Leura

Bertha's parents bought a farm at Swan Creek in the early 1920s when their eldest children were school aged.

They called it 'Leura' and ran dairy cows, pigs and chickens as well as some crops including barley, corn, hay, lucerne and a small amount of wheat. 

"There was always something to do on the farm," recalls Bertha.

"Clean out the foul house, scrub out the perches, paint them with whiting!

"If your knees bent, mum'd see them bend, she'd give you another job before you could sit down.

"She was a real sergeant major."

Bertha recalls the dairying gave the family the most regular income and they were able to harvest one or two crops a year if they were lucky.

Bertha's jobs included looking after the chickens and pigs.

"I hated the pigs. I used to feel like killing them every time I had to go and feed them," she says.

The house was small because it had been built by the previous owner as a share farmers' cottage.

There were just four large rooms and a verandah.

Bertha says the toilet was a long walk from the house.

"It was a real trip to the dunny," she says.

"(When it was dark) we used to go outside and hope nobody was looking and go to the nearest tree."