There was always big excitment on Misery at Christmas time—with all the young kids around. We'd all hang up an old pillowcase on the end of the bed. The girls would get dolls and stuff. I remember one year I got a cap gun, another year a pull along toy. We got socks, or shirts, or other clothes we needed. Mum would put some boiled lollies in, too. When you paid your bill at the grocery shop, the shop keeper used to get a piece of brown paper, roll it up to make a cone shape, then he’d tip a heap of boiled lollies in and seal the top over. He’d give you something for paying your bill. We used to have an account at the shop that Mum paid monthly. When we got older, we’d catch and skin a few bunnies and sell the skins and save the money up for Christmas. I can’t remember what we used to buy Mum—it was a long time ago.
We’d have a roast and veggies, and Christmas pudding for Christmas dinner. A few months before Christmas, Mum would make a Christmas pudding and a Christmas cake. She'd have the pudding hanging up in the house. Now me daughter makes me the same Christmas pudding using Mum's old recipe. While I'm eating it on Christmas Day I know me thoughts will drift back to our old house on Misery Farm, and the happy Christmases I spent there all those years ago.
We’d have a roast and veggies, and Christmas pudding for Christmas dinner. A few months before Christmas, Mum would make a Christmas pudding and a Christmas cake. She'd have the pudding hanging up in the house. Now me daughter makes me the same Christmas pudding using Mum's old recipe. While I'm eating it on Christmas Day I know me thoughts will drift back to our old house on Misery Farm, and the happy Christmases I spent there all those years ago.