Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 25th May 2014

Dear Friends, when I left you on Monday we were eagerly awaiting news that our cousin, Michael and his wife, Kelly, in Berkshire, had become parents. Amelia Hoolihan arrived on time, safely and is the apple of her father’s eye already. Jeff & Kev are very proud grandparents again, and Leigh is a very thrilled aunt, who is busy looking after older brother, Archie.

Very special moment as Kelly & Amelia sleep....

The next morning while I spent time being pampered at EKO with Emma, Wes and Glenn Mack tackled the greenhouse, which had arrived in a flat pack of course. Lunch didn’t get served until 5pm by which time the workmen were in need of a glass or two of a good red! Next year I believe I am being given a new front door mat instead. The funny story out of this is that Glenn brought every tool he owns to our place and after 2 hours he and Wes discovered that the small tool, called 102, in the flat pack, actually worked and was the only thing that would get the bolts etc in position!

Here is Bilbo minding some of Glenn’s gear

And here is the finished product with the proud workmen inside!

Wes produced a very yummy pasta dish for lunner (or whatever you call a very late lunch/early dinner) with broccoli, mushrooms, handmade pasta, chilli, parsley and prawns. And a very early night was had by all....

On Wednesday there was a frost early, but it turned into a beautiful Autumn afternoon yet again. I spent the morning playing Mah Jong with Dot & Valerie. Valerie’s friend, Paula, who shared her birthdate but was 15 years older @ 96, had died the day before, so Valerie was feeling very sad. This didn’t improve when I told her that Peter Curtin, actor, married to Ailsa Piper, actor & writer, had died suddenly on Monday. They lived in Glenlyon when Valerie did and she knew them both very well and was quite shocked.

Barbara hadn’t been well all week, but Wes was able to take her to lunch at Gracenotes Café, their usual Wednesday date, and spend some hours with her before coming home to relax. He had mowed everywhere in the morning and filled the bins with garden waste.

After gym on Thursday I had promised to focus on the greenhouse so we found some green shade-cloth, discovered it was exactly the right size to provide the backing for the greenhouse and went to Jenkin and Thomas to buy double-sided tape and bungees, with the help of Lyndall Jenkin. Amazingly we were able to do all this and Wes even found a perfect stand to put inside with a couple of shelves to hold the plants. After yummy fish pie for lunch, I spent some time moving French tarragon, parsley, rocket & chives from the front garden beds into the greenhouse.

Wes managed to walk Bilbo early on Friday morning before the rain bucketed down and golf plans were cancelled. I set off to Ballarat for my bi-annual breast screening, buoyed by the knowledge that my reward was lunch at Kazuki with Wes, Di Lyttleton & Jeff Bain. And what a lunch it was! We enjoyed three magic courses, demolished four bottles of wine, and shared a cheese platter with Sandy & Donny Breen, who were having a quiet lunch in another room. I spotted them when I went to use the toilet, so Jeff invited them to sit with us for a while.

Di and I met many years ago, when I was on the U3A Committee and she was keen to be involved but wasn’t living here permanently. Our friendship was firmly cemented when we had a golfing week together at Golfers Resort, Yarrawonga about 3 years ago. We had very wisely shared a taxi to Kazuki and back. I don’t know about Di & Jeff, but we weren’t good for much for the rest of the day and had a very early night.

Jeff and Di enjoying Kazuki with us

Yesterday was frosty, but the sun emerged after a while, so both of us did some gardening. I went shopping early, did some chores and listened to the Coodabeen Champions while Wes planted bulbs galore in Barbara’s garden.

Here is another of Danny’s photos from the lily pond house at Adelaide’s Botanical Gardens – there was such a response to last week’s photo, I thought I should share this one as well.

 We drove to Melbourne for the Collingwood vs West Coast game, and we are so pleased we went. Wes wanted to come with me, so I booked seats under cover in the MCC, and we had a good view on the wing, out of the wind. The game was one to remember with great goals, individual brilliance, one on one contests and an amazing win by the Pies after we lost Nathan Brown in the first quarter & Jack Frost in the second. Part of me would have liked to see the Eagles win as that would have cheered our dear friend, Norma, who continues her battle against ovarian cancer with immense bravery and spirit.

We were home by 9pm and watched from bed (with cups of tea & coffee) the second half of the Port Adelaide vs Hawthorn game at the Adelaide Oval, where Port withstood a couple of Hawthorn surges to win and consolidate their spot on top of the ladder.

This morning Wes and Bilbo have been for their early walk and I’m about to go out to pump mineral water at Leitches Creek, before going to the Sunday Market to fill our fridge with yummy local fruit and vegetables, replenish the dog bone bag and perhaps pick up an exciting plant from Ken of Spring Park Nursery.

More Icelandic poppies in bloom...

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Monday, 19th May 2014

Dear Friends, we did enjoy our Mothers’ Day, especially sharing breakfast with Judi, Glenn, Gillie, Aileen & Barbara. Judi nearly didn’t make it as one of their dogs, Major, had a seizure, but he recovered quickly and she decided to join us as Michael could look after the dogs and they would take him to the vet on Monday. However, Judi was the bearer of the very sad news that our friend, Lorelle Hall, never came out of her coma and had died the day before. Lorelle was a vibrant, clever, educated and challenging person, who left an impression on everyone she met. Her husband, David, will be devastated to have lost her. My favourite photo of Lorelle was taken at the Robbie Burns night at Gracenotes Café in 2009.

We had been invited to share Peter Widdop’s 72^nd birthday soireé, so I spent a very quiet afternoon doing crosswords and knitting until it was time to go at 5pm. We had a wonderful time catching up with Penny & David Reilly, Glenda & Joe Rozen, Linda & Ken Gillies, and Linda & Allan Straub. Another old friend of theirs, Pam, arrived later, as did Peter’s former wife, Astrid, who now lives in Daylesford as well. Peter had created umpteen yummy pizzas and the bubbles and conversation flowed. Linda had baked a beautiful chocolate cake covered in strawberries in lieu of her signature Portuguese custard tarts. We lasted until nearly 7.30pm before tiredness kicked in big-time for me.

Monday was cold early but turned into a beautiful day which enabled Wes to spend some time in Barbara’s garden as well as on the computer, where he found another cousin (6 times removed) from Leeds. I did some supermarket shopping and washed & ironed everything in sight preparatory to packing for our six days away.

One of our beautiful cherry trees celebrating Autumn in style

That night Carlton managed to score an easy win over St Kilda, so Wes was a happy boy again. It wasn’t pretty football by any means and St Kilda are depleted, but the four points are in the bag.

On Tuesday we were all up early to do last minute packing, which included taking the laptop and making sure we have backed up our own computers. It was a cool misty morning here but we set off expecting 21° in Adelaide. We drove in convoy to Ballarat, dropped off Bilbo, left the Mazda 6 at Eureka Kennels and headed off for Adelaide.

Our first stop was at Great Western for a tea, coffee & biscuit break and we fell in love with the place. We have vowed to make a trip there sometime soon and buy up on sparkling shiraz. We stopped again right on the border for more hot drinks & biscuits and apart from filling up with petrol, and changing drivers, went through to North Adelaide where we were staying at the Majestic Old Lion Apartments. I had asked for a ground floor apartment and we were impressed with the size and comfort of our accommodation, which included a full-size fridge, oven, microwave, K-size bed, washing machine & dryer. We were too tired to do anything except drink wine & eat a local pizza.

Wes at our rest spot at Great Western...sadly the Magpie didn’t bring us any luck...

We slept until 8am on Wednesday, had a light breakfast and set off walking for the Botanic Gardens. Danny Moynihan had suggested we go to the Zoo, and as it was right next door to the Gardens, we went in. What a wonderful Zoo it is – we enjoyed the Giant Pandas, Wang Wang & Funi, and spent about 3 hours in total there. For the most part the Zoo has been modernised and the animals are in great enclosures and seem very happy. We fell in love with these two otters – one has lost the sight of an eye and is very nervous, so his brother looks out for him.

Wes remembered we had enjoyed a stunning long lunch at the Jolley Boathouse about 20 years ago, so we walked around the river until we found it. Sure enough it has the same owners, better chairs, a great wine list and stunning food. We shared 3 different types of oysters before Wes settled on kangaroo tail with Chinese dates and jasmine rice, and I had a perfectly cooked piece of barramundi. We drank a bottle of Prosecco, which was the perfect accompaniement.

Then we walked to the SA Art Gallery, which has an amazing array of artworks, including many Australian paintings we have never seen before. The building is splendid and the paintings are hung up nearly to the ceiling. We walked back to our apartment and had a very quiet night.

On Thursday we met Danny Millman at the Adelaide Central Markets, where we strolled and chatted for a while, before making our way back to the Art Gallery and a cuppa at their lovely café before spending time at the Museum, which has a particularly good permanent exhibition celebrating the achievements of Sir Douglas Mawson.

We ended up having lunch at a stunning Italian restaurant called Pranzo, where the waiter was brilliant and gave us some suggestions for wineries to visit in McLaren Vale. We walked through the Botanic Gardens and Danny took the brilliant photo below in the lily pad house. Then off to the Australian Wine Centre, where Ben Lazzaro joined us for a drink. He was in Adelaide for an Australian Made Board meeting and was going to the footy that night as guest of the chairman.

After a rest that afternoon, we set out for the game, along with most of the other visitors in our accommodation. There was much excitement in Adelaide with the first night match at the refurbished ground and over 50,000 of us crammed into it. We were up on the fifth level, but in comfortable seats with a good view. The Crows were easily the better team and it was obvious from the start that we were going to struggle to beat them. The result was exactly what the AFL would have wanted and guarantees good crowds for the remaining games at the Oval.

The next morning we picked up Danny from his hotel on North Terrace and drove to Victor Harbor as we had never been there and it was over 30 years since Danny had visited it. We had a long cuppa break at Port Noahlunga, which was a pretty little town. At Victor Harbor we were amazed to see a Clydesdale drawing a tram over the bridge to Granite Island. We walked over the bridge and would love to go back as there is a penguin colony and some wonderful walking paths to take and explore.

We had lunch at one of the local pubs and then drove home, running into Friday afternoon traffic as we got close to Adelaide. We spent the evening watching Freo beat Geelong and enjoying the celebration of Matthew Pavlich’s 300^th game & 600^th goal.

The next morning we checked out and set off for McLaren Vale, where we had booked a B&B for the night. We visited the Info Centre, where we were armed with a large map and very helpful advice. We were amazed at the size of the area (once again we had never been there) and started at Alpha Box & Dice Winery, which came highly recommended by our Italian waiter. There are no grapes growing here, but the young interesting winemaker experiments with blends and names them after letters of the alphabet. We didn’t like their white, but bought a mixed dozen of their 4 reds.

They recommended another winery, which our waiter had also mentioned, Battle of Bosworth, but the young woman looking after the cellar door, made a disparaging remark about Alpha Box & Dice, which put us offside from the beginning. She was very busy with an unexpected group who walked in behind us. We tried some of their wines and bought a couple of their yummy shiraz. Then off to Samuel’s Gorge, which everyone recommended, but it was shut, as was Chapel Hill next door.

The lady at the Info Centre had suggested we include Angove’s Winery in our list so we headed there, and are we glad we did. They even make a passable rosé, but their reds are something else and we quickly became Friends, and ordered up big. The last time I was this excited about a winery was the day we walked into Cofield Winery in Rutherglen about 3 or 4 years ago, and we both love all their wines.

We ended up having a very late lunch at Fino, in Willunga, where we kept the Richmond supporter waitress up to date with the scores from that game. Wes tried the Angus Scotch fillet, while I enjoyed Coorong mulloway, with a glass of local cab sav. We couldn’t resist the Rocquefort and Italian goat’s cheese afterwards. By the time we had driven along Aldinga Beach, we were ready to check into Bellevue B&B, where we were greeted warmly, given hot drinks & home-made cake and allowed to settle in. Our room was very comfortable and unlike many B&Bs, suitable for a long stay, as the two bedrooms have been purpose-built. We retired to bed to watch the footy and get a good night’s sleep before our long drive home.

Breakfast was stunning – fresh fruit and cereals, toast with home-made jams, crepes with home-made apple pureé, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, mushrooms and bacon and endless cups of tea and coffee. The owners, Kieran & Ros, pride themselves on setting their guests up for the day and they certainly did that for us.

We had a lovely drive home through countryside and Wes had a delightful surprise for me – at a little town called Wellington, there is a free ferry which travels 24 hours every day and takes about 4 cars at a time across to Tailem Bend. We thought that was just perfect and so unexpected! When we arrived home here last night we discovered our Icelandic poppies had started to bloom, and our lemons, which are now in the Lemon House for the Winter, were yellowing very nicely indeed.

This morning we drove to Ballarat to collect Bilbo. I drove him back here, while Wes went to Bunnings to pick up my Mother’s Day greenhouse. Bilbo didn’t say a word on the drive home, leapt out of the car, checked out every room in the house and then waited at the front door until Wes arrived back, whereupon he wagged his tail madly and hopped into bed for a serious sleep.

Wes cooked us a yummy pasta dish for lunch and he has done a quick mow of the longer grass in the backyard, so everywhere is looking fabulous. I’ve been washing and will tackle the ironing after I finish this. 

We’ve had a wonderful time away and highly recommend Adelaide, Victor Harbor and McLaren Vale if you are thinking of a short break or planning on going to the footy.

Daylesford Mothers' Day Dispatch - Sunday, 11th May 2014

Dear Friends, after an enjoyable breakfast last Sunday, Wes and I drove to Clunes in the sunshine to visit Booktown. We haven’t been for a couple of years and were most impressed with the changes and improvements. There were lots of things for kids and lots of kids’ books for sale; plenty of inexpensive hot food & drinks; books galore; bands playing, and a very busy main street. We enjoyed walking around and picked up a handful of books. Catherine King and her husband, Mark Karlovic, were there with their son, Ryan – they spent the Saturday at Spudfest, like us.

We came home to a quiet afternoon and just as Wes thought he would get out into the garden, the rain came down. We’ve had over 40mls during the last few days and everywhere is looking very green and healthy.

On Monday it was too wet underfoot for golf, so I went shopping early, while Wes worked on the computer and planned an assault on the garden at 9am, by which time it was raining steadily again. We had quite a busy day – John Scarffe came back to drink coffee, eat biscuits, discuss Ancestry with Wes and sand the kitchen ceiling. After a yummy fish lunch, I visited John & Dot Smith to see if the back of his jumper was the right size and it is! While I spent a quiet late afternoon in front of the fire with Bilbo, Wes had a meeting with Kate Redwood, Jenny & Eddie Beacham planning a meeting to change the ALP’s mind about treatment of refugees. That night we received the worrying news from Judi that our friend of 15 years, Lorelle Hall, was in emergency in Ballarat.

Wes with Nick Massaro at Porcupine Ridge

After gym on Tuesday, I had my nails done; John Scarffe came back to finish sanding the kitchen ceiling & fix the bathroom basin; Wes filled a bin with weeds; Glenn Mack dropped in some King Island cheese wedges and Nick Massaro came to give me a massage.

Leanne’s cat, Smokey, had been in Lort Smith Hospital since Saturday night and she received the very welcome news that she could bring him home that afternoon. It is very worrying that Smokey continues to suffer from this problem of being unable to urinate...we can only hope that the issue has been sorted this time.

It was very cold again on Wednesday morning, but Wes and Bilbo went off walking at 5.10am and arrived back an hour later – cold, but invigorated. Wes usually works on the computer for a couple of hours after the walk, and then spends an hour or two in the garden. The chore this morning was trimming the rosemary. We must have at least 50 rosemary plants, so it was quite a big deal. Sandra came to clean and I went off to play Mah Jong with Dot, Valerie & Gail.

We spent a very happy morning together at Muffins & More and Valerie & I had lunch together afterwards, while Wes took Barbara to Gracenotes Café as part of their usual Wednesday date. The sun was shining that afternoon, so Bilbo and I walked up to the Post Office and back. As the weather for Thursday was expected to be 0° in the early morning, I harvested all the remaining chillies and pulled out the plants as they wouldn’t have survived what turned out to be quite a frost.

After gym I had a fringe trim with Morgan at Spice then Wes and I drove to Bendigo to see the Genius & Ambition Exhibition on loan from the RSA. For the past few years Bendigo has managed to stage an important and interesting exhibition around this time and this was no exception. We did enjoy seeing some paintings we had never seen before as well as revisiting some Australian art that was included in the final room.

This was my favourite – ‘On the Scheldt’ by W C Stanfield AKA C F Stanfield

Wes and I were in agreement with the paintings we loved and thought the Australian section more than held its own, including the painting below by G V Cole, entitled ‘Autumn Morning’ ....when you were looking at this you could feel the mist rising.

Outside the Gallery was a very friendly woman manning a pop-up Information Centre and she directed us into town where we found Khong, an adequate sort of Chinese restaurant and enjoyed chilli prawns & ginger scallops with tea. Every time I have been to Bendigo for one of these special shows, the Info Centre is there and it is such a great example of a city working together to give visitors the very best experience.

Many years ago when everyone went to Bendigo for the pottery, there was similar vibe – you felt the whole place was proud of the pottery and keen for visitors to experience as much as they could of this beautiful old city.

We came home via Malmsbury, which was decked in Autumn splendour as well as Glenlyon. I was quite tired on our return as I had done all the driving to give Wes a break and by 4pm I was in bed and struggling to keep awake. We both ended up having a 12-hour sleep, which we obviously needed and felt much better the next day. Bilbo didn’t mind missing his walk, as long as he got a bone!

Wes had a meeting in Trentham which took most of the morning and then went to Ballarat that afternoon to see if he could buy us a small greenhouse, which is my Mother’s Day present from Bilbo. He arrived back having ordered one and we have decided it will live on our decking, which gets plenty of Winter sun. That night we were able to stay awake for the very exciting Swans vs Hawks match, which the Swans won when Buddy Franklin finally got his kicking boot on and slotted a couple of goals after seven straight behinds.

Recent photo of Barbara in the Anzac Day march

We woke to another rainy morning on Saturday, so all gardening was postponed and we spent the morning sitting at our computers. At lunchtime we attended an Afternoon Tea celebrating World Lupus Day, as one of our friends here suffers from lupus, as do several other non-Daylesford friends. We arranged to meet up with Gillie at the local footy, where Pink Day was being celebrated. Daylesford beat Creswick in an entertaining game, and we enjoyed spending time with Gillie, and lots of other local friends.

Pink afternoon tea for Breast Cancer at the footy

This morning has been much quieter than usual. We are off to Adelaide on Tuesday, primarily to see Collingwood play Adelaide at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday night, where we will be joined by Danny Millman. We are taking the opportunity to spend a few days in this beautiful city, and will go to McLaren Vale on Saturday, stay overnight and head home on Sunday. I’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible after our return.

So, no trip to Daylesford Sunday Market this morning, but we are sharing breakfast with Judi, Gillie, Aileen & Barbara, and later in the day we have been invited to participate in Peter Widdop’s birthday celebrations, which will be just lovely.

This is my first Mothers’ Day without Viva – thinking of her and especially today. Happy Mothers’ Day to all our friends who are mothers – hope you are spoilt by your loving families.

One of my favourite photos of Viva enjoying a stay in Daylesford with Leanne, Peter & Anka

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 4th May 2014

Dear Friends, we had a brilliant long lunch at the Massaros last Sunday with Peter & Cathy there as well. Nick had made vegetarian spring rolls, which were followed by barramundi wrapped in paper with stir-fried vegetables, pears in raspberry syrup with ice-cream and raspberry fruit cake. Thank God we all left the table for a tour of the property before sweets or we would never have fitted back into our cars! We arrived back home at 5pm to discover one member of the family was hungry.

Cathy O’Toole, Wes, Me, Peter Widdop & Robyn Massaro

On Monday we had an early walk, did some computer work then drove to Strathmore where we had been invited by Leanne to celebrate Smokey’s 6^th birthday. I had found a pair of cat stockings as a gift...they are bright green filled with catnip and you hang them from a door knob. Leanne had put balloons outside and we had whistles and poppers and lolly bags as part of the celebrations.

As Smokey spent Easter at the Lort Smith Hospital, came home before he was fully well and then spent another two days with Murray, the local vet, it was pretty good that we were able to celebrate at all. Things had looked very grim over Easter, but, apart from being extra sleepy, Smokey seemed very much like himself. Leanne produced two huge platters of antipasto, followed by a home-made lemon meringue cheesecake, so we waddled away from there as well and didn’t need any dinner for the second night in a row.

Leanne, Smokey & Karen with cat gift

Tuesday was wet and muggy, and by the time I got to gym I was quite asthmatic and it didn’t improve. I had planned to catch up with Rhonda for a cuppa at Gracenotes Café, in front of the fire, and enjoyed spending time with her, as always. When I got home I found I was quite tired, so lit the fire and spent the rest of the day keeping warm and reading.

The next day I couldn’t get up, and it was bitterly cold, -1°, so I was easily persuaded to stay in bed. Wes cancelled spending time with Barbara as is their usual pattern on Wednesday, while I had to cancel my involvement in Mah Jong. Ditto Thursday, where I missed gym, a U3A Piano Music class and a dinner invitation from Penny & David O’Reilly.

On Friday we woke to gentle rain and I stayed in bed until I had finished the Friday cryptic (DA) then got up, packed and got ready to go to Melbourne for the footy. My asthma was much better and I promised Wes that if I was feeling unwell at the game I would go straight back to Rydges, where I was staying overnight. Wes drove me to Ballan where I caught the train, changed at Spencer Street for Parliament and had only a short walk to the hotel. I spent the afternoon sitting quietly and reading. I decided to see Fading Gigolo with Woody Allen before the footy and found myself enjoying this delightful film much more than I had expected. As usual the shorts (far too long) had not done the film justice.

I arrived at the MCG in time to get a good seat in the Balcony, had an unsuccessful look around for Liz Smith, a Daylesford friend, who has been coming regularly to the footy this year, but did find Loud Gayle and spent a few minutes in her company...sadly not enough to discuss the Gibsons’ recent New York & Los Angeles holiday. Collingwood won the game easily although Carlton found some form in the last quarter when most of their supporters had left or the ones at home had switched off the TV. I found it hard to enjoy the victory as I knew Wes, in particular, and many of my friends, would be hurting as they hate losing to the Pies as much as we hate losing to the Blues.

The next morning I woke early and walked around to the European Café for breakfast, where I was greeted warmly and chose a new item from the menu – rice pudding with poached pears & toasted almonds to have with my Japanese quince tea. I caught the 9.40am train back to Woodend where Wes was going to pick me up so we could visit Spudfest in Trentham. There were only 3 carriages on the train and I was glad I was 20 minutes early as it was completely full by the time we left, mostly with young people going to a concert in Bendigo. The conductor apologised and promised to see what he could do – he organised two coaches to meet the train at Sunbury and that took care of 100 of them, and another coach at Macedon collected 50 more. There were still no spare seats on the train!

We had a lovely time at Trentham where we met up with Wes’s cousin Glenn Testro, who was just behind us on the road from Tylden. Glenn has bought a property just outside of Trentham and is wildly excited and keen to experience everything Trentham has to offer. We went to the Saturday Market at the train station, where both Wes & Glenn invested in beautiful new leather belts before heading to High Street and a hot drink at Chaplins. We sat at the big table and spent our time introducing Glenn to various local Trentham & Daylesford identities.

Then a walk down to the Lake where the festival was in full swing and Glenn was easily persuaded to buy a beautiful green hat from Wild Trout Downunder from the tiny hamlet of Gordon. We parted after three most enjoyable hours together – can’t wait until settlement in July when we can share many more fun times with Glenn, and his son, Tyson. 

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 27th April 2014

Dear Friends, we enjoyed a wonderful Easter Sunday and hope yours was as good. Breakfast was fun with Gail & Terry, Michael, Barbara & us sharing stories, while Bilbo waited patiently for his toast. We came home to do a few chores, then set off to Trentham to see their Easter Art & Craft Show in the Mechanics Institute. It was a delightful exhibition, well priced with plenty of variety and lots of sales. Afterwards we strolled up and down High Street and Wes pointed out Kirk’s favourite haunt, Chaplins. I looked in the window and the first person I spotted was Bob White, so we joined him for a cuppa until his friends, John & Kev from Maryborough arrived.

Wes had invited Barbara & Michael to join us to watch the Carlton & Western Bulldogs game, so we lit the fire, he prepared macaroni cheese and we enjoyed a bottle of Passing Clouds Graeme’s blend Shiraz, followed by an equally good Cofield Sangiovese Shiraz...and the Blues won, which was a big relief to the Carlton supporters. Wes had decided not to go, so Ben Lazzaro used our seats and I bet he was pleased he was there, although injuries to Judd, Curnow and Bell soured the victory somewhat.

Lovely photo of the Hoolihan clan on Easter Sunday in Torksey Lock – Archie, Michael, Kelly, Jeff, Kev, Leigh & Simon

On Easter Monday we decided to play golf early and were surprised to see a few cars there at 7.15 when we arrived. We teed off at the 1^st hole and realised the group of three in front of us were in no hurry, so cut across to the 10^th and then played the back 8. Wes played some of the best golf I have seen him play in quite a while and had a birdie & a par as well as a couple of bogeys. I got a bogey and a few double-bogeys, so we were both very content with our morning.

We met up with Lovely & Malcolm for lunch at the Victoria Hotel, Woodend, where we had the best table in front of the fire and enjoyed fine Knights Granite Hills Wines and very pleasant meals while we chatted about everything under the sun. We arrived back here in time to settle in front of the TV and enjoy the Geelong/Hawthorn clash at the MCG with a crowd of 80,000+ adding to the atmosphere. It was a classic game between these two sides and just as everyone thought the Hawks would finish the better, the Cats found a second wind and ran away with the game.

We woke to pouring rain on Tuesday and a very welcome sound it was indeed. Wes gave Bilbo his bone and went back to sleep and then enjoyed a rare late start to the day with Hot Cross buns and lavender tea served on a tray in bed to him. I had to get tickets for the Collingwood/Adelaide match at the Adelaide Oval, so wanted to be sure I was ready, and sitting at my computer, for the 9am release of the tickets. Of course, it was 9am South Australian time, which added to the stress levels and when 9.30 finally arrived, contrary to advertising, it was only Adelaide members who could buy tickets. I sent messages to Ticketek and they advised I could buy tickets the next morning instead.

The rest of the day was spent by me updating my Contacts list and trying to get e-Wallet and my printer working perfectly on my new computer. Wes in the meantime spent the day finding glorious accommodation options in Scotland and I think our trip is just about all booked. We are opting for long stays everywhere and will get a car after Edinburgh. Wes cooked a brilliant lunch of fish with anchovy sauce sitting on a bed of tomatoes and peas....so good we can’t wait to have it again.

This lovely photo of Emily Knox and her boyfriend Alan was taken in Glasgow where they spent Easter

On Wednesday we were up bright and early again, Wes to walk Bilbo, and me to continue to update my computer. At 9.30am I selected 3 tickets for the Adelaide game and just as I triumphantly announced to Wes that we had them, the computer said NO! After another false alarm, I finally was successful and raced off to Mah Jong to join Dot, Gail & Valerie for the first time in quite a while that we four were all together. We had a fun morning and the time flew by. Valerie seemed to get Mah Jongs more easily than the rest of us. Wes contacted me during the morning to say that John Scarffe had turned up out of the blue to fix the skylight and hole in the ceiling, much to Sandra’s horror, as she had just cleaned everywhere he wanted to be.

That afternoon we visited our friends, Nick & Lindsay, who are heading to the UK in about 10 days’ time to loan them our Tom Tom, which we loaded with UK maps last year. They were delighted with it and will find travelling around much easier than only using maps.

On Thursday we had a power surge just as Wes and Bilbo left for their walk. It turned on the bedroom light for some reason, so I got up and decided to wash the cars before I had my shower. Then I watered the veggie patch, which just about guaranteed that we would get some light rain.

While Wes was gardening (shifting a maple from the front) I sorted out two more issues with my computer and am starting to feel much more like I am in charge instead of it. We picked up a DVD attachment, as there isn’t one with this new slimline HP model and you can’t download programmes without it!

Friday was ANZAC Day and I joined Wes and Bilbo on their early walk, before we deviated to the Cenotaph for the Dawn Service. This was a lovely event – wonderful speeches by the Secondary School Co-Captains, and a spine-chilling rendition of And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda by Sallie Harvey. Wes had let me know the day before that he would be doing Barbara’s care this morning so that he could take her to the lovely Eganstown 9am service and then the Daylesford Parade at 10.30am. We had to leave the Dawn Service the minute it finished which meant we arrived back only 2 minutes late for Barbara.

Meanwhile I spent some time on the computer yet again, and then set off to the MCG for the 20^th Annual ANZAC Day Collingwood vs Essendon game. It was a wonderful game with Essendon getting the jump on us early, but our midfield getting on top in the second quarter, which allowed us to run out winners in front of 91,000+. I am lucky enough to have been to every one of these 20 games and enjoyed this one with David Lazzaro.

When I arrived home, Wes had cooked a very yummy prawn risotto to celebrate and had the replay ready to go. Later that night Bilbo forgot himself and leapt onto our bed as though there weren’t already two of us taking up most of the bed. He had to be sternly persuaded to get off and resume his usual position by the side of the bed.

Yesterday I joined Wes and Bilbo on the early morning walk, and then did a big shop at Coles, before stocking up on Jameson’s whisky as I didn’t think Wes could survive the Carlton game without a whisky or two. He had worked very hard in the garden, putting the lemon and lime trees under cover for Winter, as well as spreading manure and weeding.

Lovely and I at the Victoria Hotel, Woodend on Easter Sunday.

He had invited Barbara to watch the game with him as she is waiting for her Foxtel to be repaired and cooked them both yummy chicken with vegetables. I enjoyed leftover prawn risotto and much to everyone’s surprise, just when it looked as though the Eagles had a very close game in the bag, Carlton stepped up a gear and won in an exciting finish.

Today we have decided to forgo our usual Breakfast as there were only going to be four of us and Wes and I are off to lunch at Nick & Robyn’s at midday. As well, we are expecting John Scarffe sometime this morning to finish off mending the hole in the kitchen ceiling; Warren needs to take Barbara on a big shop, and Aileen was only coming to breakfast to keep us company as she is busy as well. So Bilbo and I will head off the Sunday Market shortly, which will make him happy. Enjoy your day!

Daylesford Easter Dispatch - Sunday, 20th April, 2014

Dear Friends, last Sunday went well, with a lovely breakfast and good conversations led by Judi, who had enjoyed a busy week, and Aileen who is always entertaining. Both Wes & Glenn chipped in with stories and Gillie, Barbara & I were an appreciative audience. It was such a beautiful day that Wes spent some time in the garden planting more seaside daisies and Flanders poppies, while I pulled out the tomato and zucchini plants that had all reached the end. I turned the tomatoes into a yummy pasta sauce that was made almost entirely from our produce – onions being the only ingredient I didn’t grow. We ate some that night for dinner and it was extra good. Wes spent the rest of the day on Ancestry.com where he keeps finding more cousins and more delightful photos of Viva. Don’t know when or where this week’s shot was taken, but Viva seems to be enjoying the water, and reminds me very much of Leanne.

Bilbo being invisible on our bed

On Monday we played golf – the first time I have played in ages and it was good fun. We had enough satisfactory shots to make us want to come back, but it was very cold at 7.30am. The day improved as it wore on, which was good as we had guests for lunch – David Castles, his wife, Sandy, and their 14-year old son Simon, as well as their dog, Bam Bam.

David Castles as Jesus and Robert Preston as Superman, being admired by Barb Jordon at Wes’s 30^th birthday party

Bilbo was delighted with our visitors, especially Simon, who knew exactly what to do to make a lab happy. We enjoyed meeting Sandy for the first time and listening to David’s stories of his life since we lost touch many years ago. Wes had made his fish pie and a roast chook dish in case Simon didn’t like fish. Simon had eaten a pizza for breakfast so wasn’t hungry, but did get through a piece of the chook. Simon was keen to get to the Mill Markets & Brick Lane (once we told him about it), so left us adults to eat cheese together, while he explored. He collects cut-throat razors and their accoutrements.

That evening, after a rest, Wes took Barbara to the local ALP meeting at the Daylesford Hotel, and David turned up there, as promised. Wes arrived back home at 7.50pm just in time to have his Skype call with Terry and Peter. Needless to say he was in bed shortly afterwards and slept through the walk the next morning, as did Bilbo.

I went off to gym and the Post Office, and arrived home to discover Wes had misplaced the cradle of our portable phone when he answered it in a hurry. So we searched high and low, shifted everything, vacuumed everywhere and still no sign of it. Eventually we gave up and I stood looking at the cradle wondering what shape the missing piece could be. Suddenly I realised that Wes had replaced it upside down and when I inverted it the cradle magically reappeared.

My new computer arrived at Jenkin & Thomas, so we collected it and Wes very kindly offered to install it all for me. I stayed well clear of the study and that was a very good thing as Wes was unable to find the DVD insertion. Eventually he rang John Jenkin and discovered there isn’t one on this new slimline model, so we are borrowing Tim’s until we have downloaded everything that is on disc.

On Wednesday, there was no Mah Jong as both Dot & Gail were busy, so I spent some time getting used to my computer until Sandra had finished cleaning.  Then I went back to bed to try and shake off a fast-acting head cold. Wes took Barbara to Ballarat for an outing and they enjoyed the Scottish Exhibition at the Art Gallery there. I spent the afternoon watching Lewis, the spinoff from Morse, and am quite in love with Laurence Fox and his character as Lewis’s offsider.

We received sad news last week that our friend, Pierre Eychart, has died, apparently last November. We still harboured hopes of catching up with him again after finding that he was still painting and exhibiting in Paris. However, we have missed our chance, and we can’t find a trace of his former wife, our very dear friend, Vivienne, anywhere at all.

Gabby & her son, Fraser, on his 15^th birthday in New York this week

On Thursday I decided not to go to gym, as I was still fighting the head cold,  but had to get up as I had a haircut appointment with Morgan at Spice, and I didn’t want to miss that. When I arrived back home I was sitting quietly in the lounge reading The Age, when I heard a soft falling sound and discovered that the skylight covering in the main bathroom had subsided gently onto the basin, bath & tiles, covering everywhere in a fine layer of plaster and broken perspex. I showed Wes the damage, cleaned it all up and then thought it would be a good idea if he climbed the ladder and removed the rest that was hanging down looking likely to fall at any moment. He did so and covered us both in plaster dust in the process. So I cleaned everywhere again while he tried to find a handyperson. Eventually John Scarffe was contacted and he visited, declared that everything would be OK for a fortnight or so while he and Bronwen are away, and promised to fix the skylight, the ceiling fan and the hole in the kitchen ceiling on his return. Wes took advantage of being on the roof to clean as much of the guttering as he could reach.

Good Friday is our favourite day of the year where we go for a long walk together, then lock ourselves away and light a fire. This year we took Bilbo from Tipperary Springs to Bryce’s Flat and back – a 7km 2-hour walk that we all enjoyed. Back home we lit the fire and ate Hot Cross Buns and spent a very pleasant quiet day together. I got on with my knitting while Wes worked on our Scottish trip and Bilbo did some serious snoring.

On Saturday we were all up very early – Wes and Bilbo to do their normal Lake Daylesford walk, and me to do the ironing and transfer my Contacts list into the computer. At 9am we went to Gracenotes Cafe for a yummy breakfast, which we thought would obviate any need for me to buy lunch at the MCG. And it worked! I was absolutely delighted with the Collingwood team, haven’t seen them play so well in quite a while. It must have been very disappointing for the North supporters who would have gone to the match expecting to win after their recent good form. I arrived back home to another open fire, a yummy prawn risotto and a very strong G&T – thanks Wes, just what I needed.

This morning I am off to Coles first, then the Sunday Market, before we join 4 others at breakfast. Then we are hoping to visit Trentham to see their Easter Art & Craft Show and perhaps catch up with Bob White, before returning home for a quiet afternoon watching the footy. Let’s hope the Blues can notch up a win for all their supporters, especially Wes who is very disappointed with their lack of endeavour so far.

Happy Easter – I hope the Easter Bilby has remembered you kindly!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 13th April 2014

Dear Friends, on Friday morning my computer died, so I am sending this on our laptop in the hope that it will reach you all safely. I was about to drive to Melbourne, so Wes undertook to replace the computer and should arrive midweek. I suspect that our frequent power blackouts have contributed to its demise, but fortunately Wes’s computer is OK. We had been resisting Windows 8, but now we can’t avoid it.

Today Bilbo & I are off to do shopping at Coles, then the Sunday Market, before heading to breakfast at The Food Gallery. I have woken with more energy than I had yesterday, and hope to get a little more done today.

I last wrote on Tuesday, when we were busy catching up on the garden, the washing & the house, as well as making sure that Bilbo was OK after his visit to Eureka Kennels. We are now quite convinced that Bilbo is much better than before he went, and is more accepting of his life as a single pet.

We woke to more glorious rain on Wednesday and when Mah Jong was cancelled, I decided to spend my time catching up on paperwork, emails and phone calls. Wes worked in the garden in his Drizabone and gumboots before spending a few hours with Barbara. They had lunch together, and then went to a specialty wound clinic run by Springs Medical Centre before solving a few issues that had appeared while we were away in Melbourne.

On Thursday we celebrated 48 years since the day we met at St Therese’s Church Hall dance on Easter Sunday night. We drove to Newbury to see the property Wes’s cousin, Glenn Testro, has bought and will be moving into shortly. He is about 5 minutes out of Trentham, which we think he will love. We had decided to have lunch in Trentham ourselves and tried out the newest eatery there – The Plough @ Trentham in the old Trentham Hotel. We have been to The Plough at Myrniong several times and really enjoyed it, and this is similarly good. Our young waiter assured us that he is a junior partner in the business and thrilled with his career choice. We were pleasantly surprised to see it was already being well-patronised, especially with Annie Smithers at Du Fernier no longer offering lunch on Thursdays.

Lovely photo of Wes at the Plough with his 36-hour slow cooked beef

The next morning I packed for an overnight stay with Danny and started my drive to visit Leanne in Strathmore. When I reached Trentham I realised that I didn’t have Danny’s front door key and as he would be out when I arrived, that I couldn’t do much without it! Back home I drove collected the key and set off again in the rain. Leanne & I spent a good few hours together before I headed to Northcote. As I pulled up outside Danny’s place, I discovered his car was parked there and he was at home.

We had a cup of tea together, and then Danny left for drinks at Beacon Cove. He had hoped to get to the footy, but the friend who invited him decided he didn’t want to go as he thought Richmond would lose. I caught the train into town and saw The Grand Budapest Hotel at The Kino. I found the film very disappointing in spite of Ralph Fiennes, who is a favourite of mine. There were some funny moments but we had seen them all in the trailer and the film seemed a bit pointless and directionless to me. I think the audience was evenly divided between those who liked it and those who, like me, were underwhelmed.

When I got to the MCG I met up with David Lazzaro and we had a drink and chat before the game, then sat back and enjoyed Collingwood’s fairly easy win over Richmond. It was good to see the whole team play well and to see some improvement in the younger players in particular.

I left about 10 minutes before the end, in the hope I would catch an earlier train to Northcote and miss the crowd crush. I just missed my train and had a 30 minute wait for the next by which time the station was jam-packed and blocked back up to the bridge. There was no parking around the MCG because of the rain, so the normal train service couldn’t cope with the extra passengers. People got very agitated, upset and abusive and it was a most unpleasant experience. I was very relieved to get home, where Danny & I had a celebratory drink together.

Yesterday morning, we had an early breakfast at the new Red Door Corner Store café in Northcote, that had been highly recommended. We enjoyed our food and pots of tea, at but didn’t feel we were their target audience at all. Your first impression is so important and as we walked in the door at 7.59am the barista glared at us and said you’re early, but you might as well sit down. All the outside tables were in position, the waitresses were ready, the water was boiling & the chef was ready to go, but we were 60 seconds early!

I drove back here to wish Wes good luck before he and Barbara drove to the MCG in the hope that Carlton would beat Melbourne. Sadly that wasn’t to be – Melbourne looked much more determined and seem to be able to stick to their game plan at last, whereas the Carlton players looked hesitant and scared of making mistakes. As Wes said, it could be a very long year for the Blues.

Gabby & Fraser Gibson having an early birthday celebration in New York.

Our dear friend, David Knox, has broken his collar-bone in a surfing mishap – we are thinking of him and hope he is coping with the awful pain, and the forced inactivity of the next 6 weeks or so as he recovers.

I hope to be back to normal next Sunday, but just in case I am not, I’ll wish you a very Happy Easter now.