Vale Doris Boulton, nee Brentnall

I would like to say farewell to a lady who is the end of a generation. My Great Aunty Doris, who died on Sunday morning. She and I shared something in common, our birthday, which to some is nothing, but it meant much to me. Here follows a little of her life story.

Doris Brentnall was born at North Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, on Saturday 16.12.1916. The fourth child to William Walter Aldred Brentnall & Epsie Jean Linsell. Doris had 2 brothers, William & Leslie, and 3 sisters, Amy, Jean & Thelma.

The family lived on the Experimental Farm, eight miles from Wagga Wagga. The home didn't have gas, electricity or water. She went to Pine Gully School, and later to the Wagga Wagga High School.

Doris joined the Air Force, WAAAF on 30.12.1943 as a Nursing Orderly, training at Bradfield Park AAAF, working hard and topping the class! At completion of her training she was posted to Jervis Bay, Rehabilitation Hospital. Whilst working there she met Peter Boulton, a Flight Lieutenant Officer, who was recovering from a broken knee, which happened in Cairo. On his discharge was transferred to Ferry Flight. He was taking a Mustang from Sydney to Townsville, on 5th August 1945, which he crashed on landing. He was seen by a doctor & left for dead; the doctor gave him half an hour to live. Townsville & the house doctor operated on him & he lived to tell all. He had a double fracture of the skull, both ears nearly cut off, haemorrhage of the eyes, broken jaw, & had his teeth wired together for a month.

Doris was nursing in the Officers Ward at Concord Hospital when Peter came back, his head all shaved & all his beautiful curls all gone. Many years after the war Peter & Doris were at the Imperial Service's Ball at the Trocadero, they were on the floor dancing, when an Officer came up to Peter & said, "Excuse me, but are you Peter Boulton?" Peter said, "Yes". He said "Good God, Good God, I left you for dead." He couldn't get over it & stared at him all night.

After the war ended Peter was discharged from the RAAF, but Doris couldn't get out, as so many men were coming home injured & they needed the nurses to stay on. Doris and Peter were married on 2.4.1947 at St Phillips Church of England, Church Hill, Sydney. After their Surfers Paradise Honeymoon, they returned to Sydney and lived in Chatswood. From there we moved to Manly to Peter's mothers unit, Strathspey Unit No.5, 88 West Esplanade, Manly. It was on the harbour front, and looked down on Marineland, Manly Historical Society & Manly Art Gallery. It was a 2 storey home converted to nine units. It was a Victorian building over 130 years old. Walls 1 foot thick, with 14 toot high ceilings.

Doris worked at David Jones for 25 years and became an Assistant Buyer retiring in 1980.Peter left work in 1985; they had a trip to Cairns in 1988, and went to the "World Expo" in Brisbane in 1988.

Peter was suffering from Alzheimer's. He went into Manly Vale Nursing Home & was only there for 2 weeks when he had a heart attack & died on 29.3.1995. Doris stayed at Strathspey, in Manly until 1998 when the 35 steps became too much for her. She sold the unit and went into Drummond House, a Hostel in Wentworth Street, Manly on 6th April, 1998.

Due to ill health and a decrease in mobility Doris moved to Bayview Gardens Nursing Home on 5th November 2007. She gradually settled in and got used to her new home. Doris & Peter had no children. Being the last of her family to survive did not sit well with her. She passed away on Sunday 12^th October 2008, aged almost 92.

A visit to Howlong - Oct 2008

Firstly I have to say that my original intention to visit Howlong was to catch up with my cousin Jenni and her family, and so Robert could catch up with her boys. That didn’t change. What changed was the duration of our stay. We originally planned a four day stay, so as to not overly wear out our welcome. But Jenni called early in the week before we left and encourage us to come up on the Tuesday and go home on the Sunday. So it was we stayed an extra two nights. We set out midmorning from home and after a brief visit to see Anita at the shop, we then continued to Fountain Gate Shopping centre, where Robert was looking at trading in some old X Box games for some new ones, and parting with some of his birthday money in an indulgence of his liking.

Our first order of business was to divest himself of the games he no longer wanted. Then we ended up in EZY DVD where they were having a sale. Boxed sets of TV series for $29.95 per season. One series he has been interested in since watching Stargate SG1, has been Farscape. Farscape was filmed in Australia, but two of the main characters went on to star in the latter years of Stargate. So he picked himself up all four years of the series in one fell swoop; happy as a mud lark. Next stop EB Games where he bought himself two new X Box games, and then to Ali Baba in the food court for our Kebab Lunch!

Then it was back on the road. We stopped to refuel at Glenrowan, before finally arriving at around 5 p.m. in Howlong. Jenni wasn’t home from work, but the boys, Samuel, Thomas and William welcomed us. Jenni arrived soon after, but Peter her husband was on afternoon shift. We did manage to see Robbo when he arrived home from work after midnight, as we were stilling sitting around the kitchen talking over a glass of wine.

Wednesday was a bit of a sleep in. William enjoys a bit of a tickle and a play, so he ended up rolled up in Sam’s mattress and tied in there with rope, stood on his head and tickled, or alternatively, jumped on by Thomas.

And later in the Day Jenni’s Mum, my Aunty Glenda came to visit. She set herself up in her camper which lives in the back yard of Jenni and Pete’s when it is not being used. The four boy’s tried to swim on and off during the day, but the water was a bit cool for a real romp in the swamp. Robbo again went of the work early in the afternoon, and the evening was spent talking and consuming a little wine.
For Thursday we planned a trip to Woolshed Falls, just outside of Beechworth. A picnic lunch and maybe explore the area a bit. We packed our lunch; all piled into the Tarago and made our way to Woolshed falls. Once there we had a quick walk to the face of the falls, then up to the look out.
We went back to the picnic area where we had, you guessed it, a picnic lunch. Then Jenni, myself, Sam & Thomas went for a walk around the Woolshed Creek track. The area is an old Goldmining area, and whilst no evidence of machinery is left, you can make out some of the sluice pits and other areas that have been changed by the miners. Even to the point where they diverted the flow of the creek by blasting out sections of rock where necessary. .
After our walk we packed up the car and headed in to Beechworth. Unusually avoiding the shops and especially the bakery, we headed to Lake Sambell where the boys could swim in the lake at the manmade beach. Well it was a lovely day, but still a bit fresh for all the boys to get truly involved in swimming, but they did their best.
We had to be back in Howlong at a reasonable time, as Jenni was going to pick up her niece, Jenna, who was coming to stay for a couple of nights. The trip back was uneventful, and Jenni disappeared to pick up Jenna. A later tea ensued and was enjoyed with another glass or so of wine.

Friday was a get up early day, as Aunty Glenda needed to go to Wodonga and Albury, and I wanted to go to Albury as I had a Dymocks voucher that just needed spending, and I hadn’t gotten near a Dymocks in Melbourne. So we left Howlong for Wodonga at around 9 am, arrived at our destination at around 9.30 and I had about half an hour to kill while Aunty Glenda had an appointment. Then into Albury! I went to Dymocks and Aunty Glenda went in search of other things she needed. I was in search of a couple of titles, the first two of which weren’t in stock. I struck it lucky with the third, Ken Follett, ‘World Without End.’ I was happy. Aunty Glenda had a couple of things to chase up in Rebel Sports and we were done.

Back at the car we decided a nice Coffee would be good, so into the closest shopping centre and a quite enjoyable latte and a chat ensued. Following on we went to Aunty Glenda’s and picked up some things for her, including one of her dogs, and I took the chance to look at her unit which I hadn’t seen. Back in the car and we headed towards Howlong. On our arrival I was informed that Tina had said we were going to the club for tea. Tina is a good friend of Jenni’s and who am I to argue. The Howlong Golf club has been in my life ever since I was a young kid, visiting Nanna and Poppa on the farm. They were members who played Golf and Bowls and were very involved with the club. It got bigger with the pokies back in the 70’s, but trade is slower since Victoria got the damn things. It was a great night great food and great company.

Saturday morning came around and late in the morning my cousin Shay came to pick up her daughter Jenna. It was good to catch up as I hadn’t seen her for a while. I grabbed the opportunity to have a photo of the three remaining cousins taken.
Saturday afternoon passed quietly, I went for a bit of a bike ride with Robert, and Thomas. It turned out to be uncomfortable for Robert because as we were about to leave we discovered his bike had a flat tyre, so he took Williams, which was a bit small for him. After the ride I fixed the puncture just in case he wanted to go riding again. But he didn’t. So Saturday night was a BBQ. Tina & her husband Paul, their kids, and Jen’s next door neighbour Lara and her son, and Lara’s boyfriend Tonks. The kids had a ball running jumping, watching videos, playing on the play station and wrestling on the trampoline.
The adults, we had fun eating, drinking and being merry. Robbo enjoyed impersonating Tweedle Dum, or was it Tweedle Dee? Judge for yourself. On seconds thoughts he could have been an Oompa Loompa.
Daylight savings kicked in to spoil the party as we realised if we didn’t get to bed it would soon be morning. So a bit of clean up and off to bed. Sunday morning we cleaned up the rest of the debris, and then watched as the plumber connected the swimming pool waste water to the sewerage. Spectacular entertainment.... After an early Lunch Robert and I packed the car and hit the road. We had a blessedly uneventful trip back home, interrupted only by a stop at Glenrowan to refuel the car and grab a coffee for me and Macca’s for Robert. I expected the traffic to be a bit heavier as it was the end of school holidays in Victoria, but it was extremely smooth running, and we made it safely home by 5.15 pm.

Roberts 14th Birthday

Robert celebrated his 14th Birthday over three days. We started on Saturday morning at 10 am. Robert had set his XBox up in the lounge room and was pretty excited, as it was the first time the XBox had left his bedroom. Three boys rolled up, not quite together. Kiarn, Peter and James. After the giving of cards and as it turned out, cash, we took a drive into Warragul for food and videos. First stop Civic Video. The Boys borrowed 3 XBox games and 9 movies.


Then it was off to Coles where we purchased and assortment of food from Ice cream, soft drink and lollies, to frankfurters and chocolate. What more do teenage boys want? Back at home the xboxing began, followed later by frankfurters and meat pies for lunch, with a liberal serving of tomato sauce. The afternoon consisted of more xbox playing and a movie.


Amy made a chocolate cake and late in the afternoon we put on the '14' candles and some sparklers. Much fun ensued as Robert tried to blow out the sparklers. Gee, who knew you couldn't blow out a sparkler? Apparently only Robert. Anita picked up chips and potato cakes on her way home, and the boys ate the chips and potato cakes before moving back to the XBox. Robert had put some crumbed fish in the oven and Anita and the girls had gone out to a trivia night. I went into the kitchen and smelt an acrid smoke wafting through the house. I opened windows, switched on fans, choking all the while. It was about 5 degrees outside with a chill wind blowing very briskly. But the smoke cleared, Robert promised nothing had spilled in the oven, the boys tried to eat the fish, only to find it tasted as acrid as the smoke smelt. More lollies anyone?


Peter had to leave at 9 pm, no sleep over for him as his family were getting up and leaving early for a holiday on Sunday morning. The night was mainly XBox, and movies, with Jmaes the only sensible one falling asleep between 12 and 5 am. Kiarn and Robert napped, but watched movies and you guessed it, played the XBox all night. At 7 am Sunday I rose to visit the little room, and heard Kiarn's voice booming "No, No, No." Getting excited apparently about the Xbox. James left at 9.30, and Kiarn at 11. So it was Dad cleaning up around the boys as they departed, so the kitchen was tidy for Robert's Gran and Grumps when they came for lunch.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Gran and Grumps came at 11.30 after they visited and open garden in Darnum a few doors away from us. Fresh Coffee was enjoyed, and when the Girls cam home from church at around 12.30, more Fresh Coffee was enjoyed. Mmmm aroma! Lunch was a fresh platter of salad and a platter of chicken and ham, with fresh bread rolls. Make your own salad rolls. Amy had to babysit in the afternoon, so Gran, Anita and the girls went off just after 2 pm with the intention of dropping Amy off at work, and Katrina showing Gran her favorite house, just around the corner from where Amy babysits.


Dad, Robert and I sat around talking until the girls got back. Mother being unable to stop herself headed straight for the rose bushes with a pair of secateurs and proceeded to prune. Feeling guilty I pulled a few weeds to keep her company. They left late in the afternoon after another coffee and tea. We had Robert's Birthday tea Sunday night because I was on call on Monday, and couldn't guarantee being there. His choice of food consisted of home made chicken croquet's, potato gems, broccoli and cauliflower in cheese sauce and a tomato and onion pie just for me. Desert was Anita's homemade Chocolate mousse.


Monday morning, 22nd September, Robert was raring to go, his real birth day! he had to hold back as it was the only chance Anita had for a sleep in, so it wasn't until 8.30 am we gathered on the bed to present him with his presents. A book from Oma and another from Amy. A jar of Lollies from Katrina. An MP3 player and a voucher for the newly released book, Brisingr. Hand made cards all round, and a total of nearly $140 cash for his birthday. So what does he want to spend the cash on? A computer game!

Three months to go and we get to celebrate Amy's 18th Birthday, IF I have recovered from tihs one by then!

The Saga of the knee: Part II

The saga of the knee continues. Katrina has had problems since she returned from the snow, the CT was clear. But her knee has continued to plague her. It has collapsed under her a couple of times, so it was off to the Doctors again. He deemed it enough of a concern to get her into the orthopaedic surgeon the next day. Of course you can imagine the worst case scenarios were going through our minds as we contemplated the necessary visit. Not so bad, after an initial diagnosis from the G.P. about it possible being the cruciate ligament, the outcome was far more positive. The Ortho suspects the problem is the knee cap, so it’s off to physio, an MRI in 6 weeks and then 8 weeks time back to the Ortho for review.

Katrina has now had two weeks of physio, she has been shown how to tape her knee, she has thrown away the crutches, and the physio is happy with her progress. So now its wait and see.

Amy went away for a few days this week to stay with one of her nannies. Nanny Amy. Our Amy needed to be in Melbourne for some Chemistry prac’s as part of her distance Ed requirements. So she caught the train up Tuesday, shopped at DFO, went on to Rosanna and Stay with N.Amy, did her prac on Wednesday, stayed with N.Amy again and Came home via DFO again on Thursday.

When Amy went away her cat, Nutmeg was on heat, Nothing unusual there. But after 18 months of her trying to find a male companion, she finally attracted the attention of one of the local Tom’s. Funny thing was as soon as she got him, or did he get her? She cried so loudly she scared him, he dismounted, and ran a few feet away, she chased him and hissed at him, then proceeded to try and take a swipe at him. Then in the very next breath she rolls around on the ground like a ferret and starts crying for him again. So that cycle then repeated itself for the next day or so.

Anita went outside to shoo a cow away from our silver birches yesterday morning and stood on the step in her socks and the next thing I knew she was gone. Vanished like a UFO abductee. Actually she slipped and fell off the step and bruised her right palm and heel. She is okay so not to worry.

Robert is excited about his birthday party sleepover this weekend, and his birthday on Monday. It will be weekend of feasting boy style, chips, lollies, pies etc; Videogames on the X-Box; and of course the mandatory marathon movie session on Saturday night. I know I will be exhausted on Sunday!

I'll let you know how I coped next time!