Farm Life - 19. Far Chapter 19

After dinner, when my siblings were in bed, and the McCullough brothers had gone to the cottage, I sat with my parents around the dining table. “Have you heard from Gran and Gramps lately?” I asked my parents casually, “Yes, I was meaning to show you the postcard we received from them yesterday, they are in New Zealand, and having a great time” Dad replied.

“If Preston does get his visa, I have the ideal place where he can set up his practice. The house at the end and north side of Kilburn Drive has come up for sale, it is the closest house to the bridge and Southbank, and I would like us to buy it, as an investment, and when Preston graduates he can lease it from us, and in the mean time we can rent it out for 18 months or we can rent it out as holiday accommodation” I said to my parents.

“Ok, I will go and have a look at it tomorrow, while you are in Joondalup, and we can discuss it some more after that” Dad replied, and we discussed what we would do for Preston’s 21st birthday party, before we retired for the night.

The following morning after breakfast, Preston headed over to Southbank without his brother, who complained about having to work while on holidays, when he was gone I suggested to Ronnie that he come with me, so we can buy him some presents for his birthday, which Ronnie was happy to do. When I asked Ronnie when his birthday is, Ronnie looked a little sad, before saying that it was on April 14th.

“Well, why didn’t you tell us, now we just have to have a double birthday party” I said cheerfully, “Really? Gee that would be great, thanks Lewis, you are awesome” Ronnie said excitedly, “Not a problem, it just means more presents to buy, and a second cake” I said.

Nearly three hours later, we had ordered two cakes from the Cheesecake shop, which we would collect last, and I gave Ronnie $50, so he can go and buy something for himself, while I went and bought some presents for him, while he wasn’t with me, and we met up at the food court for lunch. Once we had collected the two cakes, and carefully placed them in the esky to keep cool, we headed north back home, arriving there just after 3pm.

I gave Dad the many bags of presents so he could hide them in his study, and Mum hid the cakes in the spare fridge, which is usually only used for keeping all the drinks cold, which I had bought an extra supply for the birthday party tomorrow. With everything hidden away, Ronnie and I jumped into my ute and we headed to Southbank to check on things there, and I made Ronnie promise to keep he birthday party a surprise.

When we parked at the side of my office, I observed that the fun park was rather full, I guessed mainly because it was an unusually warm day today, and Ronnie went over there to check it all out, while I went into my office, where I found Preston snoozing at the reception desk, and I rant the bell, which made Preston nearly fall out of the chair.

“Your back, did everything go ok with getting your supplies?” Preston said as he stood up, “yes sort of, they are out of stock on somethings, so instead of running around, I just ordered it and they will have it sent up to us” I replied, telling a little fib, to hide the real purpose of the trip to Joondalup. “Good, well it appears everything is under control, Geoff and Sam are doing a rubbish tip run, and Finn is keeping an eye on things in the park in their absence” Preston reported.

“Good, I need to check in with Rachel at the park office, I will be right back” I said to Preston as I walked out, after a great idea just came to mind. When I walked into the office, and there were no guests in there I smiled, “Can I have a moment of your time please ladies” I said to Andrea and Rachel.

Both nodded their heads and gave me their full attention, “Tomorrow is Preston’s 21 birthday party, and I am thinking that maybe we can have it next door in the Community Room, a great way to use it for the first time.

We also missed Ronnie’s birthday, which was in mid-April, so it will be a double party, but it will be a total surprise for Preston, I collected all of the supplies for the party today, including two cakes, and streamers, can I ask you ladies to set the community room for the party, it will just be the family, the two lad and any staff who are free to come along.

I will call my Mum in a few moments to let her know of the change of venue, and I will get Dad to come over soon, to pick up the two lads, and take them into town, to show them around, since they haven’t seen much since they arrived mid-last year. That way, we can get one of you to come with me to the farm, to collect everything, and hide it in the community room.

I will come over early tomorrow to help set up the community room, with the party to be at lunch time tomorrow” I announced. “Sure boss, that is not a problem, anything for some free birthday cake” Andrea replied, which has us chuckling at her comment.

Everything went as planned, and once Rachel and I had returned to Southbank, and unloaded the cakes, party gear and presents into the Community room, we set out some tables and chairs, before closing the blinds and locking up, before Dad returned with the lads.

The surprise party the next day, went off without a hitch, Preston was totally surprised, and Ronnie was happy that he was being included in the celebrations, with all my family in attendance, along with all the staff at some point during the party.

Preston and Ronnie each received a RM Williams Akubra hat and boots as presents from our family, and Mum handed Preston a small present, that she had kept hidden, that had arrived last week from their Mum in Scotland, which was £100, which is about $180 Australian.

As Dad helped me to pack up the tables and chairs after the party, with no one around to hear, “I managed to get an appointment to view that house you mentioned, and it looks very well suited for what Preston needs, it has two bedrooms, a bathroom, lounge, dining room, kitchen and pantry, plus the large wide veranda upstairs, and downstairs there is a large rumpus room, a third bedroom and bathroom, a laundry and store room, plus the undercover patio out the front and back.

All we would need to add is a carport on the side, and a shed behind the house to be used as additional space for the practice, which will be easy, so I have put in an offer on it, and I had a call fifteen minutes ago from the real estate agent, to let us know the offer had been accepted, so we now have a house for Preston” Dad announced.

“Great news, can I tell him tonight, just before they head to bed?” I asked eagerly, and Dad chuckled at this, “Yes, I see no problem with that, just make it another birthday present, we have 21 days till settlement, so we will have to wait till then before we can show it to him” Dad said, and I nodded my head in understanding.

“Holy cow! Are you for real?” Preston said when I told him the news about the house, “Yes, we are serious, number 75 Kilburn Drive is yours’s to lease, for your practice, once you have graduated next year” I said to my good friend.

“Aw man, that is so awesome, thank you for this, I just don’t know what to say” Preston said happily, “just call it an extra present from us, a house you can use for your practice for as long as you want my friend” I responded.

Then next day, Preston and Ronnie came with me to Southbank, and once we had parked the ute, we walked over the bridge and down the road, till we came to the junction, and saw the house up close. Since the construction of the road to the bridge, the owners of the house had built a boundary wall on both sides and at the rear.

The wall is made of limestone, with it being 300 mm thick and 1.2 metres high, with a further 600 mm of garrison fencing on top of it. At the front, the wall is just 600 mm tall, with a 400 mm high garrison fence on top, and a gap for the concrete driveway, and two steel gates that are a metre high, which is perfect as we walked past the house.

The house looked new, and in good condition, with no landscaping of any kind, just a good number of trees around it, giving plenty of shade, and enough room in the front yard for three carparking bays. Returning to the office, I called Dad to see if he had a layout of the house, and he said to me that it was on the listing of the house on the internet.

After the call, I did a search of real estate in Kilburn, and soon found the house, which was now listed as “Under Contract”, and we looked at the photos of outside and inside of the house followed by the layout plan, which looked ideal. I printed out a hardcopy of the layout plan, and handed them to Preston, who smiled.

“I can use the downstairs bedroom as an office, and maybe I can split the rumpus too into two rooms, a consulting room and a reception area, or make the bedroom a consulting room, and the rumpus room one big reception lounge” Preston said to us.

I smile, knowing that my good friend was happy, as am I, with my work at Southbank keeping me busy, and the income from it, providing the family with a secure income for many years to come, even if we must fully destock the farm and wait until we have some decent rains, sometime in the future.

The End.