Auntie Louise was a farmer’s wife dressed in either a well fitted dress with pleated skirt or suit with skirt which allowed her to climb into a milk truck. I never ever saw her in trousers. She wore classic low heeled shoes and never went bare legged. Her hair was set once a week at the hairdresser’s.
Her first chore of the day was to drive the cans of milk from the previous evening and that morning to the large town dairy. She combined this with the delivery of fresh farm eggs to her clients where they gave her bags of biscuits and rusks and sometimes a cake. There was always tea and cake layed out on her farm table at 3pm.
Her next chores after coming home often meant she put on a green thick cotton coat and either a pair of wellingtons or sturdier shoes. This meant she would be working with the chickens or the sheep. Once I spent a morning with her holding the chicken wings open while she vaccinated them. I remember telling her to stop because she had got my finger. She was always meticulous at checking that there were no holes in the mesh and that snake’s weren’t getting through. She did loose chickens this way.
The sheep she said did well on coke for a runny tummy (or was that the calves. 🤣 )She gave us flat coke when we had diarrhea and vomiting. It seemed to work. Lambing time was when you could find a basket by the agar with a towel cradling a new born lamb. I loved feeding them a bottle of milk but aunty Louise got them back to their mothers far too quickly.
Sometimes she spent time with the cows, making the decision to phone the vet. I admired the way she confidently walked through them talking to them by name. I sometimes walked right behind her, in her boot marks. I found the animals, particularly the bull, daunting. Still do!
Then at home, Auntie Louise’s lunch table always had meat and vegetables in a colourful assortment, all from the farm or a neighbour. She loved trying new recipes, mostly deserts all full of butter or cream!
All she did was done confidently. She knitted with raffia and wool. Made bags, hats and jerseys for anyone interested and loved her farming magazines. She eventually met her third husband via an advert in one of these. 🤣
A lady of many talents my dear auntie Louise.
Auntie Louise sounds amazing. 😊🙏🏾
She was a dynamic person. After uncle Fred she met and married a retired man who after a few years also past away. She and grandad then went to a home for senior people where she was their cook and Grandad continued to live with her.
Wow. Great to have such a legacy