Old Mother Ashby wrote:
> 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

...have a relaxing one.. pics of the little expedition please!