The Daily Pie (And An Ode to Nancy)

It is over fifteen years ago since we moved to what we now consider our "home town". The house that we call home was once a rural petrol station, which sold all manner of items for the traveller, and catered mainly for the truck guy. One of the main attractions of our petrol station-now-home were the pies they sold here. Interstate travellers and reps used to refer to it as "the old pie shop". To this day, when I try and explain where exactly we live, people often say "oh, I know where you mean - the old pie shop that was once on the main highway".

One particular villager would always urge us to re-open the shop. "How can we open a shop in our home? We live here... We homeschooll our children and work here, too" we would respond.

But that was a few years ago now. Things have changed.

Our children are grown, and are no longer formally 'schooling'. They are all working, and allthough we have never opened (or re-opened) a shop in our home, we've often thought about it. We've even considered building a little hut in our front garden to act as a retail outlet for metalwares, needlecraft and surplus fruit and vegetables that have grown in our back yard.

But there's no need for that now, either. The hut, that is. Not now that we own the (other) old petrol station up the road.

It's still unbelievable to us - to actually own the other petrol station! In the early days of country life, we would shop and collect our mail from the petrol station (the shop), as well as fill up the car. Then it closed down and was void of human life for many years. Grass, weeds, bushes, blackberries, creepy crawlies and vandals invaded. Our job has been, and still is, - huge: to restore the building to some of it's former glory, as well as change it where appropriate.

Each and every time we work on the building, we think of it's former owner, Nancy - a single mum who cooked, cleaned, made burgers, chips, coffee, sold newspapers, milk, cigarettes, ice creams, sorted and handed out mail to local residents and also served petrol to motorists.

How, pray, did she do it all?

So here's to you, Nancy. Wherever you may be, whatever you may be doing. We hope it was all worth it and that you are happy and healthy! Good job! We promise we will take good care of your former home and business and do our best to turn it into a famous pie shop; The Daily Pie, which in our opinion is long, long, overdue.

Love,

The Machinist's Wife