THE OLD WOOD STOVE IN THE KITCHEN poem by GERTRUDE SKINNER
Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:00 am
(The Great Old Lady Of Tamworth Bush Poetry) Gertrude Skinner was the wife of a bushman and stockman who spent thirty five years on properties in North-West New South Wales and South-West Queensland around the Mungindi area. (one story was in the floods of the 1950's when she drove a horse and sulky through the flooded waters, while her husband Clarry attended to the sheep)
She retired to Tamworth in 1969 and started writing bush poetry at the age of 72, she was a much loved performer at the Longyard poetry festivals and produced books and cassettes of her bush verse.
THE OLD WOOD STOVE IN THE KITCHEN
I love that stove in the kitchen,
In those happy days of yore,
When the fire was burning brightly,
And my baby's roamed the floor.
I did not know the pressure,
That i feel in life today,
Though i was a good deal poorer,
I was happy then that way.
For i lived out in the back blocks,
With my husband on the land,
He worked for a north-west grazier,
And i was his helping hand.
I remember all the biscuits,
And the bread i use to bake,
When the kettle boiled so briskley,
For the smoko i would make.
We were warm on winter nights,
With its glowing coals of red,
As we sipped our mugs of milo,
just before we went to bed.
I was never out of firewood,
For my man cut up a stack,
And kept the inside wood box full,
From the door right at its back.
I love that stove in the kitchen,
In those happy days of yore,
It was the centre of my life,
I did not ask for anything more.
Gertrude Skinner (the great old lady of Tamworth bush poetry)
She retired to Tamworth in 1969 and started writing bush poetry at the age of 72, she was a much loved performer at the Longyard poetry festivals and produced books and cassettes of her bush verse.
THE OLD WOOD STOVE IN THE KITCHEN
I love that stove in the kitchen,
In those happy days of yore,
When the fire was burning brightly,
And my baby's roamed the floor.
I did not know the pressure,
That i feel in life today,
Though i was a good deal poorer,
I was happy then that way.
For i lived out in the back blocks,
With my husband on the land,
He worked for a north-west grazier,
And i was his helping hand.
I remember all the biscuits,
And the bread i use to bake,
When the kettle boiled so briskley,
For the smoko i would make.
We were warm on winter nights,
With its glowing coals of red,
As we sipped our mugs of milo,
just before we went to bed.
I was never out of firewood,
For my man cut up a stack,
And kept the inside wood box full,
From the door right at its back.
I love that stove in the kitchen,
In those happy days of yore,
It was the centre of my life,
I did not ask for anything more.
Gertrude Skinner (the great old lady of Tamworth bush poetry)