Give me a home where the magpies roam

Every bloke knows the value of not chucking away a few bolts and washers, or that piece of hose that will "come in handy one day''.

But to go the extra mile and build up keepsakes, must make you the ultimate magpie.

That has been the passion of former Karlgarin farmer Merv Trestrail for more years than he cares to enumerate.

And special mention must go to Merv's wife Laurel, who like many farm girls, has tolerated, then embraced Merv's penchant for collecting old farm items.

"l've been a collector for half my life," Merv said matter-of-factly.

"And I always intended to put together a museum of farm machinery and memorabilia of what our pioneers used, read and worked with in this district.

"But I never got round to it, working on the farm.''

Eighteen years ago, Merv's dream started to flicker more strongly when he moved from the farm, five kilometres south of town and still going strong under the guidance of son Jamie, to a 65 hectares homestead block on the north side of the town purchased in 1995, on the bitumen road to Hyden.

"lt was our retirement plan and we planted a few trees and worked out a design for a caravan park," Merv said.

After mandatory planning and designing approvals for the museum and park in 2001, work started in earnest.

An old machinery shed near the house on the property was re-developed, dividing spaces for machinery, an early kitchen (restored by Laurel), dining room and a mock-up of the counter of a general store.

Room also was made for cupboards and display shelves for phonographs and a large collection of 78 records (totalling 5500 songs), tins, bottles used for beer, cool drink, vinegar and sauces, hub caps, tools, shearing gear, veterinary equipment, clocks and more.

For special weather-sensitive and valuable items, glass display cases enabled good viewing of figurines, books, parchments, baby clothes, toys and games.

Welcome to Tressie's Museum and Caravan Park, arguably one of the best collections of farm memorabilia in Australia.

The museum and caravan park opened for Easter 2005.

Entering Merv and Laurel's labour of love will immediately attack your senses as you're exposed to Singer sewing machines, Anzac biscuit tins, Peter's one gallon ice cream tins, model cars and real hub caps, hailing back to Chevrolet, Buick, Willy's Overland (now Jeep), Oldsmobile, lnternational, Nash Rambler, Plymouth, Dodge, Ford and Rolls Royce.

And that's for starters.

Remind yourself of nights in the kitchen with grandma seated in the rocking chair, Tassie oak kitchen table, the kitchenette with leadlight glass panes, salad bowls, cutlery, pots (and potties), lemon and orange juice squeezers, and a collection of old irons (for ironing) that require a stove top for heating.

lf you are a little scratchy on history, Merv provides entertaining daily tours, starting with the fact that the district opened in 1920 and the museum sits on a conditional purchase block developed by Percy Powell - a fellow pioneer of the district.

"About 25 per cent of what you see in the museum belongs to the family and the rest has come from clearing sales, our travels and donations from all sources," Merv said.

"Our rule is to show all the items that would have been on farms pre-1965.

"lt fits in with 100 years of history from 1865.

"The only items that breaks the rule are a collection of colourful tins, some of which were painted by Australian artists, such as limited edition Anzac and Arnott's biscuit tins that were sold in the early days."

Almost every item in the museum is in pristine condition, with even old spanners and wrenches getting a workover to restore their former lustre.

Stand-out items include a pedal-operated Britannia sewing machine made in England (circa 1860s) and a tin foil on which inventor Thomas Edison first recorded sound in 1877.

The first words recorded was the line, "Mary had a little lamb".

Merv's collection also includes music boxes dating back to the 1880s, a chapel organ (circa 1890) donated by Don Wylie, Lesmurdie, a 1905 Edison Black GEM phonograph cylinder with horn (amplifier) which plays Rule Britannia, cameras dating back to Merv's mother's Box Brownie 24 made in 1920, kitchen chairs made in Czechoslovakia (now theCzech Republic) in the 1930s, telephones and record players.

The latter piqued my interest and as a polite test I asked Merv if he had any Hogey Carmichael songs (circa 1930s).

It took him less than one minute to look through the alphabetical list, then finger through the extensive collection of 78 records to produce a gleaming 78 which included Hogey's rendition of "Dark Town Strutters Ball".

It was played on a "modern" 1969 National Panasonic record player and the diamond-tipped needle produced a clear sound of an unmistakable Hogey with his band.

Still humming the tune, it was time to assess the outside museum items, including a 1905 Clarence H Smith mouldboard plough made in South Australia - the oldest machinery item at the museum.

It takes pride of place at the entry to the museum and caravan park in front of a 1920 State lmplement Works WA, Rocky Bay, five-furrow plough and a 1935 HV McKay Sunshine, Victoria, 10-disc stump jump plough.

Outside the museum is a Fordson half track E27 tractor (1948) which soon will have company as Merv is patiently restoring 23 tractors on the family farm and a spring cart tipping dray.

Leaving Merv and Laurel, I swore I saw a magpie swoop over my car in the driveway.