​“Tell us one of your stories, Grandma”, pleaded the children.
 
“Tell us, tell us” chorused Sam and Frances together.  

“Alright, alright – but bed as soon as I have finished”, said Grandma.  “Snuggle down on the couch with the pillows between us and I’ll tell you all about a special fairy who happens to live in our garden here at 73 Benson Street, Benalla.”

“Here is the story”.

“Have you ever wondered why Grandma and Grandpa have a Flowering Gum tree in their garden, no matter where we happen to live?  Well, there is a reason.  You see an exceptional fairy called Ms Blossom always comes to stay in that tree.  Now she is very fussy about her title – she is not Miss or Mrs but Ms Blossom and she has particular powers”.

“Where does she live in the tree?” asked Sam.

“Interesting you should ask.  Most of the year she lives in the gum nuts which develop on the tree after it has flowered.  Then, when the buds are forming in November and December she starts flying from one collection of buds to another, hoping their little caps will burst off and out will come the beautiful crimson flowers with their golden tips.   All this usually happens just after Christmas when Ms Blossom sets up home in one of the beautful flowers.  She does this so she will get the magic golden dust on her wings so she can do her spells in Grandma’s home”

“What magic is that, Grandma?” asked softly spoken Frances.

“Well, you know how Grandma often loses things in her home?  The thing is, Ms Blossom also knows of this dilemma and so slips into Grandma’s home and shifts one or two things ever so slightly.  Lo and behold, Grandma can see the missing item and is as happy, as happy as can be.”

“Remember when Grandma lost her gold earring with the gum tree on it?  Well, I looked and looked for days and days.  I’m sure Ms Blossom fixed it, because weeks later I found the missing earring on the floor in front of the dressing table.  I know it wasn’t there before.”

“That is not the whole fairy story”, continued Grandma.  “You know at the bottom of Grandma and Grandpa’s Flowering Gum was a pond?  We have filled it in and this is the reason why.  When it was a rather shallow and dirty pond a very, very naughty goblin lived in it.  One day, while Ms Blossom was sleeping in her favourite gum flower this naughty goblin climbed up the tree and stole Ms Blossom’s precious dusted wings.  He hid them in another part of the tree, thinking he was very clever playing a trick on Ms Blossom.”

“Now, don’t worry,” comforted Grandma.  “Ms Blossom’s friend, the elf Jimmy who happens to live in the wattle tree two bushes down from Ms Blossom’s flowering gum, came to the rescue by finding Ms Blossom’s wings.  Between them they glued the wings back on with magic dew drops and Ms Blossom was able to get back to her main job looking after grandma’s lost items.”
​
“Now, it’s time for bed my lovely ones”

“No, no!” cried Sam and Frances.  “We want more stories!”
​
“Another day -  I’ll tell you another day all about the other fairies who live in Grandma and Grandpa’s natives garden.  Good night, kids.  Sleep tight knowing the excellent fairies and happy pixies and elves are just outside your bedroom windows at Grandma and Grandpa’s”.

Cars were not common in our street in the 1950's.  Solid brick houses, yes - but even phones were a rarity.  We had a phone but not a car.  A phone because my father was a 'tipster'*.  We lived in the Melbourne suburb of Caulfield and Dad rode track work in the mornings, worked in the State Savings Bank during the day and trained professional runners in the early evening.  An unusual father to say the least, but we owned our own home and as Mum didn't go to work he was a good provider who had control of the purse strings. 

I remember as a child that it was a big deal in the family when Dad's sister Aunty Dora and her husband Uncle Malcolm set off to a holiday to England on the liner Orcades, accompanied by  streamers and much waving!  I wasn't privy to the conversations, but apparently Dora and Malcolm were to buy a car for Mum and Dad while they were over there and bring it back.  Why it was better to buy a car in England was all a mystery to me.  Perhaps it was because in those days all things British were considered best, perhaps because it was to be Dad's car as head of the house.  

Whatever the reason, a Vauxhall Wyvern came to be housed in our large back yard (well it seemed large to me at the time), with no one in the family with a licence to drive it!  Our neighbour came with charts on how and when to change the oil, but still it stayed housed in the garage next to the chook pen, never moving for months.  

Why Dad never ventured into car driving was just another one of those family mysteries that children never ask about.  Perhaps as an interesting achiever of sorts he was frightened of failure for he never showed any aptitude to anything mechanical all his life.

Unbeknown to anyone, as we older kids were at work and dad was at work, mum took driving lessons and got her licence.  How she afforded it out of housekeeping I'm not sure--she probably used the money she made from selling eggs which I took around to neighbours on my bike.  Mum told me her secret, but not my younger brother, saying she wasn't going to continue catching trams with a baby in a pram when there was a perfectly good car in the garage. 

Mum wasn't brave enough to take the car out without telling Dad but finally told him she would if he didn't get his licence.  This was enough to push him into doing just that, but he always preferred public transport so left the car for mum who pursued her singing lessons.

The Vauxhall stayed with the family for many years, coming to Benalla in 1960.  After running the Nunn Street newsagency for a year Mum and Dad bought a farm on Goomalibee Road.  This seemed a long way to ride the bike to activities, so the Wyvern was used to learn to drive.  Dad always said I ruined the car learning to drive, but I think it was more likely his using it for carting hay!  Besides, he needed a bigger car to pull his horse floats. 


*A 'tipster' was a person who provided racing tips to others.