Hobart Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 10th June 2018

Well, here we are in beautiful Hobart. We left behind a cold, but sunny Daylesford, with Autumn leaves drifting with the wind & covering everywhere with their beautiful colours. Hobart is also beautiful, but the leaves have long gone, although the days have been sunny, with only a little rain.

Somehow we achieved all we had to before setting off – Wes had suggested lunch at Boathouse on the Wednesday before we left, but we couldn’t quite fit that in.

On our way to the airport, we dropped Bilbo off at Eureka Kennels, where he had elderly Labradors on either side of him for company. They were making friends as we left. I had booked a car park space at the Long Term area & we were able to park & get a bus to the Qantas terminal very easily. The Qantas Club is undergoing refurbishment, so we enjoyed the Coles Cafeteria-like atmosphere, with everyone crowded together & making conversation. Our nephew, Shaun Anderson, was on duty & we were pleased to find him & say hello.

We picked up our car on arrival & drove in the fast falling darkness to Glebe, where we were staying at an AirBnb former grocer’s shop called Glebe Emporium. It is very well provisioned & we are quite comfortable, perched up high over Hobart with lovely views.

Wes had booked us into MONA on Friday & what an adventure that was. We walked down to the harbour & found our pier. While waiting we enjoyed looking at a wonderful Art Show with some excellent modern & imaginative pieces. The ferry trip was enjoyable & the 99 steps up to the entrance were easy to negotiate (easier than all the trips up inside belfries that I have dragged Wes on).

We loved our time at MONA & are only sorry it has taken us so long to get there. Wes had booked us in for a special exhibition in Pharos, called Unseen Seen and Weight of Darkness, by James Turrell. Only two people can have the experience at a time, which was quite thrilling! I loved it & found I could breathe through my nose & relax very easily (not something I am often able to do). Wes wasn’t as thrilled, but pleased we had tried it.

Karen enjoying the beautiful view from outside MONA

We caught the 3pm ferry back & headed straight to Mures Upper Deck for lunner (the meal you have when you have missed lunch & can’t wait until dinner). The oysters were sublime as usual & I tucked into & failed to finish a generous seafood laksa, while Wes enjoyed lamb fillets perfectly cooked & presented. One of our favourite wineries, Cofield, was well-represented, so we ordered a bottle of their very enjoyable sparkling shiraz, which was perfect with our meals.

Yesterday, we had breakfast at Ginger Brown, before I headed off to the Salamanca Markets & Wes drove to Richmond to visit the family graves. He headed off to Broadmarsh after that, while I wandered around Hobart & felt I had my bearings when I finally found Hadley’s Hotel!

In the afternoon, we headed back into Hobart to look at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, where Betsy McShane married Owen Maloney, probably by the well-known priest, Fr Therry, who was the first Parish Priest there. Later we visited St Mary’s Cathedral, where we had to wait for a society wedding party to vacate the steps before entering!

We then caught up with other McShane descendents at the New Sydney Hotel, which is an Irish pub & was very welcoming of us all. We walked in to find Irish fiddlers playing around a large open fire. After a couple of hours of meeting rellos, we headed home with fish & chips for dinner & the footy for entertainment.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd June 2018

 

I missed last Sunday’s breakfast – could tell when I woke up that it was going to be a quiet few days, so after the Sunday Market with Bilbo I headed back to bed & postponed or cancelled everything I had arranged for the next few days. 

All the books from Clunes Booktown came in very handy as I had plenty to read after The Age, the crosswords & Word of the Day each morning. Wes was wonderful as usual – providing yummy meals & looking after Bilbo, as well as pruning all the fruit trees, stacking up firewood & finding lots of kindling to get us started now that Winter is here.

On Monday I heard from Margaret Nolan that her husband, Eric, had died suddenly the previous Friday. I am very grateful that I spent time with them both recently at the footy, where we made plans for their next trip to see us in Daylesford. Eric had health issues & was 92, but his death was most unexpected. Not only have Margaret & I been friends since the early 80s, but she worked at Hilton Hosiery with Wes’s father, Ray, so we have always felt a special affiliation.

Eric’s funeral was on Friday at Fawkner & we were disappointed when we were unable attend & give our support to Margaret. This is the second time she has been widowed & each time the death has been unexpected.

While Sandra cleaned on Wednesday & Wes & Barbara went to Ballarat for hydrotherapy, I played Mah Jong with Dot. I had cancelled gym, but a couple of hours spent in a warm café chatting & trying to win games from a determined Dot, was very manageable.

Since then, I’ve gotten up & dressed each morning & achieved something early, before retreating back home & resting. Compared to what others are fighting, this is nothing – just frustrating & certainly not life-threatening.

Now that Winter has arrived, the birds are even more desperate for food & welcome our contribution each morning. In fact, Floreat has taken to serenading me on the decking or outside the study door, which is glass, to remind me that they are hungry.

  

Bilbo having an impromptu nap after the effort of getting up on Wes’s lap

We had hoped to go to the footy this afternoon, but I have had to cancel it as well. We are off to Tassie on Thursday & the next few days will be busy getting ready for that trip.

This morning, after Bilbo & I go to the Sunday Market, we will head to breakfast at Larder, where we will be joined by Kathy & Ged Lazzaro, who are on their way to Adelaide & are dropping in some wool for me on their way. I’m very grateful for the wool, and we are both delighted to be seeing them as well.

This is Montacute Pavilion, a stunning accommodation place near the Botanic Gardens here.

We drive past it almost daily & would love to go inside. Inspired by a Baroque banqueting pavilion in the gardens of Montacute House, Somerset, it is architecturally intriguing and festive, with obelisks and dragon water-spouts & is nestled among ancient chestnut trees in a historic garden. I imagine the amenities might be a little more modern that the pavilion that inspired it!

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 27th May 2018

Breakfast last Sunday at Larder was most enjoyable & afterwards Barbara & Wes headed off to the MCG to see Carlton play Melbourne. They hadn’t been to the footy for about 3 years & it was a shame that they chose a game where the Blues went home after quarter time, leaving the Demons to do what they liked!

Bilbo & I had a quiet time together, catching up on cooking, knitting, footy & a bit of gardening in between showers. Wes was pleased to arrive back to home-made minestrone & a fruit cake on his return.

 Bilbo looking smug after managing to get up on Wes’s knees – with some help

On Monday, I caught up with Judi for a long chat over pots of Jasmine tea at The Food Gallery. She had arrived back after settling her mother in a lovely nursing home but had hurt her back just before catching the flight home & had been out of action waiting for pain-killers & anti-inflammatories to take effect.

Meanwhile, Windows 10 did an enormous update & my computer was OK, but Wes’s went haywire & he has spent most of the past week speaking to people on the other side of the globe, who would prefer to make appointments to chat at 11pm our time. He did one of those & refused to do any more, opting for the friendlier 10am timeslot! The upshot is that his computer is too old to take these Windows 10 enhancements & he has had to revert to Windows 7.

The last of the Autumn beauty – this maple was given to us some years ago by Denise Robinson & it never fails to look stunning all year round

Also, during this week, our niece, & my God-daughter, Jessie, moved into palliative care, which will be more comfortable for her. She has had some good sleeps, and has been given the drug, Avastin, which should improve her quality of life. The cost of this drug is $20,000, which has been raised by crowd-funder, Chuffed.

We had been invited to lunch on Thursday with Gail & Terry White. Our original starting time was midday, but it had to be pushed back as Wes was finally finishing the reversion of his computer to Windows 7 & if he didn’t do it then, he would have to chat to someone around midnight (not our best time of day ever!)

Gail had gone to heaps of trouble with hot & cold nibbles, salmon for her & me & steak for Wes & Terry, accompanied by mashed potato, exotic baked zucchini, blue cheese butter for the steak & avocado mix for the fish. We had provided the cheese platter, courtesy of Dos, the café offshoot of Wine & the Country. I went in to pick some cheeses & accompaniments only to discover Bronnie Liddelow working there & able to provide an interesting platter for a very reasonable price. Dos will be my first port of call in the future for cheeses!

The next morning, we finally saw the sun after a week of grey skies, so Wes & I both got into the garden. While he pruned & mulched & filled a bag of clippings suitable for the fire, I emptied three of our planters in preparation for Winter. We moved our dwarf lemon tree from the dog decking to the main decking, where it will benefit from the sun & less wind & rain & it is already looking much happier. All this work was done with kookas & maggies in full voice.

Juvenile kooka on Fawlty Towers watching on

We had hoped to get to the footy on Friday night, to see Collingwood play the Western Bulldogs, but I didn’t feel I could cope with the late night, so opted to watch it at home instead. The Bulldogs put in a great first half, but the Pies rallied in the second half & won – something we haven’t been able to do against them for some years.

Yesterday we started with breakfast at Boathouse Daylesford, where we sat at one of the windows looking out at the frost & mist over Lake Daylesford. We love eating here – Claire & Susanne are both so very welcoming & our hot drinks are ready by the time we sit down. We had different breakfasts from the usual – roasted mushrooms on brioche for me & savoury waffles for Wes.

It turned into another beautiful day, which meant Wes got some more gardening & painting done; while I washed the cars & swept up Autumn leaves to strew on our garden beds.

Carlton played Geelong at their home last night. The Blues weren’t good enough to win, but only lost by 28 points, which was a big improvement on the previous week.

Bilbo has had an early walk & now he is sitting under my feet waiting for me to stop typing & go to the Sunday Market, which I will do very soon. As I look out the rosellas & magpies are busy eating the seed I have put out & some little birds are investigating the pile of soil that came from the planter boxes, where they occasionally strike it rich by finding a worm!

My uncle, Kevin Hoolihan, is back in hospital & having an operation on his foot tomorrow. Our thoughts are with his wife, Jeff, & her daughter, Leigh, & son, Mike, as they worry about this latest setback to Kev’s health.

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 20th May, 2018

Last Sunday, I set off with high hopes for the footy, only to be very disappointed. I drove to Northcote, where Danny Millman lives, and we caught the train into the MCG. We arrived just before the gates opened & were able to get perfect seats on Level 2, on the wing, under cover, in the back row. Once we had our seat tickets, and said hello to Gayle Gibson, we made a beeline for the Hugh Trumble Café on the ground floor & warmed up with hot lunches. Before the game started we had time to catch up with David Lazzaro & his son, Daniel, who were around near the goals closest to where we were eating. From then on, things went downhill rapidly!

Lovely photo of Mate with his first of the day & I was most impressed with the vases of flowers in the Ladies loos on Level 2

All our Geelong friends were very happy indeed after their victory over the Pies, who just couldn’t kick straight & have no-one else but themselves to blame.

We caught the train back home for pumpkin soup & toast, while watching a programme on the ABC about Prince Harry’s life – with the wedding last night, Harry & Meghan are definitely the Royals of most interest.

The next morning, I visited Leanne on my way home & got back here by lunchtime. Wes & Bilbo were resting after a busy morning in the garden – apparently the apprentice had been very busy getting under the head gardener’s feet! As well as things agricultural, Wes had found time to start staining the birdhouse (Fawlty Towers) & a small seat in one of our arbours.

I’m rather thrilled by this photo of one of our Magpies chatting with a local Kookaburra, while perched on our decking. I suspect they are discussing the quality & amount of bird seed put out & moaning that their special needs aren’t being catered for! Lately there have been oodles of both species in our backyard – if the Maggies aren’t carolling, the Kookas are laughing & vice versa.

On Thursday, I took our Mazda 2 to Ballarat for its 90,000km service. It was quite wet & cold there, but I managed to walk around & get a few things we needed before the car was ready. Ballarat Mazda is based at Wendouree, which is quite a distance from the centre of town, so I availed myself of their courtesy bus, which happily dropped me off & collected me 2.5 hours later. Meanwhile, back in Daylesford, Wes had to cancel gardening yet again as it was too wet. I’m sure Bilbo was delighted to have his company inside instead.

That afternoon was the funeral of our friend, Lindsay Woods, who died after living with dementia for about 6 years. She & her husband, Graham, came to visit us one day in 2012 to discuss my chronic fatigue symptoms as Lindsay wasn’t feeling normal & they were both hopeful that she had something like chronic fatigue. Sadly, she didn’t & this vibrant, feisty, fabulous woman was fated to end her days with the cruelty of dementia. I couldn’t get to her funeral, but Wes did & came home full of admiration for her family, especially her daughter, Sam, who spoke beautifully of her mother; and the officiating Bishop, who extolled Lindsay’s virtues as lay preacher & prison chaplain.

Beautiful photo of Lindsay in happier days

We finally had our flu injections on Friday afternoon & they hurt! We’re not used to that & were moaning about it as we sat in the waiting room for the obligatory 15 minutes afterwards. The practice nurse was very heavy-handed & the jabs went quite deep instead of being introduced gently on a slant! I’ve still got the bruise to prove it.

Cute little wattle bird nibbling on herbs on the dog decking

Yesterday was our usual busy morning with a walk, followed by a Bilbo bath, washing sheets, towels & dog bedding, followed by an afternoon of footy. I felt too tired to go to see Collingwood play St Kilda, even though the train would deliver me to the Docklands Stadium. Getting home around midnight afterwards is always the downside! We were lucky enough to win in a close game.

  

Some of my latest creations for ‘Keeping Daylesford Warm’

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 13th May 2018

Last Sunday, after breakfast, we drove to Clunes for the 11^th Annual Booktown. It was a warmish, sunny day & we parked easily at the footy ground, before paying our $10 entry fee & hitting the bookshops & stalls, which were everywhere in the main street & beyond. After about 90 minutes, we had as many books as we could carry & were looking for a cuppa, when we bumped into Gail White, who had been trying to contact us to let us know she & Terry were there. We grabbed a table & sat down with our hot drinks to catch up on each other’s news. It was the perfect finish to another great visit to Clunes Booktown.

We’ve been busy again this week. I’ve visited gym twice; been to Strathmore to spend time with Leanne; taken Bilbo for a late morning walk in the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens; looked everywhere for an old knitting pattern for fingerless gloves (thanks Kathy Lazzaro for emailing two when I asked for help); played Mah Jong with Dot (& won most games for a change) & caught up with Janine Hawker for a long chat over a cuppa at the Food Gallery.

Bilbo enjoying the Autumn leaves on the lowest walk around the Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens

Wes has spent ages in our garden & has mulched & spread lucerne over the whole of the front as well as some of the back. He took Barbara swimming in Ballarat & did a big shop with her afterwards. He had the excitement of meeting up with a 5^th cousin, Maryanne Phelan, who lives nearby in Romsey & who will be at the 200^th reunion of the arrival of the McShane brothers to the shores of Tasmania.

We are going to Tassie, primarily so Wes can attend this reunion next month, but also to spend time in Hobart, visit MONA, learn fly-fishing in Strahan & go on a food & wine cruise around Bruny Island among other delights. Sadly, our friends of over 35 years, Rick & Jan McClean, won’t be there. We are sorry not to be catching up with them both. However, we are very relieved that the incredible rain in Hobart hasn’t done any serious damage to their home other than cleaning up afterwards.

Karen at breakfast last Sunday waiting for our friends to arrive at Larder

We’ve had over 80mls of rain in a very short time with some very strong winds as well. The rain is so welcome & we were promised arctic conditions, but it hasn’t been as bad as expected. Musk & Bullarto did have some snow flurries, but it wasn’t cold enough here for that.

We had planned a day out on Thursday, possibly exploring parts of Geelong, but we had the chance of visiting Joe Rozen in St John of God, Ballarat, where he has started his rehab, so opted for that instead. Before we visited Joe, we went to the Regent Cinema to see the latest Agatha Christie adaptation Crooked House. We were both very disappointed with this film as it ignored the central character in the book, Aristide Leonides, who is the original murder victim. Glenn Close does a great job in her role as his sister-in-law, but nearly everyone else is either badly cast or overacts or both. I loved the setting & costumes of this film, but it was let down by a suspicion that no-one in it had actually read the book!

We had a lovely one-hour visit with Joe, who was looking much better than we expected. He was delighted to see us & once we got Carlton’s woes out of the way (runners instead of footy boots, bad umpiring & bad kicking – personally I think the grey jumpers are appalling too) we had lots to chat about!

Today I am off to Northcote to stay overnight with Danny Millman. We are going to see Collingwood play Geelong at the MCG & have our fingers crossed that the Pies can continue their good run of form. Wes was delighted with Carlton’s win over the old enemy, Essendon, yesterday afternoon. We sat in front of the open fire & enjoyed watching that & other games, including a nail-biter between Adelaide & Port.

As I won’t be here for breakfast, Wes took me to Boathouse Daylesford yesterday, courtesy of Bilbo Baggins, to celebrate Mothers’ Day. Claire & Susanne welcomed us warmly & we enjoyed their scrambled eggs & smoked salmon on bagels before heading home & getting stuck into inside chores, as it was far too wet to venture outside.

We arrived home from breakfast to a phone call from Barbara that her cat, Bobby, had been injured. Wes immediately went across the road & collected Bobby to take him to the vet. He has been treated & is recovering. Bilbo is just about back to normal after his operation, although he has perfected the art of being under our feet, no matter where we want to go, he’s already there & not budging for anyone!     

   

Daylesford Autumn Dispatch - Sunday, 6th May 2018

 

Well the Pies played out of their skins last Sunday afternoon at the MCG, but Richmond showed their class with a last quarter demolition. I was so pleased I had gone as the atmosphere was electric. As well as catching up with David Lazzaro, I bumped into old friends, Marg & Eric Nolan. Marg was on the original Ladies Committee at Collingwood with me, back in 1982, when we fought for & won equality at our Club after being treated second-class citizens, especially on match days.

That night, I was delighted to receive an email from our Pom friend, Paul Jackson, saying that he had started watching Aussie Rules on TV in England. He is having trouble working out the actual rules of the game & wanted to know which teams we & his good friends followed. Between us we follow 4 of the oldest teams – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon & Richmond, so perhaps Paul will decide to barrack for one of those four.

Winter’s icy claws are taking hold early each morning, so I have let Wes & Bilbo walk on their own at 5.45am. I find I cough too much & that’s my excuse for a pot of jasmine tea & The Age’s cryptic crossword before I get up & into the day. However, the colours here are stunning & Monday night’s sunset was very special indeed.

      View from our decking over the Wombat State Forest

Wes had very kindly offered to help both Margot & Janine with their computers & spent Monday afternoon successfully getting them back in control. Afterwards he attended a meeting on the future of the Daylesford Town Hall, which seems like a very mixed bag indeed. I suspect there will be plenty more meetings before the Council moves across the road to the Rex Arcade.

I’ve been trying to take Bilbo out with me for a short walk & a cuppa most mornings. He loves sitting at my feet & saying hello to the passers-by. A special treat is a pat from a young child, most of whom aren’t at all scared of this lovely lab & start smiling & waving the minute they see him.

Our very close friend, Joe Rozen, had a heart attack on Sunday, & was taken to Epworth Hospital for a triple bypass operation which occurred on Tuesday. We hope to visit him when he does rehab in St John of God, Ballarat this week.

Joe relaxing in Fingal last year

Wes spent Wednesday morning with Barbara, as usual, this time helping with her interview with the National Disability Insurance Scheme visitor. Dot couldn’t play Mah Jong, so I took Bilbo out for a pot of tea after gym to give Sandra a chance to clean our house without either of us under her feet.

On Thursday, we met up with Annie Smith & Maisie, her Irish Water Spaniel, at Larder. Annie has just returned from a wonderful trip to Japan & it was good to hear her thoughts & impressions. Wes entertained a young political hopeful, Jed, later that morning before we headed to Ballarat for a film & art exhibition.

The film was the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, based on the wonderful book of the same name by Mary Ann Shaffer. Sadly, this film doesn’t do justice to the book. I decided to sit back & enjoy it, but Wes was very cross & felt that an opportunity had gone begging. We haven’t been to Guernsey but have spent time on Jersey & will never forget going into the tunnels & getting an accurate impression of how dreadful their Second World War was. We were impressed by Penelope Wilton & Tom Courtenay, as well as Katherine Parkinson, but the main characters were badly cast.

  

Bilbo looking for pats from passers-by as we sit outside the Food Gallery – fortunately Margot & Max both came by & obliged!

Afterwards, we crossed the road to the Art Gallery of Ballarat to see a wonderful exhibition of Eugene von Guėrard, an Austrian born painter, who spent 1852-1862 in Australia. Many of his works are of places near where we live & we have long been in awe of his amazing talent. The Gallery has access to most of his sketchbooks as well, which show his meticulous eye for detail.

Bush fire between Mount Elephant & Timboon 1857

On Friday, we drove to Reservoir to visit our old friends, Joyce & Manny Spiteri. Joyce is recovering after a triple by-pass earlier this year & we had waited until she was home to see them both. It was a lovely visit & we were lucky enough to have over two hours together, just the four of us. Manny has been an absolute rock during Joyce’s illness, keeping the home & garden immaculate & visiting her in hospital every day.

When we arrived back in Daylesford, we headed for Boathouse & had a late lunch of mussels & crusty bread, our favourite meal there. It was pouring with rain & we loved sitting warmly inside looking out at the rain. Overall, we had 20+mls of rain, which has been so sorely needed.

Manny showing Wes one of his many orchids in his beautiful back garden

Yesterday we headed off to Spudfest in Trentham (about 20 minutes’ drive), where we met up with Wes’s cousin, Glenn Testro, who was waiting for us outside Chaplin’s. We walked in for a warming drink and chat & found Bob White there with his daughter, Natalie, son Brendan & his wife, Kath, & four grandchildren.

We always enjoy spending time with Glenn, who now lives in Newbury, about 5 minutes out of Trentham. We chatted over our tea & coffee until Mel, the owner, threw us out, so she could accommodate a group of 8! Spudfest was a fun to walk around – each year there are more stalls, more entertainers, more fun things to do! We watched kids trying to knock spuds off poles; bought 100 daffodil bulbs for the bargain price of $45, as well as 4kg of the freshest Dutch Cream potatoes you could wish to eat for $10. We met so many Daylesford & Trentham friends, it was a delight to be there.

Glenn & Wes watching the fun at Spudfest