Dad Edes beautiful dahlias. Authors album.

I’m Australian born so my experiences of Christmas were quite different to those I had during my time spent after marriage whilst living in England. Hubby was in the Royal Navy and at the time of our first winter there, we lived in the Navy ‘patch’ near his posting to HMS Royal Arthur in the midst of the Wiltshire countryside.

We had recently upgraded his vehicle from a Morris Mini to a rather sporty Ford Cortina, so packed it up and set off for his home village in Surrey as soon as his leave began, to spend time with his parents and extended family, many of whom lived locally. When at ‘home’ (that is his parent’s home), we had the twin room at the back of the house which overlooked his father’s beautiful garden. It was a large plot by suburban standards with garden borders all around except for his garden sheds.

The back third of the garden was behind a hedge secured with a wooden gate leading to a very large vegetable garden. At the very back of the veggie section was another gate leading to the pensioner unit in the cul-de-sac behind, that was where Grannie Edes lived; a great arrangement to give the family easy access to ensure she was OK. As mentioned hubby’s dad had beautiful gardens and all featured dahlias of different coloured and types, as did the front gardens along with rose bushes.

Uncles forfeit acting as a cat.

On that Christmas morning I pulled back the curtains and lo and behind, my very first white Christmas, as it turned out, the only one of the five I spent in the UK. I was in awe! From high up in my in-law’s traditional two storey council home it looked just wonderful, but alas, I’ve recently discovered that if I did take photos from our window that morning, they have since been lost. Breakfast was quite a meal as while hubby’s father excelled in gardening; his mum was a fabulous cook.

I’ll digress for a moment, to say that one of my earliest memories of making the traditional Sunday dinner, served in the early afternoon after the equally traditional Sunday lunch time pub visit, was of a roast beef dinner, which I quickly learnt had to be accompanied by Yorkshire Pudding. Sometimes made in one baking tray and cut up into portions or sometimes as individual Yorkshires, cooked in a patty cake/muffin size tin, depending on the cook’s preference. Asking Mum-in-Law for the recipe, she explained that she didn’t have a cookbook, her cooking was from memory, no doubt learnt from her Mum on their farm range. No scales either, just measurements by cup, dash of this or that, and hand, I watched as she prepared the ingredients; a couple of hand-full of plain flour, ‘some’ milk (but only half of it initially), a pinch of salt and a beaten egg. Whisk it all together then let it stand for a little while, then add the other half of the milk and let it stand for 20 mns before adding to the pre-heated and greased pans.

Hubbys dad inspects the rather sad looking Cortina. Authors album.

Back to Christmas dinner, usually about 2pm or so. It was huge and so yummy and followed by a stroll to Aunt’s two doors down. That was when I learnt that although snow looks really pretty from afar, to the uninitiated walking on it required some skill if the paths hadn’t received a ‘grit’ covering to melt the snow. However, I managed to make it that time without falling over, after all, it was only 40 yards or so. There the whole family got together, aunts and uncles, and surviving maternal Grand-dad and paternal Granny. It was a jolly time with games, music, dressing up & acting charades, lots of laughs and lots of chatting, which went on long after Supper. That was usually a light meal of snacks, cake, desert etc.

Come the next morning and the snow was melting fast. Boxing Day would have been more aptly named ‘Recovering day’. Hubby decided to drive to his cousins in nearby Sussex, with me staying ‘home’ to help with dinner. About three hours later there was a knock on the door and when I answered, it was a policeman asking if this was where my husband lived!  Yes, I answered, fearing the worst, and was quickly told that he was OK, but had been taken by ambulance to the local hospital after a car accident on a notorious bend at that time, not far from Gatwick Airport. It seems the sporty Ford Cortina had decided to go for a flight and did a flip or two. Seat belts were not compulsory, so it was a very lucky hubby that really only had minor injuries, but that couldn’t be said for the Ford which was a write off.

Val, Bobbie and Jane, still good mates 56 years later. Authors album.

However, we enjoyed the rest of the short break in Surrey, but it was over quite quickly. We were then faced with what was about a four hour cross-country drive of about 200 kilometres at that time. We quickly found that our best option was to travel by train to London, then catch another to Bath, where we swapped to the local bus network which would drop us about 2 km from our home. Thankfully all downhill, but… that was my undoing, as unbeknown to me, the footpaths had ice forming and I quickly ended up on my backside. Not the best ending to our lovely Christmas family celebrations, however, by then it was getting near dusk and no-one witnessed the ‘newbee’ Oz taking her first snow fall, apart from hubby who thought it was a huge joke.

Back to work the next day, fresh snow was lying around on the ground, and I had learnt by lesson, take it steady and watch where you’re walking. I had an office position at a small local plastics company who manufactured pond (dam) linings and farm coverings etc and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. It was there I met Val and Jane, two friends who are still good mates with me today.

Bobbie safely at work with no more falls, late Dec 1969. Authors album.

My Yorkshire recipe

1/2 cup plain flour
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
Pinch salt

Beat egg, flour and salt with half of the milk.
Add remaining milk and beat well. Stand for 20 mns.
Meanwhile, grease the muffin tray mould thoroughly, it will make about 8 – 10 Yorkshires.
Preheat the tray, pour the mixture into each mould equally, remembering they rise quite a bit so about two table-spoons into each mould.

Place in the tray into the pre-heated oven and cook at 190° for 20-30mns.