Dear Editor

I would like to say thank you to Rita Summers for her story about the Jestrimski family.

(Valley Voice, Vol 46, No. 6.)  The Jestrimski family  pictured in the photo with Rita’s story are my grandparents and Clara on the right of the photo was my mother.

Rita wrote about the accident which took the life of my grandfather Jakob, after being thrown from a ‘Jinker’. I was only five years old at the time, but I remember it so well. The horse he was using in the jinker was renowned for being frisky, and I remember driving past him in our first car, an Overland, on that day, waving to him as we passed. The theory later was that the horse was spooked by the car and they never made it around the next corner.

Our family had gone to visit our Uncle Ralph ( third from left in photo) and Auntie Mathilda at  “Anchor Vale”. We loved to get together with our cousins. Ralph and Mathilda had a large family, 14 all told.

Uncle Ralph was blind, losing his eyesight at the age of twenty-five. Despite this disability he did all his own work.

His vegie garden was a sight to behold, rows and rows in such straight lines. He had sticks cut to the sizes he required to measure distances, and his garden would put many in the shade today.

We lived at the time in the hills above Pyengana, about 5 miles away. Uncle Ralph never missed my mother’s birthday which was on Boxing Day. He walked from   Anchor Vale to our home, about 10 miles, on his own, using only a walking stick.

This remarkable man, on the way to our house, would call into the Pyengana Post Office and local shop, doing all this unattended. He would then arrive at our  home in time for breakfast at around 8am.

I have very fond memories of Uncle Ralph’s visits, he always had sweets in his pockets, which was most important to a young child. When it came time for him to leave, I was allowed to go a short way with him, to a place called “where the water goes over the road’, and the last thing he did was to give me a sweet.

In the early days when the pioneers were beginning to settle at Pyengana, the first thing they did was to plant an orchard, usually apples, pears, plums and cherries.  My dad did the same thing and I remember what a lovely orchard it was, the cherries in particular doing very well. Most settlers did not stop at one tree of each, but had many of all  varieties in a well fenced garden, also  including a lovely vegetable garden.

Although we don’t see them today, gooseberries were another popular fruit, which tasted like the Chinese  gooseberry or Kiwi fruit we have today.

Here is my mother’s recipe for gooseberry pie:- Top and tail the gooseberries and place in a large pie dish. Make a very rich custard using 4 beaten eggs, 2 cups cream, ½ cup sugar and pour over gooseberries. Sprinkle top with nutmeg. Cook in medium oven and ENJOY (if you can find gooseberries).

(As I said before, gooseberries had to be topped and tailed ready for use and using a pair of scissors to do this job, I managed to give myself my first hair cut – a lovely fringe!)

Maisie Finney, aged 98½. St Marys