I have four children; 3 boys Rob, Barry and Wayne. We adopted our daughter Joanne. I have 9 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. We came over to Cummins with everything in July of 1968, the wettest July ever. We left in the dead of night from Port Pirie. We had sold up everything. I resisted and resisted the move. We left a brand-new house I had designed that we were only in for about three years. I didn't know where Cummins was!

We came over the Yallunda Flat hills to Des Fitzgeralds farm, the road was just a dirt road. Ern’s van went through first. I was in my little mini minor watching to see how deep the water was because I had to go after him. We were lucky because our furniture van just made it. We had to drive through Kirk's paddock at Cockaleechie to get to that house. We were marooned for three days after that because we couldn't get out!

We were out at the farm for 18 months running two cars back and forwards to Cummins while the kids were catching the school bus in. We had the shop established in Cummins then. Ern was able to go right around the back of Des’s place to get in to town. I didn't dare in my little mini minor because we had to go through some pretty deep dips. When we went to church, I'd say to young Rob, who was only 10. “Take off your shoes and socks” and he would walk through the water to see how deep it was. I would drive through, pick him up and he’d put on his shoes and socks, and we'd go off to church!

Ern was into amateur Radio and spoke to people all over the world. Crystal Brook Mayor asked him if he could make radios for their firefighters as there was nothing available in the 1960’s. He invented and we manufactured radios that would reach hundreds of miles. We employed about four girls to wire up all the components in the mobile radios. I did too. I soldered in capacitors and resistors. Ern developed base stations and mobile stations from Munno Para and all the council's up to Quorn. Then we came over here. The first order was for 10 mobiles and a base for Cleve. Next was Cowell and then all over the place it grew.

Ern came over originally and stayed at the hotel in Cummins for free. They suggested this, if he would do repairs on their refrigeration and electrical parts. He rewired all the new part of the hospital too. We wanted to buy our shop (where Men's Shed is) and really establish ourselves. We couldn't as Jack Carr owned and was renting the shop where he was and offered us a block alongside the District Council. We bought the block. The council eventually bought our shop and that's what the new council is now.

Our big shed which is now Impact sheds was going to be a honey shed when we first moved over here. We'd always had a couple of hives of bees in Port Pirie. So, we started off and it just grew. Before we knew it, we had 800 hives of bees. Our honey was a beautifully flavoured very light honey, we used to sell it in three-kilogram buckets in the shop. The honey was put in 44-gallon drums. They would go away on a semi-trailer, 72 drums at a time. Ern made a front-end loader that ran on the utility to load the trucks. He built all the honey extracting equipment.

We used to go to Cowell every Christmas for our holidays. We were friends with Jeff Turner who had oysters up there. We helped count out oysters and put them in a bag to sell and would easily forget how many oysters were in the bag. Jeff suggested as Ern was pretty good at inventing things he could invent a counter to count the oysters. So, he did. I had a lot of input towards it, because I am a woman, I could see what was going to work and what wasn't. It ended up with three belts of varying speeds and a magic eye on a round carousel with 27 bags all the way around. When one bag was full, the whole machine would stop, and it would swing around to the next one, and automatically start again. It was an amazing sort of thing. The machines were used from Coffin Bay to Streaky Bay. Ern welded all the shed's metal fabrications. He did everything. He was just a very, very clever man.

I was in charge of the nursing aids for the blood donor sessions in Cummins with the Red Cross. That was one of my most enjoyable times. Collection was in the rooms behind the present ambulance centre. I'd go to the hospital and get the trolley (barouche), then go to the morgue, get another trolley and take it over. There were thin mattresses that went on them and were set up in either room. The Red Cross nurses would put the lines in. At first, we would have to agitate the bags. And then hurrah, they had automatic rockers, which were great progress. I think everyone in Cummins was a blood donor at some stage. We got to know who would faint and who would not. When somebody came in and gave blood, I would whisper to the nurse; just watch him because he might faint. We did this once a month.

When we came in 1968, I was asked by the Cockaleechie club to join the CWA. I knew CWA had a flower of the month. At the farm there was not much garden. There was a big bush at the front with beautiful red flowers on it. I thought it was sure to win as it was so exotic. I had never seen one before. I took it to the meeting and blow me down, I was told it was a Callistemon. They grow on the side of the road and are as common as anything. I was quite deflated.

I've been in CWA since that time. I have spent 18 years in all positions in our Marble Range Group of CWA. It's only these last perhaps 18 months that I haven't been able to go because I've just been so ill. Everything started with COVID. We weren't allowed to go to church. We weren't allowed to go to CWA, you couldn't go anywhere without a mask. It stopped so many things. And it took more than a year for any of those things to come back. It absolutely messed up everybody's social life.

My house is full of artwork. I have painted in everything. I have enjoyed beading, embroidery, cross stitch, ribbon work and quilting. I don't do things by halves. I tend to pick out the hardest things to do. I haven't painted for years. If i did some now I would just splosh and would not be so intricate. I have made my daughter and granddaughters cookery books with all my prize recipes. I use my embroidery pieces as pages, put recipes on top and scanned them.

I won the rich fruit cake in Cummins around 2002. Therefore, I was the Eyre Peninsula representative to take my cake to the Royal Adelaide show. I made my cake, and I put it in a tin, and I nursed it on the plane over there. I was picked up at the airport and taken straight to Wayville. They took the cake and I got down to the last four and I thought I had a chance at this. No, I didn't get the first, second or third prize. But I got a medallion. I have exhibited in shows for years. I have my recipe for quince jelly in the blue-ribbon cookbook by Liz Herfel. I have found looking through my things prize show cards which I have used to write grocery notes on. The prize money in 1969 was 75 cents. Now if you don't come home with $50 or $60 you haven't had a good show!

I organized a Christmas tree festival in the hall for our group of CWA. The council gave me pine trees, buckets and put a huge mound of gravel there. I held the pine trees while Ern put in the gravel! The CWA branches came along and decorated them. They were beautiful. I decorated an artificial one using a lot of beautiful little cups. The Lincoln Times writes about it and describes the tree as epitomising CWA; ‘teas and scones’. I was so indignant. I wrote immediately to say CWA is not all teas and scones. The little cups represent friendship. They printed my letter.

I was the secretary treasurer of Meals on wheels, in the days when we had to go to the person's place and ask for the money for their meals for the day. I would go to the hospital, get the papers, collate them and collect the money from the different people. And then it came out as direct debit. And all that caused so many problems. I'd have to go to a client and explain to them nicely how it was impossible for them to be overcharged, because it was all taken off the sheets and I would show them how.

I had always been interested in drama. I went along to the Cummins drama club. The first time I went along, there was a whole heap of people. A play was going to be put on and because I was the new girl I was asked to read a part. I read my part and thought I was pretty good. I realized afterwards they had picked all the parts. But nevermind, I persisted. I went back and I ended up playing major parts. Right at the very beginning I was the prompt. I could read ahead and see when anyone was going to falter. We had a lot of fun. I could remember what everybody was going to say to what I said. I was so enthusiastic!

I was very involved in the Lions Club, when Ern was President of the Port Lincoln Club. His project with the members was an Em-Care Ambulance. We used to go around to every show everywhere and we'd make donuts. We must have raised 1000s of dollars in donuts! Then somehow we started on toffee apples, we were told of a lady who lived down near Port Lincoln who used to make toffee apples, and she agreed to come with us. We had a marquee at Yallunda flat show. She sat in a little corner with a burner and everything and made the toffee there and we had a friend at Lenswood provide us with cartons of apples. Those big red, lovely toffee apples were a huge hit and Port Lincoln got their Ambulance!

I've written many, many stories, and I've done many photo books for people. I was so happy that I'd done something for somebody to make their life happier.

Ern died in 2001. We were married for 46 years. When he died, I started on the flower garden. I poisoned off bits and made different garden rooms. I had a fishpond with fish in it and I painted a mural on the wall. It took me six years to get the garden the way I wanted. Now it's nearly overrun. I often think now, I wish Ern was alive to have seen it, I wonder what he would have thought.

I got lots of joy from mapping out my garden. Ern didn't believe in growing flowers; you grow things to eat. We've got a very big yard; it goes way back. It's huge. He had it full of vegetables, absolutely full. We used to give them to the hospital. Even when Ern was in hospital and not expected to make it. He said to me, “I think it's about time you planted some broad beans.” I had planted them already.

I have enjoyed working with and for our community. Cummins has given me lots of opportunities and I am very grateful.