James our Firstborn

One of my hobbies to to write a poem or two and have a go at short stories.
My first poem was about James, our eldest son, who was having a 40th birthday. I put a few words down on paper for him had so much fun doing it, I kept going..........


Our Firstborn

We were so young when you were born
We had no idea what was in store
Until you’re a parent you don’t really know
What love is unleashed at that first ‘hello’
You charmed all around you and filled us with joy
Our own little man, our own little boy.

At Valley Heights five years on
It was time to start school, a sad day for Mum
Cobber went with us to catch the bus
To make sure you were safe and make a big fuss.
Two brothers were added to the troop
This made an awesome family group
Character building was the flavour of the time
With a pretty tough father you mostly towed the line.

By ten you excelled both in school and in sport
Living then at Mulgoa, also farming was taught.
Milking cows, riding horses, having fun in the sun
The life of a ten year old was pretty good fun.
Four legged friends, Rex, Creamy and Bess
All helped to add to the life that was blessed.

At fifteen motorbikes were a passion by now
You knew you could frighten your mother, and how
Mixed with the ploughing, pig feeding and chores
Didn’t lend a lot of time to be absent or bored.

By 20 you had found chemistry was for you
Pride was just bursting from your parents too
You lived a while with your Pa and Nan
You could do no wrong, the perfect man!



At 25 you settled with your lovely wife
And by 30 your wonderful daughter came into your life
At 35 two boys made three
A family of five, so happy and free.

Everything in between these years,
The challenges, the laughter and the tears
Have made you the person you are to date
Son, husband, father, brother and mate


We’ve already forgotten the dents in the cars,
The explosions at funeral wakes and camping at McGraths
Son You have given us such love and joy,
And at 40 you are still our own little boy.

Happy 40th birthday

Family

My husband's name is Jim and we were married in 1965 in our teens. We had three sons James Craig and Richard. Built our first home in the Blue Mountains. After a huge fire raged through our district at Valley Heights we started looking for somewhere else to bring up our family. We purchased a 5 acre block at Mulgoa near Penrith and built our home. We were there 7 years and then moved to Parkes in the west of NSW where our children finished their education at Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes. Jim was a systems operater with Prospect County Council before moving to Parkes and we arrived in Parkes with a truckload horses, then a return trip to fill the truck up with 1 dozen young gilts in pig - our big start to farming!! We had bought an old farmhouse on a few hundred acres of red dirt. We had a 23 years in Parkes where Jim ran his own contracting business alonside farming wheat, sheep, cattle and pigs. I ran the office of the local vet clinic for 18 of those years. Before that I managed the local HCF office for four years. We were busy little vegemites and had no family support system. We moved my mum and aunt up to Parkes in 1981 as they were on their own in Wentworthville. Unfortunately mum died in 1983 so we didn't have her for long. Auntie Al died in 1990 and we sent her out with a huge bang. On the day of her funeral James showed us his skills handling explosives and blew up an old shed for his father; certainly was a great show.

Our three sons are all married and we have 7 grandchildren to show for it. They are all in the science field and we are very proud of them. We now live in Valla and have a lovely seachange farm. This is just a short story of some of our life - there is so much more!!!!

The Beginning of the Nuthouse

The nuthouse began for us in February 2003 when we moved all our goods and chatels, loaded up the dogs and set off for a life on the mid north coast. We had purchased a 13 acre, 1000 macadamia tree orchard in Valla, approx 10km from Nambucca Heads in a beautiful green valley. When we woke up on our first morning in Valla with the sun streaming through the window of our large bedroom we thought we had died and gone to heaven. The rolling green hills and fresh clean air was a stark contrast to the red dry dust we had left behind in Parkes. When the hammer went down on the last of our collection at the clearance sale in Parkes we felt a bit empty and lost. After all, this had been our home for 23 years. We had bought up our three boys, run a successful electrical business and managed a small farm for all those years. We had a big tie to Parkes with me working at the local vet clinic for 18 of those 23 years, and lots of friends to leave behind.

We have now been here for 5 years and have loved every minute of it. The work is pretty constant, but a labour of love. I will portray a shortened life story in my blog over the next few pages. Hopefully a few photos too. Also I want to include a few of my short stories I have written and poetry I have penned for family and friends on special occasions.