MEMORIES MADE....MEMORIES CHERISHED....

Mum...modelling in the mid-Fifties

Graham (and me) as a kid...with a kid in one pictue!

Top photo of Graham with a friend taken 6 weeks before he passed away, 6th June, 1998.  The lower two photos taken on his 56th birthday...28th February, 1998

My late mother’s birthday was 17^th February.  28^th February was my late older brother Graham’s birthday.  Both departed this earth far too soon...at the age of 55, in 1974...and, at the age of 56 years, in 1998, respectively.   

This post may appear, in many ways to be a repetition of a previous post, written and posted not long ago, but myriad memories flood my mind...more than usual...if that is at all possible. 

“Ain’t Misbehavin’”, “Stormy Weather”, “On the Sunny Side of the Street” are just three tunes from my late mother’s very long list of favourites...melodies she regularly played on the ivories of our Irving upright piano.  To hear Fats Waller play piano, is to hear my mother.  In no way am I being prejudiced in stating that fact because it is, in fact, a fact.

Music played a major role in our humble household during my late brother’s and my childhood.  Our mother’s playing of our piano played a huge role in lives.  Nana played the piano, also...and for five years I had piano lessons.

Our piano and our radio supplied the music during my brother’s and my childhood years.  Record players and stereos were still in the future...not in our home...as far as we were concerned, anyway.

In 1958 Graham purchased a little record player...his first...our first.  The first record he bought was “Rockin’ Robin”, by Bobby Day; the original, not the later inferior version by Michael Jackson.

As an aside...I was never a fan of Michael Jackson...I never bought any of his records, cassettes or CDs.  Prince...now he was as different story.  I remain a huge fan of Prince’s music. 

The second record added to what would become a huge pile was “Tom Dooley” by The Kingston Trio.  Bobby Darin insisted on joining the rapidly growing collection with “Beyond the Sea” and “Mack the Knife”. Shortly thereafter, Marty Robbins blasted his way through our front door...all tunes a-blazing...with “Gunfighter Ballads”. 

Not deterred by Marty’s forceful entry, Johnny Mathis arrived with his Greatest Hits album.  We didn’t have to wait until the 12^th of Never. It was wonderful, wonderful.  I get misty thinking about it.  Chances are our love of music came from our mother and our grandmother

Brenda Lee and Connie Francis, not wanting to miss a party, and always keen to be the centre of attention, joined the lads.

The Platters, of course, took their place with “The Great Pretender” and “Smoke Gets in your Eyes”. 

And, of course, Nat King Cole made an early appearance.  No music collection was a collection without Nat's version of Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust"...our mother's all-time favourite song.   If I had a dollar for every time Mum played "Stardust" on our piano, I'd be a millionairess...no joking!

Mum’s collection of sheet music was large enough to fill the tray of a truck...a slight exaggeration...but it was a huge hoard.  Among the sheets were many that belonged to our Nana...song sheets from the early 1900s.

Our mother played the piano by ear, too (using her fingers, not her ears).  She didn’t always need to follow the song sheets. 

Mum knew her favourites by heart. “Stardust”, “Rhapsody in Blue”, “Jealousy”, “Nola”, “A Kiss to Build a Dream On”, “Twelfth Street Rag”, “Paper Doll”, “Honey Hush”, “Moonlight Serenade”, “In the Mood”, “Elmer’s Tune”, “Chattanooga Choo Choo”, to name but a few. 

Oh!  Her catalogue was endless.

Also on our mother's list were piano concertos from Listz to Beethoven to Rachmaninoff, and all in between.  Mum introduced me to Debussy’s “Claire de Lune”, for which I’m forever grateful.

Big brother Graham was a big tease. He gained much pleasure from teasing me.  Naturally, to his delight, I bit better than a school of bream.  My unfailing reactions urged him on, of course.  With such an easy prey, who could blame him? When on a good thing, stick with it!  I didn’t charge for being the main entertainment. 

At the age of seven or eight years – thereabouts - I attended ballet classes for a period of time.  I was bitterly disappointed when I discovered my dance class outfit wouldn't be a tutu!  I’d been dreaming of prancing around like a young Margot Fonteyn in my pretty tutu...but that was not to be.  I had to swallow my disappointment.  The white, flared, short skirt dress made of piqué fabric was sewn by my mother to the design required.

Practising my dance steps at home was made very difficult by Graham’s teasing on the sidelines!

When he wasn’t teasing me, or racing his home-built soap box trolleys aka billy carts up and down the streets – minus a helmet, or any protective clothing, (Gympie is a hilly town), he was making shanghais (slingshots), bows, arrows, and shotguns out of wood and tree branches. 

Catching freshwater lobbies/yabbies in a waterhole just over the back from where we lived – an area that had once been a small gold mine operated by a sole ever-hopeful prospector - was a pastime my brother and I enjoyed. 

We searched high and low, but never struck gold. With lobbies, we struck it rich, though.  We loved cooking and eating the lobbies we caught in our tin cans attached to lengths of string. 

As well as baiting me, Graham loved fishing.  He could always guarantee a catch with the former!

Stir-Fried Yabbies with Ginger: In wok or pan, heat 1tbs olive oil and 1tsp sesame oil; then stir-fry 55g fresh ginger, sliced in thin strips, 1 sliced medium onion and 2 crushed garlic cloves 2mins or until onions are translucent. Add 1c fish stock (or water), 1tsp oyster sauce, 1tsp Hoisin sauce and 1/2tsp brown sugar; cook  2mins on medium.  Thicken with 2tsp cornflour dissolved in 2tbs water. Stir 450g cooked, shelled, freshwater yabbies, or prawns; simmer long enough to heat through. Don’t overcook. Garnish with sliced Jalapeño; serve with steaming rice.

Bream with Spiced Couscous: Bring 1c chick stock to boil. Remove from heat; pour over 210g couscous. Set aside, covered, 5 mins; then fluff with a fork. Heat 1/2tbs butter in frying pan. Add 3 thinly sliced spring onion and 1thinly sliced long red chilli; cook until fragrant, around 1-2 mins. Add couscous; cook, stirring, until grains are separate and heated through. Transfer to a large bowl; over to keep warm.  Pat 8 skin-on bream fillets dry with paper towels. Mix together 1tsp cumin, 1tsp coriander, 1/2tsp sweet paprika and 1/2 tsp salt. Sprinkle both sides of fish fillets with spices. Heat 1tbs olive oil over high heat; cook fish, until lightly browned on both sides, and just cooked through. Serve fish with couscous and lemon wedges. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. 

Gold Rush: Combine1/4c bourbon, 3/4c lemon juice, and 3/4c honey in shaker. Fill shaker with ice, cover; shake 20 seconds. Strain through strainer or slotted spoon into an old-fashioned or rocks glass with 1 large ice cube.