One Hundred Years of Farm & Family #3

One Hundred Years of Farm & Family #1 & #2

are the two previous posts.

When the melee of the tree planting was over

(we had decided they would all be planted at one time

to prevent a long drawn out session)

the men started up the branding fires for the branding of

the entrance gate and fence.

In real life, branding cattle used to be a very hot, smelly event.

The gas burner still get hot and the one doing the

branding needs to be careful.

P7J

Formally Dad's and now my youngest brother's.

Planks were branded for any who wished to take

home a memento.

6GD

Grandad's brand and now my cousin's/

Another cousin and her husband constructed the gate and fence

and put in a watering system for the grove.

Note the old cow bell hanging on the gate.

Dad can no longer see.

He listens carefully as my sisters read out the brands.

Of course, he knows whose each one is.

Sunset at the top of the world!

With wine and cheese

we soaked in the splendid view from the highest point

on my brother's place.

A 360 view of the Callide Valley and toward the Dawson.

Westward ho!

The local school bus driver, and family friend

loaned his bus for ferrying folk around.

My grandkids loved the bus ride but being

almost dark, fell asleep on the trip up the mountain.

Memorabilia displayed on what was once my grandparent's

family table and later hosted many happy occasions

at my own childhood home.

including my Family History Albums.

(And my sweet grand-daughter behind)

Old photos hanging in the corrugated iron shed

plus old implements, cream cans etc

added to the rustic feel.

My youngest son and his cousin give my two

grandsons a ride on the quad.

In our day, visiting kids got rides on horses.

My brothers are both horse lovers and good horsemen and

use them for mustering,

but many farm jobs are done on bikes these days.

And so it is over......sigh.

Our celebration and reunion were well worth all of the effort

that went into it. 

Every detail seemed to fall into place.

Thank you for reading and sharing in this special occasion.

100 years of Family and Farm

One Hundred Years of Farm & Family #2

Please see the previous post for #1

From my brother's house and the main location of eating, drinking and

reminiscing, we made the short trek over to the original homestead site.

This is now owned by one of my cousins and formally his parents.

 My grandfather had named his property "Ashgrove" probably because

a large cluster of Moreton Bay Ash grew around where the hut, and later

their home for many years, was built.

Over the years the old place was demolished, some of the trees

had died and others were cleared.

This is where the idea of planting a memorial grove came from.

Dad seated between his sister and brother listen to their sister

give a short history of the site.

My cousin, now one of the land owners at Jooro reminisced of our grandparents.

She also read her poem

"Our Song"

As these two cousins unveiled the memorial plaque.

The verses are engraved along with pictures of our

grandparents, their family and the house.

(Try clicking to enlarge)

Friends, relatives and other neighbours watch on from the shade

as we proceed to plant the fifteen trees.

These trees represent the original family, the present owners and also two

"Guarding Gums" as mentioned in the poem.

My two younger brothers plant the tree for our Dad.

My older brother helps Dad in the planting of the tree for Michael.

His father and our grandfather.

My cousin Jenny & I plant a tree for Norah.

She was Grandma & Grandad's fifth child and first daughter.

She was still born in June, 1927

Jenny's daughter was still born in 2003

and our son died at 8 days of age.

We felt very privileged to honour our Aunt this way

knowing that our Grandmother grieved her all her life.

My Dad flanked by his descendants at the Reunion.

(About 20 were unable to attend.!)

I was thrilled that my four children, my son-in-law and

my six grandchildren were all there for this

big family event.

They are on the far left of this photo.

To be continued......

One Hundred Years of Farm and Family

In the blink of an eye it is all over....

All the months - years really of planning

culminated in a fantastic celebration yesterday.

I will post a few pics over the next few days as we

have a lot going on and I am too tired for one long post.

Driving up to the house the marque looked like a

circus tent in the distance.

Every one got a name tag on arrival,

the colour depending on which family group one belonged to.

The marque provided excellent shade.

Food, drinks and memorabilia housed in the shed behind.

It was a brilliant Spring day with a nice breeze up on the hill.

Looking back towards the front gate

over the car park.

This wooden gate is one that my brother and sister-in-law

have branded with the cattle brands of four generations.

It is hung on a steel frame to represent to present.

One of my thoughtful aunts and uncles set up a sand pit for

the children, also under shelter.  However,

the golf buggy and little jeep were a magnet for the little fellows.

These were used to help the older folk up the hill from

the parking area.

Dad, (left) the oldest living decendant present.

My Uncle Tom (right)

He lauched his book, "One hundred years of farm and family.

The Six-forty Acres"
He and six of my generation were the principle organisers.
He put his heart into it ♥

To be continued....

Through my Eyes

School days.

Gotta love the 70s

Here is a link to the poem I have written for tomorrow's Centenary Celebrations at my childhood home. I have scrapped it, very simply, with photographs and made a nice little book for the occasion.

Through My Eyes

My very dear grandparents, just three weeks before
 Grandad passed away.
My 18th birthday.
1980

Jooro means road in the aboriginal language.
My Grandfather pronounced it Jew-row
but ever after it has been pronounced Jew-roo, thus the
rhymn in the poem.

Looking Forward

Just to share some of the excitement of the coming weekend I have chosen a few pics

 from around my old home

The front gate at "Glen Erin"

House is in the centre above the fence.

My childhood home.

My second brother's home, "Jooro"  Once owned by my uncle and named after the district when the railway stopped using this end of the line. My crew will be staying here.  Are they ready!

Old Rannes Town

Once a bustling little centre with pubs and shire office.

This photo was taken in the twenties.

These days Rannes is just a dot on the map, a ghost town.

It is about 8km from our place.

Goovigen in the 1950's.

Taken from the hotel where my mother lodged as a

teacher at the then two teacher school.

Goovigen is about 10km from home and now

 the nearest town. With a one teacher school where my SIL

 does a day a week and my nephew is the Sports teacher,

 also one day a week.

My own children join their grandparents, uncle, aunt and 

cousins representing Jooro school.  My dad attended this school, which his father donated land for, in the 30's and my older brother and sisters all began their school lives there until it's closure in 1965. 

Hearts ease ♥

The Billabong at our place, looking tranquil

 in a good season. I have so many happy memories

of games and cubbies in this creek.  There used to be

a majestic white gum which was like a lighthouse

marking our spot.  Sadly, it has gone now.

In Top Gear!

Yesterday we held our final meeting for the Big Centenary Celebrations next weekend! It has been a pleasure just working with the eight other relatives on the committee. and everyone has done a fabulous job,  Most especially the families who still live on the home properties and will be hosting the big event. Not only have we spent many hours on all the details of the day, but we've enjoyed sharing anecdotes and memories and had lots of laughs and a few tears.

On the site where my grandparents pioneering hut stood (above) we will be planting a grove of Moreton Bay Ash which were the original trees in the  surrounding  area.  Each tree will represent one of the original family members and those living will plant their own, and descendants will plant the ones for those who have passed.  My cousin Jenny and I will plant a tree for Norah, the little still born baby of my grandparents in the 1920s, as we have both lost babies.

We checked out the site yesterday, where the current residents of that block have done an enormous amount of work to prepare for the planting.  This gate will be branded on the day with the brands of all of the family members who have them.  Behind it is the sandstone rock in preparation for the plaque which will be unveiled on the day.  This will have the beautiful poem "Our Song" written by another cousin.

"Glen Erin"

This is my older  brother's house where most of the day will be spent.

He and his wife have made it into a beautiful home.  I hardly recognise it as the simple 50's style house that I grew up in! For many months now they have been doing preparation jobs including grading a car parking area below the house and a better road up to the Lookout.  This house sits on a hill but it rises much higher behind and from the top is a glorious,sweeping view of the valley below which encompasses all four properties owned by family members.  After a very full day we will be taking the drive to the Lookout for wine and cheese at sunset!  Something more modern after a day of reminiscing back to the "Good Ol' Days"!

Of the almost two hundred relatives, friends and neighbours invited nearly one hundred and eighty are coming!  We are really excited with how many relatives are making the trip from Brisbane and places further afield to come.  We are revved up and in high gear.  Can't wait for the big day and I hope to have lots of memories to share from it.

School holidays here so there is a much more relaxed feeling about.  Next weekend the Centenary, then the following week we will head to Brisbane to celebrate the 80th birthday of my
Mother-in-law.

You may say I'm a dreamer...

The rollicking barefoot kids!

Over the years as I have written posts about My Golden Childhood I have wondered whether I seemed to you, my readers, as one who lives in LaLa Land!  I know I have tended to see things in a shiny light and have at times down played the hard times.  But truly, my childhood was golden.  It was pure and clean and filled with love and the very special people that God bonded into our family.

You know we have this celebration in September to mark the 100 hundred years since my grandfather's arrival at Jooro.(Once a railway siding and district name, now one of my brothers property names)  One hundred years of blood, sweat and tears.  One hundred years of joyful births and marriages and welcoming new members into the fold.  One hundred years........

On the day of the Reunion we will be planting a grove of Moreton Bay Ash in the place where once stood the original little shack that Grandad and Grandma lived in and brought their babies home to. The trees will represent Michael and Lily and the ten children (one stillborn) and hence our families.  One of my cousins has penned a beautiful verse entitled "Our Song" which will be erected on a plaque in the grove.

She warmed my heart when replying to my recent email about the Reunion and I thought "I'm not the only one!"  I have quoted from her return email:

"I am very relieved to hear that you and S......  both wept tears of love when you read 'Our Song'.  When writing it I felt myself being emotionally propelled back into that wonderfully loving and warm place known as childhood, with Grandma and Grandad there, and their boys toiling away, the wives creating a domestic haven whilst we, the barefooted kids, all rollicked our way through imagined wondrous worlds created in the gullies and bauhinia scrubs.  I am looking forward to being with the family for this momentous occasion. "

Oh those wondrous worlds!  

Here it is:

Our Song

May these "Guarding Gums"

Represent us all

Dear ones who've passed

And dear ones yet to come.

May these Graceful Gums

Flourish on this black soil plain

Proudly bending and bowing

To life's burdens and strain.

May their leaves whisper on gentle breeze

Words of love, tears and yes-ter-year

May their branches span through time

And bind us together, one family, one kind.

Grow, O Silver Gum grow!

Stand tall and stout and strong

And may forever God bless the Clair descendants

Many voices......Michael and Lily's Song.

(To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Clair Family of Jooro 1912-2012)

The guarding gums is a reference to a poem written by this cousin's father who passed away about eight years ago.  He was a deep thinker and poet and many of his poems were too lofty for most of us to comprehend. :-)

You may grow weary of hearing about my family and all our doings over the next month or two.  Don't give up on me! Okay?

A Couple of Classics!

I'm sure I have mentioned that our family reunion to celebrate 100 years "On our Selection" is drawing near.  Ever since I began this blog I have included snippets of family and farm history.  A group of us, mostly from my generation, have been organising and it is going to be a fabulous day of re-uniting, reminiscing and general good times!  Today I received these photographs emailed to my brother from a distant cousin who will be attending this great event.

He and his parents visited my grandparents way back in the early 60's!  Need I say it, fashion was not the primary concern of these hard working farmers!  If you look closely, Grandma has slippers on.  I am going to guess it was early morning and the visitors were about to hit the trail when this picture was taken.

My Grandies are in the centre with the visiting relies on the right

 and  Dad's two younger brothers on the left.

I love old family shots that have the car in them. 

That and the clothes are usually a good pointer as to when the photo

was taken. I called my hubby over to look at this and he

 immediately guessed late 50's going by the car.

Farm butchering!

Yikes!

This was one aspect of farm life that I did not like so much :-(

Especially if it was a poddy calf or pet pig :-(

To me, this pic is also interesting as it shows the underneath of my

grandparents house. This was the "new" house built about 1947

where my uncle on the left raised his family in the 60's through 80's

and now his son, my cousin lives.

The house is very different underneath now!

Stay tuned ~ I will be posting more about the big event as it gets closer!

On turning 50....

It is some months until the big '50' birthday for me but celebrations have already begun.  A couple of years ago when my Senior class held our last reunion it was decided to meet again this year.  The year most of our class mates would turn fifty.  As it turned out it was just a small group but we had such a great catch up I think we will try for more regular reunions, even when not so many can come.  As I live in the city where I attended high school I have the advantage that so far, they have always been held here.

We were boarders, about twenty of us in a Senior class of ninety.  Some of the girls who boarded during our years also attend. There are strong bonds made between girls who have lived, laughed and studied together during their formative years.  We did laugh about some of our childish escapades!

Some of the girls hated boarding school and remember dreadful things which I do not.  I was very homesick and life was strict and very regimented in a Roman Catholic boarding school in the 1970's, but I have mostly good memories of those years.  I go to that same place every time I visit my parents and I have none of the bad dreams and unresolved issues that some of the girls expressed.

We met for morning tea and lunch, lingering through the after noon and having dinner together in a nice Asian place on the river.

I thank God, that as a believer I seem to have a capacity to forgive which others perhaps struggle with.  Still, there seems little to forgive in my memories.  I have been asked whether bad school experiences are the reason for my choosing to home school but I can truly say that both my country primary school and city boarding school experiences were good and wholesome ones.


Some say that your school days are the best days of your life, but I reckon that the best is yet to come!  I have five more months to enjoy the roaring forties!

2012

A brand new year begins! The year of Our Lord, 2012!

Like most people, I have found the beginning of a new year a good time to assess and re-evaluate some of my goals and priorities.  With the long illness I experienced in mid 2011, I had become very listless and unenthusiastic for many of my usual activities.

  My commitment for 2012 is

"But Godliness with contentment is great gain."

 1 Timothy 6:6

I have had to accept that it is not throwing the towel in, but rather being realistic about

what I am now able to do ... or not.

To be contented with limitations, I think can be equally as challenging as taking on big things.

What are your goals and plans for this sparkling new year?

Some of the things I am hoping for are:

A fresh outlook and more organised school day for my boys.

The chaos and many changes in our lives in the past year have been difficult to fit school around.

Good things have come of that but I do desire to make this year "better" in this department.

Return to daily quiet time.

While we have managed to keep some family worship and church routines going, it has suffered :- (  Our household is quite different now and it is challenging to be regular in reading of the Word and prayer.  Many Lord's Days have passed where either I have been too ill to attend, or some other chaos has interupted our day of rest.  We want to make it a priority to reclaim these important things. It is good and necessary for us but also very important for the younger members of the family to develop good habits.  My own spiritual life has suffered I know :-( so I have taken on a devotional book for the year called Day by Day in Prayer.  I hope to improve my own prayers and prayer life and do not feel up to long reading plans etc at present.  Thus far I have gleaned much from these short thoughtful passages.

I may not be able to attend every church or home schooling function but it should not stop me from drawing closer to God.  Excuses....excuses.

Diet and Exercise

Yes, both those :-)

The one big event

2012 is the long awaited year of our Family Reunion!

This is the 100 years anniversary of my paternal grandfather drawing his block in the Callide Valley.

It is very exciting for us especially as these days most family operations have been overtaken by big companies.  Two of my brothers and a cousins who now hold the properties will be hosting the event and quite a few of us locals are helping with plans.

I am so hyped!  I love family history.  You may remember we had a reunion on my mother's

 side in 2009.  We are so blessed to still have both Mum and Dad. Lord willing, my father
will make it to the reunion of his family, as well.

Linking to my Golden Childhood posts to remind you what this is all about.

"But Godliness with contentment is great gain"

Through My Mothers Eyes

A few years before this photograph was taken (1967) my mother suffered a bout of encephalitis which made her dangerously ill and left her with some brain damage, namely memory loss. I was only 12 months old at the time so I do not have recollection of any of this.

My two eldest sisters went to boarding school from 1964 and so it was that mum decided to keep a diary.  That way she had a record of events to base her letters to the boarders on.  What fabulous newsy letters they were!  In my years away at school mum's dependable missives were my life line to the goings on at my beloved and much missed home.

My parents are now on a waiting list to move from their independent living unit in a Retirement Village to hostel care.  It is looking like the move will take place early next year.  They are pottering around and sifting through their belongings which have already been severely pruned moving from the marital home of 50 years, then from their retirement house in town and soon, from their cosy little unit.

Mum's diaries have become legendary!
They began as the jottings of a busy mother of many.  Little reminders on the run of who she had seen, where they had been, births, deaths and marriage. Facts.  From these humble beginnings grew the copious writings of a woman through almost fifty years of  great joys and deep sorrows, loneliness, frustration, exhilaration and every other emotion imaginable.

Mum has been reading through her life - she has little memory of many of the people and events recorded. She asked me if I wanted to read them and perhaps hold on to them for others who may wish to do so.  Therefore, I have become the "Keeper of the Journals".

I had not read right through them.  I have scanned some dates and events but I ran it by the rest of the crew, suggesting I just store these precious books until dear Mum has passed away.  They are a wonderful source of eye witness information and hold the most unbelievable details not only of our own lives but the happenings of our little rural community and of our large extended families. While the early years are short notes made by a busy wife and mother some of the latter years are heartbreakingly detailed and frank.  These are the years of adult and teenage children, bad decisions, boarding school, illnesses,  losing parents and a child.  These are the years where Mum, due to the encephalitis, began to suffer epileptic seizures and eventually handed in her license.  An empty nester with a still hard working husband and no means of getting out from the farm except with others.  A devoted wife, mother and grandmother who sacrificed much and at times was lonely and uncertain but constantly called upon God for his aide.  (And being RC many other celestial beings!) My mother's devotion to her religion and piety is very evident throughout all of her writing and the many quotes and clips included in her diaries.

It is the possible hurts which may be resurrected which lead me to want to protect these documents.  I do not think it is necessary to bring up old wounds which have long been forgotten, among loved ones.  There is so much to rejoice  and reminisce over.  So much love poured out in those pages.  So many little details of long ago events which we may one day appreciate when that little bit of information is required.  When did grandma die?  Who was bitten by a red back spider?  Who almost missed the wedding and why? How did Mum feel about my becoming a christian? About grandchildren? about our choices in life?

Dad has also weeded out his belongings including his farm diaries, some of which he passed on my brother still on the home block.  There was one particular year book which had a lot of empty pages and he suggested I take it and use them up.  The year was 1997, in which Dad was involved in a fatal accident and almost lost his own life.  Very little is recorded from that date onward. However, I flicked to 29 November and the entry read "*Ruby* had a son".

It is amusing to me because it so clearly shows the contrast in my parents.  Mums entry concerning the birth of this son is pages long, detailed, and continues over several days!  It has been at the same time revealing, heartwarming to read these tomes over which our mother poured over for many hours at the dining table of the old house but also heart breaking.  I yearn to have those conversations over again, to have recognised my mother's pain and have told her how much she is loved and admired.

I have never kept a journal for any length of time, saving this blog.  I am pleased now to have this record, which having been read by many unknown "friends" gives a glimpse into our life with all its joys and sorrows without naming and harming people.  I have tried to write a positive blog.  I have tried to convey some of my spiritual thoughts along with very mundane day to day happenings.

When my decendants visit "Mumma's Place" in years to come I hope they will know a little of me.  Since I have blogged quite often about my Mum and Dad, I hope they will discern the great love and affection I have for these two precious people.

Making Golden Memories

My own childhood holds

many Golden Memories.

I love nothing more than to see the little ones enjoying making memories, too.

We have limited income and a lot of children around, so most of our

memorable occasions are not fancy or far flung.

We just enjoy being together, watching the babies develop,

celebrating the milestones of life and

being a part of these special little lives..

My second grandson turned three on the weekend.

What a happy, exciting day for a small boy

Full of barbecue, cake and party food.

One big uncle, one small nephew.

(GS 3 almost two)

You can read about my own Golden Childhood from old posts

here if you are interested

in what makes Ruby the peculiar person she is today!

My parents didn't have much money, either.  They didn't

enjoy the luxury of travel.

They worked hard and made many special memories along the way.

Whether they intended to, I'm uncertain.

I think it was more just how life flowed and as an adult I have that happy,

glass half full knack of being able to remember the good times fondly

and not focus on the bad.

I hope my children, and my children's children, will do the same. ♥

Enjoy a wonderful week.

My Golden Childhood XVI

         The Other Relies and the Boxing Day Bash

If you are relatively new to reading my blog, you will notice from the title that there are a whole series of posts, mostly from 2009, entitled My Golden Childhood.  The link includes all fifteen posts in that series and a few other childhood related posts.  I hope you will read some of them as they are my favourite posts since I have been blogging.  After a long break I am attempting to finish the topics I have in draft.

My childhood home was situated in very close proximity to my Grandparents, my father's parents, and his two brothers who had remained on the land.  This meant we had an abundance of aunties and cousins close by and many visiting relatives on that side of the family.




Golden Wedding Anniversary   1966


My Mum came from the Darling Downs and her three sisters had all eventually ended up living in towns but her two brothers both took up grazing properties in Central Queensland .  This meant that we had a large number of cousins from Mum's side fairly close by as well! (Mum's parents had a total of thirty six grandchildren in fact! Most are pictured above.)

Mum's family has an interesting history of "raising orphan children", in that both her grandparents and great grandparents, through various Providences, had raised some of their own grandchildren when they had lost their parents at a young age.  In this spirit, Mum often saw to it that city cousins and more distant relatives who were having some hassles could come to the farm for school holidays if they wanted to. Her brother was the same and one of the great memories I have of holidays at their place was that there were always heaps of kids, lots of noise, plenty of work and plenty of fun.  My greatest childhood friend, later my bridesmaid, was a cousin from this family.  She was a fiery red haired lefty and I loved her dearly! What times we had!

During the year the families would exchange visits once or twice.  This was usually taking the hour and half drive after mass on a Sunday,.  Each family had eight children and one car in those days! We would all pile in for such trips with no thought of seat belts.  Thankfully, Dad was a very cautious driver!  These were much anticipated meetings and we (the girls and I) would try to wrangle it so they would fall at the start of one of the holidays (May and August in those days) so that we could stay over for a while at each others places.   My beloved cuz and I were the same age but she had four brothers directly above her.  This made our lives a misery! or so we pretended.  In reality I loved those boys but they teased and tormented us mercilessly!




Some of The Lads             &                   A Fiery Red Head!


My uncle had been in the Light Horse pre WW2 and transferred to regular army during the war.  He had a crisp military carriage, always had his boots shined to a high polish, walked like a man who has been in the saddle all his life and directed the household like a Sar. Major! (In fact he was a Lieutenant).  From the girl's room we would hear him at daylight.  "Rise and shine, boys. Time to get up. Cows to be milked. wood to be chopped and dogs to be fed."  Cuz sometimes confided she was pleased she was born a girl! However, Uncle was a very tender and affectionate man. who made time for us kids and was devoted to his wife and family.   (He is 89 years old now and suffering since a stroke.  He did not recognise me last time I saw him :-(

Aunty had been bred in the city, but she was the most capable woman, along side my Mum and Grandma, I have ever known!  Nothing fazed her!  Along with raising a large family she cared for her own mother until her death, catered for the numerous strays and relatives who lived with or visited them from time to time, and ironed everything in sight! I once asked her why she ironed all the men's work clothes?  She said they fitted into the cupboards better that way!  Her cooking was renowned and her hospitality a legend.  Aunty died a couple of years ago and one thing I noted at her funeral was the number of cousins from both sides and kids of these cousins, myself and my girls included, who travelled long distances to pay tribute to this very special, precious woman.

Each year my Mum hosted the Boxing Day Bash.  The families, all being fairly large, would  hold their own Christmas Day get-togethers.  Then Mum and Dad would have all the relatives at our place on Boxing Day.
This was often the high light of our year, especially if we had not seen some of the clan much that year.  All of the Grandparents, Uncles, Aunts and cousin from "Over the Road" would come at some stage of the day and the further afield relatives would come all day.  Far away relies would even make their plans to coincide with sharing Boxing Day at "Glen Erin" .  Apart from lots of food and good company we played cricket, endless games of cards, swam if there was enough water in the near by river and the men would always do the obligatory farm tour.

When my parents retired a few of the relatives tried to keep up the Boxing Day Bash but it never really took off at another venue.  Now my own family meet some time around Boxing Day and New Year .  We have a large crew of our own when we all get together but we still include any other local relatives who would like to drop in.  This year, Lord willing, we will not congregate until March when dear Mum and Dad celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary.

The photograph at the top of this post was taken at the 50th Wedding Anniversary of my maternal grandparents. I am 3.5 years old! Anyone want to take a guess which little girl is me?  The fiery red head is also there and a little easier to indentify! This grandmother died the following year from lung cancer.