Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 21st August 2022

 
Morse would agree 100%

Last Sunday, I had an excellent visit with Leanne after the Sunday Market. We had quite a few chores to do, lots of chatting & some decisions to be made & it is always better if you can talk something through with someone else. When I arrived home, Wes & Morse had been out getting provisions - Jameson's, Hendrick's, vanilla slices & homemade pie & pastie for dinner. 

Collingwood travelled to Sydney to play the Swans & were comprehensively beaten. Thank God. I have been sure we weren't good enough to sit in second spot on the ladder & now we are fifth, which seems a much better place for our talents. We also have a few injuries, after being lucky all year. This afternoon I had hoped to get to the MCG to see a big clash between the Pies & the Blues, but I don't have the energy to get there.  We both need to win, so it should be a good game & Wes & I will watch it from different rooms. 

We had School on Monday morning, after I had done the supermarket shopping at Coles. Our topic was our Adelaide holiday & we fine-tuned it and agreed it would include some games of golf. We are going to pack one golf bag, our favourite clubs & hope to play some early morning games on quiet country courses in Beachport & Kingston SE, before heading to our cottage in Adelaide, which is a 40-minute walk to the Oval. 

Karen playing golf on frost at Trentham Golf Club 2012

Warren & Terry White sporting plus fours at Trentham Golf Club 2010

We also have tickets for the T20 World Cup & decided to put Morse back in kennels for a couple of nights in late October to prepare him for his big stay in December. Our tickets for 28th October include 2 games - Afghanistan vs Group B runner-up, followed by Australia vs England. We also have tickets for the Final on Sunday, 13th November.

We were saddened to hear recently of the sudden death of Ian Esmore, former Daylesford resident & Rotarian, aged 73, in Murgon, Queensland. He & his wife, Isobel, were very prominent in our community before they shifted to Casterton, where we met up with Isobel in 2017.

Ian & Isobel at Rotary Christmas function 2009

It's been a busy week for catching up via my desktop - an early morning call with Jeff in Lincolnshire (late evening for her & still 28° indoors); two chats with Leanne via Zoom; a monthly discussion with Jan in Maleny; and my weekly exchange of news with old friends - Kathy, Karen, Lib & Joyce. Most of the catch-ups went over time & we finished up mid-sentence. 

In spite of the lack of sunshine, I got motivated to buy some seedlings & planted parsley, coriander & mint for starters. Wes continued to feed plants & looks forward to being able to mow the lawns when we get enough warmth to dry out all mudheaps. 

The best plants in the garden at present are the camellias & the best bulbs are the daffodils which are poking their bright yellow heads out of everywhere - through lavender bushes & rosemary hedges, in wheelbarrows & under rhododendrons. 

Flawless pink camellia bursting with flowers in spite of the weather

This month marks 40 years since Wes persuaded me to drive to Victoria Park on a Sunday to attend a meeting called by Sue Fordham, who had left Essendon to manage the Collingwood Social Club. She was appalled by the treatment of the female members & invited us all to get together & set up a Ladies' Committee. I became the first Treasurer of that Coterie and made some wonderful friends as a result. The backbone was Sharon Lendrum, the President, and Helen McDonald, an older committee member who seemed to know everyone & was full of common-sense & a good work ethic. Helen has died, but we are still friends with her daughter, Gayle Gibson, & her family. I stayed on the Committee until the end of 1990 by which time we had broken our drought & won a Premiership.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 14th August 2022

 
Another of my favourite Snoopy cartoons

We started our Sunday with a drive to Trentham after the Market, as we felt like breakfast at Chaplin's & catching up with the owner, Mel. We pulled up outside to discover she had closed her café for a few days, but neglected to mention it on the website. We drove back to Daylesford & had crumpets and honey sitting at our table overlooking Lake Daylesford - a better view than any of the local places can offer!

Some glimpses in our front garden including early daphne, flowering prostrate rosemary, gazania seedlings & Lewis's Garden with hellebores & têtê-à-têtês

Wes was most disappointed with Carlton's performance against Brisbane up there. Apart from 15 minutes in the last quarter when they slammed on 8 goals, they looked very lacklustre. After their brilliant start to the year, the second half has been unsatisfying for their fans. 

We woke to a cold & frosty Monday morning. Wes & Morse had a good long walk, while I did bin duty & supermarket shopping at Coles. School was reorganising the study to make room for the second printer & move the electric jug across to the tray holding coffee, teabags & mugs. We got all that done in an hour & did some cleaning & shifting of furniture as well. When the new printer arrived on Thursday, it was very easy to install & fitted into its spot on my desk perfectly. 

My reward on Monday was brunch with neighbour, Glen Tandberg, at 10.30 at Bad Habits café. We enjoyed a lovely catch-up & the time flew by too fast. We keep returning to this spot because the staff are so good, the atmosphere is wonderful & there are views of outside wherever you sit. As well, the small menu has something for everyone & Tina, the owner, has been happy to let me keep a tin of Jasmine tea in the kitchen. 

That afternoon I finally got stuck into the planter boxes & prepared them for seedlings, which we'll get shortly. The coriander, parsley & spinach have finally finished, the French tarragon is emerging from its Winter sleep & the various thymes, sages & mints are all sending out new growth. 

On Tuesday morning, after chatting with Leanne & making plans for today's visit, Wes and I both spoke with Terry Borg, and her daughter, Laura, who has been home on a visit from Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she lives and fosters children. She & her sister, Georgie, both barrack for Carlton, because Wes took them under his wing when they were teenagers & took them to see the Blues play. She has loved being back home after three years & her family & friends have been equally delighted to catch up.

Morse joined the Zoom briefly, but preferred to rest with his friend & recover from his early morning walk in the frost
 

Like many, we were very saddened to hear of the death of Olivia Newton-John, whose lovely personality touched everyone she met. Her struggle with breast cancer was well-known & the fund-raising she did to build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research & Wellness Centre in the Austin Hospital, Heidelberg, in 2015, has been so beneficial to many & will continue its work in her name. I was listening to ABC Classic radio when the news broke & Russell Torrance played her singing Ave Maria, which she nailed beautifully. 

A recent photo of a serene, smiling Olivia

Wes has been pruning seriously since 1st August, and has completed the fruit trees and is working through everything else that needs doing. Everywhere looks cared for & new shoots are appearing in spite of the rain, fog, mist & frost. Yesterday was feeding & mulching time as we had a break from the rain. 

Dot, Judi & I were delighted to play Mah Jong at Muffins & More on Wednesday morning. Apart from the usual regulars, there were some very happy visitors who enjoyed their big breakfasts, their muffins, their hot drinks & the friendly atmosphere. Most of them can't resist asking what we are doing & one couple, in particular, were fascinated when I produced our little rubber fish, that we wave when we are "fishing" (i.e. we only need one more tile to win).

This week has been the last two exercise classes of the sixteen I booked in for & I had an appointment with Millie, the convenor, to discuss my thoughts, feedback & next steps. We had an excellent chat & decided that my best move would be to ask an exercise physiologist to design a home programme for me, as I am not comfortable going back to a gym. I am seeing Dr Ellie on 5th September, so will continue with my current exercise programme until then. I've already booked an appointment with Jake for 9th September in case he gets busy quickly. 

Sorry these photos aren't as sharp as I would like - this is New Year's Eve 1988 at Blairgowrie. Above Karen & Wes are dancing their own dance, while below Sherryn & Paul show us the famous saucepan dance!

#77 Duke Street is back on the market, two years after Barbara Simpson sold it to Ellie Bonnett, who has relocated to Bali. There was an Open House yesterday afternoon, which attracted great interest. We feel sorry for the tenants, as their future is up in the air, and we have our fingers & toes crossed that a developer doesn't want to turn it into a series of holiday lets. 

Last night Carlton played Melbourne at the MCG to keep their finals hopes alive. It was a great game with the lead changing 10 times, but Melbourne kicked the last goal with seconds to spare & won by 5 points. Carlton has to beat Collingwood next Sunday in the last game of the home & away season to be sure of a spot in the eight. 

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 7th August 2022

 
Wonderful cartoon from Jeff Glorfeld - we think Morse would identify with this

We started our week with a successful visit to Leanne last Sunday. She was in good spirits & we were able to help her, mostly by chatting about things. Wes was able to see & admire the work done by Peter the handyman/painter. We drove back here to discover Morse in his bed with remnants of the dried bone we had given him.

On Monday morning I was unable to pay for my shopping at Coles Supermarket, as my credit card had been dishonoured. I spent the rest of the day waiting to speak to someone in the Fraud department of the NAB to get this sorted. The solution to paying for groceries was to leave them there, return home, collect Wes's credit card & pray it went through OK, which it did. In between periods of waiting on the phone, I had a very welcome massage with Sarah Hunt, which was just what I needed!

At 3pm the third person I spoke with suggested I visit an actual NAB branch. Wes offered to drive me to Ballarat, so we did just that & got it sorted in 15 minutes. Wes did think I had gone to incredible lengths to get out of School that morning, which was spring cleaning our bathrooms 🤣🤣.

Back to 1984 - from the top

Cousins - Andrew & Sharyn Kierce + Callum & Heath Preston

Hong Kong - Jan McClean, Karen Maloney & Viva Saundry

Danny Millman & his daughters - Greta, Celia & Lauren

Jeff & I were able to chat on Messenger on Tuesday morning & found ourselves reminiscing about shows we had seen when travelling. She won with her memory of seeing the wonderful opera, Turandot, performed at La Scala, where the audience booed & hissed. She was able to tell me that the Aussies had won more Gold Medals in the pool & in the gymnastics, and I assured her we would come back to the pack once the Athletics started (but I could be wrong - we seem to be still winning medals).

We were at the end of our tethers by now after two weeks with no NBN & Wes eventually spoke to someone higher up in Telstra, who finally agreed to send us a technician the next day. Mohammed arrived on time, checked that everything was OK inside, which it was, & headed outside. He arrived back after 10 minutes to say that our NBN had been turned off at the exchange for no apparent reason!

Wes spent Wednesday morning, while I played Mah Jong with Judi, getting everything reconnected to the new modem & when I arrived home, I tried to do the same with our printer. After two frustrating hours Wes could print, but I couldn't, so on Thursday I bought a new HP flatbed scanner, printer & copier. It means we go back to a printer each, but life is too short to keep uninstalling & reinstalling our current HP printer. 

Also, on Thursday my new credit card arrived, so I spent a good part of the day updating my details with all the businesses with which we have direct debit accounts. I am thrilled with the speed of delivery of the card, as well as the professional way the whole potential fraud was handled by the NAB. 

Finally, because we had the NBN, I was able to enjoy a lovely fun Zoom with old friends - Kathy, Karen & Libby - after a fortnight of having to assign Kathy as host instead. 

Christmas morning 1978 - 

above - Libby Tyrrell & Karen Millman & 

below - Joyce Spiteri & Kathy Lazzaro 

& we are all still friends

We had a lovely long brunch with Fiona & Les Groundwater on Friday at Bad Habits café. Fiona is the daughter of David & Annie Smith, two of our earliest Daylesford friends, who both died far too soon. We met Fiona, who lives in Fremantle, early on in our friendship, when she brought her baby daughter, Chloe, to Daylesford to spend time with her grandparents. We have stayed in touch over the years & always enjoy catching up, especially now when we can share our memories. 

That night Collingwood played Melbourne in yet another game that wasn't decided until the last few seconds. At half-time I was resigned to our inevitable loss, but amazingly we rallied & won by 7 points in front of a crowd of 71,000 on a cold, wet Melbourne night at the MCG. 

Yesterday, after not much sleep, I found myself watching the replay, while our sheets, towels & clothes all washed & dried themselves in the laundry. At lunchtime, we had a delightful visit from our former neighbours, Rob & Dene, who were looking at nearby properties in Kingston & Waubra. We hadn't told Morse they were coming to see us & he was overjoyed, especially when Rob fed him treats. It was so good to see them both & we were sorry they had to leave after an hour with other commitments. 

Finally, the news of Judith Durham's death was a very sad way to finish off yesterday. Her wonderful voice will never be forgotten as she & The Seekers recorded so many albums & were loved around the world. 

A recent photo of Athol Guy, Judith Durham, Bruce Woodley & Keith Potger

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 31st July 2022

 
Lovely cartoon from FB, thanks to Manny Spiteri

Our week started with Wes taking Morse to Eureka Kennels in Ballarat, to see how he would cope with a couple of nights on his own, away from us. 

On his return, Wes swapped cars & drove us both to Moonee Ponds Station, where we parked in a free Coles carpark & caught the Craigieburn line train to our respective grounds. We went through the loop, so I was first to alight & decided on Parliament Station, which has wonderful long escalators which remind us of London's Underground. This brought me out into Spring Street, near Hotel Windsor, and I enjoyed a lovely walk through the Treasury & Fitzroy Gardens to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. 

Moonee Ponds Station

I arrived in plenty of time to meet my hosts, and was able to catch up with long-time friend, Gayle Gibson, for a chat in the MCC before Glenda rang to say she had arrived. Her dear friends, Peter & Irene, were our hosts in the Hans Ebeling Room, just past the MCC area & just before the Collingwood Social Club in the Ponsford Stand. 

What a wonderful day I had - Glenda looked after me very well & had made sure there would be food I could eat - finger food, as well as light lunch options, which we washed down with sparkling wine. Our attendance included reserved seats out the front on Level 2 & we had an excellent view from the forward pocket. 

Collingwood's banner before the game

The match, against Essendon, had everything - the Pies started out of the blocks & recorded 6 goals before Essendon had scored. Then they kicked the next 5 goals, before taking a good lead in the third & fourth quarters. Suddenly in the last 15 minutes, we hit our straps again & managed to win with a stunning kick by Jamie Elliot after the siren. Glenda & I enjoyed the match, which had some great marks, tackles & goals, as well as each other's company. She is a Geelong supporter & they are favourites for the flag this year, sitting on top of the ladder & looking good. 

Meanwhile, Wes got into the Docklands just as Carlton kicked their first goal & was very happy to see them beat Greater Western Sydney easily in the end by 5 goals. While I was living the high life, he caught the train back to our car, and drove to the outskirts of the MCG, where he waited for me to join him after my game. 

We enjoyed sleeping in the next morning & I spent most of the day washing every item of bedding & clothing that Morse owns. School was a wonderful interview with one of our current favourite Crime authors - Nicci French, who is actually wife & husband team - Nicci Gerard & Sean French. The interview was well hosted by someone who had read their books & asked questions that drew them out. If you are interested in seeing it, here is the link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK3QM3Yuvn0

On Tuesday, Wes headed off early while I was chatting on Zoom to my sister, Leanne, & later, friend Terry Borg, to collect Morse. We were both delighted that he had enjoyed his stay at Eureka Kennels, had coped with all the different staff members & most of all had not been stressed by all the other dogs. He was very happy to be home, but we feel confident that he will cope for 10 days in December, while we drive to Adelaide for the Day-Night Test against the West Indies. 

Morse settling back to life in Daylesford

That afternoon I had a facial at EKO & when I returned home, Wes had made a vanilla mud cake, which was very welcome for afternoon tea. He's rather thrilled with cake-making, not so delighted with icing, but each time it gets better.

Judi & Dot couldn't play Mah Jong this week, so we took the opportunity to give our guest room a good clean - shifted all the furniture, vacuumed, dusted, polished & put everything back again. Our new modem arrived & we installed it, but we still didn't have NBN, which meant I was unable to join in my usual Thursday morning Old Friends' Zoom.

On Friday I visited a local podiatrist, who is conveniently situated inside Springs Medical Centre. Peter is from Auckland, but fell in love with Melbourne when he was a child & now lives in Castlemaine. He did an excellent job with my feet & I am thrilled to be able to have treatment locally instead of driving to Ballarat. 

Yesterday, I had enough energy to go to the footy, which was an early game at the MCG. Wes & Morse took me to Woodend Station mid-morning & collected me afterwards. I had made a pot of vegetarian minestrone soup on Thursday for dinner & we reprised it last night with toast, preceded by a piece of Shropshire cheese, that I was finally able to track down at local shop, Winespeak. Our lovely ex-neighbours, Rob & Dene, had served this cheese to us once & we had been keen to repeat the experience as it was so yummy. 

Pictures from the 90s - firstly, Karen with Gayle Gibson &  

Karen, Wes, Karen (aka Lovely) & Joyce (aka Spits) - the team at Maloney Insurance Brokers

Joyce & Gayle share a birthday & birth year, and their husbands, Fraser & Manny share a birthday too, but were born 2 years apart. I enjoyed speaking to both Joyce & Gayle on Friday to wish them well & thought a photo or two would be appropriate! We have experienced so much together & have some wonderful memories.

Sadly, the Blues were unable to beat the Crows at the Adelaide Oval last night, which was very disappointing for all their fans, especially Wes, who had high hopes. Also, sadly, singer, songwriter & storyteller, Archie Roach, died yesterday after a long illness. 

The Australian teams are doing well at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, which w have been unable to see because of the 9-hour time difference. We hope to catch up on replays when we return from visiting Leanne today.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 24th July 2022

Poor Snoopy!

Last weekend was the start of Borealis on the Lake - bringing the Northern Lights to Daylesford. We weren't able to go to the first weekend, but plenty did & loved it. We had hoped we would be able to see from our vantage point, but the weather wasn't conducive. Here is a stunning photo from the organisers:

Some of the highlights of the past week include:

• Catching up with friends by phone, Zoom & email - I seem to have spent much of the last month coughing, and it is good to be able to chat without too much difficulty - although the quality of our Zooms suffered as our NBN was very slow

• Breakfast with Gillie at Harry's Hepburn - a café we hadn't tried until then & the rave reviews were spot on as far as staff & vibe goes. The choices for breakfast were quite different, exotic & colourful

• Morse meeting up with two more old friends - Tracye & Leo were out early one morning & about to turn back when they heard Morse - he recognised them from quite a distance & it was a joyful reunion

• Wes catching up with lots of old Brunswick Rotary friends at Mal Dubock's funeral on Monday - Mal's family would have been delighted with the turn-up

• The Adventure of the Missing Teaspoon - I decided to clean all the silver & realised we were missing a teaspoon, so put out an alert. We checked picnic baskets, under the house, sugar bowls & spice jars with no success. It looks as though it's gone the way of a dinner fork, a bread & butter knife & a dessert spoon & found its way into the bin!

• Lovely sunny days after very cold mornings - I have been able to walk to Vincent Street most days & I've noticed that so many more shop fronts are empty - businesses have closed, merged or moved - mostly post lockdowns. With COVID cases surging, now that most people are taking very few precautions, many hospitality venues are short-staffed & choosing to close two days a week to cope. 

• Wes taking Morse with him for a fishing afternoon at Newlyn Reservoir - everything was perfect except for the small matter of fish - nothing rose to the bait, but both enjoyed the outing. 

John Hardwick, Bob White & Tom Tyrrell at Mal's funeral

Barry Cross, Joe de Simone, Tom Tyrrell & Wes at Mal's funeral

Morse & friend catching 40 winks in the afternoon sun

On Tuesday night, in spite of all the pleas from Hepburn Matters, including another excellent interview by Wes that morning on ABC Ballarat radio, the Council voted 4-3 to sell The Rex, a most unpopular decision locally. 

We decided not to attend Paul Laurence's funeral on Friday and watched it on delay instead. We felt it would be difficult to keep our distance from so many friends who were there to support Robyne and were glad it was such a wonderful celebration of Paul's life. 

Yesterday our failing NBN got even worse, so we contacted Telstra as requested, only to be told after 45 minutes, that our modem was faulty & a new one would arrive within 5 working days i.e. next Friday at the earliest. We have been experiencing difficulty with streaming, and have no home phone either. 

Today, after the Sunday Market, Wes is taking Morse to Eureka Kennels to give him a taste of kennel life on his own. If he copes OK, we will go ahead with our trip to Adelaide for the cricket, if not, we'll have to rethink what happens in the future.

Morse enjoying the serenity at Newlyn Reservoir

We are both off to the footy - driving to Moonee Ponds station, where we will park & catch the train to our respective grounds. Wes has the early game at Docklands, and I have the mid-afternoon match at the MCG. I have been invited by Glenda Rozen to be her guest in the Hans Ebeling Room in the MCC, which is a wonderful thrill. I can't remember the last time I was invited to the footy in Melbourne! Last night the Doggies beat the Demons in a close game & kept their Finals hopes alive. We are hoping our teams can also score wins & stay in the eight.

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 17th July 2022

 
Morse sometimes needs to bury his bone too, but he is always happy to point out the spot if you should ask

Last Sunday, we took two cars to the Market, so that I could do the fruit & vegetable shopping with Yvonne, while Wes took Morse down to Jeff's stall to get a bag of pigs' ears strips, which are his bedtime treat. I headed off to Melbourne & had a great run, both ways, and a lovely visit with Leanne. Peter, the handyman, had done some work for her, and she was thrilled to be able to show me all the improvements he had made, both inside & outside. 

Early morning ritual of feeding the birds brings quite a variety to our backyard each day

Wes has been enjoying cooking different things recently - apart from main courses like Maldivian tuna curry & a Brazilian prawn dish with tomatoes & coconut, he also tried his hand at cake-making & produced a very yummy orange & poppyseed cake that was cooked perfectly. 

We were very sorry to hear of the death of a much-loved old Brunswick Rotary friend, Mal Dubock. His funeral is tomorrow morning in Bulleen & Wes will go, picking up Bob White in Trentham & John Hardwick in Essendon on the way there. 

Funeral director, past Rotary President & lovely friend - Mal Dubock in 2010

We spent school this week planning our trip to Adelaide for the Day/Night Test against the West Indies. We are hoping to go, but it depends on how Morse copes with boarding kennels on his own. He is booked in for a two-night stay later this month & we'll make a decision after that. If he copes well, we'll head off on 2nd December to Beachport for 3 nights, Kingston SE for 2 nights & 4 nights in a cottage in Hackney, near the Adelaide Oval, arriving back here on Sunday, 11th December. We fell in love with both Beachport & Kingston SE last year & are thrilled we can stay at both places.

Dot, Judi & I finally got together at Muffins & More after a break of some weeks. We spent the first 40 minutes chatting, before Dot & John had to go, then Judi & I played three games. She won two, having done some homework before turning up. Kelly at the café was thrilled to see us back.

Morse grabbing 40 winks in the afternoon sun - it's a dog's life!

We lost a much-loved Daylesford friend as well this week, when Paul Laurence died. He & his wife, Robyne, moved to Daylesford from Sydney in the early 2000s & very quickly became part of the fabric of this place. He was a very friendly, kind & caring person & will be much missed by us all.

Typical Paul pose with one of his goats

We were glued to the footy yesterday, starting with a close game in Adelaide, where the Pies were able to hold on yet again for a 5 point win. The next match was an unexpected fighting victory by North Melbourne against Richmond. By the time Carlton were hosting Geelong, I was back in bed, and we were hoping for a good display by the Blues. They put in a good 1st quarter, but the Cats were the better team & eventually won by 5 goals. I think they are the side to beat for the Flag this year. 

Finally, a funny story to finish off - most nights Morse comes into our bedroom to check on us, but on Tuesday night he went one better & leapt onto the bed, finding himself between us. He settled down to enjoy this comfortable position, but couldn't stop his tail from wagging furiously & hitting each of us in turn. When he manoeuvred a spot on Wes's pillow, we felt he had taken a step too far & he was unceremoniously dumped & escorted back to his own bed. 

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 10th July 2022

 
All the labs we've been lucky enough to know would agree with Snoopy 100%!

After all the rain we've had, it has been quite nice to have some dry days. The mornings have been cold, even frosty, but we've had sun most days & temperatures getting as high as 12°. Wes has spent most of his days out in the garden, finishing off the stacking of firewood & pruning roses (122 at last count). Morse goes out to join him, but gets bored quickly & retreats inside to the comfort of one of his many beds.

I've been improving slowly - getting up & dressed each morning & lasting as long as I can before retreating to bed. I've been able to honour my Zoom commitments, as well as do the shopping & keep on top of computer work. 

Nurse Morse

The co-ordinator of my exercise programme, Millie, finally got me into the earlier Daylesford class, which starts at 11.30am. I find it easier to make that time, even if I'm not feeling 100% & am very grateful. On Thursday, there were only four of us, and all bar one was wearing a mask. 

On Friday we had a lovely catch up with Bronwen Scarffe, who used to live in nearby Porcupine Ridge. We met her via Daylesford Rotary & were very sorry when she & her husband, John, moved to Moonee Ponds. Bronnie had come back to Daylesford for the Rotary Changeover, which was held at The Convent's Altar Bar, the night before. We met her at Bad Habits café for brunch - she & I both tried their mashed avocado on sourdough with red pepper, feta cheese & poached eggs, while Wes had his usual tomato, eggs, bacon & tomato sauce. 

Wes, Bronnie & I - thanks to Beck Walker, who was our waitress & took the photo. 

I forgot to mention last week the Tests in Sri Lanka that the Australian men are playing at present. All three are at the beautiful Galle Stadium with water lapping the boundaries - almost! The 1st Test was wrapped up in under 3 days, which was a shame as we have been enjoying the scenery courtesy of a drone which flies above the Stadium & Galle Fort. As well the Fox feed is showing some of the many lovely parts of this wonderful island & I am getting quite nostalgic.

We first visited Sri Lanka in October 1979, when Jane & Judi were living with us in Brunswick Road, and we decided we needed a holiday. We saw an ad for an inexpensive month in Sri Lanka & jumped at it. We have never regretted it and have many memories of that month - getting used to "Sri Lanka time" (slow); drinking Arak, tasting short eats, hoppers & seer fish; having massages in an old colonial hotel in the tea plantations of Nuwara Eliya; climbing the rock at Sigirya; fleeing from a snake charmer; wearing sarongs & thongs all day every day, and being invited home by the local bank manager, who had to rescind his invitation after speaking to his wife!

At the top of the rock at Sigirya - yes, Jane, Judi & I are all wearing thongs!

My favourite sign in Sri Lanka

Ws, Jane & Judi enjoying cool drinks & short eats

In 2011, Wes & I returned, as part of a One-Day World Cup tour to Sri Lanka & India. We spent extra time on our own with our driver, Neel, looking after us & taking us to many of the places we had visited before, as well as some new ones. We taught him that Aussies use the word "chook" for chicken, and once he trusted us, he loved it & said it all the time. As part of our cricket tour, we once again climbed the rock at Sigirya, this time I was wearing sensible shoes.

Me in the Kalawana Rain Forest - I emerged with more leeches than we could count!

Elephant nursery

Sharing short eats with Neel

On top of the rock - Karen with the late, much loved Norma Hutchins

The 2nd Test is going well for the Aussies, because quite a few of the Sri Lankan team have come down with COVID, although their batsmen rallied yesterday after the early loss of an opener. I did enjoy seeing Marnus Labuschagne make his first century outside of Australia & Steve Smith was spurred on by Joe Root's batting to make 145 not out, his best score in quite a while. 

Yesterday Wes & I tackled cleaning our bedroom - we shifted every stick of furniture & he vacuumed up every bit of dust, dog hair & cobweb we could find. While he did vacuumed the rest of the house, I polished all the furniture, brushed the lampshades and replaced everything. You need sunnies to enter that room now 🤣🤣.

Collingwood played North Melbourne in the afternoon - I had intended going to the match, but I hadn't visited Leanne for a month, mostly through lack of energy, and it was more important to see her than go to the footy - I couldn't do both in the one weekend. We won, but not until North had run out of energy in the last quarter. I felt very sorry for this bottom team, who played their hearts out & deserved to win for a change. 

Daylesford Winter Dispatch - Sunday, 3rd July 2022

Another priceless Snoopy cartoon!

Last Sunday was a real Brigadoon morning with light rain. We had fun at the Market collecting our fruit & vegetables & Morse was very well behaved yet again. Wes cooked me scrambled eggs for breakfast & we both settled down to do some work - Ancestry on his desktop for him, and stewing apples & pears & polishing furniture for me, until it was time to sit down & watch the day's games of footy. Collingwood played GWS at the MCG on a cold, wet afternoon & just managed to hold off the fast-finishing Giants in an exciting match. 

Morse sharing in the excitement of the footy

The next couple of days I spent in bed, after early shopping on Monday, as I had no energy & had symptoms of bronchial-asthma. We both did RATs in case Wes had picked up COVID at the footy, but the results were clear. The highlight of that Monday was an excellent interview that Wes gave Steve Martin on ABC Ballarat about Hepburn Matters & why saving The Rex was important to Daylesford. 

As usual, when I am unwell, Wes was wonderful, walking Morse, feeding me, the birds & Morse & helping me to cancel activities that I had planned for the week. Fortunately it was a fairly quiet one, and I postponed my Zoom chats & cancelled exercise classes & Mah Jong. 

On Wednesday I got up & dressed & we did some of my chores together - visited David & Annie's grave to refresh the pot of rosemary; pumped mineral water at Leitches Creek; delivered my & Di's knitting to the Daylesford Community Op Shop, and bought blueberry scones for afternoon tea, by which time I was back in bed! 

Ditto Thursday & I was able to Zoom with Kathy Lazzaro in Burwood, before visiting the Post Office, the pharmacy & Magic Pudding to replace Wes's coffee plunger which I had broken. Before returning to bed I made a batch of cauliflower soup, which is perfect for lunch on these cold days. 

Meanwhile, Wes has been busy in the backyard, clearing up the branches from the oak trees next door, sweeping, tidying up all our pots & making room under the house for all the gardening stuff that Rob & Dene couldn't take to their rental unit in St Kilda East. 

I keep forgetting to record the delightful habit that Morse has adopted since Lewis died. After he has been put to bed with a treat and we are both in bed, he wanders into our bedroom & checks that we are safely in our beds. He visits Wes first, nuzzles his hand, wags his tail & then walks around the bed & does the same to me. It is very cute & lovable. If he should wake with a fright in the night, or need reassurance, he reprises this act & happily trots back to bed when told to do so. 

Wes took Morse with him on Thursday afternoon on a trip looking for new fishing sites. They found themselves at Malmsbury and discovered a couple of good spots, but didn't have time to sit & fish. Malmsbury has a beautiful viaduct, site of a famous picnic with Ian & Robyn Robinson many years ago. Robyn had bought beautiful sandwiches from the bakery & made the mistake of putting them on our picnic table right under Casper's eyes. He promptly snaffled one & had to be restrained from gobbling down the rest!

Well-upholstered 8 year-old Casper keeping an eye out for anything coming his way in 2000 - early days living in Daylesford

On Friday morning, we delivered 10 boxes of books to the Daylesford Primary School for their Annual Book Fair later this year. As it is School Holidays, we were able to park at the front door for easy delivery. I managed to stay up all day, but retreated to bed after dinner, leaving Wes to watch Carlton & St Kilda play. Sadly for the Blues supporters, Carlton was outplayed & outcoached & lost a close game they had hoped to win by 15 points. 

Yesterday I spent washing dog bedding & towels after Wes had bathed Morse. It was quite cold outside, but Wes persevered with cleaning up in our backyard & he is nearly finished chopping & clearing the small branches of oak left after the recent pruning of next door's trees. The new owners of #80 Duke Street visited in the afternoon, but we didn't see them to say hello. Apparently they won't be moving in for a while, so I wanted to let them know that we would be happy to keep an eye on the house for them.

 Rob sent me this photo as he & Dene celebrated settlement on #80 with glasses of champagne

Last night, Collingwood unexpectedly beat Gold Coast by 5 points in the last 10 minutes of the game up there. I thought it was a danger match for us and nearly went to bed early. I was so tired when it was over that I forgot to make up Morse's bed & this morning forgot to give him his yoghurt with breakfast. I won't be trusting myself with anything too important today!