When Bob "Minmi Magster" Skelton turned 12 in 1951, he was given a pocket knife as a birthday present.
"I didn't have it long," the Magster said.
He got to thinking about that knife when he read a recent Herald front-page story about Keith "Bluey" Watkins retiring as a dairy farmer at Dungog.
It was Bluey's late father Aubrey who took possession of Bob's pocket knife many decades ago.
"He came to my dad's blacksmith shop and he had a couple of fox skins. I was keen on tanning skins at the time.
He swapped his knife for an untanned fox skin and regretted the decision for years.
"I often used to think about that knife. I'd get flashbacks of it," he said.
Around the year 1997, the Magster was at Dungog performing some bush poetry.
"I called around to the farm and saw old Aub. I hadn't seen him for 30 years. He knew who I was," he said.
"He was sitting out on the back verandah. He was over 80 - he had a corn bag over his shoulders [to keep warm]. We got talking about the weather and all the rest of it."
Then the Magster asked: "Do you still have that knife?"
"He said, 'Yeah, it's in that drawer'. I couldn't believe it. He opened the drawer and there it was," he said.
Old Aubrey told the Magster that the knife had done a lot of jobs around the farm over almost 50 years. It had been a good knife.
Then the Magster asked: "What are the chances of me getting that back? It has sentimental value".
Lo and behold, after working out a deal, the Magster left the farm with the knife back in his possession.
"I imagined it was a lot bigger. It's amazing how big the knife appeared when I was small," he said.
"Folded up, it's 5 and a half inches long [14 centimetres], which is big for a pocket knife."
The knife is a Case brand. This week, the Magster googled Case pocket knives. He learned they were among the most collectible knives around.
"I'm glad I got it back. If I hadn't given it to him, I probably would have lost it. I've lost that many pocket knives over the years, it's not funny," he said.
The Magster wrote a poem about his pocket knife.
MY OLD CASE POCKET KNIFE
This old Case pocket knife strapped to my belt
Is of great sentimental value to me it's true
For I became its proud owner
Way back around nineteen fifty two
I was just a young lad back then
Tanning skins was my special thing
So I swapped the knife with a friend of Dad's
For an un-tanned red fox skin
Now as the years crept slowly by
And I went about my life
My thoughts would often dwell upon
That old Case pocket knife
And I somehow imagined it larger
In those distance days back then
And I wished that I still had her
To cherish and use again
And then one day I'm happy to say
Around nineteen ninety eight
I happened by chance to call upon
Dads old time farmin mate
He was sittin on his old verandah
Sippin on a mug of sweet black tea
I said "G'day Aub how are ya mate
I'll bet ya don't know me"
Well we spoke for a while on the weather
And the joy and pain of country life
And then I popped the question
"Have you still got my old Case pocket knife"
He smiled and said "I've still got her mate
And she has served me well
And if the old knife could only speak
What stories she could tell
I have used her for a thousand jobs
Around this old home and the farm
Now she rests in the old cupboard there
Where she won't come to any harm
I'm over eighty years old these days
My son Bluey now runs the farm
All I do most daysI tell ya it's true
Is sit here on the verandah and yarn
So I'm glad ya called to see me Bob
You have cheered me up no end
And I'm wondering if you'd like to have
The old knife back again"
Well that's how I happened to get her back
That wonderful old Case Pocket knife
But what old Aub then said to me
I'll remember for the rest of my life
"It's your turn again to have the knife
He slowly said with a big bush grin
But in another fifty years please Bob
I want you to give her back to me again"
Non-Viral Jokes
The Magster also shared this: "If you've got a bee in the palm of your hand, what have you got in your eye? Beauty.
"Do you get it? Beauty is in the eye of the bee-holder."
Replace beer with bees if you like. That'll work, too.
Go To Bunnings
Coronavirus restrictions might be easing, but geez we cracked up when we came across this meme. That "Go to Bunnings" part had us in stitches.
Mind you, going by the police officer's uniform, the photo looks like it was taken in Spain. We're pretty sure Bunnings isn't in Spain, but ... err ... maybe it should be.
