Dear Fran, Love Dulcie

by Victoria Twead

  We had 19 inches [48 cm] of rain 2 weeks ago and now it’s so hot you can hardly find a mud-hole anywhere and just last week I got bogged!

  Terry turned 19 the same day as Rick’s birthday. The last of his teen years. Did I tell you he passed his exams and is now a qualified green-keeper? But I’ve got the worst looking lawn in the district! Even worse since yesterday. A couple of the horses got in and stamped all over it, making great hoof holes and chewed patches.

  The rain perked up my garden. The zinnias are a picture and the vegetable plot is doing well. Have cucumber, pumpkin, beetroot, carrot, lettuce and tomatoes. Will put in some cabbage today. The fruit trees are loaded this year. Hope we don’t get a cyclone this time. February-March is the cyclone season so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

  Well, Fran, I must away and post this and head for home. Best wishes and happiness when you move into your new home. Sounds lovely.

  Love,

  Dulcie

  3rd July 1978

  Dear Fran,

  Good to hear from you again and many thanks for the birthday card. I love the azaleas on the card. Wish mine would grow and flower like that. Guess it’s too hot here for them, they don’t do well. Have been about 1 foot [30 cm] high for years and get a few flowers on sometimes.

  It’s good Dick got away from his business. I hope he gets something easier, close to your new lake home. Maybe he’s like me. If I lived by a lake I wouldn’t do any work, just fish all day long and probably starve to death!

  Trust you had a wow of a time for your parent’s Golden Wedding anniversary. Wish them many more happy years from us, Fran. If Len’s parents were still living together they would be married for 53 years now. Guess they can’t celebrate it, can they? Len’s dad hasn’t been too well lately. He had a couple of heart attacks this year. But he is 83 so I guess it’s to be expected.

  We’ve had a good winter so far, just a couple of light frosts and some welcome rain. Hope you are enjoying spring. I always remember a twig of soft furry things you sent once. Pussy Tails I think you called them. My twig lasted for ages but everyone kept feeling it and finally the little furry things fell apart.

  I have a new baby wallaby, a little black one. He is cute. Hops around the house and makes puddles where he shouldn’t. Whatever became of your Punk and the stray female cat you found, Fran?

  [Fran says that ‘Punk’ was short for her orange cat ‘Pumpkin’ and the stray female cat was Mary Kat which turned out to be a male cat - not discovered for several more years.]

  Old Sugarplum is still going strong, He is 11 now, fatter than ever and weighs 36 pounds [16 kg] and shames that vet who said he was overweight 3 years ago and wouldn’t live long. His only exercise is walking from his feed bowl to his chair and back, and a daily trip outside to his burial ground. What a life, and us humans are told to eat less and exercise more!

  Income tax time is around for us again and I’ll have to settle into a session of return forms for Terry and us. Will be a bit more complicated this year as we have both new vehicles and machinery. Did I tell you in April that we bought a new light-plant, direct-coupled to a 240 volt alternator? Was I glad to get the old one carted away. Dirty old hard-to-start, unreliable thing!

  I’m also trying to transfer my half of the property over to Terry so that Len and Terry will be joint owners. Bit difficult, as we have gift duties in Queensland, and the property has to be valued and duties assessed. Could be too much for us to manage. Latest assessment value is $150,000 and duties payable to government, $10,000. Can’t get out of it unless I die and leave it to him and I sure don’t feel sick yet.

  I don’t mean I’m clearing out, Fran. Just that I’d like to see Terry own it now as it isn’t much good, him doing work here, weekends, etc. and investing his money in (rather than spending his money on) doing and building things on the property, when he can’t receive anything out of it.

  Seems rather a stupid law that children have to wait until their parents (or one of them) are dead. After all, Terry might be 70 years old before we die! Len was 50 three weeks before my 41st birthday, and as Len said, he is half-way to 100! Hope he makes it.

  Well, Fran, must off now as I have some mending and ironing to do before bedtime.

  Trust all is well with you and yours.

  Love,

  Dulcie

  PS Write soon.

  7th September 1978

  Dear Fran,

  Your new home looks lovely. The snow really looks nice. I’ve never seen snow but winter just ended here so guess I don’t really want to see snow! I’m glad Dick and you are happy there and hope you have many happy years beside the lake. Tell Dick to send me a picture of the “big ones” he catches.

  Fran, your cat is almost as bad as Sugarplum! Wish they could meet each other. Two fat pigs aren’t they? Your boys, like Terry, are men now. I love Mark’s beard. We see the odd beard and long hair on Southern tourists but they didn’t catch on much up here. Too hot I suppose.

  Rain is falling lightly today so I’m having the afternoon at home. I killed yesterday evening and cut the carcass up, packed it, and froze it this morning. Was a good beast, not over-fat, and weighed out well.

  Fran, your idea of selling the land to Terry cheap is basically what people try to do to avoid gift duty. But that is where the trouble starts now because the law prohibits the sale or transfer of land, or any property for that matter, between husband-wife-children without government valuation.

  One way around it would be to sell the land at $1 per hectare to a friend and then the friend could sell it to Terry for the same. This has been done in some cases and once the friend gets hold of it you find out the friend isn’t a friend! So it’s better to do it the costly way and be sure. However we haven’t had much time to go on with it lately.

  Len’s father was staying with me for 6 weeks through winter. Len’s sister, Margaret, takes him sometimes but she has 6 children and hasn’t been too well lately. Anyway, Len came home for the weekend while his dad was here and he went back to his job on Sunday at about 2 o’clock (13th August).

  Pop went to bed early as usual and at 5:30 next morning I took him a cup of tea but he was dead. He had passed away through the night in his sleep. Problems and problems after I telephoned the ambulance who came and pronounced him dead. They will not carry dead people so I called the police. Interviews and statements for 2 hours. They have to be sure it’s not a case of murder, one said! A man of 83, what next?

  Then they called the police van and took Pop to the morgue. I phoned Margaret, that’s easy, but can only get Len on the 2-way radio and he turns it off mostly after the 7 am call. He is 327 miles [526 km] from here, all gravel road and a long trip, so I didn’t want to go looking for him unless I had to. Called the sign every half hour until another man, who works with Len but 42 miles [68 km] apart, answered.

  He drove to Len and passed the message on at 11:45 am. Len got home that night. He had left here on Sunday, 15 hours before his father died, and it took 7 more hours to contact him and another 6-hour drive for him to come home. After the funeral, 2 days later, more problems.

  Pop was a Catholic, so is Margaret and his deceased daughter’s children. He was buried from his own church and I cried for Len. Because, of his 7 grandsons, Terry, who Pop referred to as his only non-Catholic grandchild, was the only one of his grandsons who went to his funeral. And he was a pall-bearer along with Len, my brother Tom, my own old dad, Len’s cousin and one friend.

  Then to cap it all he left his entire estate to Len’s mother whom he had parted from approximately 25 years ago. Now Margaret is contesting the will because the parents were separated and Mother is a non-Catholic. Oh goodness, what a lot of trouble religion can cause.

  Len’s opinion is that if his dad left Mother the estate, even though they had been separate for years, then she is certainly entitled to it. So we have no part of it now but I feel for Mother, and the trouble ahead, because I like her too. She has been a good frien
d to me for years.

  Anyway, Fran, somehow I still feel religion can break a family and I’m glad my family, although of mixed faith, are very close.

  Lots of love,

  Dulcie

  24th April 1979

  Dear Fran,

  So sorry to have taken so long to write, just sheer neglect on my part. Would often think I’d write to you but each time I opened the desk, bills and bookwork would spill out and I’d get side-tracked on them. Other times I just closed it up and forgot the lot!

  Last November 20th, Len’s sister, Margaret, lost her youngest child, aged 3 and ½, in an accident. She broke up completely and was taken off for mental help. She is still there. They have always been fairly well off, and employ a live-in housekeeper, but she refused to take charge of the other kids so they came to us. Twin boys 12, a girl 11, twin boys (again) 8 and a girl 6. Beds all through the living room and kids everywhere. They sure make loads of work. Wish I could afford a housekeeper! Ah well, maybe Margaret will soon be better and home again to take care of them again.

  Christmas was noise and mess and fights and to top it off, Terry was put off at the golf course. Due to the economics of the country, the club went bankrupt and it’s no longer open. He couldn’t stand the 6 kids and their noise and got another job away from home. He comes home every second Sunday to see how things are. Len, too, has taken to every second weekend. Maybe the dog and cat will clear out next!

  [Terry, (left) with a friend, May 1979]

  Anyway the summer weather was good and we’ve had good rain to go into winter with. Cattle prices are slowly coming up again. What spare time I do have is spent on the stock and my garden is quite wrecked. These kids don’t know how to use a spade or digging fork and what’s more they don’t believe they should. Tell me that is the gardener’s job and I should employ one! They are fast coming down a peg and learning to do things after school and at weekends.

  I’m glad Dick is better and has a job to suit him, Fran, just as long as he doesn’t over-do it. I agree with you on the fireplaces, Fran. Most of the older homes here have at least one in the living room. Some even have 2 or 3 in the larger old places. But I feel sorry for those now building as fireplaces have become a thing of the past and one must crouch beside an electric heater.

  Well, I have a pile of ironing for school tomorrow so I must off and I will try to write more often.

  Love,

  Dulcie

  20th June 1979

  Dear Fran,

  Good to hear from you again. Rain is falling today. We have had 45 mm so far. Winter is late this year but after the rain clears I guess the cold will really get started. Always does after rain.

  I think your petrol is a bit cheaper than ours. Have enclosed some house listings and used-car prices, also a fuel invoice. Our fuel comes in a bulk tanker and is pumped into our storage tanks but for those who buy from service station pumps it is about 3 or 4 cents a litre dearer. Unleaded petrol is called standard and is 28 cents a litre. About 4 litres to the gallon makes it $1.12 per gallon as we are paying in bulk.

  Most people are buying the smaller Japanese cars and the American Fords. Valiants, etc. are slowly disappearing off the roads. Terry and I both have 6-cylinder Holdens and average about 28 miles [45 km] per gallon. Len has a Ford 6 cylinder and gets about 19 [30 km] or at the best 22 miles [35 km]. The difference is the horsepower. Len’s big engine isn’t really necessary. Granted, the car can go faster but what’s the use? Australia’s open-road speed limit is 60 miles per hour [97 kph]. Anyway the roads are so crook [bad] you can hardly do that!

  Len’s sister is home again. Came back 2 weeks ago and the kids all went home yesterday. What a relief! I hope Margaret pulls herself together and gets better. Len is right. He said she wants a good smack, where it will hurt most, and do some work for herself, instead of paying others to do it for her. He thinks she is spoilt and pampered.

  Anyway, the kids learned a few things while they were here. Weeds have to be pulled out of the garden and a spade digs the ground before plants are put in. How to make beds and clean floors, etc. In the end they were very willing and eager to try anything. They all want to come back during holidays but one or two at a time is enough!

  Well, Fran, I must go and feed my animals before it gets too late. It’s still raining so I guess it will be dark early tonight. Seems strange to be alone now, especially now that Terry has gone too. What a small meal I’ll have to cook tonight. Write soon.

  Lots of love,

  Dulcie

  10th August 1979

  Dear Fran,

  Haven’t heard from you for a while and I’m not sure if I owe you a letter. Hope you and Dick are both well and still happy with your new home. I guess it must be what you call Fall over there now. Winter is gone here and summer has got off to a good start. Will be soon fire danger time and I had Tom here today replacing the rollers in our dozer tracks so that I can crawl around the fire breaks again.

  Tom and Coral gave a surprise party for our Silver Wedding Anniversary on 10th July. (Actually the party was Saturday night 14th.) Was really a surprise as we had spent from daylight to dark, non-stop even for a meal, pulling pipes and the pump out of the 96 bore. Put on a new pump and lowered the lot down again and connected the windmill just on dark. When we got home, Coral phoned to ask us to a party, which we refused until she told us what it was about. We were the last to arrive but it was a very nice night even though we were tired.

  Only thing to spoil it was Terry smashed his car up. He had been in on the secret and was driving down from Saraji on Friday night. One cattle property, Annandale, has a habit of running stock out on the road and Terry hit a horse. The owner said he couldn’t pay for the damages and Terry has no insurance. He phoned a mate and towed his wreck back. Then his mate brought him down Saturday night. On the way they shot 7 horses and 16 head of cattle, still on the road at Annandale. Since then the Stock Inspector has shot a few more and said he will continue to until the roads are clear of straying stock. Still that doesn’t help pay to repair Terry’s car, or all the others who have smashed up there during the last year, since this new owner bought the place.

  Snoopy has just come in to be picked up. Did I tell you about him before? He is a red wallaby and was born blind. Cooberrie Park Zoo owns his mother and she tossed him out because she sensed something was wrong with him. The zoo people gave the little fellow to me last October because they didn’t have time to bother with him. When the children were here the eldest girl always spoilt him and now he still likes to sit on my lap and have a sleep. He is about 2 feet [61 cm] high and weighs 20 pounds [9 kg] now. But when he is full grown will be close to 6 feet [183 cm]. He can walk around the garden and through the house and never bumps into anything unless it is left out of place. Well, Fran, I must off and do a few more chores before dark.

  Love,

  Dulcie

  24th August 1979

  Dear Fran,

  Guess I’m expecting the impossible, hoping these flowers will reach you in perfect condition. I wanted you to have them when Dick’s birthday party is on. I once read that if plants are spoken to they respond. Well, these didn’t understand me because I begged them to open last week but the buds just stayed tight and ignored me! Still, I hope you have a wonderful party and happy birthday, Dick, from us.

  You and Dick are still spring chickens, Fran. Len was 51 last May and I turned 42 last April. It’s not a bad age, past all the baby days and school and worries about what the future has in store for the youngsters. Feels good now that we have our homes and everything else we need and free of debt.

  Remember 20 years ago, worrying about how to pay your way along? Mortgage, car payment, school books, etc. At our Silver Wedding party someone asked us if we had any regrets. At the time we said no but later at home we both had a thought for the two little ones we lost so long ago. Two small regrettable parts of our lives.

  It’s impossible to describe just how their deaths knocked th
e bottom out of our world, which we saw, as all young ones do, through rose-coloured glasses. But we had each other and most of all Terry. It’s been great to have him at home for so long.

  When he first moved away to Saraji, the quiet nights used to haunt me. But now I know that he is a young man and must leave the nest, like a young bird.

  Len takes his long service leave next February so I’ll have him home for a few months, which will put old Sugarplum’s nose out of joint! Living alone, I quite often talk to him and he laps up the attention! Poor old fellow will be 12 years old in September. He is still as fat as ever, 32 pounds [14.5 kg], and still has a beautiful set of teeth that he sometimes uses on my leg if he wants feeding and I’m a bit late.

  I think without all my animals around the place I would have gone batty or taken to drink years ago. But when the day’s work is done it’s wonderful to come home and walk around the garden and say hello to all the pets. Most relaxing.

  Well, Fran, must relax off to bed. As I said before, have a wonderful night for Dick’s party and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for the flowers.

  Love,

  Dulcie

  5th October 1979

  Dear Fran,

  While rounding up cattle the other day, these wild orchids reminded me of the exotic flowers I sent. These wild ones grow all over the trees. There are other types but I couldn’t reach them. The cattle and horses pull them down and I’ve noticed the blooms on the ground for over a week so maybe these will get to you in a fair condition. They are not very pretty but still hope you can see a bit of our country if they arrive okay.