It seems there was no end to the mischief of some people, especially this fabulous lady, who grew up in country western Australia during the 1930s. We loved this gem of a story the about trouble that she and her siblings caused one hazy summer.
"Dad used to believe in breeding ducks. 13 weeks before Christmas they had to hatch out. Then he would fatten them up and they’d be ready for the shop to sell.
So we were all outside one day on the lawn and these little ducklings were running around. And my parents had a box there with this little wet hessian sack in it for the ducklings to sleep in. Us 4 kids put all of the 12 ducklings under the wet bag. We weren’t too popular for a few days after that, because the ducklings all died, didn’t they!
It was over that side of the lawn, the mint patch was on the other, the lawn was up the middle and we were having a great time. Until dad caught us. Oh god."
She also described to us a standard Saturday night in the country town she grew up in, such a hoot!
"Saturday night was movie night at the town hall. Except the last Saturday night of every month, when the hall was free to hire for parties and balls and so on, and the pictures then would be on a Friday night. It was usually a full house. Those old deck chairs, I remember them. Sometimes if they’d been left out in the weather a bit long, they’d be weak at the back. Then all of a sudden in the middle of the movie there’d be a crack, a great thud and some screams because someone’s chair had broken and they’d fallen straight off! That happened quite often, you know. There was no extra charge for that entertainment!"