Bessie Picker

This week I caught up with the beautiful Bessie Picker, Bessie has had a love for all things sewing and cooking since she was a little girl, and still to this day.

Age: 79

Where and when were you born? I was born at Bigga, in 1940.

What are the most important lessons you've learned in life? Just to be fair to people, treat everyone with love and kindness.

What took you a long time to learn? My Grandfather died when I was 11 and I had to learn to milk cows, that took me a while. It was a small dairy that provided the village with milk. I was there until I was 23 years old.

What is your favourite childhood memory? I think it would be my Grandfather waiting for my Grandmother to go to the cows for the evening to milk. He would say to me ‘Quick Grandma’s gone, I’ll set up the sewing machine for you.’ *laughs* So he would set it up for me, she didn’t want me to touch the machine to change the tension on it, so he put it up and he would watch out the window for her to be coming back, then he would say, ‘Quick pack it back up Grandmas coming!’ *laughs* She never caught us, we were too good for her.

What life advice would you pass along to your grandchildren? To be truthful and treat people fairly.

What did you want to be when you grew up? A School Teacher, though I never had the opportunity, I had to stay at home to help with the small dairy.

What was your first job? I never really had a first job, I worked on the property and I would teach a needlework class at school for a few years.

What are you most proud of? My family, they all want to get ahead and do well in life.

What did you get up to when you were young? I loved and played a lot of tennis, I was most successful exhibitor for eight years at the Flower Show in Bigga, the church held it every year. I always enjoyed sewing and cooking, I loved making sponge cakes for all of the kid’s birthdays.

Who is the person who influenced your life the most? Why? I think my Father, he was an honest and trustworthy man and I really looked up to him.