People

The Odd Couple

Rosewood housemates Ted Smith and Thelma Moore share meals, a roof over their heads and a mutual understanding of each other’s needs as they inch closer to their final dance.

They are quick to point out that they are not married. Although watching the banter between the two you won’t know it.

Ms Moore whispers: “I’m not his wife, I would have killed him ages ago.”

When Mr Smith’s age is enquired upon he replies “too bloody old these days”, to which Ms Moore playfully smacks him on the shoulder and says “don’t be rude.”

“I’m only 96, she is nearly 97,” Mr Smith explains.

Mr Smith refers to her as ‘young lady’ despite them being born in the same year, 1921. You wouldn’t call it mutual magnetism that bought them together, rather a happy coincidence.

“I was living with my daughter at the time and her friend sent Ted to me as he was looking for a dance partner,” Ms Moore said.

“Anyway I saw him get out the car and I thought ‘great, I can handle him’. It took him that long to get out.

“We arranged to go to this dance class, we got half the way around the room and he said ‘I’ll have to sit down for a little while.’

“Oh god,” Ms Moore said as she waved her hands in the air, “in the end I gave it up.”

Mr Smith has a bad back and needs the aid of a walking frame to get around.

“Have you ever seen an old sawmill hand that didn’t have back trouble? In those days everything was done by hand,” Mr Smith explained.

“The old man had a sawmill. He decided to build another one. So he bought an old steam tractor we took about 35 miles on the river, where he wanted to build the mill.

“It was school holidays and I was helping him. He was the water joey and us two kids drove the steam tractor.

“He sent me to go and snig some big gum logs along. By the time I got them hooked up with steel ropes the steam had gone down and the fire had gone out and she couldn’t pull them.

“So I stoked her up and there were steam coming out of every crack, I pushed the lever and away she went – she stood straight up on her back wheels.

“So I yanked the lever back and she backed up over the top of the logs and boiling black hot water came all over me.

“The lever had two speeds – a little bit forward or go to buggery – so I pushed it right forward and in the panic I pushed it right backward.

“I tell you what, I’d have got a hiding if he had realised what had happened. At any rate he didn’t, thank god. All he did was abuse me for taking so long.

“I wasn’t stupid enough to tell him.”

Ms Moore’s quick wit kicks in again: “He saved all that for old age.”

Mr Smith describes the pair as cats with our tails tied together. “Stuck like glue”, Ms Moore agrees.

Mr Smith happened to be visiting Ms Moore on the day her landlord was there to tell her he was selling the house she was renting.

“I said right, I’ll buy it then,” Mr Smith said. “The bloke who sold me the house made me promise faithfully, that while ever the young lady wished to stay here – she could.”

“So I stayed here and that’s how we ended up being flat mates,” Ms Moore said.

Mr Smith noticed that Ms Moore was a bit lonely so he concocted a plan.

“I go to town on my scooter. So I thought I would make her a trailer to sit in, that I could tow behind my scooter, I even painted it,” Mr Smith said.

“Can you just imagine?” Ms Moore exclaimed.

“He’d go over the first bump and it would tip me out!”

Ipswich People, our people

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