Last Weekend in April

The autumn continues to be beautiful in my little corner of the world. A bit of rain, perhaps a bit on the cool side, but plenty of sunshine and many excuses to wear my winter woolly jumpers, and to light the fire in the evenings. It's not really quite cold enough yet to wear proper winter jumpers, but I have been if I can't be bothered lighting the fire (or it's not convenient to light it).

Street light and a full
moon at twilight, from my porch on
Wednesday evening

Lindsey and I went out to the Ballarat Farmers' Market on Saturday morning. We got there nice and early so the fish van from Port Fairy still had plenty of fish, despite the long queues when the market first opened. I might have spent most of my week's food budget on fish! We don't often get the opportunity to buy really fresh fish. The market was bustling and happy. The sun shone. There were lots of children and dogs, as well, of course, as many adults.

Driving down Webster Street (I wasn't driving - I was passengering!)

And in the Wilsons' carpark:

Ballarat really is beautiful in the autumn! (I might have mentioned this before 😉 )

I went to visit Stella on Saturday afternoon. She was in good form. Bright and alert. Looking forward to lunch out on Sunday. Excited that Emily and her family are coming to visit in June. Curious about what everyone was up to.  Trundled down to the Saturday Book Club with a cup of tea and a biscuit, cheery and chirpy. Alas, when I went to pick her up for lunch out yesterday, she was  neither cheery nor chirpy. Instead, she was very sleepy, not at all alert, not feeling well, very down. We took her out anyway, although I don't think she remembers it.

We went back out to the Meredith pub, where they obligingly doubled their entree sized scallop dish for Ian to have as a main:

He says it was every bit as beautiful to eat
as it was to look at

My steak, chips and veg were magnificent:

The generous portion of veg was delicious.
Vegetables are so often disappointing in steak dishes

I didn't get a photo of Lindsey and Stella's roast duck plates but they must have been tasty. Despite being flat and sleepy, Stella ate pretty much every bit of her duck!

The weekend ended in a blaze of evening sunlight, shining through the dining room window at about 5:30:

I lit the fire, prepared a sandwich and some cheese and biscuits, poured a glass of wine, and settled in to watch the first Sunday elimination of this season of Masterchef. To my surprise, I managed to stay awake until the end. It might be because they don't seem to be playing the theme music this season. In the past, the music has started and I have pretty much gone straight to sleep. Annoyingly, it also happens with others of my favoured TV shows. I usually watch them later, during afternoons when I don't have anything more pressing to do, such as going to work or visiting mother. I can usually manage to stay awake during afternoon viewings. With a bit of effort 😄

Speaking of visiting mother, I shall get myself organised and go and see what Stella is up to. I assume she's more or less all right since nobody has rung to say otherwise. This does not, however, mean that she has actually got up. It is noticeable that people, including Stella, who were quite sprightly and relatively active nearly two years ago when she first moved in, are slowing down, fading, waning. Mind you, they are all now in their late 80s and early 90s and if they were in full health and ability, they wouldn't be in a care home. C'est la vie, I suppose.