take on responsibility.

I finally had lunch with Rhonda this week and caught up on her latest trip and shared experiences with her. Her sister, Fran, partner of Barry, who takes gym classes, has just been diagnosed with cancer, and we spent much of our time together waiting for a call from them to let Rhonda know what the doctor had said. The news was more optimistic than anyone had expected and I hope to find out the latest from Barry this week.

We also received a very lovely long phone call from our cousin, Leigh, in London, who is so excited that we will be there for her wedding in April, which is now only 4 months away. Wes has decided to wear his kilt, but needed to ask permission. We have booked into the same hotel as Leigh, Kevin & Jennifer will be in and have decided to spend a week in Hay-on-Wye in Wales afterwards. Wes has found a delightful self-contained cottage set in a topiary garden, so we are going to prop there & recover. Gillie suggested we visit this little place as it is a world-famous book town.

                                                       

Tomorrow morning Gillie & I are planning to play golf at Trentham after walking our respective dogs. Fingers crossed that the weather & our bodies cope!        

Daylesford Dispatch - Saturday, 24th November 2012

 

Dear Friends, I’m finally feeling up to sending an overdue Dispatch. Both of us are taking longer than we expected to get our reserves of energy back, and launched back into normal life with too much gusto and are paying the price! When I last wrote we were about to host 16 Art Show Committee members & their partners to say thank you for all they had done. It went very well and we were in bed very early once the stragglers had gone home.

We played 10 holes of golf the next morning and had a late breakfast & chat at Mr Carsisi in Kyneton afterwards. The next day I started gym classes with Barry, who used to take the Strong classes I attended at 6.30am on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Strong has changed hands and Barry is no longer employed there, so he is offering more classes at his gym in the Scouts’ Hall. He is very casual and you pay per visit, not per term, which allows you to have holidays, be ill or just not feel like it, without being out of pocket. Barry knows of my chronic fatigue and is being very supportive. I must say it felt good to be doing some regular exercise again and I hope I can continue until he finishes in mid-December.

                                       

  Barry Spall

On Wednesday we had been invited to an information session by our Financial Advisors, so decided to drive to Melbourne late afternoon and be part of it. We arrived early so were able to pay Joan Testro a quick visit, which was lovely. She was looking good & delighted to see us both. The evening at Quaff Restaurant in Toorak was most informative and we were well looked after. However we were both very tired by the time we got home as I had played Mah Jong & Wes had played golf earlier in the day.

I went to gym, and then spent the rest of the day in bed, while Wes took his sister, Denise, to lunch at Gracenotes, where Denise told him that their aunt, Norma, was in palliative care and wouldn’t live much longer.

Early photo of Norma

Norma died the next morning and Denise was most upset as she had been very close. Norma had been a second mother to her. Wes had not enjoyed that same close relationship, and he & I had really only seen Norma & her husband, Bert, at Christmas, and not for some years as they have been in Ardmillan House for a while. Judi came to visit in the afternoon and shared a glass of wine with us which was a lovely antidote, especially as we haven’t seen much of each other for ages.

On Saturday we caught the train to Melbourne to see South Pacific at the Princess Theatre. We enjoyed yum cha at Westlake first, and as I didn’t want Wes to have to pay for anything, I had organised an interval package with our tickets, which meant we could have an ice-cream before the show & a glass of wine at interval. We both enjoyed it very much, our seats were good, Lisa McCune & Teddy Tahu Rhodes were an excellent lead pair, but the highlights were definitely seeing Kate Ceberano as Bloody Mary, and Eddie Perfect nailing the role of Luther Billis. Afterwards we easily caught the train back to Ballan in time to feed a few vegetables to a pair of bloated Labradors who had been chewing marrow bones in our absence.

The next morning, we set off early to visit Viva with Brian’s print to give her. We both thought she was looking good, although in some pain, while waiting for results from all her tests taken by the skin specialist. She subsequently was told that she doesn’t have a recurrence of shingles but something else that will hang around for 3-5 years, but can be treated with a complex regime of tablets. Today she tells me that she is starting to feel better at last.

After our visit, we headed to Burwood to catch up at lunch with Terry Borg, Victor Borg, Georgie Borg, Richard Tweddle, Ben Borg & his girlfriend, Nat Andrews from Port Isaac. Terry had made a sumptuous lunch and we enjoyed about 4 hours of memorable food & wine, while we caught up on some of the things that had happened over the past 20 years. It was wonderful! However, I fell asleep in the car on the way home – an unknown occurrence and didn’t get out of bed until Tuesday!       

Nat, Ben & Terry

Laura, Richard & Georgie

After gym I caught up with Judi for breakfast at Bocconcini, and then went home to spoil Bilbo & Frodo who turned 8 that day. We gave them edible footballs smeared with Vegemite at lunchtime & they were over the moon! Wes enjoyed a day of Ancestry interspersed with gardening.

He and Barbara drove to Melbourne on Wednesday as she had an appointment with a specialist, while I played Mah Jong with Carol, Dot & Valerie. Dot was looking good after her knee operation and we were amazed that she wasn’t in a wheelchair.

I have been loving the Second Test against South Africa at the Adelaide Oval, especially the fine innings by Warner, Clarke, Hussey and now Smith. It has done me the world of good to have an excuse to sit and watch & listen to the game while reading the Age, doing crosswords or playing Words with Friends on my phone.

Michael Clarke on fire

 Yesterday Wes drove to Essendon for Norma’s funeral, which was held at the funeral parlour with a very small attendance, as is to be expected when you are 97 when you die. We had decided I would not come and I was very pleased to have another quiet day. Wes bought some swordfish at Canals in Nicholson Street and cooked it perfectly last night.

Today it was his turn to sleep in and he is not long up after being served tea, toast & Saturday’s Age in bed. It is the local Show here, something we love to attend, but we are keen to have a quiet time at home again – I’m about to head upstairs to watch the cricket, he is going to clean out the pond, wash the cars & finally wash the boys. I have bought him a crown rib roast as a reward for his dinner tonight!

Birthday boys relaxing

One of the things I love about Daylesford is Saturday morning early in Vincent Street before the visitors take over. However there were no raffle tickets on sale, no stalls of local produce and I didn’t spot a single friend while I was out between 9 & 10am!!!

Daylesford Dispatch - Sunday, 11th November, 2012

Dear Friends, I’m having a break from post Art Show paperwork to let you know that we are both still alive (just) after an amazingly successful and exciting Show. We ended up with 114 artists providing 393 paintings, of which 56 sold. We had over 1,600 visitors including Danny & Kim; David, Helen, Jessica, Maya & Daniel Lazzaro; Andrew & Syd; David & Deanna Redfern; Warwick Leeson; representatives from at least 2 city Rotary Clubs looking for artists, and Chris Lazzaro and family. Thank you all.

Wes and I are quite exhausted after spending all day every day at the Town Hall, but we are very pleased with the support we received from nearly every Rotarian in our Club. Some were on holidays, a couple are quite unwell, but everyone else did something, with quite a few going over and above the call of duty. We were also helped by Barbara Simpson, Carol Bruce & potential Rotarian, Annemarie Borsboom. We are very lucky to have a brilliant President this year, Jan Pengilley, as she filled gaps when someone forgot to turn up for their shift, as well as being there for all the dirty jobs such as mopping, sweeping & cleaning. She was also there when the artists brought their works and when they returned them. She spent hours folding raffle tickets; kept her speech to a minimum on Opening Night; hosted a lunch for our two judges, who had never met and played God when the occasion arose, as well as buying paintings & sketches.

       Brian Nash painting screens pre Show

While Wes has been composing various reports to send to Artists, Sponsors, Rotarians and Committee, I have been writing cheques to pay the artists who won prizes and who sold paintings. Our study is still in some chaos, but we hope to have things back to normal by the time Sandra comes to clean on Wednesday.

We would have loved to have been at the Gabba with Jane, David, Norma & Terry, but our decision not to go have been vindicated as we could not have processed all the post Show stuff before we had to fly to Brisbane and I suspect we would have been very unhappy. As it is, we are being sent lots of photos of them all, and of course, we are listening to the cricket as well as occasionally just sitting and watching as well.

 David, Terry & Norma

This morning we enjoyed a lovely breakfast with everyone at The Food Gallery, where we entered from the back lane, tied the boys up and were seated at a long table just for us. We have given up on Harvest Café, as now that the Ice Cream Parlour side is turning into a Health Food Shop, there is nowhere easy for us to sit and in spite of all the time we have been eating there, no-one on the staff other than the owners, has bothered to learn anyone’s name or remember what they like to drink.

 

 Jan Pengilley

Last week, a small group enjoyed breakfast at Gracenotes Café, which we also love, but it may not be suitable to meet there as a large group on a regular basis. So next week, the Red Star Café is having its turn – one small problem – you can’t book a table there, so Judi & Gillie are going early to push a few tables together for us.

Wes and I will be missing as we have been invited to lunch with Terry Borg that day and we hope to visit Viva beforehand. Viva was disappointed not to win the Art Show raffle main prize of an original Brian Nash painting of Lake Daylesford, so Brian has framed a large print for her, which he will give us today. So even if Viva thinks I still shouldn‘t come near her, she is dying to receive her print!

Wes drove our friend, Marjorie, to hospital on Wednesday morning and popped in to see Viva & Lal on his way home. She reported they were both looking good and he spent a happy 90 minutes or so there, no doubt making them laugh. He has also looked after Barbara for three mornings when she had bathroom renovations & had to cancel her carers, as well as take her for a swim and help collect Bobby the cat from Eureka Kennels. I got to Mah Jong with Carol & Valerie, which was a lovely antidote to work!

Opening Night Barmen

Our dear God-daughter and cousin, Leigh Hoolihan, and her fiancé, Simon, have set 6^th April as their wedding date in London and we have decided to be there with her, which has pleased her very much. We were lucky that Qantas has been having a wonderful sale, so we picked up some very reasonable fares, after making sure that Eureka Kennels could accommodate Bilbo & Frodo, while we are away. Our fares don’t allow us to do much other than fly to London & back, so we have decided to spend some time in Wales after the wedding as we have never been there.

This afternoon we are hosting a thank you for all our Art Show committee members and their partners, with catering to be done by Bronnie & Lee (two Rotarians, who catered for the Opening Night with aplomb – they made 1,900 pieces of food for the 220+ who turned up). Wes found time between showers of rain to mow the lawns, and hopes to do some weeding in the front before everyone arrives. While we were at the Town Hall the garden took off – roses & irises leapt into bloom; spinach & silver beet grew so fast & went to seed, and the weeds took hold wherever they could!!

Some of the Opening Night food

I may not get a Dispatch to you next weekend as it is a very busy one, but I’ll be back in touch as soon as I can. In the meantime thank you all again for your support during this busy period in our lives. It’s been great to receive Facebook messages of support as well as the occasional email.

Finally a word about the Spring Racing Carnival – I picked Green Moon to win the Cup a couple of months ago, but jumped off after the Cox Plate fiasco and that just about sums up our Carnival. We had occasional bets which usually meant those horses didn’t feature in the winners, I managed to forget to print out what we had backed so we watched some races blind, and all in all, we learnt more about what happened by reading the following day’s Age newspaper.