Life on The farm

As a young boy I remember spending a lot of time on Granddads farm and many today sadly do not have this opportunity,  so I will try to relate some of my experiences because it was a magic and wonderful time of my life and would be for many others who have these memories. 1

Firstly living in Australia back in the mid 1950's, many farms did not have access to running water so all water was accessed by a rain tank which sometimes or should I say many times meant water restrictions. I do have fond memories however of a crystal clear local stream and its incredible tasting water ..like nothing from a tap I have ever tasted, it was so invigorating to drink. 2

We never had electricity connected either, as the farm was miles from the city and we used Kerosene lamps as our main source of light at night. This made nights sometimes very mysterious for a young boy who was always looking out for creating adventures, especially when you could hear strange animal noises in the middle of nights that would get so pitch black you couldn’t see your hand in front of you.  Sometimes however, if you went outside and looked up at the sky your would see a myriad of stars ..so many it was magic ..almost unbelievable.3

The main social life evolved around a huge brick fireplace in the Lounge room, like you see in the movies it had a big black cooking pot in the middle and the fire in the cold season would be roaring and crackling. I used to sit for hours in front of it fascinated by the burning coals and shapes they would make, this was incredible for someone with a furtive imagination, and I would make up stories about the shapes. We would also have a long wire fork for making Toast and I used to love holding it and watching each side as it went crispy brown. The other great thing about our social life unlike today, the whole family, Uncles, Aunts, Cousins and distant relatives would visit regularly and we would all sit around the Piano my Granddad had and sing the most wonderful songs and laugh and play with all the visiting children..This was a great part of my nights. 4

The farm I lived on was cattle farm for Dairy cows so we always had fresh creamy milk and beautiful soft sweet cream to taste. My grandma even made butter. Speaking of Grandma, she was the most amazing cook, she spent hours each day making such tasty delights from raw ingredients ( you got no packet cakes in those days, there wasn't even a local supermarket). I remember her puff pastry that rose so many layers one would lose count. There were Fresh meat Roasts almost daily, Apple Pies, Custard tarts, Sponge cakes, and so many fresh ingredients like fresh picked raspberries when in season, we used to pick them by the bucket load not the punnet, Apples by the hessian bag, Plums, Blackberries, and such a variety of fruit and fresh garden vegetables. I can still taste them now ..sadly today everything is pasteurized, homogenized, preserved and chemically treated with almost all the flavor lost. 5

My school days were interesting we went to a small school which was about seven miles from our place and we walked, but in those days it was easy almost second nature. On weekends we would help Granddad, I would go off with him for the day and we would repair fences stopping at lunchtime for a bottle of iced tea and sandwiches. Sometimes I would just go bush and explore areas and animals I had never seen before. Other times I would play in my favorite place the Hay Barn. This was a magic place with hay bales stacked up like building blocks and we would hide in here, imagining being in castles having great adventures climbing high in the hay. 6

Yes my friends I miss these days and Grandma and Grandpa, as they were my best friends next to Mum and Dad. Grandma and Granddad are gone now and so is their farm but the special gift of memories they left me is precious and I will always treasure it in my heart.7