← back to garden
Mabel Garden
Cecil Croft
1934 — 2019
[ photo ]
drop photo1.jpg in this folder
caption here
their story

Cecil was born in 1934 in country Victoria, the third of seven children. He spent his early years on the family farm before moving to Melbourne in his twenties, where he met Carmel at a dance in St Kilda.

He worked as an electrician for over forty years and was known by everyone in the neighbourhood as the bloke who'd fix anything without being asked. He had a laugh you could hear from three houses over.

He is deeply missed by his family and everyone who had the good fortune of knowing him.

[ photo ]
drop photo2.jpg in this folder
caption here
favourite things
food
Sunday roast lamb
drink
Tooheys Old
music
Johnny Cash
sport
Carlton FC
saying
"Near enough is good enough"
hobby
Woodworking
[ photo ]
drop photo3.jpg in this folder
caption here
a recipe from their kitchen

Cecil's Sunday Roast Lamb

"always make more than you think you need"

01.
Score the lamb all over and push garlic slices and rosemary into the cuts. Rub with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
02.
Roast at 200°C for 20 minutes to get colour, then drop to 170°C. Allow 25 minutes per 500g.
03.
Add vegetables and stock around the lamb for the last hour. Rest the meat for 20 minutes before carving.
04.
Serve with gravy made from the pan juices. Don't skip the gravy.
[ photo ]
drop photo4.jpg in this folder
caption here
from the family

"Cecil, you built things with your hands and with your heart. Every piece of furniture in our home, every fence post, every shelf — you put yourself into all of it. We still hear your laugh when we sit down to dinner together. We always will."

— with love, always