LAUNCESTON'S Lois and Bill Payne have run two farms, raised three children and worked through tough conditions together.
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After seven decades the couple remain as close as ever.
They will reach their 70th wedding anniversary on March 30, and have looked back on the many years since they were married at St Peter's Church of England, Weldborough.
"When Bill and I were married, you had to pull together if you wanted to get on well," Mrs Payne said.
Mr Payne, 97, and Mrs Payne, 87, said they never had a major argument in their 70 years together, which is remarkable given the stresses of running a farm and raising children.
The recipe for their marriage's success may be simple.
"We just co-operate," Mrs Payne said.
She met her husband at Weldborough after moving from Melbourne.
When she first glimpsed the farmer, he was riding on horseback.
"That was it. He was a great horseman, Bill," Mrs Payne said.
"A bloke on the block I suppose you'd call him."
Although it wasn't love at first sight, they grew close and got married, celebrating their wedding with 120 reception guests in a billiards room at Weldborough.
An article in the North Eastern Advertiser that year described the wedding in detail including Mrs Payne's dress, "a slim, close-fitting frock of bridal crepe, heart-shaped neckline and three-quarter sleeves".
"A large number of congratulatory telegrams were received," the article noted.
The two teamed up to run a farm together, producing Angus cattle, milk and crops.
They had 400 head of cattle.
Mrs Payne helped her husband milking, potato picking and feeding stock.
"Milking wasn't one of my favourite things," she said.
Sometimes seasons were bad and the price of stock was always a consideration.
Mrs Payne was usually busy with their daughters, Paula, Sandra and Julie, and Mr Payne was occupied by the farm.
They ran a 400-acre farm at Kerrs Road, Derby, and also a smaller property nearby.
When Mr Payne was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he had to visit Launceston for treatment in the mid-2000s, and the couple moved to the city in 2007.
They were able to relax more after they had left their farm, and their children had grown up, although Mr Payne took some time to adjust to retirement and their new home.
"It was the best thing we ever did, moving here," Mrs Payne said.
They started a new phase of their relationship.
"I think I fell in love with Bill again," she said.
"We were able to be ourselves again in a later time in our life.
"I'm happy to be where I am and doing what I am with my neglected garden," she laughed.
The quality she loved most in her husband was his easy-going nature.
"Especially in later life," she said.
"I love him to start off with ... he's not crabby, he's very easy to get on with."
Mr Payne said his wife was a good organiser and didn't have any worries.
"She does what she likes."
The couple, grandparents to three boys and great-grandparents to one boy, with another great-grandchild on the way, will celebrate their anniversary with a small family lunch in Launceston on March 30.
