Skatey...The life of Les Skate

Skatey
The Life of Les Skate
It was quite a nice little farm.
It was enough; it was
somewhere to live.
We had our own milk, cream and butter. Had a few
pigs. And Pop would bring home a sheep all cut up
ready for meat, when he returned of a weekend. So,
we got by on all that.
Dot and I, that was the eldest sister, we would milk
the cows before we went to school. We’d separate the cream from the milk by winding the
old hand separator. We’d put it into a small can which was carried up to the road. We were
back about a half a mile off the decent road, and it was a very muddy, and rough lane.
Once we’d walk that out, we’d go on to school. Then a few days later, the bloke would
drop the empty cans off for us, and there’d be a pound of butter in it. That’s about what
we got for our cream. We did have some home-made butter, but it was nice to have some
dairy butter too.
My second sister Val, her job at home (between school hours of course,) she sort of looked
after the kids. By that stage there were probably about five of us. (Ended up with eight.)
She helped make the beds, help make breakfasts, cut lunches, all that sort of thing.
Probably changed the nappies on the babies and all that. Everybody had a job to do.
Anyway, as time went by, I did my schooling.
School Days
Now Dot being the eldest, naturally was the first at school. In New South Wales they called
the years, the one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, ninth class. And then after that if
you wanted a higher education you had to go to one of the bigger cities. Dot didn’t get on
very well with the headmaster. She told him that too one day, and said, ‘I’m not coming
back,’ and she didn’t.
Dot didn’t get on very well
with the headmaster. She told
him that too one day.
Val was the student. Very clever that way and a
gentleman up there had a property that Pop used to
do all the shearing for and was quite friendly with
him. A fairly wealthy sort of a bloke. He understood
the situation that Val couldn’t get a good education
up there and so he paid for her to be sent to
Melbourne and paid for her education. She ended up with a good job down there. So that
was a good start for her and she was pretty secure.
Myself, next in line, I started off pretty good. In those
days you started school about seven years old. I
suppose having the family around me I got a bit of
self-education. I got first in first grade, and second in
second grade. And as I got higher my numbers
dropped back! Very strange …
So that was a good start for
her and she was pretty secure.
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