Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 60]
adults had a cup of tea and went to bed. Next morning work as usual. Betty is only 3 months old and still very good at sleeping and the other 3 played around.
School holidays being over now and the year is 1936. Merle back at school, and March coming up when Beryl turns 4 years. I take her up to the school to see if I can get her in, and yes we could. It was a big worry as she kept wandering out and coming home, no matter how often one of us still took her back. She finally took to it and stayed and Merle would hold her hand and off they would go and come home the same way. Beryl was almost as big as Merle so I started dressing the two of them the same and they looked like twins. Albert was a very good little boy (spoiled yes but his illness and nearly losing him I think).
Whilst we were at Ramsgate a photographer came around so I had Beryl's photo taken on the front veranda there and it came out very lovely. So now that's Merle at 4 years and Beryl at 4 years. Work is going on as usual. Betty is crawling around and what she used to like best to play with are a lot of cotton reels threaded and a golden syrup tin with a stone in it of course. It would roll around the floor and make a noise but she was still good. Now Beryl had very sore ears and had to stay home from school. Young Albert got a very bad cold, of course this is winter time and the house was very cold although it had plenty of sun. I was very busy with the children and the September school holidays coming up and Betty was not very well. I had to get the doctor down to see them, he told me I would have to be very careful with the children as he thought the house could be damp and especially not any good for the boy. Well instead of the boy getting any better he got worse, so he came again when I called him and he said "what's wrong with this little one", that was Betty. He had a look at her and checked Beryl ears and checked Albert and said "I will have to put them all into hospital and you best look for another house as this is far to damp for them. You should go to the mountains". I said "we can not afford to go there", he then said "well have a look around Earlwood, it is high and it's supposed to have mountain air". He asked me how old Betty was and I said "9 months. Have you weaned her? No but I will do that. I am going to put the 3 of them into hospital that way she will get weaned and you look for a place". He also looked at my foot as I had trod on a rusty nail down the yard and my foot was poisoned, but he said "it will be sore for a while but it is on the mend". Now he said. "I will send an ambulance down to take them and you go with them up there". Little Merle was upset when she came home and no mummy and no brother and sisters. She was soon settled down by Uncle Albert, (good old Uncle Albert), he was always there when he was needed. Their father was doing his 2 days relief work. O.K., the ambulance came and as we were going along the road I asked the ambulance man if he could pull up, my husband is over there working so he tooted the horn and I beckoned to him to come over. I told him the 3 of them had to go into hospital, alright see you later, so I came home on the steam train from Kogarah to Ramsgate. Merle was so pleased to see me. I made a cup of tea and had a talk to Albert before Ray came home as he had started drinking again and we did not know what time he would be in. I arranged with Albert if we could get a place in Earlwood, he would be able to do a lot of the work in his mothers garage and could live back at home. So we agreed that I would still use the smaller machine wherever we went to. Next day I had arranged to leave early and make for the agent at Canterbury as there were not as many around in those days like there are today. Well I went up to the hospital that night to see the children, they