more trivia

It's been a while since my last blog and it is now nearly Christmas and I wonder where the year has gone. As I said earlier ( well I think I did!) this was not meant to be a chronological record of my life but rather a mixture of record, memories  and reminiscence.

So here is today's memory!

I have just stacked the dishwasher and washed by hand the pots. How easy it all seems; hot water on tap, place powder or tablet in the dishwasher; liquid detergent in a stainless steel sink. None of those things were available when I was young.

Instead of the liquid detergent we used a soap shaker which was a small wire box with hinged lid and a long wire handle. Into the box went bits of laundry soap. With the lid closed we then swished the gadget back and forth in the hot water ( either from a kettle on the stove or later from the electric jug) hoping to raise a few bubbles.

 (google images)

Next time your visiting a museum if you see a strange wire box with handle you can say "Gee my Mum/Grandma talked about using one of  those!

Clayfield

After 6 months back at Annerley we moved to Clayfield and at the beginning of 1944 Lois and I started school at Eagle Junction State School while Alan continued at Brisbane Boys Grammar

Hilary(13yrs) & Lois (7yrs) , Clayfield ,1944

Unfortunately I have no photo of the house at Clayfield and only vague impressions of it. I remember that it was a large Queenslander type of house and think with high steps in the front and low at the back. I have no idea of the rooms and cant even remember where the family rooms were placed and what they were like. My only clear memory is of the tennis court. We spent a lot of our spare time on that .
I dont remember how many boarders we had though I think the couple who were with us at Annerley came with us and there may have been other American service couples.  I remember one elderly lady because she gave me a small elephant.  She had lived in India before the war.
I understand that this house no longer exists. It was opposite what is now the front entrance , but in our time was the back entrance, to Clayfield College ; images show what appears to be a block of units where our house was.

Rationing was in full force so I dont know how Mum managed that. We did receive some extra supplies from the servicemen.
I have only a few memories from Eagle Junction school. That was my final year of Primary school which was grade 7 and the Scholarship year. Passing the public Scholarship examination allowed one to continue to secondary (high) school. Leaving age was 14 and as many would have been 13 when the exam was held I'm not sure but think anyone not going on to secondary must have had to return to Grade 7 until their 14th birthday.
I actually remember sitting for this exam because of Geography!. As I have said this was not one of my favourite subjects and I had no skill at drawing the maps. That year was the first year that the exam paper did not require the student to draw a map! How lucky can one be!

Another memory of this school  is that it was the first time I was in a class where the boys sat on one side of the room and the girls on the other.I dont know if this was just at this school or if it was the policy for Grade 7 everywhere. Previously we had been seated according to the results of tests with the higher scores at the back and lowest at the front of the classroom. I was usually in the middle somewhere! The main reason i remember this segregation of boys and girls is that for one morning each week ..or it may have been all day I'm not sure...I had to go over to the boys' side. I dont remember if I was the only girl but I do remember the boys seated behind me used to have "fun" poking me and generally making me uncomfortable. This school did do domestic science but as I had not completed the syllabus after the transfer to Yeronga school from Amiens I was not allowed to do it for Scholarship. I had to stay with the boys! This ultimately was to my advantage as we did not only extra Geography which allowed me to catch up but also extra arithmetic. We also did some basic science but as we seemed to cover things like pouring water into buckets with holes or trying to work out how long it took to fill a bath etc I was left with absolutely no interst whatever in pursuing science in seconday school.

We were encouraged to take part in various activities as part of the "war effort." One of these was writing to servicemen overseas. I remember writing to my Uncle Bill (Wain) who was in England with the RAAF and also to my cousin Keith (Flitcroft) who was also with the RAAF stationed in England.
A few of the girls in the class organised a little "library" by bringing in books from home and then paying a penny  to borrow a book from the "library.' The collected money was given to the 'war effort." I had always received a book from Grandfather Tarbit at Christmas and birthdays and had a good collection including some of the Girls Own albums. I didn't ever get my books back. I suspect I was too shy to go and ask for them at the end of the year . The albums would now be collector's items and I wonder where they are.

We also knitted small items such as scarves and caps which were sent to servicemen overseas.

I was able to resume my ballet lessons  and do the exam that year. Strangely I do not remember missing my friends from Annerley. I dont remember any of my classmates from this year at Eagle Junction school but must have been content there.

Mother's Little Helper...and various chores

Talk about starting early!

Dad has written on the back of this print " She must have thought I was a hawker." My guess is that he took me by surprise as the hallway looks rather dark and he was possibly standing against the light. I certainly look geared for action! This was at Dutton Park.



Cleaning shoes at Dutton Park.

I dont know if that is Mum or one of the cousins who stayed with us while attending College.

Chores and helping in the house were taken for granted in my generation. There was no talk of payment ; it was part of family life. I cant actually remember receiving pocket money at any age but cant be sure of that.
After finishing school and starting work in 1949 it was my job to do the family wash each weekend. No automatic washing machine or a hot water system. The water was boiled in a copper and then bucketed into the machine.Ours was a single washer with rollers on top...I still used a similar machine when we came to Toowoomba in 1966.



Wash day at Bald Hills

Many of our tasks were similar to those of children today...washing and drying dishes, making one's own bed, cleaning your school shoes...and sometimes Dad's also, cutting one's own lunch...and sometimes Dad's also. We had some fun doing the dishes at Annerley ; Alan would wash, I would dry then pass the item to young Lois who walked along a row of chairs so she could reach the "dresser" to put the things away. Not sure whose idea that was but I expect Alan thought of it.

But others will probably be very different. For example I dont expect many children today would have to empty the chamber pots! These were a standard nightly feature before indoor flush toilets . We took turns to empty them into a bucket which was then filled with water and put outside to be used as liquid fertiliser on the garden. True!

I've already mentioned emptying the water from under the ice chest. The kitchen table was plain wood and had to be scrubbed regularly. I actually didn't mind doing that and have always found satisfaction in giving something a good scrub. Mum would never use a mop to wash a floor; she thought that was not hygienic so Alan and I both learned to wash a floor on our hands and knees. I remember Mum visiting me years later in Cloncurry after Kathy was born and being horrifed to see me using a floor mop. I told her that they had used mops in the maternity hospital so a mop would do me!

The silverware had to polished and that usually fell to me. The cutlery was all silver then . The good silverware was not done so often but included a teapot and sugar bowl.

The wood stove had to be "blacked" regularly. I dont remember having to do that but I think the stove at Petrie had a silver finish and I had to apply that on occasion.

Mum was always a great jam and marmalade maker. She would buy in bulk at the markets so we would come home from school ...and in later years from work ... and there would be a case of rosellas or something to be prepared for the next day. If you wanted to eat it you expected to have to help with the preparations.

One last memory of chores is that I always wore an apron. My earliest memory of an apron is of one I embroidered in sewing class at Yeronga.

More memories from Annerley days

Grandfather Tarbit, Ida and Auntie Agnes used to visit us. I'm not sure how often. Agnes kept in touch with various relatives in England and Scotland. I'm not sure where she borrowed these outfits from but Alan and I had to put them on and be photographed.

You will notice that our hair is very short. A stray cat had adopted the family but it had some disease and we developed sores on our heads. I remember the treatment took a long time and involved visits to the Mater Childrens outpatients. It left me with a strong dislike of cats.

We had a great childhood at Annerley; the house being on high stumps allowed us to play all sorts of games under it no matter what the weather. I recall marking out rooms in the dirt ( it was not concreted) to play "house" with the neighbour girls and our dolls.
There were several ( 5 I think) mango trees in the yard ; Dad made a platform up the biggest one and we could climb up there and let our imaginations make it what ever we wished. It was also a great spot when the mangoes were ripe. I wasn't very good at climbing but with help loved to be up there.
Under the strawberry mango tree there was a little pond which was a favourite spot in the hot weather.

I cant remember if I was recovering from chicken pox or measles when I went with the Minogues for a couple of weeks to their beach house at Maroochydore. I was over the illness but there used to be quite a long quarantine period and it was decided as it was close to holiday time I need not return to school. I expect the Minogue children had finished ( at the catholic schools) a little before the state schools.  Anyhow I had a wonderful time with them. I especially remember the white bread and jam! we didn't have white bread at our home so that seemed a "treat" to me. I remember the girls and I having 6 slices each one day and being amazed that nobody seemed to find that "naughty."
Our family holidays were usually spent at Maroochydore or Caloundra. One day we went with the Minogues to pick strawberries at a farm at nearby Bli Bli. It was a case of picking for free all you could fit in the provided pails. You could also eat as you picked! The farmer must have had a bigger crop than he could market.

Mum's sister Emmy lived at Montville which is on the range behind Maroochydore. The Harper family had a sugar cane farm and on at least one occasion we had a day with them. There were young boys about Alan's age who must have been Aunty Emmy's grandchldren. They introduced us to fishing for eels in the dam, chasing the young calves around the paddock and pulling them along by the tails...and all the other things that larrikin boys get up to on a farm! It was a great day!  I wasn't too keen when the eels were cooked for a meal  however. I preferred the sticks of sugar cane we chewed. The sugar cane trains on the narrow gauge were a common sight in the area. I'm not sure how old I was at the time.
Aunty Emmy was a lovely person and I was very sad years later when she died of cancer.

a short digression...a bit of trivia

A memory popped up this morning while I was putting on my shoes to go out. These shoes have a strap across the instep . It is fastened by velcro. I suddenly had a clear vision of Mum doing up some new shoes of mine. When I was very young my shoes  had a strap with a buttton hole which did up on a button at the side of the shoe. When the shoes were new it was hard to get the button through the slot on the strap. Mum had a button hook which went through the hole, hooked around the button and thus made it easier to be pulled through.

I expect I am wearing such shoes in this photo.

Back to the city

By 1943 the threat of invasion on Australia had diminished though the war was still being fought out in the Pacific regions. Alan had gone back to Brisbane and was attending Brisbane Grammar school so there was only Mum, Lois and I at the Amiens house. I cant remember anything about the actual return to Brisbane. I can recall that in preparation Mum and I were busy sun-drying apples . Someone, probably Uncle Ernie, had made a stand covered with chicken wire and we peeled and sliced the apples and spread them out on the wire to dry.

Mum had heard or read that accomodation was scarce in Brisbane especially for American service officers and their wives . As we had a fairly large house at Annerley she decided we could offer accomodation. I expect the decision to leave Amiens and  return to Annerley was based on several reasons but I recall her explaining the accomodation situtation ; probably preparing me for the fact that we would be sharing the house.

Records show that Lois and I returned to Yeronga State School in May 1943. Here we were in the reverse situation to our arrival at the school in Amiens. I was behind in the syllabus and had some catching up to do. I cant be sure but I have a feeling that Geography may have  been the subject I  missed  because I had been going to rural school in Stanthorpe.  Yeronga didn't do Domestic science and I have always struggled with Geography so I am guessing that  my problems with the subject started from this time.. It probably also had a lot to do with the way the syllabus was organised and the subject taught. We had to draw maps! The exercise book was similar to a botany/science book , that is with one side ruled and the opposite side blank. We ruled a grid on the blank side as a guide for drawing a map. Drawing of any kind  was not one of my better skills!  The other thing I remember about Geography was having to remember and being able to draw from memory on a map  all the rivers ( in the correct order) around the Australian coastline.
Apart from the feeling of being "behind" the others in class I was very happy to be back with all my firends.

I think I am correct in saying that an American officer and his wife ( dont know if she was American or Australian) came to board with us. There was an occasion when Mum went back to Amiens , something to do with the farm...may even have been when she sold it... and while Dad and Alan had to cope with the laundry  I was the cook. I was 12 years old! One evening the boarder came out to the kitchen and asked if everything was OK . I was cooking chops and she thought they were burning. Mum always cooked chops very thoroughly so I expect I was doing likewise!

Unfortunately my pleasure at being back home and seeing my friends was to be short-lived as by the beginning of the next school year we had left Annerley for ever.

Again I know nothing about the actual sale of the house or of the shift. I have a strong memory of an incident which is more likely to belong to this time rather than the earlier preparation for the move to Amiens. I walked into one of the bedrooms where Dad was packing boxes and found him flat out on the floor. I was very upset and went to Mum. I thought he was dead...but whether I actually said that I dont recall. She came and checked and said he was sound asleep.

More about my life at Amiens

I have always been glad that I had this opportunity to experience country life. I think my later time in Cloncurry as a young wife and mother would have been more difficult if I had not had the experience of living away from the city.

It is good that I was able to see life on working farms. I have good memories of being in the packing shed at Uncle Ernie's farm and watching apples being graded, sorted and packed ready to be sent away to market. At some stage Mum purchased the farm on which we were staying and I remember our being sent to help the farm manager chip the rows of cabbages.

the farm

I dont think these are rows of cabbages..may be potatoes.

When we first arrived the orchard was very neglected but as I said earlier the trees were full of summer fruit. Later the apples came on so we always had a good supply of fresh fruit.

I remember this photo being taken. We had not been there very long and the cart was found among the farm implements. Dad was there and he told the girls  to sit in the cart and Alan to pick up the shafts as if he was going to take us for a ride. I am fairly sure that the other two smaller girls are Gloria and Lynette Marshall, daughters of my cousin Edna who was with us for a short while.

I met Edna again some  years ago at a family reunion in Brisbane.

Hilary with Edna Marshall at reunion in 2003

Uncle Ernie had Italian prisoners of war working on his farm. They were very fond of Ernie's little girls as they missed their own families very much. Most of them had been captured in North Africa and sent to Australia and placed in POW camps. From about 1940  Italy was no longer a major participant in the war in Europe so many were released to work on farms. If my memory is correct they had their meals with the family . They used to talk to us and tell us about their families, showing us photos. They were good workers and very friendly men. I learnt a few Italian phrases from them but the only phrase I remember is a swearing phrase taught to me by one of my Italian school friends.  Mum came out to the veranda one afternoon to ask what all the giggling was about and we had to do some quick thinking as Lois and I were practising the phrase. It used to come in handy to mutter quielty ( very quietly) when I didn't want to do something. 

We didn't see so much of our Auntie Ethel , one of Mum's older sisters, and Uncle Will as they were a bit further away. Uncle Will was in charge of the Forestry at Passchendale. Mum went down to Brisbane once, taking Lois with her and Alan and I went to stay with Auntie Ethel . She was very strict  but was kind to us. I remember helping her in the kitchen and enjoying that. I was never confident around Uncle Will...for some reason I was not comfortable in his presence...perhaps he was just different in some way from my father.

When I went into Stanthorpe for Rural school I sometimes had to go to the shops first to buy ingredients for the cooking class or items  for sewing. One of the first things we had to sew was a large wrap-around apron similar to a lab coat which we had to wear during the cooking class.. I seem to think the next may have been a pair of bloomers...an exercise in flat seams! I sometimes also had to buy a few things like cotton which Mum needed. When it was time to make a dress, I bought some white cotton voile ; the teacher decided it would be good fabric on which to learn pin tucking so I had to sew pin tucks all over the front of the bodice. Mum was not very impressed with my choice of material...probably wondered when I would ever get to wear it.

I  think it was probably for Mothers Day that I bought this gift for her in Stanthorpe.

The Wandering Musician

Mum gave this back to me some years before she died and I now cherish it. I can still see my pencil "To Mum" on the back.

Meanwhile in the "real" world...

At Amiens we were happily enjoying fruit straight from the trees,vegies from Uncle Ernie's farm; riding our bikes and visiting relations; exploring the bush around the house and seeing lots of little wildflowers; going to the station on train days to watch the engine taking on water and the men loading the fruit and veges.

But in Brisbane and elsewhere in the larger towns and cities of Australia things were not so comfortable.
The northern part of Australia including Queensland was considered the most vulnerable so restrictions such as the blackout were tightly enforced.

In February 1942 the Japanese bombed Darwin, in March bombs fell on Broome in West Australia and in June that year submarines shelled Newcastle and Sydney.

Petrol rationing had started in 1940 and now in 1942  Ration books were issued for tea, sugar and clothing. Later butter and meat were also rationed.  All persons over the age of 16 were issued with identity cards which had to be carried at all times.

I remember Mum making butter while we were at Amiens but whether because of a shortage or because she always was ready to learn something new I cannot say. I do remember she often said we all had to " do our bit" while there was a war. We had no electricity so no frig and also no ice so no ice-chest. How did she keep food fresh? Maybe we had a Coolgardie type safe...will have to ask Alan if he can remember.

There was a  small local store and I think a bakery but I dont remember a butcher shop. I know we always had plenty to eat while at Amiens and I expect at that age I didn't take much notice of  how Mum went about getting supplies.

Country school

No Infants classes(Prep); half-day school only for other grades... as long as they had slit trenches and daily air-raid practice!!!
That was the story for many Brisbane schools in early 1942...no such luck for country schools. Having come from one of the larger primary Brisbane schools I found the one-teacher, 2 class-room school at Amiens quite a change.



Amiens school
 ( acknowledgement :Amiens State School 75th anniversary 1919-1994; J Harslett)

This photo was taken in 1925 but the school looks very similar to my memories of it in 1942. From classes of approx 20 pupils, I had come to a school with a total enrolment about the same. Yes, we did have to have daily air-raid practice. There were slit trenches under a double row of pine trees and when the "siren" went we had to go down ( in an orderly manner please!) into the trenches and crouch down with our head on knees and hands on heads until the "all clear siren" sounded. I dont remember being scared...probably we all found it a good lark as the war seemed far away.

This little school was bitterly cold in winter. The area around the Granite Belt can be extremely cold. There was a chip heater in the room which helped a little. Mum made me some long warm pants but she added a bib with shoulder straps thinking that would make them more comfortable for me.Unfortunately some girls told me they were like baby pants so I always hated wearing those pants even though they were warm.

Pupils from Grade 5 went into Stanthorpe once a week for rural school. I was in Grade 5 but was still only 10years so was not eligible. However the teacher made application and approval was given for me to go. The girls did Cooking and Sewing and the boys Wood and Metal work. We travelled into Stanthorpe on the back of a truck...I think with a long seat each side. Alan and I were picked up at our front gate. There were already several children on board by the time it reached us and I dreaded the moment of personal indignity as they hauled me aboard as Alan pushed from behind. This young city girl was not used to climbing into the back of a large truck .Coming home was not without its worries either . The girls had to protect their cooking from the boys!

The gate leading to our house.

At first we walked to school then at some stage we acquired bikes.  Either Alan or I gave Lois a ride to school . One day I was giving Lois a "doubler" when we had a buster. I had a billycan on the handlebars and as I was standing ( Lois being on the seat) my knee became caught under the billy . The bike came to an abrupt stop and Lois went flying off the bike landing face down. The dirt road consisted mainly of crushed granite so she didn't have a soft landing. She scraped all the skin on her nose ; possibly there were other scrapes but we remember the nose because a scab formed and Mum said it made her look like a little koala bear. For many years after we referred to her "koala" nose.

I was never the athletic type and can't remember any sports activities at Yeronga School. It was a surprise when I found myself being trained to represent Amiens school at a  District  inter-school sports day in Stanthorpe. There cannot have been anyone else in my age-group available! The teacher also  did his best to teach me to high-jump but I couldn't get the knack of missing that bar. I must have reached some qualifying time in running as he had high hopes for me. He gave me a pep talk just before the race; I remember handing him my watch to look after, and shortly after  seeing all these other kids running  in front of me. Apparently I was slow off the mark and couldn't catch up.

I dont remember missing my Brisbane friends which is surprising as I had been at that one school for all my schooldays to that time. I must have made some new friends as I dont remember being unhappy . There were a few who enjoyed teasing the city kids which eventually led to the one outstanding memory from this school.

I'll have to give you the background to the occasion. Mum had always had a "project". In Brisbane she had been involved with the Mothercraft Association and was also on a committee to try to have a Kindergarten establised in Annerley. With her interest in women's affairs and children it is not surprising that she became involved with the local Italian women. There was, and still is,  a large Italian community in the area around Stanthorpe.  The men were interned during the war leaving the women to run the orchards and farms. Many became ostracised by the local families. They had not been accustomed to attending  to business matters which were regarded as men's responsibilities so Mum often helped the women fill in documents etc. We became friendly with several families and I played with the children at school. Several times when walking home from school some of the girls, bigger and older than me, tried to bully me for "fraternising" with the "enemy"

We were already a little on the "outer" because we were 3 city kids in a country environment; add to that we were ahead scholastically and so all three of us topped our classes. This so-called fraternising gave them just the excuse they were looking for to "have a go" at us.

At the top of the paddock behind the school was the school tree plantation ( schools celebrated  Arbor Day each year by planting a tree.) The young trees had to be watered by bucket. One day several kids were up there and shouted out for the rest of us to come up and see something. We rushed up and immediately a ring formed around Alan and me and they drenched us with the buckets of water. I cannot remember anything about the aftermath of that happening; did we go back into class wet? did the teacher say anything? Maybe Alan can remember. Did we tell Mum...I doubt it.

School must have continued as normal now they had had their fun as I dont remember being unhappy there. Alan did Scholarship that year and left to go to Brisbane . We left at the end of first term 1943 and returned to Yeronga state school in May.

I dont know what happened to our bikes as I dont think I had a bike again until we lived at Petrie in 1945-6.

Many years ago I accompanied Bill to an official function somewhere outside Stanthorpe and as we drove 

away afterwards we passed near Amiens.  We toyed with the idea of trying to find some familiar landmarks

but as we wanted to return to Toowoomba that evening we decided not to delay. Later this year when the weather is warmer we will go and stay a couple of days . We will start from the school and see if anything seems familiar to me. Hopefully I may also be able to make an appointment to see over the school.

I may have something to tell you in a later post.

Adapting to country life

The purple passionfruit hung on the vine just waiting to be picked. If I didn't grab it soon I could be sure someone else would but it was tantalisingly out of easy reach. There was no way I was going to step in closer because I just knew that there would be snakes lurking in all that growth. Our home at Annerley in Brisbane had been on the edge of bushland and as I often trailed after my brother and his mates as they headed down to the creek and thereabouts, I already knew to watch for snakes. However, this was the "real" bush and warnings had been delivered in a way which was not to be taken lightly! I had also heard all about death adders and they had me really worried. Needless to say it didn't take Alan long to find a way to harvest the passionfruit so I just kept close to him.

From the start it was my chore to gather kindling for the stove. Alan had to collect the heavier branches and cut them to length . We usually just headed out to the roadside as there was plenty of fallen branches there. Every skinny branch and twig was carefully looked at to make sure it didn't wriggle!

Close to the cottage was an outcrop of granite rocks. This was a favourite playing place where Lois and I could mark out pretend rooms and play "house". It was the ideal place for snakes to warm themselves. While we never became blase about the chance of snakes and  always kept a lookout we learnt not to let our fear  interfere with our activities.

When later I had a bike,someone told me that if you ran over a snake it could wind itself around the spokes in the bike wheel. Did a lot for my confidence!

The only time I can actually remember encountering a snake close-up was when I returned home from school one afternoon and there was  a snake lying just in front of the small house gate. I remember standing there for ages waiting for the thing to move so that I could get to the house. I suppose a local kid would have thrown a stick or something but I wasn't that game. I have seen a few snakes even here in my Toowoomba garden but have never lost that shudder on coming across one.

As far as I can recall we didn't ever have one come into the house at Amiens.

 I dont have a clear mental image of the layout of the cottage. This may seem surprising as I was there for about 18 months and from 10 1/2 to almost 12 years old. We moved so frequently in the following years that I think each move must have wiped out the previous one. There was no bathroom and we had our bath in a large round galvanised tub in front of the stove. Because the water had to be heated on the stove, there was a strict pecking order for a bath with a top-up of hot water in between each person. I expect Alan was unlucky last and had the job of emptying the big tub. I think there was a shelf by the kitchen wall and two basins underneath it. One was a white enamel to use for our daily wash and the other was the tin dish for washing the dishes. I think there was a tap over the shelf . I assume it was connected to a tank. There was a well in the backyard some distance from the house though I dont think we used that water for drinking or bathing. I have no memory of how Mum did laundry but expect there was a copper outside somewhere.

There were no other houses for miles. Mum used to cycle over to visit  other women in the district or to Uncle Ernie and Auntie Mary. If she wasn't home by a certain time it was my task to start the fire in the stove and peel the vegetables. One afternoon I had trouble getting the fire to"catch", so , as I had seen Mum do on occasions, I poured in some kerosene. Unfortunately I didn't have her experience and the whole thing flared up strongly. I singed the front of my fringe and all my eyebrows and burnt the backs of my hands as I put them over my face. Mum must have bandaged them later because the next morning I had to go to the Rural Nurse and was very scared wondering if the bandages would have stuck. I had to go each morning for a while to have them inspected and the dressings changed. It didn't get me out of school!

The house must have been rather crowded in the early months while Edna and her 2 girls were with us. I dont think they stayed very long as they dont figure in many memories. I do know that Edna milked the cow. How did we acquire a cow! Probably Uncle Ernie arranged that. He used to come over each week in the early stages to do the heavy things like disposing of rubbish and emptying and burying  the contents of the  outside toilet...a job which Alan eventually  had to take over.

There was no electricity so light was from lamps;  no TV of course and papers only came in once a week on the train. I expect Mum had a portable "wireless"  and kept track of news of the "real" world. It is only as an adult that I can imagine how her life had changed and how she must have missed her home and life in Brisbane. Still we were safe and Dad was not overseas as so many men were. For us life was a bit of an adventure and there was a new school with new friends to meet.