Magic Beach Project

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Magic of Long Long Ago

Once upon a time, long, long ago when I was a small girl I went with my Father to collect mussels from the beach near where we lived.
As we didn't have a car we always walked,across the park and through the railway yards.It was always on a Sunday morning ,nice and quiet.Dad carried a metal bucket and a long handled three pronged fork,he always wore his boilermaker long sleeved overalls (In case a jelly fish might bite him)
I sat on the sand and watched as he waded into the water underneath the pier where on the piles (large beams driven into the sea bed to hold up the pier) the mussels grew all huddled together in their black shiny shells.You had to be strong to prise them from the beams.My Dad was very strong .
When the bucket was full,we set off for home.I carried the large pronged fork and Dad held my hand and the bucket.My Brother would come sometimes when we could get him out of bed early on a Sunday morning.
The bucket and mussels were put into the gully -trap and cold water run through them,by this time Mum would have a large pot of boiling water on the stove and the mussels went into this, only for a very short time, just until they started to open .
Then back to the gully-trap where the hot water was tipped out and they were allowed to cool (a cloth over the top to keep off the blow-flies).
When cool we sat around and pulled the long hair that had been inside the shell and then we pulled (Very gently) the mussel from the side of the shell it was clinging on to.Then into a bowl where the mussels were sprinkled with pepper,a small amount of vinegar and a little juice from the pot when they were cooked,then into the ice-chest to cool till tea time.
Sunday night tea was mussels and bread and butter.
No one asked my Brother or I if we liked mussels,we just ate them, there was nothing else,no other choice was offered ...but we did love Sunday night tea .....and often there was rice pudding and cream for sweets (because it was Dad's favourite).
For me it was a very special time with my Dad ,as he worked shift work at the power station and often we didn't get to see him for a day or two just to be able to hold his hand as we walked to the beach of our home town in Port Melbourne made me feel as if I was the favourite child in the family..

Lois Daley (Muse of the Sea) 13/5/05..

1 Comments:

  • Now this is just wonderful Lois. You really have captured that magic from long long ago when you savoured those moments with your father and mussels and bread.

    By Blogger Heather Blakey, at 13 May, 2005  

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