We're off tomorrow for our annual holiday, a whole week of it. It's very
difficult to get away when you're self-employed, you can't just take off
when the mood hits you. I am half dead from trying to get up to date,
not to mention driving 50km to Dandenong today to deliver the dogs to
their luxury accommodation.

We go to Daylesford/Hepburn Springs, a good foodie holiday spot. It's
popular with the gays so you get, as my old Grandpa used to say, all the
comforts of the salt market - decent coffee is still not common in the bush.

We pack all sorts of stuff - holiday cottages always claim to have
"full" kitchens, a term open to wide interpretation. One year we found
we had 6 bottle openers and no oven tray. The knives are never any good.
I try to keep the cooking minimal, we eat lunch out and just have simple
stuff for tea, but you still have to take basic supplies if you don't
want to buy a whole lot of things up there. Rice, pasta, plunger coffee,
oil, sea salt, pepper, tea.

Of course, there's a few things we do want to buy, local specialities,
so we take the insulated bag for foraging expeditions - I have just
noticed that there will be a farmers' market next Saturday which might
be worth a visit. There are a few wineries in the area - one of which is
owned by the Dalesford dentist whose wife also imports embroidery
supplies - if we feel up to an excursion. And there are two good
secondhand bookshops; we always take up a box and arrange an exchange.

Anyway, I haven't gone off in a huff, I've just gone off. I'm sure I'll
miss all sorts of interesting discussions while I'm away, you'll just
have to manage without me.

Christine