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Wool Shed Kitchen - Copyright 2021 Maxwell Jefferies
Max's Blog
from the
shed floor
from the
shed floor
13th December 2024
My Life Story - episode 10 - Back to Bassendean, Beth & Ken's wedding, new car and employment.
My Life Story - episode 10 - Back to Bassendean, Beth & Ken's wedding, new car and employment.
History, heritage, biography.
Some images expand on click.
Some images expand on click.
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Stay tuned for Episode 11 - Meeting the Creator, making new friends and new employment.
Got the car. Got the girl. What could go wrong? Then came the "Dear John..." letter.
Have an awesome day! Cheers, Max.
Stay tuned for Episode 11 - Meeting the Creator, making new friends and new employment.
Got the car. Got the girl. What could go wrong? Then came the "Dear John..." letter.
Have an awesome day! Cheers, Max.
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Wool Shed Kitchen - Copyright 2021 Maxwell Jefferies
Max's Blog
from the shed floor
from the shed floor
Ann's family moved to a Homeswest house in Rivervale a few months before we closed the woodyard in Maylands, which ended our involvement in firewood cuting. Ann was 16 at this time and I now had my driver's licence.
So I was back in the house that I grew up in while attending Ashfield Primary School, a stones throw away from our front door, and Cyril Jackson Senior High School was just across the road from the Primary School, where I attended until the day I turned 14.
My parents, Gordon and Irene.
After closing the woodyard, we returned to the Fisher Street house in Bassendean, on the border of Ashfield, the first house off Hardy Road. Dad built a long driveway that went all the way from our front street through to our back street. All the concrete was mixed in his well-used cement mixer and laid by hand over many months.
My parents now owned this house and had made lots of changes, including building an extension on the back of the house as pictured here - a larger lounge room, main bedroom, and a toilet, shower and laundry room. Dad built this himself, with the help of a few mates at times, which always involved beer!
He also levelled up this patio area immediately behind the house. Pictured is my sister, Elvie, and her youngest son, David. (This image is out of sequence as here they are with my son, Daniel who was born many years later).
Elvie on the Fisher Street's front lawn. There was a bus stop on our verge, very convienient at times.
My mum and sister, Beth, in the centre kitchen. We had lots of family do's at the Fisher Street house.
My sister, Beth, married Ken Foster, a farmer from Kondinin, a small country town about a two hour drive east of Perth. Ken's brother, Bill, was best man, and Elvie was the matron of honour. The photos and reception were at our Fisher Street house.
My sister, Elvie, now had four sons, Steven, Peter, Paul and David. Unfortunately, her husban had left the family and she was bringing up the boys on her own. She did an awesome job, the boys were well disciplined and cared for.
It was a very small gathering, and the reception was held in the large lounge room of the Fisher Street house. Pictured is: Ken's father, Elvie, Ken, Beth, Bill, Irene and Gordon.
Siblings: Graeme, Beth, Elvie and me (Max).
Steven, with Grandad Jefferies.
I wanted a new car to impress the girl, so bought a near new 1965 HD Holden Premier in top condition - on finance payments. Turned out better than I expected, as it became my 'harem' car, always full of girls, but that is a story for a little later. This was the best car I ever owned, and I have had LOTS of cars!
"Holden replaced the ageing EH with a stylish new family car in 1965, featuring so-called “Space-Curve” bodywork clearly influenced by Opel in Germany. Taking on Ford’s latest XP Falcon, the HD was both wider and longer than its predecessor, with an extended range of engines and the new 2 speed Powerglide automatic transmission with torque converter. Other improvements included better brakes (front discs were optional) with an auto-adjustment, while the electrics were also revised, with an alternator replacing the generator found on earlier models. Holden’s engineers also revamped the suspension, dubbed the “Improved Red-Carpet Ride” by the marketing department."
Ken's farm was around 25 kms from the small town of Kondinin, and cropped mostly wheat and ran sheep for wool. It was called, "Bog-a-Duck", as in the winter some parts of the fields were so wet it could bog a duck. Pictured is Elvie with the main house in the background, and the farm dam full from the early rains.
Ken would link two Chamberlin tractors together and operate them from the front tractor to plow the fields. It was a very dangerous setup to operate by one person. One story is this double unit plowing got so bogged that you could just see the tops of the big drive wheels. It took a while to dis-engage the second tractor, which had dug itself deep in the mud. It was weeks before Ken could pull it out with his small dozer.
Beth became a vital part of the farm life, helping Ken in many of his tasks, cooking the meals, driving tractors, shifting the sheep, driving the truck. etc.
Elvie's boys loved visiting the farm, especialy Paul, who stayed on the farm for a few weeks when he was a bit older. I also stayed for a short time before Beth and Ken were married. It was Ken who made me eat peas for the first time. Now I even eat broccoli!
Me and the cat in my parent's loungeroom at Fisher Street.
I had purchased a newer camera with a nice flash unit. The cat wasn't so happy about that!
Ann's family had moved into a Homewest State Housing home in Rivervale. Her dad was now working for Burswood Hire, a machinery hire firm in Belmont, delivering and servicing small construction equipment.
Picured is Ann's brother, Victor, who is one year youger than her, Ann, the oldest, and parents Elaine and Ted.
Our boss, Jack Alfred, had a rough cabin on a block on the edge of the Peel Inlet near Mandurah, and us being an out-doorsie family, we would not let a storm interfere with a holiday, so spent a weekend there anyway. Dad put out his fishing net in the rain, we all got soaked bringing it back in and cleaning the seaweed out of it. Caught a few mullet and crabs.
At this time, my dad and I were working with Jack Alfred in Dianella, doing bitumen paving of driveways and car parks around the Baywater Shire and surrounds. I operated the tractor digging and levelling the base, then compacting it, spraying the bitumen on, then spreading the aggregate layers and compacting more.
Me re-forming the oval banks at the CYC Lake Coolanup in Baldivis, with the borrowed tractor from work over the Christmas shutdown. But that's a later story.
Ann worked for the Bank of New South Wales (later to be renamed Westpac) in Hay Street, West Perth. (Image is similar to her branch.) She started at a branch in Inglewood, then shifted to the West Perth branch when the family moved to Rivervale. She worked as a data machine operator on the old Burrough's accounting system. She would finish work around 5.30-6pm. On some days, I would knock off at 4pm, race home for a shower and change, then drive from Bassendean to West Perth to park opposite the bank to take her home. That's what young love will do to you!
Her dad was a supporter of the local East Perth football team, and got Ann on the Cheer Leadering team. This outfit was the uniform for that year, 1970. He loved his "Princess" daughter, but not happy that she was going out with me, and I could understand that - but, tough!
Ann had a close friend named Julie-Anne. They were often mistaken as sisters.
Ann was bridesmaid at Julie-Anne's wedding, shown here with her mum, Elaine.
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