Looking out to sea or dumped in the surf

I was down at the bay and thought some art was appropriate for the area so I constructed this as a reminder we are all kids at heart.

The tin canoe

As the heading implys this is about  the tin canoe we built, there was a large sheet of tin washed down the creek behind the house after some heavy rain and this was retreaved and all the dints were knocked out. This wasn't the new type of corrigated iron but the old soft stuff that when you were on the roof you had to walk on the rafters or you might fall threw.  The sheet after about an hour was straight so to speek with the hammer marks of a fine craftsman and then there was the bullet holes and nail holes to fill in. Silicon would do a fine job of those but for the fact that it had'nt been invented. It was hot and the tar was melting on the road and with a stick this was scraped up to fill the holes. The two corners were bought together and nailed to a vertical upright that was cut from the front fence at the end corner of the fence so no one would miss it.The only real tool we had was a fine little hatchet which was used for a hammer and everything else we could think of using it for and it was as sharp as a gellette razor. Then the stern had the same proceedure done to it. Now came the tricky bit the canoe was proped up against the fence and mud was rammed into the end and covered with the tar from the road. This was heated in a jam tin on a fire made in the yard. No fire banns in those days and we could play with matches in this special area denuded of all vegitation.

What a fine craft it was after putting in a spreader bar to hold the sides out, many a voyage was performed in that fine ship, modifications were an outrigger and a sail made from a sheet taken from Mrs Willets clothes line shes long gone now god bless her soul. We used the left over tar to paint the sheet after disolving it in petrol, like all good sails there was an attempt at the skull and cross bones, well it looked good to us.

Imagination

As a child of eight I was fortunate to live on the edge of the world at mountain top at the top of the Dorrigo mountain. My play ground was the rain forests and farm lands in the immediate area. The water that fell from the mountain top and rained to the valley below was cool and clean with moss covered rocks and ground in the imediate area of the stream. The hues of green was imense and the white of the clouds that drifted in from the valley below. It was a fairy land in reality and with an inteligent fertile mind I was able to get the best from the experience. As I have stated before in other post we were poor beyond belief  but the fairyland of my mind made me the wealthiest person in the world. Dragon flies became helicopters leaves became boats and ants became horses, and throwen into this was blocks of wood which became cars and trucks, Happiness was my whole world and was never shared to this day. When I watch the dumb box (TV) I am taken from my chair to the ends of the world in my own mind. Many years later I was to work as a pearl diver and was taken back to those early days. To drop a hammer it would go straight to the bottom and a wooden wedge would go to the surface and this was to amuse me the first time it happened, Then to lift ten tons of steel on air bags tied to the steel was amazing. I, with the released air from my lungs was able to lift such massive weights. I have been blessed with a wonderful working life and great friends but to go back to my childhood in my mind is a blessing that I cherish. I feel so sorry for people who have had electric shock treatment to loose those thoughts forever, I am truly blessed.

mining

If  the western coal fields in NSW are mined and degassafied then the australian contental plate will be at risk of awaking dorment volcanic activity. There is a fault  running threw the centre of NSW and going into Queensland and if restraint of the mining industry is not carried out then there will be consiquences for the unbourn generations. This is not a scare tactic it is a fact. The largest underground mine in the world has problems with local earth quakes so why would it not happen here in Australia. Look at the billions of tons of wool beef iron ore and other minerals and coal taken from the country over the last two hundred years, then something is going to break and it will be the continental plate it self. With the associated earth quakes and volcanoes forming.

Fashion

 The photos show manican models used in the fashion industry and on close inspection shows that they are masively out of proportion. If the model was in the full it would be eight feet tall I an five eight,I havnt ever seen a eight foot woman yet.

 Now on close inspection you will notice the hudge bend in the fema leg bone and the result would be new knee joints and painfull operations and like a small dog the legs would break because they are too thin. they do this to get the thin waist which would suit a seven year old child.  Notice how high the knee is! This is to show that the fashion industry is into impossible dreams......

Horse and dray

Living in the Dorrigo district in the 1950's was some what exciting as a child even though there was no money. Going into Dorrigo was a big event in my life. My old man had a Hudson Terra plane car and it had leather upholstery. Dad had two trucks both Bedfords and later a Ferguson te20 tractor. I remember steam was used in the bush and the sawmills. When you cannot afford wheels for a farm trailer a sled was fashioned out of bush poles to either be towed by the tractor or horses. We used to get the sled and tow it to the top of a hill and let it loose with us on board for a quick ride down the hill. How we survived those times I don't know. Then another game was to climb small trees and they would not be able to hold the weight and would bend over and we would let go some times they broke and we came crashing down. Riding small calves was a good past time as well, many a bruise would appear, if you were to have that many bruises today you parent would be accused of child abuse. There was a big timber dray at the front of the house was there for many years the wheels would have been six feet in diameter or more. Latter on in years I worked with pit ponies underground till they decided that it was too cruel for the horses but they truly loved the work. If you put on three skips the horse would hear the second chain rattle as it took the load and it would not pull it, when the third skip was unhooked they would pull the load. They could work in the dark as if they could see, it was amazing and they were treated with kindness anyone who miss treated them would be sacked.

Scouts

When I was a scout leader I got to take the scouts on outings to different places like the usual fire station and police station so some ingenuity into where to take them next. My mate had this lolly shop and made boiled lollies. He agreed to let us visit and he meet the group at the door and laid down the law do not touch the lollies and he said it with solemn face and all the seriousness he could prevail. He mixed up a batch on the tables with all the colours of the rainbow and drew it threw the dies and into the cutting machine and the lollies came out at about a thousand a minute. He then mixed up a batch in the groups colours all the time with questions coming quick and fast. When they cooled down with a glint in his eye said they were so good and showed restraint and they could help them selves to what was on the table, all bedlam was let loose in those next few seconds. The rumble was over in short of a minute. Then he said he would make a lolly pop on a stick for the leader ME it wasn't the usual lolly pop cause he used a broom handle for the stick and the lolly was over a meter on diameter. Huge it was But what do you do with a lolly pop that big. The following week I had a game at the hall and there was a special surprise for the winner of the game. The game was won and out came the big lolly pop and a hammer. The lolly pop was put on the floor and struck with the hammer and even to my surprise it shattered into a million bits and there was a scramble that followed. They were fun times......