Teddy-Times
Mum and Dad bought the farm, Cudgelbar, Bogan Gate, with financial help from the (Great) Aunts. Dad did register War Service Land Settlement scheme but did not get any land in the ballots.
After buying the land Mum and Dad had to borrow money to stock the farm. They began in debt and stayed in debt. They battled the overdraft, working hard, seeing it come down in the good years and sky rocket in the drought years.
Mum and Dad had difficulties starting a family. They both had to undergo tests in Sydney. Eventually the doctors ascertained a minor problem with Mum and gave her some tablets. After having three children in three years, she threw the tablets away.
Each time Mum was to give birth she returned to Sydney and stayed with the (Great) Aunts. We were all born at Royal North Shore Hospital.
Dad bought a teddy bear for Barbara, for Jane and for me. I don’t have mine anymore, as I washed it and the squeak stopped working. I then did investigative surgery and un-stitched the bears tummy. It was never quite right after that.
Interestingly, as the farm fortunes lessened, the teddy bears that Dad bought got smaller and less expensive with each girl born. Alison didn’t even get a teddy, she got a soft, furry panda bear.
Mum sent Barbara and Jane’s teddies to the Doll Hospital in Sydney to have them fixed. They look good as ever and I am very happy to have this picture of her with them.
