1956

This was a year when there was fair bit going on, not all of it good. I already wrote about my rheumatic fever. That year Mum spent some time in hospital, I think due to a miscarriage (not something that was explained to the kids). Grandma stayed with us at the farm for a bit to help out, and during that time Dad broke some fingers when they got caught in a spring-loaded spray boom. Then pretty much around the same time Grandpa was driving Grandma and a couple of other people in his Plymouth when they hit the back corner of a semi on the Keith to Bordertown road. They rolled several times and wrote off the car, but I don’t think there were serious injuries. Lucky! No seat belts of course in those days.

The Plymouth was replaced by a Vanguard that I think stilled lived in the old timber garage where the church hall is now (scene of Tania and Mark’s christening after-church function). Later when that part of the block went to the church they built a new stone garage up by the house.

This was also the year of the Melbourne Olympics, and we all took off to Ballarat for a day to see rowing finals. By that time Dad had a black Mercedes Benz, I reckon probably a 180D. I remember the races seemed to be way across the other side of the lake, but I guess they finished somewhere near where we and the other spectators were. There was some bother when a Russian dropped his medal in the water.