page 37 of BLACK SHEEP OF THE FAMILY
DAD
A handsome chap was Alfred, sky blue eyes that shone a flawless complexion and a Hollywood smile that caught the eye of any woman’s heart. Shoes always polished, a clean hanky everyday and his cap on before leaving the house. He had a handshake that summed him up, hands like bricks with a handshake that would leave another a little weaker at the knees showing his manly strength. He cycled everywhere and we know sometimes pedalling could be hard but some days it was easy as the pedals seem to go all around by themselves, claiming a free ride as a cyclist called it. Also a walker where mushroom picking was included on early morning Sunday walks round Brumby Woods. He was a keen gardener who still at retirement age did 3 to 4 gardens a week for widowed neighbours who still lived in big houses with their large front and back gardens. One year he started a new hobby, pigeons were becoming popular for racing and breeding them. He built a large pigeon hut in the back garden and we kids enjoyed every minute of it. I remember watching an old film on telly, black and white, it was where pigeons had a message attached to one leg then set free, how it tickled me with wonder. (Before the Postman arrived I thought) Sometimes he would put a couple at the back of his bicycle and went out of town to test his homing pigeons. And School lunch times wondering down the back garden to see a pigeon sat in a tiny hut of wood and glass on a pot egg. I didn’t understand at the time the methods of breeding. When the pigeons finally fizzled out it was replaced by a dog, he went for a true breed, a grey and white Whippet and a certificate with its’ name on “Scinder Earl.” What a beautiful looking dog and everyone loved it, the kids, the neighbours and even the Postman. Yes he liked showing it off, it wasn’t put to racing, though he caught real rabbits in Brumby Woods which the wife Annie was expected to cook, not a pleasant job for mum and not forgetting our cartoons of Bugs Bunny that we absolutely loved. But it was a daft dog that never got trained properly, having a houseful of kids confusing it. Oh and the embarrassment of our dad and dog coming back from walks alone, twitching curtains! “There goes one” and then later “the other one” after all our dad was a proud man. The silly thing was at home the dog followed him everywhere, often laying his head on his knee looking up with mousey eyes pinning to be out on adventures again!