Life in the 1960ies cont...

It appears the generator I thought ran on diesel was actually a twin flywheel petrol Lister engine, what would I do without a son who remembers these mechanical details from such an early age? We also had a kerosene fridge which was a devil to freeze and even worse to start up again after the periodical defrost it had to have. You had to watch  that the wick was not  crooked or that it started smoking and set the place alight. One night we left our teenage guests to baby sit and warned them to watch it didn't smoke, which it did so they took the fuel tank out and doused it. So I had the joy of starting it all over again in the morning as it was meat day that day and a half a sheep had to be cut up and stored in the not very large space of the fridge
Our other delight was a Phillips wireless that ran on a 32v DC24AC inverter. Before that we would have batteries which always ran out just as the exciting part of the play was entering its climax.So frustrating.....We needed a constant supply of firewood for the green Metters wood stove which was the only way of cooking ,be it 107F outside or minus 2F . The winters were very cold and wet then and cooking was an absolute joy with a woodstove, yummy roast dinners and bread and butter puddings or marmalade steam puddings , we ate like horses then but worked it off so easily by the active lifestyle we had. .
In the first few weeks we had been at Hughes Park, I was standing at the kitchen window gazing across the horse paddock on a hot January morning, when I noticed a figure dressed in 19th century clothes, long dress , bonnet and a basket on her arm. She was walking along a track which skirted the high hill and led into a narrow valley where I finally lost sight of her. I thought it must be someone from the Big house, but when I asked who would have been brave enough to wander out in such heat, no one had. I came to the conclusion it must have been a ghost as there were no houses or cottages in that valley.
Hughes Park was very run down at that stage and the place was crawling with rabbits and foxes. The first time we went shooting rabbits along the Skilly creek, we left the rabbits lying where we shot them intending to pick them up on the way back.They had all disappeared when we went to pick them up, the foxes had grabbed everyone of them! Later we had a professional rabbit trapper until the myxamatosis took hold and got the numbers under control.

Life in the early 1960ies

Going past the Hughes Park homestead on Sunday and thinking about it today, I thought it may be of interest to mention the fact that when we took on the position of manager in January 1960, there was no mains electricity in the managers house. Only a 32volt diesel generator plant which was too heavy for me to start and the batteries never held much of a charge. So Harry would start the engine for me so I could use the 32v washing machine but it would stop long before I finished and would have to do the rest by hand. The Big House, as the homestead was known, had no electricity at all and relied on carbide gas for their lights. Mind you , they had six servants to do all the work but all the same, it would have been most inconvenient. The owners, Mr and Mrs Duncan-Hughes, used to come up from Adelaide for the summer months and would arrive early in January. Their household goods, silver, linen etc would arrive by goods train and was collected by horse and dray from the Watervale station. That was till we arrived, because a small amount of our furniture was on the same train and Harry engaged the local carrier to bring everything to our place and then to the Big house. Mr Duncan Hughes thought this most extravagant and shook his head, but when everything was delivered and brought in before morning smoko and cost about 5 pounds he was delighted. Previously it would have taken three men and two unwilling draught horses all day to collect and deliver the goods. So we started married life with a few second hand bits of furniture and a lot of enthusiasm. We rode our horses over from Anlaby where Harry had been overseer and had left the horses, Ben a fine 16 hand stockhorse and my little 14 hand mare Girlie till we had settled on Hughes Park and needed them there. Hughes Park is a very hilly property and all the mustering was done on horseback. It was a drought in 1960 and feed very scarce so we would have the sheep feeding on the roadsides to help them through till the rains came. The first shearing we did in September the wool bales increased from 95 the previous year , to 110 bales. We also got the top price for some bales of AAA merino fleece that year in the Adelaide wool sales.Mr Duncan Hughes was so delighted he gave all the station hands a bonus and rewarded Harry with  a sizable sum of money which my dear husband thought the station could not afford at that stage and halved it.

Clare weekend

We left Saturday morning around 9 am and the weather looked pretty gruesome. The Adelaide hills shrouded in fog and mist  although climbing the old Willunga hill road was quite clear. We always avoid going through Adelaide as on a Saturday the express way goes in the opposite way and you have to contend with lots of traffic lights to get through all the suburbs. So we go through the hills via Meadows, Hahndorf, Woodside , Birdwood , Williamstown and sidestep Gawler to some degree. The weather had improved a bit by the time we got that far,
You are then on the main North road and it never ceases to amaze me how the light has changed from the softness of the hills to the brilliance of the north. The cloudscapes are stunning on those undulating green, crop growing plains and the 180 degree views are awsome as the young say these days. The canola crops were just showing a hint of yellow but the purple of the salvation jane paddocks were certainly missing.Have they managed to eradicate it all? Poor bee keepers will be bereft if that is so but it would be  good for the farmer . Tarlee looks as down at heel as ever,  Rhynie a little better and Auburn of course can never loose with those stunning old buildings and cottages. Watervale always tugs at the heartstrings as we lived at the back in the Skilly hills for 15 years and our boys grew up there. Penworhtam is still the same but Sevenhills has a revamped pub and new bakery. We got to Clare and my niece's place around noon. Her family put on a great party for her 60th birthday and we caught up with lots of rellies and their news.We left around dusk and went to find our friend's new unit a few streets further on as she had kindly offered to have us stay for the weekend.She has had to leave her farm after two bad falls in which she injured a different arm each time and was unable to drive which would have left her isolated. So she moved into a very nice unit in Clare. She has adapted amazingly well as all her married life had been spent on the farm and living surrounded  by people takes a lot of getting used to.Old age has its drawbacks in that one is not as agile nor do we bounce as well as we did in our younger days when we fall. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.....
On Sunday we went and had a very nice lunch at the Sevenhill pub which has been re vamped since we last were there quite some years ago. The staff were very attentive and the food and wine excellent. We then drove on the back road past Skillogalee, where as a young woman I helped the Georges put in their irrigation system. Spen nearly set the district alight by lighting stringy bark trees which had been cleared to put the vineyard in!!! Being a towny he didn't know you don't light fires after September no matter how green it looks in the valleys. We drove past Turners place who used to run a dairy of beautiful Jerseys one of which I bought to hand milk when they had to sell out because dairy properties had to change from cans to stainless steel vats and that was expensive.They sold the farm as well. We got to Hughes Park and drove into the home paddock as the gate was open and we were able to see the changes made since we left there in 1975.The lovely top verandah has been removed and we couldn't see if anyone is living there now. The dairyman's cottage is certainly occupied with washing flapping on the line and a ute outside.The old blacksmith shop is still there where I used to hold the horses for the blacksmith to hot shoe them every 6 to 8 weeks depending on how much mustering we did in those steep hills. The stables seem to have gone though which is a shame. The house we lived in too has changed and been beautifully extended in the same stone.
We drove back to Clare via Leasingham.

Bronze wings and Bluetongues

We have been hearing the booming of the Bronze wing pigeon the last few days, Brian finds it a monotonous sound, the booming is quiet but quite distinct. Then yesterday he pointed out the bluetongue lizard near the flower bed on the verandah. It looked dead to me, Brian thought it was OK. I couldn't resist touching it to see if it really was alright, he swung around and let me know he was not amused...oh, well, the chooks had already annoyed him earlier as I had heard them cackling away and at the time wondered what they were scolding.This afternoon we found him sunning himself on top of a bag of ashes against the house wall so took a few pictures of him.
I have also started to wonder if the pair of blackduck which were so nervous is not the same pair as the ones that are here now. This pair is so laid back while the other two seemed ready to depart the moment you appeared at the kitchen window.They all look the same of course as there are no distinguishing marks anywhere on them, I wonder do they recognise each other?

Have started a fire engine red jacket for my friend in Clare, I need to do more tuckstitch scarves as well because they have been quite a good seller in the Gallery. We still don't know where we stand over gallery lease etc, but the committee are going ahead and there was a change over yesterday where we all take our stuff off the walls and bring in new stuff to put back.
We went to our first swapmeet on Sunday and it will be our last s well. The junk people display to sell is amazing, rusty bits we would have diced long since. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder I guess and my idea of beauty is somewhat different. I had hoped to see some plants and books but the books were all car manuals of course.
The man for the pump came after lunch and he will bring a pump for the septic tank as well as one for my pond. It will be connected to the terracotta fish fountain and hopefully serve the purpose of aerating the water as well as looking aesthetic and it will please me no end!!

Art exhibitions Tuesday 12th August

Early this morning I could hear the grey thrush greeting the dawn and shortly after heard an answering call, so it may have found a mate and how exciting that could be, they may nest here and raise a family. The ducks fly into the pond early mornings too, but seem very nervous and don't stay, so perhaps they are nesting up the road somewhere.
We went into Adelaide this morning by train, caught the 9.45am one and we were in Adelaide by 10.30am...how good is that, no stress about driving in or finding a car park when you get there!!
We walked to the museum and went in to see the Waterhouse exhibition. The works were of very high standard again and there were more 3D pieces and works on paper and less paintings.
After lunch at the Museum, we walked on to the Art gallery to see the exhibitions, one by Lidia Groblicka of her woodblock prints and her lino cuts and the other by Anna Platten called "the devil is in the detail". Both were very expressive of the times these artists lived and the moral dilemmas we as women face. Platten is in the "now" and Groblicka saw life in a war torn Europe and an almost innocent Australia of the 50ies and 60ies. I found it all facinating but in retrospect find myself thinking more about  Platten's immages and symbolism in her paintings than the woodcut prints.
13th August. When I went into the studio this morning to switch on the aircon, to my horror I found bits of styrofoam all over the bench below the aircon unit, so rang the firm who installed it and luckily they had a man coming to Willunga this afternoon so he was going to call in about three.

My piano playing friend arrived promptly at ten and we played Vivaldi and part of De Fesch for an hour. At 11 am my violin and viola friends arrived and my piano friend left. After a coffee we went and tackled the Haydn Trio which will take a bit of practice. The aircon man arrived about 2.30pm and found that mice or rats had indeed eaten a lot of the styrofoam so he plugged the holes in the wall and hopefully they can't get in. I bought a lot of poison and have put that under the shed. The rabbits are getting about too and I found a dead kitten rabbit in the little shed at the entrance.

Almond Blossom in Willunga

At last , this morning there was some lovely sunshine so we decided to go into Willunga and photograph the beautiful trees in blossom at the little local park. The rose garden still has a few roses blooming and it won't be long and the next lot will be blooming. My camera batteries went flat fairly quickly but managed to get some good shots. Brian meanwhile is getting adjusted to a camera he doesn't have to limit himself for the number of shots he can take! In his day each shot counted as it cost 20cents a shot, plus of course some came back a total waste and you had to rhrow them out. Now it is done with the flick of a button and you need only keep the ones you are happy about. It was quite surprising how many young families use the little park, it was lovely to see a lot of Dads with their offsprings happily biking or using the play equipment.
Yesterday we attended the auction of the Gallery premisses. It only attracted one very low bid so the place was withdrawn for the moment. It is a very old building but has a huge block at the back. Un fortunately it is also heritage listed so it is closed to a developer which is good, but on the other hand it also stifles a lot of people with good ideas who do not have unlimited finances. If I were young I would have certainly bid for it.
After lunch we headed for Strathalbyn to see my brother for his 81st birthday. On the way, though , we stopped at the gallery I noticed last time we came past called "Toad Hall". What an absolute delight it proved to be with excellent art works of paintings, prints, glass ware, ceramics, pottery and textiles. The building was the original Rechabite hall and lends itself perfectly to display fine art. I bought one of Pearse's clay chooks to replace my unlamented rooster!
We went on to my brother's place to wish him Happy Birthday and as he said, the best present he had was waking up in the morning! We are getting to that stage I guess...

The allegoni huegelii or native hybiscus  has started to flower . They are such a stunning purple and if you pick them (they only have very short stems) the flowers will survive over a week without water.

Rooster Paradise

Today my friend and I managed to catch the rooster and plonk him in a box to be picked up by my friend's son. He will take him to his new henhouse at Delamere to live happily ever after with 20 new hens. My hens of course were very upset at all the going ons, as the rooster did not go quietly, so the poor creatures were reluctant to go back into the yard afterwards but eventually they did go back and I was able to lock them up by nightfall. The other disconcerting thing is the goldfish are feasting on the frog spawn so we won't have any tadpoles, other than taking the fish out what could one do but rescue the spawn and hatch them in a separate bowl?
My musician friends and I are now tackling Haydn's Trio which for me is not all that easy with so many handposition changes, it sounds good though, the bit we have managed to get together so far.

We do enjoy playing Teleman's five sonatas and usually finish up playing those and Bach' Prelude 22.

Currango

Our holidays in March in the 1960ies used to coincide with the mountain men mustering their cattle and sheep off the summer leases ready for winter and before the winter snows came. The local graziers had these mountain leases till the 1970ies I think. It was great to watch the men coming into Currango with their pack horses and dogs. Tom Taylor was in charge of making sure the tallies were correct and that no stock were left behind. The cattle were beautiful fat herefords and the sheep fine merinos. The dire predictions of terrible bushfires after the leases were stopped came true years later when Canberra was devastated by huge fires no one could stop, the fuel built up because there were no stock to eat it down. I still think controlled grazing would be the answer in our National parks rather than controlled burning which is apt to get out of hand
There were also a lot of feral pigs beginning to be noticed and Tom sometimes caught a litter of little pigs and domesticated them and converted them into very good hams and bacon, the flavour was superb.They all seemed to be black pigs and some of the boars were massive. You would not want to be confronted by one out in the open. One day my boys who would have been 10 and 8years then and I, were walking on a track towards the Murrumbidgee and I was absentmindedly admiring the twisted and gnarled little snowgums. I started to hear pigs grunting and looked around to see where the children were as in their usual fashion, full of energy, they had rushed ahead. I couldn't see them and started to get panicky as the little snowgums would not offer any protection whatever, the grunting got nearer as I moved forward and I suddenly tweaked, still not quite sure but singing out to the boys, they could no longer contain their glee at having nearly fooled their mother!! However that evening Dr Brown, who had been fishing further up the river did have to contend with a sizable pig and escaped by getting to her car in time. I still have some sizable tushes from a boar shot by Harry.

Roosters yet again

This time I have altered my tactics and go in like a Roman gladiator, rugged up in my rain jacket and my fish landing net, not a trident of course, but the feed bowl. It has  had a dramatic effect, the rooster stays well clear but so do the hens which I feel sad about as they are gentle creatures and I hate to see them distrustful of me.
The frogs have returned with a vengeance and are predicting Spring as there is frog spawn in the pond since Thursday, the gold fish haven't helped themselves to it which is unlike them. The ducks too, have disappeared and the last time they were here they seemed nervous, so I wonder if they are nesting up the road somewhere after all that duckling making they did in the pond a few weeks ago.
The grey thrush is definitely staying around and I love his beautiful song in the morning. It seems to be investigating the area around the verandahs, so who knows, we may have a brood of them in spring.The nechenalias look very pretty and I am getting more and more enthused by bulbs.The brazillian blue bells are popping up everywhere too and they will put on a very blue show indeed.

Today I finished my black batwing jumper with silver grey trim on the neckline and the cuffs. Have started a seamless jacket this afternoon with the new Persian yarn from Bendigo woollen mills , I'll knit in some side gussets to make it more roomy over the hips.I hope it will still look elegant. I did finish the light grey jacket too so I'll take fotos of them and insert them later.

Further Holiday Tales

Our first holiday was in March 1961 when we went in our Volksy with Geoff Phillips in his, following. We stayed in a hotel in Robinvale I think, the first night. The roads were terrible in those days, Victoria had this narrow strip of bitumen where you had to get off into the dirt if you met a car coming the other way. They had been working on the Hay plains road and had some rain and those clay soils are the pits to drive on. The next day we slid and nearly got bogged several times but decided to drive as far as we could. It was dark when we arrived at Adelong and found a little park to camp in. We had no swag with us ,just a couple of blankets and Geoff didn't offer to share part of his swag with us, so we nearly froze to death.

We got to Currango later in the day as of course the Tantangara dam had filled by then, so we had to go via Adaminaby and the long way round over the mountain tops and past the remaining Snowy scheme camps.It was wonderful to meet Mollie and Tom and her sister Gwen. We stayed in the homestead in those days and were very well looked after. Tom couldn't wait to show us the best fishing spots and as the trout were all swimming over fresh ground they grew enormous and 3 pounders were common. We also met Bill Higgs who was instrumental in teaching me how to cast a fly rod and how to retrieve the line in my hand so as it stayed off the mud or water and was easier to control. He directed me to the first fish in the lake and when I hooked it I think he was more excited than I was and waded in with his landing net to make sure I kept it. It was a 5 pounder and who ever started their fly fishing career with such a large rainbow??? We fished in snowstorms a few days later and with frozen hands I did wonder if we were not all mad!