Down Memory Lane

 

Time for a report on my weekend just gone, before the next one gets here. I had a busy week last week, catching up on customer quilts and doing bookwork, amongst other things. Saturday afternoon I finished a big quilt, and got another loaded, and completed the figures up to end of April. I planned to do May figures on Sunday, and finish the raffle quilt for the Pink Retreat Weekend, but when I got up on Sunday morning, I had another idea. It was the first Sunday for months that I had “free”, so maybe I would go for a drive and catch up with visiting some special people?? I know it was a last minute decision, but thought I would “give it a go”. Made a phonecall and off I went, but unfortunately Plan A did not work out, and these things happen when you only make last minute decisions. But there is always Plan B, and I went with that instead, and just maybe God was leading, and that was supposed to be Plan A all along! I know that I had a lovely day out, and felt a bit like I had been let out of school, and I had a lovely trip down memory lane.

Above is the ferry that I had to drive on to cross the Murray River. We used to live on the river when we owned a dairy and milked cows, so ferry crossings were common, but it was years since I had been on this one. And below is view up the river, with the willow trees on the river bank. It must be winter, as the willows have all lost their leaves, and are dormant. As soon as the leaves started appearing we knew that the spring was coming, and the grass would be growing for the cows to eat and milk production would increase, and hand feeding the cows could be cut back.

Getting closer to the other side.

I visited a few antique shops that afternoon, and took just a few photos. There were lots of things in the shop that I remembered from my childhood, so felt a bit like I could belong in the antique section!! Although I must say that these irons were before my days, and so glad I don’t have to press all my fabric with these heavy things!! I do appreciate the light irons we have that just glide across the fabric.

This treadle did not have a price on it that I could see, and as I could not fit it in my car, I did not ask. But I do remember sewing on my grandma’s and my mothers treadles when I was younger. Not sure where grandma’s machine went, but I do know that mum’s machine ended up on the farm rubbish pile when she got a new electric machine. How I would love it now, but who knew then what collector’s items they would be!

I do remember one of these brown phones on the wall when I was very young. We had a “party” line, and had to ring the next house to get an outside line to make a phone call. And then we updated to a black version. What would our ancestors think of our mobile phones today?? I do think we are too accessible and expect instant replies. In those days, if you were not home you were unavailable, and you certainly could not even leave a message.

This record player was just a bit before my time, but I do remember seeing one stored in the room behind Dad’s workshop. Wonder if it is still there? I guess the years have not been kind to it.

And I believe these rabbit traps are outlawed now. But I do have lots of memories of my 3 brothers setting the traps and catching rabbits to skin and then sell the skins. Rabbits do a lot of damage to our countryside.

On the way home I drove along the swamp road where we used to live. The cows had just finished being milked and had to cross the road to get to the feed. This dairy was milking lots of cows. I am not sorry that we are no longer milking cows!!

The calves in their paddock, waiting for their feed of milk. The female calves are taken from their mothers and hand fed and will end up as milking cows in the dairy, and so the cycle continues.

Cows still walking across. They don’t hurry, but I was quite happy to wait and watch, remembering so much of “what used to be”. I remember lots of travellers used to get impatient and try to drive “through” the cows instead of waiting.

The cow yard is so mucky, especially in the winter, and it was rubber boots only. I once went for a slippery slide in the yard, and ended up with a broken ankle! Daughter number 3, who was only a baby at the time, went to stay with her Aunty while I was on crutches, and I remember how upset I was when she came home and did not want to come to me.

And this is the house where we used to live. The yard where the green grass is had a transportable house in it when we moved there, and as we did not need it, we sold it. Was a big event when the truck came to load the house on it, and the local school children came down to watch.

A few changes have been made to the house, and I need to go and find some photos, just to remember how it was. The front fence is the same.

And this is the little school were 3 of my children attended. This entrance is much different too. There were about 70 – 90 children attending back then, and the girls went to High School after that with over 1,000 attending, and had to travel by bus.

I had a lovely day, caught up with a cousin I had not seen for a long time, and enjoyed my day out. Now it’s time to get on with another day. I have customers coming to pick up quilts today, and expect a visit from another friend travelling through. Tomorrow I hope to meet an email acquaintance from West Australia, and then it’s time to prepare for another weekend retreat. It’s the EQ7 retreat and Judy B has a full class of ladies eager to learn about the programme.

Enjoy your day,

Blessings, From Jude