Jack Apps. 1927 – 2020
I was the first baby for mum and dad
This made them very happy and glad
To have a boy- their very first.
Dad opened a bottle to quench his thirst.
Two years later when
I had a little sister we called Gwen
I cuddled that little sister, she was mine
I tried to sing her to sleep but didn’t know a line.
Gwen and I were happy by large
Then along came a baby we called Marge
So that made three
For the family tree
Devoted girls to each other
Made life happy for our mother.
Sometimes I picture through life’s haze
The real old house of my childhood days.
The bare timber floors and the three quarter bed,
Where the young children lay their head.
Newspapers stuffed in the window sills
Keeping us kids from getting chills
Chaff bag blankets that kept us warm
And the old roof leaking when we had a storm.
Kerosene lamps we had for light
Candles used ‘cause money was tight
The ice man that came twice a week
And the trail in the hallway from the ice that would leak.
Specked fruit and veggies mum would buy
And a party time when we had rabbit pie
Cheap broken biscuits our mum would buy
O’ how I think of the days gone by.
The non-sewage dunny down the back
Getting there at night was really black
The lavy’ man , he was a stern old man
He’d call once a week to take away the pan.
He’d leave a new one it was by far,
clean inside and coated with tar.
The Baker called to sell his bread
With that hygiene we should be dead.
The milkman, he called every day
With his horse harnessed to the dray
The milk he had straight from the cow
I wonder if we would drink that now?
Another man with his horse and cart, would yell
Clothes props – to the ladies he would sell
They’d buy from him and affix to the line
And hope to the Lord that the sun would shine.
O’ how I think of the times we had
Maybe they were good and also sad.
Dad would wake in the early morn’
To work he would go before the dawn
He wouldn’t return till the dark of night
In a work worn state and a sorry sight.
Mum would heat the water for the bath he would need
Then cook the food for his well earned feed
Then us kids would get fed too
And lick our lips on dumpling stew.
In the morning to school we’d go
Walk two miles to and fro
We loved that school, our teachers we met
They were hard but fair and called us ‘pet’.
If you played up and acted insane
That teacher would surely give you the cane.
I really remember one day when
We had some chooks and the little red hen
Laid her eggs on the straw floor
And we all hoped she’d lay some more
Cause mum would use those eggs, you know
To mix with flour and water to make some dough
She’d make some pikelets and with some yeast
Boy oh boy, we’d have a feast.
Now our family expanded with a whirl
Mum gave birth to another girl
We were all happy and with rejoice
We maned that baby our lovely Joyce.
Our parents taught us to do the chores
To wash the dishes and sweep the floors
The old fuel stove cooked meals so good
My job was to crack the coal and chop the wood
My Alcove 