The Farm Dream

By Belinda Roach

The farm dream is made up of three stories. The first story the farm dream is the story of Thelmas dream of what becoming a farmers wife and raising children on a rural property might be like. The second story creating the dream is the story of Thelmas journey to making her farm dream real. It details the things she had to do to start building her dream. The third story is the story of Thelmas reality. It is what her dream actually became. It sees Thelma reflecting on her life and the events that shaped her life.


Belinda Roach is a mother of nine children and has been married for seventeen years. She writes when ideas come to her and she writes for the therapeutic benefits of writing. She enjoys spending time with her family and writes for her children and herself. She spends most of her time with her children and she volunteers her time at her childrens school helping whenever she can. I would like to thank my husband Lloyd Roach for all of his support and love over the years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Jul 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483649450

Belinda Roach

Belinda Roach is a mother of nine children and has been married for seventeen years. She writes when ideas come to her and she writes for the therapeutic benefits of writing. She enjoys spending time with her family and writes for her children and herself. She spends most of her time with her children and she volunteers her time at her children’s school helping whenever she can. I would like to thank my husband Lloyd Roach for all of his support and love over the years.

Book preview

The Farm Dream

Belinda Roach

Photography by Michael Zuydam

Copyright © 2013 by Belinda Roach.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 06/03/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-800-618-969

www.Xlibris.com.au

[e-mail]

504037

Contents

The Farm Dream

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Creating the Dream

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

The Dream’s Reality

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

The Farm Dream

by

Belinda

The%20Farm%20Dream%20-%20Page%205.JPG

This book is dedicated to my children

Terrance, Sarah, Bianca, Alice, Ebony,

Lloyd Cameron, Thomas, Jaiden and Quinton

Chapter 1

It was a cold and dreary day. Rain was threatening but it wouldn’t come. There were just a few raindrops falling here and there. Bill a young farm boy was working in the fields. His sister Jill had been helping their Mum in the kitchen. Her cousins Pam and Jan were reading books. ‘Pam’ said Jan ‘Why don’t we do a rain dance and see if it will rain.’ ‘That’s a great idea’ said Pam. ‘Let’s go and get Jill.’ The three girls all ran outside and started to dance. They sang ‘Rain, rain come and play, we want you to come today. Rain, rain fall from the sky, so we don’t have to sit and cry.’ The girls kept singing and dancing for about half an hour when Bill came in from the fields. The girls cried out ‘Bill come and join us.’ Bill joined the girls and they all sang and danced. ‘Rain, rain come and play, we want you to come today. Rain, rain fall from the sky, so we don’t have to sit and cry.’ After five minutes they felt it. First a drip, then a drop, then more and more. It was raining. They ran around laughing and playing in the rain.

Mum smiled from the kitchen. It had been a while since they had had rain. She just hoped that it would stay around long enough to make a difference. After a while Mum called them all in for a warm drink and something to eat. She gave them all a towel so they could dry themselves and told them to sit at the table when they were done. They all sat down and enjoyed some hot chocolate with marshmallows and a nice piece of chocolate cake.

The next day it was still raining. They stayed inside and took some time doing their crafts. Bill was painting, Jill was sewing, Pam was knitting and Jan was trying a cross-stitch. Bill was whistling while he painted. He loved whistling and could whistle all day in the fields. The girls picked up the tune and started humming along. In a few days they would have to start doing schoolwork again. They had a special room at home that they used for a classroom as they were so far away from the towns and schools. They all enjoyed their lessons. They loved talking to their teacher everyday via the internet. The internet connection wasn’t always good but they managed.

Mum came in and asked Pam and Jan if they wanted to help her in the kitchen getting vegetables ready for dinner. Both girls jumped up excitedly and followed Mum into the kitchen. Jill looked up from her sewing ‘Bill’ she said. ‘When do you think Dad and the others will be home?’ They had been gone for almost a month now rounding up the cattle and checking that everything was alright. Bill said ‘I don’t know but they will be home for a little while before they go and check the sheep. They’ll be busy shearing when they get the sheep in so they’ll want a break before then.’ ‘I miss them a lot.’ said Jill. ‘I know I do too.’ Bill sighed.

That night the rain stopped. Mum checked to see how much rain they had caught in their tanks. She was happy; all four tanks were half full. They had caught a lot of water in the two days it had rained. She looked up at the night sky. She sighed. The moon shone brightly and the stars sparkled in the night sky. She wondered when the men and women who’d gone on the cattle drive would be home and wondered whether everything was alright. She returned inside tucked the children into their beds and sat down to rest a while.

Chapter 2

A few hours later she awoke with a start. She heard horses, motor bikes and voices. She arose and went out to see what was going on. They were back after a month away they had finally returned. Mum breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a long month without them especially with Pam and Jan’s mum having been ill in bed all this time. The doctors had checked on her a few times but she was still not getting any better.

The next day the children woke up and were pleased to find that everyone was back. Jill, Pam and Jan all went into the kitchen to help cook food for a welcome home party for everyone. Mum went to check on Clara her sister. Clara was getting worse; she must get the doctor there now. An hour and a half later the doctors plane landed, out stepped the doctor. Mum offered him a drink but he kindly said that he should check on Clara first. Five minutes later he came downstairs and told Mum to pack a bag for Clara she had to go to the hospital. Clara’s condition was worsening and they would have to deliver her babies before they could do anything else. Half an hour later Clara was in the plane on the way to hospital.

Mum needed to sit down, she herself was having another baby. If Clara didn’t get better how was she going to look after seven children by herself when she had her baby and the twins came home from the hospital. She couldn’t do everything by herself when everyone left again to start the shearing. She couldn’t bother the others they would be just as worried about Clara as she was and they would be a man short when they left as Clara’s husband Stan had gone with her to the hospital.

Pam and Jan went for a walk. They were worried about their Mum and the babies. They wondered whether they were going to get little brothers or sisters or even one of each. Jan looked up in the distance; she could see the mail van coming. The mail van only came once a month and they jumped up and down with excitement. Maybe they would get something in the mail. The girls ran to the house to tell the others. Sam the postman pulled up near the house to a big welcoming party. He had brought his Granddaughter Hope with him. Mum invited everyone inside for lunch. There was always enough food cooked for a couple of extras should someone have dropped in. Sam asked Mum how Clara was and Mum explained what had happened this morning. Sam expressed his feelings and said he would keep her in his prayers. Sam said that Hope had come for a visit and had liked it so much she was going to look for work. Mum thought her prayers had been answered very quickly. She offered Hope a job helping with the children and around the house. Hope thought that was a great idea. She said she would pack up her stuff. Mum said the others leave in a couple of weeks can you be back then. Hope said she would and left with her grandfather.

Mum gave a big sigh of relief and started to sort through the mail. There were the usual bills, some newspapers and the children’s new school supplies. The boxes of groceries had come too so there would be enough again now until next month. Mum placed everyone’s mail into their boxes. They had gone back outside to work. She knew that they would