The other day I mentioned the Easter egg hunt at the Kindy/child minding centre. The day after I wrote that I headed off to the fitness centre for our weekly aqua class in the pool. The young trainer bounced in brightly and said "Today we are going to have an easter egg hunt" ...I nearly drowned on the spot!. Anyhow, all that happened was that she threw some squash balls into the water ( one less ball than the number of people in the pool) and we had to run to find them. Not as easy as it sounds and guess who missed out!
I've been trying to remember about Easter time when I was a young child. I am always surprised at how early Easter eggs and hot cross buns come into the supermarkets nowadays. I know we often went to the corner shop for Mum but I dont actually remember seeing Eggs or buns there. The bread was delivered to the house...in a basket covered with a cloth. Maybe Mum ordered the buns from him. I am sure we had only one egg each and that was the sugar type ( not chocolate) with a frilly edging over the join between the two halves. I always thought that bit tasted the best. On top of the egg was either a little fluffy chicken or a "sticker" of a pretty flower or somesuch. We did have fun colouring hardboiled eggs at home. Cant remember what we used or how we decorated them...just the fun of doing them together with Mum. This would have been later when we were at Annerley but before I move onto our next home here are a few more memories from the time at Dutton Park.
One morning travelling to school on the bus we were surprised when it made an unscheduled stop and the driver got out; Thinking we might be going to be left there we were all a bit anxious. The boys rushed to the windows when they noticed another bus stopping and that driver also getting out. Next minute the drivers were having a fight. The boys cheered tham on but I remember being rather upset. Then our driver returned, with a number of red marks, bruises etc, and we proceeded on our way. What was it all about? I still dont know!
Another memory tied in with waiting for the bus is from the time some boys started to tease me and were becoming a bit physical. Big brother stepped in and sorted them out. I was a very shy little girl and had no idea how to stand up for myself. We were also , as I've mentioned before, very lucky to be in a family who were ,while not wealthy, at least comfortably off and whose father was in good employment. There were many families at that time who were "on relief" due to the Depression and unemployment. This may also have caused some resentment...I have no way of knowing. Children were asked in class if their father was on relief ( like the dole) so there was no privacy for those children.They were given some school supplies but I cant remember just what.
A different sort of "school" experience comes to mind. It seemed that everyone I knew went to church and/or Sunday School while we didn't. This always made me curious. The girl next door used to put on her best dress every Sunday and go to Sunday School and then tell me what they did and all the songs they sang etc. I pestered Mum until she finally said I could go with the girl ( cant remember her name.) We had to take sixpence ( for the missions or something I suppose) We were late leaving home and by the time we caught the tram to the place, the class had started. I never got to Sunday School! We sat at the tram shelter until it was time to go home and neither of us ever owned up that we hadn't actually attended . Did we spend the sixpence? Sorry, cant remember.
I can remember going over to this girl's place to play. The family must have had an interest in horses because there were big bales of hay stored under the house which made a wonderful playing place. There was an older girl living opposite ( I think) who used to read to us sometimes. She had a pet black raven bird.
Although I was 7 when we left Dutton Park I cant remember any other playmates.
I clearly remember the day we moved to Annerley. I dont know exactly the date butwe had been there some time before WW2 was declared in September of 1939.
But wait...there's more to come! ...but not just now!
I remember the icing Easter Eggs. They were much nicer than the modern chocolate ones.
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Haven't had one of those sugar eggs for years. I have seen them at the Woodside Chocolate Factory in the Adelaide Hills but not sure if they still have them. I liked them because you could make them last a long time.
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