From Melbourne (Mum) : 1st March 1982

From Melbourne

1.3.82

Dear Alan,

                We have just had a very busy weekend. The weather was good sunny, no wind but not too hot. Beverley and I took Auntie Grace @ Win to Trentham. We spent the day picking blackberries. Auntie Grace and Win are slower than me @thirty years older but they spent just as long picking them as I did. Altogether we picked nearly 50 lbs. We should have picked more but there hasn’t been any rain for awhile @the berries were rather small. They were very happy because I didn’t want many so they took nearly all to make jam.

                 On the way home they said they would be rested and willing to go and pick more next week if there is room for them. Pamela@ her friend are going to pick berries @ we might stay over the weekend – it is the Moomba weekend. Yesterday was Ray’s 60^th birthday and Shareen invited as all up to her place for afternoon tea. She lives in a brick house over 60 years old but she is doing it up very nicely. She has plenty of rooms @ when she has finished she will have a really good comfortable house. The house is on the edge of houses in Bacchus Marsh and behind is the orchard of 20 acres.    From the front door all you see is houses and from the back all you see is apple trees with Ballarat Rd in the distance @ the hills behind. We went down into the orchard and picked a few apples. Bill just started picking the fruit last week so the trees are nearly all full. The trees looked good. Bill said the crop this year was good. They have another orchard he shares with his family a little away but he said 20 acres was enough to give them a good living. But he does work hard physically most of the time @ he has to contend with the weather. Last year they had a small crop because frost came just as the fruit was setting.

                I don’t know whether you have got my last letter yet because there has been an embargo on everything going to South Africa because the Union official died in prison. I would have thought that the government knowing the fuss that is caused when someone dies in prison would do all they could to see nothing happens. Even to keeping a guard on all important prisoners so that they can’t commit suicide (if that is what happened). It was just a coincident because we really hardly get anything about South Africa but the first and last item on AM this morning were both about South Africa. The first was about a group of English cricketers arriving to play. No-one seems to time yet to say much about it. The last item was about Mr Botha having a victory yesterday against the extreme right wingers. The commentator said it was a good thing for the Nationals that Mr Botha had come out on top. But I see that although he was giving a letter to the Indian @ Colored voters the blacks didn’t seem to be considered. We have been getting much more news about Zambia and the troubles there. I suppose the trouble there doesn’t help the black people in South Africa much. Beverley started at the university today went off in the mini.  Hope that it stays together. Last week the gear stick came out while she was driving in Footscray but we have had it fixed.

                                Love from Mum