Saturday, March 21, 2020
Saturday, February 15, 2020
After several honest attempts to draw a picture of my old home, I have come to the conclusion that I am NO artist, and though every detail of every part of each building and its location is very vivid in my mind I am unable to complete even an amateur drawing of them, that I would not want identified as the work of my hand.
So I shall endeavor to give you a word picture that will have to substitute for my lack of drawing artistry.
To start with the land in the area is all of an undulating nature, or none of it is entirely level in any large part. Our farm was approximately 1/4 mile wide and two miles long, one mile under cultivation and one mile of woods which were quite diverse in which grew spruce, fir, hemlock and cedar, alder, hackmatack, ash which was like oak, white birch from whose bark the Indians used to make their canoes. Silver birch and yellow birch that had a red core that was a perfect substitute for and even better than Mahoney, it was harder and took a much better finish. Also Beech, real large deciduous trees that bore nuts that were very delicious when we were lucky enough to beat the squirrels to when ripe, also 3 different verities of maples including rock maple that produced the sap from which maple sugar and candy was made from, so you can readily see that our forests there provided not only wood to heat our homes and cook with but to provide a variety of goods to eat too.
There was also two streams, one across the back and one on the east side that were spring fed and never run dry in the summer and I could always go and in a very few minutes catch a mess of trout for our supper, so you can get the idea that we were well provided for in all the necessities for living.
The house was newly built when I was a baby. November 3, 1894 It was a full two stories plus a high attic that the only access to it was through a hatch in one of he four huge upstairs bedrooms. Each of which could easily have plenty of space for four full size beds, which were often necessary when we had a crew of workers during harvest or when we had a portable sawmill sawing the logs that we cur during the winter months and making lumber that was shipped to England at that time. I almost forgot to mention the beautiful Birds Eye Maple that we used to cut down for wood to heat our furnace with as well as the cooking stove. What a horrible waste of that gorgeous lumber that is almost priceless today as some kind of blight in recent years has destroyed most all of the very prolific hard wood trees that were so evident in that area in my youth.
Now for the house, the major part was a T-shape, contained four bedrooms upstairs and one down that we called the spare bedroom that was used only for very special guests, or when one of the family was ill needing a doctor, The downstairs or first floor included: A large entrance hall at least
nine foot wide. that included the stairs way up, also a large parlour, only used for very special occasions, a sitting room and a dining room where as many as 30 people could be seated at one time also where the dances were held after a harvest bee. or other happenings when friends and neighbours would gather The kitchen was a part extending off the main house and contained three parts known to us children as kitchen scullery and shed. The kitchen itself was huge where all regular meals were served and everybody congregated in the evenings for acrobatics, and other games. It had a large solid cast iron stove. and the oven was high up, it was truly an efficient baking arrangement for any kind of baking including the most delicate to huge fruit cakes, etc.
The cellar was not under the kitchens had a clay floor was as clean and solid as if it were cement, our food never mildewed and doughnuts lasted for over a year as did mustard pickles and other hings such as fruit cake, etc. that mother had baked us before leaving there for good that I do not think was her intention at that time, but the cellars in that part of the house were a marvellous thing. potatoes, all kinds of vegetables were stored in new bins and never spoiled all winter.There was a large furnace completely covered with brick that would take a birch log four feet long and eight inches thick and last all night with others of course and kept the house warm 24 hours a day during the coldest winters.
The including rafters of the main part as well as kitchens, etc. Timbers were all hand hewn. My father , your great grandfather, could hew a hardwood log that was as straight as if sawn by a sawmill. Framework.
Other buildings included, a former house that my father was born in plus the 11 other children in his family, that we used for a wood shed and upstairs rooms for grain, storage bins and other articles also rwo very large barns, one for cows and hay storage to feed them. One for horses and several head sometimes as many as 40 young cattle that had to be housed through the long, cold winter months.Then the sheep barn for 100 sheep, also the hay to feed them in winter. It was 90 feet long, then the carriage house that housed the many and various vehicles. , it was huge as was the hen house for 100 hens [plus a place for turkeys, geese and ducks, even the Ice House where the three foot thick blocks of ice was stored packed in sawdust and provided the family and hired men and visitors with
lemonade, ice cream or cold buttermilk all through the hot summers and was a treat in winters on occasions, that is a part manage that was at that time in my life that kept the wheels turning and made ife very pleasant for all concerned in my childhood on the farm and as good a word picture and all 100% true of my childhood life on the farm. , but much changed after my 10th year when so much of the afore mentioned went out of my life, hope you get the real picture of what used to be
So I shall endeavor to give you a word picture that will have to substitute for my lack of drawing artistry.
To start with the land in the area is all of an undulating nature, or none of it is entirely level in any large part. Our farm was approximately 1/4 mile wide and two miles long, one mile under cultivation and one mile of woods which were quite diverse in which grew spruce, fir, hemlock and cedar, alder, hackmatack, ash which was like oak, white birch from whose bark the Indians used to make their canoes. Silver birch and yellow birch that had a red core that was a perfect substitute for and even better than Mahoney, it was harder and took a much better finish. Also Beech, real large deciduous trees that bore nuts that were very delicious when we were lucky enough to beat the squirrels to when ripe, also 3 different verities of maples including rock maple that produced the sap from which maple sugar and candy was made from, so you can readily see that our forests there provided not only wood to heat our homes and cook with but to provide a variety of goods to eat too.
There was also two streams, one across the back and one on the east side that were spring fed and never run dry in the summer and I could always go and in a very few minutes catch a mess of trout for our supper, so you can get the idea that we were well provided for in all the necessities for living.
The house was newly built when I was a baby. November 3, 1894 It was a full two stories plus a high attic that the only access to it was through a hatch in one of he four huge upstairs bedrooms. Each of which could easily have plenty of space for four full size beds, which were often necessary when we had a crew of workers during harvest or when we had a portable sawmill sawing the logs that we cur during the winter months and making lumber that was shipped to England at that time. I almost forgot to mention the beautiful Birds Eye Maple that we used to cut down for wood to heat our furnace with as well as the cooking stove. What a horrible waste of that gorgeous lumber that is almost priceless today as some kind of blight in recent years has destroyed most all of the very prolific hard wood trees that were so evident in that area in my youth.
Now for the house, the major part was a T-shape, contained four bedrooms upstairs and one down that we called the spare bedroom that was used only for very special guests, or when one of the family was ill needing a doctor, The downstairs or first floor included: A large entrance hall at least
nine foot wide. that included the stairs way up, also a large parlour, only used for very special occasions, a sitting room and a dining room where as many as 30 people could be seated at one time also where the dances were held after a harvest bee. or other happenings when friends and neighbours would gather The kitchen was a part extending off the main house and contained three parts known to us children as kitchen scullery and shed. The kitchen itself was huge where all regular meals were served and everybody congregated in the evenings for acrobatics, and other games. It had a large solid cast iron stove. and the oven was high up, it was truly an efficient baking arrangement for any kind of baking including the most delicate to huge fruit cakes, etc.
The cellar was not under the kitchens had a clay floor was as clean and solid as if it were cement, our food never mildewed and doughnuts lasted for over a year as did mustard pickles and other hings such as fruit cake, etc. that mother had baked us before leaving there for good that I do not think was her intention at that time, but the cellars in that part of the house were a marvellous thing. potatoes, all kinds of vegetables were stored in new bins and never spoiled all winter.There was a large furnace completely covered with brick that would take a birch log four feet long and eight inches thick and last all night with others of course and kept the house warm 24 hours a day during the coldest winters.
The including rafters of the main part as well as kitchens, etc. Timbers were all hand hewn. My father , your great grandfather, could hew a hardwood log that was as straight as if sawn by a sawmill. Framework.
Other buildings included, a former house that my father was born in plus the 11 other children in his family, that we used for a wood shed and upstairs rooms for grain, storage bins and other articles also rwo very large barns, one for cows and hay storage to feed them. One for horses and several head sometimes as many as 40 young cattle that had to be housed through the long, cold winter months.Then the sheep barn for 100 sheep, also the hay to feed them in winter. It was 90 feet long, then the carriage house that housed the many and various vehicles. , it was huge as was the hen house for 100 hens [plus a place for turkeys, geese and ducks, even the Ice House where the three foot thick blocks of ice was stored packed in sawdust and provided the family and hired men and visitors with
lemonade, ice cream or cold buttermilk all through the hot summers and was a treat in winters on occasions, that is a part manage that was at that time in my life that kept the wheels turning and made ife very pleasant for all concerned in my childhood on the farm and as good a word picture and all 100% true of my childhood life on the farm. , but much changed after my 10th year when so much of the afore mentioned went out of my life, hope you get the real picture of what used to be
Thursday, June 6, 2019
Mystery Prints in Bird Alley!
This morning I have found a mystery in Bird Alley! Three white paw prints on the walking stones leading to our bridge.
A clue found! David observed that white lines had been painted at the parking lot at the store. Perhaps a wandering cat walked through the paint and then came to our yard. About a block’s distance away. If so, the paint must have been long lasting, not to dry or get rubbed off! I hope the paw prints are long lasting as they are rather sweet looking.!looked around the store’s parking lot and did not see any white paw prints.
A clue found! David observed that white lines had been painted at the parking lot at the store. Perhaps a wandering cat walked through the paint and then came to our yard. About a block’s distance away. If so, the paint must have been long lasting, not to dry or get rubbed off! I hope the paw prints are long lasting as they are rather sweet looking.!looked around the store’s parking lot and did not see any white paw prints.Saturday, December 1, 2018
Quilting through the winter
Although it’s not yet officially winter, the snow on the ground has influenced me an I have been spending much time recently on a quilting project. The focus of my work in progress is cats and the name of the pattern is Patchwork Cat with borders..
Monday, July 23, 2018
butterfly quilt, a work in progress
A work in progress. A ‘quilt as you go ‘approach. The butterfly block sources are varied. The top row are quilt blocks from a yard sale or flea market quilt and the quilt was showing wear and tear so I saved the better blocks to recycle. The brown butterflies and other embroidered blocks were cut from a jacket David had bought for me at a thrift store. The large orange butterfly is a pieced block that I had made and the photo of the folded butterfly within its chrysalis. Is of a Monarch butterfly I had raised from a caterpillar. The orange sashing is a fabric showing many Monarch butterflys.I have several more rows to add but I find it is too hot and muggy to work at it today. I find quilt making is better suited to the cooler winter months.
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
S is for Snow for abcwednesday Round #21
Brrrr., no we don't have any yet and I do not happily anticipate its arrival. Snow can be wet, messy, cold and cause hazardous driving conditions. Thankfully we have been preparing and yesterday my winter tires were put on my car. Snow can be beautiful and exciting (when as a child it is anticipated happily.) In my province we get lots of snow and in the past couple of years kids have had many snowdays , when schools are closed due to hazardous driving conditions or very large snowfalls which makes driving almost impossible. But first a couple of photos to remind ourselves what I am talking about. Our first snowstorm might look a bit like the first picture. I have titled the picture "a snowy flurry".
The second photo is after much snow has fallen but not a lot.. I think it looks rather beautiful in this picture! But first a couple of photos to show you what I am talking about.
it has quite a bit of white on it and when flying in s group , it is mostly the white on these birds which are seen. I love finding a flock of snow Buntings ( locally we call them Snowbirds.
Sometimes however your eyes may deceive you and what you think is snow in the air is not but in reality this next picture is of a group of Snow Buntings flying over a field. We call these birds Snowbirds
I have included a picture below to show you what a real Snow Bunting looks like,
If you are in the province of Quebec you might think that you are seeing a field with a large amount of snow in it. Actually it could be a flock of Snowgeese that you are watching. These large geese are mostly all white and I think they are beautiful birds. Sometimes we see snowgeese in my province of New Brunswick but it not a sight often seen. Below is a picture of a blanket of snow? No, it is a flock of Snowgeese in a field.
Now lets get a closer view of these snowgeese.
Above you can see the whiteness of these snowgeese.
Once I took a picture of a snowgoose in flight and after I downloaded it at home I decided to make a copy of it and turn it into a wooden decoration. Every winter around Christmas time we put our snowgoose out in a yard as a decoration for the snowy season.
In the picture above to the right is an actual flying snowgoose and to the left in the insert,is the wooden decoration of the snowgoose we made.
Above is Our own wooden snowgoose on our yard fence.
So as you can surmise there are a few things that I like about winter and snow, but not too many. I am linking today to abcwednesday which can be found at sbcwednesday.com
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
R is for Robin's Repast of Red, Round, Rowans for abc Wednesday
This is the time of year when large flocks of Robins roam our area looking for and foraging upon the overloaded Mountain Ash trees, which are filled with Rowan berries, thus today's title and two pictures which illustrate my title. The full lush tree where these pictures were taken at is now all but empty with just a few clusters of berries remaining at the tree tops as is another feasting tree just down the street from my house.
Above , a robin with a round red rowan berry held in its beak
In the above picture a Starling has joined in on the feast of berries.
I am linking today with abc Wednesday Round #21 which can be found at abcwednesday.com
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