There were a few of them..some lived in what has become known as the Slack Shack, not far from the house that dad built. On the banks of the..local river. Lou Lou, we called this old gentleman. Lou Gordon was his name, and he lived in..the Slack Shack for years while we all grew up. Us two..little boys, maybe 7 and 5, were in the habit of lobbing around to see Lou Lou, and asking..have you got any biscuits?..And. of course, there was always a fistful of Our Favourite Biscuit in the Whole Wide World..Monte Carlos! Yum..
Mum sprung us..or maybe it was Dad..and Mum said..now, Lou Lou is on a limited income..he cant afford to keep you two in biscuits all the time..so..you aren’t allowed to ask Lou Lou for biscuits! Do you both understand?..Yes Mum..we chorsed. So..we’d go around and Not ask for biscuits..Hi, Lou Lou…hello you two….would you like some biscuits? Yes Please!
We were only small..not a lot of memories from those days. Every now and then, though..an old car engine was discovered down the river bank on a framework..across the main road it was. Aha! one of the two gentleman had planned to put in tomatoes..three or four acres it seemed, and irrigation was a problem. Hence the engine..it drove a pump. The other gentleman was Johnny..somebody or another..he stayed there for a while, after Lou Lou had gone. Years later. Methinks the tomatoe venture was Lou Lous, though.
Lou Lou had a rotary hoe..a tow you along behind type one..a Howard maybe. Came the time to sell it, so it was auctioned off. None of the local lot seemed too happy at paying Lou Lous price, however, and the guy that ended up with it..we ran him up, said Dad..until the price was reached..a friend in the know would bid against the guy, who then bid higher..etc etc then we let him have it. Satisfaction ..almost all around.
Just across the paddock from the Slack Shack was the original homestead..falling down, housing hay, and sheepie baas when it rained. Somehow, there came a family who moved into it..I’d imagine the deal was..We’ll do odd jobs, etc, keep it looking good..sort of thing, but don’t quote me! Later on..they were still there, and wouldn’t move on..they were quite comfy, thankyouverymuch, even though dirt floors, leaky roof, cold in the winter, no power or piped water..but cheap to live there. Dad had the council declare the place unsuitable to live in, and that got them out.
After Johnny moved on, great uncle Ben stayed ..in the slack shack.., here and there. He was a great old stick..born down the coast with heaps of siblings..13 or so, grandma Shaw being one of them. He and great aunt Chris lived in the house that dad built for a while, too. Dad had to move up to another old house, due to provisions in a will..he always planned to have a farm worker live..in the house that dad built.. work on the farm, so he could pay lower wages, due to the family living in..the house that dad built..It never really eventuated, though.
Sadly, the Slack Shack is no more..it burned down a few years ago now. There are plans to rebuild, however!
Different people stayed there..it was party central for a long time. A loong power lead was utilised..the power had been cut off when it all got too expensive.