34 Idyll curtailed

Sadly Gordon had not been able to beat the cancer that riddled his abdomen and gave him intense back pains. He died without needing to use the steel bridge in an ambulance mercy dash to Bombala. His death ended one of the many love stories of the valley that had brought him, his new wife, and the younger members of his wife’s family together to Creewah. He had given up the Sydney Water Board and his grown up family to become a hobby farmer and try out his many talents in the bush. Temporary sheds had gone up quickly, the cows purchased and producing milk, chooks pecked around the sheds and made eggs, and the fruit and vegie garden thrived.

They had chosen and cleared a position overlooking the river to build their house. The sheds worked out well as temporary dwellings for the family and the bathroom shed had a lovely view over the garden. The teenage daughter boasted that her experiences in that hot bath were unrivalled anywhere. Who else could soap, watch birds and simultaneously pick and eat raspberries from canes overhanging their bath? Incidentally, she also wrote poetry while in the bath, at least that's what she said.

Their climb to the idyllic lifestyle was not dissimilar from that of others in the area. Get the basic necessities together in temporary form while you work on the better and permanent structures.
The plan was to expand the agricultural activities later. They purchased an elegant and large kit house that they would build. No components were prefabricated. The kit was essentially a plan and all the bits and pieces needed to complete the dwelling delivered on site by the manufacturer. It was sized to take the whole family and any future additions like grandchildren, so it was big.

The dream house task was too great. The sheds were there so there was no immediate urgency to complete. It progressed but weeds grew faster and components and tools, put down till tomorrow, disappeared under the grass and the debris of normal family life. Eventually the roof was complete so it was a good time to try it out and move in. The view was great without the walls.

Then Gordon’s pains started, the kids suddenly grew up and left and the lovers were marooned alone on a settee under a big roof with the wind howling through. Amazingly, they battled on and got the walls up and the ceilings, the septic tank worked, the river water was plumbed in and electricity attached. They had done it apart from sundries like shapely verandas and deckings and painting and the odd chimney. It was a remarkable achievement but time had run out. Gordon often said ‘we haven’t got a round to ot’ which was supposed to be a funny toilet joke but was also deep and meaningful.

She said, we’re not going to have a big house. Anything we have has to be complete in a week. Let’s get on with the dream without the pain. And we started looking for a cheap house that would fit the plan, but suitable for a lawyer now earning money.