~Just A Simple Mind~: Swallowfield

A Little Bit About Myself

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 08:02:06 GMT

A Little bit about Myself

Born in Australia in 1956

I grow up in a tiny little country town called Gembrook

Which is in the state of Victoria

Did my junior schooling at the Gembrook Primary School

And did my senior schooling at

St Margaret’s Girls College Berwick

I was a boarder there for 3 years

From there l worked my way around Victoria

Working on farmers and working with animals

My first love was horses

And when l returned home

We showed horses for many years and our family were very involved

With horses in breeding, racing and showing

I also had a very keen interest in other sports as well

Pretty much any sport

At the age of 20 I was married

I have a wonderful son who is now 29

What do I like doing?

Cooking

Gardening

Having a beautiful home

Writing

Working with graphics and PSP

Meeting new friends

Just walking along the river bank or the ocean beaches

I like most music

And a good movie

My Loves

My Son

My Dog “ Tootypup”

All Animals

Sport, Writing, Gardening, Cooking,

Haveing Friends around,

And at times, just having time out to myself

I love all animals

I don't have much time for people that miss

Treat animals

I love to explore new things

See new places

See all that my country has to offer

To just go on our house boat up the river

And to feel alone with the world

Life is to short to hold grudges

I have never burnt my bridges as l have passed

Through lifes journies

May be one day l will return to those places in my past

But the memories I have

I will always hold close to my heart

And for the rough times

Well they were just a learning time in my life

L guess we all go through this in our time

Always hold the best times close to your heart

Leave the bad behind in your yesterdays

And your journey will be pleasent

Thank you for taking the time to know me

A little better

Susan..........tootypup

~* Just A Simple Mind *~

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Swallowfield

Thu, 30 Jun 2005 01:54:40 GMT

Swallowfield

Is were I grow up

swallowfield has a very special place in my heart

It is a part of my past that I will always cherish

It is where I grow up

Swallowfield has been in the family for five generations

The old home was a beautiful majestic home

5 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

2 lounge rooms

An old outside laundry

And a huge kitchen

And verandas both back and front the length of the house

So there was plenty of room or rooms to get lost in

The gardens where simply beautiful

Based on the old style English gardens

With grand old oak trees

Rose gardens and the big old Rhododendrons

The lot... it just had everything

Swallowfield was one of the first homes built

In the tinny town of Gembrook

In the late 1800's

My Great Grand Parents moved out here

From England at around that time

Being one of the first settlers in this region

Gembrook was a timber milling town

Milling timber and moving it to the city of Melbourne

By Rail ( Puffing Billy )

For sale to use for building homes in the city at that time

Swallowfield was sold around 1986

It had been in the family for over 100 years

I miss the Old Estate

But the memories I have

Will always be with me

Forever in time

Lest We Forget

What they gave in the time of War

To you My Grandfather

I will never Forget

** The Solider **

A Time gone by

Long past

Just a memory

Of when our Grandfathers where young

Full of pride and patriotic ideals

A solider with no fear

Ready to fight for his country

To stand for the rights of the generations to come

He marched away to a land never seen

But now in time

Only a haunting tune to remind us

Of these souls now long past

Who walked the plains of war

Through the fields of blood

From the time of our yesterdays

Only a whisper in the winds

And the stories of old

To remind us of this time

ln the dark shadows of history

That are now told

Their memories will live on in our hearts

For all eternity

ln the sands of time

Of the sacrifices they gave for what they believed

With their last breath they took in this life

They knew their purpose was so right

They fought with pride

And a silent fear

Along side there mates

For all the tomorrows to come

So it would be right for the ones left behind

The tears of war

The sacrifice of blood

The silent grave yards covered with a cold mist

Will always be with us

Haunting our minds

Till we learn

The lessons of life

The lesson of living in peace

With no secrets to hide

When the haunting drums of war

Are silenced forever

****

This poem is in memory of my Grandfather

JHC Russell

He fought in WW1

He gave more than most for what he believed was right

He was only 19

Gembrook

A Little History Of How

Gembrook Came To Be

A Little Town that will always be in my Heart

The first land selection in the Gembrook area was made by the Le Soeuf Family

in 1873.
Albert Le Soeuf came up with the name

'Gembrook'

to describe a creek on which he and others were prospecting for gemstones

(mainly sapphires and emeralds).
A.A. Le Soeuf later purchased 320 acres and named it Gembrook Park.

At Gembrook Park they set up an Acclimatization Park

with the aim of importing European Species

to be introduced to Australia.

Quail, deer, guinea fowl and blackberry were some of these.
People of the time really did want to bring a bit of Europe

to make Australia a bit more like

'the Old Country'

This attitude often brought catastrophic results.
A Colac farmer named Austin

is credited with importing and releasing the first rabbits to the colony

with disastrous results.

It nearly ruined the pastoral industry

and rabbits remain a constant problem to farmers to this day.

60 acres of this park still remains today

John Ure, another early settler had brought in a water powered stamper

to use in mining.

As the gold and precious stone supply was quite scarce

he modified it to enable him to power a small sawmill

which he used to supply the locals with timber.

Soon after a flourishing timber industry began.

By 1896 Parliament decided to build a railway to Gembrook

to service the logging industry.

This arrived in 1900.

The committee that decided this commented that

'the amount of marketable timber appears unlimited'.
The mills that worked in the area provided much of the timber

used to build Melbourne.

Life was hard for these families.

The mills had to be moved regularly,

tramlines and tracks constructed,

fires regularly destroyed both their mills

and the raw materials they were harvesting.

Remember there were no chainsaws in those days,

just the axe and the crosscut saw for felling

and steam powered machinery for the milling.

The timber Industry struggled through depressions

and unpredictable timber prices for many years

but large scale sawmilling ceased in the 1940's.
Then came the farmers who cleared the land

and planted the crops, orchards berry farms

and ran dairy herds to feed the developing suburban populations.

A Little bit of Gembrooks History.

Puffinbilly was a big part of Gembrooks history.

A life line to the city at the time.

The train running from Belgrave to Gembrook

- Belgrave being the change over point for the link into Melbourne.

Puffingbilly was also a timber train,

taking out timber from Gembrook

( a big milling area in the early 1900's)

As well, the little train brought in supplies

to the towns population as well as a passenger service.

Puffingbilly was brought back to the hills of Gembrook

in the late 1990's

It is one of the Dandenongs main tourist attractions today.

At historic Kurth Kiln,

deep in the Gembrook Forest,

bulk amounts of charcoal were produced

for the burners that were fitted to engines

in our cities in the fuel short days of the Second World War.
Now a major potato producing area,

with a fast growing flower industry which rivals any in the

Dandenong Ranges,

Gembrook is the ideal getaway for peace and tranquility.
With the magnificent Gembrook and Bunyip State Parks

and numerous bed & breakfasts,

nurseries, tea rooms, craft shops and galleries

on our front doorstop and being within easy reach

of many wineries, animal parks, hotels, restaurants and theme parks Gembrook is also experiencing a boom in the tourist trade.

~*Just A Simple Mind*~: Swallowfield

A Little Bit About Myself

A Little bit about Myself

Born in Australia in 1956

Swallowfield

~Just A Simple Mind~: Swallowfield