ELSIE HINDE INGRAM’S DIARY

INTRODUCTION

In 2001, the diaries of Elsie Hinde Ingram came into my hands, via her niece, my cousin Olive Chamness Stakland. Elsie had given them to Olive in about 1989, when she felt no longer able to write the entries due to arthritic hands or failing vision or both. When Olive learned some years later of my interest in family history, she turned the diaries over to me, to let me make of them what I could. Ultimately the diaries will go to the Saskatchewan Archives Board, with the approval of David Ingram, Elsie’s son.

In November of 2003, my sister Mary Crane and I began the fascinating task of transcribing the diaries. We found it would take the two of us, one deciphering Elsie’s words and the other typing.

Elsie Hinde seems to have begun keeping a five year diary in January 1935. No earlier diaries had then[1] been found, although the suspicion exists that she had kept a diary for some time before that date, because the entries seem to be skilled and practiced, and there is no hesitancy in using the standard diary syntax. As the transcriber of her diaries I can work only with what has come to my hands: diaries dating from January 1935 to December 1988. Herein will be the full text of her diaries from January 1935 to December 1939, selective transcription of full entries for the next five year diary, selective transcription of partial entries for the diaries which follow. Elsie’s diaries are all but one (the exception is one single-year journal) in the five year format with only a tiny space allocated to each date. Her script is small and elegant; she compacts much information into few lines, using initials and abbreviations – except for the names of animals! - which have been spelled out when it was possible to interpret them. Spelling of names has been corrected where this is known; other errors have been left intact to maintain the writer’s “voice.”

In 2007, David Horn found at Valley Springs Ranch a journal Elsie had kept of the year she spent in Iowa with her sister Winnie Chamness and her family. This journal, written by a girl of nineteen, is vastly different in tone and content from the later five year diaries, containing much more of Elsie’s feelings and opinions. The full content of this journal appears as an appendix to the later transcriptions.

Elsie’s 1935 – 1988 diary is of events rather than opinions; of activities rather than exploration of her mental landscape. The events and activities reflect a time in the history of Canada and the Saskatchewan prairies which was as challenging to survival as was the earlier pioneering period. The depression and later World War II took their toll on the people who lived through those times.

Elsie was thirty-two in January 1935. She had been living on the family property since shortly after the Hindes came to Canada in April 1912, when she was nine years old. She had attended Thistle Dale School from the time the school district was formed in 1915, and remained at the family home after leaving school with the exception of two periods in the twenties, first when she spent time in Iowan and later when she attended nursing school, and then, contracting tuberculosis, spent a year in tuberculosis sanitaria at Fort San and Saskatoon. Following her recovery she did not again live away from Valley Springs Ranch, but remained there as an integral part of the Ranch operations. In due course she married, and continued with her husband and son at the Ranch until they retired to live in Borden.

The content of her diaries is presented on a month by month basis, rather than as five years’ worth of a given day as it appears in the diaries. Footnotes have been added, to aid the largely urban descendants of the Hinde line to grasp the issues and events in the lives of Elsie and her family.

These were her family in 1935: Her mother and father, Joseph and Martha Hinde who were seventy-three and sixty-seven. Joseph was retired from the most strenuous aspects of the work of the Ranch, but continued with the less-demanding ones, like sawing wood for heating and cooking, road-mending, and milking the cows. Martha continued with her homemaker role, cooking, cleaning and sewing. Joseph and Martha were the senior members and leaders of the Quaker Meeting, Joseph being clerk of the Meeting.

Elsie’s brother Harry was the closest sibling to her in age. The two of them had formed an inseparable partnership in the family dynamic, such that the youngest of the family, Daisie, felt excluded from their bond, even though she was the pet of the family. In 1935 Joseph and Martha, Harry and Elsie, lived in the “Big House” – the two-storey frame building that had been moved years earlier from Joseph’s homestead quarter on the dry plateau on the top of the river bank, down into the valley to a site of year-round spring water – Valley Springs Ranch. By the time this occurred in 1926, it had long been clear that the land the Hinde family had proved up was mostly unsuited for growing crops, and had been turned over to the raising of cattle.

Elsie’s brother Joseph Edward (Bob) was married in January 1934 to Susanna Rempel, and was now father of a daughter, Mary, three months old. Bob, Susie and Mary lived in a small cottage on the other side of the garden from the Big House. Roberta was born to them at the end of 1935.

Whenever circumstances required it and finances allowed, men were hired to help with the work of the Ranch. George Rempel, Susie’s brother, was one such, often working the winter months for the Hinde family. During the Depression, many men were prepared to work for little more than their board and room. They came from farms and from the city, with the romance of being a cowboy at least part of the time being a big attraction.

Elsie’s oldest brother Len and oldest sister Edith were both married. Len and his wife Ruth, and Edith and her husband Edward all lived in Saskatoon. Her youngest sister Daisie was also living in Saskatoon and working at the sanitarium.

Elsie’s older sister Winifred had been married for some years and was living in the United States with her family.

Martha Hinde had been a Wake. Her brother Hugh and his family had also emigrated to Canada in the early part of the twentieth century, and had homesteaded close to the Hinde land. The Wakes and the Hindes were two of the five Quaker families who came to the Borden area in the same decades. The others were the Nathan Saunders family, the David Crabb family and the William McCheane family. While unrelated by blood when they came to Canada, they were all related by marriage two generations later.

This shows the warp upon which the weft of Elsie’s diary is woven.

Several years after transcription of this diary began, an earlier diary was found, and lent to us by David Horn. This diary is transcribed in full as Appendix III

Except where otherwise indicated, footnotes are provided by Mary Hinde Crane and Roberta Hinde Rivett.

Reference is made in footnotes to several books, as follows:

Hinde, Joseph Edward (Bob) As I Remember It, to be privately published.

Hinde, Henry Wake (Harry) History of the Big Pasture in Hinde Family Stories, To be privately published.

Hinde, Susanna Rempel Stories of my Life Privately published, 2004

Borden History Book Committee Our Treasured Heritage: Borden and District, 1980

McCheane, Mary Saunders Journal 1903 – 1915 Privately published 2003 and available on the Internet at rachel@chamness.org.

A word on the footnotes: my sister and I undertook this project for our grandchildren, whose lives have been lived in cities. The footnotes are intended for them, to help them to understand the context and the content of the diary entries.

Some of the footnotes offer web sites which provide detailed information on an activity noted in the diary.

Roberta Hinde Rivett April 2008

1935

JANUARY

1st

Mother and I went up to Wake’s in afternoon, with Abe, [2] who had brought George[3] back. Harry came for us. Pretty stormy. Clarence Elliott[4] died.

2nd

George hauled straw from red granary[5], boys banked up bunkhouse.[6] Bob mended sleighs.

3rd

Harry and I did milking. Harry to Langham[7] for coal oil and coal. George and Bob hauled straw from Carl’s.[8] Heavy trails.[9] Abe down for George’s cow.

4th

Abe stayed and played checkers with Father.

5th

Harry was kicked by Linnet[10] while we were dressing his leg. Bob and George hauled two loads from Carl’s. George Piprell[11] brought Peggy ^[12]down. Abe left.

6th

Harry laid up with bad leg, so George helped me with Linnet. Anker[13] came from Langham.

7th

Harry up and helped with chores[14] and hung bunkhouse door. [15] George - one load hay and one straw. Bob got basket willows.[16] Anker got hurt with Linnet and left for Langham.

8th

George and Bob cleaned out chicken pen.[17] Rosabelle calved. Bob carded wool[18] in afternoon.

9th

Bob and George hauled straw from Carl’s and Harry did chores. Still dressing Linnet’s leg.

10th

Bob and George for straw. Harry chored and did some mending around barn.

Peggy and I over to see Sadie[19] and stayed overnight.

11th

Harry chored and brought Jimmie in. We came home. Pa took sick during night.

12th

Bob and George - one load wood, one of oat straw. Harry chored and mended back door. Was sick and went to bed early. Pa in bed all day.

13th

Harry and Pa and I sick in bed. I got up near suppertime. Peggy helped Mother.

14th

Pa and I up. Harry still in bed. Bob did up washstand for Sadie. George did chores.

15th

George Piprell came for Peggy. Bob and George hauled two loads straw and did chores. I helped milk in morning. Harry and I did some black and whites.[20]

16th

Bob and George two loads straw. Harry chored. Linnet’s leg a little better. Cousma Woikin[21] over for some meat. Had Meeting[22] in morning.

17th

Bob and George two loads of wood. Harry chored, cleaned wheat for porridge.[23]

18th

Bob and George two loads of wood. Harry chored. I helped milk. Right along getting quite a few eggs.[24]

19th

Bob and George two loads hay from flats.[25] George one load straw from red granary. Harry did chores. Gret’s calf was frozen. Dunny calved white-faced heifer, Grandora.

20th

Had Meeting at home. Very cold, fifty below.[26]

21st

Forty degrees below. All the boys chored and killed lump-jawed steer for chickens.[27] Cleaned out calf pen.[28] Linnet’s leg near better. Harry fixed the leaky water trough.[29]

22nd

Forty-five degrees below. George cleaned out calf pen. He fixed water holes and braced up shelter.[30]

23rd

George still cleaning out pens. Harry chored and fixed water trough. Bertha calved, white-faced steer.[31]

24th

George chored. Nice and mild. Harry took Father and Mother to catch train for Saskatoon.[32]

25th

I made cheese.[33] Harry went for mail and put horses Bird and Bunty into Oscar’s. George cleaning barn.

26th

Bob did Pasture[34] books and sent them to auditor.[35] George cleaned barn and chicken houses. Harry went to Langham for separator. Susie and I made cheese.

27th

Eric and Herdis down. Lovely day. Harry went back with Herdis[36] as it was very dark.

28th

Bob and Susie papering kitchen.[37] Harry went to Langham and took separator bowl and wrote George Williams[38] re: cattle. George went for Oscar’s[39] separator. Mild and melting.

29th

Still mild. Bob still papering. Harry chored, and fixed barn door. I did washing. George got one load straw from Carl’s.

30th

Stone hauling[40] started. Bob and Harry fixed up stone box,[41] hauled two loads from

Twenty-six[42] to Bridge,[43] and two from beach, first in.[44] George got mail and brought Meg and Salley, and also horses from Dunc’s.[45]

31st

Still mild. Bob and Harry two loads from Twenty-six and four from beach. George and I did all the chores and George hauled a load of hay.

FEBRUARY 1935

1st

Bob and Harry hauled rock. George did chores and hauled a load of straw from Carl’s.

2nd

Still very mild. Bob and Harry still stone-hauling, very tired and wet. George did chores and hauled one load of hay. It keeps us all busy.

3rd

Very mild. All rested most of day. Bob in bed. Did chores.

4th

Bob and Harry hauling stones. George chored, met Father and Mother at Langham, took Smoky and Floss.[46]

5th

Boys hauled rock, we did chores. I found Katrina’s calf in trees by the river. George and I brought him home. Spotty white face.

6th

Boys hauled rock. George chored and hauled. Meeting at home.

7th

Boys up four thirty AM and finished up rock hauling by three o’clock. Both tired out. Harry to bed. George chored and hauled load hay.

8th

George for straw to Carl’s; Harry cleaned out both chicken houses. Bob to town – Borden[47] – I went with him to Hynd’s and stayed with Sadie. Saw George Hynd[48] and had a nice time.

9th

George chored. One load hay and cleaned out calf pen. Peter and his mother down.[49] Harry cleaned straw out of barn loft. Bob cleaned ice house[50] out. Killed calf and Cousma had half. Cousma to dinner.

10th

Meeting at home. K. Rempel and Peter here. Left in afternoon.[51] I went a long walk on skis. Eric down to dinner and supper.

11th

Second day. Bob and Harry took George Williams’[52] cattle to Borden to ship to Winnipeg. George did the chores.

12th

Third day. Bob and Harry two loads of ice.[53] George one load hay, Bob and Susie went with Harry and me to a UFC[54] meeting at Thistle Dale School. I went with Peggy and her father for a visit.

13th

Fourth day. George one load of straw from Carl’s. Bob and Harry filled ice well. To George Walker’s[55] at night. Peggy and I to Lilah Pope’s[56] for afternoon and evening.

14th

Fifth day. Peggy and I to hockey game, Borden versus Halcyonia. Halcyonia won. Had an interesting time but got very cold. Over to D. Williams in evening.

15th

Sixth day. Peggy and I to C. Orchards’ for dinner and Kathie’s for tea. Had very nice time. Mother phoned to say Peter Rempel had been killed in the windmill. [57]

16th

Seventh day. Peggy and I to Mrs. Goodman’s[58] for dinner. Met Bob on road. Billie[59] and Joshua up for supper. I came down with them and slept with Herdis.

17th

First day. I stayed at Wakes’ for Meeting and dinner and supper, and then Joshua and Billie and Herdis brought me home and stayed evening. Bob up to Great Deer.[60]

18th

Second day. Mother and I washed in morning then Harry and I rode over to Hynds’ and I went with Sadie to UFC meeting at Baxters’.[61] Harry and Bob to Pasture meeting. Bob to Great Deer.

19th

Third day. Peter’s funeral is to be today. Harry went up with Billie and Eric. Arthur Hynd came up and helped us with chores and hauled a load of hay. Forty-two eggs.[62]

20th

Fourth day. Nice day. Harry hauled one load straw. We turned linoleum round.[63] Fifty-six eggs.

21st

Fifth day. Harry hauled one load of straw from Carl’s. Bob and Susie and Alex and Olga and baby home.[64] Here for supper and slept here.

22nd

Sixth day. Harry went to Wakes’ to have 31 bushels of oats chopped[65] and brought mail. Mother and I to Langham to vote on poultry marketing plan.[66] Bob hauled one load of straw. Nice day.

23rd

Seventh day. Bob hauled one load of straw in afternoon. Harry chored and unloaded chop and got one load oats from Twenty-six. Boys lanced Smoky’s back[67] again. Olga and Alex to Great Deer.

24th

First day. Bob and Harry chored most of day. Heatherbelle sick – impaction.[68] Had Meeting at home. I was sick and in bed most of day. George came back to supper; away nine days.[69]

25th

Second day. I felt a bit better. Bob and George two loads straw and one load hay. Harry chored. Dosed Smoky’s back and Heatherbelle with melted lard[70] and did some mending up around the yard. Thirty below in the morning.

26th

Third day. Not quite so cold. Bob and George two loads straw. Harry did chores and went to Langham. I wrote to Edith, Len and Daisie.

27th

Fourth day. Bob and George two loads of straw. Harry took cattle out. Got mail.[71] I gave Portia and Snowdrop bran mashes,[72] both down. I washed woolens. Colder tonight.

28th

Fifth day. Bob and George two loads straw from Joshua Wake. Harry did chores and brought Bunty[73] in. She is very thin. Mother and Pa and I all doing rugs.[74]

29th[75]

Sixth day. Mild, inclined to snow. Bob and George for two loads straw. Harry chored. Started lining socks. Henry Badman[76] brought socks for lining. Mopsy calved black calf – Melissa. Snowdrop died. Bob finished fixing cutter.[77]

MARCH 1935

1st

Seventh day. Bob and George one load of poles[78] from flats. Harry chored, and he and I halter-broke colt, and George helped give her subjection[79] in afternoon. She fought pretty good. Bob and Pa did porch. Portia died.

2nd

First day. Meeting at home, Bob not over. Mild but strong wind from northeast. George got bad cold.

3rd

Second day. Still very windy, snowed a little. Josephine calved. Lost calf. Giving molasses to cattle, also a little oats.[80] Boys did walls of porch. Mother cleaned out back of pantry.

4th

Third day. We did big wash. Very windy and cold. Some snow. Harry to Langham. George and Bob did chores. Madame Queen still halter-pulling.[81]

5th

Fourth day. Had Meeting at home. Still rough weather. Calf born outside, a solid white face cow, probably Edith’s. Harry and Pa doing porch. George one load hay and chores. Bob fixed oat boxes for calves, and stack-yard gate.

6th

Fifth day. Forty degrees below in night. Bright and still. Boys doped Josie and Mary and Maggie who had a turnip in her throat. Bob and Harry did porch roof. Joshua down to Bob’s for supper. I did ironing.[82]

7th

Sixth day. Bob and George two loads of straw from Wakes. Harry and Pa doing porch. We cleaned bedrooms. Still cold and windy.

8th

Seventh day. Finished lining porch and built cupboard. Cleaned house. Bob and Harry and George and I to meeting at Thistle Dale. Ralph Mackay and Dorothy Robinson took the meeting.[83]

9th

First day. I stayed at Hynds’ yesterday and went with Sadie and H. Ellis up to Meeting at Saloways’. Arthur brought us all down home for supper. Ralph Mackay and Dorothy Robinson stayed all night.

10th

Second day. Woke with headache. Bob and Susie took folks to train. We kept Mary.[84] Harry and George for straw. I have sore throat. Harry up to Halcyonia, skating at night.

11th

Third day. Bob and George for straw. Very late as they broke a pole.[85] Took lunch. Pa and Mother to Langham, got kerosene.[86] Harry and I did colt; she’s getting better.

12th

Fourth day. Bob and George for straw. Melting a bit. Had Meeting at home. Susie over. Harry and I did Madame Queen, much better. I made an apron. Mother and Father did rugs.

13th

Fifth day. Harry to Langham in cutter for gas.[87] Bob and George for straw. Arthur Hynd brought engine back. Harry for oats. I did small wash. Churned and baked. Melting outside.

14th

Sixth day. Bob chopped oats all day. George hauled a load of oats. Harry and George built pen for cattle down below. Anker and Len came for supper. I had headache. Made cookies and did cleaning.

15th

Seventh day. Lou Cook[88] down for eggs. Bob chopped oats. Harry hitched colt with Mike and went for mail. Henry and Mary came down in evening. We did cleaning. Harry and Len took Anker to Langham.

16th

First day. Meeting at home. Henry and Mary here.[89] Lovely day. Auntie[90] and Billie and Herdis here in afternoon and to supper. Harry in bed most of day, bad cold.

17th

Second day. Harry in bed until noon. Bob and George for straw, two loads. Bob finished the chopping. Cattle got into granary in bluff.[91] Myrtle sick. Ivy calved. Len and I sorted potatoes.[92]

18th

Third day. Hazel had heifer calf. Bob and George hauled 91 bushels of wheat to Langham. Sixty three cents.[93] Harry fixed drain and well,[94] and got a load of feed from Henry’s for colt. Len sorted potatoes, I did big wash.

19th

Fourth day. Very windy and cold. Harry and Len to Langham but missed truck man and came back.[95]

Bob up to Assmans’.[96] Brought colt home in afternoon. We had Meeting at home. Harry and I gave Madame Queen a scaring lesson.

20th

Fifth day. Cold and clear. Gave Ash Cook’s[97] colt a lesson. George went for straw. Bob took Higgins and Benito to Langham (Earliana and Julie’s calves.) Harry has a bad back. I did ironing, Mother made bran loaf and cookies.

21st

Sixth day. Bright, but cold wind. George and Harry for logs,[98] one load. Bob and I took Arthur Hynd’s wagon back with Mike and Tess. Gave Conrad’s[99] colt lesson. We stayed at Hynds’ for dinner. Mother and I cleaned bedrooms.

22nd

Seventh day. Harry and George for a load of logs. Bob for straw. Father painted drill wheels. We did cleaning. We saw a gopher yesterday and crows[100] today. A lovely mild day. I gave colt confidence lessons.

23rd

First day. Meeting at home. Lovely spring day. Horses stayed out last night and not home tonight. After much difficulty we failed to get Myrtle up, but George got her up later. Harry’s back bad. Seventy-seven eggs.

24th

Second day. Bob and George for straw, two loads. All the horses away all night. Rachel had a bull calf. Harry’s back much worse, in bed all day. I did some dyeing.[101] Snow going rapidly.

25th

Third day. Strong north wind and cold. Harry still in bed. Bob and George for poles on flats, two loads. I gave May a short lesson. Sewed saddle pad and fur robe. I did some mats. We still have colds, did not get mail.

26th

Fourth day. Bought an unbreakable lamp glass. Strong cold north wind. Bob to Langham. Trail is about gone.[102] Harry in bed, George chored and cleaned pens. Started milking Hazel.[103] Harry and I cut out and part sewed a pair of gloves.[104] Had Meeting at home.

27th

Fifth day. Floss came home, with foal. George for hay in morning, and Bob and he for wood in afternoon. Harry up and helped with chores. Harry making quirt.[105] Father mending fur robe. Mother had sick headache. “Tim Buck.” [106]

28th

Sixth day. Cold and bright. Myrtle had big calf tonight. Bob and George two loads of wood. Harry got mail and clippers from Wakes. He and I hitched May, went fine. George’s cow calved. I cleaned bedrooms and we varnished kitchen floor. H. Tallis[107] down for ten dozen eggs at eight cents a dozen.

29th

Seventh day. Cloudy. Northwest wind and some snow. Bob and George for straw in afternoon, and Bob for one load wood. Harry chored, clipped Kingfish’s hooves.[108] We did cleaning and churned. Had letters from Mary McCheane and Daisie yesterday.

30th

First day. Mild but snowed most of day. Had Meeting at home. Bob and Susie to dinner. Harry to Wakes for supper. Benjamina had calf. Wrote to J. Blake.[109]

31st

Second day. All the dates for last month are one day out, owing to the fact that I filled in February 29th.

APRIL 1935

1st

Second day. Bright and milder. Bob and George for wood in the afternoon. Harry for sheaves. Bob and Harry took the colt and Mike for straw and went to meeting at the school. I did big wash. Mother baked.

2nd

Third day. Wrote to J. Blake and to Daisie. Sent seed order.[110] Milder. Used separator seems fine. George went on Smoky to Borden to see doctor about his finger. Sadie and Art Hynd came last night for two roosters and stayed very late. Harry finished training Ash Cook’s colt and he came for him. Bob hauled sheaves. Harry to Langham.

3rd

Fourth day. Bright and getting warmer. Father up for wheat. Harry two loads oat sheaves and put in loft. I ironed and brought Robin in and rode him up to Ezma’s.[111] Stayed overnight.

4th

Fifth day. Warmer. Snow melting. To UFC talk with Ezma. Rode to Larsons’[112] with Sadie, had good meeting. Supper at Hynds’ and home late. Saw Tommy and three year old Smoky.

5th

Sixth day. Myrtle got up alone. Bob and Harry for hay – last on flats, in afternoon. Straw from Carl’s in morning. I went for mail on Robin. Mother and Pa varnished parlour floor while I was away. Connie calved, also Popsie. Rachel stuck in drift.

6th

Seventh day. Boys for wood. Bob to Langham and to George Hynd’s at night. Brought Smoky back. George phoned from Borden. Getting better. Sent for bees.[113]

7th

First day. Cold and cloudy and windy. Meeting at home. I started the incubator.[114] There was a Group Meeting[115] at Saloways’ but was unable to go. Wrote to George Williams.

8th

Second day. Wet snow all day and blowing. Bob and Harry did chores. Bob mended harness.[116] Harry and Pa and I sorted potatoes. Peter McKenzie down for 150 eggs for hatching.[117] Two dollars and fifty cents for me. George phoned. Went home today.

9th

Third day. Snowed in morning. Cleared in afternoon. Boys chored and mended harness and saddles. I got Susie to cut out suit for Roger[118] and I made it up. Quite cute! Mother sewed and Pa did fur rug. Eric down in morning and for supper. Set incubator.

10th

Fourth day. Warm and snow melting. Bonnie calved. Harry and Bob two loads wood and did chores. We cleaned bedrooms and most of the house and churned. Had Meeting at home. Letter from Daisie yesterday.

11th

Fifth day. Water running downhill filled tank. Harry caught the morning train to Saskatoon to hear Tim Buck speak. Father took him and also Rosabelle, Floss and Spot’s calves. Bob hauled load of straw. We did washing. Myrtle weaker.

12th

Sixth day. Warm and bright. Bob shot Myrtle. Father painted wagon wheels. Bob did chores, oiled harness and cleaned barn. Went for Harry with democrat.[119] Boys home very late.

13th

Seventh day. Very windy. Turned to howling blizzard. Bob got engine to go, and put on drill wheels. Harry not well. We did some cleaning, and baked. Boys started to Langham but turned back. Harry went for mail and brought colt home.

14th

First day. Cold and bright. Northwest wind. Meeting at home. Eric came, took Kelly and Glen. Harry went to meet George, who came back. Sadie rode down on “Billie”[120], stayed all night. Harry helped Eric home with ponies.

15th

Second day. Mild and windy. Harry and George for straw, Bob did chopping and painted drill. I did washing. Harry cleaned chicken pen upstairs.

16th

Third day. Overcast. Rain and snow in morning. Harry took Bob to Langham to catch train. George cleared some manure from around house and barn[121] and went for mail. Harry cleaned up house yard. We canned meat,[122] ten and a half quarts. Ironed.

17th

Fourth day. Warm and bright. Harry and George brought granary up from down in bluff. George cleaned chicken house out. Harry went for Bob and took potatoes, ten pounds.[123] Herdis down. Mother made soap[124] and started cleaning cellar. Found red heifer with calf.

18th

Fifth day. Warm and bright. I woke with headache, got up late. Mother started cleaning cellar. Bob papering.[125] Harry got load of wood from river. George cut wood. Mother and I up to Wakes’ to supper.

19th

Sixth day. Very warm. Tested eggs. Forty-eight out.[126] Boys moved granary into place. Bob mended machinery.[127] Harry got load of oats. Mother finished cleaning cellar. Pa painted wagon. I papered one ottoman. George got mail. Len came late.

20th

Seventh day. Very warm. Pa went on painting. Harry and George put horses up on Thirty-six.[128] Len and Bob cleaned manure from around house. Boys brought horses home. Harry and George for one load wood. Put sawdust on the ice.[129] Mother and I cleaned, baked and chored.

21st

First day. Bob and Susie to Great Deer. Meeting at home. Bert[130] down in afternoon. George up to Wakes’ for ointment. Warm and mushy. I cleaned out pool [131] a bit.

22nd

Second day. Mr. Marriott[132] phoned. Warm and raining. I did big wash. Harry took cows and found Three Spot. Len and George cleaned manure from house yard. Len took car tires off.[133] Harry and George fenced on tennis court quarter.[134] Bob and Susie home in afternoon. Brought Eaton’s parcel.[135]

23rd

Third day. Blankets[136] and bees came. Len is back. Len for mail with democrat. Boys working with engine. Bob went for saw and incubator. Took Sally to Badman’s. Mrs. Badman paid five dollars for colt training. We churned twice and baked. Made single feather bed. [137]

24th

Fourth day. Lovely warm day. Bob fixing engine. Up to McCheanes’.[138] Harry and Len cultivating garden down below.[139] George fencing and riding. Pa and I did mother’s room ceiling. Had Meeting at home. Len for cows. George brought Ada home, with calf.

25th

Fifth day. Did ironing. Mother did her room. I went to Sadie’s for dinner and to Women’s Meeting with Ezma in car, to Mrs. Raynor’s.[140] Had good meeting. Bob plowing. Boys fencing.

26th

Sixth day. Bob plowing. Harry and George fencing. Pa and Mother went to clean Meeting House. Anker here for dinner. Len planted garden. I went for cows on Smoky.

27th

Seventh day. Cold and blustery. Rain. I had sick headache until dinnertime. Bob plowed. Len harrowed and disked. Harry and George fenced. We cleaned some. Mother baked. Mister Marriott, the potato inspector, came.

28th

First day. Mother, Father, Bob, Harry and I went to Meeting at the Meeting House. I stayed at Wakes’ for dinner and supper. Billie and Herdis brought me home in car.

29th

Second day. Strong wind, not very warm. Pa to town. Bob plowing, Len hauled wheat and cleaned it. Harry and George took wagon and ponies and supplies up to Ranch.[141] We got them off. I found Minnie down.

30th

Third day. Windy and dusty, turned to rain. Bob plowed. Len and I up to Thirty-Six, shot Minnie. Fed Flora and Popsy and Prunie who had calved. I went for mail. Started wash. Len mended Susie’s for..?. Letter from Daisie. Fed Prunie again.

MAY 1935

1st

Fourth day. Six inches snow. Snowing fast, and windy. Bob and Len brought Prunie’s calf home. Boys home for dinner. I did washing. Started papering bathroom. George cleaned out shelter. Len mended gate on barn.

2nd

Fifth day. Bob plowed[142] in morning. All cut wood in afternoon. Harry and George to Hepburn ferry to meet cattle. Moved brooder house. Len cleaned wheat.[143] Mother and Pa went on with bathroom. Len fixed brooder house up.

3rd

Sixth day. Len put chicks out and reset incubator. Bob up to Ranch on Floss. Len to mail and Hynds’ and brought wheat home and cleaned it. We put chickens in brooder house and did some more at bathroom. I fed bees.[144] Lydia Tomes[145] arrived.

4th

Seventh day. Len harrowed. Bob up to Ranch on Robin. We cleaned, ironed, churned, baked and finished bathroom. I went round cattle on Lasca.[146] Put colts in and brought cows home. Bob saw Lydia.

5th

First day. Mother and Father and Bob and Susie to Meeting in wagon. George came home. Eric down. I rode up with him to Wakes. Found Fox cut and found Bluebell in Mike’s.[147] Saw cousin Lydia and stayed supper at Wakes’.

6th

Second day. King’s Jubilee.[148] Bob sick. Len harrowed up on Pa’s. George packed chuck wagon[149] and went up to Ranch. Harry and he fixed the fence phone.[150] Bathed Fox’s leg. Very bad cut.

7th

Third day. Bob seeded and Len hauled rocks on Thirty-six. I did washing. Mother baked. I went for mail. Found Doris calved. Len hauled oats up and pickled wheat.[151]

8th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Drizzling all morning. Bob seeded in AM. Cleaned oats in PM. Len sacked potatoes. I went up to Wallaces on Lasca. Took Floss for Sadie.

9th

Fifth day. Bob seeded wheat. Len took potatoes to town. We started pantry. I went up to Mary’s and Wakes’ and got groceries.[152] Took little Mary. Wrote to Edith and Daisie.

10th

Sixth day. Put louse powder on calves. Bob seeded oats. Len to mail. Made place to feed calves in corral. Raked alfalfa.[153] I brought Doris home. Kalsomined pantry ceiling. Started papering. Fox a little better.

11th

Seventh day. Bob disked. Len hauled oats and cleaned oat bin. I went on with pantry and we did some cleaning. Mother baked buns.

12th

First day. Mother, Pa and I to Meeting in wagon. Bob and Susie up to Ranch. Tom[154] stayed home. Quiet day and a lovely one. Bob and Susie broke down sick.

13th

Second day. Bob harrowed. Len hauled and cleaned oats and hauled rack in morning. Pacha[155] took Ash Cook’s buggy back and brought home remains of democrat. I did some ironing and gardening.

14th

Third day. Len put seeds in irrigation garden. I planted warba potatoes.[156] Planted centre plot, and Mother planted cucumbers. I got mail and located bulls. Bob harrowed and seeded wheat. Pa mended gates.

15th

Fourth day. Harry took Lasca. George and Harry and I took our cattle up to Ranch. Very windy and cold. Daisie’s Ashford calved. Brought her home. I came home and got cows. Bob up on Floss. Mother did some painting.

16th

Fifth day. We did gardening. Helped Len plant potatoes in bottom garden. Dug front centre patch and back yard, and seeded them. Eric to Ranch.

17th

Sixth day. All cut up potatoes. Bob and I seeded them in morning. Two rows Irish cobbler. Very windy and dusty. Finished. Later Len up to Wallace’s on Floss. Pantry almost finished.

18th

Seventh day. Bob disked. Tried to take Len over to Langham in boat but it leaked too badly. We did cleaning, put things back in pantry. Harry, George and Eric down for supper.[157]

19th

First day. Raining, Meeting at home. Bob in bed, thinks he has broken some ribs when Kingfish kicked him.[158] Boys all took baths. [159]

20th

Second day. Harry, George and Eric to Radisson and Borden. Bob drilled oats. I did two weeks’ wash. Mother not well. Abe[160] came for Mopsy, Melissa and Benny. Took Len’s and my potatoes. He brought groceries.

21st

Third day. Mother and I took load of provisions up to Ranch and cleaned and kalsomined shack. Eric and Tommy came. Borrowed Ash Cook’s buggy.

22nd

Fourth day. Took extra cattle up to Thirty-six and on for mail and plaster from Wakes’. Bob mowed a little hay and drilled in afternoon. I ironed a little in morning. Eric down with Cherry and Jappy. Stayed night.

23rd

Fifth day. Cleaned house and did some ironing. Auntie and Lydia and Peter[161] down for afternoon and supper. Harry and George down for supper. Eric started for Saskatoon. Bob plowed on Twenty-six.

24th

Sixth day. Joe and Agnes here, and the children.[162] George to Borden and Saskatoon. Harry to Langham via boat.[163] I went to look for black calves, and to

mail. Bob plowed. I brought Bunty back. Mother gopher-poisoned[164] on Thirty-six. Pa brought in hay.

25th

Seventh day. Churned and cleaned. Pa harrowed east garden[165] and Bob the one down below, and plowed on Twenty-six. George came back in afternoon.

26th

First day. Father, Mother, Bob and I to Meeting in wagon. I stayed Wakes for dinner and to Sissie’s[166] to supper and to Group Meeting in Borden. Raining when we came out. Harry and Eric home from Saskatoon.

27th

Second day. Fed bees, using eleven pounds sugar. Billie brought me home this morning. Dull all day. Harry and Eric took sixteen of our cattle up and ten of Wakes’ and six of Armand’s[167] to Ranch. Bob drilled oats - 81 acres, and I painted bedroom floor, packed eggs. Mother baked.

28th

Third day. Did washing and rode up to Ranch on Robin. Took supplies and got boys’ supper. Bob plowing on Twenty-six. Quite warm and bright.

29th

Fourth day. Bob plowed on Twenty-six. Rinsed and put wash out. Mother sick in bed. Meeting at home. Washed incubator and put it away.[168] Went for mail and brought Tommy, a steer, home from Wakes’. Letter from Daisie and Edith.

30th

Fifth day. Had Mary over. Susie washed. Bob plowed. Cleaned cellar-way and cellar a bit. Early dinner and rode on Lasca to Hynds’ and went with Sadie to Boyles’ [169]and Sutherlands’[170] to Annie’s for UFC meeting.

31st

Sixth day. Bob plowed. I did ironing. Pa and Ma up to old place,[171] fixed fence and poisoned gophers. Susie poisoned on bottom land. I had Mary and made cake. Heard that Daisie was not coming.

JUNE 1935

1st

Seventh day. Harry did some work for Wakes on cattle. Bob drilled oats. Made and bottled forty-one bottles of pop.[172] Harry home at noon. George home. Eric came and helped me cap pop. Note from Daisie - home later. Did some painting in my room. Harry hauled oats.

2nd

First day. Raining. Meeting at home. Eric and Philip[173] for dinner. Herdis down after dinner. George to Borden. Cleared up but windy. Lasca… (no further entry)

3rd

Second day. Bob plowed. Harry, George and Eric, and Pa cut wood. Mended fishnet[174] and hung barn door. I did the wash. Wrote Mrs. Fisher.[175] Cold and mostly cloudy.

4th

Third day. Raining hard at night. Did the washing and went for mail. Harry, Eric and George planted potatoes, and fenced irrigation garden. Harry and Eric took colts to Ranch. Brought J. Lacy’s[176] mare down. Bob plowed.

5th

4th day. Bob plowed. Harry hunted strays.[177] Found Sammy and Jennifer. Mother had headache. George and Eric started wash. We settled with both.[178] Father, Susie and I to Monthly Meeting.

6th

Fifth day. I helped Harry take nine of ours, one of Henry Badman’s and a cow of F. Saunders[179] up to Ranch. Father and Mother took supplies up. Mother stayed at Lou Cook’s as it rained a bit. Bob seeded.

7th

Sixth day. Bob drilled. Susie poisoned gophers. We had Mary. Cleaned and baked. Harry up at Ranch. I went to Saskatoon with Joshua and Billie. Supper at Edith’s.

8th

Seventh day. Went shopping with Daisie. Down to see Ruth and Roger. Got Ed’s car out. A. Doyle[180] drove Billie, Harry Edith and Daisie and I home in Ed’s car.

9th

First day. All went to Meeting except Bob and I. Edith and Ed came back. Charlie[181] up at Wakes’. Up to school house for Group meeting in afternoon. Art and Ed stayed over. Wakes down in evening.

10th

Second day. I did wash. All left at noon. Bob harrowed. Harry to Langham. Made bridle in afternoon.

11th

Third day. Father took cream.[182] Edith and Daisie up to Wakes’ for dinner. Harry and I up to Ranch. Rounded up small pasture and inoculated[183] twenty-five head. Took them up to middle pasture.

12th

Fourth day. Father took Harry, Edith, Daisie and I to Kay Dixon’s[184] with the rack[185] on the wagon and we spent the day on the river logging[186] up past the bridge. Home about 8:30. Tommy Scott[187] came.

13th

Fifth day. Harry and Charlie M. fixed pump and drain. Bob and Charlie built bench in workshop. Rained hard all day. I had sick headache. Edith did some cooking. Daisie’s birthday.

14th

Sixth day. Daisie and I up to Hynds’ to dinner. Effie’s[188] for tea. Rode Reddy and Lasca. Bob peeled logs[189] and finished building bench. Tommy and Harry chored around. Harold Cruise[190] came.

15th

Seventh day. Daisie stayed in bed. We cleaned. Edith and I started stone steps up drive. Bob and Pa came and helped. Dull and wet. Harry, Tom and Harold Cruise fenced irrigation garden and cleaned barn.

16th

First day. Raining hard and very windy. Called general meeting off. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie to dinner. Ed arrived with Mary and Ruth.[191] Had Meeting down here in evening.

17th

Second day. Daisie and Mary slept in. Edith and Ed left. We took Mary short ride in morning. Harry and Tom started irrigation running and cleaned up yard. Harold to Borden.

18th

Third day. Boys left for Ranch to start roundup. Daisie and I took Major to Henry’s. Billie came down and took Mary and Daisie to Group meeting in Borden. I made cake and nut loaf.

19th

Fourth day. Billie stayed overnight. Susie, Daisie and he and I started for Saskatoon early. Did a little shopping. Went out to University. Spent the day there.[192] I stayed at Edith’s all night.

20th

Fifth day. Daisie and I stayed in bed until noon. Down to Len’s in afternoon. Stayed supper.

21st

Sixth day. Bob in town, also Joshua, Lydia and Peter up to see Doctor Boughton[193] in morning. Did some shopping. Had our palms read.[194] Came home with Joshua at night.

22nd

Seventh day. Bob and I up to Ranch. Inoculated calves. I drove up with Dick and Owen, and came back on Robin.

23rd

First day. Mother and Father and Bob to Meeting. Tom and Harold down and over river in morning. Henry and Mary and Laura down.[195] Mary stayed.

24th

Second day. I did two weeks’ wash. Len, Billie and Ruth down. Mary and I down boating and got very wet. Made ice cream[196] and baked. Bob summer-fallowing. Harry and Tom at Ranch.

25th

Third day. Pa took cream and brought mail. We dried wash. Eric came in evening. Mother out gardening, planted tomatoes from Wakes.

26th

Fourth day. Bob plowed in afternoon. Out in afternoon with Pa and Mother and Susie. Kept Mary. Eric helped. Rained a little.

27th

Fifth day. Earliana kicked me. Severe pain in chest. To bed and felt pretty sick. Bob plowed. I missed Women’s Meeting at Alec Sutherland’s.[197]

28th

Sixth day. Varnished kitchen floor. Hot. Lay on the lawn all morning with Mary.[198] Eric dug garden.[199] In bed all PM. Had dinner outside. Bob plowed. Susie and Bob

to Meeting at Badman’s. George Elliott over.[200]

29th

Seventh day. Eric dug garden. Bob plowing. Mother cleaned kitchen. Pa cultivated garden. Eric and I milked at night. Harry and Tom home at night. George came and gave us the once over.[201]

30th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting. Ed and Daisie and Charlie and Alma up. Edith to Sharing Meeting[202] in afternoon. Eddie[203] and Sissie to supper. Ed, Daisie and Eric and I went riding.

JULY 1935

1st

Second day. Still feeling rotten. Harry and Tom here. Harry practiced Lasca round yard. She fell with me. Father and Mother and Bob and Susie went to Yearly Meeting. Alma[204] and I had Mary. Boys to Ranch.

2nd

Third day. Alma to see Herdis. Pa took cream. I felt a bit better. Bob plowing. Harry and Tom back at night. Brought ponies.

3rd

Fourth day. Mother and I both woke with bad headache. Alma made cake. Harry and I practiced with the ponies. Tom cut hay. Brought load home.

4th

Fifth day. Day of UFC picnic. Good day, not very big crowd. Harry dislocated elbow.[205] Billie took him and me to Borden hospital, stayed all night. Tom stayed home.

5th

Sixth day. Showery. To Newbolds’[206] for dinner. Harry to Saskatoon with doctor.[207] Came home at night. Joshua came for me. Called at Saunders’, supper at Wakes. Meeting at Badman’s. Home late.

6th

Seventh day. We did cleaning. Tom harrowing, and plowed. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer in evening. Terrific storm. Lightning and rain. Harry in bed mostly.

7th

1st day. Fed Cherry[208] oats after starving her twenty hours. Father and Mother and Alma and I to Meeting in wagon. George came early, brought new horse. The two Tommies here for dinner and supper. Herdis down. Eric here for the night.

8th

Second day. Very hot. Got Father and Harry off to town. Eric to Saskatoon, George to Ranch in afternoon. Took Bunny. I started the wash. Tom hauled rocks[209] and harrowed on Twenty-six.

9th

Third day. Sunny but cooler. I continued wash in spasms between getting boys off to Long Lake.[210] They left right after dinner. Billy Newsham[211] to dinner. A man from nursery, ordered about twenty-one dollars’ worth and paid eight dollars.

10th

Fourth day. Dressed Cherry’s back and fed her. Pretty hot. Finished, dried and folded wash. Had Meeting at home. Bessie[212] down in afternoon. Pa and Mother for cream cans at night.

11th

Fifth day. Fed Cherry one gallon oats. Wilfred Brunst[213] brought mare down, stayed to dinner. Tommy home to late dinner. Harry and Bob to supper.

12th

Sixth day. Dressed and fed Cherry. Tommy here one month. Pa gardening. Took cream in afternoon. Tommy mowing. Bob mending mowers and cut a little hay. I cleaned out my bedroom. Bob and I looked at bee hive – one comb only.[214] Eric home at night.

13th

Seventh day. Dressed and fed Cherry. Did cleaning. Harry to town, home very late. Anker came with him. Eric up to Ranch, brought six horses from Hepburn Ferry.[215]

14th

First day. Fed and dressed Cherry. Pa and Mother and Susie to Meeting. Anker and Eric here – to river in afternoon.[216] Made ice cream.

15th

Second day. Fed and dressed Cherry. Started wash and went to Ranch in afternoon, Alma and Laura too. Had supper with Harry, home late. Picked a few strawberries. Eric took Cherry home.

16th

Third day. Put up nine quarts.[217] Bob to Saskatoon with truck man, got new glasses, twenty-three dollars.[218] Tommy put up four loads of hay with Pa’s help. Harry got through on fence phone.

17th

Fourth day. Up to Hynds’, home late. Mother, Susie, Alma and I all went strawberry picking, got some good ones. The men all hay making. Put up seven quarts strawberry and rhubarb. Cleaned chicken stove.[219]

18th

Fifth day. Susie and Alma and I went picking strawberries. Got about three pounds each. Took lunch and got home about three o’clock. Bob and Tom have put up seventeen loads of hay with Pa’s help.

19th

Sixth day. Pa took cream and got mail. Boys still haying. Harry up at Ranch. Bob and I to Ranch meeting at Popes’ with Joshua in car. Home 12 o’clock.

20th

Seventh day. Felt rotten all day. Did some cleaning. Harry home for dinner, to town at 7:30. Boys haying, about twenty loads up.

21st

First day. To Meeting on hay rack. I walked over to Hynds’. Sadie brought me home in evening. Had nice time, Group meetings in Halcyonia and Borden. Found hen with nine chicks.[220]

22nd

Second day. I did washing. Made ice cream and pop. Boys haying – Harry able to drive team. Very hot.

23rd

Third day. Jake and Eva down.[221] Pa took cream and eggs and one dozen broilers.[222] Mother did some baking. I ironed. Boys haying. Very extremely hot!! Harry up to Laurie’s[223] for the night and I up to Blanche Brunst’s.[224]

24th

Fourth day. Harry didn’t call early so I stayed breakfast and went to Ranch and then on to McCheanes’. Very hot. Both home at night. Harry brought gooseberries from Siemens’.[225]

25th

Fifth day. Made bread and butter and Mother put up gooseberries. I went to Women’s UFC at Wallace’s. Stayed at Sadie’s for supper. Boy’s hay-making. Forty-four loads put up.

26th

Sixth day. A bit cooler. Put up thirteen quarts gooseberries. Made cake. Picked peas and beans. Boys still haying.

27th

Seventh day. Harry paid for overalls for Bob. Canned seventeen quarts peas and beans. Did cleaning. Went to town with Billie and Susie and Harry and Sadie. Went to Group meeting in Hall. Edith and Ed and Daisie and Mary P. and Allie[226] came for the night.

28th

First day. Harold Edney[227] came. Father and Mother to Meeting. Saskatoon folks to Halcyonia and back here to dinner. To Borden in afternoon, I went along, and to Group meeting at night. Billie brought me home.

29th

Second day. All the boys haymaking. Mother and I felt rotten so didn’t do much. Mother in bed. Harry up to Ranch in evening, took Di and Tex.

30th

Third day. Cherry and Lenore both calved around noon. I did washing. Mother baked. Boys mowing and raking. Harry got Assmans’ bull and they took it home. Bob put screen in my bedroom window.

31st

Fourth day. Alma and I went looking for raspberries.[228] Pa and Mother went to Monthly Meeting. I put up fruit, eight quarts. Harold overturned load on hill. Bob mowing. Harold was hurt so sewed harness in afternoon.[229]

AUGUST 1935

1st

Fifth day. Boys inoculated calves.[230] Rained all day. Harry and Tom fixing irrigation ditch[231] and ice house roof.[232] I did the ironing and we cleaned my bedroom thoroughly, and Mother did her room.

2nd

Sixth day. Billie brought Lydia and Peter down. The weather clearing. Pa took cream and eggs to Bob McGregor’s[233] folks. Harry and Tom to Ranch at night, took extra horses. Bob working on bull wheel.[234]

3rd

Seventh day. Did seventh day cleaning, made cake. Bob and Susie took car up to J. Derksen’s.[235] I took patching outfit up to Wakes’ for them. Lydia and Peter and Alma and Harold and I down to river in evening.

4th

First day. Pa and Mother and Lydia and Peter to Meeting in democrat. Alma and I on horseback. Henry Friesen[236] down to Meeting. Alma and I to Wakes’ for dinner. Herdis and Clive[237] and Billie down. Made ice cream. Arthur and Sadie Hynd down.

5th

Second day. Harold plowed in morning and raked in afternoon. Bob mending binder wheel. We made twenty pounds butter; bread and buns.

6th

Third day. Harold raking hay and home by noon. Bob mending binder. I did washing. Mother sick in bed most of day. Alma washed racks[238] and made cake.

7th

Fourth day. Mother and I picked two bushels[239] of peas. Had Meeting at home. Boys all haying. Made stack [240] 58 feet long. We washed blankets. Lasca down with mare.

8th

Fifth day. Harry and I up to Ranch, got Peters’[241] horses. Harry came home to hay, and I waited and went with them to gate, came home and milked. Pa and Mother to Wakes to see Friend[242] from States.

9th

Sixth day. Boys all haying on slough.[243] Pa painting workshop roof. Put up nine quarts of dried apples. Did the ironing.

10th

Seventh day. Did the cleaning. Harry to town with Carl, home late. Bob working on binder. Harold and Tom hauling hay. I made bean pickle.

11th

First day. I was sick in bed all morning. Alma over. Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting. Harry, Tom and Harold over to Langham. Abe Rempel and his mother and Laura down.

12th

Second day. Did the washing. Bob cut the wheat on Pa’s. The other boys haying. Pa painting workshop roof.

13th

Third day. Did the ironing and went for mail. Bob cut oats. Boys haying on slough. Mother baked, put up seven quarts rhubarb.

14th

Fourth day. Wakes came in evening. Meeting at home. Bob cutting, Tom stooking, Harold raking. Pa painting, Harry to town with Smoky and Alkali in wagon. Ed and Edith and Daisie and Edith Burke and Annie J.[244] here for supper and campfire.

15th

Fifth day. Bob on binder. The other boys haying on slough. Very windy. I cleaned my bedroom, bathroom and stairs, and we wrote some letters.

16th

Sixth day. Mother took sick. Harry up to Ranch with wagon. Bob and the boys haying in the morning, fixing binder in afternoon. Cut some. Harold raking. Tom came and helped us berry-picking. Abe took Jill.

17th

Seventh day. Bob cutting, boys haying in afternoon, stooking in morning We canned meat, baked, made up butter and did cleaning. Mother up in afternoon. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer. Heard from George and Eric.

18th

First day. Raining. Meeting at home. Made ice cream. Wrote two letters. Bob and Susie home at night.

19th

Second day. Boys moved A-house. Harry up to Ranch. Tommy stooked. Put up meat from Rempels – 29 pounds.[245] Cooked cranberries.[246] Harry and I gave Linnet subjection. George and Eric came with seven horses. Harold plowed.

20th

Third day. Harry and I got bull out of John’s pasture. Saw Hatton Eastes.[247] Harold stooked. Tom mowed. Bob on binder. Big hail storm, just missed house. Taught Linnet.

21st

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry and Tom for mowing. Bob on binder. Harold stooking. Harry and I hitched Linnet to wagon and took Elaine to Oscar’s.

22nd

Fifth day. Bob for cultivator. Plowed in morning. Harry and Tom raking, Bob fixing buggy. We all went bathing for the first time this season. Had ice cream. Herdis down.

23rd

Sixth day. I wrote to George Willamson. Pa took cream. Boys all haying. Peggy and Auntie Sue[248] down for cranberries. Pa and Alma and I went with Peggy and got about sixty pounds. Had letter from Winnie.

24th

Seventh day. Phoned Edith re: Winnie. Edith and Ed and Len and Ruth up. Bob and Susie and Mother to town in Bennet buggy.[249] Harry up to Ranch. Harold plowing. Tom stooked and picked choke cherries with Eric.

25th

First day. Ed and Edith and Pa and Bob and Harry and I to meeting. Twenty-six there. Joe and Agnes. Very blustery and cloudy. Billie and Charlie down after supper. George and Lucie[250] down. Lucie to town with Ed and Edith in car. Eric to Saskatoon with them.

26th

Second day. Harold plowing. Tom and Harry haying. Bob making wagon box. We preserving cranberries, chokecherries, crabapples and carrot jam, and pickling. Abe Newbold took Cherry - $30.00 – and Flora Dora’s calf – $8.00.

27th

Third day. Pa and Harry took cream with Linnet and Robin. Harold plowing. Bob at workshop. Other boys haying and digging ditch. I did washing. Bessie down. Kids all went picking cranberries. Bessie overnight.

28th

Fourth day. Harold plowing. Bob took honey from bees and took it to Borden with Linnet and Smoky. Harry and Tom haying. Bessie home in morning. I went to bed till dinner. Did ironing. Made pickles and jelly. Mother made robe.

29th

Fifth day. Harry and Tom to Ranch. I went with Tom on rack. Rode lower pasture that evening, stayed till morning. Bob and Harold making wagon box. Harold stooked in afternoon.

30th

Sixth day. Letter from Daisie. Coming home. I cleaned shelves and cupboards. Harold for mail, and took Bob’s dinner to Twenty-six. Bob cutting. Harold stooked. Harry and I took three yearling heifers out of Cooks’ pasture – inoculated. Harry helped me part way home with Marion’s[251] Delilah.

31st

Seventh day. Bob cutting. Harold stooking. We cleaned and cooked. Art Doyle and Daisie up late at night. Harry and Tom home at night, very tired. Alma and I slept in workshop.

SEPTEMBER 1935

1st

First day. Edith and Len came. Art took folks to Meeting. I got dinner. I went with them to Group meeting at school in afternoon. Lucie Edmundson came home with us and Charlie and Art and Daisie for a ride. Edith and I a short way.

2nd

Second day. Labour Day. Very windy and cold. To Ranch in Art’s car. Had dinner of borscht, then rode in middle pasture. Took 80 head out. Went to see the Glory Hole.[252] Took pictures. Home in cars. Folks left for City, Mother with them.

3rd

Third day. Made jelly and catsup[253] and baked cake. Boys worked on wagon box and went haying in afternoon. Bright and windy. Tom and Harry still away.

4th

Fourth day. Bob mended washer and I washed. In afternoon he was working on box. Harold hauled oat and wheat sheaves, both went stacking in afternoon. Brought load of hay home. I went to bed with headache.[254]

5th

Fifth day. Bob and Harold stacking on Thirty-six. Took dinners. I baked and made cookies. Marjorie ironed. Made marrow jam.[255] Pa took cream this morning. Marge[256] went for a ride on Bunny.

6th

Sixth day. I went on Bunny and caught mailman and on to Wakes and saw Ruth. Harold and Bob stacking wheat. Harry and Tom still away. Put up six and a half quarts rhubarb and pineapple. Made butter.

7th

Seventh day. Did cleaning, made nut loaf. Marge gave me shampoo. Bob and Harold stacking on flats. Pa picked beans. Harry and Tom home late on horseback. Rained a little in afternoon.

8th

First day. Father and Bob and Susie and Marjorie to Meeting. Bob and Susie to dinner. Tom home. Boys brought sturgeon home.[257] Billie brought Auntie and Lydia and Ruth and Roger down for a short visit. Mother still away.

9th

Second day. Marjorie and I did washing and baked bread. Bob and Harold were stacking wheat. Harry and Tom went up to Ranch and brought back a big load of hay, and mower and rake, had runaway – Alkali and Smoky.

10th

Third day. Harold and Bob stacking. Tom and Harry cleaned well out and barn and mended rake. Harry to bed with headache. Afterwards took rake to Hynds'. Tom helped stacking. We ironed and did some cooking.

11th

Fourth day. Boys all went stacking till about six and it rained just before they finished. I did some mending and sewing on yellow dress.

12th

Fifth day. Boys all took lunch and went in Bennet buggy to pick rocks on beach.[258] We baked and cleaned and sewed. We went for cows on Robin and Bunny.

13th

Sixth day. Harry to Ranch on Tex. Bob cut oats on Twenty-six. Harold and Tom dug potatoes – eight rows with a heavy crop. We cleaned bedrooms and went for mail. No word from Winnie or Mother.

14th

Seventh day. Bob and Susie went to Hepburn[259] in the Bennet buggy with Mike and Queen. Tom and Harry stooked, brought one load home and dug potatoes in morning – forty-two bushels. Harry home for milking. Couldn’t cross river. Very windy.

15th

First day. Sent crate of eggs to Uncle Joe. Father and Marjorie and Harry to Meeting in democrat. Mother came back with Edith and Ed. Ed took us up to Wakes for a short visit in morning. Harold to Saskatoon with Ed.

16th

Second day. Tom and Harry digging potatoes. I did the washing. Marjorie did some ironing. Harry to Langham in afternoon – home late with Harold.

17th

Third day. Harry to town on Lasca to see doctor about his eye. On to Radisson. Got home all right. I went for mail and to Wakes’. Marge and I to Hynds’ for supper and groceries. Bob and Susie back six o’clock.

18th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Tom to Wakes’ for eleven o’clock dinner to start threshing. Bob and Harold hauling oat sheaves to red granary from Twenty-six. I met Harry at Wallaces’. Stayed supper.

19th

Fifth day. Sick in bed all day – stomach flu. Father sick too. Mother sick after dinner. Harry and Bob and Harold stacking. I got up and helped get supper.

20th

Sixth day. Mother in bed till dinnertime. Harry up to Ranch. Bob and Harold hauling sheaves and stacking. Mother and Marge and I up for mail and to Wakes’ in Bennet buggy.

21st

Seventh day. Boys took lunch and went stone piling on the beach. We did cleaning. Marge gave me oil shampoo. George came for supper.

22nd

First day. I had headache, the rest went to Meeting. Harold to Langham. George to Borden. Had boat ride in morning. Tommy home and back to Mike’s at night.

23rd

Second day. Did the washing. Put up pears, seven quarts. Made cookies. Harry and Harold fenced far stack.[260] Gave Linnet lesson in morning – very good. Harry rode her. Bob and Susie to town, took cream and eggs.

24th

Third day. Threshers moved onto Twenty-six and threshed a little. Here for dinner. Rain stopped them. We made rhubarb conserve, cranberry jelly and catsup. Pears three quarts. Made pop, 34 bottles; ginger cookies and did ironing.

25th

Fourth day. Boys all cut wood in afternoon. Bob and Harold dug rock. Harry and Tom fixed King’s[261] stall and water trough. Showery all day. I finished my coat and went for mail. Put up eight quarts of damsons and baked bread.

26th

Fifth day. I went to UFC meeting at Mrs. Wainwright’s[262] with John McCheane. Stayed at Sadie’s all night. Eric came down. Tom packed wagon with supplies and went up to Ranch.

27th

Sixth day. Harold went plowing. Gummie sick. Harold and I doped[263] him. Boys to Ranch. Pa and Mother and Marge up in buggy. I took mail up and helped boys round up north pasture. Used Reddy.[264]

28th

Seventh day. Rounded up north and middle pasture. Put stock in roundup pasture. George stayed overnight, Great Deer cattle out. Billie brought Lydia and Peter[265] and Charlie up.

29th

First day. Home in morning on Lasca. All the boys home for dinner. Ed and Edith came, and Daisie. They left early and left Edith. Took thirteen chickens for Ruth.

30th

Second day. All up to Ranch and cleaned out Stella’s[266] and Langham cattle. Inspector came. Edith and I left in PM and went to Wallaces’. Home late. Edith talked to new tenant.

OCTOBER 1935

1st

Third day. Up to sale alone on Floss in afternoon. Boys both there. Helped them take eight cows to Saloways’ and all stayed for the night. Eric and Tommy fencing.

2nd

Fourth day. Delivered two cows to John Orchard’s[267] and took four to Ranch. Cut out cattle all day. George Walker and Ben Saloway took theirs. Brought three strays from Orchards’. We cut out Larsons’.[268]

3rd

Fifth day. Rounded up cattle, Arnold Larson took his. Mrs. Larson and Gertrude and Mrs. Forsey[269] visited me at the shack. (Took Carl’s too.) Cut out ours, Wakes’ and Armand’s. Tommy and I brought ours home.

4th

Sixth day. Sick headache, stayed in bed. Tommy up to Ranch. Harold and I put our cattle west. Fixed up oat granary and went for mail. Found a stray. Langham folks came for cattle.

5th

Seventh day. Up to Ranch and got dinner. Went looking for roan mares in north pasture. Didn’t locate them. They took nineteen horses to Langham. Derksen[270] took two colts.

6th

First day. I did some cooking, and went to see Peggy on Reddy. Stayed overnight. Joshua and Billie were up. Joe and Agnes up, and all the children. Marjorie stayed.

7th

Second day. Fosters’ and Gersters’ and Browns’ and Brunsts’[271] cattle all out – 109 cattle. Bob and I took Wilfred’s. Cut out Blaine Lake cattle.

8th

Third day. Rained most of night. Too wet to work, turned to snow. Had dinner. Inspector came. Got some Langham cattle retested.[272] Still some short. Bob, Tommy and I home. Harold took supplies up.

9th

Fourth day. Tommy up to Ranch. Bob and I took E. F. heifer up. Bob and Eric got Assman’s bull from Eastes.’ Stayed dinner. Cut out Blaine Lake bunch, twelve of ours and Radisson cattle.

10th

Fifth day. Harry and Eric off to Radisson with cattle.[273] Inspector came, still two short. Checked north Radisson bunch. Good heifer of Harold Foster’s and Z steer.[274] Checked Saunders’ and put in east roundup pasture. I baked and brought twelve of ours home.

11th

Sixth day. Took cattle up to Twenty-Six and went for mail. Finished wash and cleaned porch. Marge cleaned parlour and finished washing kitchen ceiling. Harold went plowing. Harry phoned from G. Walker’s.

12th

Seventh day. Bob and Tom to Radisson. Pa and Harold hauled oat sheaves from below in afternoon. Harold plowed in morning. We ironed and cleaned and churned and baked. Harry and Eric home late and Bob later.

13th

First day. All to Meeting but Mother. Harold and Eric to Langham, brought three girls in morning. The boys and I took them back to the river in moonlight. Harry and Eric took them over.

14th

Second day. Washing day. Joshua took up Marge to Wakes’ to help Auntie. Queen sick. Harold plowing. George down for the night. Bob working in workshop.

15th

Third day. Got cattle in. Abe[275] took thirteen calves. Bob went along to Saskatoon. Mother and I cleaned bedrooms. Went for mail and to Henry’s to clean. Harold plowed.

16th

Fourth day. Harold plowed. Got cattle in and Abe took eight calves. Bob went to town again. Meeting at home. Started papering the kitchen.

17th

Fifth day. Joshua and Billy came to thresh. Started right after dinner.

18th

Sixth day. Threshing in morning down below. Very windy, just finished by night and moved up to Thirty-six. We papered another wall of the kitchen. Harry and Tommy and Eric home in morning.

19th

Seventh day. Threshed on Thirty-six. Bob and Harry to town with four cows – Sukie, Julie, Popsie and Daisie’s Ashford. Mother and I to Hynds’ in afternoon. I was in bed all morning.

20th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting. Brought Marge down. Harry and Eric and Harold drove cattle to Twenty-Seven. Bert down. Eric and Tom to Langham. Harry and Bert and Marge and Harold and I for row on river.

21st

Second day. Harold and I drove cattle west. Brought stray cows back. Did washing. Harold mended stackyard fence. Bob to town, brought lumber out. Harry and Tom and Eric to Ranch.

22nd

Third day. Bob and Harold digging Bob’s cellar.[276] Tom home at noon. Harold disked in afternoon. I went for mail. We heeled in nursery stock. Pa painted wagon box.

23rd

Fourth day. Heard that Winnie is in Saskatoon. Mother and I cleaned out drawers and boxes in my bedroom. Did ironing. Cleaned cupboards in kitchen. Harold plowed. Tom and Bob digging cellar. Harry and Eric home at night.

24th

Fifth day. Cleaning house. Merlin and Winnie arrived about 5:30.[277] Great excitement. Harry and Harold to Great Deer for sheaves. Tom and Bob digging cellar. Thanksgiving Day.[278]

25th

Sixth day. Harry and Harold home for late dinner. Tom and Bob and Merlin working on Bob’s cellar and lining it with stone. I made cookies. Harry and young Harold and I took cattle over to Twenty-seven.

26th

Seventh day. Lovely day. Three of the boys away piling rocks on beach. Bob and Merlin working on cellar. Did some baking.

27th

First day. All to Meeting except myself. Edith and Ed and Daisie and Art came up. Rather cold and windy. Had a short ride in afternoon down to river. Home at night.

28th

Second day. Stormy and snowing. Boys cleaned barns and mended things up. Bob and Merlin laying floor over at Bob’s for kitchen. I did some washing.

29th

Third day. Very stormy and blizzardy. Quite a lot of snow. Boys chored. Tom and Harold cleaning out barn. I was sick most of day.

30th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harold to Hynds’ and on to Ceepee[279] and Langham. Tom cleaning barn and banking up house and chicken house. I went for mail. My Eaton’s order came.

31st

Sixth day. Merlin and I did a large wash. Tom hauled load of straw down below. Bob and Harry one load of stakes and sharpened them. Eric down. Borrowed Smoky. Got Monica in. Susie sick.

NOVEMBER 1935

1st

Sixth day. Boys killed Monica’s calf. Tommy went for mail. Harold Edney over river with Pete Epp.[280] Cold and windy.

2nd

Seventh day. I did ironing. Felt rotten. Winnie did cleaning. Harry and Bob to Ranch meeting at Wakes’. Called at Armand’s, home late. Pa and Merlin made small pig pen in big calf pen.[281]

3rd

First day. I was sick in bed with flu. Brighter and cold. Meeting at home. Folks went for walk in afternoon. I got up in evening.

4th

Second day. Boys mending stackyard down below. Brought two pigs from Armand’s. Hauled straw. Eric brought our horses from Ranch, and Smoky home. He and Carl Jones[282] stayed all night.

5th

Third day. Boys mending corral and hauled one load straw. Bob not well. We started sewing quilt on frame. Baked and churned. Eric and Carl took horses to Saskatoon. Harry up to Ranch on Smoky.

6th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Nice day. Mother and Winnie and the children and I up to Wakes’. Took cream and got mail. Merlin and Harold culled hens.[283] Tom hauling in morning. Harry home at night.

7th

Fifth day. Sewed on quilt. Boys fixing up feed troughs, etc., and hauled straw. Finished quilt. Very nice.

8th

Sixth day. Boys put fence around house yard. Put straw in cellarway.[284] Harold and I started cleaning henhouse. Baked cookies and made butter.

9th

Seventh day. Boys mending fences and hauled hay and straw. Snowed a little almost every day this week. Now quite deep. Harry took Wakes’ bull home. We cleaned through house and baked bread and buns and cake.

10th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie to dinner. Read and wrote letters. Robin and Floss came in on spec.

11th

Second day. Did wash with Merlin’s help. Mary and John and Bessie down for visit . Boys hauled two loads of hay and straw. Nice in morning but turned to blizzard in afternoon. Harry kept Robin in.

12th

Third day. Boys hauling hay and straw. Merlin and Harry and Harold went to Langham, first time this year. Tommy’s last day.

13th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry took Tommy home, bought fourteen hundredweight coal. Chicken house and granary burned down and all the hens. Managed to save barn. Wakes and Duncan and H. Badman down to help.[285]

14th

Fifth day. Bob and Susie to Borden in cutter. Home late, we had Mary. Harry and Merlin did chores and hauled straw. We all felt tired and took it easy.

15th

Sixth day. Harry to Carl’s sale, and it was called off. Heard George Rempel is back with eight horses. Bob and Susie broke cutter. Mending sleighs and did chores. Arthur Hynd down for dinner. Killed a bug.[286]

16th

Seventh day. Did cleaning. Boys saved some flax out of fire. Bob to Cousmo’s to inoculate some cattle. Abe and his mother down. Nice mild day; brought mail.

17th

First day. Meeting at home. I in bed with sick headache till noon. Harold and Tom for dinner. Abe and his mother left after dinner.

18th

Second day. Ben Saloway and Auntie Sue and Peggy down to dinner, left early. Boys cleaning up around. Hauled straw and did some fencing. Fixed bull stalls. We baked and churned and I washed woolens.

19th

Third day. Did the washing in good time. Boys fenced stackyard and across bog, and killed a steer and Miss Orchard’s calf.

20th

Fourth day. I went to Wakes and for mail on Smoky. Tommy and Jimmy Scott over to help butcher roan heifer. Harry took it and them back home and stayed the night. Meeting at home. Boys hauled load straw and did chores. Nice and mild.

21st

Fifth day. Finished ironing. Made cookies. Had school in afternoon.[287] Bob and I rode over to Hynds in evening, home late. Lovely night.

22nd

Sixth day. School in afternoon. Boys cleaned away logs from round granary. Hauled load of feed. Girls skiing. Lovely and mild. Baked. Bob mending cutter.

23rd

Seventh day. School in afternoon. Cleaning, and baked buns and made puddings. I went for mail in morning. Letters from Edith and Auntie Mary.[288] Boys hauled hay and straw. Bob cut wood. Harry to Langham at night.

24th

First day. Meeting at home. Hannah Mary and Laurie down for late dinner. The children and I went a long walk over river. Harold Edney over.

25th

Second day. Winnie and the girls and I up to Saloway’s in cutter with Robin and Smoky. Stayed overnight. Read letter from Aunt Betty.[289]

26th

Third day. Down to Crabbs’ for supper. Girls skated on Bessie’s rink and skates. Saw Smoky and Gypsy; brought mail home. Boys busy cutting wood and hauling feed. Letter from Len.

27th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry took wheat to Langham, 39 bushels. Merlin and Harold one load straw from Thirty-six. Bob and Merlin one load hay, one load oat hay.

28th

Fifth day. George Hynd’s for dinner. On Smoky to Eastes’ for UFC meeting with Sadie. Stayed overnight. Bob and Merlin started on his kitchen.

29th

Sixth day. Home and brought mail. Letter for Winnie. Bob working on his kitchen. Merlin and Harry two loads straw for Sangmires’.[290] Harry away on Smoky in evening. Bob woke me at three o’clock.

30th

Seventh day. Olive and I slept over at cottage with Mary. Took Susie first thing in morning.[291] Home late. Called at Hynds’. The children and I went to clear rink in afternoon. Busy day. Katrina calved, very small heifer.

DECEMBER 1935

1st

First day. Meeting at home. I to bed and slept all morning. Merlin and Winnie and children for long walk. Had ice cream.

2nd

Second day. Bob took 36 bushels of wheat to Langham. Ordered lumber. Took all day. Boys hauled sheaves.

3rd

Third day. Started wash. Joshua and Auntie down to supper. Bob to town, Borden, for Susie.[292] Away all day.

4th

Fourth day. Finished wash. Meeting at home. Boys hauling wood.

5th

Fifth day. Ironing and getting ready to go to Saskatoon. Boys hauling wood. Bob building kitchen.

6th

Sixth day. Arthur Hynd took Sadie and I and Merlin to catch train at Langham. Dinner at Edith and Ed’s. Afternoon, shopping. Skated in evening. Daisie out in evening.

7th

Seventh day. Spent afternoon in shopping with Daisie - each bought a hat. Sadie and Eric to see “In Old Kentucky.” Will Rogers’ last picture. Edith Burbage[293] came in evening, and Charlie.

8th

First day. Meeting at Uncle’s. Sadie to Third Avenue, Saskatoon, and I up to Len’s in afternoon. Edith and the bunch came after to supper, Herdis too. All to hear F. W.[294] Took Daisie home. I stayed overnight.

9th

Second day. Finished up our shopping. Ruth and Edith and Ed came to the train with us. Saw Anker, also Mrs. Wainwright.[295] Harry met us, had a fast ride home.

10th

Third day. Bob called me early. Came over to cottage. Cleaned up and made bed. Baby came before doctor by twenty minutes. Lucie and doctor came, put in stitches etc. Boys hauling wood.

11th

Fourth day. Bob working on kitchen. Boys hauling wood. I was busy all day. Mother did some washing. Baby’s name Roberta Edith.[296]

12th

Fifth day. Poor night, up late. Bob worked on addition. Harry and Harold hauling wood. Winnie and Merlin and the three girls to Borden to visit Sissie.

13th

Sixth day. Good night, in my own bed. Sore throat. Susie and baby fine. Winnie and Merlin back in afternoon. Mother finished wash. Harry and Harold two good loads of wood. Bob working on house.

14th

Seventh day. Colds all round. Busy all day. Boys hauling wood. Bob still building. Merlin hauled three loads of feed. I made cake.

15th

First day. Meeting at home. Susie’s mother and Henry down to dinner. Nice day. Baby getting on fine.

16th

Second day. Boys hauling wood. Bob to Langham for lumber. Took wheat. Home late.

17th

Third day. Boys hauling wood. Bob building. Harry up to check on Smoky. Brought mail back.

18th

Fourth day. Harry and Merlin two loads of green wood. Bob building on kitchen.

19th

Fifth day. Merlin and Harry two loads wood from thirty-five. Bob and Harold to Langham in cutter. Sent my insurance. Put on roof in afternoon. Baby Roberta’s fine.

20th

Sixth day. Susie up and dressed.[297] Merlin and Harry still hauling wood and feed. Harry cleaned out well in afternoon and went to Halcyonia in evening to concert.[298]

21st

Seventh day. Merlin and Harry getting wood. Harold took team back. Harry took dinner. Bob put windows in and fixed roof. Harry to Langham in evening.

22nd

First day. Billie down to Meeting. Brought chocolates and teddy bear. Winnie’s birthday. Susie over. I stayed with children.

23rd

Second day. Harry to Thistle Dale concert. Did double wash. Winnie and I together got through nicely. Mother baked. Bob and Harold killed and I plucked three roosters. Harry home with engine from Great Deer at night. Bob building.

24th

Third day. Bob sick in bed. Harry and Merlin did chores and hauled hay and straw. Harold waited on Susie. Very cold. We cleaned house and did some cooking.

25th

Fourth day. Harold brought mail on Dick. Nice and mild. All very busy. Harry over to Langham after early dinner to meet Edith and Edward, who phoned in morning. Arrived here about five o’clock. Bad trip. Hannah Mary and Bessie and Kennie[299] down.

26th

Fifth day. Nice day. Edith and Edward to Langham after three o’clock with Bob. Had a nice visit with them but too short. Ed showed girls how to paint. Sent boxes to Len and Ruth and Daisie.

27th

Sixth day. Harry and Merlin two loads of straw from John Wake’s. Children and I got willows out of bluff. Harold Edney over. Bob did chores, chased cattle out of lower stackyard.

28th

Seventh day. Dumb Dora had a heifer calf. Harry and Merlin hauling hay from flats. Bob fixing engine. I cleaned through house. Olive and I went skiing before breakfast. Winnie finished her pajamas. Mother finished Martha’s waist.[300]

29th

First day. Nice and mild. Meeting at home. Bessie and Kennie down in afternoon.

30th

Second day. Five below and blowing. Children out skiing. Harry and Merlin for straw to John Wake’s. Bob fixing engine. I was not feeling well. Winnie sickish.

31st

Third day. Boys braced shelter. Cleaned barns. Bess and Ken went home. Harry and I to Hynds’ in evening. Got mail. Letters from Len, Daisie, Auntie Amy and Hannah Blake. [301]

1936

JANUARY

1st

Fourth day. New Year’s Day. Harry and Merlin for straw. Girls and I went skiing in morning. Bob and Father putting down floor in his kitchen. Baby not gaining weight much.

2nd

Fifth day. Lovely day, zero. Harry and Merlin for two loads straw to Joshua Wake’s. Bob fixing engine, school in afternoon. We washed clothes.

3rd

Sixth day. Merlin and Harry for one load dry wood. All sawed wood in afternoon. Pretty cold, minus 25 degrees and windy mixed. I did the ironing. Could not go to UFC meeting at Gersters’. Harry to Thistle Dale at night to UFC meeting.

4th

Seventh day. Not so cold, about twelve degrees. Bob to Langham with wheat. Wind up at night and snowing. Pa and Merlin and I all have sore throats and colds. Winnie in bed, sick headache.

5th

First day. Meeting at home. I went over to Susie’s while she and Bob came to Meeting. Olive and I stayed to dinner over there. Thirty-seven below by nine o’clock in the evening. Merlin in bed till dinnertime.

6th

Second day Fifty degrees below by our thermometer. Harold and I breaking Kitty to drink from pail. Bob putting down floor and putting up stone in cellar. Harry and Merlin hauling hay and cleaning shelter.

7th

Third day. Harry hauling hay. Bob and he cleaned horse barn. Merlin in bed most of day. I cleaned rack. Mother baked. Children had school.

8th

Fourth day. Fourteen degrees. Nice and bright. I did the washing alone. Harry and Merlin for straw. Home late. Bob laying his floor. Letter from George Smith.[302] Meeting at home in evening. Buyer came.

9th

Fifth day. Fourteen below, nice and bright. I did ironing. Boys all sawed wood. Swept bedrooms and mended stockings. Mary McCheane phoned and invited Harold and Olive up for a few days.

10th

Sixth day. Boys wood-cutting in afternoon. To Pasture meeting in morning at school house. Olive and Harold to McCheanes’, I up to Wakes to see Auntie. George Rempel down. Baked bread. Cold wind, two degrees below.

11th

Seventh day. Temperature twenty-five degrees below zero. Cleaned and churned and mended. Merlin one load hay. Harry sick headache. Lots of snow in afternoon and milder. Very windy. Had a family bath.

12th

First day. Meeting at home. George over. Thirty-five degrees below zero. Merlin went up for Olive and Harold after a light lunch at two o’clock. George left for home. Harry wore his new wool underwear.

13th

Second day. Still cold and snowing. Boys hauled hay and did chores. We sewed and I did some rug. School in morning. I made date loaf. Boys put Doris in.

14th

Third day. Harry and Merlin for straw. Heavy trails. Harry stayed for UFC meeting, only for there. I did the washing. Nice day and mild. Boys brought mail.

15th

Fourth day. Cold day. Harry and Merlin for straw, Joshua through here on way to Langham. I did ironing. Susie over in evening. Bob put in floor and fixed pump at his place. I did rug and puzzle.

16th

Fifth day. Forty-two below by our thermometer, thirty-one by Wakes’. Hauled hay. Meeting first thing in morning. Made nut loaf. Bob took wheat to Langham. Winnie sewed.

17th

Sixth day. Forty-eight below for us. Parcel from Daisie up at Wakes for us. Harry and Merlin for one load dry wood, one hay and sheaves. Rosabelle down by house. Boys dragged her to horse barn. Made candy.

18th

Seventh day. Harry and Merlin for straw, took lunch. Couldn’t get parcel, brought mail. Letter from Daisie. Did cleaning. Made cake and butter. Susie over and gave presents in evening.

19th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry and Olive and I up to Wakes’ for parcel, then to Hynds’ for parcel. Forty below when we came home. Had an exciting time opening parcel.

20th

Second day. Cold. Susie washed. Harry had a time thawing pump. Hauled hay, two loads. Olive and I did puzzle at night. Harry brought horses in and we separated them. Kept Spee.

21st

Third day. Harry and Merlin for straw. About twenty-four degrees below, but still. Bob did chores. Kingfish got out and had to be brought back. Boys brought mail. Got $2.30 second[303] pay from Pool.

22nd

Fourth day. A little milder, but snowing and blowing from south. Harry to Langham with wheat. Blanche had calf down at shelter. Winnie did the ironing. We finished

puzzles, my rug.

23rd

Fifth day. Harry and Merlin for load of straw. About twenty-four below. Bob chored and made gate to pen for Blanche. Got phone call from Langham at night. Harry went for Doctor Bildfell[304] here, and on to Meister’s.[305]

24th

Sixth day. Harry at Borden, slept at hotel. Took Meister’s team from their place last night. Merlin hauled half load straw down below, and one load of hay from flats. Harry home and brought mail.

25th

Seventh day. Laurie brought Bessie down early. Harry took us to train at Langham.[306] Found Ed at shop.[307] He brought us in car to the house. Bessie, Allie and Delia and Jack McC and others here. I went to party with Daisie and Margaret W.[308]

26th

First day. Stayed at San all night. I walked down to Edith’s. Daisie down in afternoon. Several here for Meeting. Yesterday I went with Eva to see Jimmie. He looks great. Bessie up to see Herdis.

27th

Second day. Bessie and I up to University on streetcar. Met Allie and registered for short course. On to poultry building and heard Professor Baker and Mr. Ray talk on poultry. About twelve in class. Did a little shopping before coming home.

28th

Third day. The King’s funeral ceremony came over radio.[309] Every store closed, no classes. Edith did washing yesterday, ironing today. Went to Len and Ruth’s. Ruth still not well.

29th

Fourth day. Bessie and I to classes at University – getting more interesting. Walked home through town. Bought some cold tablets, and bananas for lunch. Charlie for supper.

30th

Fifth day. Up to class and walked home through town. Got a record from Joe’s, “I Hear You Calling Me” to replace the one I broke of Ed’s. Bessie out to show with Herdis. Listened to radio.

31st

Sixth day. Up to class. Home in car, tried on skates at Uncle’s. Anker and Eric up to sleep on chesterfield and board here. Went up to see Daisie. She is still not well. I have a cold. It’s very cold.

FEBRUARY 1936

1st

Seventh day. Classes until noon. Came home and took it easy. Bessie and Edith shopping, got dress and stockings for Bessie, very nice. Very cold, very sunny. Up to Professor Baker’s for social evening.

2nd

First day. Had a great time at Professor Baker’s. Stayed at home. Daisie, Jack McC. Delia, Margaret, Ruth and Florence up for quiet time. Ed took Daisie home. Herdis over.

3rd

Second day. Very cold. Up to classes. Judged hens in afternoon – very interesting. My cold still bad. Spent quiet evening.

4th

Third day. Up to University all day. Still too cold to skate. Group Meeting at night. Bessie and I went to bed. Daisie down, and Bob and Ruth and Delia.

5th

Fourth day. Up to classes at University. Rode home in car. Still very cold and misty. Fifty degrees below at University. Having a great time judging hens for laying, etc. Bessie out, late.

6th

Fifth day. To University for classes, rode home in streetcar. Had Etta and Ted and Marnie and Elsie down for social evening, played games, lunch, and finally did exercises.

7th

Sixth day. To the University all day, and home to turkey supper. Len and Ruth and Roger, A. Lund,[310] Helen, Anker and Eric all present, and had a lot of fun till late. Daisie’s half day.

8th

Seventh day. Up to University for morning classes, home to dinner. To Skating Carnival with F. Baker then to café for lunch and on to show. Home about eight. Varsity crowd there, and Daisie.

9th

First day. Meeting at home. Delia and Jack and Charlie and Margaret, Daisie down. Daisie and I had a good talk. Ed went to Third Avenue and took Daisie home afterwards.

10th

Second day. Up to University and each had to kill and pluck two hens. Professor Rae wax-plucked[311] four roosters and showed us how to pack poultry for market.

11th

Third day. Up to class at the University. Still very cold. Had a good day. Frances missed yesterday as she fell sick. We pullorum-tested [312] some hens. Edith washed clothes.

12th

Fourth day. Up to class at University. No warmer at present. Daisie down for half day. Edith and I to see “Stormy.” Ed took us in car. Bessie went with Henry H.

13th

Fifth day. Up to class. Last day for me, over to Doctor Fulton’s central heating plant. Very interesting. Henry Hepner over in the evening.

14th

Sixth day. Bessie to University in morning. I phoned home. I walked to City Hospital, A. came along. Took Bessie to T. J. Smith [313] in afternoon. Up to see Daisie for an hour. Caught evening train. Bob met us at Langham. Fifty degrees below.

15th

Seventh day. Very cold out. Thermometer out of sight. Bob and Harry to Carl’s for straw. We did seventh day work. Princess and Bell Lupine and Heatherbell and Triangle all have calves.

16th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob’s feet very sore and swelled. Bathed them most of day. Bessie and I over for supper and evening. Triangle lost calf and adopted Rosabelle’s.

17th

Second day. Boys for sheaves and hay. Milder – sixteen degrees below and very windy. We did washing. Bessie entertaining children. Bob’s feet swelled and sore. Staying home and bathing them in hot water.

18th

Third day. Harry to Langham with wheat. Brought three bags flour and Jim Smith to work here. I did ironing with Winnie’s help. Lasca and Fox home and Floss also. I fed them. Over to Susie’s to sleep. Hazel had heifer calf.

19th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim for two loads of straw from Carl’s. Harold and I and Merlin took good load of manure from horse barn, and brought oats back. Brought Arel up. Meeting at home. Bob still off duty.

20th

Fifth day. Harry and Jim hauling rock. Bob hauling hay with the little team. Merlin and I bathed Princess’s bag, worked matter out.[314] Fair and cold. Much more bearable weather.

21st.

Sixth day. Harry and Jim hauling rock. Bob hauled load of hay from Henry’s and one load straw from below. Jim and Harry walked to Langham to mail letters. Arel had heifer calf. Dressed Princess’s bag.

22nd

Seventh day. Harry and Jim for straw to Wallace’s. Bob for two loads of wood. Much warmer. Above zero. Kingfish went up to Eastes’. Bob went for him. Boys brought mail, a long letter from Edith.

23rd

First day. I stayed in bed with sick headache. Meeting at home. Joshua down for Winnie and Merlin and children – brought them back at night. Mary was over for a while. Weather a little milder.

24th

Second day. Harry and Jim down with rock. Bob and Merlin did chores and hauled two loads, hay and straw. I did washing. Put white things and towels out – nice day. Children out.

25th

Third day. Harry and Jim rock-hauling. Bob and Merlin and Pa and Harold cut two loads of dry wood with engine. Hauled straw. Merlin walked for mail, to Wakes for dinner. Nice day.

26th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim for two loads straw from Peterson’s.[315] Bob to Langham, sent for sink. Took wheat with Alk and Smoky. Very bad trails, snowing. George Rempel phoned. I did ironing. Pretty cold.

27th

Fifth day. Harry and Jim hauling hay from red granary, and Jim, one load hay and sheaves in afternoon. Harry opened trail over river for straw. We mended and started two new rugs, and split wood.

28th

Sixth day. Harry and Jim – two loads straw – Peterson’s. Bob to Langham with twenty-six bushels wheat – Smoky and Alk. Boys brought mail. Harold brought Tootsie up. Line-back cow died. Much milder.

29th

Seventh day. Harry and Jim two loads straw. Bob and Merlin cleaned horse barn and cut some wood. We did cleaning, Olive and I out skiing in afternoon. Sadie down, we went to meet her, the girls and I. Harry took Jim home.

.

MARCH 1936

1st

First day. Meeting at home. Sadie and I over to get dinner for Susie and clean up. Susie rested. Mary now well. Eric came for Sadie in afternoon. Harold Edney over. Tommy came to help a few days, brought young Belle up.

2nd

Second day. Very mild, snow fast melting, not everywhere. Boys all sawing wood. Belle died. We did washing, dried clothes outside. Mary better but not well.

3rd

Third day. Harry and Tom one load straw. Bob and Merlin one load of hay. Cut wood over at Bob’s. Bert down for farewell visit. Harold and the girls and I skinned Belle. Harold for mail on Smoky.

4th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry and Tom for two loads straw over river. Bob fixing trail and cleaning horse barn. I sewed my sweater together. Very windy and rather cold.

5th

Fifth day. Pretty cold. Harry and Tom over river for straw. Merlin and Harold over to Langham. Olive and I baking cookies. Winnie getting ready to pack. Tootsie had heifer calf, Marina.

6th

Sixth day. Bob and Harry and Merlin and Harold all worked on taking car over to Langham. Tom cleaned barn and split wood. Very mild and wet. Horses came in.

7th

Seventh day. I did cleaning. Billie and Auntie down in PM and for supper. Bob and Harold to Borden to V. Cowley’s[316] sale. Harry and Tom five loads hay from Badman’s. Bob bought mower, $11.50.

8th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie to Great Deer in sleigh. Winnie and Merlin and children to John McCheane’s for dinner. Olive and I on skis to Badman’s, had tea. Tommy home – back for chores.

9th

Second day. Harry and Tom over river for straw. Mother and I baking cookies and nut bread. Bob and Susie home by milking time. Bob killed Marion’s calf.

10th

Third day. Helped folks pack and Bob and Mother and I took all to Langham after early dinner. Got them off to Saskatoon.[317] Phoned Edith. Lovely day. Harry and Tom hauled hay, two loads, from Badman’s. We were at Scott’s for supper.

11th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry and Tom brought back load from Henry’s. Cleaned up hay and oat sheaves down at red granary. Harry and Bob hauled two loads of ice. Mother and I cleaned my bedroom. Melted a bit, but cooler.

12th

Fifth day. Seventeen degrees above, windy. Boys hauled three loads of ice and packed one layer. Bob and Susie went to Langham, took meat for Edith. We did some cleaning and sewing.

13th

Sixth day. Harry and Tom hauled eight loads of rock to bridge. Bob and Pa packed ice. I went for mail on Smoky. Letter for Winnie for Saskatoon. Boys home very late. Fairly mild.

14th

Seventh day. Tom cleaned barns. Bob to Langham with thirty-five bushels of wheat. Harry cleaned kitchen pipes and mended peak of roof. We did cleaning. Put Robin in at night. Took Tom home, brought Harold Edney over.

15th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry and I rode up river on Smoky and Robin. Met Sadie on Jappy and went down to see new bridge. Saw Eddy and Philip and Effie.

Went to Hynd’s for supper. Cold west wind.

16th

Second day. Bob took over two pigs and two calves, Misty’s calf, Slipper, and Mamie’s calf, to Langham. Abe Rempel down. Sent Harry’s boots to Philip McCheane.[318] I did large wash – dried some outside. Harold cleaned barns and Harry fixed barn and seed wheat.

17th

Third day. Bob and Harry fixing shelter in morning. Cleaning wheat in afternoon. Harold cleaning barns. I rode Smoky to John McCheane’s, Sadie rode Jappy. Had good meeting. Arnold Larsen gave good report. Mother cooked.

18th

Fourth day. Bob to Saskatoon with C. Epp[319] in truck, back late by train. Harry and Harold hauled hay from flats, two loads. Water running downhill. Bees out. We ironed, baked and churned.

19th

Fifth day. Bob and Pa hauled wheat and cleaned it. Harry and Harold hauled three loads hay from flats. Abe and Lizzie Siemens[320] down. I sorted some potatoes and piled wood. Baked cookies and did mending and cleaning.

20th

Sixth day. Harry and Harold up to Ranch for birch. Bob cleaning wheat and oats. Pa stacked wood. Mother and I for mail and to Wakes in cutter. Cold northwest wind. Abe and Lizzie left. I put up thirteen cans of meat.[321]

21st

Seventh day. Cooler and windy. Harry and Harold hauled hay and straw, last load from flats. Bob worked on the birch (?) and on his house. We cleaned. Mother made buns. Harry to Langham on Smoky at night.

22nd

First day. Meeting at home. Harry away on Smoky. Eric down in afternoon. Cold wind from northeast. Mother over to Bob’s for supper. Pa and I both wrote to Daisie.

23rd

Second day. I did the washing, Mother baked. Harry and Bob to Langham for new binder, $35.00 from Elliott’s. Harold cleaned barns out. Arthur Hynd down for fanning mill. Cold wind.

24th

Third day. Dried clothes outside. Boys got both binders home and cleaned barns. Blossom missing. We did some rug-making. Didn’t get mail. Cold wind, about 22 degrees above.

25th

Fourth day. About zero in morning. I stayed in bed until noon with bad headache. Meeting at home. Harry and Harold got two loads stakes – about 98 stakes. Bob split wood. Blossom home with calf.

26th

Fifth day. Harry and Harold cleaned barns and killed red steer Jack. George Parkinson[322] brought Peggy down in afternoon – brought mail. I did ironing. Didn’t melt much. Bob stabbed his leg.

27th

Sixth day. Netted Gem[323] very sick. Boys cut up beef and took it over to Langham. We baked and churned. Harold for mail on Smoky. At night, cold north wind.

28th

Seventh day. Cold and very windy. Bob took Harry to Langham to catch morning train. We did cleaning and made nut loaf. Harold split wood and cleaned barn.

29th

First day. Cold and windy. Meeting at home. Harold over river. Bob and Susie to dinner. Blanche Brunst and Wilfred for supper. Home later. Netted Gem standing up.

30th

Second day. Harold hauled some straw and hay. Bob split wood and went for Harry at night. Phone call from Edith. Harold and Olive back with Harry. Cold and windy.

31st

Third day. Boys splitting wood, and hauled a load of poplar poles. Cold and windy. Bob to Hynd’s for UFC talk. We played games, mostly Flinch,[324] until late.

APRIL 1936

1st

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry and Harold for stakes. Pa split wood and cleaned barns in afternoon. Peggy and I to Wakes’ for supper, had a nice time. Not quite such a cold wind.

2nd

Fifth day. Bright, but cold wind. Harry and Harold one load of stakes. George down for Peggy. Edith Scott and Hilda Bergman over for afternoon tea. Borrowed hats.[325] Harry took them back in cutter.

3rd

Sixth day. Harry went for mail and got his books. Pa and Bob split wood and boys got one load stakes in afternoon. Cold and windy. Mother and I did some washing. Finished my knitted bloomers. Henry Badman down.

4th

Seventh day. Olive and I did cleaning. Boys split wood and sharpened stakes. Harold hauled oats and straw and hay. Mother baked and made bran loaf. Harry and Harold to Langham at night.

5th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry away on Smoky. Olive and I for walk. Windy and snowing a little. Thirty-six above. Eric called in evening. Paul Mereau[326]

here to see Harold.

6th

Second day. Mother in bed all day with bad cold. I did big two weeks’ wash. Harold and Harry for straw to A. Williams’. Bob and Pa fixing gate. Cold and windy.

7th

Third day. Olive over to Susie’s. Warm, water running. Filled tank. Spee got his leg stuck in King’s stall. Fox was in. Netted Gem very sick again. Harry and Harold for straw. Bob working on his house. Got all the clothes dry.

8th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Warm but cloudy. Harry and Harold up to Wilfred Brunst’s for loads of prairie wool. Bob worked on his house. We started road over bog.

9th

Fifth day. Harry and Harold cleaned barns and got load of stakes. Bob worked on his house and made some rope.[327] I did ironing. Mother and I both feeling punk. Warm and wet. George Rempel came. Harold’s friend came and stayed the night.

10th

Sixth day. Harry and Harold sharpened stakes all day. Bob and Harold took the two boys over to Langham - last trip this year. Ice is going fast. George left in morning. Bob up to Wakes’ to fix[328] calves. We canned three quarts of meat and made beef sausage.

11th

Seventh day. Bob worked on his house. The other boys cleaned up around and mended fences and moved A-house[329] up onto hill. We cleaned and baked. I felt punk.

12th

First day. Meeting at home. I looked after the children for Bob and Susie. Made ice cream. We all went to see Big Ravine[330] in afternoon. Lovely warm day.

13th

Second day. We cleaned out cupboards in porch. Cold north wind. Boys cleaned up yard and corral. Bob worked on his house and the brooder house.

14th

Third day. Bob up to Armand’s and went on with brooder house. Raining and snowing. We did a big wash. Harry and Harold and Harold Edney did the potatoes and started training Jassy. Harold Chamness went for mail.

15th

Fourth day. Tied Tommy up and Jerry. Meeting at home. Taught Jerry “Get-up”. Bob fixing brooder house on hill. I did some ironing and baking.

16th

Fifth day. Bob finished brooder house. Harold and Harold helped Harry train colts Jerry and Tommy, “Whoa.” Henry Rempel very sick. Father and Mother went up and cleaned Meeting House.[331]

17th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie to town. We had both children all day. Harry hitched Jerry up and Ernie[332] rode him. We helped give Tommy scary lesson.[333] Bob brought 100 chix [334] home.

18th

Seventh day. Boys mending and oiling harness. Bob to meeting at Thistledale - Medical Scheme.[335] Harry brought Pansy home on stoneboat[336] and rode Tommy. He bucked some.

19th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob and Harry and Olive to Meeting in Bennet buggy. To river in afternoon. Ice going down and rising cold wind.

20th

Second day. Freezing. Bob to Radisson for flour. Got eight bags. Harold started disking. I taught Gay “Come here.” Harry fixed little saddle.

21st

Third day. Harry took Susie to CeePee – to see Henry.[337] Hitched up Tommy and taught King. Olive and I over at Bob’s looking after the children. Susie phoned. Henry died.

22nd

Fourth day. Bob to town to get Susie. Took wheat. Celia calved. We stayed over at the cottage. Mother cleaned cellar shelves. Harold on land. Harry mended up around.

23rd

Fifth day. Bob and Harry fencing. Harold harrowing. Pansy calved. I did big wash and pink blankets and woolens.

24th

Sixth day. Harold for mail. Eaton’s order came, also large parcel from England. Bob and Susie and Harry to Great Deer to Henry’s funeral. Pa to meet Edith and Winnie and Daisie and Martha. They walked.

25th

Seventh day. Lovely warm day. Girls and Harry and Harold Chamness out riding in morning. Harold Edney plowing below. Bob putting back door on. Mother made cake and we cleaned some in afternoon. Winnie on Smoky.

26th

First day. All to Meeting but Harold Edney, five of us on horseback. Joshua and Billie took Winnie and Harry to bridge and came on here. They got car and went to Borden. Daisie had bad headache.

27th

Second day. Winnie and Daisie stayed in bed till late. Cold and snowing. Bob plowed. Harry and Harold got ready and left for Ranch late in afternoon. All the folks left soon after dinner. Squeak had calf.

28th

Third day. Winnie got cows in. Windy, hard frost. Bob cleaned barn and plowed. I rode Robin for mail. Got C. O. D. seeds and syringe. Harry and Harold still away. Pa put three rows potatoes in. We finished ironing.

29th

Fourth day. Woke with sick headache. Bob plowed. Raked and cleaned up around. Mother baked and churned. Took mares oats. Boys still away.

30th

Fifth day. Windy and cold enough. I went on Reddie to UFC meeting at Harris’s[338]– a long ride. Had a good meeting. Bob plowed, used Jerry. Father and Mother gardened. Put in peas.

MAY 1936

1st

Sixth day. Father sick. John Wake down. Mother and I to town in Bennet buggy. Bob put in four acres of wheat. Hot and windy.

2nd

Seventh day. Bob went on drilling. Pa painted boat. We did cleaning. Harry and Harold back in evening. I went up to see mares and cattle. Very windy at night.

3rd

First day. Bob and Susie and children up to Great Deer. Father and Mother to Meeting in democrat. Mike and Annie Strelioff down in afternoon. Nice bright day.

4th

Second day. Harry took ponies and Harold took wagon up to Ranch. I went to Wakes for vaccine. Met them on road. Called on Oscar’s. Started wash. Bob and Pa cleaned oats and Bob seeded in morning. Very windy but warm.

5th

Third day. Bob up to Ranch on Dick. Windy again. I took syringe up to meet Harold and on for mail. Card from Olive. Up to fight fire on Wakes’ and Duncan’s. Did washing. Heard Olga has twins - girls.[339]

6th

Fourth day. Out raking and burning rubbish all morning. Did ironing in afternoon. Raining, windy and cold. John Wake down. Bob plowed on Thirty-six. John stayed.

7th

Fifth day. Finished ironing. Lovely warm day. Built rock wall on front garden. Worked most of day on it. Bob seeded sixteen acres of wheat. I saw mares all right.

8th

Sixth day. Warm but windy. Father and Susie to town in Bennet buggy. Sent Harold’s Eaton’s order. Note from Edith. Bob seeded wheat. No word from Harry. We had Roberta. Mary Rempel came back with Susie.

9th

Seventh day. Bob seeding. Put in some oats. I saw Floss with mare foal. We did cleaning.

10th

First day. Pa and I to Meeting with Robin and Jerry. Edith and Ed came, brought Ivan Wallace to see Muskoday.[340] Here to dinner. Art and Daisie came in afternoon. Joshua down to supper. Harry and Harold home.

11th

Second day. Drizzly. Harry and Pa planted fruit trees.[341] Harold for oats on Twenty-six. Bob seeding down below. Mother in bed.

12th

Third day. Lasca had buckskin foal. Harry and Harold and I gathered our cattle up and Wakes’ and Armond’s and took them up to Ranch. George Rempel got his stray and stayed dinner with us. I helped boys brand and earmark calves.[342]

13th

Fourth day. Last evening boys rode to Larsen’s. I stayed off at Saloways and slept with Peggy. Met the boys at Esau Saunders’.[343] Had dinner there. Brought 180 head to Ranch. Big day. Tired out.[344]

14th

Fifth day. Carl Larson[345] came. We branded and inoculated cattle. Pa and Ma came up. We had dinner. I helped boys drive cattle to middle pasture and came home.

15th

Sixth day. Pa took load of rubbish up to old place. Got mail. Bob plowing on Thirty-six. I took oats up. Mosquitoes very bad. Very hot. Cloudy at night. Churned, sowed cucumbers.

16th

Seventh day. Doctor Bildfel came – ten dollars paid.[346] Bob drilling. We did cleaning. Mother baked cake and cookies. Pa dug center patch and other bits and sowed some Swedes.[347] I brought Benjamin and Delilah home.

17th

First day. Mother in bed with bad headache. Bob and Susie to Meeting. I kept children. Harry and Harold home in afternoon. Got Spee out of Oscar’s. Cloudy.

18th

Second day. Lovely day. Bob plowed both gardens and then went on Robin to Ranch. Harold up on wagon, took Gay. Harry on Dick. We put garden in. Mother planted centre patch.

19th

Third day. Bob harrowed. Pa took cream and waited for mail. I did two weeks’ wash. Pa put in east garden. Mother planted out some tomato plants.[348]

20th

Fourth day. Got Reddy from Thirty-six and went to Hynds’ for dinner and on to Baxter’s with Sadie for UFC meeting. Supper at Hynds’. Bob harrowing. Father worked in gardens.

21st

Fifth day. Very windy and cloudy. Father finished seeding east garden. I did ironing. Bob harrowing. We put flower borders in.

22nd

Sixth day. Father and Mother took cream and on up to Tallises. Called at Crabbs’ and Muskoday. Got columbines and sweet Williams. I did milking alone. Bob harrowing. We planted the perennials.

23rd

Seventh day. Bob seeded oats. Put in glads. Harry and Harold and George down at night. Harold over dinner. Harry and George and I went to Wakes’ for campfire, big crowd. Home late.

24th

First day. Father, Mother and Bob and I to Meeting. Ed and Edith and Herdis came. Went up to McCheanes’ in afternoon. Sadie down. I stayed home. Eric here. Lovely sunny day.

25th

Second day. Ed did a drawing in pastel. Sadie home on Jappy. Edith and Herdis and Harry out on river. Got fishnet out. Harold took team to Radisson. Harry came with us in car. Supper at Sissie’s, she went with us to Radisson.

26th

Third day. Bob plowing. We did washing. Very hot. Ed and Edith and Herdis and Eric left early for Saskatoon. Didn’t feel so good. I took Floss and Lasca and eleven cattle up onto South West Thirty-six. Bob helped Henry Badman pull cow out of slough.

27th

Fourth day. Monthly Meeting. Mother and Father went. I went later on Reddy. Changed at Wakes’. On with Joshua to Homemaker’s Convention at Radisson, Sadie, Mrs. Baxter too. Supper at hotel. Had a nice time. Extremely hot.

28th

Fifth day. Still very hot. Bob up to Ranch with buggy. Took supplies. We cleaned up cellar and Pa harrowed front garden and put in some seeds. The iris is blooming.

29th

Sixth day. Father took cream and brought mail. Bob plowed. Still extremely hot. Heard from Harry. Got Harold Foster’s cattle. I made forty-two bottles of pop. Billie Mekin down.[349] Bob up to Wakes’ to get colt.

30th

Seventh day. Still hot and close. Bob harrowing. I ironed. Harry came home at noon on Fox with his leg broken.[350] Harold on Smoky. We all went out mowing in afternoon. Harry to Borden with Cooks’.

31st

First day. Pa and Mother and Susie to Meeting. Windy and a little cooler. Bob and Susie and Harold and I to river in afternoon. Philip down. Harold back to Ranch in evening. Made ice cream.

JUNE 1936

1st

Second day. Mother in bed most of day. Harry hopping around.[351] Bob plowed on Twenty-six. Decidedly chilly, temperature 50 and wind. Pa cultivated garden. Susie washed.

2nd

Third day. We did the wash. Pa took team and got mail. Bob plowed in morning. Eric came, took team after dinner. Bob up to Ranch, home at night.

3rd

Fourth day. Bob to Borden in Joshua Wake’s car. Took tractor wheels[352] off with help. I did most of ironing. Eric plowed. Found white-faced mooly (?) cow dead. Pa put sticks to peas,[353] transplanted tomatoes.[354]

4th

Fifth day. Eric plowed. I cleaned out brooder house and transplanted iris from pool.

5th

Sixth day. Bob to town. Brought mail and cream can back by late after dinner, from Ranch. We cleaned bedrooms and down to bottom of stairs. Eric still plowing.

6th

Seventh day. We did cleaning. Harold and Bob home at night. Bessie came and stayed supper. Left her saddle. Eric plowed. Cool day.

7th

First day. Meeting down here. Lydia and Hannah Mary down, and Mary and Philip and Joshua and Billie. Read Epistles in afternoon. Cool and windy and cloudy. Harold over to Langham.

8th

Second day. Edith, Harold and I took our cattle up to Ranch. Bob and Eric up in wagon. Took tools, plow, etc. up to north spring.[355] Vaccinated calves. We went up to see spring. Boys started hauling rocks, five loads.

9th

Third day. Harry and Edith and I up to Hepburn Ferry with buggy and team to meet cattle from Waldheim. Harry and Bob wasted afternoon. Eric went on hauling rock and sand. We came home.

10th

Fourth day. Bob and Eric and Harold working on new trough, north spring. Edith and Harry and I stayed home and rested, did some cleaning up.

11th

Fifth day. We stayed home until four o’clock, then Edith and I rode and took Jappy up to Ranch. Boys out of supplies. Bob home at night. Took Mike and Di. Day fairly hot.

12th

Sixth day. Harold and Edith and Eric and I up at 3:30 AM and went over north pasture to look for bull calf. Back by 8:00. We ate and rested, and Bob came at noon. He had come up phone line. Joshua up. Harry to town and came up. We rounded up 200 head.

13th

Seventh day. Drizzling until about nine. Cold wind. We cut out 120 head to go north. Bob and Eric and Harry and I took them and turned the rest south. Harry and Edith home early. All to campfire except Harold and I.

14th

First day. Mother and I stayed home from Meeting. Ed came, brought Charlie. Harold to Langham in afternoon. Cloudy by noon, but very little rain. Harry back to Saskatoon with Ed and Edith.

15th

Second day. Bob and Harold up to Ranch. Eric too, and on to Saskatoon via Hepburn. I did two weeks’ wash. Dull and raining a little. Fence phone working again. Bob answered census.

16th

Third day. Rained all night and all day. First good rain this year. Bob and Harold down by noon. We papered kitchen and washed ceiling. Roof leaked.[356] Harold helped. Got mares in at night.

17th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Finished wash and put it out. Did some woolens. I went for mail and got cows. Found Queen with horse colt. Bob home at night. He and Harry got 50 head Alf Elliott’s cows.

18th

Fifth day. Lovely day till noon. Quite stormy in afternoon. Rained quite a bit.

Fred and Aline Saunders came for King,[357] stayed dinner. Bob took more of Wakes’ cattle up to Ranch. I started painting windows.

19th

Sixth day. Pa took cream with Major and Jerry – two cans. Brought mail. Paid Auntie three dollars on stove and six for eggs. We finished ironing and painting the two small kitchen windows. Nice cool day.

20th

Seventh day. Got house all cleaned through. O. McKeracher[358] and boys came. Looked at Robin. Brought some strawberries. Bob and Harold home at night. They got trough filling with water.

21st

First day. All back. Susie to Meeting. Joe and Agnes and children came. Had picnic dinner. Mary and John McCheane and Joshua and Helen P.[359] down. We went for bathe in river. Lovely day.

22nd

Second day. Started wash. Eric back early in afternoon from Saskatoon. He mended saddle and went up to Ranch in afternoon rather late. Harold put out gopher poison. Bob seeded some oats.

23rd

Third day. Finished wash. Bob seeding in morning. Harold over to Sports at Langham. Went swimming in evening.

24th

Fourth day. Harry came home with Billie. Brought Frank[360] too. Ed up to Ranch in Bennet buggy. I rode on Reddy. Harold and Eric up to Petrofka for fifteen head of horses.

25th

Fifth day. Started roundup again, Harry, Bob, Harold, Eric and I . Harry rode Bunny, took 94 head north. Past new trough – working well. Got new bunch, about 200, into roundup.

26th

Sixth day. Got up cattle. Heavy rain and hail. Cut a bunch south. We took a bunch north. Harry went to picnic at Charlie Orchard’s. Meeting in car. Rounded up about the last 22 head.

27th

Seventh day. Mary sick. Bob and I home. Checked over Elliott’s cattle in Stella’s pasture. Boys checked bunch, took 35 north to spring. Looked for roan for Harry Thiessen. Susie home from Borden at night.

28th

First day. No Meeting. Harry Thiessen came over river, brought saddle. All went up to Ranch at night. Bob and I rode, boys in buggy.

29th

Second day. Rounded up breeding pasture and inoculated all the calves. A few owners turned up. Bob home at night.

30th

Third day. Raining. We cleaned out breeding pasture. Rounded up everything into corral. Cut out ones to go north and turned the rest south. Harry Thiessen was sick.

JULY 1936

1st

Fourth day. Harry Thiessen still sick with pain in appendix. We took cattle north. Boys brought 70 horses to corral. Harry rode roan home. Eric and I got bull out of Henry’s and home to supper.

2nd

Fifth day. Harry Thiessen home. Swam the roan over. Harry and Harold took bulls up to Ranch behind wagon. Eric phoned.

3rd

Sixth day I did the washing. Eric plowing. Bob haying and choring around. RCMP came for bicycle.

4th

Seventh day. Did the cleaning. Fixed upstairs and tent.[361] George[362] came with twelve horses. Hurt his shoulder. Harry and Harold home at night. All went swimming at night. Eric plowing.

5th

First day. Edmund and Hannah Hatcher [363] to dinner, and Mary and John McCheane. I rode over to Hynds’ in evening. Home late with Eric. Nice hot day.[364] Harold to Langham.

6th

Second day. Bob plowing. George and Eric down to Ranger Lake. Did some baking and cleaning. Harry and Frank to town. Doctor took off splint.

7th

Third day. Harold up to Ranch to look after bulls and fence. Violent windstorm and rain. Harry worked on Bessie’s saddle.

8th

Fourth day. Yearly Meeting. Edmund and Hannah Hatcher down. I stayed with children. Had dinner outdoors. Went swimming afterwards.

9th

Fifth day. Harold came home at night. Harry mending Bessie’s saddle. Bob putting attic barn floor in. Mended my bed. Harry and Frank up to Ranch with salt blocks.[365]

10th

Sixth day. Cleaned house. Did the ironing. Picked saskatoons. Reddy hurt my nose going through bluff.

11th

Seventh day. George and Eric back. Harold up to Ranch early, brought cows back. Putting up saskatoons. Harold up on Twenty-six plowing. Bob fixing loft. Harry and Frank up to Ranch at night on Tex and Di. Weavers[366] here. Eric to Hynds’. Bob mended fish net.

12th

First day. All to Meeting. Edmund and Hannah Hatcher down. Abe and Johnny Thiessen[367] down, also Katie and her brother went bathing in afternoon. Hot day. Rain in morning.

13th

Second day. Cleaned up, and Joshua took Hannah and Edmund Hatcher and Mother and I up to Saloways to supper. Had lovely time. Frank came home with team. Harry up to Wakes. Put fish net in river.

14th

Third day. Didn’t feel so good so took it easy. Harold plowing, Bob mowing. Harry still at Ranch. Very hot.

15th

4th day. Meeting at home. Still very hot. I did the wash and we all took Hannah down to river and had a good swim. Harold disking. George Walker down. Bob mowing and raking. Harry home.

16th

Fifth day. Edmund and Hannah Hatcher to Borden with Eddie. Harry and Frank to Borden for Anker. Harold and I went swimming at noon. Windy and good rain in evening. I went to meet Sadie.

17th

Sixth day. Edmund and Hannah Hatcher back and to Susie’s to dinner. Did cleaning. Went swimming in evening. Boys haymaking. Put up fruit. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer.

18^th

Seventh day. I went up to Wakes and got Billie to come down for folks. David and Lydia[368] down to dinner. Hannah and Edmund Hatcher home with them. Harold over to Langham. I to Wakes in evening.

19th

First day. Went picking saskatoons. Joshua down to fix phone. Stayed dinner and went swimming. Still very hot. Harold disking. Harry and Frank up to Ranch next morning with wagon.

20th

Second day. Washed, baked, churned and put up 18 quarts of berries. Boys haying. Got some nice fish.

21st

Third day. Up at 3:30. Harry and Sadie and Frank and I up to Ranch. Took Elliotts’ cattle into middle pasture, and some strays. North, saw Glory Hole and new trough. George at shack came home with us.

22nd

Fourth day. David down and took Father and Mother to Meeting. Did some ironing. Sadie and I started up to Ranch, I on Tex. Met Harry and Frank, came back. Boys haying – six loads, below.

23rd

Fifth day. Pa took cream and 16 chickens, and Harold to go with cream man. Mother went along to clean Meeting House. Pat McKenzie[369] came for pup. All went bathing. Hot and windy. Sadie and I got some raspberries.

24th

Sixth day. Did cleaning. Got raspberries. Mother put up jam and fruit and made cake. Harry and Bob mending sweep and loader.[370]

25th

Seventh day. I’ve been out for 18 entries in this diary. I think this puts it right.[371]

26th

First day. Six of us to Meeting in buggy. Quite a large Meeting. Sadie and Harry and I over river for Harold. Rough and windy. Walter Johnston and Joan Nelson[372] down on horseback.

27th

Second day. Did washing and part of ironing. Boys put in a big day at haying. Rig worked good. A little cooler.

28th

Third day. Father took cream and got mail. Boys getting ready to go to Long Lake. Left at noon. Harold mowed. We went swimming at night, Pretty cool. I made ice cream, and baked.

29th

Fourth day. Day of Stampede. Hot and windy. We went swimming and had a campfire at night. Harold mowed.

30th

Fifth day. Father and Mother to Yearly Meeting at Meeting House. I took books[373] up on Reddy, met Bob with chuckwagon. Harry brought Tess and took Major.

31st

Sixth day. We did cleaning – whole house through. Boys haying. Bob mending binder. Eric and Dick Erickson[374] and Harry home at noon. Dick took team mowing.

AUGUST 1936

1st

Seventh day. Boys did a big day haying, home late. Ed and Edith and Daisie came about noon. Went swimming in afternoon, all the bunch. Had campfire at night. John and Helen Fehr[375] down. About thirty-six in all.

2nd

First day. I stayed from Meeting. Hannah[376] came back for dinner. Arnold Larson and family and Ernest Smith[377] came in afternoon. Dick went home, swam his pony over river. Daisie and Eric and Harry and Harold and I all went to see him off.

3rd

Second day. I did washing. Bob mending binder. Boys mowing and raking on slough. Hannah here. A bit cooler. Harry up to Ranch with wagon.

4th

Third day. Warmer. Did ironing and went for mail on Red. Harry and Harold haying. Bob on binder. Harry brought Tommy home and Bob took him on binder.[378] Went good.

5th

Fourth day. Meeting held down here. Wakes and McCheanes came. Mary and John stayed dinner and went swimming after. I dived. They took Hannah with them. Harold Cruise phoned. Real hot day.

6th

Fifth day. Dull, raining a little. Boys dug ditches and mended rake. Went sweeping and raking hay in afternoon. Mother and Pa to town in afternoon. Put up seven quarts of beans.

7th

Sixth day. Pa and Frank took cream, and got breaking plow from Pat McKenzie’s. Harold Cruise came, and went up to Ranch on Tex. Boys all haying. Mary got chicken pox.[379]

8th.

Seventh day. Boys all hay-making. Pa and Frank too. Harold Cruise up to Ranch on Tex. George and he came home at night on Paint horse and Donnie. I had headache and went to bed. Harold to Langham.

9th

First day. Steve Forcey[380] was down. All to Meeting but Bob and Susie who went bathing. Sadie and Alma there. I went home with them. Harold came for me in afternoon. Hannah and Edmund Hatcher and Billie for supper. Harry and George and Harold Cruise to Ranch at night.

10th

Second day. Boys finished sweeping and stacking on slough. Harold and Pa hauled two loads oat hay. I did washing. Hot and windy. Harold and I rode Paint and Red.

11th

Third day. Finished hauling oats off slough. Bob cut in afternoon. Harold stooked. We picked and put up ten quarts of string beans out of east garden. Pretty warm.

12th

Fourth day. Harry and Harold home at night. Bob cutting, Harold stooking. Folks down for Meeting – Eddy and family, Edmund and Hannah Hatcher. Stayed dinner. Mother and Susie and I and children up to McCheanes’ for black currants. Stayed supper. Drove Tommy.

13th

Fifth day. Bob cutting wheat on Twenty-six. Three boys stooking. Harry cutting hay, odd pieces on slough. Harold and Harry cutting in afternoon. Harold Cruise and I took mares up to Ranch. Saw Gay and Spee. I did ironing.

14th

Sixth day. Pa took cream and got mail. I did small wash. Ma and I did some mending and sewing. Mary not very well. Rained a little in night. Boys digging ditch down in slough.

15th

Seventh day. Harry and Harold Cruise to town, took Anker back. Home for late supper. Harold stooked, Bob on the binder. We did cleaning. Mother got ready to go to City. We cleaned and baked buns.

16th

First day. Mother stayed home from Meeting. Susie and Mother came with us. Abe came on down. Joshua brought Hannah Hatcher and I down till we met Ed and Edith and Daisie. Went bathing. David Crabb and Lydia and Ruby down.[381]

17th

Second day. Mother and Father back with Edward and Edith. Not feeling so good. Baked bread. Harold Edney and Harold Cruise hauling hay and finishing stack. Bob sick. Harry on binder. Supper late.

18th

Third day. Frank took cream and Harold Cruise brought mail. Bob cutting on Thirty-six. Harry and Harold Cruise getting hay on slough. Frank helped me do wash. Harold up to Ranch on Tex.

19th

Fourth day. Frank and I had breakfast at Susie’s. John Wake down. Sadie and Alma for cranberries. I got some chokecherries. Harold home for dinner. Finished stooking. Bob mended mower and mowed.

20th

Fifth day. Bob and Harry and Harold and Frank all haying up on Len’s.[382] Brought two loads home. I did the ironing – did not finish. Boiled chokecherries and crabapples.

21st

Sixth day. I had sick headache. Got boys’ breakfast and went back to bed. Boys all haying. Harry and Bob took lunch. Susie got us dinner. I finished ironing and cleaned boys’ room. Harold Cruise came at night. Stormy.

22nd

Seventh day. Boys brought three loads prairie wool home. Harry and Harold Edney went up to Ranch at night. I did cleaning and made chocolate cake. Bob mowed. Cloudy and breezy.

23rd

First day. Bob and Susie to Great Deer. No Meeting. Frank and I alone most of day. I made bread. Harold Edney home at dinnertime. Harry not home until night.

24th

Second day. Bob and Susie brought Cora McLean[383] back with them. Cora and I rode up to Wakes’. Dull and cool. Mother and Father home at night with Eddy Saunders. Boys got two loads hay and started mending hayracks and Bennet buggy.

25th

Third day. Rain during night and part of morning. Harold mending fence. Boys mending racks. Pa and Frank to town.

26th

Fourth day. Nice bright day. Doug brought his mother, Ted and his wife up – took Frank back.[384] (To dinner.) Cora and I up to Ranch at night. Shipped twenty-one calves. Bob to City.

27th

Fifth day. Slept in tent. Bob, Harry to Harold’s and Cora and I went up to north pasture to look for big steers. Got one and Miss Fortune. Back for dinner. Cora and I home in afternoon. Pretty warm day.

28th

Sixth day. Father and Mother took Cora to meet mailman. Went on up to Ranch. Brought calf back at night - Marianne’s calf and three other cows – Letty and Nancy and Betsy. Effie and Helen, Ethel and Hughie[385] down to tea at Susie’s. Cleaned bedrooms and parlour. Harry and Harold went to Borden.

29th

Seventh day. I was sick all day – stomach flu. Harry up to Ranch. Harold and Bob hauled sheaves off flats. Mother and Father did cleaning. Boys took seven animals to town. Harold to Langham.

30th

First day. All but Susie to Meeting. Only Joshua and John there. Harold and I on river. Lovely day. John and Helen Fehr down.

31st

Second day. Harold and Bob still stacking oats. Harry home at noon, cut hay in afternoon. I did the washing.

SEPTEMBER 1936

1st

Third day. Harry mowing. Bob and Harold finished stacking and hauled two good loads of prairie wool. I went over to threshing outfit to ask Joshua about coming here. On to Sadie’s and got mail. Did most of ironing up.

2nd

Fourth day. Finished ironing. Sadie down for rake. Stayed dinner. Boys got one load prairie wool. Harry cut hay. Bob cut until four o’clock, then mended mower. Cows grazing on slough.

3rd

Fifth day. got ready for threshers. Came about five thirty, here for lunch and supper. threshed seventy bushels. Harry finished cutting oats on Twenty-six. Hauled wheat from Thirty-six – two loads.

4th

Sixth day. Threshers for breakfast and dinner and lunch. All went for bathe when they were finished. Three hundred forty bushels wheat, three hundred and thirty bushels oats. Harry got ready to go to Ranch.

5th

Seventh day. Pa and Mother to town. I did the cleaning. Harry away early. Home at night on Tex. Harold raked. Bob fixing fences round stacks and red granary.

6th

First day. Father and Mother and Harry and I to Meeting. Had Clow out. Ed and Edith and Daisie and Ruth and Len and Roger down to dinner. Eric came. Warm, and the boys went bathing.

7th

Second day. Daisie and I up to see horse at Armand’s and on to Wakes’. I rode Tommy. Edith and Daisie for cows. Wakes down for campfire in evening. Folks went about nine o’clock.

8th

Third day. Cleaned up after last night. Susie and I and children up to Rempels’ in afternoon. Stayed supper. Eva came back with us. Harry and Harold up to Ranch. Two pullet eggs.

9th

Fourth day. Philip took Mary and Sadie and I to Mrs. Raynor’s to Women’s meeting. Man came from Hub City[386] Flour Company. We ordered twenty bags. I stayed at Mary’s overnight.

10th

Fifth day. Philip brought me home. Men brought flour, stayed dinner, Robert Ray[387] too. Put up seventeen quarts plums and five quarts corn. Baked and churned.

11th

Sixth day. Pa dug all the Warbas. Good crop. Pa took cream and Eva to meet mailman. Had puncture. I took bread and cookies up to Wakes for Arthur Hynd to take to boys at Ranch. Stayed for most of afternoon, talked to Auntie. Made cookies.

12th

Seventh day. Did cleaning pretty early. Made cake and baked bread. Bob raking and hauling feed home. Harold home at night with load of hay. Steve Forsey down.

13th

First day. Got all garden stuff in. A killing frost at night. Pa and Mother to Meeting. Harold and Bob to Langham. I to Meeting on Reddy and on to Crabbs. Saw Katie and stayed overnight.

14th

Second day. I did two weeks’ wash. Pa helped. Mother put up twelve quarts rhubarb. Bob hauled a load of oat hay and raked oat stubble. Got Harold off to Ranch with a big load of stuff.

15th

Third day. I did most of ironing. Fixed saddle pad. Pa took cream. Very cold and windy, feels like snow. Two feet in Alberta in places. Bob made two whips and made cot for Mary.

16th

Fourth day. Bob went over in boat and got Harry Thiessen. Killed calf – Deborah. Bob and Harry and I up to Ranch after early dinner. Bob brought Donald and Lenore home with calf. Cleaned out Stella’s pasture.

17th

Fifth day. Took one hundred cattle out of north pasture. Rather a disappointing day. Came pretty late to shack.

18th

Sixth day. Father took cream and on to town.

19th

Seventh day. Anker came with supplies at night.

20th

First day. Len came up to Ranch on bike. Rode Tex who reared and fell on him.[388] Billie came and took Len to hospital and I went along. Back at night. Harold sick.

21st

Second day. Leonard and Mel[389] came to Langham and Bob went with the boat to bring them across the river. Mother to Wakes’ to supper and to town to see Dr. Palsson.[390] Exam satisfactory.[391] Anker came.

22nd

Third day. Father, Mother and Bob in Meeting. Susie’s mother and Jake came. Helen Fehr improving in City Hospital. Elsie and Harry stayed at Pasture. Leonard went there on bicycle and was injured by a horse, Tex, and taken to Borden hospital. Anxious night.[392]

23rd

Fourth day. Harry and Harold up with Long Lake cattle. We helped to the top of the north pasture, and then tried to locate Assman’s heifer – no luck, so gathered cattle at roundup and cut out sixty members’ stock. cold and windy.

24th

Fifth day. Got Langham cattle in. Inspector tested them. Three missing. Took them down to Stella’s and brought back about one hundred from south pasture and put in roundup.

25th

Sixth day. Members came for cattle. About a hundred and seventy-six went out. I had to help most of day. On Red. Finished about five thirty and boys took it easy and went to bed early.

26th

Seventh day. Bob and I looked over south pasture and started rounding up cattle in roundup. The other boys got thirty-four Alf Elliott cattle from middle pasture. About twenty-three cattle besides the Elliott ones went out. Bob and I took five calves and five yearlings home.

27th

First day. Susie, Pa and I to Meeting with Jerry and Sally. Bob over to dinner. Bill Penner [393] and family over. Pa and Bob up to Ranch on rack, took supplies and hay.

28th

Second day. Anker mending corral. I got most of yearlings and calves in, to go to Saskatoon – ten of them. Bob home at night – brought mares and colts and Gay and Spee down. Lovely warm day.

29th

Third day. Anker mending corral. Mother and I did a two weeks’ wash. Got yearlings in. John and Eric Dooley[394] came and took two truckloads. Hazel’s calf went. Calves and yearlings. Brought $60.00 worth of groceries back. Bob went along. Tied Fox up.

30th

Fourth day. Bob and Pa up to Ranch on rack. Took supplies. I did ironing and Mother made cookies and butter, and baked. Eric came in “bug.” Stayed overnight. Queen’s colt not looking good.

OCTOBER 1936

1st

Fifth day. Eric left in morning. We put cows and mares down by red granary. Bob and George taking two bunches of Radisson cattle.

2nd

Sixth day. Mother was away at Wakes’ all day. Pa took her and got mail and cream cans. I made pickles. Bob home at night. Harry and Henry Thiessen to Clarkes’[395] for supper. Billie brought Mother home.

3rd

Seventh day. Made Pa’s birthday cake, seventy-four years old. Cattle buyers here and Bill Fowley.[396] Harold home at night. Harry over river with Henry Thiessen. Took colt.

4th

First day. Bob and Susie to City with Billie. Left Roberta here. Pa and Mother to Meeting. Harold over river. Sadie came in afternoon, stayed overnight. Harry home at night.

5th

Second day. Harry and I up to Ranch. Cattle buyers bought ten head at thirteen dollars per. Harold and Harry and I took them to Borden. Bessie came with five of them. Home late and very tired. Took Gersters’ and Fosters’.[397]

6th

Third day. Harry and Harold back to Ranch. Cut a load of hay. Pa and Anker digging stones on road. I felt all in all day and did very little.

7th

Fourth day. Anker and Pa cleared out basement and put culvert in by water trough and mended harness. I started knitting my string dress. Bob and Susie back in time for supper. Harry and Harold another load of hay.

8th

Fifth day. Father and Mother and Bob to Monthly Meeting. I did baking and made tarts. Harold down with load of hay, back after dinner. Raleigh man[398] came, paid bill, seven dollars.

9th

Sixth day. Father and Mother to town. Anker made box stall. Bob up to Ranch, dehorned our yearlings. Brought cattle home. I cleaned bedroom. Little Pat died.

10th

Seventh day. Harry to Long Lake with Lavoie horses.[399] Harold making stackyard. Bob and Anker fixed wagon wheel and Anker hauled load of gravel. Bob working on his foundations.

11th

First day. Father and Bob and I to Meeting. Bob and Susie to Cooks’ in afternoon. Harold home in afternoon. Harry stayed all night. Cold wind. Mother and I made our colds worse going to Meeting.

12th

Second day. I took it easy all day. Bad cold. Knitted string dress and mended socks. Harold and Harry broke up camp and brought everything home at night – and hay. Bob and Anker worked on Bob’s house.

13th

Third day. Bob to town. Harry and Harold went up to Ranch, got cow and Echo and stray in Ash Cook’s pasture. We did big wash. Anker hauled some oats and fixed trough.

14th

Fourth day. Bob and Anker and Harry working on cottage. Put roof on. Harry and I to town with cattle – five canners [400] and fourteen of Wakes’ and two of George Hynd’s. Joshua brought me home in car. Called at Saunders’ and supper at Wakes. Raining hard.

15th

Fifth day. Bob and Harold and Pa working on cottage. Put foundations in. Harry and Anker grading out corral.[401] I did ironing, made cookies, put up tomatoes. Cloudy.

16th

Sixth day. Cleaned bedrooms and put up five quarts tomatoes. Pa took cream and got mail and sauerkraut from Wakes’. Bob and Harold made concrete steps at door and mixed plaster for barn.[402] Harry and Anker mended stackyard fence below. Graded out corral and the raised barn.

17th

Seventh day. Harold away on Diamond at night. Boys all plastering barn and cleaning it out. Mr. Condie came and settled up $325.00.[403] We did cleaning and cleaned some drawers and made cookies and baked bread. Lovely warm day.

18th

First day. Raining. Meeting at home. Harold not back, phoned from Borden. Bessie down – went for a walk and row on river, Anker and Harry too. Lovely day.

19th

Second day. Bob and Pa started putting roof on granary. Harry and Anker hauled rock and sand and lumber, and fish net from landing. Harry to Watson’s sale[404] with Wakes. We washed, churned, made jam. Sharp frost.

20th

Third day. All the boys working on barn foundations, [405] and plastering. We dried clothes and robes and did some ironing. Mother and Mary and I to Wakes’ and for mail. Got harness etc. that Harry bought at sale. Strong north wind.

21st.

Fourth day. Bob to Borden, Harry and Harold for straw at Joshua Wake’s. Pa and Anker getting turnips up. Meeting at home. I finished ironing. Cold and sunny.

22nd

Fifth day. Harry and Harold for straw. Gypsy going a bit better. Bob and Anker mixing cement and boys helped pour barn foundations. Finished getting turnips. Philip down re: electric lights. Very cold, about zero.

23rd

Sixth day. Father took cream truck man to Borden. Ferry out. I cleaned bedrooms. Harry and Harold for straw. Snowing and blowing. Bob and Anker starting framework of addition to barn. Bronk and Tommy came home.

24th

Seventh day. Got ready and Bob took me to Wakes’ and Billie took Auntie and I to Borden. Went to see Lucie. Had supper at McDermids.[406] On bus to Saskatoon. Arrived 12:00 PM. Met Archie Wensley.[407]

25th

First day. Meeting at home. Daisie down and she and I went to Ruth Murray’s[408] for supper. Ed took us. Had a lovely time. Went to hear F. W.[409] afterwards.

26th

Second day. Daisie’s half day. Got her coat and did some shopping. Went to see “Nine Days a Queen.”[410] Marvellous picture.

27th

Third day. Went to Hospital to clinic. Got good report. Went on to Len’s. Spent the day with him, and Ruth came in time for supper.

28th

Fourth day. Still at Saskatoon. Helped Edith. Started knitting cushion cover – orange and nile.

29th

Fifth day. Cleaned through house. Had quilting bee in evening. Worked on Daisie’s quilt – Flora, Delia, Helen K., Herdis and Alma came. Anker here in evening.

30th

Sixth day. To town in morning shopping. Home and cleaned up and rested. Anker came up and I drove to town with him. Had tea in café. Very cold wind.

31st

Seventh day. We cleaned house. Daisie down at night. I wasn’t feeling so good. Ed took us both up to San and I stayed.

NOVEMBER 1936

1st

First day. Slept with Daisie, had dinner and breakfast together. Visited Beulah[411] during hours and until Daisie came off duty. Ed came for us. Edith and Daisie to Third Avenue. Ed and I to see Uncle Joe.

2nd

Second day

(Blank.)

3rd

Third day. Daisie’s half day. Went to the Hub and got a coat for her and a dress for me. I went up and stayed night with her. Slept on balcony. We washed in morning.

4th

Fourth day. Margaret N. gave me breakfast. Took car downtown. Met Alma at Eaton’s. Up to Alma Lund’s room – had talk. To Group Meeting at night.

5th

Fifth day. Edith dyed. I ironed. Went shopping in afternoon. Got suit for Roger. Daisie on for night duty.

6th

Sixth day. Daisie down in morning. I ironed. Had rest in afternoon. Downtown and on to Len and Ruth’s. Home on car. Had nice time. Bob phoned.

7th

Seventh day. Edith and I got one dress from (? store?) downtown and ran errands for Ed. Bought two pounds crochet wool from Bay for $1.95 per. Went to CPR for tickets East. Daisie down, and Eric came.

8th

First day. Ed to Third Avenue. We cleaned up. Daisie and Edith down at noon. Edith and I to Joe’s. Edith back for supper. Anker and Edith and Daisie called for me in afternoon and we took Eric back to Alexander’s.[412] Got lost. Home late.

9th

Second day. Caught 10:00 train to Langham. No one to meet me. Over to Scott’s for dinner. Found boys. Home about dark. Cows and King away, also colts. Not very cold.

10th

Third day. Nice day. Got cows and milked and finished chores by 1:00. Harry got King back, cut up some.[413] Mary and Philip down, collecting for B. Society.[414] Boys got a load of logs.

11th

Fourth day. Did wash. Meeting at home. Harold Edney over, brought mail for us. boys hauling logs off river and fixing river trail. Lovely warm day, ice getting slushy.

12th

Fifth day. Went to quilting bee with Sadie to Assmans’. Finished late, and then to Sutherlands for practice. Slept at Hynd’s. Mother and Pa to town. Got parcel from Dykes.[415] Lovely day.

13th

Sixth day. I got home about dark. Tommy Scott over. Harry and Bob to Langham for plant,[416] couldn’t cross with team. Put boat away. Did most of ironing.

14th.

Seventh day. Harry brought horses and cattle home. Clipped horses H.[417] We did cleaning. Boys killed Daffy’s calf. Harold took Tess home. Joshua down in evening. Ranch business.

15th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob and I to Meeting. Eddy and Sissie up with children. Lovely day. Abe and Mary and Laura down. Mary staying. Roberta not well. Abe Siemens and Goldie brought pig Sarah. $2.00.

16th

Second day. Did big wash. Washed sweaters that Joshua brought down. John McCheane down about electric light. Bob and Harry and I over to Hynd’s in evening. Made 500 tickets. home late.

17th

Third day. Bob and Susie and Mary Rempel to town. Harold over. Stayed dinner on his way to Popes’. Walter Johnson[418] came here to work. Finished stuffing walls in my room and dug drain. Bob and Susie to supper.

18th

Fourth day. We did ironing and made cookies. Harry and Walter dug drain. Bob finished boarding up walls in my room and started lining his kitchen. Pa brought wheat up from red granary for chickens. Meeting at home.

19th

Fifth day. Bob up to Wakes to fix three pigs. Joshua took him in car. Afterwards the boys all went in buggy to pile rock on beach. Took dinner. We baked and cleared up my bedroom some. Temperature up to 51 degrees above.

20th

Sixth day. Made pie, buns and nut loaf. Cleaned boys’ bedroom and parlour. Washed wool dressing gown and sweater. Bob and Pa put ceiling in cottage. Harry and Walter cementing drain. Struck water. Mild but windy.

21st

Seventh day. Bob and Harry tried to cross river – couldn’t make it. Got load of hay and cleaned wheat for house.[419] Bob and Pa put comfort felt [420] up in my room. Harry shot Alk. Did cleaning, made cake.

22nd

First day. Billie and Joshua and John and Charlie and Bob Mc., Mary and John and Eddy and children all down for Meeting and dinner. Had lunch dinner. Walter got colts back from west. Nice bright warm day. No snow.

23rd

Second day. Harry to Langham for drain tile, in buggy over new bridge.[421] Bob and Walter building lean-to on barn. Pa and I papered the ceiling in my room. Nice day. Mother baked. Harry home 9:30.

24th

Third day. Nice day though windy last night. Boys all worked on drain, put tile in. Pa and I continued papering my room. Jack[422] gave Harry 30 cents for my eggs. Twenty eggs today.

25th

Fourth day. Nice day. Finished papering my room. Not quite enough paper. Boys got drain into working order. Bob worked on his house. Cleaned out horse barn. Harry fixed water trough.

25th

Fifth day. Cleaned my room and bathroom, landing and stairs. Bob and Harry and Walter worked on lean-to. Harry and Walter on fences and troughs in afternoon. Bob and Susie and I up to McCheanes’ to UFC meeting. Lovely day. Hannah Mary down with us. Went skating in evening, Walter and Harry and I.

26th

Sixth day. Boys all building lean-to and fixing water trough. Harry to Borden in afternoon, home very late. Ruth and Rennie[423] down at night and we went skating and had lots of fun. Lovely and mild and moonlit.

28th

Seventh day. Building lean-to, finished logging it. Hannah Mary spinning[424] all day. We did cleaning. Sadie and Arthur down after supper. Played crokinole. Lovely day.

29th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer to Corney Wall’s[425] funeral with Billie. Lydia and David Crabb[426] down to supper. Took Hannah Mary back. Snowed and blew a bit. Harold Edney down on Twilight.

30th

Second day. Harry and Walter made bulls’ stall. Bob and Pa building lean-to. I got up at 10:30, made fruit cake. Grey day. Went skating in evening. Not much good.

DECEMBER 1936

1st

Third day. Bob mended washer. I did two white washes. Boys plastered lean-to. Snow melting. Rained a little. Mother baked. No one got mail.

2nd

Fourth day. Bob wired lights into Harry’s room and other electrical jobs. Harry fixed manger in colts’ stall. Walter cleaned out barns and went for colts in morning. Mild but snowing and blowing a regular blizzard. Meeting at home.

3rd

Fifth day. Twenty-four degrees and stiff breeze. Cattle home and fed straw. Harry and Walter hauled straw from below. Bob worked around both houses. I ironed. Got sick with engine exhaust.[427] To bed early.

4th

Sixth day. Walter for mail on Dick. Harry and Bob putting up stovepipes in cellar and boys’ room. I had a birthday present from Olive. Finished ironing. Cold and bright.

5th

Seventh day. Harry and Walter hauled one load hay and one straw. Bob sharpening axes. Boys to Langham in afternoon. Thirty degrees below when they started. Still and bright. Took cream and eggs. We did cleaning. Had baths. Home in “wee sma’ ‘ours.”

6th

First day. Meeting at home. Very late rising. Fifty degrees below. Quiet day. Wrote to Daisie and George Rempel.

7th

Second day. I did the wash, Mother mending. Boys chored and hauled straw for cattle down below. Fixed up hoist in barn for butchering. Higher temp – about ten degrees below. Some snow.

8th

Third day. Boys killed bob-tailed roan heifer. Made meathooks. I went for mail on Dick – saw horses. Letters from Auntie Mary, also Alma. Ten degrees above. Lovely day.

9th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Boys killed Fat Emma, and cleaned out chicken pen. Hauled straw to cattle down below. I finished ironing. Mother sewed. Walter and I skied at noon a little. Thirty degrees below.

10th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob to Langham with meat – took all day. Heard that King Edward VIII had abdicated. We churned. A lovely day, fifteen degrees above. We went skiing at night.

11th

Sixth day. Harry and Walter went for load of wood from Thirty-six and brought the mail. Nice day, fifteen degrees above. Bob making saw frame. Mother sewed. I cleaned boys’ bedroom. Heard King Edward VIII’s last speech.[428]

12th

Seventh day. Boys killed Three-spot and Walter cleaned out barn and hauled hay. We did cleaning and made nut loaf. Bob and Harry and I over to Hynds’ to supper. Had a nice time. Mild but no trails. Eaton’s parcel came. Birthday present for me.

13th

First day. Billie and Auntie down to Meeting and dinner. Bob and Susie too. Nice mild day. Fifteen degrees above. Seventeen eggs. Horses came home this morning.

14th

Second day. Mother did her packing. King’s birthday.[429] Walter and Harry hauled one load wood. Harry gave King lesson. Walter brought horses in. Kept Major and Sally and Jenny in. Bob and Pa making saw bench. Nice mild day. Bessie came at night.

15th

Third day. Harry took Mother and Bessie to Langham to catch bus to Saskatoon. Mother en route to Norwich.[430] Harry also took beef. Took part in turkey shoot at night. Brought home turkey. Bob working on saw bench. Walter hauled hay and oats. Colder at night. Walter and I cleared skating rink.

16th

Fourth day. I did wash. Boys got ready and sawed a little wood.[431] Outfit worked fine. Harry worked on King. A little cooler. Cattle home at night. Eight degrees above and bright.

17th

Fifth day. Harry hitched up King first thing, went pretty good. Harry and Bob took loads of rock to bridge. Walter cleaned out horse barn. Nice bright day. Boys brought mail. Letter from Winnie.

18th

Sixth day. Bob and Harry hauling rocks – Major and Dick, and Mike and Jerry. Walter cleaned out barns and he and I hitched up King and got some straw for cattle down below. Boys brought mail. Parcel from Hannah Blake Hatcher and letters.

19th

Seventh day. Harry and Bob hauling rocks. Up at five and off at seven. Walter chored and cleaned out barns. I cleaned house and did ironing. Henry Badman brought us some gas from Langham. Walter and I skated at night.

20th

First day. Meeting at home. A quiet day. Windy and rather unpleasant out. Eric down in afternoon on Jappy. Bob taught me how to start engine. Got radio fixed up in parlour.

21st

Second day. Bob and Harry got an early start for rocks. Walter did chores. I put white things on to boil. A nice mild day. Made slippers for Sadie.

22nd

Third day. Bob and Harry rock-hauling. Brought mail. Walter did chores and hauled hay. I did wash. Got done early. Dried clothes outside. Thirty-seven degrees above. Walter and I had a great skate at night.

23rd

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Bob and Harry hauling rocks. Walter chored, hauled straw. I did ironing. Windy and colder.

24th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob hauled rock in morning. Snowing and blowing quite a blizzard. I took Walter nearly to Bergmans’. He walked the rest to the train. Drove King and Sally.

25th

Sixth day. Did some cleaning. Made candy. Harry and Bob did chores and hauled straw from below. Harry and I drove King and Sally to Hynds’. Had nice time. Very heavy trails. Home three o’clock. Thirty degrees below. Xmas day.

26th

Seventh day. Joshua down and he and Harry did Ranch accounts. Stayed dinner. Pa to Saskatoon. Bob took him to Langham. Got coal and gas and present for Effie. Still and cold – about twenty degrees below.

27th

First day. Busy all day. Harry and Bob hauled two loads straw and one of hay. Ten degrees below and no wind. Found card from Mother.

28th

Second day. Harry and Bob got early start for rocks. I did chores. Pa phoned from Langham. I took team, King and Sally and met him and Walter this side of Bergmans’. Walter hauled straw. About ten degrees below.

29th

Third day. Bob and Harry still hauling rock. Brought mail. Walter chored and hauled feed. I did the wash. Played table tennis. Anker came at night. Colder. Boys late.

30th

Fourth day. Bob and Harry hauling rock. Anker and Walter chored and braced up shelter and bedded it for cattle. Boys home late. Cold and windy. I baked.

31st

Fifth day. Decidedly colder. I ironed and cleaned. Harry and Walter went with rock and went to Effie’s shower.[432] Abe and Jake down. Abe and Bob to Langham. Brought shoes for me.

1937

JANUARY

1st

Sixth day. Very cold. Bob to Langham for Daisie. Boys chored around. Played games in evening. Jake Rempel over.

2nd

Seventh day. Boys chored and hauled straw from below and sawed quite a bit of wood. Bob took Jake to Langham. I did cleaning. Daisie in bed till noon. Very cold.

3rd

First day. Thirty-six above. Rain and snow a little. The two Tommies down for dinner and Eric down. Harold Edney for supper. Daisie and Eric over to Bob’s for supper.

4th

Second day. Thirty below. Cold wind. Harry and Bob got an early start for rocks. Brought lumber back. I started wash. Daisie rested.

5th

Third day. Bob and Harry hauling rock. Anker and Walter hauling hay and straw. Very cold. I did wash. Daisie iced cake.

6th

Fourth day. Bob and Harry took two loads of rocks. Very cold, about fifty below by our thermometer. Walter and Anker doing chores and hauling feed. Daisie did ironing.

7th

Fifth day. Boys chored, cleaned barn etc. We got ready for party. Arthur and Sadie and Billie and Fred Weston[433] and Eric down. Had a good party.

8th

Sixth day. Harry and Walter for straw to Joshua Wake’s. Daisie and I to Wakes – King and Mike. Stayed dinner. Much milder – zero at night. Daisie stayed at Wakes and I home to make supper.

9th

Seventh day. Harry and Walter for straw – back by 4:30. Bob and Anker and Pa killed spotty-faced heifer – Monica, I think - and did chores. Harry and Walter and Anker and I to Hynds’ for supper. Brought Daisie back. Had nice time. Home 8:30. Nice and mild.

10th

First day. Bob and Susie over to Meeting and dinner. Bessie and Kennie down. Brought my suitcase. Boys went skiing. Eric over. Pretty nice day.

11th

Second day. Walter and Anker for straw – took King. Bob took Harry and Daisie over to Langham to catch train for Saskatoon. Susie went and left children with me. Home about dark. Took Scotts’ meat.

12th

Third day. Walter and Anker for straw. Cold and windy – got very chilled. Bob and Pa cut up beef and put in ice house. I salted dried beef. Did the wash and fed chickens. Throat and chest sore. About ten degrees below.

13th

Fourth day. Strong wind all night. Cold and blizzardy. Dropped to twenty-five degrees below at night. I did ironing. Boys did chores and killed another heifer. Anker not feeling very well.

14th

Fifth day. Bob and Pa helped me cut and can meat. Put up twenty-four quarts. Walter and Anker did chores and hauled hay and cleaned barns. Very cold. Not above twenty-five degrees below all day. Cleaned boys’ room.

15th

Sixth day. Bob and Walter hauled two loads wood. Anker did chores. I finished meat and put away. Cut up marrows for jam. Cleaned bedrooms and downstairs. Cold and clear.

16th

Seventh day. Bob and Walter two loads of wood. Anker did chores. I did the cleaning. Eric brought Muriel Bergman[434] who stayed all night. Anker went with Eric to Hynds’ and Walter to Halcyonia to skate.

17th

First day. Meeting at home. Muriel to Bob and Susie’s for dinner. Oscar came in afternoon for her. Anker home about six and Walter at eleven-thirty. Brought mail. Was long letter from Mother.

18th

Second day. Sixty below by ours. Anker and Walter for straw for Joshua Wake’s. Bob did chores and got one load of wood. I boiled white clothes, made pies. Boys home late – in time for supper.

19th

Third day. Bob to meet mailman on Mike. Fifty degrees below. Anker and Walter for hay and did chores. Bob and Walter for one load of wood. I did wash and went over to visit with Susie a while.

20th

Fourth day. Walter and Anker hauled hay and did chores. Bob went to Langham for Harry, who phoned. Got coal. I made butter and did some ironing.

21st

Fifth day. Sixty degrees below. Harry went to school meeting – got ten signatures to the ferry petition. Walter and Bob cleaned barns and did chores. Anker got wood etc. Pa helped Susie wash clothes.

22nd

Sixth day. Harry rode north for more signatures on Mike. Brought mail back. Much milder – zero. Pa and Bob and Anker and Walter sawed wood. I made cookies, took children out.

23rd

Seventh day. Harry away again with ferry petition on Mike. I did cleaning. Anker got ready and Walter took him part way to Langham. Bad blizzard. Bob and Walter for straw. Sadie down on Jappy. Not cold.

24th

First day. Meeting at home. Susie and Mary over. Harry still away. Sadie and I over to Bob to supper. Harry home late. Thirty degrees below all day. Cold and bright. Went down to see porcupine. Harry got 53 signatures.

25th

Second day. Fifty degrees below. Bob put comfort felt on their ceiling all day. Harry and Walter cleaned barns and did chores. Sadie went home in afternoon. Golden eagle on barn roof. Pup up too. Harry took picture.[435]

26th

Third day. Fifty degrees below. Bob spent day papering their kitchen. Harry and Walter did chores and cleaned pens. Put up aerial.[436] I did a big wash. Washed porch floor and kitchen.

27th

Fourth day. Thirty degrees below. Harry and Walter for straw. Brought mail. Bob did chores. I made bread and buns, and did most of ironing.

28th

Fifth day. Harry and Walter hauled hay and mended runners of sleigh. Still very cold. About fifty degrees below. I finished ironing.

29th

Sixth day. Harry and Bob and Walter over river for straw. Bob went to help break trail and find out where they could get straw and went to Langham too. King and Mike. Susie and I had a long talk. Eric down and stayed night.

30th

Seventh day. Harry and Walter for straw over river – home late. Eric to Saskatoon. Bob for mail on Di. I cleaned bedrooms and churned butter, but forgot it was seventh day and did not do all the cleaning.

31st

First day. Up late. Meeting at home. Jimmie Scott over. Stayed dinner. A little milder – about eighteen degrees below at noon.

FEBRUARY 1937

1st

Second day. Harry and Walter over river for straw. Jimmie met them and came back with them. I cleaned up and baked bread. Bob did chores, cleaned barns.

2nd

Third day. Bob to Saskatoon – took Di to Langham. Walter and Jimmie hauled two loads hay from flats and one load manure to river trail.[437] Harry chored and fixed up door of barn etc. I did wash. Mailman did not come. Blizzard.

3rd

Fourth day. Meeting at home, just Father and I. Harry and Jimmie for two loads straw and eight loads[438] from over river. I helped milk. Dried and folded clothes. Walter chored and cleaned barns. Bob home late.

4th

Fifth day. Harry and Jimmie for straw. Bob got engine going again and Walter and he for load of wood in afternoon. I did ironing. Cold again – fifty degrees below in morning. Played crokinole.

5th

Sixth day. Harry and Jimmie for straw. Bob and Walter two loads of wood. I went on Di for mail. Long, slow and cold trip. Went into Duncan’s to warm up. Two letters from Mother.

6th

Seventh day. Walter and Jimmie for one load of wood. Harry mended racks and sleighs. Bob chored. I did cleaning and made cake and had shampoo and bath. Harry and Walter and Jimmie went to Langham, took some wheat.

7th

First day. Meeting at home. Pretty cold. Boys came home last night and were all home all day. Did chores.

8th

Second day. Harry and Jimmie for straw over river – two loads. Fifty degrees below. Bob not feeling so good. Walter did chores and cleaned barns. He and I cleaned all the pipes[439] in the house. I baked bread.

9th

Third day. Bob feeling sick, but mended pole. Harry put in five windows in the barn, and fixed chimney and hauled a load of hay. Walter and Jimmie two loads of wood. I did washing. Fred Weston down.

10th

Fourth day. Harry and Jimmie for two loads straw. Walter and Bob two loads of wood. I cleaned and churned. Mother sent parcel yesterday. Fred Weston brought mail. Twenty degrees above zero.

11th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob to school to Annual Pasture[440] Meeting. Took all day. Walter and Jimmie for two loads of wood. I did the ironing. Wrote to Edith and Daisie. Nice mild day.

12th

Sixth day. Walter and Jimmie hauled two loads wood – big ones. Bob and Harry found sleigh parts and Bob started building a new sleigh. Harry did chores – cleaned pig-pen, and hauled hay. I washed bedroom and down stairs. Mild day, blizzard at night.

13th

Seventh day. Pa and I cleaned through house downstairs. Made two pies. Walter and Jimmie two loads wood – fourteen loads.[441] Bob working on sleigh. Harry to Langham – sent parcel to Winnie. Nice clean mild day.

14th

First day. Meeting at home. Jimmie walked home. Walter went on Di to Halcyonia. Bob and Susie went to Hynds’ – left Bobbie[442] with me. Harold Edney down. Lovely mild day.

15th

Second day. Walter and Jimmie for two loads wood. Took Di up to Thirty-five. Bob making sleigh. Harry did chores and got engine and chopper assembled. I put clothes on to boil. Lovely mild day, twenty degrees above.

16th

Third day. Bob finished set of sleighs[443] by night. Harry and Jim took two loads of rock from Thirty-six to landing.[444] Walter did chores and chopped oats – forty bushels. I did wash and hung them out. Nice mild sunny day.

17th

Fourth day. Harry and Jimmie took four loads of rock to CAR bridge.[445] Bob and Walter took load to landing and dug on beach. I parawaxed[446] dried beef, folded clothes and did a little ironing. Cold wind.

18th

Fifth day. Harry and Jimmie put four loads rock in river at bridge. Bob and Walter dug on beach. I churned, made cookies and two pumpkin pies. Colder and windy.

19th

Sixth day. Boys all hauling and digging rock. Put four loads in. I went for mail on Di. Got Pa’s parcel from Eaton’s and letter from Edith. About zero but cold wind. Washed cellar steps.

20th

Seventh day. Boys all hauling and digging rocks. Put four loads in. Cold – about fifteen degrees below and strong wind. I did cleaning and made cake. Helped milk.

21st

First day. Meeting at home late, up late. Tommy over to dinner and he and Eric for supper. Cold – about twenty degrees below. Hauled hay and fixed pump.

22nd

Second day. Boys hauled and dug rocks – put in four loads. Walter dug on hill by ravine. Bob took two loads to landing. Cold, forty degrees below. I did some cooking.

23rd

Third day. Boys all hauling rock and digging it. Walter home for dinner. Very windy all day, and cold. Anker came in evening. Little Connie calved - white faced black heifer.

24th

Fourth day. Boys all hauling rock and digging. Pa helped in afternoon. I cleaned my bedroom and downstairs, and made cushion cover. Walter went for mail at night – walked. Nice mild day – cloudy.

25th

Fifth day. Boys all hauling and digging rock. Put four loads in. Bob and Walter hauled one load straw from J. Powers’[447] – got gas and groceries from Langham. Got one load hay. Nice mild day. Snowed a little. Anker left.

26th

Sixth day. Harry and Jimmie hauled four loads of rock. Bob to bridge and to landing. Walter and Pa dug on hill. Susie and I up to see them load after dinner. I skiied a little. Nice bright day. Ten degrees below at night.

27th

Seventh day. Boys all busy digging and hauling rocks. Bob put in two loads. Walter dug on the hill. I baked and cleaned and churned. Fred Weston down in evening. Brought mail. Nice day.

28th

First day. Meeting at home. Jimmie over to Langham. Lovely bright mild day. Bob and Susie over in afternoon.

29th

Second day. Harry and Jimmie for straw – two loads. Bob to Borden (to sign for relief feed and seed)[448] by train for Langham. Walter cleaned barn. Bob walked out from Borden. Harry and I met him at Hynds’ – stayed late. Nice day.

MARCH 1937

1st

Third day. Harry and Jimmie for two loads straw. Bob and Walter hauled three loads of ice. I did a big wash. Nice mild day, up to thirty-three degrees above. Didn’t get mail. Sadie gave me lovely doily. Connie sick, lost calf.

2nd

Fourth day. Jimmie hauled two loads hay. Bob and Harry and Walter packed ice in well, chopped some oats and sawed a little wood. Harry fixed soft water pump.[449]

Eric down for dinner and supper. I did some baking and made ice cream. Mild.

3rd

Fifth day. Jimmie and Walter hauled four loads of hay from flats. Harry cleaned barns and chicken house and finished packing ice. Bob and Walter dug rock and sharpened crowbars.[450] Henry Badman got groceries from Langham for us and brought some fish. Melting.

4th

Sixth day. Bob to Langham with wheat and fixed engine. Harry and Walter and Jimmie all cleaned out barns and calf pens. I cleaned bedrooms and cleaned drawers. Fair and very wet. Cattle went out on hills. Forty degrees above.

5th

Seventh day. The last five days are out one day as I used the 29th of second month.

6th

Seventh day. Bob took fifty bushels wheat to town – price $2.025 a bushel. Brought oats back. Harry and Walter and Jimmie cleaned barns and dug rock. I cleaned house and baked. Sadie down by dark. Boys to Langham. Mike and Jerry. Mild.

7th

First day. Meeting at home. Made ice cream for dinner. Lou and Ash Cook down at Bob and Susie’s. Walter and Jimmie up for mail and to Hynds’. Sadie home early. Much colder and quite a wind.

8th

Second day. Harry took Father to train for Saskatoon and see about straw. Brought Duncan back. Walter and Jimmie hauled two loads wood. Bob took wheat to Langham. I did wash. Cool and windy.

9th

Third day. Bob took wheat to Langham. Harry hauled wood - two loads. Walter and Jimmie cut wood, took lunch. I ironed and cleaned. Pretty nice day – a little cooler. Phone call from Edith. Billie came and talked.

10th

Fourth day. Bob took a little wheat and brought Mother and Father back. Walter and Jimmie cut wood. Harry hauled and Bob hauled one load in afternoon. Cleaned horse barn. Boys brought mail. Nice day. (Mother home.)

11th

Fifth day. I sick in bed most all day. All the boys cut and hauled six loads wood. Mother baked and we churned.. Mild - up to thirty above. Cattle going out grazing.

12th

Sixth day. Boys all sawing wood. Let all the horses out but King. Joshua called on his way from Saskatoon, says Daisie plans to get married next week. Mother cleaned bedrooms. Mild and bright, thirty degrees above.

13th

Seventh day. Harry took the pig Nancy to Borden with King and Dick. Walter and Jimmie hauled two loads straw from J. Power’s. Bob wired barn with Pa’s help. We cleaned and baked. I made cake for Daisie. Fifteen degrees above at noon – cool.

14th

First day. Bob and Harry and I drove over to Hynds’ for a lunch dinner and went with them to McPherson’s for K. McPherson’s[451] funeral and on to cemetery. Called at Lucie’s. Very cold ride out – home late.

15th

Second day. Sick and in bed most of day. Boys sawed wood. Jim went to Langham for gas. Bob and Harry and Walter went for two loads wood. Mother not feeling very well. Pretty nice day.

16th

Third day. Feeling a little better. Boys sawed all the wood, chopped oats. Hannah Mary and Laurie down to dinner. I made nut loaf. Planned to go to Saskatoon tomorrow. Letter from Daisie. Thirty degrees above.

17th

Fourth day. Bob took Susie and I to Langham to catch train to Saskatoon. A.[452] met us at station. Susie went shopping and I took Mary to Edith’s. Harry and Jimmie took two loads of rock to bridge. Nice day. Daisie and I to party at Edith Burbage’s.

18th

Fifth day. Busy preparing for wedding. Went shopping with Daisie. Margaret N. over to help, made cake. I went with Daisie to see “Maid of Salem.”[453]

19th

Sixth day. Shopped with Edith for meat, etc. Ruth (Hinde) down to ice cake and help a bit. Roger down too. Daisie and I to Flora’s for supper. Had lovely time. Girls gave Daisie a lovely personal shower.

20th

Seventh day. Wedding day. Very busy. Edith and Flora over all morning. Lots of help in afternoon. Ceremony took place at 6 PM. Bride lovely. Everything went off smoothly. All went to see “Green Light.” [454]

21st

First day. Up late. Flora over and Billie came about 10 o’clock. Later Art Doyle came and Daisie and Eric about three in the afternoon, also Harry and Bob. I got ready and packed and came home with boys. Joshua met us at Langham. Cold wind.

22nd

Second day. Did some seeding and took it easy. All the boys went hauling rock all day. Only got three loads in. Nice day. Cattle stayed out all night.

23rd

Third day. Walter splitting wood.[455] Harry for mail on Dick. His book came back from Belyks’,[456] very good job. Bob fixing wiring in attic, etc. I did very big wash. Nice mild day. Put up lunches for tomorrow.

24th

Fourth day. All the boys rock hauling. Meeting at home. Sadie down on Jappy. Robert Rae[457] down, also Harold Edney on his way to Saskatoon. Nice day but cold wind. Boys home by seven. Last of rock hauling.

25th

Fifth day. I did ironing and made chocolate cake. Mother cleaned her room. Boys splitting wood all day and cleaned barn. Horses resting and grazing. Nice day, thawed a little.

26th

Sixth day. Harry and Walter cleaned up around and cleared out workshop. Bob split wood. Harry for mail, and to Wakes’ at night. Mother and I cleaned bedrooms and parlour. Iced cake and baked bread. Thawed.

27th

Seventh day. Cleaned kitchen. Bob and Harry went to Langham and brought Lucie Edmondson back. Walter split wood. We made butter. Joshua and Billie Wake and Amamda[458] and Bess and Ruth and Arthur and Sadie Hynd and Helen, and Lou and Ash Cook down at night for shower.

28th

First day. Meeting at home. Abe Rempel and his mother down. Lucie over there. Fred Weston down. Pretty nice day, not melting much.

29th

Second day. Bob took Lucie to train. Walter and Harry did chores and split wood. Up to Halcyonia at night. Eric came. Mother not well. Cloudy and mild.

30th

Third day. Harry and Walter and Bob cleaned barns and split wood. B. Price[459] got one load hay. Walter helped him uphill and brought oats back and chopped some.

Mother very sick. I did big wash. Cooler. Eric left on Jappy.

31st

Fourth day. Boys all split wood. Bob got load of oats from Wakes’. I got clothes dry. Mother in bed still, got up for a little in evening. Fairly mild.

APRIL 1937

1st

Fifth day. Did most of ironing and baked bread. Harry and Walter hauled hay from flats and straw from below. Bob mending harness and chopping oats – fifty bushels. Milder, but not melting much.

2nd

Sixth day. Harry and Walter hauled six loads of hay from flats into stackyard. Bob mending harness. Pa seeding. Harry and Walter making chaps.[460] I cleaned bedrooms and down stairs. Forty degrees above, sloppy. Walter for mail at night. Windy.

3rd

Seventh day. Harry and Walter hauled one load straw from below and Walter one load hay in afternoon, the last from flats. Bob and Harry to Langham in afternoon. Fred Weston here for dinner. We cleaned and I baked cookies. Mother feeling a little better. A little snow fell midday. Forty degrees above.

4th

First day. I woke with sick headache. Meeting at home. Wilfred Brunst and his mother and Katie and her brother down. Home late. Went for a walk in afternoon. Lovely day. Fifty degrees above.

5th

Second day. We baked. Boys started putting roof on lean-to. Billie down for groceries. Arthur and Sadie called on way from Saskatoon. Cloudy and cooler. Tootsie had steer calf.

6th

Third day. Did very big wash. Harry took Henry’s boy[461] over river. A lot of water on it.[462] Bob and Walter and Harry putting roof on lean-to. Made ice cream. Walter for mail. Old Connie stuck in drift. Warm and cloudy.

7th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Warm, cloudless day. Bob and Walter putting roof on shed, Pa too. Harry got horses in, shut gates and mended fences. We dyed clothes. Folded and ironed some. Mother fell and hurt knee.

8th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob made last trip to Langham in cutter (not so good.) Walter cleaned and oiled harness. Susie and I walked over to ravine with children. Lovely warm day. Sixty degrees above – water running.

9th

Sixth day. Water running. Filled tank. Soft wind. Boys did chores. Cleaned up cellarway. Mended and oiled harness. Bob up to Wakes to kill pig. Got mail. Check from F. W.[463] I cleaned bedroom and stairs.

10th

Seventh day. Mother and I did cleaning and baked buns and bread, and made three pumpkin pies. Boys putting roof on lean-to. We started to train Fox [464]– quite a fight. Warm day.

11th

First day. Meeting at home. Fred Weston and Harold Edney down to dinner and supper. Susie and I to Group meeting at Wakes’ on Di and Bunny – stayed supper. I went on to Hynds’, stayed night. Nice warm day.

12th

Second day. Bob and Harry to Ceepee to catch train for Saskatoon to hear Anna Louise Strong[465] speak on Spain. I went and brought their horses back. Saw Effie and Ethel.

13th

Third day. Did big wash. Walter and Pa putting roof on granary and cleaning barns. Walter for boys to MacPhersons’ – stayed supper. Joshua down, had long talk.

14th

Fourth day. Harry and I gave Fox lesson – still fighting. Walter and I washed kitchen ceiling. Put clothes out. Very dull and cold and inclined to rain or snow.

15th

Fifth day. Sally came home with filly colt. Cloudy and rainy. Cleaned brooder house. Walter chored and hauled stones. Harry and Bob and Pa and Ma and I all to Monthly Meeting. Home late. Chix (chicks) at station.

16th

Sixth day. Harry to meet mailman – got chix. Walter went up to Twenty-six, and Harold. Bob and Harry cleaned oats. Gave Fox lesson – getting better. Ma cleaned her bedroom and the men did the same. Cloudy and windy.

17th

Seventh day. Walter harrowing. Bob and Harry cleaning wheat. Walter drilled a few early oats. J. and H. Tallis down. We cleaned through house. Nice day.

18th

First day. Mother had headache. Pa and Bob and Susie and Harry and I to Meeting, and J. Tallis called for Bob and Harry and I and took us to Saskatoon in his car. Daisie and Ed and Edith and I to Flora’s to supper. Slept with Daisie. Boys to Len’s. Cloudy.

19th

Second day. Edith and I went shopping. Saw A. Harry and Bob and Leane[466] up for lunch before starting home. They bought the car.[467] We drove home at night. Windy and cloudy.

20th

Third day. Walter disking, and drilling on Twenty-six. Harry took light team in afternoon disking. We baked and churned. Bob went over car, cleaning etc. Harry and Mother took cream and eggs. Lovely warm day.

21st

Fourth day. Bob and Harry and Pa and Ma and Susie went to Meeting at Meeting House. I did wash. Walter up on Twenty-six drilling. Harry disking on Thirty-six. Bob fixed yard gate post. Mother stayed up at Wakes’. Joshua brought her back. Cold and windy.

22nd

Fifth day. Rain and snow. Walter cleaned out barns. Harry helped and mended round barn. Tarred boat and took it to river. Bob worked on car – polished it.

23rd

Sixth day. Harry took Walter over river in boat to catch train for Winnipeg. Bob drilling wheat on Twenty-six. Fred Weston took light team disking. Cloudy and cool.

24th

Seventh day. Red and Linnet home with Fox – colts - two fillies. Put iodine on them. I left for Saloways’ on Flora at 4:30. Talked late to Peggy.

25th

First day. Peggy and I stayed home and got dinner. Rev. Littlewood[468] came. Stayed at Saloways until 8:30 and came home. Called in at Crabbs’, home late. Very windy.

26th

Second day. Harry disking. Bob drilling wheat below. Fred hauling rock. I went for bull at Mike’s. Saw Gay lost colt. Saw calves. Did wash. Windy but warm – seventy degrees above. Let chix out. Planted three peonies.

27th

Third day. Bob drilling. Fred disking. Harry packed wagon for Ranch and I drove Mike and Sally up. He rode Flora and caught Bunny. Started cleaning and kalsomining shack. Slept at Blanche Brunst’s. Windy.

28th

Fourth day. Harry made collar. Fixed oat bin and boxes and water barrel. I finished cleaning shack. Made good job. Fixed phone line. Harry and I both home at night. Walter came over river which is very low. Windy day.

29th

Fifth day. Dull and warm. Harry and Walter up to Ranch on Bunny and Tex. Went fencing. Fred disking. Bob harrowing. Pa and I made steps into garden. Harold Edney down for one load hay for Leslie Pope.

30th

Sixth day. Pa and Ma took cream and eggs to truck man – stayed for mail. Fred Weston left. Bob sowed oats on Thirty-six. Pa started shingling granary down below. Joshua down to see Bob. Warm day.

MAY 1937

1st

Seventh day. Very windy. Bob feeding down below – oats. Harry and Walter fencing up at Ranch. Pa shingling granary. We did cleaning. Bob and Mother to town to get Daisie. Boys home late.

2nd

First day. Six of us to Meeting in car. Went to see Helen and Effie in afternoon. Brought Fred back. Made bed in bunkhouse for boys. Lovely warm bright day.

3rd

Second day. Harry and Walter up to Ranch to collect all the cattle inside the fence. Harry on Bronk.[469] Bob and Daisie and Eric and I took forty of our cattle up and twenty of Wakes’. Daisie and I and Bob came back. I rode Tommy. Hot day.

4th

Third day. Bob and Susie took cream and for mail in car. Bees came. Bob and I put them out. I did large wash. Fred disked in morning and planted potatoes in afternoon – twelve rows. Daisie and I got cows and turned out some strays. Saw mares. Hot.

5th

Fourth day. Fred working on land. Planted potatoes. Bob took Father and Mother to Meeting in car. Daisie rode up to Ranch on Jappy. I took buggy up with Smoky and Tommy. Harry and Walter and Eric got cattle from over river. Called at McCheanes’ on way home.

6th

Fifth day. Bob up to Ranch with team in buggy. Very windy and cold. Fred and Pa planted rest of potatoes. I ironed. Saw mares.

7th

Sixth day. Bob plowed gardens. Fred took team in morning and finished seeding oats below. Cleaned bedrooms and made lily pool[470] by back door. Bob and Susie for mail and took Fred back to Duncan’s.

8th

Seventh day. Cleaned house and baked. Bob and Susie and Pa worked in east garden. Bob to Duncan’s to fix calves. Nice day, though cold.

9th

First day. Ma and Pa and Bob and Susie to Meeting. Harry and Daisie and Eric and Walter came home during morning, got baths. Overseers’ meeting,[471] stayed supper.

10th

Second day. Harry and Walter took colts up to Ranch. Eric took wagon. Daisie and I took seventeen cattle, eleven calves up , making fifty-seven animals, and four colts. Left the Bell heifer. Dinner up there. Home in rain. Nice and wet. Got mares in.

11th

Third day. Ma and I painted pantry shelves, whitewashed ceiling and painted cupboard. Kept mares in all day. Raining and windy. Bob took eggs and potatoes for Len to truck man.

12th

Fourth day. Bob helped Henry Badman with heifer, made us late for Meeting. Fred and Ma and I. Bob and Susie went up to Rempels in car. Got raspberries.[472] We went on painting and cleaning. Daisie home on Bunny. Feeling sick. Nice day.

13th

Fifth day. Daisie and I drove up to Ranch. Flora and Tommy. Eric home for dinner. Came home at four o’clock. Bob sharpened plowshares. Lovely day. Susie planted raspberries. Finished pantry.

14th

Sixth day. Bob took cream. Went to Hynds’ (two colts) and brought mail. Plowed irrigation garden. Susie gardening. I cleaned bedrooms and stairs and parlour. Showering.

15th

Seventh day. Cleaned and made cookies and nut-loaf. Daisie home on Jappy. Had bath. Boys home late on wagon. Nice day.

16th

First day. Daisie and Susie and I stayed home from Meeting. Buffet dinner for about thirty people. Flora and Louise and Ruth Murray. H. Ford[473] and Edith and Bob McGregor up. Had Quarterly Meeting. A lovely warm day. Eric to Saskatoon on Jappy.

17th

Second day. Put Fox up with mares on west Thirty-six. Daisie in bed all day. Bob disked lower garden and harrowed it. I did two weeks’ wash. Fred stayed and chored around. Cloudy and cool.

18th

Third day. Daisie still in bed. Bob took cream and stayed and helped Joshua mend Meeting house chimney. Away all day. Fred still here. Strong wind and dust storm. Harry and Walter got Radisson bunch. Eric back with Kitty.

19th

Fourth day. Eric and I took Belle cow and calf and three of Oscar’s yearlings up to Ranch. Lots of grief.[474] Two went home. Bob up in car. Daisie still in bed. Home by seven. Susie up to see Katie.[475] Nice day. Bob fixed Joshua Wake’s colt.

20th

Fifth day. Bob disked. Daisie still in bed. Mother and Pa planted five rows potatoes in irrigation garden. Abe took Lenore’s calf and pig ”Sara.” Took Kitty up to West Thirty-six and Fox. Nice day.

21st

Sixth day. Bob took cream and went on to Ranch. Brought mail back. We cleaned bedrooms. Put cows west. Nice warm day. Daisie in bed – severe pain in back. Bob painted car roof.

22nd

Seventh day. Bob disking on Twenty-six. Daisie up in hammock. Did cleaning. Fred drove me up to Ranch in car to get dinner for boys. Called at Popes’. Mother baked. Joshua down. Nice day but windy. Eric home on Jappy.

23rd

First day. Raining. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie up to Hepburn in car. Boys stayed up at Ranch.

24th

Second day. Bob and Susie home by noon. Ma and Pa planted potatoes in bottom garden. Fred to town. Pa and Ma and Bob and Mary down to see bridge opened.[476] Daisie and Eric and I up to Hynds’. I stayed. Boys to town at night. Lovely day.

25th

Third day. Nice day. Fred came for me in car. Eric and Harry and Walter up to Ranch. Percy Fullerton[477] here. We did large wash. Broke wringer. Bob and Susie planted asparagus and strawberry plants.

26th

Fourth day. Meeting at Meeting House, all went but Susie. I drove part way. Went to Women’s U. F. C. at Annie’s. Bob spoke on Spain. Bob to Borden at night with Joshua. Had a nice thundershower.

27th

Fifth day. Finished ironing and baked cookies, tarts and bread. Bob started breaking on flats. Joshua and Billie down in evening – had campfire.

28th

Sixth day. Bob went breaking on flats. Eric and Daisie and Fred and I poisoned gophers on Twenty-five and Thirty-six. Cleaned bedrooms. Sunny and nice in morning, rained in evening. Got mares in.

29th

Seventh day. Bob down breaking on flats. We cleaned the house, made chocolate cake and nut loaf. Eric painted all our windows.

30th

First day. Joshua started for Norwich. We had Meeting at home. Down to river in afternoon and lay on sand. Nice warm day. Put fish net in upriver.

31st

Second day. Daisie and I did wash. Lovely day. Harry and Walter took Fanny and Smoky and got Elliotts’ colts. Came back and Harry and Mother went to town in car for supplies. Walter chopped a little oats. Bob plowed on flats.

JUNE 1937

1st

Third day. Got Harry and Walter off to Ranch – took wagon. Daisie did ironing. Mending tent. Bob plowing. Eric drove Daisie and I up to Saloways’. Stayed supper. Joe Tallis down and brought his wife. Saw Lasca with colt.

2nd

Fourth day. Pa and Eric and Daisie to Meeting in car. Bob breaking on flats. Ponies came home. Fox pretty crazy. Big wind at night – blew top of little maple off. Got our first radishes.

3rd

Fifth day. Bob took Eric to Borden to catch train for Saskatoon.

4th

Sixth day. Bob and Daisie and Fred and I went to city in car. Daisie got a job at McMillans’. Saw Herdis. Went to see Sonja Heinie.[478] Did some shopping. Got home very late.

5th

Seventh day. Feeling rotten all day. Slept for two hours. Did very little cleaning. Mother’s in bed with bronchitis. Bob plowing on flats. He and Fred went up to school and hauled plaster[479] etc. home.

6th

First day. Father and Bob and Abe Rempel to Meeting. Mary and Laura and their mother down.[480] Bessie and Harold down. Went swimming. Warm but cool wind. Harry and Walter home. Harry sick.

7th

Second day. Walter took wagon up to Ranch. Harry and Bob and Fred up to dehorn[481] cattle for Duncan – home for dinner, and Bob and Harry up to Ranch to put in trough. Fred started on boys’ room. Cool. Mother and I feeling punk.

8th

Third day. Fred lathing[482] boys’ room. I did some washing. Put saddle soap on my saddle. Mother still sick, has bad cough. Cool. Bob home at night. Fred and I for cream can and to Hynds’.

9th

Fourth day. Bob and Fred and Susie to Meeting. Mother and I made cookies and I took some supplies up to boys on Floss. Stayed supper. Bob and Fred lathing and putting beams[483] in parlour. Cool and cloudy.

10th

Fifth day. Bob and Fred plastered boys’ room. Walter came home from Ranch. Went plowing down below – summer fallow. I did washing. Rained a good shower. Cool.

11th

Sixth day. Bob to town and took cream. Fred plastering. Walter helped in morning. Bob brought mail.

12th

Seventh day. We couldn’t clean much but did some cooking. Bob and Fred busy plastering. Sadie walked down.

13th

First day. Sadie and Fred and Bob and Harry and Susie and Mary and I to Meeting. Walter up to Halcyonia on Tex. Made ice cream. Bob took Ma and Pa and Susie and children up to Ranch.

14th

Second day. Very hot. Fred plastering. Harry helped him. Walter plowing. Bob helped Susie plant cabbages. Harry got fish net out. Got four fish. All went swimming at noon.

15th

Third day . Very hot. Walter plowing below. Bob and Fred plastering. I ironed. Bessie and Ruth came, and we went swimming in afternoon.

16th

Fourth day. Fred plastering in morning. Bob took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting. We baked. Very hot day. Walter and I gave Gay lesson. Walter plowed in morning. Took plow to Hynds’ and got cultivator. Fred and I swimming in afternoon. Bob and Susie and Walter and I in evening.

17th

Fifth day. Still hot but cloudy a little. Walter cultivated. Bob and Fred plastering – making swell job. We washed the floors and did some cooking. Auntie and Billie down in evening. Letters from Joshua. Found Nora’s calf.

18th

Sixth day. Walter summer-fallowing – cultivator. Bob to town in car. Plastered pantry. Gave Gay a lesson. Cooler.

19th

Seventh day. Worked all day and didn’t get very straight. Varnished beams and oiled parlour floor. Bob worked on Cottage. Walter finished summer-fallow. Harry home and to town at night.

20th

First day. Mother and Father up to McCheanes’ from Meeting. Bess and Ruth down. Harry brought Katie (Tallis?) down. Went bathing and boating. Mary McCheane brought Mother and Father back. Kenny and Harold down. Heard from Len.

21st

Second day. Hot and bright, very. All went bathing at noon. I did wash. Bob and Fred worked on cottage. Walter hauled gravel. Harry mended in barn, did fencing on slough and on Duncan’s and Len’s. Caught Lasca’s colt “Rainbow” - fought hard. Made ice cream.

22nd

Third day. Very hot and close. Harry and Walter and Pa working on ditch to irrigation garden. Bob and Fred on cottage. I made cookies and butter. Mother straightened upstairs. We cleaned my bedroom and changed bed around.

23rd

Fourth day. Cows late. W. Brown[484] came with six horses, stayed dinner. Bob and Fred on cottage. Harry phoned – fire up at Jimmie’s – all went in car and on horseback. Fire stopped before we arrived. Came home, mended tent. Terrific wind. Walter up to Ranch, took six horses.[485]

24th

Fifth day. Cloudy – rained at night. Windy and cool. Bob and Fred on cottage. Mother cleaned porch and upstairs. I did ironing and cleaned rack.

25th

Sixth day. Bob took cream and to town. Nice bright day – but windy. Bob and Fred worked on cottage. I went after bull, Dom, in Henry’s. Mother cleaning stairs and bedroom and parlour. Painted cupboard. Bob after little bull in Eastes.

26th

Seventh day. Cleaned whole house through. Looks nice. Bob and Fred finished stuccoing cottage. Went to town at night. Nice hot cloudy day.

27th

First day. No morning Meeting. Cyrus Cooper and William Stanley[486] and Joshua came. Had an afternoon Meeting. I kept children. Fred and Tommy L.[487] here. Made ice cream. Harry home at dinner – at night.

28th

Second day. Very hot. Harry and Bob to Ranch in car to fix dam. Tommy (L.) and I with buggy after dinner. Fred up to bring car back. Made good drive and put cattle in roundup pasture. Harold Edney came.

29th

Third day. Took a swing round middle pasture and brought cattle up to corral. Very hot. Did inoculating etc. Some owners turned up. Fred brought Mother and Susie up – lots of car grief. Took lunch north. Long day – twenty hours.

30th

Fourth day. Bob and Walter digging on dam. Harry up to fix new trough. Ben Saloway came for cow – couldn’t find her. I came home about 5:30. Terrible heat and wind.

JULY 1937

1st

Fifth day. Meeting and Monthly Meeting in morning. I home, and Susie. United Womens’ Meeting at Susie’s. Nice gang came, several went swimming. Forty for supper and a sitting afterwards. Harry and Bob and Edith and I up to Ranch in buggy, late.

2nd

Sixth day. Got cattle up from roundup. Put out cows and calves and Alf Elliott’s cows, etc. Joshua brought Friends up to watch. Bob and I took Elliotts’ cows to top spring, and Harry and Walter and Edith brought north stuff. Saw new trough.

3rd

Seventh day. Home from Ranch by dinnertime, Cyril Cooper and William Stanley here, and Joshua came. Had short swim. To Borden at night for meeting. Boys dug ditch and got irrigation running.

4th

First day. No morning meeting. Very hot and windy. Harry and Pa and Mother and I and Edith to Saskatoon in car to see Len, who has had an operation for gallstones. I stayed with Ruth and went to see Len in evening. To Meeting at Edith and Ed’s.

5th

Second day. Saw Friends off on train. Harry and I took Daisie to work. Went shopping with Mother and Edith. Mother and Father to see Len. Tea at Ruth’s. Home by milking time. A little shower.

6th

Third day. I did big two-weeks’ wash with Fred’s help. Walter cut alfalfa. Bob and Pa and Susie worked on bottom garden. Bob went to Saskatoon from Ceepee. Fred took him. Harry up to Ranch on Floss.

7th

Fourth day. Fred took Father and Mother to Meeting in car. Brought Sadie back. Walter to Picnic. I put up fifteen quarts rhubarb and made ice cream. Went swimming in afternoon. Bess and Herdis and Ruth and Kenny all down and for supper. Harry home, found Queen with foal.

8th

Fifth day. Took Sadie home – Dick and Floss. Stayed dinner. Herdis there. Harry and Walter digging ditch to irrigation garden. Pa took rack back to Wakes’. Walter and I swimming at night. Fred stuccoing basement.

9th

Sixth day. Finished ironing. Leslie Pope brought Harold down and they went swimming. We went after dinner. Boys fixing trough and sharpening. Walter took mower and rake up to Ranch. Harry and Harold took mares and colts and Kitty.

10th

Seventh day. Fred for Bob and on to town. Bob and Susie home by 4:00. Fred stayed in town. I met Herdis and went up to Wakes with her. Brought Jappy back. Very hot.

11th

First day. I stayed home from Meeting with children. Boys home. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer. Katie T. and J. Thiessen and Alfred[488] down for swim and supper. Took Harold over river.

12th

Second day. Walter took team and rack up to Ranch. Harry and Bob digging ditch and Harry up to Ranch in buggy in evening. Fred fixed fence and hauled water to each garden. I did the wash.

13th

Third day. Made thirty-eight bottles of pop. Got ready and went up to Brunsts’, where boys have camped. Used Jappy. Supper in house, boys home late. Hannah Mary Crabb and Bessie over. Boys got one load to Brunsts’. Bob and Fred digging ditch.

14th

Fourth day. Raining. Went to shack for dinner. Rode in north pasture all afternoon. Got Derksen’s heifer and M. Irwin’s[489] steer. Back to Brunsts at night. Harold Edney came.

15th

Fifth day. Still dull and rainy. Rode all day. Derksen took heifer and black heifer for Ben Thiessen. Home and to bed late at Brunsts’.

16th

Sixth day. Bob up on Floss. Cattle buyers came with Alf Elliott. Rounded up some beef. M. Irwin came – got steer but heifer got away. Home to shack late, stayed the night. Bob home.

17th

Seventh day. Boys went for hay to north pasture. I got their lunch and came home on Jappy. Dinner at Brunsts’. Boys brought load home and went to town at night.

18th

First day. All to Meeting but Susie. I went to Wakes to dinner. Billie and I to Sutherlands’ and on to Saunders’ for supper – home late. Bessie’s two girls[490] and Harold down.

19th

Second day. I did wash. Boys castrated Fox . Showery. Bob and Harry up to fix Ab Williams’ horse. Mother went and all stayed supper. Got a little pig from Saloways’. Walter up to Ranch.

20th

Third day. Walter cutting hay. Harry up in buggy – got Arnold Larson’s bull from McCheane’s and took him up to Ranch. Tommy Larson there, looking for him. Boys got big load to Wilfred Brunst. I up late on Floss.

21st

Fourth day. Boys up to north (pasture) haying. I went on Floss – got dinner, raked in afternoon. Had supper and loaded good load. Got water from Orchards’ pasture on way home. Cold and drizzly.

22nd

Fifth day. Wet. Went to shack. Got dinner – made cookies. Bob Brand[491] out in evening and we went over north pasture looking for A cattle,[492] 4th quarter. Harold and I home to Brunsts. Stormy.

23rd

Sixth day. Over to shack and up to north – hunting A’s and beef cattle. I to shack at 10:30 to help inspector with Thiessen cow. Got dinner and back to north. Down to roundup with forty-three head.

24th

Seventh day. Alf Elliott up. Got his sixteen yearlings started to town, and the others checked over. Gave Bronk lesson with war bridle [493] - good results. Bob up on Bunny. Abe Newbold up , and buyer. Took beef to Stella’s.[494] Walter home with load of hay.

25th

First day. I stayed home with children. W. Brown[495] and family came. Auntie Margaret and Joshua down, also Philip and Bessie down to swim. I rode over to

Hynds’ on Floss. Stayed all night. Met Linda.[496]

26th

Second day. Up late – had talk and breakfast. Home and down for swim – river high. Did wash in afternoon. Bob and Fred got two loads of hay. Walter and Harry graded dam in Stella’s pasture.

27th

Third day. Harry and Walter up at Ranch. W. Brown came for horses. Walter cut hay – three quarters load to shack.

28th

Fourth day. Harry and Walter made camp at Brunsts’. Got one big load. I went up there on Floss. They came back late. Bessie over to see us – cooked on open fire. I slept in tent, boys under rack.

29th

Fifth day. Rain. Walter topping stack.[497] Hauled one load to shack. Bob and Harry and I got beef[498] up from Stella’s. Spiller[499] took five cows and one steer, Fred went to Saskatoon with him (boo hoo!)

30th

Sixth day. Spiller back for another load. Harry and Walter and I got them in and helped load them. Brought tanks and canned stuff and some bacon for us. Second load in afternoon – two A’s and one EF.[500]

31st

Seventh day. Walter and Harry and I collected beef in north, put twenty head in Stella’s. I lost rope and spurs. Home late. Bob and Mother gone to Saskatoon in car.

AUGUST 1937

1st

First day. Bob and Mother came back in afternoon with Len and Ruth and Roger. Harold Edney came back with them.

2nd

Second day. Walter and Harry mended fence round heifer pasture. Len feeling very sick.

3rd

Third day. Wes and Harry fencing on Thirty-six and Badman’s. Rained. Sam Gray[501] and Charlie Orchard and Benjamin Saloway down. Took photos, showed us movie camera.

4th

Fourth day. Bob up to Ranch in car. Sissie and Eddie and family down. Went swimming in afternoon – had a nice time. Boys to Ranch meeting at Thistle Dale. Ruth and I to Hynds’, Sadie came home with us.

5th

Fifth day. Sadie and Walter and Harry and I up through Stella’s. Went round the south pasture, got about sixty head. Benjamin Saloway and Sam Gray and Peggy down, had impromptu stampede and picnic and took lots of pictures. Cleaned up south pasture at night.

6th

Sixth day. Big day. Owners and buyers here. Sold sixty calves and thirty animals. Rode all morning – got boys’ dinner. Bob home in evening. Rained gently all night.

7th

Seventh day. Harry and Walter and Bill Saunders[502] up to north pasture for Bill’s horses. Sadie and I down home for dinner. Len took Sadie home in car. Bob up to Ranch with buyers. Harold mowing on slough.

8th

First day. Ruth and Father and bob and I to Meeting. Walter and Harold to Langham, later up to Halcyonia with J. Tallis. Rained hard in afternoon – cloudburst.

9th

Second day. Bob to Borden on cattle business. Len and Ruth and Harry and Sadie and I started for Saskatoon after dinner. Six went to show in evening.

10th

Third day. Cleaned up and went shopping. Sadie to doctor. Harry bought suit; Edith a dress. Daisie got her half day. Sadie and I had supper with her and Eric.

11th

Fourth day. Packed car, did some shopping, called for suit, watch, etc. Sadie at Alma Lund’s room. Len and Ruth’s for lunch, on home. Hot day.

12th

Fifth day. Did large two weeks’ wash. Boys all haying on slough, worked late. Nice hot day. Churned.

13th

Sixth day. Harry up to Ranch to check out Alf Elliott’s cattle. Brought mail back. Other boys hauling hay to barn. All haying in afternoon. Joshua and Auntie down at night.

14th

Seventh day. Harry and Walter up to Ranch, Tommy and Bronc. Harold and Bob hauled one load hay and then went in car to Langham. I did ironing. We did churning and made cake. Boys home at night.

15th

First day. I stayed home from Meeting. Very windy day. All took it easy.

16th

Second day. Harry and Bob and Walter haying on slough. We baked bread and cookies. Mother sick. Harry and I feeling punk. And so to bed.

17th

Third day. Bob and Susie took cream. I did wash. Mother in bed – stomach flu. Sent ten pounds of cucumbers to Hynds’ – cut some up for pickle. Harry and Bob and Walter haying on slough – brought three loads up. Quite hot.

18th

Fourth day. Mother still sick. I did ironing, Harry up to Ranch on Bronc. Bob and Walter mowing and hauling hay – three loads. Bright but cool wind.

19th

Fifth day. Showery all day. Walter up to Ranch on Fox. Bob to Borden and McCheanes’, took Mary (McCheane) and were away all day. Brought back peaches, crabapples and apricots home.

20th

Sixth day. Bob up to take cream and see Duncan, and on to Ranch. We canned – two chickens and three beans. Bessie and Kenny and Marion Pope[503] down to swim. Susie and I with them. Boys home at night. Lovely warm day.

21st

Seventh day. Harry and Walter and I got ready and started for Battleford after dinner. Bob went to Borden in morning, two loads of hay in afternoon. I made cookies. Got to Walter’s home in time for supper. All went to show at night.

22nd

First day. Harry and I took a look over the town and back to Johnsons’[504] for dinner, from there to Eaton’s Ranch and visited them and stayed supper – home by moonlight. Lovely night. Saw Lizard Lake.

23rd

Second day. Nobody did much at all. Bob to Borden and Langham. Away all day. Mother and I put up eighteen quarts peaches. Felt rotten after late nights. Arranged for Eric to come and help. Harry and Walter and Eric and I up to Ranch at night.

24th

Third day. Up at 2 AM, breakfast and down to Stella’s pasture and rounded up cattle. Checked and double-checked them. Bob up in car. Trailed sixty-five head to Borden. Cool. Worked in stockyards. Very long ride home at night.

25th

Fourth day. Susie and Bob to Langham in car. Harry up to Ranch on Floss. Walter mowing up on Thirty-six. Stewarts over with ten head of horses.[505] Walter and I took them up to Ranch. Eric came along on Fox – went over backwards with him. Marjorie here.

26th

Fifth day. Eric and I home. Called in at McCheanes’ - had tea, home late for dinner. Marjorie and Frank here, Frank on bike. Marjorie put up eight quarts apricots. Hot day. Went swimming. Eric and Marjorie and Frank and I to Hynds’ at night.

27th

Sixth day. Eric and I over to Hynds on Floss and Fox. I rode Fox part way. Bob haying and Father took rack. Walter came back, got two loads hay. I did the wash and rode Fox at night.

28th

Seventh day. I did the ironing and cleaning. Marjorie cooked. Harry up at Ranch. Bob mowing. Frank and Walter hauled two loads prairie wool. I rode Fox for cows – went fine.

29th

First day. Walter’s folks over in car. Had nice visit. Harry and I for cows on Fox and Floss. Bob and Susie up to see Helen.[506]

30th

Second day. I did the wash. Bob mowed. Walter hauled two loads home and raked. Marjorie went with them. Harry up to Ranch in Bennet buggy.

31st

Third day. Got up and rode Fox for cows – pitched a little.[507] Could not find cows – felt sick and went back to bed. I stayed home from Meeting. Pa got cows, east. Boys still haying, got eight loads. Took Marge to bus. Walter and I rode for mail on Fox and Bunny.

SEPTEMBER 1937

1st

Fourth day. Bob mowed until noon – rained a little. Walter hauled two more loads. Bob sharpening knives,[508] etc. Harry home by noon. Went mowing in afternoon. Laurie Crabb and Bessie down on Smoky and Tess. I did most of ironing. Put up eight quarts of crabapples.

2nd

Fifth day. Rained most of night. Walter disked the breaking.[509] Harry and Bob fenced on slough. Queen seems to have strangles.[510] Harry fixed Bennet buggy, and we hitched Gay – went well.

3rd

Sixth day. Cutting on slough. Harry used Gay to go for plow to George Hynd’s. Walter disked in morning – haying in afternoon. Bob took cream in morning, did not come back.

4th

Seventh day. We did cleaning. Harry and Walter both haying. Bob still away. Father and Mother drove up for cream cans, mail and book case from Meeting House. Letter from Daisie. Bob phoned from Langham. Frank and Fred came.

5th

First day. Father, Mother and I to Meeting in buggy - Floss and Smoky. Ed and Edith came back for dinner. Edith and Fred and Walter and I for ride over to Hynds’. Fox threw me off. Had hot bath. Bob had accident with car on railway.

6th

Second day. Labour day. Misty. I felt stiff and sore. Sadie and Alma down for dinner. Boys all haying. Ed did picture. Left about six. Bob went with them and brought car back from Langham.

7th

Second day. I stayed in bed, Feeling sick and sore. Bob mowing, Walter hauling hay. Harry cutting and raking. Rained in afternoon. Bob took cream. Harry getting ready to go to Ranch.

8th

Fourth day. Mother and I washed and baked. Harry and Walter up to Ranch in Buggy. Took Fox. Bob worked on car – took Father to Meeting in afternoon. Got mail. Letter from Olive.

9th

Fifth day. Bob to town most of day. I did ironing. Eric and Buck and a buyer here for supper and night. Nice warm day.

10th

Sixth day. Cleaned bedroom and downstairs. Ironed for Susie while she sewed my dress. Bob turned over hay and cut. I went for mail, Harry and Walter back from Ranch.

11th

Seventh day. Boys all haying – four loads home. Bob and Walter to town at night. We did cleaning and baking – buns, loaf and cake.

12th

First day. To Meeting - on to Wakes’ to dinner. Mary McCheane and Harry and I to Saskatoon in Eddy’s car. Had Group meeting. Went for Daisie. Joshua took us. Slept on chesterfield with Mary. Harry back with Joshua.

13th

Second day. Walked with Daisie to work after quiet time in her room. Edith and I shopping. Came home in evening. Bill[511] brought me home. Bob McGregor came along.

14th

Third day. Did the wash and baked bread. Bob sick in bed – tonsillitis. Harry and Walter haying and fencing. Very windy. Went for mail in car after supper. S. Grey sent photos.

15th

Fourth day. Harry took us to Meeting. Walter got load of hay. Bob still in bed. I did ironing. Put up seventeen quarts plums. Slight frost at night.

16th

Fifth day. I rode on Floss up to Ranch over north pasture. Got bull out. Saw Bill Saunders. Bob still sick. Harry and Walter hay-making. Sick cow on Thirty-six.

17th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie to Saskatoon in car. Left children with us. I took cows up to Thirty-six[512] and on for mail, and on to Wakes’. Mother and Father got cows in. Put up seven quarts. Harry up to Ranch in car. Walter up to Halcyonia on Tommy.

18th

Seventh day. Harry and Walter haying. Put up thistle with syrup.[513] We cleaned and made buns. Nice hot day.

19th

First day. To Meeting in buggy, Father and Mother and Harry. Ed and Edith with Eric came in time for dinner. Went boating. Eric back, took Buck’s car. Bob and Susie back. Abe and Lizzie over.

20th

Second day. Did the washing. Harry and Walter haying. Bob took it easy. Quite hot and smoky. Bob and Harry to pasture meeting at night at Leslie Pope’s.

21st

Third day. Raining and cold. Put Queen and colt in. Harry and Walter mending saddles. Bob took cream. Boys over river to meet Eric, who did not come. Did some ironing. Made two fruit cakes.

22nd

Fourth day. Harry and Walter fencing along slough. Mother and Father and Bob to Meeting. Harry and Bob to meeting in Borden. I finished ironing. Packed things for pasture. Walter got Eric from over river.

23rd

Fifth day. Cold and raining. Packed wagon and I drove it to Ranch. Walter took saddle stock. Harry and Eric cleaned out Stella’s pasture and breeding pasture. Bill Saunders and Ralph Buswell[514] came and helped. Put members’ stock back.

24th

Sixth day. Cleaned all the cattle out of north pasture. Six riders – made good job. Bessie came on Twilight. Met us in north pasture.

25th

Seventh day. Great Deer got their cattle – hundred eighty head. Cut out members’ cattle – seventy south, cut seventy-two Langham cattle. Long Lake cattle light in roundup. Walter walked to Tallises.

26th

First day. I did some baking and cleaning. Harry and Eric looked at cattle in roundup. Eric rode Spee. Looked over Orchards’. Over to Brunsts’. Walter back at night.

27th

Second day. Bob up in car, tested cattle. Eric and Walter took Long Lake cattle. I went with them into north pasture. Cold north wind. I found Lasca and colt sick. Alf Elliott took cattle. Inspector stayed dinner.

28th

Third day. Rounded up horses out of north pasture – two hundred head. What a ride! Quite a lot of help. Most of them taken out that day. Put the rest in Stella’s pasture.

29th

Fourth day. Cut horses, Blaine Lake to north pasture, Stewart’s to middle pasture, Langham horses south to Stella’s pasture.

30th

Fifth day. Four rode round the north pasture, got two strays. Cox and L.[515] and six colts. Fred and Sam Thiessen came in evening.

OCTOBER 1937

1^st

Sixth day. Got Langham stock from Stella’s pasture. Cold and very windy and wet. Fred and Sam helped. We all helped them as far as ferry. Bob up to Ranch, retested Langham cattle.

2^nd

Seventh day. Cleared out roundup pasture. Put mares into Stella’s pasture. I got bad headache and went back to shack and slept. Mike Strawn (?) and Roman S.[516] came for cattle and colts. Slightly warmer. Packed up and all came home.

3^rd

First day. Mother stayed home. Sadie came home with us. Harry and I took her home. Rainy and cold. Father’s 78^th birthday.

4^th

Second day. I sick headache. Eric up to Ranch on Floss. Harry and Bob doing pasture books. Harry took Mother up to Wakes’ – got calf and took to Saunders’ , home after supper. Walter cleaned barn and hauled load of clay.[517]

5^th

Third day. Bob took cream, got mail. Carl Christensen brought Lucie down. George and his mother down in democrat. I started to wash. Harry up to Ranch with team. Walter mixed plaster and did one side of barn.

6^th

Fourth day. I went for horses on Twenty-six. Walter plastered barn and hauled alfalfa. I finished wash and cleaned porch. Meeting at home. Harry and Eric took some of Blaine Lake horses. Sun shone part of day.

7^th

Fifth day. Walter and I cleaned and plastered on side of chicken loft. Put up heater in parlour. [518] Bob to town in car – home late. George and Lucie up to Ranch.

8^th

Sixth day. Walter cutting and turning hay. He and Pa put floor in ice house. I washed it. Bessie down for Harold’s saddle. Nice bright day.

9^th

Seventh day. Lucie came and George came later. Walter getting up hay. We cleaned and made buns and cake. Had campfire at night – about thirty people. Ed and Edith and Daisie came late.

10^th

First day. George and Lucie left - took pups. Peggy and I stayed home and cooked dinner. Daisie in bed. Pretty cold and cloudy.

11^th

Second day. Thanksgiving. Daisie up. Put my sweaters together. Edith blocked it. Edith and Ed took Peggy home and called on Hannah Mary. Back for early supper. Bob with them to Saskatoon.

12^th

Third day. Harry took cream – too late. Car wheel came off. Harry to Borden for oats. Fifty bushels, 49 cents. Got drum of gas, took cream. Home late. Walter sorting seeds. We put straw in loft and took twenty-two pullets in.[519] I made grape jam.

13^th

Fourth day. Mother in bed with cold. I went on Floss up to Wakes’ and on with Billie to Raynors’ for UFC meeting. Bob talked on State Medicine. [520] Felt rotten. Got cold.

14^th

Fifth day. Felt rotten. Did very little. Mother put up three quarts tomatoes. Father and Walter got turnips up and in.

15^th

Sixth day. Harry mended buggy tires, fixed car, and brought it home. Pa took cream in wagon and got mail, two Eaton’s parcels. Boys to Halcyonia at night. Bob phoned.

16^th

Seventh day. Much warmer. Harry and Walter piled rock on beach all day, took dinner. We cleaned and baked. Found first pullet egg. Pa got in the parsnips – very good crop.

17^th

First day. Raining hard all day. Meeting at home. Father in bed with cold. Susie and children over for supper.

18^th

Second day. Harry and Walter to Ranch for Stewart’s horses and bring cattle back. Floss and Smoky. I continued wash. Walked for cows. Missed them – fell in barbed wire gate and tore stockings.

19^th

Third day. A. Stewart came for his horses. Boys put cattle west and horses. Clip-branded horses. Harry started digging out for garage. Walter and Pa digging rock. Nice mild day. For mail in car. My coat came.

20^th

Fourth day. Harry up looking for strays with car. Walter up for last of our cattle – got six. I finished wash and did some ironing. Canada Lye man here and Mike Waychuk.[521]

21^st

Fifth day. Nice day. Walter and Harry on dugout for garage. Harry took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting and on to Borden to meet Bob, who didn’t come. Got mail and groceries from Weatherby’s.[522]

22^nd

Sixth day Nice warm day. Walter and Harry grading.[523] Harry and Mother to Radisson to change checks and shop and say Lydia Crabb. I helped on grade some. Walter heard his father very ill. Bob came home.

23^rd

Seventh day. Lovely warm day. Bob took Walter to meet bus at Borden. His sister on same bus for Winnipeg. Harry and Pa on grade. Went to surprise party at Baxter’s at night. Home with Sadie.

24^th

First day. Up late. Father and Mother and Harry down to lunch and dinner . To Agnes and George Hynd’s to C. McDermid’s [524] funeral. Susie and I went in with Wakes. Saw Peggy. Nice warm day. Bob in bed with cold.

25^th

Second day. I did wash. Harry out all day on Tommy, looking for W. Brown’s horses. Eric phoned from Hynds’. Bob got engine going again. Nice day but windy.

26^th

Third day. Bob took cream and brought Eric back. I went on Tommy for mail and got Brown’s horses out of Sutherlands’ pasture. Dinner at Hynds’. Mother and Bob up to see Blanche Brunst.

27^th

Fourth day. Eric and Harry went to pile rocks on beach all day. I helped Susie wash and did ironing. Abe and Mary and Laura and their mother down to see Susie. Nice warm day.

28^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob and Eric up to Clarks’ [525] for tractor wheel. Didn’t get it. Harry and Bob to Williams’ to cut two colts. Eric made fence across road allowance on Thirty-five! [526]

29^th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie and Pa took the furniture to truck man.[527] Bob went along. Harry and Eric and I took cattle to town – ten head. Hazel, Connie and bulls, and two steers and Yvonne and calf. Very cold and windy. Miserable trip.

30^th

Seventh day. Did cleaning. Harry and Eric to McPhersons’ for bull – had dinner at Hynds’. Harry up to Ranch meeting at Popes’. I went and helped Eric home with bull. Bob and Susie and I to Popes’ for supper. Harry and Eric to Hynds’ Group meeting.

31^st

First day. All to Meeting but Susie and I. Very busy, Walter Brown over. Bob and Susie packed up and I went with them to Saskatoon in car. Slept with Daisie. Snowing and cold.

NOVEMBER 1937

1^st

Second day. Bob to University. Len came up and took us downtown and got car windows fixed. Bob home at noon. Len took Susie and Edith and I to show at Ritz.[528] Lloyds of London.[529] Edith Burbage up all evening. Still overcast.

2^nd

Third day. Len had car radiator mended, then called for me. Had lunch and came home. Called for Jim Scott in Langham. Harry and Eric away at Ranch. Lovely day.

3^rd

Fourth day. Harry and Eric still away. Jim cleaned out ditch and piled rock. Len took us to Meeting. Len and Mother to town – home pretty late for supper. Nice mild day. Got materials for doing back of pantry.

4^th

Fifth day. I did the wash. Not feeling very good. Len fixing engine of lighting plant. Harry came at noon and both worked on it – got it going about 10:30 PM. I cleaned beans. [530] I to bed early.

5^th

Sixth day. I stayed in bed all day, with chest cold. Mother cleaned out back of pantry. Len boxed in stairs. [531] Harry and Jim went piling rocks on beach. Lovely mild day. Eric home at night.

6^th

Seventh day. Len busy on pantry. Eric and Jim fixing fence round stack down below. Harry went after cattle. He and Eric to town about four – took Joshua Wake and Sadie and Billie in to Group meeting. Lovely weather. My chest still bad.

7^th

First day. I stayed home from Meeting – felt pretty rotten and weak. Eric to Hynds’ last night – home in afternoon. Len and Harry over there in afternoon – home for supper. Lovely bright day.

8^th

Second day. Eric got bull home. Went to town with rack – Mike and Jerry – to haul straw for George Hynd. Jim worked on engine and chopped oats. Got five eggs. Harry and Len worked on pantry. I did ironing for last week.

9^th

Third day. I was sick in bed most of day. Abe took heifer Jessica. Harry and Jim killed beef “Marina” - too bad! Mother and Father up to shack – got load of stuff. Took oats up to Eric. Eric up on Tex.

10^th

Fourth day. Cloudy and cold. I in bed with headache most of day. Folks to Monthly Meeting. Len to town. Jim raked rushes.[532] Harry helped Len on cellarway.

11^th

Fifth day. I in bed till suppertime. Harry and Len working on cellarway and cut up beef. Jim cleaning barn. Len and Harry to Saskatoon after supper. Inclined to snow but now very cold. Coral brought calf home.[533]

12^th

Sixth day. Still overcast but fairly mild. Jim got bull home – third day – and mail and put storm windows on. [534] Mother cleaned pantry. I was able to do more today. Eric home at night.

13^th

Seventh day. Eric back to Ranch. Wakes took his papers re: relief wages.[535] Jim cleaned barn. We got the house straight. I went milking, first time for ten days. Father not feeling very good. Pretty mild. Ten eggs.

14^th

First day. Father not well. Meeting at home. Cold and windy. Gave colt oil. Harry and Len back in time for supper. Eric town too.

15^th

Second day. I did some of a big wash. Len worked on cellarway. Jim put glass in chicken house windows and made gate in barn. Harry and Eric took our horses up to Ranch. Cold and overcast.

16^th

Third day. Finished big wash. Hung most of clothes out. Not so cold, snowed a little. Harry and Jim dug out water trough and put to dry in shop. Len made door for cellarway. Father and Mother and I all making rugs. Twelve eggs. Jim got mail.

17^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Brighter today and mild. Harry and Jim took old shelter to pieces. Len got door put on. Mother cleaned her bedroom. I did some ironing.

18^th

Fifth day. Cleaned whole house through. Had Alf Baxter and wife and Sadie and Linda down for supper and evening. Harry and Jim worked on shelter. Cold but bright. Len put some finishing on parlour. Harry took them all home in car.

19^th

Sixth day. Sold six dozen eggs for thirty cents, Weatherbys. Harry took Len to bus and me to Baxters’ corner and I walked up to Saloways’. Cold. Radiator leaking. George Orchard took us all to pie social[536] in evening – farewell to Edie Walker. Had nice time. Chest sore.

20^th

Seventh day. Chest still bad. Had quiet day. Helped Peggy a little. Not so cold out – very windy. Eric got Larsons’ colts. Van Volzer came with lumber - $26.00 for 1100 feet. Stayed overnight.

21^st

First day. Peggy and Emory[537] and I stayed home from the service and got dinner on account of my chest. Clive Pope over for afternoon and evening. Sang hymns. Jim over river first time. Eric home for mail.

22^nd

Second day. Quiet day, Did some knitting. Played crokinole with Emory. Cloudy and zero. Harry and Jim worked on cattle shelter. Eric shod Tex. [538] Killed Princess Pat’s , …

23^rd

Third day. Warmer. 25 degrees above. Another quiet restful day. Talked lots to Peggy. Harry and Jim still working on shelter and shot Queen, who couldn’t get up.

24^th

Fourth day. Stayed in house in the morning. Peggy and I walked over to Lila Pope’s for supper. Miss McManus[539] there. Had nice evening. Nice mild night.

25^th

Fifth day. Ben and Peggy Saloway’s birthday. Had A. and D. Williams over for supper and played games. Snowing a little at night.

26^th

Sixth day. My birthday and what a headache. Took Aspirin and stayed in bed until about 4 o’clock. Blizzard blowing all night and day. About fourteen inches of snow fell.

27^th

Seventh day. Emory brought me home on sleigh. Got here for dinner. Letters from Olive, Edith, Maria. Silk hankie for my birthday – Susie. About ten degrees below at noon.

28^th

First day. Forty-eight degrees below but bright and sunny. Boys put up heater in cellar. Meeting at home. Quiet day. Wrote to Daisie.

29^th

Second day. Cleaned up bedrooms. Jim and Harry fixed up chicken house window and tarred trough and cleaned barns. Harry went to look for Silverbell – no luck. Stayed at Wakes’ for supper and evening. All rug-making.

30^th

Third day. Did the wash. Jim to Langham, took two cream cans and six and a half dozen eggs – thirty cents. Harry took battery out of car. A and B. Stewart over with two horses for Ranch. Harry took them up with Smoky. Played crokinole. A. Stewart stayed overnight.

DECEMBER 1937

1^st

Fourth day. Lovely mild bright day. A. Stewart helped Jim with chores and put trough in. Harry and Eric put horses into north pasture – not home at night. I finished rug, and made two fruit cakes.

2^nd

Fifth day. Mild and cloudy. A. Stewart and Jim did chores and got load of wood. I did ironing. Harry home at night, only one Stewart horse. Eric down to Hynds’ and to Wakes’ overnight. Silver Bell home – left calf out.

3^rd

Sixth day. Harry for mail on Smoky. Jim and Harry cleaned chickens out, and barn. A. Stewart, left riding pony. Small parcel from A. M. Sykes,[540] letters from Hannah and Edmund Blake, Bob and E. Williams.[541] Colder and a little snow.

4^th

Seventh day. Thirty-two degrees below – bright and sunny. Boys hauling rushes for bedding. [542] Harry did some fixing in chicken loft. I was out – found Silver Bell’s calf. Made raisin loaves. Eric down and on to Langham and Saskatoon.

5^th

First day. Meeting at home. Jim over home. Harry and I up to Wakes’ for supper and evening in cutter – Mike and Jerry. Rained a little. Broke cutter on rock.

6^th

Second day. Mild but very windy. Colder at night. I did wash. Boys cleaned place for garage. Did mending in afternoon. Silver Bell seems to have lost calf. Wrote to Martha Chamness. Eric back at night.

7^th

Third day. Cold. Twenty-six degrees below. Eric cut Harry’s and Pa’s and my hair before leaving for Ranch. Boys working around. Jim cut wood. Got most of the white faces[543] up to the hill. We did some feeding.

8^th

Fourth day. Cold, twenty-eight degrees below, thirty-eight degrees at night. Josephine calved. Killed heifer and cut up meat into quarters. Meeting at home. I did ironing and we started quilt for Mother – very nice. Harry headache at night. Started fingercraft cushion.[544] Henry Badman down.

9^th

Fifth day. Very cold. Boys put in trough below corral, the usual one frozen solid. We did some sewing. Did another quilt. Heard horses were out in Ranch.

10^th

Sixth day. Ten degrees below and strong wind. Harry and Jim to Langham, took meat. Sent for horse blankets. Mother sick in bed. Wrote to Martha and Susie. Meat weighed 65, 65 and 54 pounds, for Bob and Edith and Len and Daisie.

11^th

Seventh day. Nice day and mild – twenty degrees above. Jim went for mail – letters from Edith Burbage and Auntie Annie.[545] Harold Cruise started building garage – got on good.

12^th

First day. Meeting at home. Very mild – twelve degrees above. Over east, boys went on skis and set traps.[546] Wrote to Ruth.

13^th

Second day. Ten degrees above and bright. Boys did chores and worked on garage. Got three walls up. Carl Larson came for his two yearlings, stayed dinner. I did the wash. Ab Williams phoned to say they are taking rock tomorrow.[547]

14^th

Third day. Bessie came at night. Five degrees above and bright. Harry and Jim got Dick and Major in and took two loads of rock to bridge, the only ones from this side. Mother and I made two batches of cookies, I went to see traps on skis.

15^th

Fourth day. Boys got an early start for rocks and put in two loads each. We had Meeting at home. I did ironing and went to see traps. Boys home by five. Lovely warm day – twenty-five degrees above. Finished fingercraft cushion top.

16^th

Fifth day. Boys away before daylight, put in four loads each. Billie brought Auntie down, stayed supper. Mother washed all the cushion covers and curtains and cleaned her bedroom. Lovely mild day – twelve degrees above.

17^th

Sixth day. Boys away early, one load each. Finished rock hauling for this time. Piled rocks on beach. Brought $120.00 for the equivalent of one week’s work. I cleaned my bedroom and stairs. Saw traps. Mother worked on cushions all day. Twenty degrees above. Churned.

18^th

Seventh day. Mild. Zero and snowing lightly all day. Boys cleaned out barns and fixed river trail and hauled bedding. We did cleaning and baked. Baby calves got away all night.

19^th

First day. Meeting at home. Jim for mail on Dick. Wrote letters and read mail, I. C.[548] wrote. Lovely day.

20^th

Second day. Harry and Pa went on with garage. Jim hauled bedding from slough and one load of straw from Thirty-five. Eric down with ponies and Stewart’s horse. Ours pretty thin. Snow melting. Heard there is straw in Langham.

21^st

Third day. Boys away early for straw, Henry Badman too. Back late, took some to Scott’s. Cold wind though mild. I felt rotten all day and lay around. Eric back to Ranch. Boys took Stewart horse to Langham.

22^nd

Fourth day. I sick in bed all day, sick in stomach. Boys fixing racks, both broken yesterday. Ten degrees below and a wind.

23^rd

Fifth day. I up late. Joshua down with eggs. Boys fixed racks and went to Langham for two loads of straw. Got back in good time. Thirty degrees below in morning, zero at noon.

24^th

Sixth day. Forty degrees below. Never above twenty-five below. Boys fixed up[549] and did chores. Harry took Jim home for holidays, got 25 bushels oats. Eric came down, brought mail. Walked over to Langham and over to Saskatoon on bus. I did some ironing and sent cake to Daisie, and parcel to children.[550]

25^th

Seventh day. Christmas. Had a quiet day. Cleaned through house. Harry did chores. Very cold. Now above thirty degrees below all day. Couldn’t go over to Hynds’ as planned.

26^th

First day. Meeting at home. Cold, milder toward night and very windy and snowing. Jim home early. Wrote to Edith. Horses stayed out all night.

27^th

Second day. Twenty degrees below and strong west wind. Better at night. Bob phoned – coming tomorrow morning, Eric too. I washed kitchen ceiling. Mother made cookies. Harry and Jim fixed water holes. Horses came home.

28^th

Third day. Harry went to meet Bob and Susie and children and Eric at Langham. Very cold and windy. Twenty-seven degrees below – milder by night. Eric back to Ranch. Twenty-three eggs.

29^th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim got car into garage. We helped push it. Got a load of wood. I got Flora – down and in. I made doily holder for Sadie. Twenty degrees below and nice day.

30^th

Fifth day. Nice bright day, windy at night. Bessie and Ruth and Betty[551] and Ken and John McCheane down to supper and played games after. Boys started to dig well in barn.[552] Flora had big calf.

31^st

Sixth day. Twenty-five degrees below and sunny. Took children out for walk. Harry and Jim cleaned horse barn and cleared dirt[553] from cow barn and fixed water. I did some spinning.[554]

January 1938

1^st

Seventh day. Happy New Year! Lovely day, mild and bright. Boys finished garage roof. Bob worked on door on stairs. Had Joshua and Billie Wake and Bob McGregor and Sadie and Pullie[555] down for supper. Eric brought Browns’ horses down.

2^nd

First day. Harry home with Wakes. Down to Hynds in afternoon. Jim and I over for him at night. Mild but windy. Long trip and slow. Bob and Susie packed ready to go. Meeting at home.

3^rd

Second day. Harry took Bob and family to train. Jim did chores and dug well. We cleaned up house, some. Edith Scott over on skis. I went over river with her. Lovely day. Harry got a barrel of gas.

4^th

Third day. Boys dug and cribbed well. Not got good supply yet. Muddy blue clay. I did big two weeks’ wash. We baked and churned too. Mother not feeling very good. Nice mild day. Twenty degrees above.

5^th

Fourth day. Boys digging and cribbing well in barn. Got water twelve feet. Mother and Father and I d rove to Wakes’ for Monthly Meeting. Had cold drive, got mail. Jim’s notices from Government came.[556] Mild day but cold wind.

6^th

Fifth day. Tried to catch up with the work. Boys finished the well. Nice mild day.

7^th

Sixth day. Cleaned bedrooms and to bottom of stairs and boys’ room. Harry and Jim got an early start for Brunsts’ – got two loads of straw.

8^th

Seventh day. We did cleaning. Boys killed pig – made a good job. Harry to Langham to meet Daisie at train. Eric down late. Mild day.

9^th

First day. Henry and L. Badman down for Meeting and dinner. Thirty degrees above and raining. Billie and Joshua down to see Daisie. Jim home. I felt sick all day – severe pain at night.

10^th

Second day. Twenty degrees above and snowing a little. (Blizzard at night.) I felt punk and took it easy. Put Harry’s sweater together. Eric and Harry put Ranch all straight. Cut up pork. Jim put up fence in front of house.

11^th

Third day. Harry to Langham for oats, got forty bushels chopped. Daisie got phone call and did not have to go. Eric back to Ranch early. Jim got load of straw from Thirty-five and one load bedding from slough. We canned seven quarts pork, two quarts apple and made sausage. Ten degrees above.

12^th

Fourth day. Zero and still. Meeting at home. Jim hauled rushes for bedding. Got boat and put up in loft. Harry mended cream can and tank.[557] I took Daisie to meet Billie who took her to Larsons’ and Saunders’.

13^th

Fifth day. Did the wash. Heard that Peggy can come tomorrow. Jim and Harry hauled two loads of bedding. Harry mended other tank. Nice mild day, fifteen degrees above. Got Cynthia[558] in. Billie brought Daisie back.

14^th

Sixth day. Cleaned house through. Peggy came during dinner, brought mail. Played Flinch in evening. Nice day, twenty degrees above. Letter from Winnie – baby’s name “Laurence Milton.”[559]

15^th

Seventh day. Daisie and Peggy stayed in bed till noon. We straightened house. Nice mild day. Harry and Jim mended cutter. Billie brought baby Marilyn Parks down for us to look after.[560]

16^th

First day. Eric took Daisie to train. Meeting at home. Eric left in afternoon – took six and a half pounds of butter for Blanche Brunst. Snowing. Had quiet day. Peggy and I rested.

17^th

Second day. Stewarts came for their horses, stayed dinner. Emory came for Peggy. Billie brought Peggy Parks down to stay a while. Boys working on sleigh runner. Colder, twenty degrees below.

18^th

Third day. Did the washing. Nice day, milder. Boys working on sleigh runner. Got it done. Peggy not so good in evening, had convulsion.[561]

19^th

Fourth day. Rinsed wash and put out a few. Too much hoar frost. Mild and cloudy. Jim cleaning out barns and choring. Harry up to Ranch early. Peggy in bed most of day.

20^th

Fifth day. Peggy in bed till noon. I helped Jim milk. Harry still away. Did some ironing. Jim cleaned barns out. Nice mild day. Cynthia had heifer calf.

21^st

Sixth day. Jim went for mail on Mike. Letters from Aunty Mary, Hannah Blake Hatcher, Daisie, Len, Bob. Hannah Mary and Laurie and Ken down for dinner. Had nice visit. Peggy fell downstairs in fit. Jim cut wood. Lovely day. Twent degrees above. Harry home late.

22^nd

Seventh day. Poor night with baby and Peggy. Billie came, took Peggy to hospital. Boys to Langham for straw. Amand came for chopper. Henry Badman to Langham – got our Eaton’s order. Mild day, twenty degrees above and sunny. Eric home late.

23^rd

First day. Mild and bright, fifteen degrees above. Meeting at home late. Mother and I not feeling very good. Baby Marilyn fine. Eric wrote in my autograph.[562] He saw mares and foals – pretty good. Di missing.

24^th

Second day. Harry and Jim to Langham for straw - second car to unload.[563]

Billie Meakin came to help, brought Sadie, hauled all straw home. Big day. Mother in bed most of day, Sadie helped me. Colder. Minus thirty degrees. Susie and Bob home at night.

25^th

Third day. Boys cleaned out chicken house and barns. Harry did some electrical fixing and worked in workshop. We did the wash. Milder. Weighed baby – gained two pounds in ten days.

26^th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim hauled one load logs from island.[564] Mother and I cleaned kitchen and porch. Finished off wash and hung clothes out. Nice mild day.

27^th

Fifth day. Harry and Jim hauled two loads of logs from island. We cleaned bedrooms and dried clothes. Nice bright and mild day, twenty degrees above.

28^th

Sixth day. Mother not well. Up late. Harry and Jim hauled one big load logs. Pa went for mail in cutter. Colder. Thirty degrees below in morning. Eaton’s order came. Lily in bud.

29^th

Seventh day. Fifty-two degrees below zero. Harry and Jim to Langham for two loads straw from Scott’s. Twenty-five degrees below at noon. I did ironing. Mother cleaned parlour. Mother not feeling very well yet.

30^th

First day. Forty degrees below. Meeting at home. Quiet day. Wrote to Hannah Hatcher.

31^st

Second day. Decidedly cold. Jim cleaned barns. Harry made cant hook[565] and a bunch of clevises.[566] Peggy Saloway phoned from Saunders’.

February 1938

1^st

Third day. Twenty degrees below, a wind and snow. Boys to island for two loads logs. Billie came and took Marilyn. I gave him check for stove - $30.00.

2^nd

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Pa and Mother and I. boys hauled two more loads of logs from island.

3^rd

Fifth day. Mother and I both feeling punk. Mother in bed most of day. Harry and Jim for two big loads of logs. Ten loads. Twenty-nine below at noon, but cloudy. Knitting and mending. I washed towels and cleaned my bedroom at last.

4^th

Sixth day. Boys choring round. About ten degrees below and bright. Harry for mail in afternoon on Dick, to Wakes and home late. George Hynd called on way to Langham to meet Eric, Mother and I sewing, mending and spinning. Baked and cleaned boys’ bedroom. Made cake.

5^th

Seventh day. Cold and cloudy. Some light snow. Boys chored and cleaned out ice well. Harry and Jim to Langham in evening, home late.

6^th

First day. Meeting at home. Wrote to Mrs. Raynor. To bed early. Clear bright day, about twenty below. Snowed in evening.

7^th

Second day. Harry and Jim hauled three loads of ice from river. Billy Meakin to Saskatoon for operation (rupture.) I did big two weeks’ wash. Cold west wind – minus twenty-five degrees below – mean day. Cows looking pretty thin.

8^th

Third day. Boys packed ice and hauled one more load – made good job. Minus fifty degrees in morning, minus twenty-three degrees at night and snowing a little. I did ironing. Mother and Father making mats. I knitted extension for my sweater, and spun a ball of wool.

9^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Jim cleaned barns and chickens out. Harry went for mail and brought horses back. Put colts in. Fox and Bunny not so good. Put mares east. Colts pretty thin. Dyed some goods for rugs. Bob phoned from Saskatoon.

10^th

Fifth day. Fairly mild day, snowing and blowing. Put mares on west Thirty-six. Jim and Harry around yard fixing and mending things. Harry puttied windows[567] porch and kitchen. I unraveled my yellow sweater. Father and Mother making rugs.

11^th

Sixth day. Harry got mail and brought Jill home. Sally not too bad. Gypsy very thin. We cleaned bedrooms and made wheat-loaf. Jim hauled hay and bedding. West wind but fairly mild and bright.

12^th

Seventh day. Harry to Saskatoon. Jim took him to Langham. Twenty degrees below and snowing and blowing all day. We sent two baby jackets to Winnie and my tan sweater for Olive. The lily is blooming.

13^th

First day. Minus twenty degrees in morning and still blowing. Up to ten degrees below at noon and quiet at night. Meeting at home. Wrote to Olive and Peggy.

14^th

Second day. Forty degrees below, clear and bright, lovely moonlight. Horses all came in. Put Fox in again. I did wash. Jim cleaned barn and chored. Went to Langham to get Harry. Henry Badman down, brought twenty-five pounds fish.

15^th

Third day. Decidedly cold, fifty degrees below in morning. Harry in most of day, writing, phoning, etc. Jim did chores. Harry took all the horses on to west Thirty-six, Fox too. Peggy to Saskatoon. Daisie phoned re: baby.[568]

16^th

Fourth day. Not so cold, up to ten degrees at noon. Radio on blink. Ash Cook phoned to say straw is in Langham. Pa mended mitts. Boys chored, sharpened axes. Colts out on slough.

17^th

Fifth day. Harry and Jim got an early start to Langham. Brought two loads of straw home – four ton. Heavy going. Thirty degrees below but nice and bright. We chored and did some mending.

18^th

Sixth day. Boys to Langham. Henry Badman got half ton. Unloaded car at Scotts. I felt sick most of day. Knitted and mended and cleaned bedrooms and down stairs. Milder – up to zero. Windy at night. Pa resting well.

19^th

Seventh day. Mild and bright – about minus ten degrees. Harry took colts, Buck etc., up onto west Thirty-six and on for mail. My book ends came, substituted, too bad. Jim cleaned out barns and shelter.

20^th

First day. Meeting at home. Lovely bright day – zero at noon. The Simpsons[569] called in on their way to Badmans’. Mares came home and were fed.

21^st

Second day. Mild, ten degrees above. Cloudy and snow flurries. Harry took big team and went to Borden. Stayed overnight at Saunders’. Got relief oats, 62 bushels. I did the wash and cleaned porch. Put out white things.

22^nd

Third day. Mild and cloudy, 25 degrees above. Jim chored and went to meet Harry. Home about seven. Brought mail. We dried and folded clothes. I took pheasants[570] some wheat down below.

23^rd

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Boys went for one load of dry wood – Thirty-six. Played (Pick-Up-Sticks) at noon. I felt sick and went to bed – rotten headache. Little Connie had a very large bull calf. Very weak.

24^th

Fifth day. Still feeling sick. Got up and lay on lounge. Harry to Langham. Got hardware and canned goods from station. Took eggs and cream. Brought load of straw. Jim got load of reeds from slough.

25^th

Sixth day. Jim choring. Harry fixing pipes and sink. I got up late. Very mild day, forty degrees above. Hills clearing. Jim got mail – letter from Ruth. Jill and Jerry both sick. Strangles. Jim hauled two loads hay from slough.

26^th

Seventh day. Harry putting in water pipes and faucets. Jim choring. I helped with work some. Felt a bit better. Boys to town at night – home very late. Very warm, bright day, water running past door.

27^th

First day. Meeting at home. Alec Vereshine[571] to dinner. Borrowed chaps, etc. Bessie brought Auntie down in afternoon. Nice warm day. Forty degrees above. Snow disappearing fast. Horses came home. I fed them. Arthur Hynd came home fifth day. Billie too, from Saskatoon.

28^th

Second day. Forty degrees above. Harry still working on water system. I didn’t feel so good, so we didn’t wash. Finished sweater for Roger. Jim did some chopping. Cattle grazing out a little.

MARCH 1938

1^st

Third day. Mild in morning but wind got up and was cooler. Felt better. Mother and I sewed and mended. Harry still working in bathroom. Jim did chores and put floor in ice house, and put everything back in place. Got violent headache at night. Letter from Peggy.

2^nd

Fourth day. Harry up to Crabbs’ to get cook stove home by seven-thirty. Felt headachey all day. Jim cut load of wood, Harry walked for team. Mother washed wall in porch and Pa painted it. About zero.

3^rd

Fifth day. Minus twenty degrees below. Harry and Pa got stove in and water front[572] fixed fine. Nice stove. Jim hauled one load dry wood and cut another. Harry to Langham in afternoon, home late. Got box of apples. Sent eggs and sweater for Roger. Painted kitchen door and my chair.

4^th

Sixth day. Fairly mild, cattle out most of day. Harry fixing new stove etc. and helped Jim in afternoon get wood. Got two loads. Painted my chair and stool. Mother sewed. Harry has toothache.

5^th

Seventh day. Harry’s toothache worse, face swelled. Stayed in bed until noon. Got up and I went with him to Ranch Meeting at Thistle Dale School. Six people there. Jim did chores. Ten degrees above and sun hot. Not melting much.

6^th

First day. Jim took Harry to train for Saskatoon. We had Meeting at home. Ten degrees above but cold north wind. Jim back early.

7^th

Second day. Mild and cloudy. Jim did chores and cleaned barns. We did big two weeks’ wash. Horses came home, put Lenore in.

8^th

Third day. Jim chored and got two loads wood. I cleaned my bedroom and bathroom, and we dried the clothes and sewed and mended. Mild and bright.

9^th

Fourth day. Jim to Langham for straw after hauling one load hay from flats. I walked after Major and Dick. Caught Jappy and rode him. Found them on Thirty-five. Went for Edith and Harry to Langham. Saw Jack[573] in Penner’s and had coffee. Nice day.

10^th

Fifth day. Edith not feeling well. Mild bright day. I did the ironing. Jim and Harry to Langham for two loads of straw. Edith and I out for walk. Cattle stayed out all night for first time.

11^th

Sixth day. Harry up to do Badmans’ chores.[574] Jim cut wood. Jim mended corral and let calves out. Harry up for mail. Picked up Billie. Did Badmans’ chores. Home late. Edith and I out to see traps. Nice mild day. Water running in yard.

12^th

Seventh day. Harry took Billie to Langham. Jim up to do Badmans’ chores and cut wood on Thirty-six. Nice mild day. Edith feeling better, Mother in bed with headache. Thirty-eight eggs.

13^th

First day. Harry up to do Badmans’ chores. Meeting at home. Mild day. Water running. Cattle out all day. Edith and Mother feeling better. Harry up to Badmans’ again at night.

14^th

Second day. Harry to do Badmans’ chores. Jim for wood, two loads. We put up seven quarts meat. Edith made over Mother’s coat from A. Sykes.[575] Harry fixing pipes etc. Nice day, cloudy and cold. Started filling tank.

15^th

Third day. Harry walked up and did Henry’s chores. Jim hauled the last of =hay from slough, filled tank. Edith made two blouses for me.

16^th

Fourth day. Boys for one load wood and brought mail. Harry fixing pipe in afternoon. Meeting at home. Edith and I walked up to Badmans’. John and Mary McCheane there. Henry still sick. Edith fixed blue dress. Forty degrees above.

17^th

Fifth day. Harry took Edith to catch train in Langham. Looks like last trip. Lost of water on river. Took old stove. I did the wash. Jim hauled bales up from below. Lenore had heifer calf – Poppy.

18^th

Sixth day. Harry fixing leaks in pipes. Filled tanks. Went for mail on Mike. Jim and Pa started shingling garage. I did some ironing and cleaned boys’ room. Mother sewed. Mild, but cooler. Cows stayed away.

19^th

Seventh day. Harry writing out bills for Ranch. Pa and Jim nearly finished garage roof. We churned. Finished ironing and did cleaning. Made raisin loaf. Cooler.

20^th

First day. Fair and mild. Meeting at home. Boys, Harry and Jim over river, walking. Home six-thirty. We felt anxious about them.[576] I wrote to Agnes, Herdis and Eric.

21^st

Second day. First day of spring. Cloudy and cooler and inclined to snow. I did the wash. A dull grey day. Harry made out Ranch bills etc. I wrote Eaton’s order for cold cream etc. We made out seed order.

22^nd

Third day. Harry to mail on Mike. Sent about a hundred letters. Letter from Winnie. Jim cut stakes and Harry too in afternoon. Father in bed with bad back. Got all clothes dry. Cooler. Had first bath using system.[577]

23^rd

Fourth day. Fair and mild. Harry fixed tank and filled it, and no leaks – “YIPPY.” I did ironing. Meeting at home. Harry and Jim got three loads stakes from flats. Jim cleaned barns and chickens. I fed horses.

24^th

Fifth day. Fair and mild. Boys hauled stakes from flats – have over 300. Harry brought home missing cows. Pa put aluminum paint on pump and tanks and pipes. Looks very nice. Heard crows.

25^th

Sixth day. Harry got an early start for Borden – Dick and Jerry – for oats. Jim did chores and cut stakes. Pa finished shingling garage.[578] We put up border in my room. Warm and bright.

26^th

Seventh day. Boys hauled stakes – 550. Harry put up heater in cottage. Mother and I helped. Mother made cake and pie. Warm and windy, snow almost gone. Put ridge on garage roof.

27^th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry caught “Rainbow” and he fought plenty. Harry up to do Badmans’ chores in evening, made a fire over in cottage to air bedclothes.

28^th

Second day. Harry up to Harris’s sale and on to Borden with buggy. Bob phoned at night. We cleaned out cottage, washed floors, put things back in bathroom. Jim cut stakes. Warm, 58 degrees above.

29^th

Third day. Snowing and blowing. Bob and Susie and Harry and children stayed in Borden at Saunders’. Jim mended harness and went for cattle. We papered bathroom ceiling and wall in my room. Mother cleaned her room.

30^th

Fourth day. Did some papering. Bob and Susie and Harry and children came in time for late dinner. Still snowing and blowing and colder. Horses home – fed them. Jim cleaned barns and pens.

31^st

Fifth day. Pa and I continued on landing – slow job. Jim chored and cleaned barns. Bob and Harry started sharpening stakes. Fairly nice day, sun out a little. Children out.

APRIL 1938

1^st

Sixth day. Bright and mild, not much melting. Harry to mail on Mike. Arthur Hynd down for one ton straw for Wakes; borrowed saddle. Pa and I papering. Bob and Susie over to dinner. Bob put up wall in bathroom. Jim sharpened stakes.

2^nd

Seventh day. Fair and mild, snow going slowly. Jim sharpened stakes. Got one load. Harry up to Badman’s, got calf, four dollars. Bob lined bathroom. I papered stairway. Mother did cleaning and cooking.

3^rd

First day. Fair and mild. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie over to dinner. Marion and calf “Marilyn.”

4^th

Second day. Colder but bright. Boys finished sharpening stakes. Harry took Mother up to Wakes for a visit. I did two weeks’ wash and got it mostly dried. Bob made two book cases out of the big one.

5^th

Third day. Harry to Borden, took cream and eggs. Bob and Jim fixed engine for wood-cutting and mended around barn. Pa and I finished papering ceiling of landing. Cold and bright – about twenty degrees above.

6^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Billie Peters[579] down (brought L. Badman) helping saw wood. We baked. J. Tallis down, selling papers. Snowed a little, but mild. Jim brought one load of wood.

7^th

Fifth day. Billie the Kid down again and helped saw wood all day. I went on papering stairs. Nice mild day, snow going fast.

8^th

Sixth day. Finished sawing wood. I helped. Bob papered their bedroom. I finished papering stairs and my room on bathroom wall. Harry for mail at night. Started string coat. Lovely warm day.

9^th

Seventh day. Harry and Jim put sleighs away. Jim chopped oats. Cleaned nine bags of wheat for house and brought some machinery up. Bob fixed buzz saw, to saw bones. We straightened up the book cases and cleaned through house. Bob and Harry wrote letters and drew maps re: flooding on sloughs.[580]

10^th

First day. Meeting at home. Bright but windy. River is breaking up. Boys got net up.[581]

11^th

Second day. Boys all working on trail down the hill. I painted banisters and bathroom door, etc. H. Hamm came to ask for job. Gave Spee confidence lesson.

12^th

Third day. Boys still working on trail. Bob repairing drill and disc. I did wash and gave Spee lesson. Nice day but windy.

13^th

Fourth day. Finished up the brown paint on stairs. Harry and Jim worked on road, making good job. Bob to Borden, got lumber for partition – brought mail. Nice day.

14^th

Fifth day. Lovely day. Jim and Harry worked on roads. Harry helped me hitch Spee, went very good. Bob working on machinery. I up to Wakes all day. Mother and Pa put some paper on kitchen wall.

15^th

Sixth day. Lovely day, bright and mild. Bob and Harry working on implements. Harry got Sally and Gypsy in. Jim oiling harness and out plowing in afternoon. Harry rode Spee in evening. I ironed, cleaned bedroom, stacked wood.

16^th

Seventh day. Jim plowing. Harry for mail on Spee, and I rode him for cows. Harry worked on car. Bob put a partition in Cottage. Mother baked bread and buns. I cleaned through house. Warm and bright.

17^th

First day. Jim found Gay with colt. To Meeting for the first time this spring, in car. Harry and I stayed home. Harry and Bob and Susie and children and I up to Group meeting at Sutherlands’. Took Ben and Peggy Saloway home. Saw Peggy, called at Williams’; home for supper. Nice day.

18^th

Second day. Jim plowing. Harry up to Baxters to get Andrew Saunders[582] to fix radio. He and Pete Siemens and his father here for dinner. I did the wash. Bob made buggy into trailer. Very windy all day.

19^th

Third day. Harry took Bob to meet the truck to go to Saskatoon to get furniture. Harold Edney came. Harold got horses in. Used Tommy and Smoky to clean mature from around house. We cleaned workshop. Cloudy and cooler.

20^th

Fourth day. Did ironing. Had headache. Bob and Pa and Ma to Monthly Meeting. Jim plowing by Maple Grove. Harold and Harry cleaned up around house and cleaned barns. Cloudy and cool.

21^st

Fifth day. Bob to town for seed, Jim disking. We poisoned gophers. Susie, Harold, Harry and I hitched Linnet. (Two lines scratched out.)

22^nd

Sixth day. Jim disking on flats. Bob and Harry mending drill. Harry harrowing in morning. Harold made hotbed and dug garden. I did varnishing in parlour. Pa seeded top patch – potatoes and peas.

23^rd

Seventh day. Snowstorm. Boys lime-washed cellar and cowbarn. Bob working on cottage. Cleaned through house. Abe and Lizzie came. Susie’s mother slept over here.

24^th

First day. Bob and Father and Mother started for Meeting, got stuck in road on hill. I had sick headache, Meeting at home. Harry and I put chains on car and went to meet Eric at CeePee. Supper at McPhersons’. Cold.

25^th

Second day. Prunella home with calf. All got ready to go to Ranch. Eric took riding stock. Harold took stakes and straw. Harry and I up in buggy. Harold over to Brunsts for hay and oats. We cleaned shack. Took in 25 head horses. I came home at night. Chicks came.

26^th

Third day. Snowing fast. Bob and I got A-house ready and got chix in stalled by night, good bunch. Bob and Jim got pump working (irrigation). Got Gay and colt in. Cleared by night.

27^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Jim raking thistle. Bob to Borden to get relief oats – 55 bushels, four bushels potatoes. Made cookies and doughnuts for boys. Warmer. Ina has calf.

28^th

Fifth day. Nice day and bright. Kitty got horse colt. Bob and Susie to Saskatoon to take K. Rempel to hospital. I got cows on foot. Jim plowing, did some gardening.

29^th

Sixth day. We washed, churned and baked. Jim went to town for wheat – forty bushels. Bob back for late dinner. Very warm day.

30^th

Seventh day. Jim plowing and drilling. Sowed grass on Thirty-six. Harold and Eric and Harry home in evening in wagon. Mother planted hotbed. Not quite so warm. We cleaned up outside.

May 1938

1^st

First day. Father and Mother and Bob and Eric and Mary to Meeting. Boys all got baths. Susie came back with Billie. Bob and I up in car for her at night. Cloudy and cooler. Boys packed ready to go but didn’t.

2^nd

Second day. Raining hard all day – a real soak. Boys cleaned and lime-washed barn, made rope, etc. I did last week’s ironing. Eric brought Kitty and Gay in and Telke and Corky.

3^rd

Third day. Still raining and cool. Eric and Harold cleaned wheat. Harry sick. Bob and Harold and Jim went ditching on slough. Harry went for mail at night. Letter from Daisie.

4^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Boys got ready and left for pasture. Harry came back for stakes at night. Harry over river for Langham cattle and horses – got 80 head. Eric went for Popes’ cattle. Cloudy and showery. Floss had silver-gray colt. Did wash.

5^th

Fifth day. Harry away early. Jim disked. Bob working on engine and cultivated front garden – too wet to plant. Still cloudy and colder.

6^th

Sixth day. Bob to town for seed. Jim disking until 11 o’clock when Sally foaled. Jim and I got her up to barn. Gray colt. Cold and cloudy and snowing a little.

7^th

Seventh day. Did cleaning. Jim and Bob to town to meet Bernard Webber[583] who came to visit. Bob chopped oats. Pa and Jim cleaned grain. Boys came home at night. Duncan visited in afternoon.

8^th

First day. Father and Bob and Eric and Bernard and I to Meeting. Harry and Eric to Wakes’ for dinner. Edith and Ed and Daisie and Herdis and Anker and Delia came in Anker’s car, to dinner. Wakes brought boys home after. Cloudy and showery.

9^th

Second day. Harold and Eric rounded up our cattle and colts, put all the mares on west Thirty-six. Linnet has foal. Took cattle and colts up to Ranch. Bernard went on Bunny. Nice day. Fox bucked.

10^th

Third day. Bob and I up to Popes’, called for John McCheane. Drove with Lila up to Hafford to convention.[584] Very interesting time. Arnold Larson nominated. Home very late and very sick. Jim cultivated on Twenty-six. Bernard back from Ranch.

11^th

Fourth day. Jim cultivated on Twenty-six. Bob and Father and Mother to Meeting in car. I felt sick all day. Nice warm day. Bob burned thistle on Twenty-six and put the manure on the irrigation garden. Bernard got cows.

12^th

Fifth day. Jim cultivating on Twenty-six. Nice and bright until afternoon, when violent dust storm came and some rain. We put up veal, fried it first – ten pints two quarts, some dried beef. Bob and Mother to town – took Bernard to bus. Bob to Ranch.

13^th

Sixth day. Bob took cream – two cans, and on to Ranch. Brought mail back. Very windy all day, and dusty. Sterilized meat, five pints two quarts. Basted towels. Jim harrowing below. Harry and Harold and Eric home late.

14^th

Seventh day. Harry, Eric, Harold and I got ready and went to Saskatoon in car. Edith and I went shopping. I saw T. J. (Smith – optometrist.) Saw two shows with Harold – “Robin Hood” and “Wee Willie Winkie.”[585] Cool and cloudy. Jim seeding wheat.

15^th

First day. Up at seven, quiet time, dinner and went to see Peggy[586] at hospital. Harry to Len’s. Left McCheane’s at about six and to Len’s for supper. Home about 11:30 in the morning. Nice day. Overseers’ meeting[587] here. Saunders for dinner and supper.

16^th

Second day. Did two weeks’ wash. Jim seeding on Twenty-six. Bob harrowing, used Spee. Harry and Harold up to Hepburn for horses from Dalmeny. Nice day.

17^th

Third day. Bob hauled rock on Twenty-six. Jim seeded and harrowed. I went for mail on Bunny. R. Madal[588] came. Got Gypsy in. Saw Lasca with black colt. Made butter and simmel cake.[589] Showery.

18^th

Fourth day. Monthly Meeting. Bob and Susie and Father and Mother to Meeting, home late. Jim harrowing and drilling on Twenty-six. Bob raked in morning – Russian thistle. I did big ironing. Nice bright day.

19^th

Fifth day. Bob disking on Twenty-six. Jim drilling wheat. Bob and I up to Ranch in afternoon in car. Boys home from Blaine Lake – twenty-nine horses. We helped brand, etc. Home by nine.

20^th

Sixth day. Jim disking. Bob and Susie to town in car. We made cookies, did mending, cleaned bedrooms. Nice warm day.

21^st

Seventh day. Bob chopped oats and harrowed in afternoon. Jim cultivated all day. Warm, smoky day. Pa took load of rubbish up to old place. Joshua and Auntie down in evening.

22^nd

First day. Bob and Susie and children up to Great Deer in car. Father and Mother and I to Meeting in buggy – Smoky and Tommy. Harry and Harold down in afternoon. Jim and Harold pickled oats in evening. Nice day. Rained softly all night.

23^rd

Second day. Harry and Harold and I took Pansy and calf, and three skim milk calves:[590] Rollo, Bettena and Emory – up to Ranch, also Wakes’ seventeen and six of Armond’s. Got Radisson bunch in and worked on them all afternoon. I home late. Cool wind. Jim drilled.

24^th

Third day. I did wash. Bob and Susie and Father and Mother put in potatoes in irrigation garden.[591] Popes down for picnic.[592] Harry and Harold home late, Fox and Jappy. Jim planted barley. Very warm. Henry Badman had accident – cut his hand.

25^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Raining pretty steady. Jim out to disk, but had to quit. Boys cleaning out barns and mended corral. Bob and Father planted in bottom garden. Jim disked in afternoon. I saw mares and colts – fine.

26^th

Fifth day. Lovely day – hot. Harry and Harold away early to Larsons’ for cattle. Jim disked all day. Bob raked in morning, harrowed in afternoon on Twenty-six. Spee going good. Mother transplanted tomato plants. Pa and Susie worked on irrigation garden. I did rock garden.

27^th

Sixth day. Harry and Harold home by nine. Harry and Bob up to Richard to see pump, home late. Jim plowed east garden. Harold harrowed it. He and Pa and Susie and I planted it, put row of elms. Day very hot. Harold and Jim went swimming. I sent Simpson’s[593] order.

28^th

Seventh day. Cloudy – rained a little in night, and windy. Jim drilling and harrowing. Harry and Bob up to McCheanes’ – did a colt and got some alfalfa seed, and barley and oats from Wakes. Harold up to Hepburn to get ten horses, he and Jim over to Langham at night.

29^th

First day. Mother stayed home from Meeting – headache. Harold and Jim over river. Mother and Father and Harry and I up to McCheanes’ and Saloways in afternoon. Nice day. Saw mares and Red has colt.

30^th

Second day. Cloudy – some showers. I did wash. Harry and Harold dug out sewer. Mother and Pa put covers on car seats. Bob drilled alfalfa in morning. Jim plowed.

31^st

Third day. Jim harrowing. Bob took cream on to town – away all day. Harry and Harold packed up and went to Ranch in wagon. Mother in bed all morning. Pa shingling garage. Nice bright day – cool. Floss has by colt – Gay.

JUNE 1938

1^st

Fourth day. Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting. Jim finished seeding, raked and burned thistle in afternoon. I did some ironing. Mother and I mended tent and cleaned tent floor. Lovely warm day.

2^nd

Fifth day. Bob and Mother to shack for Harry and on to Richard for pump. Mother stayed with Lydia Crabb. Jim disking on Thirty-six and Twenty-six. Nice day but cool wind and smoky.

3^rd

Sixth day. Bob and I took eggs to ship and went to Hynds’ to fix colt. To Wakes for wheat. Got mail and so home. Jim disking on Twenty-six. Bob raked and burned thistle in afternoon. Nice day but cool. River rising.[594]

4^th

Seventh day. We did cleaning and bob and I up to Corral to do colts. The second colt broke its neck, so we quit.[595] J. Anderson’s[596] colt. Bob and I to McCheanes’ Bob and John to a meeting. Philip brought me home. Boys brought Silver Bell.

5^th

1^st day. Father and Mother and Bob and Harry to Meeting. Jim and Harold had bath. Bob and Susie and Harry and I and children up to Hepburn in afternoon. At Tena’s for supper. On past Waldheim saw steam engine.[597] Back by Petrofka ferry. Bessie and Ken down.

6^th

Second day. Bob and Harry and Pa killed and dressed Silver Bell. Bob and I up to Ranch. G. Pierce and Walls[598] there. Fixed seven colts. Day cool and cloudy, rained down home. Jim disking on Twenty-six. Bob and I got Tess from Henry Badman.

7^th

Third day. Bob took cream. Joshua and Sadie and Billie and Arthur down to cut up meat. Put up thirty-five two-quart jars, we canned six quarts for ourselves and Susie six pints. Bob and Mother took quarter to Abe (Newbold) $10.00. Jim plowing on Twenty-six.

8^th

Fourth day. Voting day. Bob and Pa and I to Meeting and on to school to vote. Jim finished plowing on Twenty-six. Bob driving for voters all day. We baked, made nut loaf, put up tent. Frost last night, not here. Rain at night.

9^th

Fifth day. Rained all day, and blew. Boys making rope, etc. I did wash and we made butter. Harry and Harold came home last night. Got the mares in and colts.

10^th

Sixth day. Harry and Harold up to Ranch to collect tools, Jim mowing buckbrush. Bob gardening. I did the ironing. Bob got mail at night. Nice day. Boys home at night.

11^th

Seventh day. Boys all cutting brush down below. Clear warm day. We did cleaning. I got Red in, she was very sick. Put blanket on her and kept her in.

12^th

First day. I stayed home from Meeting. Bob and Susie to Great Deer in afternoon Took Harold up to Crabbs, Edith and Joshua and Sinclair Parks[599] down for supper. Nice day. Googie has steer calf.

13^th

Second day. Nice warm day. I did wash. Pa and Harry up to Blaine Lake for salt - car and trailer. Bob and Harold and Jim clearing brush down below. I took them lunch. Edith phoned from Saunders’. Herdis to hospital.

14^th

Third day. Bob took cream and went grasshopper-inspecting all day. Mother not well. Harry and the boys clearing brush down below. I did some cooking for Redberry.[600]

15^th

Fourth day. Mother sick most of day. Harry up to Ranch on Fox. Bob and Pa up in car, branding etc. Harold and Jim cut scrub down below. Pretty hot all day. I baked and ironed.

16^th

Fifth day. Bob took cream and on to Borden and Saskatoon. Boys all cutting brush. I felt sick and lay around all day. Very hot. Mother better.

17^th

Sixth day. Mother and Pa and bob and Susie all went and took cream and on to clean Meeting house. Boys all clearing brush down below. Very hot day. Wakes went to Redberry. Heard from Daisie and Edith. Man came from Blaine Lake.

18^th

Seventh day. Harry and I got ready and went to Saskatoon after early dinner. Jim came as far as Langham. Harold and Bob did gardening in afternoon, brush cutting in morning. Warm day. Edith and I went shopping.

19^th

First day. Harry down to Len’s, came back in time to take Edith and Mamie[601] and I up to see Herdis at hospital, and then took Edith to bus to Redberry. Afterwards went driving. Ruth Murray over for night.

20^th

Second day. I got Ed’s breakfast and Harry’s. Swept through house and cleaned up. Went shopping with Daisie – got purse and gloves. Met Harry - home to dinner. Picked up Ruth Hinde and on to Redberry.

21^st

Third day. Harry and I helped Ruth get breakfast and came home. Fan broken on car. Boys all cutting brush.

22^nd

Fourth day. Boys all cutting brush. Very thick with smoke everywhere. I took lunch. I did wash.

23^rd

Fifth day. Boys cutting brush. Bob and Mother to town, took Henry Badman (very sick.) Bob went over and did Badmans’ chores at night. Still smoky and cloudy.

24^th

Sixth day. Harry up to Ranch on Smoky. Got ten horses in. bob and Harold and Jim cutting brush. Billie brought Daisie down from lake, she helped milk. Bob and I wasted morning chasing Henry Badman’s cows. Bob got them at night.

25^th

Seventh day. Daisie did all the ironing. Bob and I got Badmans’ cows home, led them from barn. [602] Boys Jim and Harold cutting brush – finished at night. Daisie left with Arthur Hynd for Redberry.

26^th

First day. Cloudy. Bob and Harry up to Fehrs’ – picked up Susie and children and on to Redberry. Had nice time. I had bad headache – in bed until dinner time. Harold and Jim shot marsh hawk.

27^th

Second day. Bob got cow back from Badmans’ at night. Harry and Harold got ready and went to Ranch, Harry on Fox and Harold in buggy. Bob and Jim hauled dry wood off breaking. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott came at night. Susie and I got berries.

28^th

Third day. Bob and Alf Elliott took cream in his car. Pa and I putting up chicken fence. Bees swarming again. (Got them.) Jim and Bob hauling wood and started breaking on east garden. Mother and I got strawberries. Elliotts left.

29^th

Fourth day. I did the wash. Mother put up fruit – strawberries and rhubarb. Bob turned alfalfa. Jim breaking on lower pasture. Bob took Father and Mother to Meeting. Hot day, eighty degrees above.

30^th

Fifth day. I got ready and rode to Ranch on Spee. Bob to town and on up. All rode in evening. Put one hundred cattle into roundup pasture. J. Lavoie and Joe came up. Bob home at night. Jim helped riding. Stayed all night.

July 1938

1^st

Sixth day. Bronk threw and tramped Harry. Lavoies left. Tried to get folks on phone. Harold to Cooks’ – got Bob at last; came with car. Took Harry and I to Borden hospital. Bob and I home. Joe Wakes came. Father and I stayed. Harold met horses.

2^nd

Seventh day. Harold came from Ranch. Worked in bottom garden. Jim summer-fallowing. We did some cleaning and churned. Felt rotten – very hot. L. Badman here. Harold and Jim over river.

3^rd

First day. Raining all day. Len phoned from Saskatoon – came up on cycle. We met him at Hynds’, visited with Sadie a little. Harold and jim home late.

4^th

Second day. Bob took Mother and I to town to see Harry. Billy Mekin off to Edmonton. Home and up to Ranch in car. Over middle pasture in evening.

5^th

Third day. Over middle pasture again in morning. Called roundup for tomorrow. Found Cherry with calf. Fence broke and about twenty cattle out of roundup pasture. Got them in evening.

6^th

Fourth day. Leslie Pope and Billie came and Alf Elliotts in morning. Also later August Gerster. Had busy day. Got cattle up and separated. Fixed up forty calves. Bob home at night to get bull.

7^th

Fifth day. Harold and I up to north pasture. Drove colts away from sloughs down to water. [603] A carload of Blaine Lake men at shack. Bob came back very late. Got some strays left in roundup pasture – four calves.

8^th

Sixth day. Bob and Harold and I up to Orchards’ pasture. Got out five of ours – Len’s – up north, and chased horses down to trough. Packed up and came home, 10:30. big storm, good rain. Found Harry at home. Very hot day.

9^th

Seventh day. Everyone feeling tired out. Len working in garden. Harold up to meet horses in north pasture – nine head. Home very late. Bob and Jim up to Wakes’ to sharpen (plough)shares. Stayed to dinner. We churned and cleaned.

10^th

First day. I stayed home from Meeting. Made ice cream. Down to river for swim. River too high, but enjoyed it. Nice quiet day. Pretty hot.

11^th

Second day. I did two weeks’ wash. All went strawberry picking in morning. Put up ten quarts and four pints. Jim mowing. Bob burning brush. Harold up to Ranch – got 44 horses in. Very hot day.

12^th

Third day. Len left with truck man. Took cream and eggs. Jim and Bob hauled alfalfa and Joyce (Wake) got some Saskatoons. I started ironing. Very hot.

13^th

Fourth day. Sinclair Reekie[604] came and brought Herdis. We went to Meeting. I finished ironing. Jim started breaking down below. Very hot.

14^th

Fifth day. Jim breaking. Bob and Pa and Freddy (Wake) hauled hay to stackyard below.

15^th

Sixth day. Harold and Bob to town for salt, and took ten blocks up to Ranch and distributed it. Met P. Thiessen and saw dead colt (leg broken.) Mother and Pa got berries. Bess and Ken down. Hot. I trod on a nail. Jim breaking.

16^th

Seventh day. Harry took Mother and Father to Saskatoon. Len came on bike, he and Bob haying. Jim breaking in morning. We cleaned and baked. Nice hot day. Harold home at night. Seventeen quarts berries.

17^th

First day. Herdis left in early afternoon. Billie took her to Borden. They phoned from Saskatoon. Boys went swimming in afternoon. We ate two roosters (twelve altogether.)

18^th

Second day. Harold and I took mares up to Stella’s pasture. Found bull at Leo’s.[605] Left him. Got our colts from middle pasture. Looking fine. Put them in roundup pasture, phoned home. Stayed over. Hot day.

19^th

Third day. Cool and cloudy in morning. Took colts down to Stella’s pasture, got bull from Leo’s, saw the other two. Fixed dam spillway. Dinner at shack. Up north saw troughs – raining hard. Got three cows and calves.

20^th

Fourth day. Harold and I came home late last night. Boys cleaned barns, mended gates, barked logs.[606] Jim finished breaking. Rained in afternoon.

21^st

Fifth day. All went berry-picking in morning. Went swimming at noon. Jim haying in afternoon. I did wash and gave Harold supper and lunch and he went up to Ranch.

22^nd

Sixth day. Very busy. Finished wash. Sinclair and Philip and Bess and Ruth and Bob M. came down bathing. Jim and Freddie putting up hay.

23^rd

Seventh day. Art and Sadie down picking berries, here for dinner. Dick S., John M. and Howard[607] down for swim. I put up some fruit and did some cleaning. Folks came back - Edith and baby Gordon.

24^th

First day. Edith and I to Meeting. John and Mary and Ruth (McCheane) down in afternoon for short visit. Harold and Jim away to Langham. Also Freddy.

25^th

Second day. We put up fruit - 38 quarts - and did some of last week’s ironing. Harold and Jim haying. Bob mending binder. Harry to Borden for papers and groceries. Showery. Got one load of brome[608] from Thirty-six. Sally sick. Harold up to Ranch.

26^th

Third day. Put up the rest of berries and fifteen of apricots. Finished ironing. Taught Jock to drink milk. Sallie worse. Put her in slings.[609] Hail and rain, a real humdinger. Jim mowing on slough.

27^th

Fourth day. Harold up at Ranch, home at night. Ready to go to Exhibition. Harry and Edith up to Muskoday, Crabbs. Hannah Mary Crabb came home from Meeting in morning and they took her back.

28^th

Fifth day^. Harry took Edith and Gordon, Joyce, Harold and Bessie to Saskatoon in car. Jim haymaking on slough. Bob cutting oats. Sadie, Dick S. and Howard and Ruth came for a swim. I did the wash.

29^th

Sixth day. John Lavoie came early in car. Bob and I drove up there to north pasture. Joe and Joe B. got horses and rode with us. Found all of Lavoie’s and one of Bricket’s. Bob and I to shack. They slept up there – very hot!!

30^th

Seventh day. Bob and I looked over middle pasture for Bricket’s – cold, nothing doing! Up to north corral and vaccinated the rest of them. Looked well over north pasture – found one more. Harold came. Seventeen horses out; all came home. Harry came from city, brought Frank Wake.

31^st

First day. I stayed home from Meeting – very tired. Boys buried Sally in old silo,[610] she died during night. Bob and Susie up to Saloways’ in afternoon. Mother and Father up to Badmans’. I had a nice swim.

AUGUST 1938

1^st

Second day. I did the washing. Frank stooked oats. Jim mowed on slough. Fred raking. Harry to town and up to Ranch at night. We all went to campfire and wiener roast at Clarkes’. [611]

2^nd

Third day. Started sweeping hay on slough. Fred raking. Bob took cream and eggs. Everyone tired after late night. A. Ahwaldayoff[612] took his horses out; seven went today. Harry riding again.[613]

3^rd

Fourth day. Leo Hansen came for Badmans’ hens. I hurt my ankle while catching them, lay around most of the day. Father and Mother and Susie went berry-picking – no raspberries this year. Cloudy.

4^th

Fifth day. Bob and I to town, I to see doctor. He put my foot in plaster cast. The bone is cracked. Jim mowing, and Bob in afternoon. Frank and Fred hauled one load. Fred and Ken came down in morning. Harry brought Tex home sick.

5^th

Sixth day. Tex very sick. Put him in slings. I did ironing. Boys haying all day. Mother made a lot of jam. Boys to town to unload pipes and I went to meet Daisie at Saunders’. John M. there. Home late.

6^th

Seventh day. We did cleaning. Tex still very sick. Boys all haying, finished one stack and moved stacker. Cool day.

7^th

First day. Daisie and I to Meeting. Uncle Joe there and family. Down in afternoon, and Auntie Margaret. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer. I went with them up to Saloways’. I enjoyed talking to Peggy. Sadie and Arthur down home. Cool day.

8^th

Second day. Mother and Daisie picked berries. Harold and Jim cleaning out drain, Harry and Frank in afternoon. Jim mowed. Bob cut pipe. Harry and Fred to town – got oats in trailer and horse vaccine. Harry raked with Smoky and Spee. Rained at night.

9^th

Third day. Cloudy. Jim disked. Bob mended binder. Harry and Fred and Frank stoked, Tex seems a bit better. Daisie washed. Put up ten quarts fruit and twenty-two pounds jam. Mother made rhubarb marmalade. I made fly sheet.

10^th

Fourth day. Bob took Father and Mother and Mary and I to Meeting, and me on to Hynds’ to stay a few days. Rested my foot. Bob vaccinated Wakes’ horses. Nice warm day.

11^th

Fifth day. Had a lovely lazy day. Hynds’ Gypsy took sick. Boys at home haying. Harold up to Ranch and down and brought Gay back. Very hot day.

12^th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie to town. Came for me after dinner. H. Pollard[614] down. Daisie and she went swimming all afternoon. Boys all haying. Hot day.

13^th

Seventh day. Bob away vaccinating Hynds’ and Oscar’s horses. Harry and Jim mowing on slough. Harold and Bob mending sweep. Very nice day. Campfire at night, quite a crowd.

14^th

First day. Dull day. I stayed from Meeting. Harold and Jim away to Langham. Eric here all day. Harry and Daisie took him back at night. Margery (Wake) came down. Freddie up to Crabbs’.

15^th

Second day. Dull day but Daisie did washing and boys all haymaking on slough. Made nice stack with new stacker. Harold up to Ranch on Fox.

16^th

Third day. Harold brought mares down and we vaccinated them. Bob on binder. Harold stooking in afternoon. Nice warm day. Daisie did ironing. Fox much better.

17^th

Fourth day. Monthly Meeting. Raked alfalfa. Hauled a load of hay home. Bob on binder in morning, Jim in afternoon. Frank stooked some. Harry and Harold took mares back.

18^th

Fifth day. Bob on binder up on Twenty-six. Jim stooked – away all day. Harry up to Ranch in buggy. Harold to work for Amand (Christensen) at noon. Frank and Marge stooked. Cool and cloudy.

19^th

Sixth day. Frank to Badmans’ with fish and on for mail. I cleaned cupboards and porch. Bob and Jim still working on Twenty-six.

20^th

Seventh day. Harry came home by noon and he and Jim went to town, home by dark. I did the cleaning.

21^st

First day. Cloudy and cool. All to Meeting except Harry. Jim away on motorcycle. Harry and I picked up Daisie and Eric in afternoon and went over river to Stewarts. Abe Rempel came with us to Government Ranch. Supper at Stewarts’. Home by eleven o’clock.

22^nd

Second day. Jim disked the breaking, and cut oats. Harry wrote letters. I chored around. Bob away vaccinating horses – Wakes’ Popes’. I did washing. Pa working on irrigation garden. Nice warm day.

23^rd

Third day. Harry up to Ranch in buggy – Spee and Smoky. Frank and Jim and Bob did some haying, finished off stack. Jim and Frank disked oats. We did some ironing. Cool and cloudy. Took off cast. [615]

24^th

Fourth day. Heavy showers all morning, and thunder. I in bed most of day with bad headache. Mother not so good. Did some canning, jelly, etc. Jim and Bob fenced stack below.

25^th

Fifth day. Bob and Susie and I to town, Susie and I to see doctor. Got vaccine. Jim and Frank mowing thistle[616] and oats. Pulled shed to pieces and mended stackyard fence. [617] Mother and I did a little sewing. Cleaned my bedroom.

26^th

Sixth day. Jim and Frank taking down shed and haying in afternoon. Bob away vaccinating horses. I cleaned pantry thoroughly. Harold down with mares. I to Saskatoon with Daisie and Eric in Wakes’ car, to help them pack.

27^th

Seventh day. Daisie and I packing all morning. I washed Edith’s floor. Went to see house to rent on 11^th Street. Harold and I to show – Boots and Saddles.[618]

28^th

First day. Wakes called for me on their way to Borden. Met Jim on motorcycle. Home in time for Meeting. All down home for dinner. Lovely warm day. Marge and Frank left with their folks. Jim home via boat.

29^th

Second day. Boys up to Saloways’ about threshing machine. Mother went along – away most of day. Brought binder. Jim hauled thistles and cut oats below. I did hand wash. Inspector came to see King.

30^th

Third day. Lovely day. I did washing. Bob and Harry up to Saloways to get threshing outfit. Brought mail at night. Jim hauling thistle. Mother not feeling so well. Rained – a little shower.

31^st

Fourth day. Lovely day. Harry up to Ranch on Tommy. I started ironing. Bob overhauling outfit. Jim hauling thistle hay. I took Saloways’ team back on Spee.

September 1938

1^st

Fifth day. Pa and I talked until late. Stewart Orchard[619] to dinner. Came home in time to help milk. Called and talked a little to Daisie. Very nice warm day.

2^nd

Sixth day. Fair and warm. Bob took cream (missed.) Jim cutting oats and barley. Bob overhauling machine. I finished ironing. Made ice cream – ice nearly gone. Lots of tomatoes and cucumbers. Made pickles. Harry home.

3^rd

Seventh day. Nice warm day. Boys took threshing outfit down to red granary. Harry to town – got gas and oil. We cleaned. Boys started outfit – threshed about five bushels. Speller[620] took Percy and Amanda - $57.00.

4^th

First day. Daisie and Eric down for dinner, Mary McCheane and Philip and Sidney Piprell down, also Abe Rempel and Mother and Laura. Went swimming in afternoon. Harry took Stella Schultz over river after supper.

5^th

Second day. Made butter three times, made pickles. Put up plums, eleven quarts. I felt stiff and miserable. Boys all worked on threshing machine. Morning a little cloudy.

6^th

Third day. Fair and warm I did washing. Bob and Jim stooking oats. Bob to town in morning. Pa picked beans. Art and Sadie and Linda[621] and Mrs. Hynd down in their new car. Stayed supper.

7^th

Fourth day. Cloudy and raining. Boys threshed a little in morning. Harry home in morning. I did ironing and made pickles. Jim cleaned barn. Bob and Harry went to Radisson re: wheels for troughs.

8^th

Fifth day. Cloudy and showery. Jim harrowing. Bob and Harry working on car and Harry working on road. I did my bedroom and downstairs. Mother and Father gathered a lot of tomatoes – very good crop.

9^th

Sixth day. Raining all day – steady. Kitchen roof leaked. We sowed a little. I made a batch of cookies. Couldn’t find cows at night – boys chored and mended harness.

10^th

Seventh day. Rained most of day. Could not clean kitchen. Jim found cows in northwest Thirty-six. Mended fence. Harry fixed up drain hole. Jim home in afternoon – very wet.

11^th

First day. All of us to Meeting. I stayed at Wakes’ for dinner. Billie brought me down to gate. Harry and I got ready and went up to Ranch in buggy – led Fox. Arthur and Sadie start to coast.

12^th

Second day. Up early to north pasture. Got out over twenty Blaine Lake horses. Big day – fifteen hours – very hot. Jim plowing. Mother and Father gathered tomatoes. Bob sharpening disks. Bessie and Harold Edney and Sadie down.

13^th

Third day. Up to north pasture. Got Derksens’ horses and P. Bergman’s colt. Got twenty-four out of Siemens’. J. Lavoie down for six of his. Jim plowing. Tootsie missing. Very hot day. Got Hansons’ colts.

14^th

Fourth day. Got J. Lavoie’s colts by noon. Peter Bergman came for his. We came down in buggy, through Stella’s pasture. Got home for supper. Jim plowed. Bob took folks to Monthly Meeting. Very hot day.

15^th

Fifth day. Tootsie came home with heifer calf Marina. Joshua and Billie came to clean pipe. Took rhubarb, etc. Jim plowing. Harry back up to Ranch. We did wash. Bob to sale over river.

16^th

Sixth day. Lovely day. Jim disking and Bob working on disk. Harry took Gersters’ bull to Duncan’s. He and Bob to Radisson to get wheel for trough. We put up thirteen quarts corn. Jim plowing on Twenty-six. Baked.

17^th

Seventh day. Bob and Harry worked on outfit, engine giving trouble. Jim disking down below. I finished wash. Folded clothes and ironed. Cleaned kitchen. Nice warm day. Radio on the blink.

18^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. I stayed and cleaned up and made cake. Harry went for Saloways and we had them all for summer. He and I took them back at night.

19th

Second day. Put up thirteen quarts corn. Harry away at Ranch. Jim disking. Bob to town, fixing ignition on engine of thresher. Nice warm day. Mother and I down to lower garden, brought peas etc. back.

20^th

Third day. I did wash. Jim hauled load from Twenty-six. Harry home before breakfast. He and Bob took cream and got repairs from Adcott’s engine.[622] Threshed a little in afternoon. We baked and churned. Nice day.

21^st

Fourth day. Boys threshing off and on. Got about one hundred bushels wheat done. We canned eight and a half quarts tomatoes. Folded and damped clothes.[623]

Did all the milking. Very warm day. Harry up to Ranch on Tom at night. Broke pulley.

22^nd

Fifth day. Nice day – cooler. Pa down to help boys thrash if possible. Mother and I fixed perches in brooder house and cleaned it. I did ironing. Harry home at night – brought Bronk.

23^rd

Sixth day. Boys all threshing wheat. Finished all but one load – about three hundred bushels. We put up ten quarts tomatoes. Bob for mail at night in car. Heard that Harry Hallam[624] is married. Very nice day.

24^th

Seventh day. Boys thrashing off and on. Got most of wheat done. I cleaned and washed bedroom and downstairs. Harry and Jim and I to Radisson to see Hurricane.[625] Very good. Had lunch at Katie’s.[626] Home late.

25^th

First day. Cloudy and warm. Harry and Jim to Langham. We went to Meeting. Had quiet day. I slept. Bob got radio going. “War seems imminent.”

26^th

Second day. Boys hauling sheaves and working on machine. Got it in running order. I made pickles. Mother baked. Cleaned rack.

27^th

Third day. Boys all threshing oats. I did the wash. Cloudy and smoky and cooler.

28^th

Fourth day. Harry and Mother to town. Harry up to Derksens’ sale. Bob and Jim and Pa threshing oats. Warm and smoky. Made four quarts tomato soup.

29^th

Fifth day. Harry and I up to Ranch early – Tommy and Smoky. Had good day and got out nearly fifty horses – Blaine Lake. Home late to shack. Put bull back south pasture. Abe Goertz’s[627] man stayed the night.

30^th

Sixth day. Looked for and found one of Ben Thiessen’s heifers in middle pasture. Up to north pasture and failed to find Goertz’s other colt – they left with one. We came through Stella’s pasture – saw mares and came home. Jimmy took bull.

October 1938

1^st

Seventh day. Boys couldn’t thresh until afternoon. Put through nearly five loads. Oats very good. Granary nearly full. We did cleaning and finished ironing. Warm.

2^nd

First day. Harry and Mother away early to City. Took Daisie and Eric. We didn’t go to Meeting. I had headache – in bed till noon. Made cake. Cloudy – rained a little.

3^rd

Second day. Mizzled all day. Harry and Mother came home at night, Eric and Daisie with them. Bob called doctor at 11 o’clock, baby born 2:30 in the morning - boy. I up at three, got early breakfast for Doctor and Ada.[628] Raining.

4^th

Third day. Susie feeling pretty good and baby fine. I stayed and looked after children and everything. Still raining hard. Boys working on pump. Jim peeling logs.

5^th

Fourth day. Still dull and raining. Bob and Harry still working on pump. Jim peeling logs. I still over at Susie’s. Baby’s name “Barry Christopher.”

6^th

Fifth day. Still dull. Over at Susie’s all day – very busy. Boys dug potatoes – good crop, and brought them up. Bob went for Mary Rempel from Gersters’. Roads very muddy.

7^th

Sixth day. Started double wash – got two lines full dried. Day brighter, but rather cold. Jim and Bob dug and hauled potatoes from far garden. Jim plowed in afternoon. Bob dug hole and moved CC.[629] Got mail.

8^th

Seventh day. I finished wash. Mother not well. She and Harry to town in evening. Took Harold Edney, who came in morning. Jim and Bob breaking below. A little warmer and sunny.

9^th

First day. I s tayed home from Meeting. Jim to Langham. Joshua and Billie and John and Mary McCheane and Daisie and Eric here in afternoon. Nice warm day.

10^th

Second day. Thanksgiving Day. Jim and Bob breaking below – finished. Harry up to Ranch in car. Bob to Hynds’ sale in afternoon. We got ready – cooking and packing and came up to Ranch in evening – Jim and Harry and I.

11^th

Third day. Cleared out north pasture. Dalmeny horses out – twenty head. We three and Orchards got out six head colts, one Gersters’ steer. Nice day – cool. Mother sick. Smoky bucked with Jim and Gay fell.

12^th

Fourth day. Members from Great Deer came for their colts. We took all of them out of middle pasture. Bob up in car, brought Harold. We put Langham horses down south. Rained during night.

13^th

Fifth day. Cold wind. We cleaned cattle out of middle and south pastures. (Brand shaped like a horned bovine head) came for Langham horses. Bob to Ben Thiessen’s sale[630] – bought little pig - five dollars. (Rosie.)[631]

14^th

Sixth day. Inspector tested the cattle. Members came for cattle, everything OK. Bob up at noon. Eric came for Wakes’ cattle, stayed dinner. Harold went to church supper on Gay. We took our cattle down to Stella’s pasture. Tommy Larsen[632] came.

15^th

Seventh day. Rounded up cattle, cut out Larsons’ and Gersters’. Harold helped Tommy on his way. J. Brown came for his cattle. Harry and Jim and I took bull and Donna and Diana down to Stella’s pasture, and came on home.

16^th

First day. Mother and I home. Mrs. And Mr. Scott and Tom and Dan over river. Stayed dinner. Lydia and David (Crabb) and Hannah Mary and Auntie Margaret down. Stayed supper. Nice visit – brought lovebirds, beauties![633]

17^th

Second day. Harry and Jim and I up to Ranch. Rounded up Langham cattle. Inspector came and tested them. Harold and Jim to Radisson with cattle. Harry and I to Closhewskis’[634] with horses, stayed night. Nice day.

18^th

Third day. Joe Lavoie took his horses and Birkett’s.[635] Walasenko[636] came for his. We made deal for two horses and got to Jamesons’[637] for dinner. Back to shack by dark. Langham horses out. Bob up, took Jim home.

19^th

Fourth day. Harold left. Harry and I looking for Derksens’ colts, no luck. Brought our cattle home at night. Florrie Shotten[638] here.

20^th

Fifth day. I did the wash. Jim plowing on Twenty-six. Bob burning thistle. Harry fenced stacks below. Katy and Lydia Crabb came. Harry straightened out cattle.

21^st

Sixth day. Harry and I up to Ranch. Rounded up Langham cattle. Expected inspector, who came back at three o’clock. Found two colts in north pasture. Took them to Roundup pasture.

22^nd

Seventh day. Very foggy. We rounded up Langham cattle and took them to Hepburn ferry. Sam[639] met us. I got bad headache. H. Dyck’s son came for colts. We packed up and came home.

23^rd

First day. Mother stayed home from Meeting. Florrie went to Mary’s (McCheane) I to Wakes to see Daisie, who is a little better. Bob and Susie and Mary (Rempel) to Great Deer to funeral. Mother to Wakes in afternoon.

24^th

Second day. I did the wash. Jim plowing down below. Harry got team and he and Bob and Pa got all the turnips from irrigation garden. Good crop. Abe and Lizzie (Siemens) came. Nice warm day.

25^th

Third day. Jim plowing. Bob and Harry worked on car, pump and shed roof. Daisie and Eric down in car for few minutes at noon. Pa getting up parsnips and carrots. Mary’s birthday, mother gave sweater. Windy and dusty. Lizzie and Abe left.

26^th

Fourth day. Harry and Bob away in car most of day. Brunsts, McCheanes and Derksens brought tank back on trailer, also mail. Letter from Edith. I did ironing. Put up tomatoes. Very windy. Florrie to Monthly Meeting on Bunny.

27^th

Fifth day. Jim still plowing on flats. Harry and Bob finished threshing oats. Cut and burnt brush. I’ve got the cold. Harry and Bob and Jim too, feel rotten. Flu’s very bad. Warm but windy.

28^th

Sixth day. Jim plowing. Bob and Harry burning and cutting brush and thistle. I cleaned bedroom and down stairs. Mother cleaned pantry. Nice warm day. Mother and Harry to town in evening – took Sophie. [640]

29^th

Seventh day. Jim plowing down below. Bob to Saskatoon with Billie Wake. Joshua and Eric came for black heifer, had ruined fence, run away. They left her here.

30^th

First day. Cool and cloudy. All to Meeting except Susie. Larsons came, had a nice visit. Jim over river. Cold at night. Bob back from City late.

31^st

Second day. Cloudy and cold. I in bed with headache all morning. Jim plowing on flats. Harry and Bob working on water (ditching for trough.) Finished plowing.

November 1938

1^st

Third day. Snowing and blowing though mild. Bob fixed his storm windows on. Harry and Jim fixed trough in calf pen, and Pa and Bob working on shed in afternoon. I painted burlap[641] in dining room.

2^nd

Fourth day. I did wash. Dried most outside. Windy and stormy, snowing again by night. Jim hauled oats and wheat. Meeting at home. Harry doing Ranch books. Bob working on shed. Harold Edney down at night.

3^rd

Fifth day. Harold and Jim over river in boat. I did ironing and painted woodwork in dining room. Harry got mares from Stella’s, put colts in and marked all of them - (horses). Raining and sleeting.

4^th

Sixth day. Up late. Very stormy. Chored till dinnertime. Harry to mail. My two parcels came and Mary Rempel’s coat. Fed mares in shed. Harry and Bob hauled straw for animals below. About eight inches snow. Mild.

5^th

Seventh day. Cooler and clearer, Ten degrees below zero. Harry and Bob plastering shed and barns. We did the cleaning and helped do chores. Washed woodwork. Jim still away. Bright moonlight.

6^th

First day. Eight degrees below zero but clear mostly. Meeting at home. Lots of chores. Jim home over river – last time in boat. Wrote letters.

7^th

Second day. Seven degrees below zero. Clear and sunny. Weaning calves, fourteen of then twenty-nine altogether. Bob working on doors of shed. Jim and Harry digging on spring and ditch. I did wash – put clothes out. Painted burlap.

8^th

Third day. Bright and mild and windy. I took cream to school with Jerry and Dick in wagon. Bad trails. Went round by Wakes and got Daisie home for late dinner. Did ironing. Harry and Jim did fencing, Bob working on shed.

9^th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim fencing across bog.[642] Daisie in bed until Meeting time. Bob working on shed. Pa started carding wool for Daisie’s quilt. We put material together. Washed storm windows.

10^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob to town for relief apples – four boxes.[643] Fixed title of land. Jim did chores and some ditching. Pa carded wool, we knitted. Paid doctor thirty-six dollars.

11^th

Sixth day. Harry up to sale in Great Deer and took Mary (Rempel) home. Bob working in house and put up storm windows. We sewed on Daisie’s quilt. I did some hand washing. Harry took cattle out to graze.

12^th

Seventh day. Cold and windy and cloudy. Boys worked on barn. Bob working in his house and on barn. We finished the quilt, looks very nice. Did cleaning. Rough night.

13^th

First day. Meeting at home. Eric down with team, took Daisie back in time for supper. Joshua gone to Kingston, also George Hynd. Still overcast and cold.

14^th

Second day. Daisie and Eric to Borden and on to Saskatoon. I did wash. Mother put up three quarts tomato juice. Boys made new stone boat, worked on barn. Dried clothes outside. Bob killed five grey and white cats.

15^th

Third day. Fifteen degrees above. Bright. Washed four quilts, made bread. Boys doing carpentry work on barn and shed. Harry for mail and took cattle to Twenty-six. Brought Mike home.

16^th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim took load of manure across river and made a trail, not very good yet. Harry and Bob to Ranch meeting in afternoon. I went with them and visited at Crabbs. All stayed supper there. Nice mild day.

17^th

Fifth day. Harry and Mother to town in cutter – Mother to see Dr. Palsson. Got one hundred pounds sugar - $6.98. I did the ironing. Jim and Bob worked on shed. Snow flurries. Cold.

18^th

Sixth day. Harry and Jim hauled two loads of straw from up by school. I went on Smoky to Hynds’, spent most of day. Boys got mail. Bob working on shed. Nice mild day.

19^th

Seventh day. Colder but bright. Harry and Jim for straw and hay. Bob rendered [644] rest of honey, put on storm door and worked on shed. Put colts in there last night. Fifty-two pounds of honey. Put bees in granary.

20^th

First day. Meeting at home. Jim home on Smoky. Tommy Larson came for Spee, stayed dinner. Quite cold. Bob and Susie stayed over here for dinner.

21^st

Second day. Harry and Jim for two loads of straw. Mother and I mended all day. Susie washed. Mild and show flurries. Butchered black heifer from Wakes’.

22^nd

Third day. Cooler and cloudy. I did wash and hung out white things. Harry and Bob and Jim cleaned barns and worked on shed. Bob to Langham. Took meat and cream.

23^rd

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Jim hauled load of oats up. Worked on engine. Chopper broke. Bob cut up our half of beef, made dried beef. Mother and I cut up red cabbage for pickle. Marrianne came home at night.

24^th

Fifth day. Mild and very windy. Harry and Jim ditching and putting in west trough. Bob carpentering. I did ironing and washed kitchen ceiling. Mother cleaned her bedroom. Found Marrianne’s calf. Brought home Shorty.

25^th

Sixth day. Bob for mail on Smoky. Harry and Jim installed new trough for cattle. Separator not working. Cleaned bedrooms and downstairs. Put new muslin in chicken loft window, and painted perches.

26^th

Seventh day. Mary came over with lovely birthday present; a waistcoat, just what I wanted! Lovely day. Cattle out. Twenty degrees above zero. Harry and Jim and Bob fencing on bluff. Harry and Jim and I to Langham in evening. I to Scotts’.

27^th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie and children over to dinner, roast beef and boiled pudding. Lovely mild day, twenty-four degrees above zero.

28^th

Second day. Boys worked on shelter and shed, and fencing. Nice mild day. I did wash. Bob mended calf rack.

29^th

Third day. Bob over to Langham to get a government inspector regarding irrigation. Jack Gibenthal came too. I in bed with headache, up for dinner. Harry and Jim worked on shelter. Nice mild day. I for mail on Dick, and on to Wakes.’

30^th

Fourth day. Boys down to beach to pile rock. Nice mild day, thirty degrees above zero. Meeting at home. Made fruit cake. Did rug in evening.

December 1938

1^st

Fifth day. McAvoys[645] down for dinner, enjoyed having them. Harry for mail. Nice day and mild. I filled shelter walls.[646] Bob put cutter on bob-sleigh.

2^nd

Sixth day. Bob and Harry and Jim all down to beach piling rock. Nice mild day but cloudy. Mother cleaned boys’ bedroom thoroughly, took up last of tomatoes off floor.[647] I did ironing. My wrist much better.

3^rd

Seventh day. Bob and Susie to town, left girls with us. Sent my insurance money. Harry did a lot of fixing in chicken loft. Jim nearly finished shelter. We cleaned, baked and churned.

4^th

First day. Mother in bed. Meeting at home. Nice mild day, twenty degrees above. Jim found good ice for skating on river. He and Harry and I down in afternoon. Five eggs today. Harry and Jim to McAvoys’ in evening until late.

5^th

Second day. Harry up to Ranch for rest of stuff. I did special wash. Hannah Mary Crabb and Bessie down in afternoon. Very mild but windy. Bob puttied barn windows and boys’ room storm window. Bob brought Christmas cards.

6^th

Third day. Harry and Jim and Bob hauled three loads of wood. Very mild. Abe and Philip and Laura and her mother down in covered rig. Harry for mail on Smoky at night. Mother in bed. I did wash.

7^th

Fourth day. Mild and some wind. Twenty-four degrees above. Full moon. Harry and Jim and Bob cutting and hauling wood – eight loads up. Meeting at home. I did some ironing. Harry and Jim and I up to McAvoys’ for supper. Stayed very late.

8^th

Fifth day. I didn’t get up till noon. Rotten head. Boys still hauling wood – thirteen loads up. Mother baked. Hens not laying well yet – eight eggs today. Cooler, fifteen degrees above. Radio and lights still out.

9^th

Sixth day. Bob met mailman to get engine part. Got one load wood before dinner. Boys cut all day. Two loads hauled. Mother and Father up to McAvoys’ for dinner. Mild but windy. Finished ironing curtains. Bob got engine going.

10^th

Seventh day. Boys hauled five loads of wood (twenty loads) and cleaned barns out. We cleaned and baked. Roberta’s birthday. Snowed and blowed but mild.

11^th

First day. Meeting at home. Jim home on Smoky. I up to McAvoys’ on skis. Goldie McAvoy brought me home late. Nice bright day.

12^th

Second day. Mild. I did wash. Dried clothes outdoors. Boys butchered “Deanna Durbin” and hauled a load of wood. Bob fixing engine.

13^th

Third day. Jim hauled two loads wood. Bob and Harry to Borden for fish, etc., and pipe. Jim and I down for wheat. Found Cyntha with calf. Cold day and windy.

14^th

Fourth day. Harry and Jim hauled wood. Bob and I killed and plucked five roosters. Bob cut and packed meat. I painted dresser and sink and door. Mild. Harry and Jim to McAvoy’s. Betty and Kitty calved.

15^th

Fifth day. Bob and Harry to Langham for truck, etc. all day. Snowed most of day. Jim hauled wood – two loads.

16^th

Sixth day. Harry up to help McAvoys cut wood. Got mail. Letter from Edith. Blanche and Goldie[648] down to supper. Went skating. Nice and mild. Snow on ice.

17^th

Seventh day. Harry and Bob over to Langham to see government men re: pasture, etc. Away all day. Jim cleaned out all the barns. I washed bedroom and bathroom. Fairly mild. Boys brought Ivy[649] over.

18^th

First day. Ivy stayed overnight. Bob took her up to Oscar’s in morning. Boys went skiing in afternoon. Nice mild day. Jim over to McAvoys’ in evening.

19^th

Second day. I did wash. Boys hauled hay and cleaned barns. Bob working on engine – started making skis.

20^th

Third day. Bob over to Langham for Mr. Waters – government inspector. Stayed till after dinner. Very nice. Oscar and Lillian brought Ivy back. Boys took her to Langham. Bought mare and colt, $25 and $75.

21^st

Fourth day. Harry and Jim hauled two loads straw from Cyril Golding’s. Used King and new mare Molly. Bob and I did milking and chores. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie and children and I down and cleared rink.

22^nd

Fifth day. Harry and Jim for straw. Mild. Jim and I to McAvoys’ for supper.

23^rd

Sixth day. Getting ready to go to the City. Susie and Bob and the children up to School House.[650] Took Mother to Wakes. Nice day. Colts got out. Donna Lucia had heifer calf. Harry and Jim hauled straw.

24^th

Seventh day. Bob took Jim and Harry and I to Langham, caught train to Saskatoon. Harry and I to Joe’s and on to Edith and Ed’s to dinner. I to dentist – tooth filled – two dollars. Met Harry, went shopping. Harry and Herdis and Edith and I to show, “Wide Open Faces.”[651] Blizzard at night.

25^th

First day. Up late. Daisie and Eric and I down to Len’s for turkey dinner. Nice time, but home early. Harry stayed. Had Christmas tree and Eric as Santa. I home at noon. Folks gave me bookends, was I tickled! Very cold.

26^th

Second day. Very cold. Daisie stayed home. By one o’clock Edith and I washed all the dishes in cupboard, cleaned silver and woodwork. Len and Ruth and Roger and Harry came. Big supper, two turkeys, played games till late.

27^th

Third day. Daisie home. Slept until one o’clock. Still very cold. We all knitted and talked. Got ready to go to train. Phoned home – Bob unable to meet us so we stayed on. Played games, late to bed.

28^th

Fourth day. Harry stayed and I slept with Herdis and Alma. Still very cold. Harry buying pipes, etc. We had quiet day. Alma and Herdis and I to Roxy in evening, “White Banners,”[652] and a Sonja Heinie movie – very good.

29^th

Fifth day. Edith Burbidge came and we had a party and lots of fun. Mother phoned – arranged to go back tomorrow. To bed late. Still pretty cold.

30^th

Sixth day. Daisie and Edith made overlay and I knitted baby’s sweater and Edith the pants. Packed all our things and Eric came with us to station. Ruth and Roger there. Train late. Bought books at Eaton’s. Bob met us in Langham and so home.

31^st

Seventh day. Mother very tired. Much milder. Did some cleaning. B. and Goldie McAvoy down after supper. Bob and Harry and B. and Jim and I down skating. Took team and had a good time.

January 1939

1^st

First day. Meeting at home. Nice bright day, and quiet. Jim over to McAvoy’s for super, home late. I reading “From Cowboy to Pulpit.”[653]

2^nd

Second day. Cleaned house through and did some cooking. Pretty lazy. Made ice cream. McAvoys down for supper and evening – had lots of fun. Bob and Susie over. Too windy to skate.

3^rd

Third day. Mild - zero. Harry looked up colts, did not see Corky and Telka, got mail. Jim cleaned barns and hauled hay. Bob trying to mend engine. Harry banked house with snow.

4^th

Fourth day. Ma and Pa up to Wakes’ for Monthly Meeting; nice mild day. Bob to Langham. Harry put lights in shed and alley. Jim put more snow around house. I feeling tough. Found Delilah’s calf dead.

5^th

Fifth day. Harry took three veals to Langham. Went to Thiessen’s and settled with him. Sadie came with Cornie and Billy M.[654] Bob went skating with them. Played games in evening. Veal brought $42.00.

6^th

Sixth day. Mild. Goldie down to help saw wood. Couldn’t get engine to go. All worked on it all day and skinned Jim’s coyote. Harry and Jim and Sadie and I down skating at night. Boys cleared more rink. Harry got colt back, and mail.

7^th

Seventh day. Sadie and I to Bob’s to dinner and skied up to McAvoy’s for supper, and down for skating right after. Billy M. down, had good skating party and lunch after. Boys sawed wood.

8^th

First day. Rained last night a little – 32 degrees above. Billy stayed all night. Jim over to Langham with McAvoys. We skied a little in afternoon. To bed early.

9^th

Second day. Did three weeks’ wash. Sadie over to see “Blanche.” Arthur and Billie over at night. Billie and I played tennis. Boys cleaned barns and hauled straw. Bob did skis. Killed white-eye heifer.

10^th

Third day. Harry took Bob to catch train, stayed all day. Arel calved. Jim hauled hay. H. McAvoy and Harold down to dinner. Skating at night. Billy M. down and McAvoys. Sadie and I slept at Susie’s.

11^th

Fourth day. Hired man came for Sadie, stayed dinner. Folded clothes. Boys cleaned out ice well. Got chicken wheat up. Very mild weather, fifteen degrees above. Inclined to snow.

12^th

Fifth day. Mild – 30 degrees above zero. Jim hauled hay, Harry did odd jobs. Took foxtail[655] out of Delilah’s mouth. Mended roof and trough. I did ironing.

13^th

Sixth day. Jim to Langham with G. McAvoy to see doctor. Harry started to Borden but got mail and came back. Snowing and blowing. I finished ironing. Painted door and cleaned bedrooms.

14^th

Seventh day. Susie to Saskatoon. I over there looking after children all day. Made butter and cake. Susie and Bob back at night. Jim not well. Harry bad cold. Ten degrees below zero. Lots of snow. Joshua back from Ontario.[656]

15^th

First day. Meeting at home. Busy most of day. Bob and Susie and children over for dinner. Jim and I up to McAvoy’s for supper and evening. Barney and Dick. Harry not feeling well, has pain on left side chest. Colder. Ten degrees below zero.

16^th

Second day. Harry in bed all day. Bob and Jim got a load of wood to take to Langham. Put down beef. Ten degrees below zero – warmer. I did wash, hung clothes out.

17^th

Third day. Hoarfrost and mild. Ten degrees above zero. Bob to Langham with load of wood for Carruthers’. Jim up on Mike to Thirty-six. Took colts and cut wood and got mail. My ski suit came, and his card for Government. Harry still in bed. Jim over to McAvoys at night.

18^th

Fourth day. Bob and Jim cut load of wood. Bob took it to Langham in afternoon to Carruthers’. Jack having fire sale. [657] Harry a little better. I did ironing. Still mild and hoarfrost.

19^th

Fifth day. Mild. Jim hauled hay. Bob brought beef in. we cut up front quarter for canning. Good beef. Harry up and out a little. Jim and Bob hauled five loads ice from river. Jim to Cooks’ for supper.

20^th

Sixth day. Bob to town, took quarter of beef to Abe Newbold. Still very mild, but windy and blizzardy at night. Harry and Jim hauled hay and straw. We canning meat.

21^st

Seventh day. Colder. Thirty degrees below zero. Joshua took J. Main[658] to train. Left Sissie here and came back for dinner. Had nice visit. Did some cleaning. Harry cleaned chickens. Bob made skis.

22^nd

First day. Meeting at home. Nice day. Ten degrees above. I went skiing. Not very good. Jim at McAvoy’s all day – home for chores. Sadie phoned from Borden.

23^rd

Second day. Bob and Jim got one load of wood and bob took it to Langham. Harry chored and fixed spring. Mother and I up to McAvoys’. Blanche came down with us, lay down most of day. Jim took her back. Mild but blowing.

24^th

Third day. Harry got mail on Mike. Bob and Jim for wood. Bob to Langham with load. I did wash. Susie went skiing. Jim to McAvoy’s.

25^th

Fourth day. Mild but windy. Bob brought the beef and we canned seven quarts and cut seven more. Bob and Harry up to school meeting in afternoon. Put colts on west Thirty-six. I went for them on Mike.

26^th

Fifth day. Boys took colts up to west Thirty-six, came home alone. Bob and Jim cut load of wood. Bob took it to Langham in afternoon. Harry mended chimney. Jim hauled one load of hay. Susie and I went skiing. Lovely day. Ten degrees above. Jim to McAvoy’s.

27^th

Sixth day. Jim and Bob for wood. Bob took to Langham. Sent Olive’s album and gloves to Ed, and money to Daisie. Harry took oats to horses and tried to find Kitty and got mail. Mild but windy.

28^th

Seventh day. Got work done early. Made pies, fixed chickens and baked bread. Bob put harness on skiis, and he and Susie skiing. Bob and Harry and Jim and I with McAvoys to Langham to skate. Zero. Fairly mild.

29^th

First day. Meeting at home. Zero and snowing a little. Bob and Susie up to McCheanes’. Harry not feeling well. Jim up to McAvoy’s to supper.

30^th

Second day. Harry still not well, making Government bills[659] all day. Colder. Kitty came home and I put her in. Jim and Bob hauled one load wood up to McAvoy’s in afternoon, to cut wood – engine balked.

31^st

Third day. Twenty degrees below zero. Jim hauled straw from below. Harry and Bob busy with Ranch accounts. Susie and I went skiing. New skiis great! I did small wash. Father and Mother making second rug. I to McAvoys.

February 1939

1^st

Fourth day. Temperature thirty degrees below zero. Bright. Harry in bed. Bob and Jim for load of wood. I went with them and on to McAvoys’ Goldie brought me back. Joshua took Harry to Langham. Washed Harry’s leather jacket.

2^nd

Fifth day. Thirty degrees below zero. I did ironing. Jim hauled straw. Bob put harness on second pair of skis. Horses came home. I fed them oats, pretty thin.[660] Mother finished gloves for Edward. I to McAvoys’.

3^rd

Sixth day. Still cold, minus twenty at noon. Bob to Langham. Jim for mail on Mike. Bob to meet Harry who walked from Borden.[661] Horses home again. Fed them below. Troughs frozen.

4^th

Seventh day. Woke with headache. Jim to Saskatoon – Goldie took him and Blanche to Langham. Harry and Bob worked on water troughs – got them going. We did very little cleaning. Minus twenty degrees at noon. Full moon.

5^th

First day. Minus thirty first thing, cloudy. Jim home last night late. Meeting at home. Wrote to Olive and Harold. Jim to McAvoys’ at night.

6^th

Second day. Minus thirty. Mother not well. We churned and I finished painting finishing strips. Harry and Bob cut brush. Jim hauled straw and hay. Harry banked up around cellarway door.

7^th

Third day. Very cold. Jim hauled hay and straw. Bob and Harry cut brush on slough and irrigation garden. Mother not well. I made cookies and cleaned rack. Not above forty degrees above zero all day, and windy. I up to McAvoys’.

8^th

Fourth day. Clear and very cold – minus forty. I did wash, used hard water, as tank is frozen. Harry and Bob cutting brush. Jim hauling straw and manure. Put seven horses up on west thirty-six. Mother still under the weather.

9^th

Fifth day. I up to McAvoys’. Harry took horses up to west Thirty-six. Put Molly with the others. Found Telka down, brought her home, very thin and lame. Jim chored and hauled hay and straw. Bob and Harry cutting brush in afternoon. Very cold – minus forty. Sunny. Susie sick. Harry got mail from McAvoys’.

10^th

Sixth day. Cleaned house through. Made nut loaf. Mother in bed until noon. McAvoys down for supper. Played Flinch in evening. Bob and Susie over. Harry and Bob cut brush. Very cold and bright. Minus twenty-four at noon. Jim got mail, two parcels came.

11^th

Seventh day. I did ironing. Mother feeling better. Made cake for Harry’s birthday. Bob to Langham all day, posted all the mail. Harry gentled Telka and halter-broke her, and cut brush in afternoon. Jim chored and to McAvoys’ at night. Cold and windy.

12^th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie to dinner. Jim over home on Dick. Very cold – minus thirty and strong wind. Lily just finished blooming, another coming. Jim to McAvoys’ in evening.

13^th

Second day. Did wash, put it out. Harry mending trough and Bob putting in props under house. Sawing wood in afternoon. Goldie came and helped. Blanche and I went skiing. Cold wind – very – minus thirty in morning.

14^th

Third day. Harry and Bob to Borden with Joshua re: Ranch accounts. Jim hauled straw and oats. Got bag of wheat for hens. I cleaned pantry. Mother made six dish towels. Very cold – fifty degrees below zero. Clear and sunny. Kitty came back.

15^th

Fourth day. Moderating temperatures at noon and bright but windy. Harry and Bob got one load of straw from Cyril Golding. Eight mares, four horses. Jim used Jessie and Barney – quite peppy – hauled one load hay. Cleaned hen loft. I did ironing. Mother made cookies.

16^th

Fifth day. Goldie McAvoy got load of wood here to take to Langham – took letters and got groceries for us. I up to see Blanche after dinner. They brought me back after supper. Harry and Bob got load of straw. Home early. Mild day.

17^th

Sixth day. I cleaned bedrooms and Mother and I went for mail in cutter. Barney and Jess went good. Got milk from McAvoys’. Bob took three calves – Enid, Skippy and Trixie – to Dalmeny to ship. Got lumber for ditcher. [662] Mild and windy – thirty-five degrees above. I to McAvoys’.

18^th

Seventh day. Snowing – a real blizzard. Deep drifts. Did very little cleaning. Boys around all day. Made apron for Blanche McAvoy. Jim up there at night. Mother made patchwork cover for couch. I started cushion of silk.

19^th

First day. Fifty degrees above zero in morning. Bright. Meeting at home. Wrote to George Williams. Jim to McAvoys’ to supper. Boys hauled a little straw for cattle below. Bunny lame.

20^th

Second day. Jim did chores and hauled a little straw. Up to help Goldie saw wood in afternoon. Harry and Bob working on ditcher. Bright day, minus seven at noon. I did wash. Mother sewing.

21^st

Third day. Jim chored and went up to help saw wood, brought load of wood back. Harry and Bob finished ditcher. Harry and I up to Hynds’ to supper. Trail very bad - Barney and Mike. About minus twenty-five.

22^nd

Fourth day. Milder. Ten degrees above. Harry and Bob up to Wakes’ to check up on Ranch accounts, brought Carl B’s[663] records down. Jim chored and hauled one load hay. Susie and I skied a little.

23^rd

Fifth day. Mild. Bob got load of mill feed from Borden. Jim chored. Two loads hay to stackyard. Harry cleaned up workshop. Jim out, Harold Edney down. I cleaned parlour thoroughly.

24^th

Sixth day. Minus thirty. Up to zero. Bob to Langham, took Harold, got blacksmith work done for grader. Got coal shorts[664] and gas. Got cheque for veals – for the three, $37.00. Jim and Harry cleaned out calf pen. I up on Jessie to talk to Blanche.

25^th

Seventh day. Mild. Jim chored, to Langham at night. Bob and Harry and I up to Halcyonia, Annual Ranch meeting. I stayed at Saloways’. Good meeting. Howard Buswell,[665] director. Boys back to supper, also Joshua.

26^th

First day. Mild but cold wind. Jim up to Cooks’. I stayed home with Peggy, had nice quiet day.

27^th

Second day. Ten degrees above. Jim chored. Bob and Harry hauled one big load of straw from Cyril Golding’s – four horses. I had nice quiet day at Saloways’. Goldie McAvoy up for straw – stayed dinner. Tipped over four times.

28^th

Third day. Fair, twenty degrees above, to ten degrees below. Cloudy. Jim chored. Harry and Bob for two loads straw – six horses. I up late, Goldie McAvoy to dinner. Phoned home.

March 1939

1^st

Fourth day. Zero degrees. Cloudy and south wind. Jim chored, Bob and Harry for two loads straw from Cyril Golding – upset on hill,[666] late afternoon. Jim to McAvoys, Clayton sick. Goldie McAvoy up for straw. Peggy and I over to see Lila.

2^nd

Fifth day. Bessie came for me in open rig and Smoky. To Crabbs for dinner. Laurie and Hannah Mary brought me down. Blowing hard. Stayed supper and evening. Harry and Bob for two loads straw. Jim choring –feeling grim.

3^rd

Sixth day. Harry and Bob to Borden, load of pipes – home late. Roberta sick. Jim chored and hauled hay. To bed without supper – sick. Cold – about twenty degrees below.

4^th

Seventh day. Minus twenty and bright. Abe and Laura down. Jim still sick. Roberta better. Harold Edney came over from Langham, up to Crabbs with Abe. Laura stayed. Jim up to McAvoys’ at night.

5^th

First day. Thirty degrees below. Meeting at home. Bob and Susie and Laura and children over to dinner, nice day. Bright. Zero at noon. Roberta fairly well. Jim home on Dick, home very late.

6^th

Second day. Woke with headache, in bed until noon. Forty-five below zero, up to zero at noon, and bright. Harry and Bob and Jim over to Langham. Jim stayed. Boys had talk with Mr. and Mrs. Scott. I did some hand washing. Mother sewed.

7^th

Third day. Harry went to meet Mrs. Scott and took her to McAvoys’, here to dinner. Bob took her back to Langham. I did wash. Laura went skiing. Cloudy and a little snow and mild.

8^th

Fourth day. Mild – up to ten degrees above. Melting in sun. Rinsed and hung out clothes. Susie and Laura and I had swell ski. Meeting at home. Bob up to Wakes’ at night. Bob and Harry fixed trough and started to install blower. Billy the Kid down.

9^th

Fifth day. I did ironing. Mother cleaned her bedroom. I rode Jess over to Hynds’. Got third day’s mail on way. Mild but snowing and blowing. Susie and Laura and I skied – good snow.

10^th

Sixth day. I stayed at Hynds’ and Harry came in evening, and he and Billie and Sadie and I went to Meisters’ farewell party. Home four-thirty. George Hynd and Billie Wake got home from trip with milkman. Fog at night.

11^th

Seventh day. We did cleaning, boys chored and put blower in place.

12^th

First day. Boys late. Harry and Bob choring and surveying on flats. Zero all day. Meeting at home. Jim home with team. Harry and I up to see horses on skis. Had great ski!! Good snow.

13^th

Second day. Cold and blizzardy all day. No one did any more than was necessary. I felt stiff after yesterday’s skiing. Jim brought oats up.

14^th

Third day. Did the wash. Bob and Harry mending the cutter. Jim hauled one load hay. Susie and Laura and I went skiing. Not so good, but we had good fun. Ten degrees below, to zero. Twenty degrees below at night. Bright.

15^th

Fourth day. Twenty degrees below zero at noon. Cold wind. Harry to town for screenings.[667] Bob working on cutter. Jim chored and cleaned pens. Brought wheat up for hens. Twenty-eight eggs. Mother and I sewed quilts and mending. Meeting at home. Lenore had spotted calf.

16^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob for two loads of straw from J. Tallis’s – home late. Jim chored and hauled hay. Cold at night - cold wind all day. I did ironing.

17^th

Sixth day. Cold wind. Bob and Harry worked on cutter. Harry for mail and mending troughs and hauling manure. Jim chored. I cleaned my bedroom and painted stairs. Mother took stair linoleum up.

18^th

Seventh day. Dull and mild, forty degrees above. Harry and bob up to Saloways for straw – two loads. Jim cleaned out barn. We churned and cleaned. Had snowball fight. Skiing no good.

19^th

First day. Mild and bright. Thirty-eight degrees above. Trickled past door. Meeting at home. Made ice cream. Jim walked over home. Hills becoming bare.

20^th

Second day. Forty degrees above zero. Harry and Bob too, cream and eggs to town. Brought back manure spreader[668] – away all day. I did wash. Mother mended mattress for bunk house. Jim chored and hauled hay.

21^st

Third day. Harry and Jim for straw to Saloways – home early, trails going fast.

Water trickling past door. Bob working on cutter. I painted dish rack. Mother and I finished mattress.

22^nd

Fourth day. Water running fast. Harry took twenty-five bushels of wheat to Langham – got $13.00 - #3.[669] Bob worked on cutter. Meeting at home. Jim chored. Horses stayed out. I did ironing. Put up six quarts meat. FloraDora calved.

23^rd

Fifth day. A little cooler, water ran a little. Harry to Langham for seed wheat, took twenty-seven bushels in. Trail poor. Bob worked on cutter. Found Marion and Pansy down, dragged them home. I did some painting.

24^th

Sixth day. Harry took wheat to Langham. Got lino for Eric. Bob worked on covered cutter. Jim hauled hay from flats. Pansy and Marion got up. Mother cleaned her bedroom thoroughly. I did some painting.

25^th

Seventh day. Cloudy and cool and windy. Mother and I both headachy, I up late. Harry for mail on Mike. Note from Daisie. Bob worked on closed rig. Jim home on Dick.

26^th

First day. Meeting at home. Quiet day. Jim back very late, having gone to McAvoys’.

27^th

Second day. Took parlour linoleum and fitted it into boys’ bedroom. Put Daisie’s lino down in parlour. Cleaned chimney and pipes. Harry helped. Bob to Langham, took engine. Jim oiled harness.

28^th

Third day. Mild. Water running. Bob worked on closed rig. Harry and Jim hauled hay from below. I started wash. Mary McCheane and Philip came to dinner from Langham. Stayed and talked. Put white clothes out.

29^th

Fourth day. I finished wash, a big one. Bob took light engine again to Langham, also separator. Jim mended and oiled harness. Harry ran water into tank. Found Pansy dead.

30^th

Fifth day. Boys got up early and skinned cow, and both rode to Borden to A. Elliott’s funeral. Mother and I to Wakes for half pig. Home and cut up and salted it, and made sausages. I did some ironing. Boys home late. Jim to Cooks’ and home very late.

31^st

Sixth day. Boys cut wood and took Jim over river in afternoon. (Goodbye Jim and we’re not sorry.) McAvoys gone too – wonderful!! Terrible trails! I up to help clean Meeting House, Mary McCheane and Helen. Got mail.

April 1939

1^st

Seventh day. I in bed most of day, bad head and stomach pain. Mother swamped with work. Made a canned sausage, finished ironing. Jim sharpened stakes. Bob worked on closed rig. Harry chored and mended. Warm and bright, water running fast.

2^nd

First day. Felt better. Cloudy and cool. Cattle stayed out last night. Bob and Susie and children and I went for a walk. Harry by himself. I had bath at night. No electric lights and very little coal oil.

3^rd

Second day. Cold – twenty degrees above, snowing and blowing. Cattle and colts out. Harry went on Kitty and got Mike. To bed in the dark. Bob put stair linoleum down. I cleaned my room. Mother cleaned all windows and frames.

4^th

Third day. Colder – ten degrees above zero, and strong wind. Snowing at night. Bob worked at forge on harrow teeth and finished cutter. Mother cleaned pantry and put linoleum on cupboards, etc. I made cookies. Harry got mail. Marigold home with calf.

5^th

Fourth day. Bob worked on little engine and got it going.[670] Harry got Bennett buggy going, found river crossing no good. I did wash. Harold Edney came, stayed over. Cold and strong wind. I started sweater.

6^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob and Harold sawed wood. Bob worked on harrows. Harry got ready and went to meet Edith and Len at CeePee. Long trip, trails almost impossible. Warmer, melting. Harold walked up to Crabbs.

7^th

Sixth day. Joshua brought cow down. Brought mail – mailman did not come. Snowed a little, and melted. Harry and Len went surveying.[671] Bob working in workshop.

8^th

Seventh day. Len barked logs.[672] Harry and Bob went for pig from Nick (Strelioff,) and McCheane’s for seed. Took all day. Henry Badman down. Rain and snowing, very wet and muddy.

9^th

First day. Harry took Len to train at CeePee. Home for late supper. We had Meeting at home. Edith over to Bob and Susie’s for dinner. Cloudy and fairly cold.

10^th

Second day. Cold and windy. Bob and Harry worked in workshop. We tided up house and mended stockings. Gordon’s fine.

11^th

Third day. I did wash. Nice day but cool. Harry and Bob peeled logs. Harry went for mail in evening. Father and Mother got several cards. Got oil from Wakes’ for engine.

12^th

Fourth day. Golden Wedding Day! Bob and Harry peeled logs and cleaned barns, using manure spreader. Put separator in basement. Meeting at home. Crabbs and McCheanes and Joshua down for supper. Had nice time. Lovely day, late.

13^th

Fifth day. All pretty tired. Edith and I hauled flat rocks from hill and laid them in yard. Bob and Harry finished peeling logs, put cutter in loft, oiled and mended collars and harness. Bright and warm and muddy.

14^th

Sixth day. Harry for mail on Dick, brought Jerry in. Bob fed bees – seem in good shape. We finished the ironing. Cooler.

15^th

Seventh day. Cold and cloudy, snowed at night. Harry and Bob to town, Borden. Brought back furniture – very nice, chair and chesterfield.

16^th

First day. Cool and cloudy and windy. Meeting at home. Snow on ground – three inches.

17^th

Second day. I did wash. Edith sewing. Harry brought all the cattle in and they treated them with derris root.[673] All the horses in too, sent work horses east and the others west. Kept Molly in. Warmer and brighter.

18^th

Third day. Had Meeting by mistake of one day. Boys cleaning oats. I did ironing with Edith’s help. I for mail on Smoky. Brought Mike and Bunny in. Gordon fell with carriage, crushed fingernail. Warm and bright. River breaking up.

19^th

Fourth day. Harry started early for Langham to get calf from George Bask.[674] Back in good time. Cool and cloudy and windy. Bob and Pa cleaned barley and rye. Brought up load of feed. I made saddle pad.

20^th

Fifth day. Bright and sunny. New calf a beauty. Poohbar.

21^st

Sixth day. Edith and I drove to mail. The baby chicks came. Trails getting better. Harry brought Goofy home with calf.

22^nd

Seventh day. Harry took Edith to Borden to catch train.

23^rd

First day. Bob and Susie and children up to Great Deer. Took Mary Rempel. Harry round to see all the animals. I in bed all day, very miserable –flu, I guess. Lovely bright day.

24^th

Second day. I felt punk. Bob burnt manure off east garden – got it ready to plow. Harry raked Russian thistle. Cloudy and mild.

25^th

Third day. I did wash. Bob and Harry and Susie and Father planted potatoes in new east garden. Bob plowed small east garden. Harry got ready to go up to Ranch. Chicks doing good.

26^th

Fourth day. Harry and I got ready two rigs and drove up to Ranch. Nice warm day. I cleaned shack. Harry went fencing. I home on rack. Father and Susie planted east garden. Bob disked on Thirty-six and worked on road.

27^th

Fifth day. Bob disked on Thirty-six and down on flats. Very hot. Mother made cookies. I not feeling good, but planted some on rockery. Went up to see horses. Found Gay with foal. Got Third Day’s mail.

28^th

Sixth day. Pa took cream and eggs and got mail and gopher poison. I did the ironing. Very hot day. Bob working with team. Harry fencing up at Ranch.

29^th

Seventh day. Bob harrowing down below. Fired brush. Harry home by noon. He and Mother to town in car – home very late. Very windy all night, worked about bush fire. Pa did some poisoning.

30^th

First day. To Meeting in car. First time. I went up to Ranch on Spee, and let three cattle out of corral. On to McCheane’s. Home late. Nice day but windy.

May 1939

1^st

Second day. I in bed – felt rotten. Bob away all day, vaccinating horses. Harry over river on Smoky for Langham cattle. Cooler and cloudy. Pendergast[675] came.

2^nd

Third day. Stomach cramps. Didn’t get much done. Chicks growing fine. Washed tent floor. Pa and I cultivated top garden. Bob harrowed in morning and was away all afternoon. Got load of feed after supper. Abe Newbold came and took three calves – Skippy, Velveeta and Jeeves.

3^rd

Fourth day. I did wash. Harry came down on Smoky. Bob drilling barley on slough. Harry phoned Saskatoon re: man – came on evening train. “Tom Needham.” Harry and Pa and I poisoned gophers on slough. Warm.

4^th

Fifth day. Harry and Tom got horses in from west and vaccinated them all. Had to go to town for needles. Sent for car license. Bob seeding. Very nice day. Got boys ready to go to Ranch.

5^th

Sixth day. Pa took cream and eggs, got mail. I did some ironing, Mother finished it. Harry and Tom up to Ranch. Bob seeding. I harrowed in afternoon. Cloudy and windy.

6^th

Seventh day. King George VI and Queen started for Canada. I went for Tommy, who went west in night. Cleaned my bedroom. Took team in afternoon harrowing. Harry and Tom home at night. Cloudy and cool.

7^th

First day. Windy and cool. Woke with headache. Folks to Meeting. Mary Rempel[676] walked down from Wakes. Mother up to Overseer’s Meeting. Took Mary home at night and got Mother.

8^th

Second day. Harry and Tom and I took ours and Wakes’ cattle up to

Ranch. Slow trip. Warm and bright, windy and stormy in evening. Bob harrowed and came up to Ranch in car; I came back with him. Father and Mother mended tent.

9^th

Third day. Cold and cloudy and windy. Bob and I earmarked[677] and inoculated the ten calves left at home. Bob plowed irrigation garden and planked trail. [678]

10^th

Fourth day. Bob cultivated on Twenty-six, home for dinner. We covered car door. I enameled bath again. Pa and Susie and I to Monthly Meeting in Bennett buggy. No word from Harry and Tom at Ranch. Cool, showery and windy.

11^th

Fifth day. Bob away all day, inoculating horses. We had to push car to start. George Hynd down for fanning mill, stayed dinner. I did wash. Harry and Tom phoned from George Walker’s on way to Borden for stock. Warmer.

12^th

Sixth day. Bob away again all day. Got new tire, took cream and eggs and brought back cans and mail. Susie and I cleaned path to pool and cleaned it out some. Mother not feeling well. Nice day.

13^th

Seventh day. Bob cultivated on Twenty-six. We did ironing and cleaned house. Put up tent and made bed. Harry and Tom home at night.

14^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. Nice sunny day and quiet.

15^th

Second day. Cloudy and fairly warm. Tom brought horses in. Winnie cut leg, Buck got sliver in hock. Inoculated horses – big job. Sewed my dress. Bob seeded wheat on Twenty-six. Boys left for Ranch. Jewel missing.

16^th

Third day. Pa took can of cream and went raking on Twenty-six. Bob seeding up there. I took his team and harrowed in afternoon. Rode Dick. Mother and I did wash. Harry and Tom collected members’ colts.

17^th

Fourth day. Bob away early to Ranch, away all day. I went to look at colts and mares, and for mail. Letter from Daisie. Pa planting in irrigation garden. I planted maple by icehouse. Warm and showery. Did ironing.

18^th

Fifth day. Nice day but cool.

19^th

Sixth day. (No entry.)

20^th

Seventh day. Bob cultivating on Twenty-six. We cleaned house. Harry home at noon. He and I got ready and went to Saskatoon. Went to Ruth’s first, and on to Pool[679] and Edith’s. Saw “The Citadel”[680] in the evening. Tom home at night from Ranch.

21^st

First day. All went to see Uncle Joe. Edith Burbage took Daisie and I. Harry and Eric and Daisie and I to Ruth’s for supper. Very nice time. Home in good time. Cloudy.

22^nd

Second day. Daisie and I went shopping. Got dress from Liliha’s, groceries, etc. Car being mended. Party of us went to see “Spawn of the North.”[681] Very good. Got chair for Community gift.

23^rd

Third day. Cloudy. Harry for car. Daisie and Eric and I packed up and got away by 11 o’clock. Called for Ruth. Home for late dinner. Boys went ditching in bog, with new ditcher.

24^th

Fourth day. Very busy getting ready for picnic. Folks arrived after dinner, nice crowd. Good time had by all. Presented chair and small table to Father and Mother. Cloudy, but warm. Frank and Freddy and Doug Wake came.

25^th

Fifth day. Everybody kind of tired and did very little. Knitted and mended. Tom and Pa planted potatoes in irrigation garden. Bob plowing on Twenty-six. Harry went looking for Jewel on Tommy.

26^th

Sixth day. Bob working on Twenty-six. Tom hauling manure onto garden. Harry and Mother to town, got mail. Tom and Harry to Radisson in afternoon on Bronc and Tommy. Bob and I did wash.

27^th

Seventh day. Harry and Tom came from Radisson with mixed bunch. I rode up to top corral to meet men from Blaine Lake. Eight horses. Met boys at shack. Got supper and came home late.

28^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. I had bath and rested. They up to Saloways for tea, Ruth and Pa and Mother and Bob. Bob and Susie to bridge to see Olga. Nice warm day. Harry and Tom home for supper.

29^th

Second day. Bob and Tom took five cows and calves up to Ranch. Harry and I took our colts up to Stella’s. Vaccinated and branded and put in middle pasture. Forty-two head cattle. George Walker and Ab Williams down and helped castrate eight colts.

30^th

Third day. Bob and Mother to town, got present for Wilfred Brunst. Bob and I up to Ranch. Colt very sick. Saw Lasca with buckskin colt. Rained quite a lot. Home late.

31^st

Fourth day. Bob took King up to Thirty-six and mares. Cultivated front garden. We made butter. Planted marrows out. Bob up to Ranch in afternoon. Philip Siemens down for cultivator. Floss has colt. Nice warm day. All up to Wilfred Brunst’s for campfire.

June 1939

1^st

Fifth day. Nice day but cool. Ruth and I did washing. Bob plowing on Twenty-six. Pa planting front garden. WOW (William Oliver Wake – Billie) down and took Mother and Ruth up to their place to supper. Bob up to Eastes’ to do colts. Jessie June 1^st.

2^nd

Sixth day. Nice day but cool wind. Ruth did ironing and we cleaned house, and I made buns and cookies. Bob plowing on Twenty-six, up to Ranch in late afternoon. Pa weeding in east garden. Harry home in car. Colt sick. I up with him, home late.

3^rd

Seventh day. Up early and Harry and Tom and Ruth and Roger and I drove to Saskatoon. Harry and I to Edith’s. Busy until afternoon, when King and Queen went by. Saw them three times. Lots of people and then to see “Drums.”[682] Late to bed.

4^th

First day. Up late, had breakfast, down to Ruth’s and picked Tom up and so on home. Cloudy and cool. Found Billy Meakin and Abe Rempel down here visiting.

5^th

Second day. Cool and wet – rained in night and most of day. Boys worked around here. We mended, made butter and cake. Bob and Susie papered their parlour. Got colts in at night.

6^th

Third day. Rained pretty steady all day, a real rain. Got colts in again at night. King cut up some in Duncan’s fence. Cleaned beans. Mother baked. Fixed coat and we knitted.

7^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Tom got team in and hauled a load of oats and wheat. Harry home working barn. Bob mending my bed. Mother and I wrote letters and wrapped parcels. Bob to Hynds’ to do colts – brought mail back.

8^th

Fifth day. Bright and sunny. Bob seeding oats. Harry up to Ranch. Pa drove team back. Tom whitewashed barn and cellar, cut alfalfa one end. Some frost last night, not much damage. Did big wash and cleaned kitchen up.

9^th

Sixth day. Nice day. Did ironing. Harry still away. Got Jewel from Brunsts’, leg cut. Bob plowing on Twenty-six. Tom whitewashed and cleaned chicken loft. Made good job. Cleaned porch and Mother’s bedroom. Harry home on Fox.

10^th

Seventh day. Tom cultivated gardens. Bob finished drilling on Twenty-six. Harry up to Ranch at noon, home at night in wagon. We did cleaning. Tom raked alfalfa. Sadie down at night.

11^th

First day. Bob and Susie and children to Great Deer and Hepburn. Father and Mother and Harry to Meeting in buggy. Sadie and I cleared up and got dinner. I took Sadie home with team and rig.

12^th

Second day. Harry rode Bunny and went up phone line. Tom took wagon and stakes. Bob harrowed and went over road – hauled the alfalfa. I did the wash. Nice day but still cool.

13^th

Third day. Bob cultivated on Thirty-six. Engineers came.[683] Bob with them all afternoon. Here to dinner. I did ironing. Mother planted out a lot of seedlings. Bessie Crabb down to supper. Harry and Tom home at night.

14^th

Fourth day. Molly has black mare foal. Harry up to find our colts – they got out of Stella’s. Bob to town with wheat – twenty-odd bushels. Tom hauled manure with spreader. I trained Buck and Briton some.

15^th

Fifth day. Cloudy and cool, sunny in morning. Bob plowing summer fallow on Twenty-six. Harry and Tom training colts. Subdued Briton and hitched up Buck, I helped. Mother sewing. Pa weeding. Tom helped some.

16^th

Sixth day. Bob finished plowing on Twenty-six by late noon. Training colts. Harry and Tom took cream with Buck. Hauled manure from cattle shelter – thirteen loads. Cloudy and cool. We did some cleaning. Bob went for mail in car at night.

17^th

Seventh day. Cloudy and cool. Bob plowing down below using Jessie. Harry and tom hauling manure, and ditching in bog. Fourteen loads, spreading it on summer fallow. We baked and did cleaning.

18^th

First day. Raining and Meeting at home. Quiet day. Got colts in at night, except Molly’s.

19^th

Second day. Bob and Harry and Tom ditching down to irrigation garden all day. Harry to Ranch at night. I did the wash. Cloudy but warmer. Spee’s leg still bad.

20^th

Third day. Bob plowing summer fallow. Harry rode all day – forty horses out, home at night. Mother and Father took cream and on to Wakes’, got mail – letter from Daisie. Tom put up chicken fence, cut hay. Showery.

21^st

Fourth day. I did ironing. Bob plowed in morning – took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting in afternoon. To Hynds’ at night to do colts. Tom took team. Harry not well all day. Warmer.

22^nd

Fifth day. Harry and Bob to Saskatoon to convention. Tom took team plowing. Fairly warm, rained at night. Auntie Margaret down for the day. We took it easy. Boys stayed away.

23^rd

Sixth day. Father took cream – got mail. Photos[684] came. Harry and Bob back by way of Ranch – took in seven horses. Home for supper. Bob and Harry and tom over to Hynds’ to help with move. Fred and Margery came. Fred and Margery for grasshopper poison.

24th

Seventh day. (No entry.)

25^th

First day. Dull and showery and trails muddy. Meeting at home. Hannah Mary and Laurie Crabb down to supper. Brought Mother and Father a box of chocolates.

26^th

Second day. Still raining. We packed up and went to Ranch, Harry on Fox, Tom and I in buggy. Fred Thiessen came. We made a good cleanup of middle pasture in afternoon.

27^th

Third day. Roundup day. Members and others came and helped in corrals. Bob up in car. Freddy up on Jessie. Fairly hot. We put young stuff back into middle and cows down south.

28^th

Fourth day. Freddy and Harry and Tom and I rounded up horses in north pasture, checked them. Freddy home in afternoon. Harry rode Bronc. He and I rounded up forty-nine head in afternoon, and put them north. Tom mended fence.

29^th

Fifth day. Up to north pasture, mended corral, put up wing fences.[685] We mended corner by siemens’. Put thirty-five of forty horses down to water. Down to shack for late dinner and rode home through Stella’s.

30^th

Sixth day. Harry and Tom took bull and Kitty and calf up to Ranch. Straightened out horses.[686] Drove some down to water. Harry took cream in car and got mail. Later I made cookies, Bob plowing.

July 1937

1^st

Seventh day. Bob plowing. We cleaned through house. Father gardening. Freddy came down from Crabbs – took his clothes. Boys home at night, pretty late.

2^nd

First day. All to Meeting. Lovely day. Harry and Tom and Marge and I over to Sonningdale[687] in afternoon. Visited Tom’s sister and her husband’s people. Had grand time. Home via Radisson ferry. Home late.

3^rd

Second day. I did wash. Harry and tom up early to Ranch. A lot of horses out on Abe Reimer’s. Bob plowing. Father gardening.

4^th

Third day. Did ironing. Marge gave me a facial. Mary McCheane came for her in evening. Philip and Ruth stayed for game of croquet.[688] Tom took team plowing. Harry and Bob did odd jobs, mended roof. Bob getting ready to go on trip.

5^th

Fourth day. Raining hard all morning. Tom out harrowing most of day. Harry and Bob surveying for trough in afternoon. Bob and Susie made a tend out of Len’s old one. Planted cabbages. McCheanes came for Margie.

6^th

Fifth day. (No entry.)

7^th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie got ready got ready and left for their holiday.[689] Left Barrie. Father and Mother took cream and went to Wakes.

8^th

Seventh day. Busy all day.[690]

9^th

First day. Father and Mother to Meeting in buggy, brought Margery back. Billy Meekin and Fred and Kennie down in afternoon. Stayed supper. Nice warm day.

10^th

Second day (No entry)

11^th

Third day (No entry)

12^th

Fourth day. Harry and Tom haying.

13^th

Fifth day. Fairly hot – all very busy. Boys haying. Mother put up twenty-six quarts of fruit – gooseberries and rhubarb. I did some ironing and made butter.

14^th

Sixth day. Boys haying.

15^th

Seventh day. Tom stacked hay, Harry cutting on slough. Bob mending machinery. We did the cleaning.

16^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. Bright and good breeze. Harry and Tom and I up to Redberry Lake, called for Helen. Had sail in boat and good time.

17^th

Second day. Hot. Harry and Tom mowing on slough. Harry to Ranch at night in democrat. I washed blankets – a part of wash. Susie picked peas to can.

18^th

Third day. Hot. Harry away at Ranch. Tom mowing. Cut clover on Thirty-six. Bob and I to town, not home until noon. Bob raking. Saloways brought Nigger home, stayed for tea. Harry home at night.

19^th

Fourth day. I finished wash. Bob and Tom hauled alfalfa. Harry raked on slough. Meeting at home. Hot but cloudy. Picked peas for canning – canned fourteen quarts gooseberries. Put Paris green on potatoes.

20^th

Fifth day. Cooler and cloudy. We canned peas. I did ironing. Harry and Tom mowing. Bob raked clover and worked in garden. Rained at night.

21^st

Sixth day. Tom plowed. Bob and Harry overhauled machinery. We canned peas. Cooler and cloudy. Sent off eggs and broilers and potatoes. Father and Mother took them, brought mail. Up to campfire at night. Margery back.

22^nd

Seventh day. Boys haying, mowing on slough and cleaning ditch. All worked on garden for an hour, thinning and weeding. Nice day. Hot – rained at night.

23^rd

First day. To Meeting, Daisie and Eric, Ruth and Delia, Dave Murray, and Dr. Bergham[691] came. Went bathing, had dinner. Joshua and Hannah down to supper and evening. Nice day.

24^th

Second day. I did wash. Bob and Harry and Tom cleared ditch with eight horses and ditcher. Two wet to hay. Bob and Susie went to meet Ruth and Roger and Evelyn [692] in evening. Harry up to Ranch at night.

25^th

Third day. Tom cultivating up on Twenty-six and down below. Bob making box for buggy. Henry Mason,[693] Philip and Ruth down to supper. Went swimming, played croquet. Nice warm day.

26^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry back. Tom cultivating in morning. Started stacking in afternoon. Tom and I raked. Canned peas, made raspberry and red currant pie. Pretty hot but nice breeze.

27^th

Fifth day. All haying – Pa and I raked, put up nice stack. Ruth and Susie brought lunch. Put up fourteen quarts peas. Very hot.

28^th

Sixth day. Very hot. Harry and Tom mowing. I raked in morning – Buck and Jessie. Bob to town, took seven bags potatoes. Bob worked on buggy box.

29^th

Seventh day. Did the cleaning. Boys all haying. Pa helped.

30^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. Uncle Joe and family came. Rempels came too. Father and Mother and Harry up to Brunsts’. Wakes up to Joshua’s for supper. We went swimming. Philip and Henry Saunders[694] down to swim in evening. Wakes had breakdown with car.

31^st

Second day. Haying all day. Had swim at noon. I raked, very hot. Doug Wake ordered repairs for their car. Fred helped rake.

August 1939

1^st

Third day. Harry and I took mares up to north pasture. He on Bronc, I on Fox. Had very big day. Tired out. Home at night. Joyce down on Philip’s bike. Bob and Tom mowed on slough.

2^nd

Fourth day. Cleaned house through. Cleaned boys’ bedroom. Made clean bed. Doug came back and brought back Min and Kenneth,[695] mended his car. Frank came and got to work. I raked. Rosie had ten pigs.

3^rd

Fifth day. Very hot. Doug away home. Went swimming at noon. Harry and Pa up to get bull from McKenzies’. Frank and Tom hauling hay in afternoon. Bob went with engineers.

4^th

Sixth day. Bob to town and Mother with him. Boys all haying. Bob fixing binder. Harry and Bob worked with engineers all afternoon. Frank and Tom hauled hay in afternoon.

5^th

Seventh day. Bob fixed binder and started to cut oats down below. Harry and Tom helped him get started and then started sweeping.[696] Frank and I raked all day. Very extremely hot; no swim.

6^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. Uncle Joe went up to McCheanes’. Arthur and Sadie down in afternoon. Ab Williams down in for a few minutes. Cool and cloudy.

7^th

Second day. Boys haying, quit early. Harry and Tom up to Ranch in buggy. Cloudy. I did wash.

8^th

Third day. Harry and Tom still away. Drizzling all day. Frank hauled hay and topped stack. Joyce came down. Bob and I took Min up to Saloways at night.

9^th

Fourth day. Bob and Susie and children to town, Min went to bus. Harry and Tom home at night. Bob took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting, worked on binder. Frank hauled oats and cleaned barn.

10^th

Fifth day. Harry and I up to Ranch - Bronc and Fox. Abe Newbold came with truck for Marion and Shorty - - $43.00. Ash Cook and his cousins there, got colts for Bailer.[697] Home in good time. Daisie and Eric here in truck. Tom and Frank mowing, bob on binder.

11^th

Sixth day. Bob on binder cutting oats. Harry and Tom and Frank and I haying. Father took cream and fifteen broilers – got mail. Bob on stack in afternoon.

12^th

Seventh day. Boys haying in morning. Harry and Bob went to Battleford in afternoon to see irrigation system. Tom and Frank hauled and raked hay. We did cleaning. Very hot.

13^th

First day. To Meeting in Bennett buggy. Mother up to McCheanes’. Had a quiet day.

14^th

Second day. Hot. Bob and Tom and Frank and Harry haying. Harry to Ranch in evening. I did washing. Mother and Daisie pickled a lot of onions.

15^th

Third day. Bob took cream and on to town, Mother with him. Watkins man came. We did ironing. Tom and Frank mowing on slough. Brought two jags[698] home. Put up apricots.

16^th

Fourth day. Harry home in morning. Bob cutting below. Tom and Frank stooking. Harry raking in afternoon.

17^th

Fifth day. Bob cutting down below. Tom and Frank stooked. Harry raking and ditching. Fairly hot day. Took lunch.

18^th

Sixth day. Tom and Frank stooking in afternoon. Bob cutting on Twenty-six. Harry cultivating. Boys finished stack below in afternoon. I raked some, took lunch. Pretty warm day. We cleaned bedrooms, made butter.

19^th

Seventh day. Harry cultivating with six horses. Tom and Frank hauling hay from far end of slough. Bob helped and mended machinery. We cleaned through house, baked bread and cake. Cool. Made chokecherry jelly – ten pints. Eric down.

20^th

First day. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer. To Meeting with team. Nice day. Daisie and Eric stayed home and got dinner. Mary and John McCheane down to dinner. Joshua and Hannah and Oscar and Billie down in afternoon. Nice talk.

21^st

Second day. Cloudy and windy and cool. I did wash. Harry cultivating summer-fallow with six horses. Tom and Frank hauling hay from slough. Bob around home. Jake and Eva Rempel visiting.

22^nd

Third day. Harry and I up to Ranch on Bronc and Fox. Met J. Lavoie, got tootsie and Blanche and calves. Bronc fell with Harry and hurt his arm and leg. I phoned from Cook’s. Bob came with car and took him to Saskatoon.[699] I rode up to north pasture. Tom raking summer fallow.

23^rd

Fourth day. Bob back from Saskatoon by noon. Brought Edith and Gordon out. We did ironing and baking. Fairly hot dayl. Tom cutting on Twenty-six and stooking. Bob up in afternoon. Home early. Took Joe and Joyce up to catch bus.

24^th

Fifth day. Cloudy and warm. Frank stooking in morning. Tom hauling thistle and sheaves. Bob stooked in afternoon on Twenty-six. We, Edith, Daisie and I and Pa down for choke-cherries. Not too many. Canned plums – fifteen quarts.

25^th

Sixth day. Pa took cream. Edith went along and visited Wakes. Harry out of hospital.

26^th

Seventh day. Got ready for visitors from Saskatoon. Dave Murray and Ruth brought Harry home. Had campfire, nice time.

27^th

First day. Folks to Meeting. Had full day - Vera Hayter[700] brought Saloways down. Mother and Eric and Edith and Pa to Wakes to dinner. Arthur and Sadie down. Mother to Saskatoon with folks.

28^th

Second day. Harry and Pa to Radisson and Redberry. Got boat – six dollars. Got crankshaft mended. Stayed all night. Bob working on engine. Tom cultivating.

29^th

Third day. Harry and Pa got home with boat – a dandy. Tom cultivating summer fallow – six horses. I took cream up to trail and Henry Badman picked it up. Bob cutting on Twenty-six.

30^th

Fourth day. Harry up to Ranch on Fox. Phoned at night. Tom and I down boating at night.

31^st

Fifth day. Harry brought Blanche back with calf.

September 1939

1^st

Sixth day. Bob fencing west. Tom stooking on Twenty-six. I made pickles. Daisie put up rhubarb. Stormy at night. Harry and Father over to Langham for democrat.

2^nd

Seventh day. Harry and Bob working on threshing machine. Tom and Frank who came back this morning were fencing on west pasture and stackyards. Dave Murray and Ruth and Ed and Edith and Mother came in afternoon. Eric came at night. Cloudy.

3^rd

First day. Woke with headache. Folks to Meeting. We got dinner. Had nice quiet day. Went boating new boat, put net in deeper place. River pretty low. Harry and Dave Murray and Ruth met Len on bus in morning.

4^th

Second day. Labour Day. Ed off drawing. Dave Murray helped bob with threshing engine. Len tied loose sheaves on wheat field. Tom hauled oats to red granary. Harry cleaned shop and mended tire. Edith and I and Ruth and Harry went riding.

5^th

Third day. I did large wash. Daisie put up berries she’d picked. Bob worked on engine and stacked oat sheaves, Tom hauled them. Harry up to Ranch on Jessie. Bob and Susie to Borden as Pa missed truck man.

6^th

Fourth day. Harry back okay. Bob and Pa working on threshing outfit. Tom fencing. We did ironing. Fairly cool, froze a little at night.

7^th

Fifth day. Woke with headache. Up later and to town with Harry. Bob and Pa and Tom working on outfit. Threshed a little in afternoon. Cleaned dishrack. Daisie made pickles, gathered tomatoes.

8^th

Sixth day. Men all threshing, Frank down at night, he is working for Kosawba’s.

9^th

Seventh day. Got Mother, Father, Harry and Frank off to Saskatoon. Daisie and I stayed home and cleaned house. They went to celebrate Joe and Agnes’ silver wedding anniversary. Eric down – brought mail.

10th

First day. Had a nice quiet day, Tom and I rode Tommy and Smoky up to Twenty-six. Folks home at night, brought Hannah Mary and Frank.

11^th

Second day. Harry up to Ranch on Jessie. Bob and Tom and Pa threshing. Harry took Hannah Mary home at night. Cool.

12^th

Third day. I did wash. Brought washing in to porch. Boys all threshing oats. Cloudy and windy.

13^th

Fourth day. Threshing, finished oats down below. We did ironing. Daisie put up fourteen quarts pears and some pickles. Made bread and cookies. Cloudy and a little rain.

14^th

Fifth day. Boys threshing, wheat from breaking. Harry to town, took cream.

15^th

Sixth day. Boys threshing, showering in afternoon. I took lunch and got mail on Jessie. Mother and Daisie cleaned bedrooms and downstairs. Frank home at night. I made cake for Eric’s birthday.

16^th

Seventh day. Did cleaning. Harry away to Radisson to study steam engine, J. Magwood.[701] We made butter and bread. Frank helped thresh. Nice warm day.

17^th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting in democrat. Lovely day. Tom and I boating in afternoon. Pout net in deep water. Eric came, had trouble with car. Harry back.

18^th

Second day. Did the wash. Bob went threshing on Wakes’ outfit. Harry went to Radisson in car to work on Magwood’s outfit. Tom and Pa stooked wheat. Put fish net in deep current. Fair and warm.

19^th

Third day. Frost in night – cool morning. Pa took cream to town. Tom got rid of grasshopper poison and stooked in afternoon. I went up to

Ranch on Spee – home by 5:30. Daisie ironed. Mother cleaned pantry.

20^th

Fourth day. Warm and bright. Tom away to help on outfit – Mike and Barney. We baked bread, gingerbread and cookies. Pa worked on making bin on Twenty-six.

21^st

Fifth day. Pa away to finish bin, and borrow tank.[702] We prepared for threshers. I chored most of day. Nice warm day. Outfit moved onto Twenty-six in afternoon. Gang here for supper and night.

22^nd

Sixth day. Breakfast at six. Pa and I took dinner up in democrat at ten-thirty. Crop pretty good. Got mail. Bob and Tom home with two loads sheaves in afternoon.

23^rd

Seventh day. Bob and Tom and Frank hauled four loads sheaves. Frank and Pa took John Wake’s tank back. Got manure spreader. We cleaned house. Edith phoned at night. Eric came. Bob and Susie to Saskatoon – left Barry.

24^th

First day. Dave Murray and carload came. Edith stayed here, the rest to Wakes for dinner. Peter Thiessen came – two carloads. The Saskatoon folks back in time for supper. Bob phoned.

25^th

Second day. Barry not well. Tom plowing down below. Harry and Father mended around barn. Bob and Susie came in evening, brought Ruth and Roger. Harry away at Ranch.

26^th

Third day. Bob, Daisie and Eric got ready and Ruth and I went with them to Saskatoon in our car. Roger stayed. Tom plowing on breaking. Harry away again to Ranch.

27^th

Fourth day. We shopped. Had tea at Ruth’s at 5:30 and came on home. Frank Tadic here from Radisson. I had very sore throat all the time.

28^th

Fifth day. I felt sick all day – flu. Daisie and I started very big wash. tom plowing. Harry hauled oats and he and Bob to George Orchard’s funeral.

29^th

Sixth day. I in bed till late. Daisie finished wash and started ironing. Harry and Frank up to Ranch in buggy. Bob to town to do phoning, Susie’s mother died.[703] Bob and Susie up there. Eric came back.

30^th

Seventh day. We cleaned whole house. I finished ironing – eleven shirts. Eric and Pa got turnips up. Tom Plowed garden and then hauled vegetables up. Harry and Frank back at night. I slept over at Bob’s with little girls.

October 1939

1^st

First day. Mother not well, and Harry has cold. Meeting at home. Bob home. Daisie and Eric and bob and tom and I up to Meeting at Meeting house, discussing our attitude toward war.[704] Bob to Great Deer, took Mary and Roberta.

2^nd

Second day. Harry and Frank up to Ranch on Fox and Jessie. Eric took rack – we helped him pack, buck and Mike, and Tommy and Bronc. Father and Mother to Mrs. Rempel’s funeral.

3^rd

Third day. Bob and I up to Ranch in buggy – Smoky and Spee. Got dinner for boys. Bill Bergen there for Larson’s cattle. Sang at night. Sam Thiessen and Bill Rempel there helping, dehorned Larson’s cows. Inspector came.

4^th

Fourth day. Bob helped with Larson’s cattle and did some phoning. The rest of us up to north – roundup horses. Blaine Lake men came to top corral. Dave Murray up at shack. Bob and I brought our horses home at night.

5^th

Fifth day. Bob up on Smoky. I up with Dave. Joshua and Hannah Wake there all day – members’ day. Cooked dinner for eight men. J. Lavoie and two others down. Bob and I and Frank brought cattle home. Sold Emory and three calves – “Ferdinand” – to Spiller.

6^th

Sixth day. Dave took Mother to town. Bob rode Smoky and led Tommy up to Ranch, came back for sheaves in afternoon. Buck and Jess ran away. I caught them up at beanpole. [705] Father and Dave away all day at Ranch.

7^th

Seventh day. Boys finishing up at Ranch. Blaine Lake and Radisson and Langham bunches left. Harry and Eric to ferry. Bob walked home late at night. Dave overhauling lighting engine. Tom plowing.

8^th

First day. Dave took Father, Mother and Bob to Meeting. He and tom on to Ranch to look for Harry and Eric. All home for dinner. Dull, cold and windy.

9^th

Second day. Harry up to Ranch, for Abe Fehr’s cattle and bring Scott’s heifer. Tom disking. Eric and Daisie away all day in Dave’s car. Bob and Frank put roof on granary and fixed separator. We braided onions.

10^th

Third day. Bob and Eric worked on putting in trough. Bob and Eric to town for cement. We started wash and finished onions and made pickles. Daisie and Harry away all day, prospecting trail for steamer.[706] Nice mild day.

11^th

Fourth day. Harry and Tom away in our car. Dave in his, for Grandma. Bob and Eric put in trough. I finished wash. Nice mild day.

12^th

Fifth day. Eric and Bob away early, in Eric’s truck, to meet boys with steamer. Took trailer and tank. Home at night. Eric and Dave got six miles, Arnold Larson helping. I could not find Delia.

13^th

Sixth day. Dave and Eric and Father away to steamer, away most of day. Dave put in new piston rings in light engine. We chored. Boys all home at night, cold and dirty, got as far as Larson’s.

14^th

Seventh day. Dave drove steamer home – got here about five o’clock. We cleaned house through. Daisie not feeling very good.

15^th

First day. Eric took Father and Mother to Meeting. Harry and Tom took Mike Strelioff’s tank back. Bob and Susie and Harry up to Great Deer wedding – Susie Rempel’s.[707] Daisie and Eric over to Hynd’s. Dave Murray to Wakes’.

16^th

Second day. Dave mended washer, packed up and left us. Mother in bed with bad headache. Eric and Tom plastering barns. Harry and Bob and Dave working on steamer in morning.

17^th

Third day. I did wash with Daisie’s help. Harry and Tom cut bush near river. Bob mending in barn. First light fall of snow, and blowing. Harry up for D. Bergen[708] and Ranch meeting.

18^th

Fourth day. Storming and snowing most of day. Harry and Bill and Tom worked on grading by river in afternoon. Cleaned barns in morning. Harry couldn’t take tank back to Saskatoon. Bob and Eric to Borden.

19^th

Fifth day. Daisie and Eric packed up and left for Saskatoon. Boys all working by river – eight horses. I not feeling so well. Eight below this morning. Clear and still.

20^th

Sixth day. Bob and Harry and bill and Tom sawed wood. Harry took Bill home at night. Brought mail back. My sweater came. I felt a bit better and did ironing. Warmer. Snow melting.

21^st

Seventh day. Harry and Tom got ready and went to Saskatoon in car to take tank back. Felt rotten all day. Father in bed all day with bad cold.

22^nd

First day. Nice clear day but cold wind. Meeting at home. Quiet day.

23^rd

Second day. Nice day. I did wash. Washed my quilt. Bob mending fence around stackyard. Harry came home at night. Pa sick with cold.

24^th

Third day. Bob went for mail and brought Auntie Margaret down for the day. Bob and Harry mended fence around yard. Children all have coughs. Got seven eggs.

25^th

Fourth day. Bob and Harry and Pa pulled boat out of river – capsized and lost oars and seats. Brought planks, etc. from landing. [709] I did ironing and mended blue dress.

26^th

Fifth day. (No entry.)

27^th

Sixth day. Bob and Harry to town. Sent two orders off. Called and brought Sadie back with them, got mail. Nice day. I had sick headache, to bed early. Cleaned house through.

28^th

Seventh day. Sadie and I started my quilt, did a little cleaning and walked up to Wakes to supper. Met Connie Middlemas.[710] Harry up after supper. Harry and Bob working on cement block for pump.

29^th

First day. To Meeting in car. Harry stayed home. Helen and John Fehr and Abe and Laura down. Henry and L. Badman to dinner. Sissie and Eddy Saunders to supper. Ruthvens[711] down and Alec and John McPherson. Susie home with Saunders.

30^th

Second day. Bright in morning, cloudy in afternoon. I did wash. Harry and Bob finished cement block by river.

31^st

Third day. Nice day but cloudy. Bessie brought Blanche Brunst and Hannah Mary down to dinner, stayed until dark. Jigger stayed. Harry harrowed on Thirty-six and tried to seed crested wheat.

November 1939

1^st

Fourth day. Snowing and raining. Harry and Bob cleaned up stackyard. I did ironing. Mother mending.

(No entries for the 2^nd to 9^th of November.)

10^th

Sixth day. Bob took cream, on to town – away most of day, Mother with him. Harry ditching. Dick Erickson came, helped Harry in afternoon pull trees.

11^th

Seventh day. Harry went ditching with four horses. Bob started chimney, took most of old one down. We cleaned through house. Dick Erickson left.

12^th

First day. To Meeting at Meeting House. Home for dinner and to Peace Meeting in afternoon.[712] Nice day.

13^th

Second day. Pa and I papered ceiling in their room, and some of the walls. Harry and Bob worked on leveler.[713] Nice warm day. Got quilt ready for frame.

14^th

Third day. Harry up to Armand’s to get trowel for chimney. I for mail, Dick and Jerry in democrat, and met Sadie. We finished papering Mother’s bedroom and did some painting. Bright but cold wind. Boys built chimney.

15^th

Fourth day. Sadie painted my window sill. We fastened quilt to frame and sewed it. Harry took Sadie home at night. Harry and Bob and Pa building chimney.

16^th

Fifth day. Nice day. Bob and Harry and Pa went on building chimney. Harry to town for more bricks. Sent off two Eaton’s orders. I printed [714]and sewed on quilt. Nice mild day.

17^th

Sixth day. Painted Mother’s room and bathroom window and landing window. Harry took cream. Bob and Pa built chimney. Harry took five horse team out in afternoon.

18^th

Seventh day. Bob and Harry and Pa all worked on chimney all day. Connected stovepipes, draws well. I finished quilting my quilt with Mother’s and Sisie’s help. And took off frame. Swept through house. Nice day.

19^th

First day. Arthur Hynd brought folks early from Saskatoon – Len and Ruth, Edith, Gordon, Roger, Eric and Daisie. Had very nice visit. Went down to see irrigation dugout. [715]

20^th

Second day. Woke with a bad head. Got up for dinner. Ruthvans came for beef, brought rake, stayed dinner. Took Joey. Got hand washing done. Lovely warm day, forty degrees above. Tom came at night. Harry and Bob working on brush cutter.

21^st

Third day. Harry to Saskatoon, took Henry Badman and Armand. I did wash. Father took Mother up to Wakes for the day. Bob working on brush cutter. Tom and I had a nice skate. Charlie M.[716] brought Mother home. Tom left for Carl Larsen.[717] Marrianne came home with calf.

22nd

Fourth day. Harry and Bob worked on brush cutter. Meeting at home. Rained all day pretty hard. Bob and Harry re-installed light engine.

23^rd

Fifth day. I did some painting upstairs, washed kitchen ceiling, started papering walls. Did quite a bit of ironing. Harry cleared off roof and mended trough. Bob worked on cutter. To Wakes’ for Sadie at night. A nice mild day – thirty degrees above.

24^th

Sixth day. Bob took cream and on to Piprells’ to fix colt. Harry fenced cattle in stackyard below, took down chimney support and we papered kitchen and painted a little.

25^th

Seventh day. Nice day but cool. Harry and bob and Pa cleaned up outside, put in chicken window and my storm window, cleaned out both barns. We finished kitchen and cleaned through house.

26^th

First day. Lovely day. Bob and Susie up to Great Deer, took Father and Mother to Meeting, Harry to get them with team but they went up to Crabbs. Dave and Lydia Crabb brought them back. Tom came on bike.

27^th

Second day. Sadie and I put comfort felt on porch. Bob took Tom and Mother and Susie up to Baxters to vote on hospitals. Harry took load of pipes[718] down to river. Mild day. Mother made butter.

28^th

Third day. Bob went to mail, took Sadie to Wakes. I started wash, did not finish. Bob and Harry took another load of pipes and pump to river. I painted porch windows. Twenty-four eggs.

29^th

Fourth day. I finished wash. Father and Bob and Harry finished putting pipes together, at river. Men came about “Electrolux.” Mother bought one - $88.00 – on time.[719] Nice day.

30^th

Fifth day. Harry got ready and went to Saskatoon in car – took Sadie. I headache. Mother and I cleaned parlour with cleaner – swell job. Cloudy and mild. Looks like snow.

December 1939

1^st

Sixth day. Bob and Pa chopped oats all day. Henry Badman left mail at our gate. I went on Jessie to get it. We papered bathroom wall and put sacking on porch walls. Harry home at night.

2^nd

Seventh day. (No entry.)

3^rd

First day. Father and Mother and Harry to Meeting. Tom left before dinner, rode bike to City. Bob and Susie down to see pump, etc. Harry and I got ready and went to Saskatoon in car. Tried to get trailer in Langham. Saw Scotts and Jack Giventhal. Slept at Len and Ruth’s.

4^th

Second day. Woke feeling sick. Harry away in car early. Talked to Ruth. Tom came, took me over to meet his folks. Several over to see Daisie. Tom left for Mistatim. Went shopping with Sadie, saw TJSmith. Came home at night. Brought Tom Scott.

5^th

Third day. Bob’s thumb too sore to milk or work much. Harry and Tom cut wood and cleaned barns. Engineers came in afternoon – okayed everything. We finished putting comfort felt on porch.

6^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Pa and I put ceiling paper on porch. Mother and Bob to Langham to Ranch meeting. Harry put tar on roof. He and Tom cut brush. Nice day but cloudy.

7^th

Fifth day. Harry and Tom cut brush. Pa and I papered porch. Bob’s thumb still very bad. Susie found sheep by river. Worked on separator. Nice mild day. Sadie and Arthur up.

8^th

Sixth day. Bob took cream and got mail. Tom cutting wood. Bob and Harry getting ready to thresh stacks. I did wash and finished papering. Letter from Cousin Robert re: Uncle William’s death.[720] Thirty eggs.

9^th

Seventh day. Snow flurry, cloudy all day. Tom cutting wood. Bob and Harry cleaned barns and fixed ditcher. We painted porch walls.

10^th

First day. To Meeting. John and Mary McCheane down to dinner and supper. Had nice visit.

11^th

Second day. Cloudy, and blizzarding, not very cold. Cattle down at shelter. Billy Meakin down. Stayed overnight. Bob doing carpentry at home. Tom cut wood and cleaned barn. Harry on books. I put on canvas in chicken loft. Cleaned Harry’s hat.

12^th

Third day. Colder. Fifteen degrees above zero. I did wash. Bob put in cupboard in porch. Harry and Bob put blade on ditcher. Tom cut wood. Connie had heifer calf. Did last week’s ironing.

13^th

Fourth day. Warmer and bright. I for mail on Jessie and saw horses and cattle. Mother baked and making patchwork rug. Harry and Bob trying to get engine to go, and couldn’t.

14^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob still unsuccessful with engine down below. Tom cutting wood. I did ironing. Harry working on trough in calf pen.

15^th

Sixth day. Harry and Bob worked on trough. Late in afternoon Bob loaded up car with pipes, etc. and he and I went up to Saloways’. I stayed. Peggy away in Borden.

16^th

Seventh day. Up late. Helped Peggy and knitted. Harry and Bob up and working on water system. Colder and foggy in morning.

17^th

First day. Peggy and I stayed home. Parson came for the others. We got dinner and argued about the war.[721] Cold – about twenty above. Harry and Tom over river walking.

18^th

Second day. Boys came late, about 2:30 from Borden. Worked all afternoon and stayed all night. Heard from Edith that Daisie has little girl[722] and is fine.

19^th

Third day. Boys worked until evening. Not finished but had to leave it as Bob and Susie wanted to go to Christmas Tree at schoolhouse.

20^th

Fourth day. Bob up to Saloways. Harry cleaned barn. PFRA [723] man came, stayed dinner. Bob took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting. I started wash. Susie came over and talked. Harry took manure onto river.[724]

21^st

Fifth day. Snowing fast all day. Tom cleaned barns and hauled a little bedding. Twenty-seven cattle came home. Harry did books, Bob did carpentry most of day. I did wash. Mild.

22^nd

Sixth day. Fairly mild. Getting ready to go to Saskatoon.

23^rd

Seventh day. Bob took Harry and I to Langham to catch train for Saskatoon. Edith met us, went to see Daisie in hospital in afternoon. Saw baby “Carol Erica.” (First trip across river, trail open.) Did a little shopping.

24^th

First day. Up to hospital in afternoon. Eric and I in Arthur’s car. Saw Ruth Hinde and Delia. Delia a bit blue.

25th

Second day. Eric distributed presents from tree as Santa kissed everybody, left lipstick marks, very hilarious time. To Len’s for supper, and did we eat. Saw Daisie afternoon and evening.

26^th

Third day. Heard Daisie and Carol to come home. Eric and I to get her in car. Put her to bed upstairs. The rest of us to Wakes for a grand party, open fire and toasting marshmallows. Harry to show, Arthur and I took him to train.

27^th

Fourth day. Very busy, looking after Daisie and baby. Gordon got cold, so has Sadie and Arthur and Eric. Ruth down in evening, gave me egg money.

28^th

Fifth day. Busy all morning with Daisie and baby – getting onto better routine, poor nights though. Edith and I went to see Mr. Smith goes to Washington,[725] very good picture. Eric saw doctor.

29^th

Sixth day. (No entry.)

30^th

Seventh day. Edith sick with cold, lying down most of day. Gordon sick too, also Ed started.

31^st

First day. (No entry.)

This ends the first of the five year diaries. Initially we had intended to transcribe the first ten years in totality, but with the repetition of the days, weeks, seasons and years, this seemed unnecessary. So for the next five year diary, only the days on which activities and personalities and events are out of the routine will be transcribed.

1940

JANUARY

Most of this month had no entries.

FEBRUARY

10^th

Seventh day. Twenty degrees above zero. Bob and I packed meat for Ruth. Bob to Langham to get Father and Mother, who came with Arthur Hynd in car. Plans from government came re: flumes, etc.[726] Tom cleaned barns, etc., Harry sharpened crosscut saw and cleaned skins.[727]

13^th

Third day. Ten degrees below zero. Lovely sun on hoarfrost. Cornie[728] down and they sawed wood all day. Got two bags of wheat up for hens. Fuller man[729] came.

14^th

Fourth day. Monthly Meeting put off, Meeting at home. Worked on rug a bit. Cut up meat, put up twenty quarts. Made dried beef. Bob took wheat to Langham and got lumber for sawmill.[730] Snowing and blowing all day. Mild. Colts away.

MARCH

2^nd

Seventh day. Harry and Bob over river to see sawmill – away all day. Tom chored and hauled straw and oats. We cleaned and cooked and mended. Nice day - thirty degrees above. Dippy brought $54.00 – weighed 900 pounds.[731]

7^th

Fifth day. Tom hauled hay and chored. Harry and Bob making foundations for saw in stackyard. Susie and I over to hear Mrs. Neilson in Langham – very good.

Mild and melting.

9^th

Seventh day. Mild – very wet. Harry over river for boar pig. Came back and took sows over. Brought Godiva back.[732] Tom cutting scrub. Bob working on sawmill. Cold wind. Got mail from gate. Cleaned through house.

12^th

Third day. Harry and Bob took steer Buddie to Langham, Bob on to Saskatoon. I sent subscriptions to Western Producer and UFC information, also twelve dozen eggs. Mother worked on quilt. Harry brought Rosie the pig back.

14^th

Fifth day. Fairly mild, melted some. Harry and Bob blacksmithing.[733] Tom hauling hay and straw. Bob did some chopping. I did ironing and helped Susie while she cut out two dresses for me.[734] Mother finished covering quilt.

23^rd

Seventh day. Colder – sixteen below. Harry not feeling well. Mother in bed most of day. John and Edwin Dirkson ( Derksen) down, boys hired Edwin for three months for $25.00 a month.[735] I finished Tom’s sweater,[736] made buns.

APRIL

6^th

Seventh day. Cleaned house, some. Father and Mother and I up to Wakes to help celebrate Auntie’s 80^th birthday.[737] Twenty people there. Bob to Langham, got chick feed and egg crates.[738] Chopped load of oats, mended harness.

15^th

Second day. Men all went down and sawed rest of wood. Henry harrowed breaking. I did wash. Mother cleaned ice house. Put up bigger bed in shop.[739]

17^th

Fourth day. Fifty degrees above. Harry and Bob and Pa working on carrier[740] for mill. Dick Erikson hauled hay. Henry harrowed. I cleaned brooder house and whitewashed it. Mother and Father made hotbed.

19^th

Sixth day. Mother and I up to Wakes for chix and mail. Lovely day. Henry driving team on land. Dick cleaning barns and hauling hay. Harry and Bob and Father putting carrier on mill, and trying to thresh[741] in the afternoon.

23^rd

Third day. Bob and Harry and Dick and Pa worked on steam engine. I did ironing and piled wood some. Henry leveled land. Cooler. Roy Ferguson[742] came for pump, mailed letters for us.

30^th

Third day. Susie’s birthday. Father took cream. Harry and Dick made Borden drive with cattle. I started wash, Mother finished it as I had to take truck[743] up to Ranch. Cleaned up some and got boys’ supper. Home on Spee. Pa gardening, Bob and Henry on land.

MAY

1^st

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Pa and I doing stone wall in garden. Susie and Pa and I gardening in afternoon. Bob and Henry took two teams. Susie put up trellis and archway.[744]

6^th

Second day. Bob and Dick worked with Fresno (scraper) on land. Henry took big team. Harry fixed water pipes and trailer. I made steps up onto garden. Bob away vaccinating horses at night.

8^th

Fourth day. Cut up and planted potatoes up by pump. Bob planted mangels[745] and turnips. Henry plowing.

14^th

Third day. Frost. Henry plowing on Twenty-six. Bob disking. I did the wash. Abe and John Newbold came and brought bulls. Ours is “Onward Domino”[746] – two years and a beauty. Also brought bluestone and tank for Ranch.

19^th

Third day. Daisie and I went shopping, ordered coat and got blouse. No word from Tom.[747] Down to Len’s in evening and on to show with T. Moncrief and Ruth. Coffee in café, and so home with Ruth.

20^th

Fourth day. Had a nice talk to Ruth, played with Roger. Over to 308 (Spadina Crescent – Ed and Edith’s home) with Len in truck after dinner. Phoned home. Baked cakes and so to bed. Tom apparently out of town.

25^th

First day. Susie sick.[748] Bob took her to hospital. I think Daisie came and Carol for a visit. We kept the three children. Susie stayed in hospital. Bob home at night.

JUNE

1^st

Seventh day. Mother very sick. We did cleaning. The men sawed wood, got along fairly well. Philip McCheane and Mary down to supper. Harry and Herdis and Dick and I to Radisson to see “Mutiny on the Bounty.”[749]

11^th

Third day. Harry and Bob up to Ranch in car, home for dinner. Herdis for mail. Herdis and I did the ironing and baked bread and a cake, and made butter. Harry and Bob deepened well and got down to good gravel.[750]

16^th

First day. After breakfast, went down to river to see dam and irrigation. To 308[751] for Meeting and dinner. Dave took us driving all afternoon. To Len’s for supper and on home, called at Scotts’ also Wakes.

17^th

Second day. Boys sawing lumber until dinnertime, when they burnt a bearing out.[752] Dick up to Ranch in afternoon on Tommy. I for cows on Spee.

24^th

Second day. Light showers in night. Harry and Dick stacked lumber.[753] Bob and Pa up to help paint Meeting House.[754] Edith and Susie and children and I drove up in afternoon, took lunch and helped a bit. Don Muir down. Dick up to Ranch rather late.

25^th

Third day. Bob and Harry started to saw lumber but had to quit on account of rain. It rained steadily from eleven to five. Harry took cream in morning, we sewed and knitted. Boys moved steamer after supper.[755]

JULY

2^nd

Third day. Day quite hot. I did very big two weeks’ wash. Harry and Dick back for breakfast. Harry and Mother to town. Dick cut alfalfa[756] and part of slough. Bob and Harry worked on joining pipes. [757]

4^th

Fifth day. Hot and close. Harry and Bob working down at pump. Dick haymaking, hauled to stackyard down below. We churned, cleaned, and some ironing. Wilfred and Joan Nowell [758]and family came in time for supper. Put up seven quarts fruit.

5^th

Sixth day. Cloudy. Started water in irrigation ditch for first time. Wilfred took us all down in car. A real thrill! Finished ironing, at last! Dick hauling hay and alfalfa. Wilfred and Joan and I to McCheanes’ at night.

6^th

Seventh day. Cloudy and rained in afternoon. Harry and Bob and Wilf and Dick down at pump in morning. I made cake and pudding for tomorrow. Harry and Wilf and Dick to town at night, got five gallons of gas. Godiva had eight pigs.

9^th

Third day. Bob and Harry irrigating. Got down to alfalfa. Wakes came berry-picking – five of them. Susie and I down with them, and on to see irrigation. I did the wash, put up ten quarts berries. Tena and Philip came.

12^th

Sixth day. Father running steamer, boys ditching and irrigating. Dick cultivating. John and Mary McCheane and Philip and Ruth came to see irrigating outfit . We bathed.

23^rd

Third day. Harry up four o’clock and to Ranch on Fox. Dick still on Twenty-six. Bob took cream in car, because of shower. I put boiler on with clothes and put up raspberries and rhubarb.[759] Bob for mail and to bags shorts.

28^th

First day. Nice quiet day. Father and Mother and Bob and I to Meeting. C. Marshall and Mary Lusk there.[760] Mary and John McCheane home with us. Had a nice visit. Harry for sail in boat.

AUGUST

4^th

First day. Father and Mother and Harry and I to Meeting in Bennett buggy. Susie’s folks came to visit, about twenty-eight of them,[761] Cora stayed.[762] Harold and Katie Goodrich[763] stayed supper. Nice visit. Cool day, windy and showery.

9^th

Sixth day. Ninety degrees in the shade at 3:00. Dick home at ten thirty. Harry and Edwin Derksen and Dick haying. Bob working on binder. Pa took cream and eleven broilers to truck man, got mail. I finished ironing. Susie and Pa got some cranberries. Dick and Harry up to Ranch at night for cow.

10^th

Seventh day. Harry and Dick home early with Blanche and calf. Cut crop on Twenty-six for hay.[764] Edwin and Dick hauled two loads home. Harry helped Bob with binder and cleaned barns out. Daisie phoned. Dave Murray brought carload. Had supper around campfire, late.

14^th

Fourth day. Cooler. Bob to Borden with democrat. Got flour and sugar and rock salt and repairs for car and binder.[765] Dick and Edwin mowing on slough. Harry home at night.

15^th

Fifth day. Bob continued with binder. Harry and Dick and Edwin went on with haying. I went to UFW meeting at Mrs. Wainwright’s.[766] Had good meeting and nice time. Home with Hannah to supper. Took Anna McPherson[767] to the meeting.

16^th

Sixth day. Father took cream. Harry and Edwin and Dick haying on slough, finished far end. Bob on binder, cut alfalfa, good crop.[768] Dave brought Daisie and Carol and Edith and Gordon – unexpectedly, and light engine.

18^th

First day. Mother and Father and Bob to Meeting. Arthur Hynd brought Len and Ruth and Roger down, and took a carload down to see irrigation. Swimming in afternoon. Mr. and Mrs. Badman to supper. Bessie Crabb and Marion Pope and Philip and Ruth[769] down on horseback.

19^th

Second day. Hot day. Bob working on car and hay loader – used it for the first time.[770] Two loads alfalfa. Boys haying. Dick up to Ranch at night on Tommy. I did wash and churned.

21^st

Fourth day. Bob took Mother and Susie and I to Baxters’ to register. [771] Edwin and Harry and Dick stooking in afternoon. Bob took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting. Cooler.

25^th

First day. Father and Mother and Harry and I to Meeting – had puncture.[772] Philip McCheane and Fred Wake and Kenny Crabb down. Wilf Ruthven[773] down and girlfriend.

26^th

Second day. Harry and Bob chopped oats and built rack – got ready and after dinner left to thresh on Wakes’.[774] Dick finished rack[775] and left for Ranch at night. Took salt. Fairly hot.

SEPTEMBER

9th

Second day. Harry and Bob away early up to Ranch to round up steers. Met buyers there and sold eighteen head. Dick cultivated on Twenty-six. We churned, put up peaches and started wash. Cool. Harry and Bob brought Muggs[776] and calf home, also Delia.

10^th

Third day. Dick cultivating on Twenty-six. Bob and Harry to town. Took trailer and got gas and shingles, mail and etc., for flume.[777] I did wash. Susie worked in garden, getting in vegetables. Cooler.

12^th

Fifth day. Lovely day, and warm. The man brought flour, twenty bags, and bran, and shorts. Took 93 bushels wheat and fifteen dollars.[778] Harry and Bob home at night. Dick hauling in forenoon. I did ironing. We picked beans – good crop. (Warm.)

14^th

Seventh day. Took fifteen head to Radisson – took lunch, got there around four o’clock. Sold to Caplan. He paid 51/2 cents per pound, 4 1/2, 5 1/10, came to $830.50. to Katie (Crabb Goodrich) for supper. Had headache. Home at 12:30 AM.

16^th

Second day. Dick up to Ranch on Smoky. Harry and Bob to Radisson for tractor wheel and to register guns.[779] Put clothes on to boil. Mother and Father picked beans. Betsy had calf.[780]

17^th

Third day. Harry and Bob working on putting trough in. Sharrock here selling plants. Bought 25 raspberry plants.

18^th

Fourth day. Bob and Harry put in trough in yard.[781] Dick home by noon, helped in afternoon. Mother and I cleaned through house – washed bedroom and stairs. Katie brought Francis Kennedy and Lydia Crabb. Showed pictures. M. Wake came, and Eleanor.

19^th

Fifth day. Nice warm day. Dick took six horses on cultivator on Twenty-six. Harry raked weeds – Bob burned them. I did most of ironing. Put up six quarts tomatoes. Bob and Delia McGregor[782] came.

22^nd

First day. Father and Mother and Bob and I to Meeting. I to McCheanes’ to dinner. Philip took us to Borden, supper at Saunders’, brought me home. Harry home. Dick Ericson away with his folks. Heard that Arthur Hynd had car accident.

23^rd

Second day. Bob to City with Joshua to see young Friends. Dick plowing on Twenty-six. Harry got trough running in yard. I did wash. Mother baked bread. Cooler. Heard that Arthur had lost his arm.[783]

25^th

Fourth day. Bob and Mother and I to Borden. Paid Schecter and Smith and doctor and Shorty, also sent rentals.[784] Bob and Pa worked on trough etc. in afternoon. Harry and Dick still away at Ranch. Cool autumn day – picked tomatoes again. Got King and Jessie in.

3^rd

Fifth day. Still dull. Harry and Dick working on stackyard fence on flats in morning, Bob and Harry in afternoon. Dick plowing. Father’s birthday. Mother and I gave him a clock. [785] Mother and I sewed and knitted. Put 20 pullets in loft.

OCTOBER

4^th

Sixth day. Not feeling well, up late. Harry to Radisson to take guns. Bob fencing stacks on flats. Dick plowing. Bronc going good. Made cake, not so good. Got ready and when to Wheat Pool picture[786] at school, Bob and Susie and Harry and Dick and I.

6^th

First day. Meeting at home, as we could not find all of cows or horses. Quiet day. Edwin came in afternoon. Harry took water out of steamer. [787] Nice day. Frost last night.

7^th

Second day. Packed up and I drove wagon to Ranch – Buck and Britain. Harry and Dick rode and took saddle stock. Eight men for dinner: Tommy Larson and Henry Mason[788] came, and Bill and Sam. Rounded up north and middle pasture.

9^th

Fourth day. Got cattle into yard. Members came. Hannah helped me get dinner. Peggy Saloway and her Auntie came, took photos. Lovely day but windy. Got Tommy Larson early in morning.

15^th

Third day. Bob in bed.[789] Harry and Mother to town. Henry left. Dick plowing on flats. Harry and Dick and I to town at night, to hear PFRA man and see pictures.

17^th

Fifth day. I did ironing. Mother put up four quarts pears. Harry up to Saloway’s for 76 bushels of oats. Dick plowed. Bob up and took Susie and Hannah Wake and I to Women’s Meeting at Mrs. Raynor’s – big crowd. Stan Ferguson spoke to us on S.M. League.[790]

20^th

Second day. Harry up to A. J. Rempel’s for wheat to settle Ranch debts.[791] I up to Ranch to look for the three missing colts – found them. Dick plowed irrigation garden and spread manure. Nice day but windy.

21^st

I did big wash. Harry and Bob and Dick sawed lumber into lengths. David[792] came in afternoon, to Wakes’ to supper. Windy. Beautiful sunset. Letter from Mary Artiss,[793] and our parcels came.

22^nd

Fourth day. Sharp frost. Nice day. Bob and Harry and Dick and Pa hauled lumber down and worked on flume all day.[794] I did some ironing and washing. Cleaned porch.

25^th

Seventh day. Mary K’s birthday.[795] Cloudy. Boys all working on flume. Dave down there all morning, went to Hafford in afternoon. We baked and cleaned some.

26^th

First day. Father and Mother and Harry and Bob to Meeting in car. Pretty wet – rained all night. David didn’t come back. Drizzled all day. We all went to children’s tea party. Kept cows in all night.

30^th

Fourth day. Boys all ditching in morning. Harry and Dick in afternoon, but Bob took Susie and Roberta and Mother to Radisson to dentist.[796] I did big wash. Nice day. Mary and Barry stayed at home.

31^st

Fifth day. Boys working on ditches. Engineers came. I went to Kaslow’s to get our colts who were eating oats there. [797] Washed quilts. Nice day.

NOVEMBER

1^st

Sixth day. Colder. Father took cream and eggs to truck. Boys worked on trestles for flume. I looked over horses, and found Dick’s pony up at Thistledale School. Had dinner at Wakes. Letter from Daisie.

2^nd

Seventh day. Cloudy and cold. Boys all working on flume – got all trestles up. I did ironing and some mending and a little cleaning. Mother baked.

10^th

First day. Meeting at home. Nine inches snow. Harry shot Bunny. [798] Nice bright day, about zero. Dick Ericson’s last day. Floss and colt came home. Kept colt in.

20^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home, Harry getting storm windows. Bob fixed up light in yard.[799] I did ironing. Very mild.

23^rd

Seventh day. Colder. Bob to Langham – took cream. Harry did chores. Chased cattle out and did windows. Bob hauled load of straw. Dave Murray phoned from McCheanes’ .

24^th

First day. Ten degrees below zero. Dave came down. Meeting at home. Harry and Bob pulled Dave’s car up to gate.[800] To Wakes’ and got pup![801] Father and Mother got ready and he took them to Saskatoon. Harry and I had supper at Bob and Susie’s. Daisie and Eric sent me birthday presents and Father and Mother gave me a hot water bottle. Cloudy and snowing.

27^th

Fourth day. Eight degrees below. Harry and Bob got ready and butchered pig. Susie and I helped scald and scrape it. [802] I churned, and the rest was routine. Kept Leona in.

DECEMBER

5^th

Fifth day. Mild. Bob two loads wood. Harry one load of hay, one load of straw and cleaned barns and chored. Susie and I went skiing. Henry Badman down for coal oil and bacon. Paid for both. Fifteen eggs.

6^th

Sixth day. Bob got two loads wood and the mail. Pa took planks back to school. Harry did chores, made trough for calves. Mother made one nightdress for girls, finished one pair socks and started another.

10^th

Third day. Mild – twenty degrees above. Roberta’s birthday. Father and Henry Badman to Langham - got cream cans. Bob hauled two loads wood. Harry cleaned barns, hauled straw and fixed up light in stackyard. I did wash, Mother finished birthday presents.

15^th

First day. Hannah and Joshua and John Wake, and Mary and John McCheane came down to Meeting here. Then we had a hand around lunch.[803] Folks left before dark. Fairly mild and bright. Lovely moonlight.

18^th

Fourth day. Carol’s birthday. Lovely mild bright day. Cleaned barns and shed. Mother and Susie and I got lunch ready for Farm Women’s meeting. Boys made trail onto river at landing. Bob drove Susie and I and children to Wakes and we had a good UFC meeting. John McCheane and Bob gave papers.

21^st

Seventh day. Made lunch and Harry and Bob away for two loads straw from Carl Christensen. Very mild. I felt punk all day – headache. Marian Cook down. Ash Cook took our cream and eggs – seventeen dozen.[804]

22^nd

First day. Meeting at home. Harry away on skis in afternoon. Bob got his tubes for radio, also brought me box of candy from John and Joshua and Hannah Wake. Yum, yum. Very mild, thirty degrees above, twenty eggs, most yet. Billy Wake gone to Toronto.

25^th

Fourth day. Harry took me to Langham, waited at Scotts’, bus late. Arrived at Saskatoon at one AM. Ed met me. Eric took Herdis down. Edith Burbidge and Ruth Murray over. Had lovely time and presents. Sore throat.

25^th

Fifth day. Eric still feeling poorly. All took it easy. Went to Agnes’s to a turkey supper. Lovely time. Took taxis each way.[805]

27^th

Sixth day. Edith Burbidge and Daisie and I went shopping. Got sweater for Olive and blouse for Martha and dress for myself. Went to show in evening – Pride and Prejudice.[806] Very good. Both Ediths came.

28^th

Seventh day. Edith Burbidge and Daisie and I to early show at Tivoli, Thief of Baghdad.[807] On to rink and skated a while. Edith McCheane brought children down to Murrays where we had a bean supper. I took streetcar to 1208, had a nice talk.

31^st

Third day. Edith and I down to see TJ Smith and did a little window-shopping. A bunch of us went to midnight show, Arizona.[808] Enjoyed it very much.

1941

JANUARY

6th

Second day. Harry and Bob went for straw – two loads from Carl. Edith made skirt for me from gray coat.[809] I did last week’s ironing. Minus 20 degrees, going milder and snowing a little at night.

7^th

Third day. Father took Edith and Mother to Wakes to dinner. I baked. They brought mail. Bob to Langham, got seven hundred pounds coal.[810] Harry got rest of colts in.

10^th

Sixth day. Cleaned the house through. Hannah and Joshua Wake and Hannah Mary Crabb came, and we made the quilt,[811] and Joshua and Harry did Pasture (Ranch) books. Very nice and mild. Bob got load straw.

22^nd

Fourth day. I varnished rest of kitchen floor. Harry and Bob for two loads straw over river. Home late. Fifteen degrees below. Tarangi [812]came home, very thin.

23^rd.

Fifth day. Snowing and blowing all day. We made marrow jam. I did ironing. Mother cleaned pantry. Bob and Harry chored, hauled manure and hay. Going colder. I finished reading House of Exile.[813]

24^th

Sixth day. Decidedly cold – sixty degrees below zero. Harry and Bob chored. Harry got four of colts in, only Bess out. Mother and I electroluxed[814] the bedrooms and downstairs. Knitted, mended and sewed on quilts. Harry got mail, letters from Edith and Daisie and Sadie Hynd.

27^th

Second day. Harry to Langham with cream. Highway blocked, can’t send pigs. Bob chored and got ready to saw wood. Susie and I helped in afternoon. I made slippers for Mary.

FEBRUARY

7^th

Sixth day. Twenty degrees above. Harry and Bob for two loads straw over river. Thirty-four eggs. Philip McCheane down for ice.[815] Mahaffy went through. I got a barrel of wheat up for hens. Kitty had big calf. Henry Badman brought mail and I got it from gate. Letter from Edith Burbage.

8^th

Seventh day. Harry and Bob hauled four loads ice. Cleaned out well and packed it. Mother made two cakes and two puddings. Philip and John McCheane both down for ice. [816]

9^th

First day. Mary and Abe down to visit. Meeting at home. Nice mild day. Marigold had calf. Some boys came from Langham. Mary stayed supper.

10^th

Second day. Harry and Bob got an early start to Borden for a Co-op meeting[817] and to get pipe. Away until late at night. Pa and I fed cattle below, and did most of chores. Mild day. Sent letter to Sadie.

12^th

Fourth day. Five degrees above zero. Harry phoned for man, to Saskatoon. Bob hauled manure from horse barn. Harry fixed water and brought up broken rack. Made out Ranch bill for Joshua. To Langham – get man. Wesley Ingram.[818] Roan heifer calved.

13^th

Fifth day. Wesley for two loads hay.[819] Harry for oats. Bob mending rack. All sawed wood in afternoon. I did ironing – finished and washed vest[820] for Gordon. Cooler. Overcast, slight snow.

19^th

Fourth day. Harry and Wesley for two loads straw over river. Bob chored and got some wood up. We had Meeting, and worked on quilt. Bob cleaned out shelter and Harry bedded it. Still cold. Minus fifty degrees. Minus forty-nine degrees in Prince Albert, minus thirty-eight degrees in Saskatoon.[821]

20^th

Fifth day. Wesley hauled load hay, mended harness, mended pens, put big calves in back shed. Bob one load wood in morning. In afternoon, he and Susie and I up to McCheanes to UFC meeting. Good meeting. Ralph McKay[822] talked to us.

25^th

Third day. Mild, but blizzardy. Harry and Wesley for two loads straw over river. Bob for two loads wood. Got mail. I brought wheat up for hens. Finished wash. Finished slippers for Roberta.

28^th

Sixth day. Killed two hens for Susie. Harry and Wesley for two loads straw from Penners’, home for dinner. Bob for two loads wood and got mail. Letter from Daisie. Phoned Sissie and ordered two packages beads. Twelve degrees below zero in afternoon. Harry and Wesley cleaned out hens.

MARCH

3^rd

Third day. Bob for two loads wood and got mail. Harry and Wesley for two loads straw. Wesley had accident – hurt his shoulder. I did wash and we churned. Mother sewed on quilt a little.

4^th

Fourth day. Mother and I sewed on quilt. Hoarfrost, and dull. Bob hauled two loads wood. Harry and Wesley and Father brought ditcher and leveler home, and lumber. Wesley one load hay. Pa fell down steps.

6^th

Sixth day. Harry and Bob and Wesley made wide bunk. All went for two loads logs from island – four logs each. I went for mail – saw two loads of wood taken out of Len’s land.[823] Pa and I did chores. Very mild.

11^th

Third day. Harry and Bob and Wesley for two loads logs from island – eighteen logs. Mother and I for mail. Put notice up on Len’s[824] and went around by Wakes and visited with Hannah. Home rather late. About zero.

22^nd

Seventh day. Mild but fairly cloudy. Mother and I to Langham. Took eggs. Got paint for parlour. Harry and Bob up to Ranch meeting at Halcyonia, and got 100 bushels oats. Wesley hauled three loads hay from flats. Drained yard. [825]

24^th

Second day. Harry and Wesley for two loads oat straw from T. L.Ferris.[826] Melting, and water running in yard. Bob chored and fixed machinery. Pa painted breaker plow. I did a wash and washed quilt.

25^th

Third day. Bob to Langham for seed oats. Harry and Wesley hauled hay, cleaned barns, cleaned chicken house. Colts stayed out – five of them. D. Penner called. I did some rug.[827] Mild, raining. Wes saw first crow.

31^st

Second day. Harry and Wes for two loads driftwood from sandbar. Bob and Henry Hiebert[828] also, load wood from bluff, down to engine.[829] Father and I started painting in parlour. Cooler, quite cold at night. Got colts in.

APRIL

1^st

Third day. Twenty-five degrees above. Nice day – cool wind. Wes and Harry and Henry Hiebert cutting brush and pickets. Hauled one load wood to engine. Bob to Langham, took cream. Took pig to A. Orchard’s in afternoon. Pa and I painted parlour.

5^th

Seventh day. Harry, Wes and Henry hauled two loads firewood to engine and one load stakes home. Bob finished chopping oats and they all worked on flume in the afternoon. I varnished parlour woodwork. Went for mail. Mild.

6^th

First day. Meeting at home. About fifty degrees above zero, cloudy. Wes not well. We made ice cream. Bob and Susie and children and Henry all over to supper.[830]

7^th

Second day. Harry and Wes and Bob and Henry all worked on flume all day. Nice mild day. I did big wash.

8^th

Third day. All worked on flume and brought boat up from river. I to mail and Wakes to dinner. Took Susie and Mother and children down to see boys.[831] Lovely day.

9^th

Fourth day. Cooler and cloudy. Boys finished bracing and started to tar.[832] Harry and Wes took load of wood down. I ironed and we put up six quarts meat and pickled the rest.

10^th

Fifth day. Finished flume. Harry and Wes hauled three loads rock to pump.[833] Dull day.

12^th

Seventh day. Cleaned house clear through. Cloudy, somewhat. Hauled two loads in manure spreader. Harry made pickets all day. Harry and Wes and Bob made dykes and dams on slough. [834]

15^th

Third day. Lovely day but windy. Harry took cream and eggs on manure spreader to meet Corney.[835] I took letters to mail. Caught Lasca and let Jess go. Harry and Bob and Wes ditching through bluff by ravine.

20^th

First day. Dave brought carload of folks. Ruth, Daisie and Eric, Carol, Ed and Edith and Gordon, took load to Meeting. Daisie and I got dinner, all down to flume in afternoon – six on horseback. [836]

21^st

Second day. Cloudy and raining a little. Bob to town for gas and oil and ranch supplies. Harry and Henry fencing around home. Wes harrowing down below. I did wash. Two letters from England.[837]

24^th

Fifth day. Wes plowing down below. Bob working on drill. Government inspector came to see bull.[838] Father and Mother took eggs and got mail. Warm but windy.

27^th

First day. Eric took folks to Meeting. Eric and Daisie and I home, got dinner. Bob and Susie to Great Deer by team. Harry and Eric and Wes and I drove up through pasture and round by ferry. Nice drive. Armand took Dick.

MAY

3^rd

Seventh day. Wes finished seeding wheat and started oats. Henry harrowing. Bob and Susie planted raspberries.[839] Harry and Bob to Langham to Scott’s sale. I cleaned house. Quite hot.

4th

First day. Father and Bob and Mary to Meeting. Eric and Daisie and Mother and Edith came up. Doug and Frank and Auntie and Philip down in afternoon. Johnny Thiessen down.

7^th

Fourth day. Snowing and blowing. Wes leveling in morning. Brought engine up from flume. Got in Princess, and Bob operated on her. Lasca cut eye. Harry and Henry came home at night.

14^th

Fourth day. Planted potatoes by Buffalo Rock.[840] Wes took three ponies and left for Ranch. Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting. We planted spuds all day. Henry over river at night – settled with him.

21^st

Fourth day. Wes and Harry took our seven head and Wakes’ and Armand’s and Oscars. I helped them off up to Blaine Lake in afternoon. Daisie drove Edith and children up from Saskatoon.

23^rd

Sixth day. Wes and Harry came from Blaine Lake with forty head of horses. Eric and Daisie and I cooked and cleaned and got ready for 24^th. Up to Wakes’ for groceries. Daisie took us in car. Very hot.

24^th

Seventh day. Eric came early, Dave and Len later, and Wake boys. Quite a crowd came to picnic – a hundred and thirty. Served supper outside. Lovely day. Dave away. Harry and Wes home from Ranch. Tired.

28^th

Fourth day. Wes got cream cans and manure spreader, hauled seven loads manure. Bob drilled oats. Harry peeled stakes. Rained all day.

29^th

Fifth day. Wes hauled eleven loads manure. Rained all day. Bob drilling and plowed up alfalfa.[841] Harry and Pa seeded alfalfa after drill. Billie Wake came for bull.

30^th

Sixth day. I went with Daisie to Saskatoon. Wes harrowed alfalfa. Bob drilling oats. Harry seeded alfalfa on foot. Beautiful day. We found Eric home. Up to Braemar[842] at night.

31^st

Seventh day. Wes double-disked and seeded. Bob to Borden. Harry and Susie and Roberta to Radisson. [843] Daisie and I shopping all day in City, home at night

by bus. Harry and Wes came for us.

JUNE

3^rd

Third day. Nice day, cool and showery. I did very big wash. Planted out sweet peas and gave bees more comb.[844] Mother made small batch bread. Wes plowed east garden and above ditch. Bob and Harry and Pa at flume.[845]

4^th

Fourth day. Lovely day. Harry and Wes away to Ranch and get Great Deer horses. Bob to Clarence Elliott’s for flax.[846] Started painting car.[847] Drilled flax and wheat on Twenty-six and harrowed it. I got Kitty in and Harry put King out.

10^th

Third day. Wes fencing round Stella’s. Harry to town – ordered wire. To Ranch for saddle. Down to Asquith Stampede. Bob finished seeding oats.

11th

Fourth day. Wes fencing on breeding pasture and fixed roundup dam.[848] Harry still away. Mother and I to McCheane’s. Took Electrolux and cleaned their chesterfield. I took letter to Wes.

12^th

Fifth day. Wes putting new wire on roundup pasture. Harry roped calf in forty seconds (at the Asquith Stampede), got new battery for car.[849] Got home to Ranch late.

14^th

Seventh day. Wes fencing new wire on roundup pasture. Harry up to Ranch on Lasca. Took twenty of our colts up to corral. Branded them – very wild, Binky broke his neck, [850] Sultan injured head. Bob to town, Millie Watkins came.[851] Wes and Harry home.

15^th

First day. To Meeting in car. Harry up to corral to shoot Sultan. Back late. Pa and Mother to Wakes’. Bob and I walked home. Wes got dinner ready.[852]

17^th

Third day. Harry and Wes fixed dam in roundup and breeding pasture and I got ready to go to Saskatoon – Farm Women’s Week. [853]

18^th

Fourth day. Bob and Susie and Wes and I to Saskatoon. Took Lou Cook. Harry plowed summer fallow. Engineer came. Lou and I up to University. Had headache. To show at night with Wes.[854]

20^th

To University until late in afternoon. Wes left early in morning. Up to San to tea and X-Ray.[855] Daisie and Eric at 308 [856] when I got back, back from their trip to Alberta. [857]

23^rd

Second day. Very hot and windy, 108 degrees in the shade. Edith and I went shopping at Winton’s. Daisie and Eric brought me to bus. To Saunders’ and stayed night. Phoned J. D. Ferguson.

24^th

Third day. I walked downtown and got groceries, and came out with mailman.[858] Father met me. Drove seven horses of Peter’s up to Ranch. Harry and Clive Piprell and Bill and Sam there.

25^th

Fourth day. Roundup day. Very few came. Lila Pope and Billlie Wake. About sixty calves. Bob brought Mildred Watkins and Susie and children up.

27^th

Sixth day. I packed up while Harry straightened out cows. I came home with Lasca and Spee, quite a merry ride.[859] Harry north with other team. Susie and I went over potatoes for bugs.[860]

29^th

First day. Raining gently but steadily. I and Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting. Bob up to Great Deer to get Edwin Derksen.[861] Dave Crabb brought Frances and Ruth Kennedy to Meeting.

JULY

4^th

Sixth day. Father took cream and got mail. Harry and Bob working down at pump. Edwin Derksen plowing. Pa and I put up roosts in A-house. I phoned Abe Newbold re: Kitty (cow.) Harry and Bob got load of alfalfa.[862] Ted Bordeau[863] came.

5^th

Seventh day. Harry to Saskatoon, took Kitty. J. Newbold[864] – I took him to McPherson’s. I had dinner with Helen – grand talk! Very hot. Bob worked on binder. Edwin mowed on slough. Ted plowed.

10^th

Fifth day. Cloudy, turned bright. Ted plowed on slough. Bob and Pa and Edwin and Harry down to start irrigation. Blew out hand hold[865] – spoilt morning. Bob and Mother to town. Edwin and Harry five loads hay. New potatoes.

11^th

Sixth day. Bob and Harry working on steamer – got water running. Ted raking. Edwin hauled two loads. Mary and Philip McCheane down, took us all – and lunch – down to flume. Hot. Pa took cream.

12^th

Seventh day. All the gang putting up hay on the slough in the morning and at Badman’s (slough) in afternoon. Twenty-two loads hay – loader working well. We cleaned and baked and put up twelve quarts strawberries. Quite hot.

13^th

First day. Hot. Mildred and I stayed home. Friends came down to picnic dinner and conference afterwards. Folks from Saskatoon came. Harry and Mildred and I took Eleanor home.

17^th

Fifth day. Not quite so hot. Harry and Bob irrigating, and Edwin in morning. The others cutting and raking hay on slough. Mother got room ready for dude.[866] Put UFW Meeting off.

18^th

Sixth day. Edwin and Harry irrigating. Very hot. Bob and Mother and Mildred to town to meet Mr. Barrett. Had tire trouble. Edwin and Ted cutting and raking on slough. Truckload of folks from Great Deer came – swimming.

19^th

Seventh day. Harry and Edwin irrigating. Bob got ready and I went sweeping hay[867] on slough. Ted raking, put up ten loads. Very extremely hot. Susie brought lunch. Pa Barrett came down.

23^rd

Fourth day. I up early and up to Reimers’ - couldn’t find stray cow. Both troughs dry again. Got both running – not good enough. Back to shack and home by four thirty. Harry and Edwin irrigating and Bob and Ted haying. Bob sick. [868]

24^th

Fifth day. Bob and Susie packed and left for Saskatoon. Minnie and Francis Fowler came to Cottage.[869]

25^th

Sixth day. Harry and Edwin irrigating. Edith Burke took Harry’s dinner down. Ted plowing. I did large wash. Francis Fowler took Edith Burke and Pa Barrett to town. Mother went along.

31^st

Fifth day. Mother to Borden. Francis to Minnie took her. We had campfire for children. Sadie over. Bob went for her in car, and he and I took her home. Met Nat Grey[870] at Hynds’.

AUGUST

3^rd

First day. Susie and I and Bob and Father to Meeting. Met Lucinda and Herbert.[871] Went swimming in afternoon. Popes came, I went to McCheanes’ for dinner. Philip and Ruth brought me home in time for swim.

5^th

Third day. Bob ran steamer, Edwin irrigated. Mildred did ironing. I rode up to Ranch on Lasca. Saw Frank Saunders. Found Harry in north pasture. Looked for Enns’ steer. Mended north trough. Got steers in roundup pasture. Late to shack.

6^th

Fourth day. I to Cooks’ – phoned home, back to Ranch. Harry and I came home in buggy. Boys haying. Ted cultivating. Susie and I and children went swimming – quite warm.

7^th

Fifth day. Boys haymaking. Ted cultivating. Susie and Mildred and Father and I to pick cranberries, got a few. Susie and I bathed. Edwin cut himself with mower knife.[872]

8^th

Sixth day. Bob and I up at four AM, up to Ranch. Got load of steers for Spiller. Five steers brought $346.00. [873] William Kennedy[874] and boys down. Harry and Ed irrigating. Bessie Crabb and boys and I had good bathe. Cool.

9^th

Seventh day. Harry and Mildred and I and Ted got ready eggs and broilers and left for Saskatoon. Fairly hot. Went shopping with Edith. Got groceries and bought washing machine. Found Daisie and Eric home from Purdue.

10^th

First day. Woke with headache!!? Splitting. Harry came with Edith Burke. They went sailing. I up by evening. Herdis came. Harry took Edith Burke and I to Ruth’s for evening. Picnic at home. Fifty people came.

18^th

Second day. Harry and Eric stooked on Twenty-six. Bob fixed up poverty box[875] on mower. Couldn’t cut flax so stooked. Jackie came, walked from Wakes’.

19^th

Third day. Bob to town to fix up about bonus and get new electric washer. Mother and Susie went along. I did a baking and Daisie canned seven quarts beets. Pa took cream and got mail. Edwin left. [876]

20^th

Fourth day. Daisie and I did big wash, using new washer. Did grand job! Father got seven bushels wheat from Henry Badman. Bob raked alfalfa into rows, and cut hay on slough. Harry home at night.

29^th

Sixth day. I took cream and eggs. Edith sewing on my coat and waistcoat outfit. We did ironing, put up fruit. Mildred cleaned upstairs. Bob and Harry mended hayloader and fixed trough in yard.

30^th

Seventh day. Boys worked on stackyard, making it larger. We did a blitz[877] on flies and cleaned through house. Baked bread and buns.

31^st

First day. Dave and Ed and Ruth came while we were having breakfast. Daisie and Ruth and I got dinner. Down to see flume in afternoon. Carload up to Wakes’ to supper. Campfire at night.

SEPTEMBER

1^st

Second day. Eric left to go threshing. Harry and Bob got up alfalfa and two loads slough hay into stackyard. Put up peaches. Daisie and Ruth for short ride up to Twenty-six.

2^nd

Third day. Harry and Bob got ready and went threshing 4:30 in the morning. We had fairly easy day. Put up pears and rhubarb and pineapple. Boys home at night.

3^rd

Fourth day. Down to 33 degrees. Bob and Harry mowed irrigated alfalfa. (Blankets came.) I up to Ranch on Fox all day. Daisie washed. Cloudy and showers.

4^th

Fifth day. Started threshing on Twenty-six about 9:00. Home to dinner. Crop pretty good, around fifteen bushels per acre. Rained hard after dinner. Boys home. We cleaned and cooked and ironed.

9^th

Third day. Daisie and I tried and failed to get Badman’s black cow. Home and did wash. Bob up to Saloways’ for oat sheaves. Nice bright day. Bob took Susie and children up to Rempels’.[878]

12^th

Sixth day. Bob up to Rempels’ sale. Harry and Father and I down and got three loads hay. Started to rain – got soaked. Unloaded one load, rained all afternoon. No word from Eric or Bob.

13^th

Seventh day. Drizzling. Eric phoned from town, here to dinner. Bob and Susie home for tea, tired.[879] Daisie and Eric away in afternoon.

18^th

Fifth day. Mother in bed all day. Mildred and I cleaned and made cakes. UFC Meeting in afternoon and presentation to Alf Baxter. Nice crowd, good lunch. Daisie and Eric home in evening, tired and Carol sick.

19^th

Sixth day. Eric away threshing early. Daisie and Mildred both sick. I for mail on Spee in afternoon. Dull and windy. Mother a little better. Put plaster on Daisie’s chest.[880] Harry and Bob unloaded hay and hauled more.

20^th

Seventh day. Daisie and Mildred in bed. Mother up. She and Harry to town. Got box of apples - $1.98, and plums. Still dull and cloudy, not very cold. Eric to Ranch.

22^nd

Second day. Eric away threshing, back by 3:30 in the afternoon. Harry and Bob cut all the irrigated oats. Pa took George Hynd’s rig back and raked. Mildred in bed, up a little. Daisie away with Eric to shack. Nice day.

23^rd

Third day. Pa took cream, got mail. Had note from Len – joined RCAF. Away to Toronto. Cold and dull. Father and Mother dug ten bushels potatoes. Bob and Harry got up four loads hay and raked. I did wash. Mildred up for a while.

25^th

Fifth day. Cool and fair – snowing at night. Harry and Bob hauled hay. Duncan McPherson came and helped. Six loads in afternoon. Susie and I got up carrots and parsnips and beets and some cabbage. Put up fourteen quarts plums.[881]

28^th

First day. Meeting at home. I mended my vest and made cookies and got ready for gang to Ranch. Daisie and Eric came later from city. Bob took rack and Harry and I saddle stock up to shack. Bill and Sam there.

OCTOBER

1^st

Fourth day. Members’ day. 250 cattle out today. Hannah and Mildred up, and got dinner for us. Eric riding too. Hannah had Carol. Rained all morning, quite wet, cleared in afternoon.

3^rd

Sixth day. Got horses into corral. I up north with Henry Lavoie almost to Panko’s corner. Back in time for dinner. Susie and children there. Rained. Boys from Radisson came. I to Daisie and Eric’s to sleep.

4^th

Seventh day. Cold and raw and windy. Got Radisson bunch away. Ab Williams took horses. took out colts down to Stella’s. Bob up on Jappy, got our stock and all left for home. Father had runaway. In bed.

5^th

First day. Father in bed, ankle bad. Mother sick. Boys stayed to dinner then Sam and Bill and Harry left for Ranch. Bob and Susie away to Abe’s wedding.[882] Home fairly early. Brought Alvina Schimpky. [883]

6^th

Second day. Bob and Susie and I dug potatoes down below. Got them up in afternoon. Bob got buggy out of ravine.[884] The Hub City Flour man brought flour. Harry still away.

7^th

Third day. Elliott’s sale. I rode up to Wakes’ on Fox. Went with them after dinner. Bob up all day. Harry came from Langham in car. Worked on UFW stall. Harry and Bob bought mower and two purebred cows.

8^th

Fourth day. Cool and cloudy. Monthly Meeting. John Newbold brought cows home. He and Lillian stayed awhile. [885] Cattle buyer came. Served tea after Meeting. Harry home at night.

11^th

Seventh day. Harry and I got cattle in. Truck came. Sold Nitwit, Gerald, Paddy, Shortie, my big steer, the shorthorn heifer, Georgie, little red curly steer and four suckers. Daisie and Eric down – took Pa and I and Bob to Borden. Saw doctor. Got one half crate pears.

12^th

First day. Harry and Pa and Mother off to City by 8:30 to get X-Ray of Father’s foot. Susie’s folks came: Tena and Philip, Abe and Lizzie and Mary and children, I cleaned bedrooms and bathroom and stairs. Folks home at night. Car trouble.

13^th

Second day. Edith and I peeled tomatoes and put up eleven quarts and two and a half quarts pears. Father’s foot seems much better. Harry and Bob fenced around stake on Twenty-six. Raked hay. Brought home planks from bin. [886] Hauled three loads hay. Lovely day!

15^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Nice day. Daisie and Eric down in wagon – took Arel and Olive Oyl. Edith and Alvina and I got up soy beans and pig potatoes. [887] Bob cut flax. Harry haymaking. Hauled three loads.

17^th

Sixth day. Jeanette had calf. I took Edith and Gordon to Wakes’. Billie took them to town. We cleaned stovepipes. Bob and Harry took car to town, back with Billie. Alvina helped and we cleaned through and washed house.

18^th

Seventh day. Put up pears – about sixteen quarts, and six quarts tomatoes. Father getting around quite a bit. Harry and Bob hauled last of hay and fired some bush. I took Alvina to Kaslow’s to met her father.

24^th

Sixth day. Harry plowing. Bob chopped load of feed. We put up batch of tomatoes and catsup. Got ready and went to schoolhouse in evening. W. Baker’s pictures. Took lunch. Made $9.25.

25^th

Seventh day. Up late. Harry and Bob mending fences around stackyards. Mother and I and children up to Aylens’ for our Eaton’s parcels. Nice day. Mother gave Mary pick-up-sticks,[888] and Barry, socks.

26^th

First day. Cloudy. Colder. Father and Mother to Meeting with Bob by team. Edith and Ed and Gordon and Ruth and Dave here to dinner, also Caisie and Eric and Carol. Mother and Father home with Daisie and Eric for visit. Tied Jess’s colt up.

28^th

Third day. Snowing all day. Bob and Harry working on barn. Eric brought Father and Mother home at night in car. Brought mail. Put our chains on to get up hill. Lost one chain.

31^st

Sixth day. I caught mailman with Mother’s letters. Saw truck man and ordered concentrate for hens. Up to see Hannah. Five eggs. Mother baked and started cleaning pantry. Harry and Bob threshed flax. Put mowers away.

NOVEMBER

2^nd

First day. Clear and fairly mild. Father and Mother and Bob and Mary and Barry and I to Meeting in buggy. Only Joshua and Hannah besides. Abe and Esther came over to visit.

3^rd

Second day. Clear and mild first thing, cloudy and misty and damp later. I did two weeks’ wash. Harry and Bob hauled stones and gravel for cement foundations. Eric down on Florian. Helped.

4^th

Third day. Father for mail and concentrate, Dick and Jerry. Thirty-two degrees above zero, cloudy and windy, snowed a little. Harry and Bob made cement and laid foundations under barn.

6^th

Fifth day. Mild. Bob and Harry cleaning out back shed, manure spreader. We, Mother and Susie and children and I, up to quilting bee at Hannah’s. Home later. Muddy roads. Lovely quilt.[889]

7^th

Sixth day. I to meet mail and truck man. Ordered ten bundles of shingles. Missed mail. Brought horses home. Spee out on Wakes’. Inspector came to see bull. Kept Floss and foal in.

8^th

Seventh day. Bob fixing place for pigs in back shed. Harry cleaning out shed and mending pasture fence. Mother made red cabbage pickle. Cleaned. Bob to Co-op meeting in Borden. Shingles came.

11^th

Third day. Harry and Bob cementing cows’ stalls. Harry fencing in afternoon. Pa shingling shed roof. Bob took Susie and I and children in afternoon to UFC Meeting at Cooks’. Arnold Larson there. Good meeting. Nice crowd. Saw Carl’s house.[890] Mild lovely day.

14^th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie to Radisson, on account of Mary’s teeth.[891] Had five out. Wakes’ car. Harry digging corral holes. Pa shingling.

26^th

Fourth day. Mild and cloudy some. Pa and Bob finished shingling shed roof!! Harry worked on storm windows and corral, also Bob and Pa and I helped a little, peeling logs. Harry had headache and had to quit. Meeting at home.

DECEMBER

1^st

Second day. Helped Eric put mares in east level last evening. Daisie and I had a nice quiet day. We talked. Carol fine. I knit some. Eric found Dick’s horses and put mares in Goldings’.

2^nd

Third day. Stayed at Daisie’s until after mail came. Home by McCheane’s and stayed dinner. Visited with Mary. Looked for Tinker west of Meeting house. Got mail – letters from Len and Winnie. Home by Thirty-five. Saw thirty horses. No Evy! Very icy.

3^rd

Fourth day. Mild, icy and slippery all over. Harry and Bob got steamer up while I was away. Philip McCheane brought Ruth and Bergman children down yesterday. I missed them. I to Badman’s for two and a half five gallon cans of milk.

6^th

Seventh day. Milder. 24 degrees above zero. Cloudy at night. Boys got ready to chop with steamer in morning. To ratepayers’ meeting in afternoon - Bob and Susie and Pa. Carl Christensen was elected trustee. Harry mended in barn. I did ironing and Mother baked.

7^th

First day. Meeting at home. Mild, strong wind. Late in afternoon, Dave brought Daisie and Eric and Ruth and Mrs. Murray for a short visit, to Wakes for supper. Heard that Japan has attacked Honolulu.[892] Ruth brought me book “Reaching for the Stars.” [893]

9^th

Third day. Cold – minus thirty-five. Bright. Harry and Bob hauled chop to granary and wood to door. Harry drained steamer. Didn’t get mail. Brought separator up into kitchen. Fifty-one eggs. I finished pair of socks. Roan heifer lost calf.

10^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Minus twenty-five degrees, five below at noon. Harry and Pa put up cellar stove. Big bull sick. Bob and I dosed him. Cullen and Foster came to do chickens, 193 hens.[894] Roberta had tea party.

11^th

Fifth day. Fairly mild, snowed a little. Big bull died. Harry hauled two loads straw. Bob and Susie and I killed seven hens – culls.[895] I up to Badmans’ for three and a half cans milk. Mother finished my leather coat. Painted shelves. Washed a little.

12^th

Sixth day. Bob and Susie and I killed and plucked and packed for City ten hens and sent eight to Ruth. Bob and Harry and Pa skinned bull. Harry and I to Langham – first trip. Took eggs and cream and sent quilt to England. Nice day, cold.

13^th

Seventh day. Bob to Borden, brought car home - $76.00. Harry took carcass out of barn. Cleaned barns. Hauled load of oats and did chores. Bright and fairly mild. Harry found Gay and she’s OK.

14^th

First day. Meeting at home. Bright and cold. Bob took Father and Mother and Mary and I to visit Saloways in car. Stayed supper. Had nice time. Called at Eric and Daisie’s on way home.

16^th

Third day. Bob hauled two loads wood. Harry did chores and hauled straw from Twenty-six. Bob cleaned hens’ loft. Harry put in straw. Fairly mild. I did small hand wash. Light engine out of commission.

17^th

Fourth day. Peter Thiessen came with car and trailer for Lilibet. Bob and Susie to Saskatoon in car – took Armand engine and sewing machine. I for mail and milk from Badmans’. Very mild. Bob and Susie home late.

18^th

Fifth day. Fairly mild, about zero. I made two small fruit cakes. All out to saw wood in afternoon – cut five loads. Mother filled three cushions to send overseas.

23^rd

Third day. Mild. Bob and Susie and children up to Great Deer in car. Harry chored and cleaned barns. I did three weeks’ wash. Washer worked fine. Cleaned and packed eggs.

25^th

Fifth day. Christmas Day. Harry and I and Roberta up to Eric and Daisie’s. Had Santa, lovely presents and a nice time. Father and Mother over to Bob and Susie’s for supper.

26^th

Sixth day. Bob hauled two loads wood. Harry looked up horses - found Spee and got mail. Card from Aunt Betty.[896] We did ironing and cleaned bedrooms. I had bath and to bed early. Ten degrees below and clear.

28^th

First day. Took some photos of Edith Burke and Roy Burke. About seven degrees below, clear and bright. Bob and Susie and children up to Great Deer. Took Edith and Roy Burke up to Daisie’s. We had Meeting at home. Did chores and had quiet day.

29^th

Second day. Bob and Susie and I killed and plucked all culled hens, twenty-seven of them – took all day. Harry chored and cleaned barn. Harry and I up to Eric and Daisie’s after supper. Played games. Brought Edith and Roy Burke back. Ten degrees below zero and windy. Marigold had steer calf in bush.

31st

Fourth day. Fifty degrees below zero. Boys did chores, worked around. Hauled straw to shelter. Two pullets died. We did some sewing and knitting. Clear and bright.

1942

JANUARY

1^st

Fifth day. Minus 30 degrees in morning, above zero in evening, and inclined to snow. Harry and Bob hauled hay and straw. Harry got Glada from Duncan’s. Bob and Susie cleaned hen loft. Three pullets died. I made drapes for my room. Did hand wash and sewed.

January 2^nd

Sixth day. Harry and Bob choring and making cow mangers. Cold, snowed a little in night. We canned seven quarts chicken. Making patchwork cover for couch in my room.

January 3^rd

Seventh day. Very cold. Fifty below zero. Boys got covered cutter down and put pole on. I for mail and m ilk from Badman’s. Harry and Bob butchered Dogie. Colts came home. Glada back.

January 4^th

First day. Fifty degrees below zero. Strong west wind. Thirty degrees below zero at noon. Bright sunshine. Meeting at home. Bob put beef in cellar. Light engine out of commission. Drain frozen.

January 6^th

Third day. Fifty degrees below without any faking!! Never went above thirty degrees below zero all day. Harry and Bob hauled one load straw off Twenty-six. Put door on shelter. We sewed and knitted. I did small wash. Connie had calf.

January 9^th

Sixth day. Thirty degrees below in morning, going milder by night. Harry to Langham, team ran away with rig first. Bob and I up to Saloways to take beef in car. Got mail. Called at Daisie and Eric’s. Heard Len was home for Christmas.

January 11^th

First day. Bob took Mother and Father and girls to Meeting at McCheanes’ also Monthly Meeting and lunch. I dried up wash and got dinner for Harry. Rode up to Daisie and Eric’s on Lasca about four o’clock. Folks called for a few minutes. I stayed overnight. Very mild – forty degrees above.

January 12^th

Second day. Saw colts and left for home before dinner. Mother and I sewed. Felt punk. Very mild. Bob weighed pigs. Harry cleaned barns and chicken loft.

13^th

Third day. Bob and Susie and children and Philip McCheane off to Saskatoon in car over river.[897] Mild, forty degrees above. Thunderstorm in night, and rain. Very little snow left. I for mail and milk from Henry Badman. Harry did chores. Windy all day.

15^th

Fifth day. Washed underwear and towels. Harry chored and worked on carrier and track. Still mild, ten degrees above in morning. I to Wakes on Lasca to UFW meeting. About a dozen there.

17^th

Seventh day. Harry hauled two loads hay, one load straw and two loads manure. Still mild and bright. Bob and Susie and children and Philip home at noon. Brought new light engine. We cleaned some.

19^th

Second day. Bob got light engine going and I did large wash,[898] and cleaned the porch. Bob and Harry and Pa set up manure carrier. Still mild – twenty degrees above.

20^th

Third day. Bob to Badman’s for milk and measure haystack. Harry took Father and Mother to Langham in car, home late. Did some ironing. Bob and Susie and Harry and I to creek, skating at night. Swell crowd.[899] Books came from University.[900]

21^st

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Boys fixing up manure carrier. Mother sewed and I ironed a little. Harry and I to Langham to meet Maker at bus. Got some prints for quilt. John Newbold took four pigs and Rosie.[901]

22^nd

Fifth day. Bob and Father chopped barley and wheat. Harry cleaned barns – carrier working fine. I did ironing. Still mild and bright. Harry and I took Anker up to Daisie and Eric’s in evening. Harry has pain in chest.

23^rd

Sixth day. Harry has severe pain. Dr. Palsson out. Intercostal neuralgia. Strapped him up. Bob chored and he and Susie to Borden. Got pork from Newbold’s. Brought mail. Still mild.

24^th

Seventh day. Bob cut up pork. I salted it. Cut up lard, ground up sausage meat. Bob found parlour chimney almost blocked up and cleaned it. Harry’s pain still bad. Very overcast and foggy.

25^th

First day. Meeting at home – Wakes came. Auntie Margaret too. Harry up for a while in afternoon. Still mild. Boys came from Langham. Wrote to Herdis. Did sketch in Millie Watkins’ album.[902]

26^th

Second day. Mild and bright mostly. We sterilized seventeen sealers sausage. Mother made cake. Bob worked in chicken loft – cleaned it and made perches. Harry much better.

27^th

Third day. Overcast. Bob to Borden. Got milk from Henry Badman’s, also mail. My parcel from Simpson’s came. Harry up and dressed, out for a while. Philip McCheane left for labour camp.[903]

28^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry up and he and I got ready and left for Saskatoon after dinner. Edith and Harry and I saw “Blossoms in the Dust,” Greer Garson, very good.

29^th

Fifth day. Harry took car to garage to have radiator mended. He and I to show and see Ruth and Roger – supper and evening. Took Harry’s bandages off. I bought valise from Douglas.[904]

30^th

Sixth day. Edith and I shopped on West Side. Got flour, etc. Harry got two car windows put in. We came home in afternoon. Called at Sadie’s and Ruth and so home. Snowing a little.

31^st

Seventh day. Shirley had heifer calf. Mother made buns, I made cake and ice cream for party at Eric and Daisie’s. Bob and I went. Harry not well. Joshua and Hannah there. Had grand time. Home three AM.

FEBRUARY

3^rd

First day. Meeting at home. Mild and cloudy. Bob and Susie and children to Hepburn in car – took Abe and Esther. Dave brought Ed and Edith and Gordon and Ruth and Edith Burbage in time for dinner.

6^th

Sixth day. Mother and I in bed with colds all day. Harry for mail and blankets. (From “Fairfield’s”) COD. One load of wood (two loads today.) Colder. Minus 24 degrees. Letter from Winnie, also housecoat from Simpson’s.

8^th

First day. Meeting at home. Mother much better; Harry and I up to Daisie and Eric’s for dinner, back at night. Anker with us. Brought Annie Matthews[905] down to Carl’s.

9^th

Second day. Harry and Anker hauled two loads hay and two loads straw and one load manure. Bob helped Susie wash and made new nests for the hens. Bob and Susie and I to Popes in evening – Coop meeting. Home late.

10^th

Third day. I for mail and milk from Badmans’. We all sawed five loads wood in afternoon. Mild, fairly. Mother still not feeling well.

11^th

Fourth day. Mild and hoarfrost over everything. Harry and Anker mending sleigh and for one load straw. Bob working on track (for manure loader) for horse barn. Mother and I both feeling bum. Father hurt knee in fall.

12^th

Fifth day. Mild, snow flurries. Harry cleaned barns. Bob and Anker worked on chopping engine, did a little chopping. I salted pork again. Mother sewed. J. Niminishen[906] over for dinner.

13^th

Sixth day. Bob to town, took eggs and to Co-op meeting. Anker chored. Anker and Harry for one load hay from middle stack – first from there. After dinner skinned cow – Annabelle (died) this morning. I cleaned bedrooms and kitchen.

15^th

First day. Anker and I to Daisie and Eric’s in covered rig to dinner. Blowing hard – dust and snow. Colder at night.

16^th

Second day. Anker and I home for late dinner. Very cold, minus thirty degrees, and windy. Trail blown bare. Water pipes frozen in bathroom. Leaked badly. Bob hauled a jag of straw from Twenty-six. Cleaned barns and got track rigged in horse barn.

17^th

Third day. Minus thirty-two. Anker chored. Bob made stalls and gate in horse barn. Harry and Anker one load hay from flats. Mother and I put quilt on frame, quilted a little. I did small hand wash. Minus ten degrees at night.

18^th

Fourth day. Harry and Anker hauled three loads prairie wool[907] from Henry Badman’s. Bob worked on interior or barn. Mother and I sewed quilt. Meeting at home. Twenty-eight degrees below in morning, milder at night. Eric looking for horses – found on Wakes.’

20^th

Sixth day. Harry and Anker hauled two loads manure from barn and three loads hay from slough. Bob mended bathroom pipes and worked on calf pen. I got mail from gate. Mild and windy.

23^rd

Second day. I did big wash – three weeks. Bob one load wood. Harry and Anker cut brush by big trees for ditch. Bob and Harry one load wood in afternoon. John and Peter Thiessen from Great Deer down. Paid bill. Harry gave John a wedding present.[908]

25^th

Fourth day. Bettina had calf inversion. We all worked on her and got it back. Made harness for her.[909] Beauty swallowed turnip. Choked. Bob and Susie to McCheanes’ at night. Bob one load wood. Harry and Anker one load straw, one load hay. Got colts in.

26^th

Fifth day. It is zero degrees and bright. Bob chopped oats. Harry spread one load manure, hauled one load straw. I did ironing. Sam Thiessen and Sid Derksen over to see calves. Bob and Pa and I got turnip out of cow’s throat. Delia had bull calf – Danny.

28^th

Seventh day. Cleaned barns and hens’ loft. Harry one load hay, one load straw. Bob one load wood in afternoon. Washed kitchen and dining room floors. Anker waxed and polished, also parlour. I for mail on Lasca. Anker and I to Daisie’s at night – Lasca and Floss. Moonlight. Marrianne had bull calf.

MARCH

2^nd

Second day. Sold Mortimer Snerd,[910] $30.00. Very mild and bright, snow melting. Harry and Bob to Langham – took two pigs and one veal – Booker T. Bob for wheat to Ash Cook’s in afternoon. Home late. Harry fixed feed pails for cows. Anker to Saskatoon. Joshua and Hannah Wake home.

3^rd

Third day. Mild and warm. Susie sewing for Mother. (We had children for dinner.) Ironing and churning for her. Mother and I to Badmans’ in afternoon. Mrs. Badman very sick. I washed and changed her. For mail – Buck and Britain ran away, pole came down.

4^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Harry hauled one load straw, Bob two loads wood. Very mild, water running into tank. Mother and I stiff and sore. I did Susie’s ironing and Mother churned for her. She sewed Mother’s dress.

5^th

Fifth day. Still mild. Filled tank with water. Harry hauled two loads hay and Bob two loads wood. Trails almost gone. Ruth phoned re: leaving. I did big wash – good drying. Cleaned out drawers upstairs.

6^th

Sixth day. Bob took first crate of hatching eggs to Wakes for Joshua to take to town. Got mail and load of wood. Harry did chores and hauled two loads hay. I did ironing. Mother baked bread and buns, and we churned. Snowing in night. Mild.

7^th

Seventh day. Father and Mother and Harry and I got ready to go to city in car. Eric brought Daisie and Carol down and they came with us over river with chains. Wet and muddy. Called at Ruth’s. Harry and I stayed night there.

8^th

First day. Harry and I over to Wakes’ and on to 308. Quiet day. Ed and Daisie and Anker to hear Bradley. Meeting at Wakes’ in afternoon. Anker and Alma Lund and I to café for supper. Daisie and Harry to Murrays’. Harry and I to Ruth’s to sleep. Mother and Father to 308 for supper.

9^th

Second day. Harry and I helped Ruth to pack. Harry took beds to Min’s. I bought bedroom suite and Doug came and took it to shop to pack. To 308 in evening. I had bilious headache, stayed all night. Mrs. Murray died.

10^th

Third day. Folks came for dinner. Held up by police. Had to get license plates. I to downtown with Daisie to doctor’s. Left her and on to Ruth’s with folks. Saw them off home. Anker downtown with Ruth and Roger. Saw her back to 308.

11^th

Fourth day. To Dr. Parson – had tooth filled. Edith and I to 1208 (Murray’s) Sissie there and Agnes came. Said goodbye to Ruth and Roger. Called at Sadie’s. I stayed supper. Sadie walked downtown with me, had coffee. Home late.

12^th

Fifth day. Daisie and I to meet Eric at train, home to dinner. I packed my bag and six of us down to Gem Café. Had teacups read. Missed bus, also train. Anker waiting in Langham. Phoned him. Ed and Edith took me to show, caught 1:30 AM bus.

13^th

Sixth day. Bob took eggs to Wakes and got mail. Anker and I got home at seven in the morning. Anker on up to Eric’s. Neither of us had any sleep. I had two hours in afternoon. Up to School at night. Had a good time, raised $12.60.

15^th

First day. Meeting at home. Mild and melting. Abe and Lizzie and children came in car. Anker came on Jappy in time for supper. Finished autograph for Mildred Watkins and started a letter to her.

16^th

Second day. Anker left early. Very mild. Bob one load wood. Harry chored and spread manure. Took Lucy the pig over river in afternoon. Got egg crates and Eaton parcel. Home in good time. Bob rigged phone to his house. I did large wash. Abe and Lizzie left. Canned three quarts chickens.

17^th

Third day. Very mild. Harry and Bob cut and hauled ice. Mother and I up to Wakes in buggy – Mollie and King. Stayed dinner and afternoon. Got mail. Called for milk from Henry Badman. Daisie had operation yesterday. Fine so far.

20^th

Sixth day. Bob took eggs and cream to town in car. Henry Badman went with him. Got mail, sent letter to Edith re: lending money for house. I made saddle blanket. Bob one load wood. Harry cleaned barn and pigpen. Spoke to Edith on phone. Forty degrees above tonight.

27^th

Sixth day. Harry and Anker and I got ready and left for Saskatoon – car and trailer. Stopped in Langham. I went to see Florrie and Peter. Got to City about four. Found Daisie at 308. Harry and Anker to Department of Highways. Got grader.

29^th

First day. Dave and Ruth slept here, left before dinner for Wakes. Bob and Susie and Father and Harry and I to Alex McPherson’s funeral. On to Borden at Saunders for tea, and so home. Trails very rough.

30^th

Second day. I did big wash and cleaned porch. Mother sewed. Bob hauled two loads wood to engine. Harry cleaned barns and hauled feed. Very mild and bright. Saw crow. D. Fehr brought furniture.

31^st

Third day. John Newbold came for Connie’s calf and last pig except Lucy! Bob to Saskatoon in car, took hatching eggs. Unloaded furniture and got it upstairs. Very nice. Mother cleaned ice house.

APRIL

1^st

Fourth day. Lovely warm day, yard dry. Children sick, especially Mary. Took bureau over to Susie’s. Ironed some. Mother sewed. Meeting at home. Bob home at night.

2^nd

Fifth day. Cloudy and raining. I finished ironing and made butter. Finished cleaning and arranging bedroom. Washed landing and downstairs. Daisie and Eric phoned – coming next week. Bob one load wood. Harry made halter ropes. Mary and Roberta still sick.

3^rd

Sixth day. Bob hauled two loads wood to engine. Harry chored and hauled manure and was gentling colts. I up to Henry Badman’s to help clean house. Hannah, Lou Cook and Edith E.[911] came too. Mild and windy.

6^th

Second day. Still blowing and snowing – three foot drifts. Cleared in afternoon. I had headache all day. Stamped other tea-cloth and runner.[912] Saw colts.

7^th

Third day. Waited for mail and then came home. No word from Ed Assman,[913] didn’t fix fence phone. Made cookies. Cleaned cellar a little.

8^th

Fourth day. Mild, snowed and blowed. Meeting at home. Harry and Bob got two loads wood off river in morning. Dick[914] came. He and Harry got two loads in afternoon. Bob sharpened big saw. I made molasses cookies. Got Scott heifer in.

9^th

Fifth day. Cold and windy, warmer by night. Joshua and Bill Wake and Corney[915]

Brought their cattle down to brand them. Branded ours too. Oscar and Lillian and Blanche Brunst and Muriel Brunst Bergman all to dinner and supper. Finished sawing wood.

10^th

Sixth day. Cleaned henhouse. Mother and I and Hannah Wake and Mary and John McCheane to Meeting House – cleaned it. Dick and Harry cleaned barns and spread manure. Bob chopped grain and cleaned feed oats. Harry cut bush on survey line. We started quilt.

12^th

First day. Very windy and wild. Daisie and Eric and Carol left. Abe and Esther and John Thiessen and wife down. Meeting at home. Dried up today.

13^th

Second day. Very mild – fifty degrees above. Harry and Bob made dam in ravine. A little water running. Dick cut bush. Bob and Dick cleaned wheat and barley. Mother and I finished quilt. Boiled white things. Lots of croscuses.

15^th

Fourth day. Harry and Bob and Dick hauled nine loads wood – three teams. Got Dick and Jerry in. Snowed at night and was colder. Put clothes out.

6^th

Fifth day. Mother baked. Boys hauled wood. Susie and I up to UFC (?) meeting at Sophie’s.[916] Good meeting and crowd. Muriel Bergman there. Home with headache, to bed.

17^th

Sixth day. I took eggs to Wakes’. Visited Hannah and Auntie until mailman came. Strong wind. Got mail. Dick hauled one load wood. Harry and Bob got green poplar for stakes. Very wet and muddy. Snow gone. Ironed.

18^th

Seventh day. Mother not well, lying down most of day. I baked bread and buns. Did some cleaning. Thundering and raining. Boys sharpened and put about 250 stakes in tank.[917] Tinker came home.

20^th

Second day. Mollie had foal. Father and Bob up to Ranch with rig, lumber and shingles to fix roof on shack. I up on horseback by way of Eric’s. Carol kicked by horse. I stayed with Daisie and Eric went to shack. Bobbie there too.

21^st

Third day. Stayed night at Daisie’s, over to Tallises to phone home. Eric and I to shack to help Pa and Bob. Finished and came home tired. Very hot. Harry had Jill and Jack on training. Mended fences.

22^nd

Fourth day. Boys helped me get off to Ranch with load – stakes, bedding, supplies. Tommy and Smoky. To Daisie’s for dinner. Daisie and I loaded some more, and on to shack. Helped Eric brand horses. Thirty-four horses in today.

23^rd

Fifth day. At Daisie’s. Assmans back, helped pack and took car and hayrack to shack – sheaves and furniture. Eric back for another load, and Bobbie and Carol. Daisie and I took the horses to water in middle pasture. Back for coffee, and home.

24^th

Sixth day. Harry away on Fox to meet Borden cattle. Bob and I gave Jack and Jill and Jewel lessons. Dick harrowing, took Jewel in team - went fine. Bob and Mother to town, to Co-op meeting. I cleaned bedrooms and fed Mollie’s colt – can’t suck very well. [918] Father took eggs and got mail.

25^th

Seventh day. Raining most of day. Mother and I cleaned through house. Dick plowed in afternoon. Chicks fine. Bob making manure wagon. Harry oiled saddles. Anker phoned from Hepburn. Colt improving. Anker came late.

28^th

Third day. Lovely clear day. Dick went plowing on Twelve Acres. Bob to town with team, took eggs and cream. Harry digging ditch on slough. I did very large wash. Mother not well. Bob brought mail. Dick and I helped Harry cross river – Fox swam.

29^th

Fourth day. Lovely bright day. Grass getting green. Dick plowing. Bob chopped wheat and oats. Meeting at home. Eric and Daisie and Herdis (Bobbie) and Carol down in wagon to dinner. Took load back. Susie and I gopher-poisoned.

30^th

Fifth day. Lovely warm day. Bob hauled and chopped oats. Dick plowed. I up to Wakes for vaccine and on to Ranch. Helped Daisie haul things around. Home and brought cows. Bob to Co-op meeting. Got chicks.

MAY

2^nd

Seventh day. Dick harrowing. We cleaned some. Mother not well. Father in bed. Bob to town in car, up to Ranch first. Brought out Susie’s table.[919]

3^rd

First day. Dave Murray brought carload – Flora and Ruth, Edith Burbage, Edith and Gordon and Mary Rempel. Folks to Meeting. All here to dinner. Abe and Esther at Bob’s. To shack for supper. Edith Burbage and I rode up.

4^th

Second day. Mother in bed. Harry and Dick up to Ranch with cattle from Great Deer – 35 head. Rode Bronc and Lady. Bob cultivating and drilling wheat above ditch. I did the wash. Eric came late.

6^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Eric and Daisie still looking for horses with car. No sign of them. We did gardening. Bob drilling. PFRA man came. Annie Matthews came for eggs.

7^th

Fifth day. Bob drilling on flats. Peggy and her father (Ben Saloway) came for meat and potatoes. Warm bright day. We gardened. I got all but five horses into west Thirty-six, on Florian.

8^th

Sixth day. Mother and Father still have bad coughs. Bob too. Father and I went fencing on Thirty-six, and got mail. Found missing colts and put them in. Stacked wood. Cool wind. Bob drilling oats.

13^th

Fourth day. Mother and father and I almost finished garden. Bob took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting – came back and continued leveling. Daisie and Carol came with team. Daisie and I loaded wagon. Back pretty late.

15^th

Sixth day. I did ironing. Mother baked and cleaned pantry. Pa put in 34 rows Mangels. Bob took cream and eggs with car. Drilled in afternoon. Harry through on fence phone. Cool. Sprinkle of snow.

17^th

First day. Went to Meeting. Harry came late dinner. After, he and I went to Ranch. Collected Daisie and Herdis Lund. Went up to Forty-one Seven for man – Henry Ham.[920] Doug and Agnes and Marge and Freddie came to supper.

18^th

Second day. News of Cherry and colts in John Newbold’s pasture. Daisie and I rode Fox and Spee. Lunch at Effie’s.[921] Got Cherry late home – two AM. Very tired and stiff. Boys had fire through bush. Eric back from Saskatoon with Daisie. Lasca and Telka had colts.

19^th

Third day. Cloudy and raining a little. Daisie and Herdis up to Ranch in wagon. Harry and I took odd cattle – ours, Armand’s and Wakes’, one of Carl’s. Got wet. Harry and Eric fixed barn. I came home. Harry came late. Henry Ham plowing.

24^th

First day. Dave Murray and Harry got dinner – all the rest of us to Meeting. Nice day but windy. Up to Daisie’s to supper, and saw mares. Home late. We rested and did chores.

25^th

Second day. Eric up to Ranch with wagon. Mary Rempel came. Dave got her from Wakes’. About one hundred people came to picnic. Had UFW booth, quite a success. [922] Eric and Daisie came.

27^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Overcast, drizzled a little. I put in seven rows of Irish cobbler potatoes. Pa put in soy beans. Bob and Harry fencing. Henry plowed on Twenty-six.

28^th

Fifth day. Very dull, rained lightly all day. Harry took team to Twenty-six, home at noon. Harry and Bob cleaned well out in stackyard, sharpened stakes and put in bluestone.

29^th

Sixth day. Bob took cream and eggs in car, and on to Borden. Cooler. Froze in night. Henry plowing on Twenty-six. Harry looked for strays – no good. He and Bob up to Halcyonia fixing colts. Got trough from Buswells’.[923] I up to Wakes and on with them to Popes – Ranch meeting. Stayed Wakes at night.

30^th

Seventh day. Bright cool day. Harry took Blanche Brunst home. Mother baked. I brought cows and horses in early. Harry and Bob working on steam engine. Henry Ham plowing using Jack and Jill.

31st

First day. Meeting at home. Wakes not well. Eric down. Harry and he and I up to Ranch in car. Took Herdis and Daisie to Hafford. Hospital closed. Took Herdis to Borden Hospital. Baby girl born. Kitty had Tommy Davis colt.

JUNE

1^st

Second day. Harry and Bob to Saskatoon in car for grader. Henry Ham plowing on Twenty-six. I took Daisie and Carol up in buggy to Ranch – took feed and two corral poles. Pa gardening. Sam T. phoned from Langham. Churned. Showery.

3^rd

Fourth day. Henry Ham plowing on Twenty-six. Harry and Bob making platform on steamer. Bob took Father and Mother and Mary and I to Monthly Meeting in afternoon. Harry and I up to Ranch in car in evening. Phoned hospital. Herdis fine – baby six and a half pounds and fat. Girl – Patricia Margaret.

4^th

Fifth day. Warm and dull. Harry taught Tinker “Come here!.” Bob drilled on Twenty-six, Henry Ham plowed. Mother and I planted out three rows tomato plants. Finished ironing. Put liniment on Merry’s leg.

June 5^th

day. Very warm. First hot day. Father took cream and eggs (last hatching shipment) and got mail. Harry and Bob worked on irrigation pipes. Harry gave Tinker lessons. Henry Ham cultivating on side hill.

6^th

Seventh day. Boys all ditching with new grader – seven horses, made good job. Bob and Susie to town at noon. Mother made soap and baked bread and buns. I cleaned. Put in thirty-five celery plants.

8^th

Second day. Boys all ditching – eight horses. Daisie and Eric and Carol down to dinner. Eric and Pa for feed from Hynds’. Eric took Daisie and I to Borden to get Herdis, lovely baby. Eric back to Ranch with team. Very hot and close. I did wash.

9^th

Third day. Heavy showers just after breakfast. Boys all working on the ditcher and surveying. I helped in afternoon. Harry took Herdis and Daisie and Carol up to Ranch in car. Mother went to McCheanes’.

10^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. I did ironing. Cooler. Harry and Bob and Henry Ham dug stones out of ditch by flume and fixed pipes and graded road. Harry and I took five mares up to Ranch late. Cold.

11^th

Fifth day. Cloudy and cool. Thirty degrees above. Harry steamed up.[924] Bob sharpened plowshares. Took steamer down to flume in afternoon. Henry Ham cultivated on Twenty-six.

12^th

Sixth day. Father took cream and eggs (to Pool,) got mail and groceries from Henry Badman. Henry Ham plowing on Twenty-six. Harry and Bob working on pipes and flume (pipe leaks.) Mother and Father and I gardening. Harry and I up to Ranch in car at night.

13^th

Seventh day. Mother and I cleaned house and baked. Henry Ham plowing summer fallow. Bob and Pa and Harry tarring pipes. Carl Christensen called and took me to Borden (working nights in Borden hospital.)[925]

14^th

First day. Peter Makaroff[926] up and gave Peace talk at Meeting House. About thirty there, Edith and Ed. Daisie and Eric down in afternoon. Harry took Henry Ham home. Anker came on bus. Bob and Susie in for him. (Miss Barker let me off for a while.)

15^th

Second day. Bob for feed from Hynds. Harry started Dick Bigart[927] plowing on Twenty-six. Harry got up steam and they started irrigating. I still in Borden. Daisie down, did big wash. Anker to town with Harry.

21^st

First day. Rained steady up until midnight. All the patients gone but Mrs. Badman.

22^nd

Second day. I came out home with Joshua and Hannah. Hannah and Mary McCheane back from Farm Women’s’ Week. Harry and Mother up to Wakes for me, home late.

29^th

Second day. Packed up and Bob and Harry and I started for Ranch. Found Bill and Sam and Henry Derksen already there. Eight riders made good drive over middle pasture. Found dead cow – Jim McKenzie.

JULY

1^st

Fourth day. Seven riders cut out and checked shorthorn breeding stock into pasture. Cutting out most of day. Father and Mother up with team. Bob brought “Onward.”[928]

5^th

First day. Bob and Susie to Great Deer Family Reunion.[929] We took Lucie and George, Dave and company, up to Ranch early. Father and Mother to Meeting with team. Harry and Father and Mother and I drove round and looked at crops in afternoon.

6^th

Second day. Quite warm. Harry and George up to Ranch with tank and stakes, to start fencing Orchards.’ Bob cleaned little engine tank and started it. I did three weeks’ wash. Dick Bigart plowed on Twenty-six. Bob cut hay and hauled a jag.

7^th

Third day. Showery and dull in morning, very hot in afternoon. Bob took cream and got thirty-five bushels oats at Co-op, Borden, 48 cents/ bushel. Saw George and Lucie off on bus. Mending chopping engine. Up to Cooks’ for wheat. Dick plowing. I ironed. We gardening. Put up four quarts strawberries.

8^th

Fourth day. Dull, stormy at night and raining. Lucie (the sow) has nine little pigs. I did most of ironing. Bob chopped wheat and oats. Pa gardening. Dick plowing. Daisie and Herdis and Carol down – Jappy on buggy. Harry away fencing (Ranch.)

9^th

Fifth day. Bob and Father put roofing[930] on kitchen and porch roof – rotten. Mother and I finished thinning turnips. Finished ironing. Showery.

10^th

Sixth day. Fairly hot. Bob took eggs and cream in car. Fixed fence on Len’s. Letter from Len.[931] Mother and I weeded Irish Cobblers. Bob raked and cut hay. Dick plowing by Maple Grove above ditch.

12^th

First day. Raining. Bob and Susie to Borden early, to get Fowler children. Cleared in afternoon. Meeting at home. Bob and Dick and I up to Ranch to see what Harry was doing. Harry home on Fox. Have new peas.

13^th

Second day. Bob and Harry to Borden and Radisson on business re: Thirty-five. Got lumber for troughs for Ranch. I did large wash, Daisie’s and ours. Mother baked. Pa gardened. Had new potatoes. Warm day.

14^th

Third day. Harry and Pa to Radisson. Borrowed $500.00 on Harry’s insurance re: Thirty-five. OK. Got lumber for flume. Bob made troughs for Ranch. Daisie and Herdis down. Eric and Daisie and Herdis and Carol and I to Saskatoon.

15^th

Fourth day. Harry and Daisie and Eric and Carol and Ed and Edith and I also Dave and Ruth Murray, to Edith Burbage’s wedding. Met Roy Burke’s people. Nice wedding. Harry and Edith and I to picture “Girl from Leningrad.”[932]

16^th

Fifth day. Home by dinnertime. Bob hurt his face while fixing trough.[933] Harry fixed democrat. Eric and Daisie and Herdis and Carol up to Ranch with load of stuff (troughs.) Bob to town - Co-op.

17^th

Sixth day. Dick plowing at landing. Bob fixing side rake. Bob and Susie took Fowler children to bus. Harry to Ranch, helped Eric put in new trough in breeding pasture. Campfire at Popes’.

19^th

First day. Meeting at home. I up to Ranch on Fox. Met Ruth McCheane in Stella’s Pasture. Dinner at shack. Mary and Philip McCheane came. Eric and Daisie and I up to Abe Thiessen’s – long ride, back late.

21^st

Third day. Bob took cream with car. Making rope. Harry mowing. Dick disking. Made rope for loader. Got up three loads in afternoon. I did large wash. Pretty hot.

22^nd

Fourth day. Very hot. Boys and Pa all haying alfalfa. Six loads up. Mother and I thinned carrots, used some (first.) Put up seven and a half quarts rhubarb. Did most of ironing. Helped unload hay. River still very high.

25^th

Seventh day. Bob and Susie left for City in car. We had a busy day. Folks came from Saskatoon. Gave them supper. To bed late.

27^th

Second day. I did wash - finished before dinner. Fire (stove) much better since Dave fixed it. Bob and Delia and Billy came, stayed supper.

28^th

Third day. Harry and Pa and Dick irrigating all day, Jack[934] helped. We ironed. Mother got a few berries – seven quarts. Bob and Susie home late. Brought Jake Rempel back.

30^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob irrigating. I up late. Jack and I picked berries. Susie and I and children to UFW meeting at Alice’s. Made quilt.[935] Got ten bushels wheat from Ash Cook - $6.20.

31^st

Sixth day. Cool, and rained in morning. Bob took Jake Rempel to Fehrs’ and Mother to town. Helped Harry clean engine in afternoon. Harry and Dick worked on it in the morning. Dick disked in afternoon. We picked saskatoons and put up thirteen quarts. Churned. Muggs[936] calved.

AUGUST

2^nd

First day. All to Meeting in car, except Harry and Susie. I walked with Hannah Mary Crabb up till Laurie met us with car. He took me up to Booths and I walked over to Saloways to Services[937] in afternoon. Peggy and I to

Popes to supper.

3^rd

Second day. Peggy and I talked late and up late. Early dinner and all to town in car, Peggy driving. Brought me home 4:30. Boys all haying. Got letter from Royal Trust re: Thirty-five. Six K.[938] Quite hot.

5^th

Fourth day. Peter Enns came for two steers - Orielle and Lancelot for cash. 1100 pounds and 750 pounds – pretty good! Eric and Daisie down. Eric helped haying on slough. Daisie and Mother and I put up 21 pints peas. Very hot.

6^th

Fifth day. Still hot. Boys all haying on slough – made nice stack of good hay. I got some peas cleaned. Mother cleaned cupboard and put up 19 quarts rhubarb and pineapple.

8^th

Seventh day. Cloudy but hot. Harry took water pipes down …[939] the boys. Bob wrote to Saskatchewan Council re: Thirty-five tax. Got oats. I cleaned flax. Bob to Co-op meeting. Put up seven quarts beans.

11^th

Third day. Peter Enns called….Eric shot through body. Bob and Harry and I over in car and we took him to Saskatoon. Dr. McConnell operated – drain in liver.[940] Very hot. LDFerguson and Euan ….

12^th

Fourth day. Cooler. Rita cut her leg very badly. Bob and Harry and I put I stitches. Harry and Joyce and I up to McCheanes’ and on to Ranch. Packed up cow and calf, cat and three kittens, also chickens, and came home. Jack[941] to McCheanes’.

15^th

Seventh day. Father and Joyce and I up to Saloways and got load of sheaves. Stayed dinner. Herdis and Mother cleaned. Boys all haying on slough. Bob and Susie to town – Joyce left.

16^th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob to Meeting in car. Harry and I got rid of flies with spray. [942] Smoky and warm. Travises came and took Herdis and baby. Jack down on bike.

17^th

Second day. Did very large and very dirty wash (engine trouble.) Put up nine quarts apricots. Boys haying in morning, cut wheat in afternoon. Dick hauled two loads hay. Hot and smoky.

20^th

Fifth day. Boys cleaned out ditch to garden. Put water on cabbages and cukes and corn. Boys all haying in afternoon. I took lunch and got cows. Mother put up three quarts beets and peas. Finished ironing. Hot and windy.

21^st

Sixth day. Cloudy and smoky. Father took cream and one crate of eggs and got mail. Britain and Spee. Buck lame. [943] Bob put batteries on light engine. Harry mended in barn and gate. Dick disked and stooked oats. Mother and I cleaned house!

25^th

Third day. Bob cutting oats at night (fairly light.) Harry away at Ranch. Dick disking breaking. I did ironing. Margie and I got choke cherries. Mother not well. Baked. Title for land came.[944]

28^th

Sixth day. Bob took cream in car and got two boxes peaches fro Wakes. We put up nineteen quarts fruit and six odd jam. Harry mended around barn – put cow barn doors on. Dick disking in afternoon. Rained off and on all day. Bob cut oats on Henry Badman’s in afternoon.

29^th

Seventh day. Rained off and on all day. Dick plowing on breaking in morning. Helping Bob making tank. Finished blouse. Daisie phoned from Borden. Harry and Bob and I to town at night. Dick home.

30^th

First day. Bob took folks to Meeting. John Fehr down. Harry took Daisie and I up to pack at shack. Supper at McCheanes.

31

Second day. Bright – fog in morning. Bob cutting oats for Henry Badman – finished. Dick breaking – helped him disk. Harry took Daisie and I to shack - loaded furniture in Newbold’s truck. Daisie and I to Borden.

SEPTEMBER

1^st

Third day. Bob cutting, Dick stooking. Harry to Ranch – put in troughs in south idle pasture. Daisie and I cleaning house ( Mrs. Newsham’s) and hospital.[945] Mrs. Lund and Carol and Jack came late last night.

2^nd

Fourth day. Harry at Ranch all day. Dick stooked for Saloways. Bob cutting oats on slough. Daisie and I very busy cleaning, very dirty. Eric and Alma came on midnight bus.

3^rd

Fifth day. Harry at Ranch – home at noon. Bob cutting oats. Dick stooking. Daisie and I cleaning and cooking. Only a few patients. Alma helping nurse and clean hospital.

4^th

Sixth day. Bright. New washer came – Beatty. Bob and Mother came - brought bed and stove, stayed dinner. Boys haymaking, Dick stooking.

5^th

Seventh day. Got house fairly clean and straight. Edith and Gordon came; quite a lot of folks at night. Alma and I washed kitchen floor while waiting for Ed to come on midnight bus.

6^th

First day. Crowd for breakfast. Very hot. Ed went sketching. Herdis and Daisie and Edith and Alma and I for walk – got ice cream. Bob and Margie came. Took Harry to Travises again. Edith and Ed and Gordon home with us. Joyce, Frank and Jack[946] there.

7^th

Second day. Labour Day. Boys worked on stooking in morning. Picnic dinner , down to river, in on hayrack, had nice swim. Cool, and picked berries. Philip and Ruth and John McCheane and Francis and Edna Pollard[947] down. Joyce and Frank and Jack left.

9^th

Fourth day. (Error made in entering date – this is really fifth day.) Agnes Hynd’s funeral. Six of us went to Daisie’s afterwards for tea, home late. Marge and Dick did milking. Boys getting ready to go threshing.

10^th

Sixth day. Bob and Dick away early to thresh – Dick and Jerry and Jack and Jill. Harry cut hay and raked it. We put up peaches, made butter and cleaned porch. Mother pulled onions. Marge left. Pa shingling.

11^th

Seventh day. Harry and Pa haying. Got up three loads. I cleaned with Electrolux. Fairly hot day. Harry and I to town rather late, had bean feast.[948] Alma home with us. Bob and Dick home. Dick to his home on bike.

12^th

First day. Bob in bed until late.[949] Harry fixing haystack, etc. Meeting at home. Rested. Henry Badman down to supper. Cloudy.

14^th

Third day. Very misty. Bob took cream and eggs in car. Dick whitewashed cellar. Bob cut oats on Twenty-six in afternoon. Dick stooked. We did ironing. Alma and I tried to ride Dick’s bike.

15^th

Fourth day. Bob and Dick away first thing to thresh at Wakes. Harry home at noon, cut oats on Twenty-six in afternoon. We got load of vegetables from garden, and baked bread and chored.

17^th

Fifth day. Chores. Harry cut oats on Twenty-six, finished, brought binder home. Father and he got two loads hay. Alma and I up to Stella’s, got Betsy and calf. Took Alma to town at night. Home late.

18^th

Sixth day. Warm and dry. Took cream and things for Bob to Wakes. Pa and Harry raked and three loads alfalfa. I helped unload. I fell off plank in loft, hurt my leg and hip and arm.

19^th

Seventh day. Very stiff and sore – stayed in bed mostly. Harry and Pa hauled rest of alfalfa. Mother cleaned some. Very tired.

20^th

First day. Raining. Meeting at home. Quiet day. Joyce and Marge and Jack McEwan came to supper. I taking it easy. Heard John Griffin died.

21^st

Second day. Harry and Dick stooking in morning. Harry to Ranch on Fox. Bob and Dick finished stooking on Twenty-six. Brought some sheaves home. I made 100 cookies.[950] Mother cleaned pantry and cellarway.

22^nd

Third day. Showery. Bob mending tire and chain etc. Dick cleaning barns. Bob and Susie and Father and I to John Griffin’s funeral. Saw Daisie and Carol. Did a lot of shopping. Home late. Harry still away.

23^rd

Fourth day. I did wash. Mother got a lovely dinner. Hannah and Joshua and Francis and Louise (?) down to visit, nice time. Cold, snowed a little. Bob finished tank. Dick mowed on slough. Harry got colts in.

25^th

Sixth day. Cold. Harry gave Winnie a good lesson. Dick squared up breaking.[951]

Bob mending granary, etc. Bob and Harry and Father and Mother to Old Man Larson’s[952] funeral. I put up four quarts tomatoes, cleaned porch, finished ironing.

26^th

Seventh day. Still cold and cloudy. Dick disking the breaking. Harry raked on slough. Bob and Pa and I up to Crabbs’ to dig spuds for Eric, took buggy load to town. Dinner at Daisie’s. George Hynd in hospital.

27^th

First day. Everyone to Meeting but Harry and I. Started letter to Ruth.[953] Harry took me over to Hynds’ in car. (I drove part way.) Helped Sadie pack Agnes Hynd’s things. Home late.

29^th

Third day. Harry and I did chores. Got Pa off with cream and eggs. Took lunch and rode up to Ranch on Tommy and Fox. Got five steers for Stock Show. Johnny trucked them. Took Eric’s car to Borden.

30^th

Fourth day. Getting ready for threshers – came for lunch. Harry hauling oats. Finished Twenty-six. Good crop. Lovely warm day. Harry shot Jessie.

OCTOBER

2^nd

Sixth day. Cloudy, slight shower. Breakfast at a quarter to six. Finished threshing on ours by lunch time. Over 300 bushels wheat. Harry hauled wheat, got mail. We baked and chored and fed them.

3^rd

Seventh day. Harry and Pa unloaded last two loads wheat and got one load hay from slough. Mother and I dug carrots. Harry brought them up. Pa and Mother and Harry and I to Borden to celebrate Father’s birthday – eighty years.

4^th

First day. Harry and Father and Mother to Meeting. Mother and Father to Saloways. Harry away all day. I took a bath and rested – grand time alone![954] Dick home for supper.

5^th

Second day. Harry and Pa fencing stack on Twenty-six. Inspector came to see bulls. Harry and he up to Ranch. (No good.) [955]

6^th

Third day. I did wash. Harry and Pa finished fencing on Twenty-six. Harry took cream in car. I gathered beans onto canvas, Harry threshed[956] a few. Nice warm day.

7^th

Fourth day. I did ironing, Mother finished it. Finished threshing out beans. Very windy. Harry up to Ranch, Tommy and Fox. Bob home, brought mail. Too windy to thresh. Mother made tomato soup.

11^th

First day. Warm and a big overcast. All to meeting but Bob. Bob and Susie and Harry and children and I to Thistledale Harvest home service in afternoon. Mother and I opened large parcel from Calgary.[957]

13^th

Third day. Harry spread manure. Took Edith Williams to see flume. Harry up to Ranch with team and Fox at night. Cool and frosty. Harry took cream. Bob home at night – breakdown.

14^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. I finished ironing. Dick and Bob cleaned barns and spread manure. Edith Williams over to Cottage to dinner. Cool and cloudy.

15^th

Fifth day. Harry home for dinner. He and Dick hauled two loads sheaves from Badmans’. Edith Williams took movie pictures of Harry and I on Fox and Spee. To town and saw films at Daisie’s. Left Edith Williams. Quite a crowd.

16^th

Bob plastered chicken loft yesterday. Bob and Dick away by seven to thresh. Harry disking down below using Tinker. Bob and Dick home in afternoon with sheaves. Bob had accident on hill, hurt ankle.

17^th

Seventh day. Harry disking on slough. Bob to town to see doctor (torn ligaments.) Mother and Susie and children along. Away most of day. I cleaned and killed flies. Dick back at night. Home on bike.

18^th

First day. Bob and Susie and Father and Mother and Harry and children to Meeting in car. Father and Mother home with McCheanes, others up to Eleanor Williams’ father’s funeral up at Great Deer. I rode to McCheanes’ on Fox.

20^th

Third day. Harry took rack and feed. Bob in car. Father took tank of water, and I took buggy-load up to Ranch. Bob fixed tent for me. He and Harry fixed dam. I got Father off home. Found cow. H. Lavoie and A. G. Nesdoly came.[958]

21^st

Fourth day. Cold and windy. Cleared the north pasture of cattle, and middle. Bob rode, but hurt his ankle. Plastered shack in afternoon. Home in car.

22^nd

Fifth day. Cut out all but ours and Wakes from Stella’s, and cleaned out south pasture up to corral. Colder and windier – pretty bad. Bob up in car. Blaine Lake cattle cut out – sixty head. Harry and Eric came – heard Patricia died. [959]

24^th

Seventh day. Bob up in car to pasture. Got Blaine Lake bunch off. He and I hope at noon, picked up Father and Mother at home and on to Borden – Patricia’s funeral.

25^th

First day. Car stalled. Father and Mother and I stayed overnight at Daisie and Eric’s. I slept with Edith. Gordon sick. Meeting in afternoon. Anker took us home in Eric’s car. Boys down from Ranch, over to Langham to wedding.[960]

26^th

Second day. Car stalled on hill by school. Bob and I with team to sale, picked up bays. Bob to Wakes for oil and came in car. Bought two-wheel cart.[961] Sam, Bill and Harry up to Ranch in rack – took sheaves and poles for corral.

NOVEMBER

3^rd

Third day. Henry back to Ranch last night. We did chores. Bob and Susie to Radisson to dentist, car broke down two miles away. Eric and Daisie came for wood and Sweet Pea.[962] Carol sick. Stayed overnight. Harry home from Langham.

4^th

Fourth day. Carol very sick. Daisie and Eric home – took Sweet Pea. Harry away first thing on Bronc. Pa shingled garage.[963] Cold wind. Mother baked. Put 31 pullets in from A-house.

5^th

Fifth day. Heard Carol had pneumonia. Cold. I did large two-weeks wash. Bob cleaned barns. I got Kitty and colt in. Bob used Jack and King on spreader. Members came for horses at Ranch.

10^th

Third day. Bob packed bees for winter. Mother put up jam and applesauce. I washed ceiling and walls in parlour. Bob made two troughs for hens and cleaned barns. Nice bright day. Harry and Henry still away. William Pierce’s and Saunders’ colts came out.

11^th

Fourth day. Finished washing parlour. Harry and Henry came home from Ranch – brought two wagons and ponies. Bob got ready to chop grain, and chopped some. Got concentrate from corner. Warm day. Got hens all in.[964]

14^th

Seventh day. Harry and Bob finished hauling and stacking sheaves from Badmans’ - 23 loads. We cleaned woodwork, etc. I did ironing. Mother baked buns. Warm day. Anker phoned from Borden – Edith there.

15^th

First day. Snow and rain. Dull and mild. Eric and Anker came. Eric up to Ranch with buyers. Anker stayed. Folks all came to Monthly Meeting, Wakes, McCheanes and Saunders. Dave came. Mary[965] and Edith and Ed and Gordon. Snowing hard at night.

16^th

Second day. Blizzard all day – about zero. Deep snow. Fed cattle at night. Harry and Bob worked on Ranch accounts. Cynthia had calf. Mother making fur cap for me. I lined ottoman and started lining quilt.

17^th

Third day. Harry and Bob mending and plastering in barn. Put pole on cutter and mended covered cutter. Anker and I to town late. Carol sick all night. Put team in livery barn. [966]

18th

Fourth day. Did shopping. Anker left for Prince Albert – train late. Home in afternoon, got mail. Letter from Len from Labrador.

19^th

Fifth day. Cold, minus 40 degrees by our thermometer. Harry and Bob fixed up dumping stoneboat. Brought in two heifers and calves newborn – roan and whiteface.[967] Mother mended. I made quilt cover.

20^th

Sixth day. Mother and I finished covering quilt. Made butter. Recovered ottoman (quite nice.) Harry and Bob cleaning out and mending barns.

22^nd

First day. Quiet day. Meeting at home. Edith phoned from Borden (Dave up.) Harry and I over river on skis. Melting, lovely day! Made trail.

24^th

Third day. Snowing in morning. (Elsie is in Saskatoon) Finished up shopping and started home by 2:30. Car not going so good - kept stopping. Got towed to Langham (dark – Daisie and Mrs. Lund and Carol on to Borden in bus.) Eric and I later in car. Daisie and I were sick.

25^th

Fourth day. Daisie and I better (gas poisoning.)[968] Colder. I home with Ash Cook. Met Harry and Bob on trail and so home. Hens laying better. Josephine had calf last night, Tillie lost hers.

26^th

Fifth day. Susie and children and I to UFW meeting – only seven there. Enjoyable time. Home by dark. Harry got calves in again, got out before.

27^th

Sixth day. Cold – 25 below. Mother cleaned her room. I turned my bed around. Nearly out of wood. Boys hauled straw and manure and fixed doubletrees. [969] Fed cattle on flats.

28^th

Seventh day. Milder. Cleaned bedrooms and washed bathroom and down stairs. Henry Badman brought out mail down. Letter for Father from Len.[970] Harry and Bob choring and hauling straw. Fixed water lane.[971]

29^th

First day. Meeting at home. Wrote to Len. Quiet day. Cold – thirty below. Children over to supper – made ice cream.

30^th

Second day. Cold and windy. 25 below. I did three weeks’ wash and some bedding. Harry and Bob making shelter for steers behind barn. Put whitefaced very thin cow in. I named her Bea.

1^st

Third day. Perishing cold. 26 below and strong wind. Ash Cook to Langham – took mail and cream for us. Harry and Bob got poles for steer shelter, put roof on. Joshua Wake came for five small calves - $20 apiece.[972]

2^nd

Fourth day. Culler and tester came first thing. Banded 191 hens and nine roosters. Bob took them up to Popes’ – home late. Harry hauled straw and did chores. Marigold had calf. Milder – ten below. Finished ironing.

6^th

First day. Ten degrees below. Bright. Quiet day – Meeting at home. Colder at night. About out of wood. Wrote to Len.

7^th

Second day. Bob and Mother started for Langham in covered cutter, had breakdown in ravine and had to come home again. No one damaged, rig a wreck.

Forty below in morning. I made three more fruit cakes. Boys hauled feed.

8^th

Third day. Bob hauled two loads wood from home bluff. Harry started to clear shelter. Father and I helped in afternoon. Very cold – thirty below but bright. I patched kitchen wallpaper. Mother baked bread.

10^th

Fifth day. Fifty below – never went above forty below all day. Harry and Bob did chores and hauled feed. I finished putting felt on porch. Stained finishing for parlor and Bob put it up. Started washing kitchen ceiling. Susie killed six hens. We killed one.

11^th

Sixth day. Henry Badman brought mail and stayed dinner. Harry and Bob to Langham, took shorthorn bull, got lumber. Brought boy to help – Gordon Penner. Not so cold – twenty below. Got $6.28 for fifteen dozen eggs.

12^th

Seventh day. Milder – three below. Snowed heavily. Harry and boy cleaned barns and hauled feed. Bob chopped oats. Cut a little wood in afternoon. I helped. Thirty-six eggs. Mother in bed, heart bad.

17^th

Fifth day. Twenty below, snowed a little. Harry and Bob did chores and started building shelter down below. I painted and papered porch. Mother had heart attack[AU1] [AU2] in evening. Bob and I put laying hen culls in pen, ready to sell.

18^th

Sixth day. Mother in bed most of day. Harry and Bob building shelter. Very cold – thirty below and wind. I worked on porch, churned twice. Joshua to Langham, took eggs. Hannah down visiting.

20^th

First day. Quiet day, Meeting at home. Mother in bed. I cleaned bedrooms and parlour with Electrolux. Harry for two days’ mail with team, and to Wakes’. Long slow trip, trails bad.

24^th

Fifth day. Twenty below and wind. Bob to Langham – took cream. Henry Badman brought mail and stayed dinner – cards and parcels. Susie and Mother and I plucked and cleaned hens, canned fourteen quarts – froze rest.

25^th

Sixth day. Harry and Bob put closed rig on sleighs. Harry and I got ready and went to Borden. Edith there, had Christmas tree. Lovely presents. Had turkey dinner and played and sang. Anker there.

26^th

Seventh day. Harry and Edith and Gordon left for Valley Springs in afternoon.

27^th

First day. Ed and Anker and I left for Saskatoon to get license and ring.[973] Anker not well. I slept with Mrs. Showalter.[974] Mr. Showalter and Anker on chesterfield.

28^th

Second day. Got license, have to wait seven days. Back to Borden at night, crowded train. Very cold. Heard Andie Saunders[975] died.

29^th

Third day. Eric drove Anker and I home to Valley Springs. Took Edith and Gordon back to Borden.

30^th

Fourth day. Snowing and blowing blizzard. Snow very deep. Train nine hours late. Edith and Anker left Borden by night.

31^st

Fifth day. Got up late. Thirty below. Sawed wood in afternoon. Boys hauled feed in morning. Daisie and Eric and Carol came in evening, lost in pasture.[976]

1943

JANUARY

1^st

Sixth day. Had Bob and Susie[977] and children and Henry Badman and Eric and Daisie and Carol to turkey dinner, “very good!” Played games in evening. Very cold but bright. Played Flinch.

5^th

Third day. Thirty-six below. Bright. Joshua and Hannah to Langham. Stayed to dinner, brought us presents for Bessie’s shower.[978] Harry and Bob butchered (Jingle) hung our half in cellar. I did wash. Mother up but not well.

January 6^th

Fourth day. Twenty degrees below. Going milder. I cleaned hens’ loft, four loads. Harry did chores. Bob chopped oats. Churned. Harry and Bob and I to schoolhouse to Bessie’s shower in evening. Home late.

8^th

Sixth day. Mild. Bob for one load straw from Joshua Wake’s. We cut up beef for canning. Put the rest in ice house. Rendered fat and boiled bones, etc. Harry chored.

9^th

Seventh day. Mild. Bob hauled two loads straw. Harry did chores and cleaned barns. We canned fourteen quarts beef. Fixed dried beef and did a little cleaning. None of us feeling very good. Anker phoned from Prince Albert. *[979]

10^th

First day. I up late, felt rotten. Auntie Margaret and Cornie Penner[980] down to dinner. Mild but windy.

12^th

Third day. Twenty below in morning. Pa and Harry sawed wood. I up late. Joshua and Hannah to Langham, Mother and bob went with them. Back by four. Bob to Saskatoon to convention. Hannah brought Eaton’s parcel.

14^th

Fifth day. Still mild – twenty above. Harry chored and hauled hay and straw. I dyed some wool to finish rug. Mother mending robe. Cut up red cabbage for pickle.

15^th

Sixth day. Bitter cold, northeast wind strong. Thirty degrees below. Harry did chores, hauled hay. Mother sewed, finished robe. I did small wash, cleaned dish rack. Did dried beef. Bob phoned – missed bus.

16^th

Seventh day. Harry to Langham to get Bob, who came on bus. Mother baked bread and buns. Very cold, thirty below all day. Sent Eaton’s order.

18^th

Second day. Strong wind, forty degrees below. Bob for load of straw – got mail. Harry chored. Letters from Margie, Ruth Hinde and Auntie Amy and Mary Artiss and Winnie. Mother and I sewed and mended.

20^th

Fourth day. Still bitter cold. Sixty degrees below. Horses around – fed them. Bob hauled one load straw and he and Harry one load hay. I did most of ironing. Hens dropping off – too cold. Kitty and colt stayed out. Strong wind in night.

21^st

Fifth day. Still very cold – fifty degrees below. I went on Floss and got Kitty and colt from north of Badman’s. Bob got load of wood from steamer,[981] and one load straw. Harry did chores. Mother sewed.

22^nd

Sixth day. Joshua and Hannah to Langham, took eggs and cream. Bob hauled one load wood and one load oats, and also one load straw from Badman’s. Harry chored and cleaned barn. We are reading Davies’ “Mission to Moscow.” [982] Interesting. Fifty degrees below zero. No foolin. Anker phoned.

23^rd

Seventh day. Still very cold. Fifty degrees below. Mother baked. Boys hauled two loads hay, one load straw from Badman’s. Hens down to ten eggs. Telka and colt came in and fed. Anker phoned from Saskatoon. Francis Starr[983] at Borden.

24^th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry to get Anker from Langham. Still fifty degrees below.

25^th

Second day. Thirty-five degrees below and wind. Bob hauled three loads wood from engine. Harry chored and hauled hay. Joshua and Hannah and Francis Starr down to dinner, showed snaps. Mother not very well, sewed.

27^th

Fourth day. About ten degrees below. Harry took five pigs to Langham. Answered “Call up” [984] at Post Office. Got a little sugar and syrup. Had Meeting at home. Anker not very well. I washed porch floor. Mother baked bread and buns.

28^th

Fifth day. Harry did chores. Bob took pig Lucie to Borden. Abe killed her. Coop meeting – stayed overnight. Cold wind, snowing all day. Harry and Anker for load of straw from Badman’s. Auntie Margaret sick.

29^th

Sixth day. Anker helped Harry chore and clean barns. Harry not well, lay down. No dinner. Bob home two in the afternoon. Brought coal and pork - 400 pounds dressed. Bob hired tooth cutter and files, and boys all fixed King’s teeth – very bad. Anker and I to Borden with Eric.

31^st

First day. Edith and Gordon and Dave arrived. Fairly cold. Went over to see horses at barn. Dave and Anker left on bus at night. Edith stayed over.

FEBRUARY

1^st

Second day. Had a nice quiet day. Edith sewed. I finished gloves for Len. Shopped a little – got wool for sweater. Very mild and bright. Carol and Gordon out playing. Lucinda had bull calf.

4^th

Fifth day. Bob hauled two loads wood. Harry did chores – hauled hay and manure. Mother took lino out of my room and we put down new. Put the old in porch. Snowing and blowing all day.

5^th

Sixth day. Bob for two loads straw from Joshua Wake’s. Took mail – money to Bank on Thirty-five - $370.00. [985] Bob got mail. Harry chored, fixed ditch to spring. We got Laska’s colt in. Harry hauled hay. Mild and bright.

6^th

Seventh day. Still very mild – twenty above and bright. Bob and Susie and children to Langham, Susie to see doctor. [986] Harry chored, hauled hay, cleaned barns. Harry tied Laska’s colt up – very quiet. I in bed all morning – bad headache.

7^th

First day. Meeting at home. Cloudy and north wind. Billie Wake down on Paddy. Purebred[987] heifer gone.

8^th

Second day. Deep snow all over. Snowing and blowing – minus five and colder at night. Harry and I out on Floss and Kitty to look for ‘Beauty’ – found in river bush, in deep snow. Carried calf home on Floss. Horses broke into granary.

9^th

Third day. Bob for two loads straw from Henry Badman’s. Thirty below and wind. Bright. Harry did chores and hauled one load hay. Treated calves for worms. I did wash, dried indoors. Finished big hooked rug. Started scrapbook. [988]

11^th

Fifth day. Minus twenty up to plus fifteen degrees, snowed a little. Bob hauled two loads straw from Henry Badman’s. Harry one load hay and did chores. Got parcel ready to send to Len. Wrote him and Margie and Sadie.

14^th

First day. Mild and mostly bright. After chores Harry and I rode up to see Hannah and Auntie Margaret. Stayed dinner and supper. Trails terrible. Nice time. Betty Saunders and Billie Wake and Cornie Penner home for supper.

17^th

Fourth day. Twenty degrees above. Melting and bright. Took two pictures of steers. John and Mary McCheane down to dinner. Mary stayed, arm in spring. Father taken suddenly sick. Bob hauled wood.

20^th

Seventh day. Bob for one load straw and got mail. Took Susie and children and Mary to Langham to see doctor. Mary’s arm broken. Father a little better, in bed until evening. Harry chored, went out to see colts. Some very thin.

21^st

First day. Still mild – thirty degrees above. Abe and Esther down. Mother not very well. Meeting at home.

22^nd

Second day. Mary (McCheane) not well, but we got ready and Harry took us to Langham to get train to Saskatoon, to Edith’s to dinner. Took Mary to clinic. Had X-Ray. Edith and I shopped a little. Harry got barrel of gas - $10.00 [989] and oyster shell.

23^rd

Third day. Mary McCheane to hospital. Edith and I shopped in morning, sewed in afternoon. Tired – to bed early. Prunella died, skinned her. Harry took sow to Wakes’. J. Thiessen brought chop down on Bill. [990]

24^th

Fourth day. Cold, thirty degrees below. Edith and I sewed and visited – to see Mary in afternoon. Got her home by evening. [991] Phoned home. Harry to Langham to get Bill Rempel.[992]

25^th

Fifth day. Milder. Caught bus for Langham. Home with Philip McCheane. Helped boys with steers across river. Bill Rempel and Pa and I did chores. Mild.

26^th

Sixth day. Fifteen degrees above. Bob and Pa and I did chores. Most of day Bill cleaned barns. Put new linoleum on porch table. [993] Henry Badman down, brought mail. Mild and melting.

28^th

First day. Daisie and Eric and Carol and Bobbie[994] came in time for Meeting, left after supper. Windy and zero, getting colder, ten below. Eric’s wages settled for last summer - $12.60. balance. $5.00 to Bobbie for cooking. Bob and Harry to Langham. Bob came back.

MARCH

2^nd

Third day. Bob and Bill hauled two loads wood. Harry hauled one load straw from Henry Badman’s. I did some ironing. Mother finished sweater for Lawrence,[995] and cut out dress. Milder, twelve degrees above.

4^th

Fifth day. Thirty degrees below. Bob and Bill hauled two loads wood. Harry hauled one load straw, one load hay. Pa cleaned barns. Bob hauled load of oats. We mended and knitted. Philip McCheane to Langham for Mary. Stayed supper.

9^th

Third day. Minus thirty, up to plus ten degrees. Bob chopped oats. Bill chored and cleaned barns. Harry for load of sheaves from P. Thiessen, home late. Four hundred sheaves, twelve dollars. Telka came home very thin. Children and I made ice cream.

11^th

Fifth day. Zero and snowing by night. Bob and Bill got one load wood in morning. Bob and I up to Tallis’s to ratepayers’ meeting,[996] on to Saloways to supper, home late. Bob and Harry for one load of hay from Henry Badman’s. Father in bed with cough.

12^th

Sixth day. Six inches snow and ten below and windy. Bob and Bill mended second rack and got two loads straw and mail. Harry chored. Ma sewed. Father a little better – staying in.

13^th

Seventh day. Cold northeast wind, minus five all day. Bob and Bill for one load wood. Bob took Susie to hospital through Langham in afternoon. Children here for supper. I over there to sleep. Telka on halter – pulled, fell and hurt head. Got her in on stoneboat.

14^th

First day. Harry and I chored all morning. Thirty horses home and fed. Bob came in afternoon, brought Eleanor Williams. Telka a little better, up on feet. Blowing blizzard.

15^th

Second day. Bob two loads straw. Harry chored. Ten degrees below and windy, northeast, and miserable. No news from Borden. [997] Kay Dixon froze his hands. [998]

I helped with chores. Tied Telka’s colt “Locket” up – quite friendly. Johanna got up by herself.

16^th

Third day. Bob for two loads of sheaves from George Hynd’s. Got mail. Letters from Auntie Annie, Len and Wes. I did big wash. A little milder – up to zero and overcast, and still strong northeast wind. Water stopped down below. Churned.

17^th

Fourth day. Bob for one load hay from Henry Badman’s and one load straw. Water stopped down below, drove cattle up to yard.[999] Ten below, up to ten above, west wind, red sunset. Harry chored. Father out again. I did some ironing.

18^th

Fifth day. Bob one load straw. I up to Wakes on Floss, Bob up with team. Seven of us up to UFW meeting at Popes’. Good meeting. Bob told of Coop proposition.[1000] Home to Wakes, stayed all night and visited with Hannah. Twenty below and bright.

19^th

Sixth day. Ten below to eighteen above, and bright. Round by mail, and home. Made bread. Mother not at all well. Bob for rye hay from Badman’s and oat sheaves from George Hynd’s. Harry chored. Joanna up and about. Telka down for water.

20^th

Seventh day. Bob hauled two loads straw. Forty degrees above. To Coop meeting at night. Harry went after colts. Brought Bill home and Deana very thin. Telka better. Eleanor helped me clean. Mother not very well. Johanna walked down for water.

21^st

First day. Warm, melting, up to thirty-six above. Horses around and fed. Dusty cut leg. Spee’s leg swelled. Meeting at home. Bob away to Borden. Harry and I over to cottage to supper and evening. Chored most of day.

22^nd

Second day. Bob and Susie have baby boy, “David” – born at Borden Hospital, nine and a half pounds. Barry had accident,[1001] was about run over by sleight. Harry did chores. Telka got away. Eleanor and I cleaned hens’ loft. Harry helped.[1002] Mild and melting.

24^th

Fourth day. Melting – running down the yard. Bob and Harry for two loads straw. Bob for one load oat sheaves in afternoon. I put another coat on wardrobe. Eleanor came over and we cleaned parlour and bedrooms.

25^th

Fifth day. Billie brought Hannah down and took our cream to Langham. Cooler, not melting much. Bob hauled one load straw and one load oats and chipped them. Harry chored and hauled manure. Mary and Ruth McCheane here – we made quilt. Bob to two meetings – Coop – Halcyonia School and Hoffnungsfeld School at night.

26^th

Sixth day. Bob one load straw in morning, chopped oats in afternoon. Henry Badman here to supper. Bob to meetings in evening – Clearwater School and Halcyonia School. Joshua took him.

27^th

Seventh day. Snowing and blowing all day. Harry out on Floss to see remaining colts and got mail. Jeannie away alone. Bob away to Borden in afternoon.

28^th

First day. Meeting at home. Warm and melting, water running down the yard. Eleanor and children and I for walk to river. Cattle and horses out a bit. Hills getting bare. Bob home in evening. Harry saw a crow. Forty eggs.

29^th

Second day. Colder, east wind and overcast. I did wash. Bob and I saw two crows. Bob for one load straw, got rye from Badman’s. Paid Henry for feed - $41.00. Harry found Jeannie dead, also Baldy.

March 30^th

Third day. Blowing and snowing. Mother went with Joshua to Langham. Bob for one load straw, got mail. Up to McCheanes for seed barley. Harry chored. Father and I churned. McGee and PeeWee came home.

APRIL

2^nd

Sixth day. Bob took Mother and Father to Langham to take the train to Saskatoon. Susie and baby came from Borden. Harry took two racks for sheaves. Bob back to Langham for one load. Eleanor and I did chores. Very mild and wet. Forty degrees above. Paid $31.80 for sheaves.

4^th

First day. Quiet day. Bob away to Halcyonia. Brought mail back. Letters from Ruth, Hannah Hatcher and Wes. First returns fro hatching eggs – 66%. Fifty-three degrees above – mild and bright.

8^th

Fifth day. Mild. Chored. Cattle out – less chores.[1003] Snow mostly gone. Bob mended buggy pole and box. Harry fixed branding irons. All worked on cattle. Twenty-seven yearlings branded, dehorned, etc. Very tired.

9^th

Sixth day. Overcast. Cleaned barns, mending harness. Harry mended levees. Eleanor and I to Wakes for oyster shell, took two roasts to Hannah. Children raked lawn.[1004]

10^th

Seventh day. Cloudy, cleared at night. Harry looked up cattle and horses, fixed levees. Bob and Harry mending and oiling harness and machinery. I baked and cleaned some. Edith phoned from Borden. Dave brought Father and Mother out from Saskatoon.

11^th

First day. Mild, snow mostly gone. Eleanor and Harry and children for walk in afternoon.[1005] Ravine running water a little. I wrote letters. Supper at Bob’s. Made ice cream.

12^th

Second day. Light fall of snow, melted. Boys mending harness and machinery. Harry got Jill and Jack in, and Jewel. Monica died. Vaccinated skim milk calves.

13^th

Third day. Bob to town with cream and eggs, away all day, trails passable. Brought Father and Mr. Eastes out. Mother stayed at Daisie’s. Bob and Harry skinned cow. Hauled manure with spreader. Cool wind.

14^th

Fourth day. River went out today. Grand sight! Father and Susie and children I drove down to see at flume. Bob and Harry down to protect pump. Bill hauled oats from Twenty-six. Bob chopped some. Nice day but cool wind.

15^th

Fifth day. River flooded flats. Tool granary and a thousand bushels of oats, flume, rake, disk, etc. Higher than 16.[1006] Cloudy and cool, windy. Bob and Bill and Jake Isaac and Harry got three loads wood. I planted out tomato plants. I baked.

16^th

Sixth day. Bob and Jake hauled five loads wood. Harry and Bill hauled oats from Twenty-six. Father and I made butter. Went down to see ice on stubble, took pictures.[1007] Cloudy in morning. Warm and bright in afternoon.

17^th

Seventh day. I made two lots of buns and cleaned some. Bill finished hauling oats from Twenty-six and sheaves, one load. Harry and Bob to Wakes to dinner and to Halcyonia to Annual Meeting. Jake cut wood.

18^th

First day. Windy and cloudy. I got ready and drove to Borden with team and buggy to get Mother. Supper and home again. Eric sick. Alec and E. and John and H. down to see ice, also Oscar and Lillian Brunst and Joshua and Hannah and Sissie and Cornie. [1008] Harry to Great Deer.

19^th

Second day. Very warm. I did big wash. Drove Mother and Susie and children to see ice on slough. Boys sawed wood for about two hours in afternoon. Cleaned barns. Harry came back, brought Prince. Boys hauled two loads wood.

20^th

Third day. Bob sick. Started to saw wood – engine broke down. Bob to bed with cold. Harry and Bill give Prince subjection and taught Dusty commands. Jake cleaned barns. Dolly Varden had calf – Scotty.

21^st

Fourth day. Cool and windy. Bob sick in bed – flu. Harry and Bill training Dusty and Prince – doing fine! Daisie and Eric to Saskatoon. Jake cleaned shed. Raggedy Ann and Bettina had claves last night.

22^nd

Fifth day. Warm and windy. Bob still laid up. Harry sick but up some. Jake cleaned sheds. Pa painting cart and wagon green. Harry ooiled saddle and chaps. I finished ironing.

25^th

First day. Doing chores until 11 o’clock. Dave came – Edith and Ed and Gordon and Laura and Mary Rempel here to dinner. Left before supper. Susie very sick. Harry up a little. I got bad throat.

26^th

Second day. Susie and Mother real sick. I have bad throat. Boys around mending machinery etc. Harry brought cultivator home. Father sick too.

27^th

Third day. Nice day. Cool wind. Harry up to Saloways’ to get load of feed oats. Missed truck, got mail. Bob and Jake moved brooder house and put up stove. Daisie and Eric and Alma and Bobby and Carol brought chicks out. Susie still sick.

28^th

Fourth day. Susie and Mother still sick and in bed. Father has bad cough. Got team on land first this year – plowing. Dick and Jerry, Jack and Jill, and King. Harry and I collected some lumber from slough.[1009] Henry Mason[1010] phoned – coming end of week. Cool.

29^th

Fifth day. Cold wind. Jake broke evener on plow. Harry made one. Plowed in afternoon. Cleaned barn. Harry mended mangers in barn. Bob back from town in afternoon. Mother and Susie a little better.

30^th

Sixth day. Bob cultivated. Jake sick. Mother still sick. Susie better. Mary and Roberta sick. Sophie[1011] came for fifty chicks. Harry up to Ranch with load in buggy. Cool and bright.

MAY

1^st

Seventh day. Rained all morning steady. I couldn’t find cows. Let nine colts in by Henry Badman’s. Bob finally got cows. Harry came home. I baked bread and buns. Mother slept most of day. Harry and Bob tried to straighten barn roof. Jake still sick.

3^rd

Second day. Harry got ready and left for Ranch. Smoky, Tommy, Fox and Bronc. Henry Mason up at shack. I did big wash. nice day but windy. Bob drilled grass on Thirty-six. Jake hauled two loads oat straw and plowed in afternoon. Bob to Coop meeting at night.

4^th

Third day. Jake plowed. Bob got seed oats from Wakes, also mail, I got colts out of Kaslow’s[1012] – put in Thirty-six. Did most of ironing. Cloudy and windy – raining at night.

5^th

Fourth day. Raining all morning, windy. Harry phoned from Great Deer. Jake plowed in afternoon. Bob put brace on barn, straightened roof. Put repair on car. Mother and I cleaned bedrooms.

7^th

Sixth day. Bob for seed oats from Saloways. Took one crate eggs. Jake cultivating on Twenty-six. Snowing and blowing. Harry and Henry Mason down at noon. Got cattle in, checked them. Henry Badman brought mail.

8^th

Seventh day. Jake left. Harry and Henry Mason and I took our cattle, Wakes, and Armand’s – a hundred head – to Ranch. Billie Wake came too. Fixed them and put them in middle pasture. Bob cultivating. Mother baked bread and buns. Harry and Henry and I late.

9^th

First day. Meeting at home. Dave Murray brought Edith and Edward and Gordon and Daisie and Carol, Mother’s Day. John and Helen Fehr down. Frank Pauls came from Melrose. Boys hired him - $55.00 per month.[1013] Harry and Henry left for Ranch. Mother went to Saskatoon. Cool.

10^th

Second day. Frank Pauls cultivated. Father put some potatoes and peas in front garden. Bob hauled stones on Twenty-six. I did some raking up. Cool and cloudy.

12^th

Fourth day. Frank seeding oats and wheat below, by ditch. Bob harrowed, used Spee. I did small wash and baked bread. Eric brought Mother home, in car. Took old cart. A little warmer.

14^th

Sixth day. I took eggs – two crates – fifteen dozen, with Spee in cart. Got chick feed from Wakes. Visited with Hannah at home. Brought mail and key came for car. Bob worked on car in afternoon. Frank drilled on Twenty-six.

15^th

Seventh day. Cleaned house through. Made buns. Did small wash. Frank drilling on Twenty-six. Bob worked on car and wagon tongue. Harry and Henry Mason home at night. Bob and family to Borden – home late.

16^th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry and Henry and I to Borden to Sissie’s and Daisie’s. Harry to Radisson. Heard that John McCheane died this morning at nine o’clock and I stayed at Daisie’s overnight.

17^th

Second day. Warm and thundery – no rain. Harry and I did quite a lot of business in town – up to Ranch. Ronnie Berndt there with 34 head cattle. Checked them. Cleaned up around shack and so home. Bob around and fixed up around yard.

18^th

Third day. Laska and Telka had colts. I did wash. Father and Mother and Bob and Harry and I all to town in car to John McCheane’s funeral. Helped Daisie – supper to quite a crowd. Dave and Edith and Ed and Gordon up. Frank drilling oats on Twenty-six.

19^th

Fourth day. Harry up to Ranch – on home with pack horse. I did some ironing. Pretty hot weather. Frank working on Twenty-six – harrowing and drilling.

20^th

Fifth day. Bob took Father and Mother to Monthly Meeting at Wakes’. Cleaned and raked drive and yard. Had big fire. I finished ironing, curtains too. Frank drilling. Harry came home for supper. Bob mending drill.

21^st

Sixth day. I took cream and two crates eggs in cart, and on to clean Meeting House. Joshua and Hannah and Betty came. Home to dinner. Sick all afternoon, didn’t get much done. Harry cleaned out trough and well, and cleaned alfalfa. Frank disking, Mother baked.

22^nd

Seventh day. Mother and I cleaned workshop and made beds. I say Laska with buckskin foal. Children said Reta has one. Bob and Harry cleaned out creek at Henry Badman’s end of slough. Cleaned alfalfa in afternoon. Rained. Frank drilling. Made two lots of buns. Harry and I to town at night, had campfire.

23^rd

First day. Dull and raining most of day, and windy. Father and Mother and Bob and girls to Meeting, at Meeting House for first time this year. Edith phoned from Borden. Rested up.

24^th

Second day. Dull but clearing. Cool wind. Frank finished drilling by Maple Grove. Harry and Bob cleaned ditch, got it running. Picnic in afternoon – about eighty people came. Played ball and had lunch in house.

25^th

Third day. Cloudy and rather chilly. Harry got ready and went to Ranch, team an buggy and Fox. I took cream and fifteen dozen eggs. Father and Mother and I gardening. Bob got evener out of slough;[1014] mending disks. Frank drilling on river land.

26^th

Fourth day. Bob took tank of water to shack. I up on Spee and on to Hepburn ferry. Helped bring 220 head of horses and cattle to Pasture. Lost some in bush. Susie and Bob and Fred there. Home late, tired. Frank drilling down below.

27^th

Fifth day. Felt rotten all day. Bob and Pa planted potatoes in garden. Frank finished disking on Twenty-six and started on Henry Badman’s. Cool, frost at night.

28^th

Sixth day. Made bread. Father and Mother started cleaning out cellar. Mr. Todd came. Bob away with him surveying all day. Frank disking on Henry’s. Saw Jewel with colt.

29^th

Seventh day. Bob and I up to Ranch in car to help brand Langham cattle. Bob and Sam left after dinner. Gersters and Carl Larson brought their cattle. Harry came home with us at night. Joyce and Jack and Frank and Edith and Gordon here.

30^th

First day. Meeting at home. Dull and raining all day. Joyce and Jack and Frank up to McCheanes’ and Wakes’ in afternoon. Home late.

31^st

Second day. Rained all day. Harry did books. Bob and Frank Pauls cleaned out back shed. We baked and churned and Edith made cake.

JUNE

3^rd

Fifth day. Bob cleaned oats at Badman’s. Up to Ranch in afternoon. He and Harry turned cattle into middle pasture. We had UFW meeting at Susie’s. Twelve came – good meeting. I went for twelve horses loose at Sutherlands’.

4^th

Sixth day. Bob fixed fence up Twenty-six. He and I to Ranch and with Harry took 68 horses up into north pasture. Bob and I home. I up north of Meeting House to get six more horses. Got mail. Home late. Frank seeding on Henry Badman’s.

5^th

Seventh day. Frank finished on Henry Badman’s. We cleaned through house. Bob and Susie and children to Borden. Harry home for supper. He and I to Borden – he on to Radisson. Had weiner roast.

6^th

First day. Harry and I and Mildred up to Laurie’s. Mildred and I walked to Meeting. Warm. Harry down for Father and Mother. Baby David sick[1015] – had to be taken to Saskatoon. Bob and Susie went with Vera Hayter. Nice day.

7^th

Second day. I did big three weeks’ wash. Washer not working well – Harry worked on it in morning. Lovely day! Frank clearing land of brush. Frank and Margie painting house. Harry cleaned ditch. Bob and Susie back at night.

11^th

Sixth day. We started spring cleaning the pantry. I papered, Marge painted and Mildred cleaned.

13^th

First day. I stayed home from Meeting. Saskatoon folks and Daisie and Eric came after dinner. Daisie’s birthday. Gave her tablecloth and pillowslips. Gave Gordon a pair of gauntlet gloves.

14^th

Second day. Mildred did quite a wash. I helped Harry train colts. Hitched Dusty to wagon. Handled Donna, Cleo and Topsy. Frank worked in garden. Bob and Susie and Marge to Elliott’s picnic. Put Laska and Rita and Gay and Linnet with King.

15^th

Third day. Sale at Duncan’s. Harry and Bob took horses up. Went fairly good. Boys bought Bennet buggy, walking plow, etc. I put in 32 tomato plants. Mildred and Margie and I helped weed strawberries. Very warm. Gave Cleo subjection at night.

16^th

Fourth day. Short Meeting at home. Heard Madam Chiang-Kai Chek on radio. Frank drilling in afternoon, disked in morning, used Dusty – went good. Planted out 23 tomato plants. Bob mending plow etc. Harry got two scrapers taken to Ranch.

17^th

Fifth day. Bob helped Frank get started plowing on Thirty-five. He and I to Ranch in afternoon. Harry went in morning and started stock on down with Pete Hiebert. Pig disappeared.

19^th

Seventh day. Harry and Frank and I up to shack in car and on in buggy to dam. I walked and caught Kitty. Back to shack to get Tommy and Smoky. Home at night, brought Kitty home. Edith and Mother and Mildred and Margie had very busy day – put up 18 quarts rhubarb.

20^th

First day. Folks to Meeting in car. Mildred and I got dinner. I rested most of day in housecoat. Dave brought Ruth and Daisie and Eric and Carol to supper. Edith and Eric and Carol over to Bob and Susie’s home at night.

21^st

Second day. Bob and Mother to town with trailer for lumber. Bob fixed washer. Harry up to Ranch in cart. Pig came back. Frank cleared and dug out drain. Harry shot eight magpies.

25^th

Sixth day. Bob shot Trixie and two pups.[1016] He and I to fetch mail, registered letter for Harry. To dam by noon. Helped all afternoon.

26^th

Seventh day. Harry and Bob and I cut black colt – J. Lett’s. Harry to home and on to Borden for medical. Back late afternoon. Supper at shack and on to Radisson. We worked on dam. Cut four corner posts. Rained in afternoon. Home at night.

28^th

Second day. Packed up and rode to Ranch in buggy, led Tinker. Teddy Price[1017] came. Harry and Teddy to Brunsts with stakes. Cornie came. We got saddle stock. Rounded up 500 head out of middle pasture. Bob home to campfire.

29^th

Third day. Bob up to breakfast. Over north and middle pastures again – got 200 head more. Boys made wing fence[1018] in afternoon in yard.

30^th

Fourth day. Roundup day. A good bunch came and got through slick. Mildred came and helped me get dinner. Vaccinated 96 calves. Put cows and calves in south pasture.

JULY

1^st

Fifth day. Cut out 200 steers and breeding stock. Put cows south and heifers in meddle pasture. Worked from early morning until 11:30 at night. Very tired!

2^nd

Sixth day. Too late to take steers north, so put them in west roundup pasture. Harry and Bob put salt in south pasture. Went fencing. Joyce and Jack came down to dam. Helped take 200 steers to north pasture at night. Bed late.

3^rd

Seventh day. Late start and very hot. Cut out about 30 cows and put in Stella’s. Dinner at shack and packed up and all left. Joyce and Jack (McEwan) in car, Bob in buggy and load of stakes, Teddy on horseback and Harry and I in car. Helped clean up at home.

5^th

Second day. I did very big was after getting Harry away to Ranch, Jack helping. Bob mending side rake. Margie churned butter.

6^th

Third day. Very hot. Daisie and Eric and Herdis and Alma and Jack (Lund) and Carol up for swim. Came very late, supper in garden. Campfire. Cornie Penner and Millie Watkins down for short time. Philip and Ruth McCheane and Daphne (Pope) down later.

7^th

Fourth day. Very hot. Harry and Jack took cows and Matilda up to Stella’s. Teddy drove team up. Bob cleaned garden irrigation ditch and mowed alfalfa. We did ironing. Pa in garden. Fastened up seven broody hens.[1019]

9^th

Sixth day. Jack McEwan and Joyce took cream and eggs and Mother up to Wakes for the day. We went for her in evening. I did through house with the Electrolux and washed cellar floor. Boys hauled four loads good hay.

13^th

Third day. Harry and Mother in car over to P. Thiessen’s to buy bull. Bob and I mowed alfafa. Harry and Bob hauled two loads in afternoon. We worked in garden. Nice day.

15^th

Fifth day. Bob raked hay and he and I loaded two loads hay. Unloaded mine and topped stack. Rained hard all day. Pete and Jake Hiebert came. Cleaned barn in afternoon.

17^th

Seventh day. Bob and Susie took baby to town to hospital – sick. Jake turned hay over. Peter cleaned stackyard. All haying in afternoon. Hauled four loads, making seven loads. Harry home driving Tinker. To Radisson at night.

18^th

First day. Harry and Father to Meeting. Margie and I got dinner. Mother slept. Baby still in hospital. Cooler. Harry let McCheane’s horse into west.

19^th

Second day. Hieberts came about 10:30. Harry raking, hauled six loads hay. Bob cleaned car, went for Fowlers. He and family left for City. I did wash and we churned. Father in garden. Very hot!

20^th

Third day. Electric storm in night, heavy rain. I to mail on Spee. Letter from Len. Harry and Pete started cleaning up steam engine. Jake cut alfalfa by river. I stayed dinner at Wakes. Windy.

21^st

Fourth day. Hot and clear. Men haymaking from 10:30 on – heavy dew. I put paris green on potatoes. I finished ironing. Men hauled eight loads hay today. Harry up to Ranch late at night. Meeting at home.

22^nd

Fifth day. Men putting up hay. I pulled up sow thistle and thinned carrots in irrigation garden. Had tea in garden. Watkins man came. Harry home very late. Bob home late also.

23^rd

Sixth day. Harry and I got ready and went to city in car. Car out of commission when we got to garage. Walked to Edith’s. Daisie and Eric there, etc. Stan Brunst to dinner. Harry and I to Fair all afternoon. To Auntie’s to sleep. Sick.

24^th

Seventh day. Harry and I had late breakfast with Freddie Wake. Had easy morning. To Edith for supper. To show at night with Jack and Joyce: Action on the Atlantic.[1020]

25^th

First day. Up late. Had waffles for breakfast. Mary Rempel came. Harry and Fred came for Ruth and I, and took us to Wakes to dinner, on to Edith’s to supper.

27^th

Third day. Harry called for me at Murrays’ and we went to see J. B. Ferguson, got Tommy’s and Kitty’s papers.[1021] To Edith’s for dinner. Mary and Philip McCheane came in truck. Harry and I to see Mission to Moscow.[1022] Called for Susie and Agnes and so home.

29^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob hauled three loads hay and raked. Harry took Mother and Auntie Agnes to town shopping. Daisie and Alma and Carol came in cart, went swimming. I fried two broilers – first we’ve had. Harry to Ranch at night in buggy.

30^th

Sixth day. Did small wash, towels, etc. Susie and Sob superheated their house on account of bedbugs.[1023] We had baby all day, and they came here to eat. Bob to meeting at night. Marjorie Wake for mail on bike – letter from Len. Cooler in morning.

31^st

Seventh day. Bob and I mowed on Henry’s in morning. Harry and Bob brought two loads hay at night, good prairie wool. Harry to Radisson. [1024]

AUGUST

1^st

First day. Two carloads to Meeting. Harry took Father and Mother home, came back and took Auntie Agnes and Margery and I to Saloways’ to dinner and to Popes’ to supper. Left Auntie at McCheanes’ and so home.

2^nd

Second day. Susie came and made a big row!! [1025] Bob took children to school and mowed up at Henry Badman’s. He and Harry worked all afternoon and brought two loads home, good hay! I did big wash and went for children with Spee and cart.

3^rd

Third day. Father took children to school and got the, and mail. I had sick headache. Did some ironing. Margery washed Father’s hair.

4^th

Fourth day. Harry mending west pasture fence. We put horses over there and Henry Badman’s three. Bob mowed in morning. Took Father and Mother and I to Monthly Meeting in afternoon. Fairly cool day and windy.

5^th

Fifth day. Bob raked on Henry Badman’s. Harry and I got two big loads and brought them home. Mother put up three pints peas and two pints carrots, hauled two loads of vegetables back to door. Father took children to school. Rained in afternoon. Bob got hurt on head. Harry to Ranch.

6^th

Sixth day. I cleaned Mother’s bedroom and bed thoroughly with Electrolux, and in my room and downstairs. I went with Henry Badman to town at night to help get ready for Hospital Day. Edith came.

7^th

Seventh day. Edith and I didn’t sleep much. I cleaned through house with Electrolux. Edith and everyone cleaning. Edith and I made sandwiches. A good crowd came to hospital Day. Raised $19.46.

9^th

Second day. Bright and showery. Harry home at night. Bob trying to fix chopping engine. I did big wash and made one batch of bread. Bob took Edith and Gordon and Margery to Borden in morning. Cut little pigs.

10^th

Third day. Harry to Ranch on Fox. Father took children to school. Bob got engine ready and we cut a little wood. He and Pa hauled two loads hay from Badman’s. Joshua brought Mildred Watkins down to visit.

12^th

Fifth day. Lovely clear morning. We baked and put up 14 quarts rhubarb. Bob worked on cart for children. Had phone call from Len in Saskatoon.

14^th

Seventh day. Cleaned. Harry went for Len and Ruth and Roger in evening. Jack Saunders put cow and calf in breeding pasture.

15^th

First day. Margery and I stayed home – kept Davey. Len and Harry for walk. All up to see dam in afternoon. Car and trailer. Bathed. What fun!

16^th

Second day. Harry and Bob and Len and Pa all haymaking on Badman’s. Quite hot! We took it easy and talked to Ruth. Light engine off.

17^th

Third day. Harry and Bob haying up at Henry Badman’s. Len took Ruth and Mother to Saloways’, home to dinner to Susie’s. Henry Badman came. Margery and I up to his place, bought granary, $45.00. Daisie and Eric and Carol came – went bathing. Cold. Sold Kitty and Telka to Eric - $100.00.

18^th

Fourth day. Bob took Len and Ruth and Roger and I to Borden. We saw them off on train. Saw Daisie. Home and started painting in Harry’s room. Harry and Pa cut barley. Pa finished it. Harry and Bob finished up at Badman’s – 13 loads.

19^th

Fifth day. Harry took Father and Mother to Borden, to TB clinic, and both children to school. Marge and I got dinner and painted boys’ room. Harry got ready and left for Ranch – Tinker and Tommy. Bob worked on binder.

20^th

Sixth day. Bob took Mother and Susie and children to TB clinic. Mother had to go back.[1026] I gave another coat of paint to bedroom.

22^nd

First day. Raining quite a lot. Edith phoned from Wakes’. Meeting at home. Joyce Wake and Jack McEwen came on motorbike, too wet to leave. Harry and Margie and Joyce and Jack and I up to Wakes’ to see folks at night.

23^rd

Second day. Showery. Jack and Joyce tried to go on motorbike. No luck! Harry away to Ranch, Tommy and Tinker. Bob to town. Put finishing in bedroom, painted it all.

24^th

Third day. Jack and Joyce away by 2:00. Cleared a little. Bob took children in car to school and on with Joshua Wake, collecting for Coop store. We got Mother and Pa moved to downstairs bedroom.

25^th

Fourth day. Moving furniture up and down. Harry home at 4:00. Harry and Bob and Pa got four loads of hay put in stackyard down below. Worked late. Billie Wake brought 45 bushels wheat. I paid him $20.00 down.

26^th

Fifth day. Marge finished painting upstairs. I with Hannah and Mildred to Mrs. Rayner’s to UFC meeting. Daisie there. Good meeting.

29^th

First day. Mildred came home with them from Meeting. Harry and I home. John Fehrs down. All went bathing. River lovely! Rained at night.

SEPTEMBER

1^st

Fourth day. Clear and cool – west wind. Bob cutting on Twenty-six. I mowed alfalfa in morning. Harry home about 3:00 – he raked in the afternoon. Mother and I cleaned out icehouse. [1027]

6^th

Second day. Cold and showery all day. Harry away to Ranch – took team and rode Fox. Bob and Pa and Susie and Margery and I sawed wood. Rain stopped us. Billie Wake and Cornie and Millie down in evening. Played games.

7^th

Third day. Still cold and cloudy and showery. We sawed wood all morning. Finished over here. I did two weeks’ wash in afternoon. Pa and Bob stooking on twenty-six in afternoon. Children brought mail.[1028]

8^th

Fourth day. Bob cut up on Badman’s in morning. Home at noon and took Mother and Father and Susie to Monthly Meeting at Borden. Harry home and went raking and mowing with Tommy and Tinker. Folks home late. Got chesterfield from Doug.

11^th

Seventh day. Mother not well. We cleaned downstairs and baked buns and bread. Harry cleaned out ditch on slough. Father cut barley – or rye? Bob finished cutting crop on Badman’s. Harry to Radisson – brought Eleanor back late.[1029]

12^th

First day. Lovely day. Harry took us to Meeting. Harry and Eleanor and Margery and I to river in afternoon. Bathed. (Slightly) cool. Olga McLean and Fehrs and Mary Rempel down, also Abe and Esther. Harry took Eleanor and Margery and I to Borden and Radisson, home late.

13^th

Second day. Harry away on Fox with Tommy too. Bob took Mary to bus, back by noon. I made dill pickles, canned two pints peas and six quarts pears. Very windy. Bob took Pa and Margery and I in car, stooking on Twenty-six – did 28 acres.

14^th

Third day. Bob unloaded hay and mended rack and went off threshing – Buck and Britain. Mother put up five quarts peaches. Pa and Margery and I dug potatoes and brought them up in wagon. Olga came, late.

15^th

Fourth day. Unloaded potatoes and beets. Marge and Pa and I stooked six acres on Twenty-six. Rained a little. Bob and Harry both home.

16^th

Fifth day. Harry and Bob took granary to Twenty-six from Badman’s – four horses. Pa and I dug Irish Cobbler potatoes and carrots. Marge and I picked beans. Bob threshing in afternoon. Harry raking hay. Olga over to supper. Nice day but windy.

17^th

Sixth day. Harry and Pa hauling hay. I up to Archie’s[1030] land for rake. Spee and Tommy. Raked up there then home and raked alfalfa all afternoon. Harry and Father hauled five loads. Marge and Mother cleaned bedrooms. Harry for Millie at Wakes, late.

18^th

Seventh day. Cleaned house. Rained in might. Harry up to Stella’s pasture in car, Mother and Millie went along. Called at Alice Christensen’s on way home. Bob took Olga to Hepburn. Harry to town, stayed overnight.

21^st

Third day. Bob to thresh early in morning. Millie and I picked beans in morning, and dug potatoes. Susie and Marge and I dug Susie and Bob’s potatoes, hauled them up with Dick and Jerry. Harry and Pa finished stooking barley. Harry to Ranch at night.

25^th

Seventh day. Bob threshing. Father and Harry hauled two loads hay, raked. Started threshing on Twenty-six. Campfire at McCheanes’. Jack and Joyce there. Harry took Marge and I.

26^th

First day. Bob and Susie to Hepburn in car. Harry in bed all day. Father and Mother to Meeting in buggy. Jack and Joyce home with them.

27^th

Second day. Threshing on Twenty-six. We had them for dinner and lunch. Too, lunch in buggy. Millie and Jack and Joyce and Marge and children and I. Joshua and Hannah up to Ranch in evening, driving Tinker.

29^th

Fourth day. Joyce and I got ready and went to the shack in the buggy, no boys! Cleaned shack well right through. F. Aseroff[1031] came. Home late, very dark. Boys home at noon. Bob threshing. Harry and Jack hauled oats from Twenty-six. Fixed granary.

OCTOBER

1^st

Sixth day. Wakes came first thing to thresh barley in yard. Bill stayed to chop barley, stayed all night. Mother and Mildred not so well. Margery ironed a little.

2^nd

Seventh day. Baked, churned and ironed and cleaned. I helped Bob and Susie clean chicken loft in afternoon. Bill and Sam and Fred came in car. Mildred left at night. Harry took Joyce and Jack and I to town at night. Home late.

3^rd

First day. Father’s birthday, gave him two boxers candy. Dave Murray brought Ed and Edith and Gordon and Ruth, and Eric and Daisie and Carol came in afternoon. Gave Pa mitts and gloves. Cornie came at night to go to Ranch, stayed over until morning.

4^th

Second day. Packed up and to Ranch. Tommy, Smoky, Spee, Tinker, Paddy and Cleo. Cornie came up with us. Daisie and Eric and four boys from Blaine Lake at shack. Got cattle from north pasture. Abe Reimer[1032] with us. Got lunch from Siemens’. [1033]

8^th

Sixth day. Got up cattle and cut Langham cattle. Inspector came and vaccinated them. Ten short. Bob and Mother and Barry came up in car. I over to Eric’s.

11^th

Second day. Harry up on Fox early. I got ready and took sheaves and water and supplies up by noon. Orchards came for their cattle. Cut out Radisson cattle.

13^th

Fourth day. Got an early start with Langham cattle, Daisie and Eric helped us get away, then went back to help Bob, who was checking out Saunders’ and Williams’ cattle. (Took Tex.) Harry and I to Langham by bridge, and stayed over.

14^th

Fifth day. Cool and windy. Harry and I left Thiessens’ about three o’clock. Weighed ponies in elevator. Fox 1130 pounds, Spee 1049 pounds, with saddles.

To Millar’s store, bought leather coat for Harry and green parka for me. Home nine o’clock.

15^th

Sixth day. Heavy fog. Couldn’t find Langham cattle. Inspector waited six hours. Rode all day.[1034]

19^th

Third day. Eric and Daisie to breakfast. Harry and Sam in car and Bill and I on horseback looked over Halcyonia, Thistledale and Great Deer for Langham horses.[1035] Found one, and twelve others up by Matchke’s. Bill and I brought them to roundup.

21^st

Fifth day. Boys decided to try for Langham so left in morning, Harry with them on Tommy. I did a large three weeks’ wash, very dirty! Very windy and showery, but dried clothes mostly outdoors. Bob cleaned barns.

22^nd

Sixth day. Cloudy and snow flurries. Margery cleaned bedrooms and we did the ironing. Bob away with Laurie Crabb to a Hereford sale at Asquith. Bought a bull calf. Harry away at Langham, back at night. Rain and snow.

23^rd

Seventh day. We cleaned and I made buns and prune loaf. Bob and Pa trying to straighten barn. Harry up to Ranch to get rid of the rest of the horses, all but Lavoie’s. Three of Langham’s still missing. Cloudy.

24^th

First day. Meeting at home. Overcast and cool. Harry and I looked up cattle in afternoon – Fox and Spee. They have broken into stack on Twenty-six. Harry got horses off Archie’s and our oat sheaves and hay stacks. Thirty-three degrees above.

25^th

Second day. Harry and I up to J. Treptau’s for Langham colt. Took it to Ranch, in breeding pasture. Packed up and brought two loads home by dark.[1036] Bob up to Wilfred Brunst for fence posts. Margery cleaned windows outside.

26^th

Third day. Clear and sunny in afternoon. Harry and Bob started leveling for steer shelter. We cleared away bedding etc. from Ranch. Did some sewing, knitting and mending. Baked bread. Isaac B. came.

27^th

Fourth day. I did large wash – things from Ranch. Bob and Harry and Ike building calf racks[1037] and corral back of barn. Harry and Pa and I for load of drift logs[1038] off slough. I got bad headache.

28^th

Fifth day. Harry and Ike went on with steer corral and fence down to trough. Bob took us to Wakes’ and he went on to town to mend car and attend Co-op meeting. Stayed over. I went with Hannah to Pope’s for executive meeting. Wakes’ pigs sick – vaccinated them. I stayed over.

29^th

Sixth day. Hannah and I visited and did wash. Bob called for me after dinner and we came home. Harry and Ike finished steer corral and started fencing below. Cleared up one load of wood from yard. Pa got cows. Marge did ironing. To Carl Christensen’s for evening.

30^th

Seventh day. Overcast, light rain by night. Bob and Father over to Asquith to get bull calf Bob bought at sale - $75.00. Harry and Isaac moved barley into granary, some spoilt. We cleaned and baked. Harry went on with calf pen.

31^st

First day. Snow and rain and rather wet, not heavy. Bob and Pa still in Borden. Came home by 5:00. Wrote to Olive.

NOVEMBER

1^st

Second day. Bob away with team and buggy to get calf from south of Ceepee. Very muddy roads. To Borden by night. Harry and Ike hauled manure, building rack, (spread it on irrigation garden.) Children missed school. Cool, overcast.

2^nd

Third day. Cleared, and colder. Frozen. Bob home at noon. Harry and Ike finished fence around stackyard below and finished one to river. We cleaned some storm windows and mended. Put two up. Sewed and knitted. Put glass in back door. Bob put window in workshop.

3^rd

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Cleaned the rest of the storm windows. I cleaned upstairs pretty thoroughly and downstairs. Margery helped Susie in afternoon. Harry and Ike finished fencing. Bob got implements home. All got our pipes out of river, and foot valves.

4^th

Fifth day. Baked bread. Marge and I up to Wakes, (Harry took us in car) and on to Crabbs to UFC meeting – small meeting. Harry and Ike put up fence across road allowance by Duncan’s. Brought granary roof home.[1039] Bob put top on cart.[1040] Harry came for Marge and I at night from Wakes’.

5^th

Sixth day. Snowing all day. Boys making steer corral. Margery left us, Joshua took her to Borden. Trails bad. Sent letter to Wes, also Army and Navy about parka.

6^th

Seventh day. Harry for 28 horses left at Ranch – back to dinner. Bob and I helped him mark them in afternoon,[1041] all but seven. Bob and Ike working on shelter in morning. I made buns and cleaned. Harry and I to Borden at night.

7^th

First day. Folks did not come from Saskatoon. Harry to Radisson. Had quiet day with Daisie and Eric. Fairly mild. Muggs[1042] had steer calf – Maurice.

8^th

Second day. Did a little shopping and came home, Carol with us. Bob and Ike built stone foundations to steer shelter. Harry and Ike hauled load of logs. Colder at night. Helen Hamilton down for night.[1043]

9^th

Third day. Cold and windy. Boys fixed river trail and brought home two good logs. Ike brought one load poles in afternoon. Bob and Harry up to Ranch meeting at George Walker’s. Mother up to Wakes’. Daisie and Eric and Alma Lund came in car. Took Lulubelle’s colt and Carol.

10^th

Fourth day. Harry for Langham horses. Owners came out for dinner and took them. Bob and Ike got one load logs from Henry Badman’s. Harry and Ike one load in afternoon. Bob building steer shed. Nice bright day but cold wind. Twenty-three eggs.

11^th

Fifth day. Harry and Ike hauled logs from river. Bob took Helen Hamilton to school in car, went on with steer shed. I felt rotten, bad throat, didn’t wash.

12^th

Sixth day. Harry with Mr. Todd[1044] to see dam at Ranch. Got very bad colds (Harry and I.) Bob and Ike building steer sheds. Hard frozen all day. Washed out some towels, etc.

14^th

First day. Monthly Meeting at Meeting House, 2:00 o’clock. Mother and Father and Bob went in car. Harry and I feeling better. One inch snow in night. Overcast and mild.

16^th

Third day. Harry took me up to Wakes and I went with Billie to Saskatoon in Saloways’ car with Ben Saloway and Betty and Hannah Saunders. Dinner at the Commodore. Shopped with Edith all afternoon. To Wakes at night. Bob and Ike put roof on shed. Harry worked below.

17^th

Fourth day. Slept with Hannah. Harry came for me in car. Did some ironing, etc. boys all working on jacking up barn. Mild and nice out. Bob ground valves of light engine. Cornie and Billie down at night. Settled up with both.

18^th

Fifth day. Mild but windy. Harry and Ike hauled one load big logs for supports in horse barn. Put six in and put on horse barn door. I did ironing. Heard that Lily Badman died today.

19^th

Sixth day. Nice day but cold - 16 degrees above zero. Harry and Bob and Ike went on with barn. Bob took Father and Mother and Susie and Barry to Lily Badman’s funeral. I had baby David in afternoon.

20^th

Seventh day. Bob and Ike went on with barn. Harry and I got ready and went to pick up Eleanor at Radisson and on to Saskatoon. Dinner at Edith’s. Shopping in afternoon. Eleanor bought coat. Edith and I and Harry and Eleanor (and Jack and Joyce) to see City of Stalingrad.[1045]

21^st

First day. I helped Edith with housework. She cleaned our hats. All went to see Minnie and Francis Fowler and family, and Sadie and Arthur Hynd. Supper at Auntie Agnes’s. Saw Jack McEwan home at 7:30. Edith Burke came and brought her baby.

22^nd

Second day. Paid my insurance. Ordered flour from Hub City. Took one bag – fifty pounds - cream of wheat. Finished our shopping ? To Borden by eight o’clock. I stayed. Harry took Eleanor to Radisson. I stayed at Daisie’s.

26^th

Sixth day. Nice day. Three degrees above. I still feeling tough, up after dinner, not much good. Harry and Ike hauling sheaves below. Bob in bed in morning. To Schimpke’s sale in afternoon.

27^th

Seventh day. I worse instead of better. Temperature for 24 hours. Harry helped Ike over river on ice. Got load of logs. Got cattle up and shut calves up - 28 of them. Harry to town at night.

29^th

Second day. Milder and windy. Forty degrees above. Harry couldn’t find horses, got three more calves. Bob hauled one load sheaves from Henry Badman’s. Harry marked Dolly’s calf for me. Mother and I put up four quarts tomatoes.

30^th

Third day. Overcast. Snowed heavily in afternoon – six inches by night , very wet. Bob and Harry hauled sheaves from Badman’s. Cattle came home. Harry got 24 horses out of Sutherlands’.

DECEMBER

1^st

Fourth day. Harry and Bob hauled all the rest of the sheaves from Henry Badman’s on sleighs. Harry got Buck in and used him and King. I put Blackleaf 40[1046] on hen roosts. Cleaned my bedroom. Going cooler – ten degrees above. P. Enns brought flour in truck.

2^nd

Fifth day. Harry and Bob mended racks and hauled two loads sheaves from Schimpke’s. I washed underwear and some dresses. Cleaned porch and pantry. Weather cleared.

3^rd

Sixth day. Mary went to school. Starlight sick.[1047] Bob had to go for her, brought mail. Billie Wake came with tractor and chopped oats, barley, rye and wheat; $10.00. Heard that Charlie Orchard died. [1048]

4^th

Seventh day. Bob and Harry chored around in morning. Father and Mother and Bob and Harry to Borden to Charlie Orchard’s funeral. Ran out of gas, were late. I cleaned and baked and chored. Starlight died. Mild and bright.

5^th

First day. Father and Mother and Harry and I to meeting in car. Bright, a mild day. Bob and Susie and children away in afternoon in car. Timmy and Tinker still away.

6^th

Second day. Harry and Bob chored around in morning. Dragged pony out, etc.[1049]

Went for two loads sheaves from Schimpkes’ in afternoon. Isaac came back in afternoon. I did large wash. Good drying day, warm and bright.

7^th

Third day. Bob for last jag of oat sheaves and one load straw from Henry Badman’s for shed roof. Harry and Ike chored, unloaded sheaves and put posts in for shelter below. They hauled good forty-eight foot log home. Snowed in morning, melted in afternoon. I ironed and churned. Jill and colt came home.

8^th

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Bob got ready to butcher sow, mended boiler. Harry and Ike hauled logs and built shelter and mended stackyard fence.

9^th

Fifth day. Boys killed pig and cut up. Harry and Ike went on with shelter, had to haul logs, etc. Fairly mild and cloudy. Mother and I did some mending and sewing on quilt.

10^th

Sixth day. Mild. We cut up pork, canned seven pints. Bob helped Susie. Harry and Ike worked on shelter below, Bob helped in afternoon. Harry not well at night. Tinker came home. Tommy Token went away again. No-one got mail.

12^th

First day. Colder, northeast wind. Minus 6 degrees. Bob and Father and I to Meeting at Wakes’ in car. Ike went home. Harry brought mail last night. Army and Navy Store sent my money back. Harry tied Jill’s colt up – fought hard. Tommy token came home.

13^th

Second day. Mother stayed in bed with bad cold. Temperature down minus three in morning, 20 degrees below in the night. Bright and clear. Inspector came to see bull. Boys put poles on roof of shelter. I did wash and baked, etc. Got Cynthia and Betsy and Delia and Marigold in.

14^th

Third day. No school today – teacher sick. Mother in bed most of day, chest bad. Bosy hauled a load of straw from stackyard down below for bedding. Got two loads from Henry Badman’s. Put on roof of shelter. Minus 20 in morning, up to ten degrees above zero. I cut out apron. Harry took eggs to truck.

15^th

Fourth day. Mother in bed. Boys hauled straw from stackyard – two loads. Filled steer racks, cleaned barns and chored. Fixed water below. I plucked a rooster, hung in ice house. Did some ironing. Nice mild bright day. Sixteen degrees above at noon.

16^th

Fifth day. Children went to school with Dick.[1050] Got third day’s mail. Harry to Langham – first trip this season. Took Billie Wake, with Tinker and Buck. Bob and Ike hauled two loads wood. Bob fixed Model T[1051] in afternoon. I cleaned bedrooms. Very mild.

17^th

Sixth day. Children to school. Brought mail, letters from Auntie Agnes and Margery, and Edith. Harry and Bob worked on shelter in morning. Bob overhauled light engine. Harry and Pa hauled load of logs from river. Ike hauled two loads wood.

18^th

Seventh day. Ike hauled one load wood in morning. Bob and Harry chored and went on building shelter below. Bob and family to Borden to Carol’s birthday party in afternoon. We had baby David. Mother a little better. Ike and Harry on with shelter. I salted pork and cleaning. Very windy.

19^th

First day. Mild and bright. Meeting at home. Children all sick.[1052] Ike and brother came on horseback. Got horses from Badman’s. Kept Dusty and lame Jenny in. Lasca in fair shape and Blondie fine. Harry and I to see Daisie and Eric in Borden in afternoon. Cynthia had bull calf yesterday.

20^th

Second day. Mild but windy. Seven above. Susie and Bob and children all sick. Ike home sick too. I helped Harry with chores some. Finished apron for Ruth. Marigold had good bull calf. Mother much better.

21^st

Third day. Colder. Minus ten and strong wind. Bob to bed with temperature. Ike still away. Harry and I chored and cleaned barns and chicken loft. We’re out of wood! Harry hauled straw below. Brummagen Bill hurt his eye. I made two fruit cakes.

22^nd

Fourth day. Bob and Susie and children all very sick – high temperatures and flu. Cornie brought us a truckload of wood and yesterday’s mail and some groceries. Harry chored, hauled straw below and cleaned barns. I helped some and did a little for Bob and Susie. Made bread. Jill and Tommy came home. Colder – minus thirty.

23^rd

Fifth day. Bob and Susie and children still pretty sick. Father had temperature by night. Harry hauled straw to barn door. Chored. Weather nice and mild – 20 degrees above.

24^th

Sixth day. Delia had bull calf. Bob and Susie still sick. Bob has bad back. Harry and I did chores all day. Still mild. Harry went in car and got mail and school presents from Wakes. Father still in bed sick.

25^th

Seventh day. Harry and I up early and did chores. Got ready and went to Borden. Picked up George Hynd and had Christmas dinner at Daisie’s. Edith and Ed and Gordon there. Lovely dinner and nice time. Home by 4:30 in the afternoon – snowing and blowing.

26^th

First day. Zero degrees. Not much more snow. We did chores late. Father pretty sick. Bob and Susie and children better. Bob helped with evening chores.

27^th

Second day. Mild. Harry and Bob did chores. We sawed a little wood. I baked. Mother made cookies. Harry and Bob hauled two loads straw from stackyard.

28^th

Third day. Harry and Bob did chores and went on building shelter, used our own lumber and salvaged granary walls. Nearly finished. I made cookies to sent Roger. Minus ten in morning, going milder. Isaac came back at night.

30^th

Fifth day. Lovely bright day, ten degrees below zero and up. Father up for dinner. Ike hauled bedding from Henry Badman’s. Bob and Harry went on with shelter. Ike hauled two loads wood from old shelter and round about. I got parcel ready for Len and Ruth and Roger.[1053]

31^st

Sixth day. Found Jeannette with bull calf. Harry took mail and got mail and picked up Hannah, who visited. Joshua came for her in afternoon. Harry and Bob built shelter. Ike hauled hay from Badman’s. Nice day.

1944

JANUARY

2^nd

First day. Overcast and strong wind. Eric and Daisie etc., left after late breakfast. Laurie and Hannah Mary came to supper with Alice Crabb. Trouble with car. Bob and Harry hauled them with team up to road. Jeannette had bull calf - Gerald.

3^rd

Second day. Six inches snow, and snowed all day. Boys chored, sawed a little wood. Ike took three loads manure out. I did last week’s ironing. Horses didn’t come home. Betsey had bull calf – Peter.

5^th

Fourth day. Cold. Minus 25 below. Clear and bright. Bob and Harry to Langham. Used Dusty and Buck together first time. They went, and looked fine. Mother made cookies. Bob brought meat in. Thirty-nine eggs.

6^th

Fifth day. Very cold. Harry and Bob took six pigs to Langham. Home late dinner. Ike did chores. His brother Frank came. I made ice cream for children. We cut up meat and put in sealers – fourteen quarts. (Bob cut up quarter.) Sent eggs and cream. First can of cream in month…

7^th

Sixth day. Milder – up to ten above at noon. Bob cut up hindquarter for us. Dried beef and steak, etc. We canned twenty more quarts. Ike hauled one load straw from Henry Badman’s. Harry put on storm windows in kitchen. Mother cleaned them. Canned one hen. Harry for mail and parcel.

10^th

Second day. Bob to Saskatoon. Harry drove him to Langham, and for pigs and the roosters got $13.50 for seventeen. I did wash after Harry got back. Colder – 21 below in afternoon. Ike home and on to city.

11^th

Third day. Cold – minus thirty. Harry did chores and fixed up around barn. Put in two panes of glass. We canned ten quarts soup. 43 eggs. Dried rest of wash indoors. Baked bread.

13^th

Fifth day. Mild – minus five. Ike for one load straw. Harry chored. Killed a lot of mice in flour granary. Joshua Wake through yard to Langham.

15^th

Seventh day. Mild. Harry met Bob on trail from Langham. Ike hauled one load straw from Sanguires’, [1054] chored. Harry and I up to Wakes’. Went in to Borden with Hannah and Joshua to Bobby’s birthday party. Katie and Harold there. [1055]

Home late – four in the morning. Stayed until morning.

17^th

Second day. Bob took Susie to train to Saskatoon and met her at night. Ike three loads hay from Henry Badman’s. Harry helped with last one. Harry and I cleaned hens’ loft. We looked after baby and children.

19^th

Fourth day. Ike and Harry two loads – big – of straw from Sanguine’s. Bob mended kitchen pump and light engine.

20^th

Fifth day. Chores. Ike and Harry one load wood in morning. Gathered wood and flume in afternoon.[1056] Bob and Susie and I up to Wakes to UFC meeting. Thirty there.

21^st

Sixth day. Bob to Borden with Joshua – Co-op. Ike and Harry chored and cut wood in bluff. Woikins came to buy cow. One hundred dollars for Crocus.

23^rd

First day. Meeting at home. Abe and Esther came down to visit Bob and Susie.

24^th

Second day. Hauled two loads wood and sawed a pile. Two loads manure spread. Got nail out of Marame’s eye – used squeeze. I did big wash.

25^th

Third day. Chores. Cold. Harry and I drove up to Saloways’. We saw Lilibet at Orchards’.

27^th

Fifth day. I came home on Gypsy. Peggy gave her to me for the children to drive to school. [1057] Harry and Ike for one load wood. Brought pump and hose from steamer. Bob made rig for children.[1058]

28^th

Sixth day. Harry and Bob and Ike working on steam engine, getting ready to move it up to yard. I for mail on Gypsy. Photo from Harold Chamness, very nice. We churned and ironed. Colder – eleven below in the morning.

29^th

Seventh day. Harry and Bob brought steamer up. Ike got chopper from Wakes, cleaned barns. Hauled load of oats from Twenty-six. I cleaned bedrooms and parlour and made bread. Mother not well, fifteen below in morning, up to twenty above.

30^th

First day. Up late. Meeting at home. Bob in bed with chest cold. Ike home. Mary McCheane and Ruth came to dinner and tea. Mild but quite a breeze.

31^st

Second day. Minus ten to fifteen above. Hauled wood and water for steam engine. Chopped – three hundred bushels – oats, barley and rye. Frank B.[1059] came 10:15 in the morning. Sent letters and crate of eggs with Armand Christensen to Langham. Started washing parlour ceiling and wall.

FEBRUARY

1^st

Third day. Harry and Bob mended stackyard fence below. Trimmed Gypsy’s hooves and drove her and King to Langham. Home just before supper. Ike and Frank for two loads straw from John Wake. Got mail. I finished washing parlour ceiling. Cornie and Charlie down. Mild.

2^nd

Fourth day. Meeting at home. Ike and Frank for two loads straw, took lunch. Harry and Bob worked on steamer and lumber mill. Got ready to saw and sawed a little. I made cookies and buns. Harry and I to creek to skating party. Daisie and Eric and Alma there. Good time! Boys to Langham.

3^rd

Fifth day. Colder – twenty below up to zero. Boys did chores and sawed lumber. Quite a lot of hindrances.[1060] I finished washing parlour walls. Baked bread and cleaned a little.

4^th

Sixth day. Strong cold east wind. Bob mended light engine. Harry and Ike cleaned out well in stack yard, and made ready to saw lumber.[1061] Frank cleaned out barns and shelter. We culled hens and Susie killed ten birds, us one. I cleaned bedrooms.

8^th

Third day. Boys sawed lumber all day. I went up to Wakes’ on Gypsy, and on to Borden with them to UFC meeting. M. C. Appleby spoke, very interesting. Thirty degrees below in morning, five degrees at night. I had supper at Daisie’s, back late. Slept with Hannah. Bad headache.

10^th

Fifth day. 46 degrees below. Very cold. Frank left, Harry paid him up. Harry and Ike for one load straw over river. Bob fixing water below. The drain is frozen. Dick and Jerry (horses) came home, and about fifteen others. Mother in bed all day. I did ironing.

12^th

Seventh day. Mild – zero to 25 above. Chinook blowing. Harry and Ike for two loads straw over river. Home and sawed firewood for a couple of hours. Mother up but not well. I baked and cleaned. Hannah down to see Susie.

13^th

First day. Mother much better. Daisie and Eric and Carol came. Meeting at three in the afternoon. Very mild, twenty degrees above.

14^th

Second day. Windy. Minus ten, up to zero at noon. Boys cleaned barn and chicken loft. Hitched Gypsy single, went well. Eric and Daisie and Carol over to Bob and Susie’s for dinner. Eric left after dinner. We visited with Daisie and knitted. Drain opened up. Minus 26 at night.

15^th

Third day. Minus 18, up to ten above. West wind. Boys sawed lumber, got on well in afternoon. Frank came at noon. His dad brought three logs.[1062] Ike hauled one load wood for engine. Mother and Daisie and I mended and took it easy. Eric came to supper. Played games in evening.

16^th

Fourth day. Snowing and blowing. Daisie and Eric and Carol left for Borden. Laurie and Ken Crabb came to saw logs, stayed dinner. Boys got along well sawing lumber. Mean day, got colder at night. I killed two hens.

17^th

Fifth day. Cold. Minus 35 in morning, up to zero. Snowed quite a lot. Boys sawing, did most of ours. Ike for one load straw over river. I got two more hens killed. UFW meeting at McCheanes – I missed it. Mother worked on patchwork quilt.[1063]

18^th

Sixth day. Mild. Twenty-one above. Overcast. Boys sawed lumber. Laurie Crabb came and helped. Finished ours and started his. Ike went for one load straw over river, had upset. Eleanor phoned. Harry to Langham for her at night.

19^th

Seventh day. Eleanor and I cleaned and I made buns and rested. Bob sharpened saw but they couldn’t saw all day. Broken pipe. Harry to Langham to mend it at night. Ike for one load straw. Very mild, 25 above.

20^th

First day. Meeting at home, had late dinner. Harry and Eleanor and I went skiing, I had good run and enjoyed it. Eleanor got cold.

21^st

Second day. Mild and bright. Ten above. I did big wash. Bob to Borden to Coop meeting. Harry getting ready to saw tomorrow. Ike for one load straw over river. Jack ____ came for Crocus and calf. One hundred cash. Horses came home at night.

22^nd

Third day. Mild but windy and snow flurries. Laurie Crabb down to dinner, lost mail. He and I went back to find it – by gate. Sawed lumber in afternoon, about 700 feet. Ike hauled wood and chored. Connie had big heifer calf. Eleanor did ironing. I cleaned hen loft.

23^rd

Fourth day. Fairly mild, Meeting at home. Eleanor and I to Alice Christensen’s – quilting bee. About fourteen there, nice time, cold drive. Ike for one load straw. Laurie down after dinner. Harry and Bob mending pipes, sawing in afternoon, did well. Frank (hired man) came back.

24^th

Fifth day. Boys still sawing lumber. Finished our logs. M. Nimineshin one load logs, sawed for half shares. Ike for straw after dinner. Eleanor and Susie and children and I went skiing. Harry drove me to bus. Ed met me in Saskatoon – very lame.

25^th

Sixth day. Boys sawing two loads logs for Carl Christensen. Ike and Frank hauled one load firewood and five logs. Ike chored . In Saskatoon: Edith and I took it easy – both tired. Packed saddles and chair for Daisie and Eric, and I shortened my coat. Father to Langham – took my purse.

26^th

Seventh day. Boys finished sawing lumber and blew engine out and drained. Ike for one load stray. Sawed firewood. In Saskatoon – Edith and I walked downtown and did some shopping. Got blouse and cosmetics. Fairly mild. Dave Murray over – played bridge.

27^th

First day. Nice day. Harry and Eleanor went skiing with children. In Saskatoon – Edith and I went to Wakes for supper, had nice time. Jack McEwen there. Called at Sadie and Arthur’s on way home. Saw baby, John Robert.

28^th

Second day. Twenty above. Cleaned up around mill, tools, hose etc. Bob fixed saw guard and tool box. Ike four loads manure, chored. All sawed firewood in afternoon – six loads. Saskatoon – Edith and I shopped and I had tooth filled and glass rims altered. Edith and Bobby and I saw Shepherd of the Hills[1064] and Olana of the South Seas.[1065]

29^th

Third day. Cold wind. Ch. (?) came for freight – saddles and chair. Edith and I cut out my dress. Shopped on West Side. [1066] Dave Crabb called for us and took us for a short visit with Lydia. Home and had quiet evening at home.

MARCH

1^st

Fourth day. Caught bus to station and bus to Langham. Waited hours. Phoned finally, Bob came. Blizzard blowing. Home in covered rig. Harry doing Ranch books. David walked across room.[1067] Boys cleaned barns and chored. Frank still here.

2^nd

Fifth day. Minus ten – up to zero. Lots of snow. Eight or nine horses home. Ike and Frank for two loads straw, tipped over and got stuck. Trails very heavy. Harry did Ranch accounts all day. Bob took separator to pieces and fixed it.

4^th

Seventh day. Fine day, up to zero. Lovely sunset. Wrote to Edith. Ike and Bob for four loads straw. Frank cutting wood and brush. Harry finished accounts and sent bills out. I cleaned and baked and plucked a hen. Filled cushion for Edith. Mother not so well.

5^th

First day. Minus 22. Bright, up to zero. Meeting at home. Presented watch to Bob. [1068] Bill Larsen and Barrie Wooden came for Gypsy. Harry and Frank and I went skiing, very good. Ike made bob sleigh.

6^th

Second day. Boys all cut wood all day. I plucked two hens and put out to freeze. Boiled towels. Harry and I tied up Blondie, fought some.

7^th

Third day. Bob and Harry to Langham with cow Donna Lucia. Loaded on sleighs. Trails heavy. Ike did chores and cleaned barn, for mail at night with team. Blondie broke new halter. We led her down to water. Minus thirty in morning, up to ten above. Water stopped.

10^th

Sixth day. Harry to Langham to get Edith and Gordon. Took cream. I electroluxed bedroom, stairs and parlour. Washed porch. Strong west wind, fires smoked. Ike and bob did chores and hauled wood. Harry gave colts lesson.

12^th

First day. I had another bad headache most of day. Meeting at home. Cold, ten below and a wind. Ike went home. Edith over to Bob’s for supper.

13^th

Second day. Minus 36 – up at noon. Bob and Ike hauled two loads wood. Harry trained colts, I helped in afternoon. Edith round to see shelter and lumber and calves and steers. Ash Cook came for eggs – 25 dozen, ten dollars. Edith sewed and mended. Harry took her to bus at night.

15^th

Fourth day. Milder. Thirty degrees above. Melting. Bob away to Coop meeting all day at Borden. Mother in bed all day until evening. Harry chored and made saddle shed. Ike took grain up to Wakes and had it chopped. Harry brought two heifers up. I sewed on blouse.

16^th

Fifth day. Mild – thirty above. Overcast, drizzling a little. Harry for colts, got all but Blondie; on Cleo. Bob and Ike for two loads straw over river. Women’s meeting at Eastes’ – I missed it. Mother not well. Children all sick. Harry and Bob put lumber in barn loft.

17^th

Sixth day. Bob and Ike for two loads straw over river. Ike cleaned barns. Harry and Bob hitched Corky in sleigh and went for mail. Went good. Ike took Harry to town to catch bus for Saskatoon. Frank came for Ike. Mild. Ike left for week’s holiday.

19^th

First day. Meeting at home. I washed kitchen and porch. Billie Wake and Mary Leask[1069] and Cornie down, also Freddie Wake and Kenny Crabb who stayed supper. Very mild and melting.

21^st

Third day. Bob up to Crabbs for one load feed. Mild and trails going. Harry and Frank and Mother and I all have bad colds. Felt rotten all day. I did very large wash, dried clothes outside – very mild. Water running downhill a little. Harry and Bob tattooed purebreds.[1070]

23^rd

Fifth day. Mild but windy and snow flurries. Harry and Bob did chores and then took the car, with team, to Langham. Away until chore time. Billie Wake went through over river. Took Hannah and Joshua to train. I did ironing and we churned.

24^th

Sixth day. Cold and windy. Minus twenty. Bob in bed all day (after chores in morning.) Cold. Harry cleaned barns and did chores. Mother and I mended. Cleared bathroom shelves. Mother made cookies. Carlotta had calf.

25^th

Seventh day. Still cold but milder. Harry did chores. I cleaned bedrooms and kitchen and porch. Mother did parlor and her bedroom. I made cake and pudding. A bunch of horses came home. I baked. Bob in bed all day. Ike away still.

26^th

First day. Billie came down to Meeting and dinner and supper. Talked of Norwich. Hannah and Joshua came back. Harry and I got Kitty and Jill’s colt in. Milder. Bob in bed all day. Ike away. Cornie brought mail and met train in Langham.

27^th

Second day. Bob up but not well. Harry chored. Went and cut three blocks of ice in afternoon. Daisie and Eric came for Kitty (Jill’s colt choked to death.) Brought Gypsy back. I canned three quarts chicken and pork. Fairly mild but cold wind. Seeded tomatoes and celery. Harry saw crow.

28^th

Third day. Twenty degrees above. Harry and Bob did chores and cleaned out ice well. We put up three more quarts chicken, and saw to meat in ice house. Mother made soap and some paste to paper bathroom. I made rug of silk stockings. [1071]

29^th

Fourth day. Twenty above. Cool wind. Harry and Bob did chores and cut and hauled four loads ice. Cattle going out on hills which are pretty bare of snow. I lined rug, and we dismantled bathroom ready for papering. Meeting at home.

31^st

Sixth day. Harry and Bob did chores and went to Langham. Took cream and eggs. Arranged with J. Bracken[1072] to arrange cattle drive, brought his breaker plow to use. Heard P. Sorensen had slipped and broken hip. Pa put beaverboard behind shelves in bathroom and I papered it. I went for mail on Gypsy.

APRIL

1^st

Seventh day. Snowed in night, two inches, very wet, melted, 36 above. Harry and Bob did chores and cleaned barns and went for two loads straw from Carl. Mother not at all well. I cleaned and cooked some. Harry to bus on Gypsy for Saskatoon. Wrote to Wes re: job. Had bath and so to bed.

2^nd

First day. Mild and melting. We had Bob and Susie and children over to dinner. I made ice cream. Went for walk with children in afternoon. Helped chore. Buck and Dusty[1073] and Tommy gone again. Dolly Varden had calf (bull.)

3^rd

Second day. Bob did chores and cleaned barn. Harry home for dinner. Water running fast, filled tank. I did big wash. Carl Christensen came for Red Cross.[1074] Harry and Bob hauled and packed lumber in back shed. Harry rode Cleo, tried to buck a little.

4^th

Third day. Warm, fifty above. Water running downhill. Harry and Bob started hauling hay from stackyard below. Boy came at noon – John Hiebert – stayed to help. Bob and Harry cleaned out workshop and we made bed in there. I went on papering bathroom.

5^th

Fourth day. Jack Anderson’s[1075] sale. Still mild, muddy, but drying some. Fifty above. John Hiebert hauled two loads hay from below. Harry and Bob fixed corrals, ready for putting yearlings through. We all helped in the afternoon, branding and dehorning. We baked and finished ironing.

6^th

Fifth day. Cooler – thirty above. East wind and over cast. I took two crates of eggs up to Wakes with Gypsy and cart. Got oyster shell - fifty pounds - $1.67. Harry chored and cleaned barns and closed levies. Bob started mending disks, made two punches. I continued papering bathroom.

7^th

Sixth day. Father took Gypsy and the cart, got mail and cream can from Wakes. Bob mending machinery. Harry chored and hauled lumber to shed. Mild and overcast. I finished papering bathroom.

8^th

Seventh day. Mild and bright, snow almost gone, tracks drying. Bob up to Wakes with King and Gypsy and on with Joshua to Borden to Coop meeting. Harry chored and hauled lumber – last load. He and Father got pump up from river. We cleaned stovepipes in parlour. I washed parlour stairs. Ike and Frank came.

9^th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry and I away on Cleo and Gypsy to find eight yards oilcloth. Bob lost on way from Borden last night, found at August Gerster’s visited and stayed supper. [1076] Cleo bucked bad. Nice mild day.

10^th

Second day. Bob fixing machinery. Harry got horses in on Cleo. We divided work horses. I raked yard. Very mild, almost hot. Susie and children took eggs up to Cooks’ in cart. I finished bathroom with oilcloth.

11^th

Third day. Susie and children took mail and up to Wakes for visit. Harry and Bob got six-horse teams fixed up. Harry went disking in afternoon. Bob mending drill. I made some quilt patches and Mother sewed and mended. Very mild. Pollyanna had calf.

12^th

Fourth day. Overcast and windy but warm. Harry disked below on hillside, Bob working on machinery. I baked and sewed. Susie up to Wakes and to school for the day. Mary and Roberta to school – first day this year.[1077]

13^th

Fifth day. Overcast, rained in afternoon and evening. Harry took team out, I rode out on Fox later and took team, and Harry went for Tinker and Jack and Jill. Isaac Fehr came just before noon. Mother and Father and Bob to Monthly Meeting in afternoon. Got wet, also children. I made cakes and did a small wash. Isaac Fehr cleaned barns and Harry mending barn and tied McGee up.

14^th

Sixth day. Overcast, no rain. Children missed school. Isaac Fehr cleaned barn and chicken loft. Vet came and performed a Caesarian operation on purebred heifer – calf died. Cow died later, cost $25.00.[1078] Harry back to City with vet. Susie and I finished quilt for England. [1079] Father for mail in cart.

15^th

Seventh day. Nice mild day. Isaac Fehr disking all day. Bob mended fence and gatepost on Thirty-six. Used Jock and King, hauled carcass out (skinned her.) Bill Wake brought 100 bushels oats down in truck for seed, $50.00. I finished tweed sweater. Cleaned some.

16^th

First day. Father and Mother and Bob and Mary and Roberta and I all to Meeting in the Bennet buggy and the buckskins – first time this year. Mother and I slept and rested all afternoon. John and Helen Fehr down in car to see Bob and Susie. Lovely day. Harry home late in our car.

18^th

Third day. Ike to Thirty-five disking. Broke down and came back for dinner. Bob put new pole on manure spreader. Harry cleaned steamer, got Prince in. I ironed and baked. Overcast, rained at night. Word from Wes re: coming.

20^th

Fifth day. Nice day, warm. Ike disking on Thirty-five. Bob and Harry up to mend disk and haul rocks and poison gophers. I washed porch and we churned. Bob took Susie and I up to Wakes to UFW meeting. Sixteen came. Home with children in cart. Harry gave Prince subjection. Not so good! Bob blacksmithing.

21^st

Sixth day. Lovely day, warm and bright. Bob and Harry graded road up to gate. Ike hauled two loads feed from below. Bob sharpened cultivator spades in afternoon. Ike disked on Thirty-five and harrowed. Harry and I worked on Prince. Hitched him up – not too bad! Credit Foncier man came.[1080]

22^nd

Seventh day. I cleaned through house. Ike harrowed on Thirty-five. Harry and Bob cleaned wheat and barley. Harry and I to Borden and Radisson in evening. Took Mary L. and Cornie along. Saw My Friend Flicka,[1081] very nice. Had lunch at Wakes; home late.

23^rd

First day. Bob and Susie and family and man to Hepburn in car. We to Meeting and comm.. meeting at 2:00 PM with team. Answered queries.[1082] Nice day but cool wind. Harry got horses in, kept Jill and Tommy and Tinker.

24^th

Second day. Cooler, windy. Ike finished disking and harrowing on Thirty-five, worked on flats in afternoon. Harry and Bob pickled seed weed and plowed top garden and half of front garden. Pa put in two rows potatoes, I raked it, and pulling roots. Bob seeded wheat in afternoon using Tommy. Kitty had horse foal. Harry mended harness. I packed wool. [1083]

25^th

Third day. Nice day, cool. Bob drilled on Thirty-five. Ike disked below. Harry took Prince down and put him on team. Harry to town in car and trailer. Took Mother. Shipped wool. Got rye seed from Larsons’ and also grass seed. I put in lettuce, cress and radish and onions in top garden. Mother not well.

26^th

Fourth day. Harry and I packed up and drove to Ranch with Tinker and Tommy. Tinker kicked over the pole. Jake Hiebert at shack, hauling stakes. Bill brought Larson’s cattle. Carl Christensen came in truck. Gordon Orchard brought his stock. They worked late. I cleaned shack and came home on floss.

27^th

Fifth day. Ike harrowed on thirty-five. Left Prince and Jock in barn!! Bob raked with buckskins. Clarence Orchard fixed phone. Jack Gibenthal phoned re: radio. Warm and sunny. Father put a row of peas in top garden.

28^th

Sixth day. Ike plowed on slough – six horses, trouble with Prince. Bob harrowed and burned thistle. Harry up at Ranch. Jake Hiebert cutting stakes. Mother not well. Shower in afternoon. I cleaned car and parlour with Electrolux. Bob painted car.[1084]

29^th

Seventh day. Ike finished all he could of breaking. Harry home for dinner. I helped Harry and Bob throw McGee and cut him. [1085] Bob and Susie and family to Borden. Mother in bed, bad cold. I cleaned two roosters.

30^th

First day. Harry and Pa to Meeting in car. Mother in bed, very ill. I washed kitchen floor and cleaned up, and got chicken dinner. Abe and Esther and baby[1086] and Johnny and Helen (Thiessen) visiting at Bob and Susie’s. Harry and I took Carol home. Car broke down, stayed at Daisie’s.

MAY

4^th

Fifth day. Cool but bright. Ike home late noon. Harry home for dinner. Jake Hamm came to ride. Harry and Jake to Langham – took four horses, Fox, Cleo, tinker and Tommy. Ike plowed in afternoon. Bettina had calf, Justina too. I had headache most of morning. Billie and Corny and Mary[1087] down. Cleaned car with Electrolux.

5^th

Sixth day. Bob and I away early in car to Langham, saw Bill R.[1088] Started drive about 10:30. Bob had car fixed and followed us. Got bunch from bridge and brought back to us. Had dinner by Shukins’. To Ranch by 8:30 in the evening. Bob brought supper. I home with him in car.

8^th

Second day. Nice day, smoky. Harry and Jake Hiebert up to Ranch – buggy. Bob harrowed in morning, moved brooder house in afternoon and went to town for pedigreed chicks. Ike disked, Prince gave trouble. I did three weeks’ wash and helped with brooder house.

9^th

Third day. Bob and I rounded up rest of cattle. Found Justina and calf, left them home. Went to help with Armand’s and Wakes’ and Carl’s and Oscar’s. Joshua and John Wake and I took 59 head up to corral, branded and dehorned, etc. I got dinner and supper and cleaned shack a little, and home on Fox. Bob seeded eight acres oats on hillside. Rained.

11^th

Fifth day. I finished ironing, baked. Harry and Jake Hiebert came home to dinner. Ike plowed down below, plowed irrigation garden. Bob and Susie raked it. Jake put up tennis pasture fence. Harry did books. Harry and I went for chicks from Borden at night, home late.

13^th

Seventh day. Bob drilling oats, Ike plowing. Harry did books in morning. Went for colts south of Ceepee in afternoon. Bob and Susie put in potatoes, Jake helped. I cleaned through house and went with Bob to Borden in evening. Edith and Gordon came back with us late.

14^th

First day. Up late. Bob took Father and Mother and Edith and Susie to Meeting. I did chores all morning. Harry in bed. Jake and Ike gone home. All of us to Borden to supper. Had blowout, [1089] were late. Saw Edith and Roy Bourke. Nice warm day, smoke haze.

15^th

Second day. Nice day, smoky. Harry and Bob shod Fox. Jake got stray stock in – twelve head – two from Eastes, J. Hieberts twelve head. Harry took them up to Ranch, Bob helped them. Ike plowing. Eric brought Dunning to see Jock, stayed supper. Edith went to town with them. Eric took horsehair - $1.00.

16^th

Third day. Overcast, no rain. Harry and Jake away to Blaine Lake. Ike plowing. Bob broke drill, seeded in afternoon. I did big wash and got it dried and folded. Pa planted in irrigation garden. I put in flower seeds and onions.

17^th

Fourth day. Still overcast. Bob seeding rye (I believe.) Ike plowing. I did most of ironing and baked cookies, two lots. Talk with Bob and Susie in evening, late, not very satisfactory.[1090]

19^th

Sixth day. Bob took Father and Mother up to Wakes, and they went for the day to Saskatoon in Saloways’ car, Billie Wake drove. I cleaned porch thoroughly, and painted inside of cupboard. Ike harrowing. Mother and Father home at night. Bob drilling barley.

20^th

Seventh day. Bob and Susie and family away early in car to Saskatoon. Ike harrowing. Shot cripple colt.[1091]

21^st

First day. Father and Mother to Meeting with pony in cart. Nice day. Susie and Bob home at noon. Harry and I to Borden, picked up Daisie and Eric and Alma and Carol and on to Saskatoon. Harry and Ike and Jake vaccinated, cut and earmarked calves – Genevieve, Maurice, Cupid, Kayo and Lululettice, and Bob Montgomery.

22^nd

Second day. Up to Horse Show at 10:00. Daisie rode Pat Kelly. Harry and I back to Edith’s for dinner. Took her and children to show at night – the Count of Monte Cristo and Sanders of the River.[1092] Very good. Rained all evening and all night.

23^rd

Third day. Did some shopping, got new hat, $6.00. Dinner all together at café. Home for early supper. Eric left in morning with Dunning. Edith and Gordon home with us in car. Cleared towards evening. Home trails not too bad.

24^th

Fourth day. Very busy. Made ice cream. Edith helped a lot. About 120 people came in afternoon. Had booth, sold $35.00 worth of goods; buns and wieners, ice cream and candy and cake. Games and competitions. Good time![1093]

25^th

Fifth day. Tired. Harry and Jake away to Ranch after strays. Bob drilled oats, Ike plowing. Bob took Edith and Gordon to Borden to bus. Mother went with them, brought Carol back for visit.

30^th

Third day. Ike still plowing. Harry got steam up. Blew out hand hold, had to let off again. Made path across bog to irrigated garden. Pa and I put marrows, pumpkins, etc., in. Daisie came down for Carol. Bob and Susie to town, got us 25 pounds sugar.

JUNE

2^nd

Sixth day. Very wet. Mailman came late. Harry for mail, Mother’s medicine came. Letter from Wes. We churned. Boys fixing up workshop, very nice.

5^th

Second day. Mother had good night and less pain. Harry and I to Borden for repairs and groceries. Daisie away. Bobby gave us dinner. River high, sandflies[1094] very bad. Bob drilled nine acres. Ike finished plowing. Jake up to Ranch with rig in morning. Harry rode up later on Fox. Lovely day.

6^th

Third day. Warm day. Bob and Susie off to Saskatoon, took Edie Eastes. Ike drilled the special barley, eight acres. Father went for children. I looked for Gay. Spee brought baby colt home. It died. [1095] Gay and colt OK. Oscar the bull up at Wakes’.

7^th

Fourth day. Nice day, warm. Ike cut patch of alfalfa, finished harrowing (not quite). Harry and Jake home at night. Harry sold PeeWee to Jake - $40.00 – one month.

9^th

Sixth day. Lovely day. Mary and Roberta drove up to Wakes’ and Hannah and Joshua took them to Elliott’s Picnic. Harry and Jake handled colts, put hitch on PeeWee and Rio, got the grey ready and Ike took her on team in afternoon. Bob and Susie home late.

10^th

Seventh day. Ike plowed on slough. Harry and Jake worked on colts, gave Bill subjection, fought very hard and gave in. Bob mending machinery; made post maul. [1096] Boys to town at night, Ike to Dalmeny. I cleaned through house, washed all the floors.

14^th

Fourth day. Overcast but children went to school. Got mail. Harry and Bob ditching on slough. Jake mended west fence. Ike hauled rotten straw from stackyard and put on slough trail. I washed and put out tomatoes and cabbages in irrigated garden. 62 degrees.

15^th

Fifth day. Overcast and gentle rain. Harry and Ike and I to vote first thing. Bob and Susie and Father later. Roads pretty muddy. Harry and Bob fixing up adjustments for pump. Jake mended fences and helped Ike haul manure to trail over slough. Mother not so well. CCF (underlined twice) got in in Saskatchewan.

16^th

Sixth day. Ike went on hauling manure from corrals. Jake and Harry brought horses in, cut out the ones to stay home. Sold Captain and Jollie to Ike - $120.00. (underlined) Harry and I took rest up to Ranch, about 20 head. Bob working on slough, took cream and eggs and got mail. I cleaned bedrooms. Mother not so well, severe pain.

17^th

Seventh day. Nice day. Harry and Jake home by noon. Went to help Bob and Ike collect parts of flume from flats, also pipe out of river. River rising! I cleaned through house. Harry and Bob and I to town in evening. Went shopping with Daisie. Ike and Jake to Great Deer on Rio and PeeWee.

18^th

First day. I for cows on Spee. Monthly Meeting in afternoon. Bob and Father and children and I went to Wakes’ for a while. River flooding flats over oats and alfalfa. What a mess!

24^th

Seventh day. We did cleaning and baked and Margery Wake pressed her clothes. Mother a bit better. I had rotten headache. Bob and Harry out in boat clearing ditch out. Ike plowed. Jake mending corral. Storm at night.

25^th

First day. Lovely bright day. Bob and Susie and Father and Margery to Meeting. Joshua and Hannah left yesterday for the East. Bob and Susie and family away in afternoon, took Mother to McCheanes’.. home late. Daisie and Alma came late with team and buggy and Red Bud.

27^th

Third day. At Ranch, brought all to corral. Members came. Vaccinated 130 calves. Pretty good help. Cornie left at night, Billie stayed until dark, rode Fox. Harry on Rio and Bronc.

30^th

Sixth day. Harry and Jake and I put 300 heifers in middle pasture. Packed up and came home with tank and Bennet buggy. Very hot! Margery washed walls and ceiling of Mother’s room and cleaned windows. Harry and Bob to Ranch meeting in evening. Took Billie.

JULY

1^st

Seventh day. Not as hot. Mother to Borden to Daisie to dinner. Bob took her and brought Edith and Ed and Gordon back. Harry and Jake up to Ranch. Took Onward and Dagwood and Lucinda and calf and Roanie and calf, also Joanna followed. Margery baked and we cleaned.

4^th

Third day. Harry and Ike and Jake took three mowers and cut alfalfa. Raked one patch and brought home a jag. Very hot. Pa took eggs in cart, also Wakes’ groceries. We ironed some and shampooed our hair. We churned with electric power. [1097] Harry and Margery and I found hay sweep in slough. Went in boat.

6^th

Fifth day. Cloudy and rained hard in afternoon. Bob and Susie to town, took Mother and Auntie Agnes to see Auntie Margaret. Home in rain. Jake and boys helped me clean chicken loft. Buck and Dusty ran away. I made buns.

9^th

First day. Letter from Wes. Should be here today. (Didn’t make it.) Harry took Father and Mother and Margery to Meeting. Saw crop on Thirty-five – good! Nice day, one light shower.

10^th

Second day. Nice warm day. Boys cut weeds on Twenty-six. Raked alfalfa, hauled one load, too damp. I did wash. Margery baked bread. Margery and I painted perches in hen loft.

11^th

Third day. Ike and Jake got ready and packed up and went up to hay field after lunch. Harry went to meet Wes. Bob and Harry went in car to make deal with Travises. Cut hay with three mowers. Wes and I went for a ride, down to flume.

12^th

Fourth day. Harry left with side delivery rake for Travises. Wes helped Bob mend rack, then he and I left for Travises in car. Took part of rake to be welded in Borden. Stores closed. Managed to get gas and part welded. Called at hospital. Saw Vesta W.[1098]

14^th

Sixth day. Continued haying. Ike on stack, Harry below. Jake on rake and Wes and I on sweep. Made nice stack – 20 loads and started another big one. Worked late.

18^th

Third day. Harry and I took Wes to Borden in car to get train. I went with him at the last minute in my work clothes – changed at Edith’s. Edith and Wes and I to see Jane Eyre.[1099] Not bad! Went to station with Wes, train late.

21^st

Sixth day. Packed up and left for hayfield, taking Bob and Joyce and Dick McEwan[1100] with us. Started sweeping on big stack. Very hot. Joyce and I slept in house.

23^rd

First day. Joyce and I stayed home and got dinner. Margery to Wakes’. Harry took us up there and on to McCheanes’ in afternoon. Saw Alice and Carl Christensen, home for supper. Bob took Joyce and Dick and Mary and Roberta to bus at night. Very hot!

26^th

Fourth day. Cloudy. Ike went cultivating on Twenty-six. Mother and I canned six pints peas and I killed and dressed a hen. Washed and boiled dishtowels. Bob and Susie home at night, brought Roger and Mary. Letters from Wes and Mildred Watkins, also parcel.

28^th

Sixth day. Put in a good long day. Finished big stack and started another. Very tired. Bob took Ike and Jake home and to train in morning to go to Fair.

29^th

Seventh day. Harry and I worked on hay. Bob came about 12 o’clock. We only had time to get two loads after dinner and top off stack, when it rained, so came home in car. Letters from Len and Ruth and Winnie and Auntie Annie.

30^th

First day. Father and Bob and Harry and Margery and I to Meeting. Fairly muddy, rained in night. Margery up to McCheanes’, I to Wakes’ to dinner. Dave Murray brought Edith and Edward and Gordon and Ruth Murray and Daisie and Eric to Wakes. Bob took them down. Roger sick.

31^st

Second day. Overcast, rained in evening. Marry and Jake up to Ranch on Rio and Tinker, strays in Matchke’s. Ike finished summer-fallowing on Twenty-six. Bob mended and recovered his saddle. We canned ten pints beans. Roger much better.

AUGUST

3^rd

Fifth day. Bob and Susie to town with children and Mother and Roger. I did wash and baking and cleaning. Harry up to hay with B. Travis. Bob cut hay on Thirty-six.

5^th

Seventh day. Very hot. Put up good stack, all the hay but the re-rakings. Rained about five o’clock so all left for home. Bob sick and all tired out.

6^th

First day. Harry and I took roger up to Wakes, to go with Billie to Saskatoon. Harry took Bob and Susie to Borden, Bob to hospital, temperature 102 degrees. John and Helen Thiessen came, had dinner here and stayed until Susie came about five o’clock.

7^th

Second day. Cloudy and showery. We took it fairly easy. I cleaned upstairs. Mother not very well. Jake up to Ranch on Tommy. Ike cut hay in morning. Harry and Susie to town, Bob not much better. Cattle cheque came, $1360.00.

8^th

Third day. Bob slightly better. Harry and Ike and Jake and I up to Travises with car and trailer. Finished east stack. Harry and I visited with Travises in evening. Late to bed.

12^th

Seventh day. Harry worked on binder. Ike raked on Thirty-six. Jake hauled alfalfa from back piece (spoiled). Boys hauled one and a half loads in afternoon. Bob phoned. Harry and Susie went to bring him home. Trouble with car. Children and Ike had supper here.[1101] Ike away on Tinker. Cool and windy.

13^th

First day. Dave and Ruth Murray and Edith and Edith, Ed and Gordon came before we had breakfast. Harry took Pa and Mother to Meeting. Ed, Edith and Ruth helped me get dinner – two broilers and raspberry pie. Bob had good night. Mary Rempel came for visit. Harry drove Pa and Mother and Edith and Ed and I up to see haystacks on Travises, left Edith at Wakes’ and so home.

18^th

Sixth day. Harry took Mary Rempel to Wakes to go with mailman. Children went for mail (school closed ten days – measles.) All cut wood in morning, about two hours, out of gas. Harry went cutting with binder – oats on hill. Windy and hard to cut. Cleaned a broiler. Jake and Ike cleaned out cellars.

19^th

Seventh day. Very windy. Harry cut in morning. Ike raked and Jake and Pa hauled one load hay. We cleaned right through house. Harry and Jake up to Nick’s. Cattle out on their crop. Bob not very good, temperature 99.4 degrees.

21^st

Second day. Harry hoisted car and started to change springs. Cut oats in afternoon, binder went getter. To Ranch at night – Fox and team. Ike plowed in morning, hauled four loads hay in afternoon with Pa. I did wash. Bob feeling better.

23^rd

Fourth day. Harry cutting oats on hillside. Ike and Pa stooked in morning. Mended slats and hauled hay in afternoon. Len[1102] phoned from Saskatoon, came on with Daisie and Eric in car. Harry and I for him and Roger in evening. Daisie sick.

24^th

Fifth day. Rained. Harry and Len visited and looked around, made evener and fixed plows and got Ike off plowing.

25^th

Sixth day. Len and Harry looked over car and fixed it up. Went to town for bath tub in afternoon. Home for late supper.

26^th

Seventh day. We – Harry and Len and Pa and I managed to get bathtub up and into bathroom, very heavy!!![1103] Harry and Len connected pipes, etc. I cleaned downstairs. Edith phoned that Winnie and Harold arrived in Saskatoon.

27^th

First day. Harry took Father and Mother and Roger and girls to Meeting. Winnie and Harold and Lawrence and Edith and Gordon there. I got dinner and talked to Len. Travises came in afternoon, also Fehrs for cranberries.

28^th

Second day. I had headache so did not bake of wash. Ike stooked, cut wheat on Thirty-five. Len stooked, also Harold. Len took Edith to Borden to get bus. I went to see Daisie, real sick. Rained in afternoon.

29^th

Third day. Ike cultivated on Twenty-six. Harry cut wheat in afternoon, cut thistle in morning near Maple Grove. I did wash and baked bread. Len took Harold and Mother and Winnie and Lawrence up to Wakes and McCheanes’ – home to supper.

30^th

Fourth day. Harry and Bob and I took Len and Roger to train. Bob to see doctor. Harry and I took him to Saskatoon to see Dr. Baltzen.[1104] Ike stooked and cut in afternoon. Susie sick, children over home. Harry and I took Joyce Wake to show – Stagecoach.[1105] Had coffee and pie after, late.

31^st

Fifth day. Breakfast at Auntie’s, called at Min’s.[1106] Picked up Len, downtown to station and over to Edith’s. Coffee, and talked to Bob. Shopped on West side for groceries. Took Edith home, dropped Len downtown, home – two blowouts,[1107] no jack. Home for late supper. Ike cutting.

SEPTEMBER

1^st

Sixth day. Winnie and Harold to town I car. Stayed dinner and brought Daisie and Carol back. Daisie pretty sick. Harry cutting barley. Ike stooking. I canned and cleaned, etc., and churned.

3^rd

First day. All but Susie to Meeting in two cars. Lovely day, warm and bright. All the Meeting to Wakes to picnic dinner. Nice time. Harold and Winnie to McCheanes to supper.

4^th

Second day. Overcast, rained in morning. Ike mended stackyard fence. Harry wrote letters and got ready to go to Ranch. Harold and he left I buggy after dinner. We canned eighteen quarts peaches – one half box. Mother picked tomatoes. Jack Johnson[1108] and four girls and his mother called after supper on way to shack.

5^th

Third day. Lovely day. Warm. Johnsons lost their way so came back and Jack stayed overnight. He went up to Ranch on Spee. We got dinner, made three pumpkin pies. Mother and Winnie and Laurie and I went up in car, called at Daisie and Eric’s, all down to shack to dinner. Up to north corral, got all, but one of Johnson’s horses died. Winnie and I back to shack and on home, I on Spee. Ike stooked.

6^th

Fourth day. Grand day! Cool in morning. Ike stooked all day, finished wheat, started on barley. Father gathered beans in irrigated garden. Winnie felt tired all day, and rested. Mother got in tomatoes. I dressed two broilers. Father and I put cows on slough. Susie made six quarts dill pickles. Joyce phoned, wedding at

6:30, evening on 8^th.

7^th

Fifth day. Harry took binder up to Twenty-six – Jerry and Jack. Cut oats and barley. Fair crop. Ike raked hay, hauled three loads. Harold helped. Susie to Saskatoon see Bob. Harold took her to Wakes, caught train.

8^th

Sixth day. Winnie and Harold and Laurie packed up and got off. To Daisie’s for dinner, on their way home to U. S. A. Harry cut oats in morning and fixed tired in afternoon. Ike went on cutting in afternoon. Harry and I got ready and left for city, to attend Joyce’s wedding. Stayed at Wakes’. All night rain.

9^th

Seventh day. Over to Edith’s, with Daisie and Winnie downtown. With Winnie to Dr. L’Arne, and then shopping a little. Back to dinner. To see Bob in St. Paul’s. Saw Joyce and Jack McEwen at station. Said goodbye to them, also Winnie and Harold and Laurie. Harry and Susie and Daisie and I home at night. Saw Dave.

10^th

First day. Very tired. Mary sick yesterday, she and Roberta in my bed. Harry and Mother and Father to Meeting. Isaac and Frank B? came to dinner. Nice warm day.

12^th

Third day. Lovely warm day, almost hot. Sandbar showing on river, first time this summer. Harry stooked barley in morning, raked hay in afternoon., I did wash and Ma and Pa picked beans. Roberta and Barry sick. Harry hauled load of oats out of red granary.

15^th

Sixth day. Children went to school – first time this week. Brought mail. I picked beans in garden.

16^th

Seventh day. Harry and Pa up to finish bin for wheat. Joshua phoned, they were coming to thresh after about ten o’clock. Finished wheat – 608 bushels. Not quite 20 bushels to the acre. Harry and Ike and I to town to shop at night. Home late.

18^th

Second day. Children to school, still overcast. Colder at night. Abe and Lizzie Siemens came. Harry and Ike moved red granary down below. Ike not home until 12 o’clock. Harry disked thistle patches. Ike stooked on Twenty-six. Mother not well. I put up rest of peaches, some pickle.

19^th

Third day. Harry up to Ranch. Ike cut oats by river – 12 acres. Abe took Susie and family to Saskatoon. Bob out of hospital. Susie stayed in. Alec and Lloyd[1109] here and on to Hepburn. Father dug ten rows potatoes. We put up 13 ½ quarts tomatoes. Warmer today. Harry home at night. Mike Strelioff’s cows in barley.

20^th

Fourth day. Wakes came to thresh, finished on Twenty-six. Oats and barley good. Moved to Twenty-five and did half of 15 acres of oats, turning out good. Mother not at all well, bad cough. Bob phoned from Saskatoon, home at night. Harry in for them late.

21^st

Fifth day. Nice day, threshed all day and finished. Over 2000 bushels oats, barley and rye. Susie helped with dinner and lunch and had them for supper, four of them. Bob over for a little while. I baked and put up five quarts tomatoes.

22^nd

Sixth day. Ike stooked oats, Harry nailed up bins and cleaned up grain. He and I went for Daisie and Carol. Mother and Daisie picked tomatoes. I put up a box of plums, without sugar.

23^rd

Seventh day. Ike cultivated on Twenty-six. Harry picked up grain and fixed bin and brought some wheat home and cut some hay. I killed three broilers and dressed them, two for Daisie, $1.25. We churned, and put up six quarts tomatoes. Pa dug potatoes. Harry brought them up. Harry took Daisie and Carol home.

24^th

First day. Father and Mother and Harry and I to Meeting. Bob and Susie and family to Hepburn with Dave Murray. Edith and Gordon and Mrs. Showalter[1110] here for visit. Dave came late for them. Overcast at night.

26^th

Third day. Barry and Berta to school. Mary has cough. We put up 13 quarts tomatoes. I got spring running in trough below. Bob and Susie to town. Doctor’s report not so good! Bob to bed. Ike disked in morning, cultivated on Twenty-six in afternoon, dinner here. Pa dug eight rows potatoes.

28^th

Fifth day. Nice day. Harry and I to town to get roundup supplies[1111] and pay taxes - $316.81 for eight sections of land.[1112] To Daisie’s for dinner. Home 4:30, took Father and Mother to see combine[1113] at Wakes. Got sprayer from Joshua. Frost last night. Harry made up his accounts.

OCTOBER

1^st

First day. Cool, down to 15, ice on water. Meeting at home. Harry and I up to Blaine Lake in afternoon. Took Ruth McCheane and Daphne Pope. Had supper at Martin Willock’s. Home in fairly good time.

3^rd

Third day. Harry away to Ranch to get some Blaine Lake horses. Ike took load of sheaves up. I saw them both off and then went for mail on Spee. Took mail for Bob. Tried to spray loft, no go! Warm again. Put up seven quarts tomatoes.

4^th

Fourth day. Nice warm autumn day. I made up bread and left on Spee for shack. Father and Ike mended reach of wagon[1114] and got up rest of hay. Two loads topped off both stacks. I cleaned shack and on up to north corral. Couldn’t find Azeroff’s colts. They stayed overnight. Harry and I to shack, I hope late.

5^th

Fifth day. Raining and overcast all day. Ike and I whitewashed chicken house, cleaned and disinfected it, took all day. Bob a little better, also Mother. Harry and I saw Archie McGill’s horses last night first time.

6^th

Sixth day. Harry did a lot of phoning, and made up accounts. Ike disked down below. I did wash, cut up two marrows for jam. Berta and Barry went for mail. Nice day, windy. Cleaned porch and folded clothes.

7^th

Seventh day. Harry took tank of water to shack, four horses. Ike for load of hay from Travis. Nice warm day. Both late back. I did ironing and Mother and I baked four pumpkin pies and 20 tarts and bran loaf, and boiled ham.

8^th

First day. Harry took folks to Meeting. I stayed home. Dave brought Edith and Edward and Gordon and Daisie and Eric down. Brought tent, a good one. Ike up to shack, six horses and buggy. Harry and I in car. Four boys from Blaine Lake came. Edith stayed.

15^th

First day. Took Edith and Gordon to Borden. Found Dave Murray there and Daisie and Eric moving out of hospital. Brought Edith and Gordon and Ed back. Ed off painting. Dave and Ruth and Daisie and Eric and Carol here to supper. Edith left. Langham boys stayed up at shack.

22^nd

First day. Harry riding most of day, up to corral, truck didn’t come. I in bed all day. Meeting at home. Bob still sick.

23^rd

Second day. Harry straightened up our own cattle and Sophie’s and Wakes’ and books. Checked our own in yard. Bob out to help. Cold.

The diary has no entries from October 28^th to November 2^nd . This was the time when the decision was being arrived at that Bob had to leave the Valley Springs Ranch for his health, indeed in order to survive. This necessity was accepted with the greatest reluctance by the rest of the family. Bob recalls this time in his book, As I Remember It, reporting that Harry said they could not manage without him, and Bob responding that they would have to if he died.

Following are entries from Harry Hinde’s diary to fill in some of the blank days in Elsie’s diary.

October 28^th

Seventh day. Ike and Father hauled straw from below, two or three loads. Bob helped me fix up Bennet buggy. I fixed up bills and letters. Elsie and I - colts drive to Langham.

October 29^th

First day. Sunny day. To Meeting in car. Pa and Ma and Marjorie and Bob and I. Elsie, Marjorie and I to John Taylor’s for supper.

October 30^th

Second day. Cold and frosty. Ike , Izaac and I, car and trailer and fenceposts and wire up to Travises. Built two stackyards around four stacks. OK. Home late.

October 31^st

Third day. Up to Travises. Built one stackyard – three strand. OK. Back for dinner.

Harry ‘s diary too is blank for two days. We assume that those two days when neither makes diary entries were when the decision was finally made that Bob and his family would move to Borden, with Susie to run Borden Cottage Hospital. Mary remembers her father’s delirium, talking and not making sense. Roberta remembers his uremic snow. Later, the children came to understand that there was much bitterness that Bob was to leave, with the blame for his departure being laid at Susie’s feet, rather than the doctors’ warning that staying at Valley Spring Ranch would cost his life. This is a reflection of the dependence that was placed on Bob as the principle manager of the business of Valley Springs Ranch. It is noted with interest that the only hint in the diaries of the turmoil which must have existed at this time is the absence of entries.

3^rd

Sixth day. Cold, down to zero. Ike up to shack for tank and wire. Mike[1115] for load of wood and load of oats. Harry took cattle on to Twenty-six. First time got steam up and got ready to chop oats. Pa and I over to help Susie and Bob pack. Billie took load on truck. Bob to town in car, home at night.[1116]

4^th

Seventh day. Bob and Susie took load in trailer to town, left children with us.[1117] Harry and Ike and Mike chopped oats all day with steamer. Pretty cold and raw.

5^th

First day. Meeting at home. Cold and a little snow. Ike and Mike away last night in Mike’s car. We had quiet day, except for children. I have bad cough and still feel rotten.

6^th

Second day. I did large two weeks’ wash. Bob came for children and load of wood, etc. Father brought corner cupboard over. Very overcast, misty and a little warmer. Harry and Mike got ready to move granary. Ike went fencing.

7^th

Third day. Bright day. Bob out for load for Borden. Ike fixing fence by shelter yard. Mike[1118] one load wood from flume to yard (big.) Took cart to Kruger’s and jacked up granary. Harry found cattle in wheat on Woikin’s and got horses in.

Jack Lund from Cooks’ with car. I with Bob to Borden and Saskatoon.

9^th

Fifth day. Harry and Mike working on building up at Krugers. Took four horses. buckskins ran away. Ike took four horses up to lake. Edith and I shopped, dinner downtown, home to supper. To Art Exhibit, Lydia and Katie.[1119] Edith and I go Flora’s funeral.

From Harry’s diary:

November 10th

Sixth day. Took eight horses up, moved 50 yards. Stuck in old stack bottom. Home for dinner. Ike disked below, tried to plow, frozen. Mike and I burnt thistle patch. One load straw below. Bob brought load of salt – 45 blocks – trailer.

11^th

Seventh day. Ed and McMillan put up storm windows. Edith cleaned them. Edith and I got ready and came home with Dave Crabb and Katie and Lydia. Bob brought us home in the car.[1120] Boys just got granary home from Badman’s.

12^th

First day. Fairly warm and bright. Meeting at home. Bob and Edith and Gordon and Harry and Marjorie and I up to Daisie and Eric’s. Dave there. Bob and I killed seven broilers, six for them.

14^th

Third day. Misty and fairly cold. Ike Fehr left in morning. Harry settled with him.[1121] We got kitchen heater in. I black-leaded[1122] it and pipes. Put clothes up to dry. Harry and I to UFW meeting at Gersters’. Mrs. Neilson there, gave good talk. Bob came for us and Billie, back with Arnold Larson.

From Harry’s diary:

15^th

Fourth day. I chored. Everything very awkward.[1123] Out of repair. Cleared two loads from barn, Elsie helped chore. Mended back gate. Let calves suck once.

16^th

Fifth day. Bright and warmer. Harry and I chored. Cows still bawling around. Harry marked Dolly Varden’s calf, a nice steer. Harry mending gate into calf pen. Got 13 horses from Stella’s in afternoon. I finished ironing. Mother not very well. Auntie Margaret had another stroke.

18^th

Seventh day. Nice day. Harry chored, mended back gate. I cleaned house. Mother made two apple pies. Mother and Father both not feeling very well. Joshua phoned to tell us that Auntie Margaret died this evening.

19^th

First day. Meeting at home. Bob out home in car and to dinner here. Harry away in afternoon until very late. Ezra Hubbard[1124] and three others down. I did chores. Horses not home, only King.

21^st

Third day. Cold and overcast and sleety rain, cleared in afternoon and sunny. Harry took Father and Mother and I to Auntie Margaret’s funeral. Dinner and coffee at Susie’s, Dave Murray there and Edith. Shopped and sent rent[1125] and insurance. Bob working at Co-op gratis.[1126]

30^th

Fifth day. Going milder, ten degrees above at night. Ike B. came back (married.) Getting house ready to move in. Harry chored and cleaned barns. Put skimmed milk calves in. We made butter with motor. I folded and damped clothes.

From Harry’s diary for the same day:

Milder. I chored, cleaned barns. Izaak Bighert back at noon, started to fix up Bob’s house. Put on storm windows. I got butter churn fixed up with motor, did butter. Put skim calves in pen.[1127]

DECEMBER

1^st

Seventh day. I ironed and Harry and I chored. Harry went for mail, letters from Mildred, Wes, Winnie and Auntie Annie.

3^rd

Second day. Milder. Harry and I cleaned out the hen loft and I rode to Saloways I afternoon on Spee for Gypsy. Aunt Fan sick. Slept at Peggy’s. Harry cleaned barns.

December 4^th

Third day. Mild. Thirty degrees above. Helped Peggy and got Gypsy in from Twenty-one. Stayed dinner, home – brought mail. Izaac and wife here. Harry hauled one load wood and brought the side-delivery rake home.

7^{th (sic)}

Fifth day. Harry and I got ready, mail, etc, and went to Borden – car and trailer. Got barrel of gas, hearing aide for Mother and a lot of groceries, supper at Susie’s. home by Gersters’ and got my knitting. Ike cleaned barns and hauled straw and chored.

10^th

First day. Meeting at home. Ike’s people came from Langham. Harry and I to Bob and Susie’s in Borden for supper. Daisie and Eric and Carol and Alma and Jack down home for supper.

11^th

Second day. Milder. Twenty above. Ike for one load hay – Travises. Harry chored and cleaned barn. Billie came and settled up threshing and pasture fees. I did wash. Mother mended. Bob to supper.

13^th

Fourth day. Another beautiful day. Thirty degrees above. Ike hauled two loads straw, one load wood. Harry straightened wire back of stackyard and chored. Culler and tester came.[1128] Took most of afternoon. Sixty-four pullets and 43 hens. Harry took them back to Wakes in car. I got horses in. Tommy Token OK.

15^th

Sixth day. Harry and I took first crate of eggs in car to truck. Mailed letters. Up to Saloways to see separator (cream), bought for $50.00, a Melotte.[1129] Billie there, stayed dinner. Home, got mail. Ike got one load wood and chored. Pa a bit better. Letter from Aunt Betty. We churned.

16^th

Seventh day. Ike for one load hay, away all day. Snowed a little and blowed a lot, colder at night. Harry set up separator and did shores. To town at night. Ike and Helen to Langham with team. Father up for dinner. Mother and I cleaned and baked and fixed fowl for tomorrow. Daisie phoned (sick) ear trouble.

17^th

First day. Meeting at home. Harry still away, stayed at Susie’s. We had lunch dinner and Mary and Philip came down to chicken supper and stayed evening. Harry home fairly late. He and Susie to Radisson and Redberry, got new nurse. Temperature going up again.

Harry’s diary, same day:

Folks had Meeting at home. I at Bob’s. Took Susie to Radisson, saw Eleanor. Up to Grand Valley, got girl for nurse at hospital.[1130] Home late. Philip and Mary had been visiting.

21^st

Fifth day. Milder, up to zero. Harry brought purebred heifer up, she had lost her calf. Hauled up wheat for horses. Ike hauled one load straw. Harry dug out water all afternoon. Water lots of trouble. I made some cookies. Wrote to Aunt Betty and Elias and card to Winnie.

23^rd

Seventh day. Harry and I to town to send mail and to get groceries and some presents for children. Ike for hay. Blowing hard. Called at Saunders, got stuck with car. Had supper. Home fairly late.

26^th

Third day. Cold. Ike hauled one load straw. (Sick.) Harry chored and fixed water. Got up thin heifer and calf and steer. Billie Wake came about agreement with bob. Talked a lot. Bob stayed over. John Newbold brought new government bull – Fairview Bonnie Beau.

27^th

Fourth day. Twenty degrees below, overcast. Meeting at home. Bill got agreement written out, stayed dinner. Ike for one load hay from Travises. Harry chored.

Harry’s diary, same day:

I chored. Fixing water below rather better. Bill got agreement lined up. Ike for one load hay from Travises. New bull tore down corral.

28^th

Fifth day. Zero and wind. Boys fixed corral and log building down off blocks. Hauled straw below and put heater up in cellar. I did very large wash, put some out.

29^th

Sixth day. Delia had bull calf. Ike for one load hay, got mail, two days. Parcels fro Mildred and Ruth, and more Christmas cards. Letter from George Williams from Italy. Also card from Freddie (Wake.) Pretty cold. Harry chored and put supports under log granary. I baked and ironed a little.

Elsie wrote a summary of the year at the and of the diary, here quoted in full.

Drove Buck and Dusty together. Made 130 loads hay at Travises. Flats flooded in June. Sold Crocus cow $100.00. Harry trained 13 colts. Rode Cleo and Reo and Corky and hitched McGee, Topsy, Prince and Bill and Corky. Handled Locket, Punch, Jolly, Larry and Peewee and Cap. Sold three, $200.00. Bob sick – allergy – in hospital Borden and Saskatoon, moved to Borden. Susie to manage hospital there and Bob to work in Co-op. Len and Roger up for visit, also Winnie, Harold and Lawrence in car. Hired Help was Ike Fehr and J. Hamm. In winter Ike Buikert (sic) married, living in Bob’s house. Wes up for visit.

Harry’s year-end summary:

Drove buck and Dusty together. Sold Crocus cow $100.00. Sawed lumber in mild winter. Rode Cleo (illegible) …rode Reo and Corky. Worked Prince, Bill, McGee, Topsy – thirteen head, sold three. Car rebored, new rad, $95.00. I bought radio, $40.00. Seeded ten acres grass, Twenty-six. Isaac Bighert – winter. Isaac Fehr and Jake Hamm – summer – worked for us. CCF went in in Saskatchewan. River flooded 40 acres of good crop in June. Cut no slough hay. Cut 130 loads hay on Travises’. Wes Ingram visited. Leonard and Roger, Winnie and Lawrence and Harold all visited. Bob took sick, one month in hospital. Left farm. Bob bought Langham stock by bridge, shipped fifteen steers, $1460.00. Bought Melotte separator. Moved log granary from Badman’s home.

The first five years of Elsie Hinde Ingram’s diary -1935 – 1939 - were transcribed fully. For the next five years, selected entries, those with new information and events, were transcribed fully. Beginning in late 1944, the references to Bob Hinde and his family, now in Borden, diminish, although it is clear that Bob continued to help with various tasks at Valley Springs Ranch. Only the parts of entries containing new information, or referring specifically to the Bob Hinde family, or births, deaths and marriages and other major family events, are henceforth transcribed. Repeated references are made through 1945 of “the agreement” regarding Bob’s sale of his interest in the Ranch, which was finalized late in the year. There are also repeated references to visiting Bob and Susie in Borden, and staying for many meals with them.

1945

JANUARY

7^th

First day. Joshua and Hannah and Cornie and Mary McCheane down on Meeting business (Cornie’s membership.)[1131]

1

9th

Sixth day. Harry took money and coupons and twelve roosters up to Wakes’ for Susie. [1132]

29^th

Second day. (One of cows – name undecipherable) had calf, dead and rotten. Harry gave her douche and drench with sulfa drug and Dr. Bell’s.[1133]

FEBRUARY

3^rd

Seventh day. Sent sweater to Davie, Susie phoned, too small. [1134]

MARCH

4^th

Fifth day. I sent quilt to “Aid to Russia” fund. [1135]

9^th

Fifth day. Harry to sale over river, took cream and eggs, got 32 pounds raspberry jam from Jack (Giventhal) also dates, first in four years.[1136]

23^rd

Seventh day. Warm – 60 degrees. Mother and Father cleaned out ice house. Harry put sawdust on ice and clay on roof.

APRIL

6^th

Sixth day. Harry got car and he and Ivy and I drove to city to Ed’s to dinner. Took Edith and Gordon up to Exhibition to horse sale. Interesting but not much demand.[1137] Back to 308 to supper and to show at Victory – “Old New York.”[1138]

12^th.

Fifth day. President Roosevelt died today!

24^th.

Third day. Edith phoned, Harold Chamness and Pa coming out tonight.[1139]

From late April into mid-May, Bob was at Valley Springs Ranch most days, working at the usual seasonal tasks, including the spring roundup.

3^rd

Fifth day. Harry home in car, took Father and I to Borden to Auntie Fan’s (Saloway) funeral. Tea at Susie’s. Mother came home. [1140] Edith and Gordon and Daisie and Eric and Carol and Edith Bourke there. Brought Berta back.

7^th

Second day. “Heard that war in Europe is over.” VE day tomorrow. [1141]

13^th

First day. Carl heard that Daisie and Eric had a fire. Harry and Bob home for dinner. Bob came out with car, took Father and Mother up to Saloways’. Called at Daisie and Eric’s – lost house and contents. Living in new shack. Bob back at 7:30. Harry and I took Bob and Barry[1142] back to Borden, called for Father and Mother and on to Daisie and Eric’s late.

17^th

Fifth day. Bob made two gates by log granary, then he and Father and Alice[1143] and I planted potatoes in irrigation garden.

23^rd

Fourth day. Harry to Borden, brought Barry, Roberta and David out. Bob away with car. Susie sick.[1144]

25^th

Sixth day. Harry and Bob got water running in trough below. Bob not well, to bed again.[1145]

26^th

Seventh day. Bob up at noon, to Saskatoon in evening by bus.[1146] Children not very well.

JUNE

5^th

Third day. Supper with Susie and Bob, Susie back and better.

9^th

Seventh day. Harry took children and Alice and Laurie to Borden.[1147] Dave and Ruth Murray and Edith and Ed and Gordon came to supper. All to Betty Saunders’ shower at night.

13^th

Fourth day. Cornie and Betty’s wedding day. Dull and raining. Meeting at 2:30 at Meeting House, about 45 there. Reception at Betty’s home. Peggy came; later we went up to Daisie’s and took presents and cake.[1148] Joyce home with us.

JULY

6^th

Elsie and Hannah Wake were in Ontario for the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends – perhaps they were delegates.

Hannah had letter from Mother, telling of Father’s accident.[1149]

27^th

Sixth day. Harry and I in town, shopped and dinner at Susie’s. Brought Mary back with us.[1150] Very extremely hot!

AUGUST

1^st

Fourth day. Mary started patchwork cushion cover.[1151]

10^th

Sixth day. Mother cut her leg on barb wire.[1152]

13^th

Second day. Harry took Father to Borden, to help Bob build his house.[1153] Mother went along. Had tire trouble, home on rim, late.

14^th

Third day. PEACE. Mother sewed and had her leg up. Doctor stitched it and made it sore. [1154] Heard that Japan had surrendered officially. Rejoicing! We picked raspberries.

15^th

Fifth day. Mother and I picked beans and rhubarb, and Mother put up 18 quarts fruit.[1155] Peace celebration in Borden.

20^th

Second day. Harry took Alice and Mary and Laurie to Borden.[1156]

28^th

Third day. Father and Alice went to meet mailman who brought furniture for Alice. Harry and Alice and I unloaded it and set up stove.[1157]

29^th

Fourth day. Mother a little better but her leg swelling worse and very painful.[1158] I arranged to have Edith and Ed’s celebration here on first day.

SEPTEMBER

2^nd

First day. Harry and Father and Edith and Edward to Meeting. About forty people came at 3:30 to celebrate Edith and Ed’s silver wedding. Friends from Radisson and Saskatoon presented a chest of silver, “Very lovely.” Children rode Gypsy.

6^th

Fifth day. I ordered groceries from Bob.[1159]

9^th

First day. Bob came in car at night, talked about settlement, not very satisfactory.[1160]

22^nd

Seventh day. I put up box of plums, 18 quarts – with sugar.[1161]

28^th

Sixth day. Bonus man[1162] came, wanted to buy pony, Corky maybe. Harry didn’t see him. He stayed dinner.

30^th

First day. Harry took Mother and Father to Wakes to Meeting and on to town to get Bob and Susie and family. Had birthday party for Father and Barry. Big cake. Harry took them back at night.

OCTOBER

8^th

Second day. Ed McCheane did a picture by steer shelter.[1163]

28^th

First day. Harry took Father and Mother to Borden to visit Bob and Susie and see their house. Also George Hynd’s and Saloways’.

NOVEMBER

9^th

Sixth day. Harold Edney came, from overseas. Changed a little.[1164]

DECEMBER

13^th

Fifth day. Harry over to Municipal Office and made out agreement. I over to Susie’s, knitted and helped her a little. RCMP down home, met Harry in town, u p to William Saunders’ and on to Radisson, re: cattle stealing.

14^th

Sixth day. RCMP brought Leo and Sophie in and Harry with them up to Battle ford, about William Saunders’. Leo got six months jail and $100.00 fine, also three head for William Saunders. [1165]

15^th

Seventh day. Harry over to Municipal Office. Brought rough draft of agreement over. [1166]

1945 Summary

Ike Burkitt worked here. New water front. I to Ontario with Hannah Wake. Fanny Saloway died May 3^rd. Henry Badman died February 19^th. Alice Hartshorne and Laurie here. President Roosevelt died April 12^th. Hauled hay from Travises. Sold six steers - $606.00. Rode Token.

1946

June 12^th

Fourth day. Harry home before supper. Wes one-wayed on slough in morning. Set fire to slough bottom, burnt too well. He and I tried to beat it out. Finally good shower came and we were soaked. Set up light engine. No good. Alvin Wall came to work. Edward died this evening, Edith phoned. Harry and Wes and I up to Daisie’s at night. [1167]

June 13^th

Fifth day. Very hot. Daisie and Harry got ready and Dave Murray came and they left for Saskatoon, Bob with them. Alvin on one-way all day. Wes fenced. Wes brought harrows down from Twenty-Six. Mended tongue of disk etc. I felt rotten all day. Father gardening.

June 15^th

Seventh day. Harry and Pa and I to Saskatoon in car, to funeral at 2:30. McCague’s. Lots of beautiful flowers! Edith wonderful! Lunch after at Edith’s. Daisie very busy. We brought Susie out. Got cartwheel at Langham. Shopped a little in Borden. Home by nine. Boys worked on plowing. Brought light engine out - $25.00.

1948

June 14^th

First day. Warm and mosquitoes terrific! Wes took folks to Meeting in his car. Bob and Susie and family down to dinner and afternoon. Ruth and Harold down to supper, took cake home to ice. Harry came home by way of Red Pheasant[1168] and brought Daisie and Carol.

June 17^th

Fifth day. All got ready and went in two cars to Meeting House, to Harold and Ruth’s wedding. To reception at McCheane’s. Big crowd, 70 people. Supper outdoors.

June 18^th

Sixth day. Nice warm day. Harry drove us all up to McCheane’s to say goodbye to Harold and Ruth.[1169] Home late.

September 28

Seventh day. Mary McCheane phoned to say Ruth and Harold have baby.[1170]

1950

June 26^th

Second day. Wes came in night in car, also Bob and Susie, and Roberta.[1171] Stayed night.

1951

April 1^st Birth of Winnie Chamness in Iowa, to Harold and Ruth Chamness.

Elsie does not refer to this family event in her diary on this day or in the ten days following. Since this was the case for many family events, they will be noted on the day they occur whether or not Elsie records them on the day or the ten days following. While she may make later note, it was not found necessary to keep looking beyond ten days.

July 14^th Seventh day. To town at night and got Mary Hinde.[1172]

July 20 Sixth day. Wes and Harry and I up to Brunst to help dig Oscar out from under big rock. [1173] Ash Cook and Wes and two more took him to Saskatoon. Wes home at 2:30 AM.

July 21^st Seventh day. Wes and I up to Brunsts to get rugs. Wes filled hole and took tractor up to house. To Cooks for Wes’s shirt.

July 22^nd First day. Wes and I tool Lillian to Saskatoon to see Oscar, who has broken thigh and pelvic bone, and twisted ankles. [1174]

July 26^th Fifth day. We to town to shop. Got ring at Stacy’s and block salt, etc.

July 28^th Seventh day. To town at night to Peggy’s. Heard Oscar was worse, kidneys not working.

July 29^th First day. Ruth Murray phoned and asked Wes and I to get clothes from Brunsts and take them to the U-Dot for Dave Murray to take to Saskatoon, which we did. Mary stayed at Joanne Christensen’s.

August 1^st Fourth day. Oscar’s Funeral. Harry went first thing to the U-Dot and took Fox and Corky to Radisson fair. He and Gordie rode in the parade; brought Bobbie and Eric back to funeral, Wes took us in car to funeral an on to fair afterwards. Father and Mother stayed at Peggy’s.[1175]

August 9^th Fifth day[1176]

August 13^th Second day. Went downtown, got medical and license and shopped. Interviewed minister. Big day. Bought dress and coat, home at night, took Daisie home. Supper at Min’s.

August 17^th Sixth day. Wes and I got ready and called for Daisie and Carol and took Mary too, to Saskatoon. Had dinner downtown. Shopped in Borden and in City. Went to show in afternoon. Iced cake in evening and did various chores. Slept in girls’ bedroom.

August 18^th Seventh day. Busy getting ready for wedding. Girls all helping. Shopping for decorations and supplies. Bob home. Susie away all day. Daisie gave me “Toni”[1177]

Lydia Crabb came. Wes and I took her home. Called at Auntie’s.

August 19^th

First day. Our wedding day. At Bob’s, 38 visitors came.[1178] A rush to get ready. Ceremony at 4:00 o’clock. Carload from Kelvinton came. Len phoned from Ontario. Stayed at Auntie Agnes’s at night.

Elsie and Wes stayed in Saskatoon two more days and then drove to Alameda to visit Wes’s extended family. They took his parents on a trip to Minot, North Dakota and were back at Valley Springs Ranch on August 31^st.

November 20^th Third day. Had card from Olive and Eli. Have baby son, Eric Eli.

December 19^th Birth of Emily in Costa Rica to Mary and Eston Rockwell.

1952

June 20^th Sixth day. Wes and Dad and Mum (his parents) to town to get Jimmy. [1179]

July 10^th Fifth day. Crew putting in power poles. Harry helping. [1180]

August 19^th Third day. I arranged to have wiener roast at night,. Invited Christensens and Hannah and Joshua and Lydia and Lizzie[1181] and Jack (Lund) and boys and Albert Jones. Nonie and Art Piper to town for wieners, had nice time. Nonie played guitar.

September 14^th First day. Wes and boys and I up to U-Dot in afternoon to Eric’s birthday supper. Had nice time but didn’t feel so good. Went on tractor home, and chored. I to bed. Frightful night. Had miscarriage.

September 15^th Second day. I stayed in bed, flooding[1182] badly.

September 16^th Third day. I in bed. Doctor out. Wes and Harry cutting wheat on Thirty-five all day. Leo stooked.[1183] Had dinner over at house.

September 19^th Sixth day. I in bed mostly. Daisie down and put up box of plums and basket of grapes for me. Lovely having her! Helen Walker came here to tea.

September 20^th Seventh day. Wes and I got ready and left for Saskatoon. Took three crates of cockerels – forty-one. To Sadie’s to dinner and to Ruth’s to sleep. I saw Dr. Crocker. Have to have operation 20 October.

October 20^th Second day. Wes and Jim and I got ready and left for Saskatoon. Did business and saw doctor. Wes took me to St. Paul’s about seven. Got settled in public ward.

October 21^st Third day. All day in hospital, took blood tests. Wes here in visiting hours. Daisie and Eric here for short visit.

October 22^nd Fourth day. Morning of operation,[1184] felt pretty bad. Wes up in visiting hours, couldn’t talk much.

October 23^rd Fifth day. Felt a little better but couldn’t eat and had intravenous, not a bit nice. Doctor in, said I could sit up and dangle my legs. Not feeling so good. Wes came both visiting hours.

October 24^th Sixth day. Up in chair, pretty painful and hard to move. Can’t eat and have to drink. Wes up.

October 25^th Seventh day. Able to go to bathroom holding my tummy in both hands. Doctor says I’m doing fine. Wes brought Sadie up in afternoon, nice to see her. They got me ginger ale and tomato juice, tasted good.

October 26^th First day. Able to move better. Wes up twice and Harry came in evening, all the way from home. Bob’s out to Ranch. Ate a little supper.

October 27^th Second day. Sadie came in afternoon. Bob came at night. Eating much better.

October 28^th Third day. Auntie Agnes came in evening. Nice to see her. Edith and Daisie came by, special permission after visiting hours. Sadie here in afternoon. Card from Peggy.

October 29^th Fourth day. In hospital.

October 30^th Fifth day. In hospital.

October 31^st Sixth day. In hospital

November 1^st Seventh day. Up and about hospital wards. Wes came at seven, wonderful to see him. Marion Wake came, also Bob.

November 2^nd First day. St. Paul’s. Wes came for me about ten o’clock. Paid $36.00 at office for room and anaesthetist.

November 17^th Second day. Men came and put transformer on pole, and wire up. Harry Derbowka came in afternoon and wired to house. “Three Cheers!! Lights at last!!”

November 20^th Fifth day. Electrolux man came. Bought new Electrolux.[1185]

November 30^th, 1952 First day. Mother sick in night. Harry got her back to bed. Got up for breakfast, but hardly managed to feed herself, but improved towards night.

December 1^st Second day. Mother in bed and has to be fed. Edith in hospital with gall bladder trouble. Very disturbed night.

December 2^nd Third day. Wes took Gordon to see Edith after supper. Mother still helpless, slept in parlour, very disturbed.

December 3^rd Fourth day. Wes up and got Bobbie and she helped me. Wes and I to town, saw Edith, got bedpan and rubber sheet. Game Mother enema. Decided NOT to take Mother to hospital. Wes took Bobbie home and brought her back for night. We slept in our own bed.

December 4^th Fifth day. Up at 5:30 and Wes took Bobbie home. Bob and Susie out at night to see Mother. Bobbie here for night.

December 5^th Sixth day. Wes took Bobbie home first thing, I busy with Mother and housework. Mother more rational and quite bright and lively. Wes for Bobbie early then he and boys and I to town, saw Edith. Winnie phoned from West Branch.

December 6^th Seventh day. Wes took Bobbie home. Edith phoned – she could come home, so Wes went for her in morning.

December 7^th First day. Mother insists on getting up. Edith had disturbed night. I over in morning and got dinner. Edith slept a little. Harry has bad cold. Daisie and Eric here to supper at house, short visit, Eric has cold too.

December 9^th Third day. Winnie phoned from St. Paul (Minnesota.)

December 10^th Fourth day. Cleaned upstairs with cleaner and got room ready for Winnie.

December 11^th Fifth day. Harry home in good time and brought Bobbie and we all went to Saskatoon to Min and Francis’s silver wedding anniversary. Brought Winnie back.

December 14^th First day. Harry took Edith and Winnie and Gordon to Meeting in car. I put dinner on. Harold and Ruth down in afternoon. Also Daisie and Bobbie and boys. Mother pretty well. She and Father stayed home.

December 21^st First day. Folks to Meeting, not Father and Mother. Eddie and Sis and Jennie[1186] down with folks to dinner, also Bob and children.

December 22^nd Second day. Winnie and I helped Mother out for a walk. Lovely day.

December 23^rd Third day. Wes and I to Radisson to get medicines for Father and Mother. I saw doctor about Father and Mother.

December 24^th Fourth day. Mother not so good. We are worried about her![1187] Len phoned from Saskatoon, coming tomorrow.

December 25^th Fifth day. Bob brought Len first thing and he and Susie and boys stayed dinner with Winnie and Mother and Father.

December 31^st Fourth day. Winnie and Len and Jennie stayed over and Harry took them in afternoon to Saskatoon.

1953

March 21^st Seventh day. Phone from Dr. Crocker.

March 23^rd Second day. Wes and I got ready in a hurry and left for Saskatoon. Missed the train, waited for the bus. To Murray’s.

March 24^th Third day. Saw doctor (? Name) at 2:30. To see lawyer. Got medical. Filled in adoption forms with Mr. Taylor. Bought a few odds and ends. Saw Bob and Doug.

March 28^th Seventh day. Wes and I left early for Saskatoon in truck. Saw lawyer first, then Mr. Fraser. Afterwards to St. Paul’s and got baby boy, David Wesley Ingram, a honey! Went to Ruth’s and stayed night. Bob and Susie and Sadie over to Ruth’s in the evening.

Birth in Iowa of Ronald to Olive and Eli Stakland.

March 29^th First day. Bathed baby and got him ready to leave. Left about 11:00 for home with Baby David. Tea at Peggy’s. Highway good but took nearly three hours to get home from Borden.

August 1^{st S}eventh day. Mother had severe pain. I phoned doctor. Wes took us to town at night. Got pills.

August 2^nd. First day. Mother better but no one to Meeting. Gordon over here to weiner dinner. Fred and Muriel (Wake) came and brought Auntie Agnes and Joyce and children. Mother’s pain came back in evening.

August 3^rd Second day. Harry took Mother and Father to doctor in afternoon. Edith with them.

August 5^th Fourth day. Mother taking medicine. Pain keeps recurring.

August 6^th Fifth day. Mother not too well.

August 9^th First day. Mother not well at all. Has heart pain. We up to U-Dot – had plate supper, to town for Edith. Bob and family over at house for dinner. Took Mother to Borden Hospital, Bob’s car.[1188]

August 10^th Second day. Wes took us on to town to see Mother. Mother quite bright and fairly cheerful.

August 12^th Fourth day. Harry to town, took Father and Edith in to see Mother, not very good, but knew them.

August 13^th Fifth day. To town to see Mother at night – much worse. Hardly knew us. Pretty low. Wes phoned Bob.

August 14^th Sixth day. Father and I in in afternoon. Mother not conscious! Phone call about 8:00 PM. Mother passed away. Harry and I to town to make arrangements. Edith stayed with David.

August 16^th First day. To Meeting. Joshua and Hannah back. Bob and Susie and family came up and left after early lunch.

August 17^th Second day. Harry to town to see about funeral arrangements, etc. Bob phoned.

August 18^th Third day. Mother’s funeral day. Wes and I took David up to U-Dot for Bobbie to mind in morning. Meeting at Meeting house in Thistledale. Quite a big Meeting. On to cemetery. Gathered at Saunders’ after. Len up from Ontario.

August 22^nd Seventh day. Harry and Len and Wes and I and baby David left for trip north.[1189] Called on Bobbie. Camped just out of Prince Albert, had supper there.

August 23^rd. First day. Up early. Made breakfast and packed and pulled out for lake. Had dinner there. Had ride in boat, nice and breezy. Up to other camp for supper. Home in terrific storm. Stopped at Albert Paines’ to look after baby. Had lunch and then came all the way home. Tired!

1954

January 19^th Third day. Heard that Mary and Eston in Costa Rica have baby boy, Bernardo Merlin.

July 14^th

Steven was born in Iowa to Olive and Eli Stakland.

December 28^th Third day. Jim took Harold to town to see Ruth in car.[1190]

1955

February 22^nd Third day. Blizzardy, snowing and blowing and going colder. Father not well. Can’t pass water. I called doctor – wants him brought in. Baby very sick. Wes broke trail with tractor and Harry took Pa in with truck.

February 23^rd Fourth day. David a bit better but very spotty and itchy. Phoned Bob re: Father.

February 27^th First day. Wes and I took Jim in in evening, and I went to see Father. He seemed pretty content.

March 1^st Fourth day. Cold and windy and snowing. Harry and Edith got ready to take Pa to Saskatoon. Got stuck and finally had to come back. Car broke down, so all came to dinner here. I phoned Bob and got him to go for Father.[1191] Pa not too good.

March 7^th Third day. Harry in Saskatoon. He told us about a conference, and about Father, who is not so well.

March 9^th Fifth day. Edith got ready to stay in Saskatoon with Father in hospital. Wes went to help them to highway and on to Langham.

March 10^th Sixth day. Father a little better.

March 13^th Second day. Edith phoned in evening. Father about the same.

March 14^th Third day. Edith phoned. Father unconscious most of the time.

March 15^th Fourth day. Bob phoned. Father died at 1:30 PM today. Edith coming back tomorrow morning. I phoned Wakes, Peggy, Harold, Jim, the U-Dot and Saunders.

March 16^th Fifth day. Harry got ready and went for Edith with team and sleigh. Heavy going. Got home about 4:30 and I gave them dinner. Funeral to be 2:00 Monday.

March 20^th Second day. David’s birthday and Father’s funeral.[1192] Wes stayed home with David. Harry and Jim and Edith and I over to Langham with team. Eddy Seaman (?) in car for us. Dinner at Sissie’s. Meeting in United Church. Had tea at Saunders’. Home with Fred Wake to Langham. Home by six.

March 21^st Third day. Windy all day. Not feeling very well, nor Edith either.

November 13^th First day. Ruth Chamness had son.[1193] Born at home, to hospital after.

December 14^th Sixth day. Talked with Bob and Susie. Roberta getting married very soon.

December 15^th

Wayne born to Olive and Eli Stakland in Iowa.

1956

December 24^th

Second day. Got Harry and Edith off to Saskatoon to shop and attend Roberta’s wedding.

1958

April 22^nd

Reference is made on this day to Barry Hinde, Elsie’s nephew, and many other times during this period. He worked at Valley Springs Ranch, doing the work of a hired man, from September 1957 until May 1958.

April 29^th Third day. Wes and Harry up to Williams’ to vote on rainmaking.[1194]

May 1^st Fifth day. Barry gave notice to leave by end of May.[1195]

May 2^nd Sixth day. Heard that Eddie Saunders had died suddenly, aged 68. Edith and Harry up to Mary McCheane’s.[1196]

May 4^th First day. The funeral is to be held tomorrow, 2:00 PM in the United Church.

May 5^th Second day. Home in good time for dinner and get ready to go to Borden to Eddy’s funeral. Meeting in United Church. Joshua, Hannah and Daisie and Bob and Edith sat in front. Big crowd there and to tea at Saunders’ afterwards.

May 6^th Third day. Heard Armand Christensen had died, age 75.

November 16^th First day. Bob phoned that Roberta and Dave have six pound daughter, “Allegra Elaine.”

April 19^th

Leslie born in Costa Rica to Mary and Eston Rockwell.

May 1^st

David born in Iowa to Olive and Eli Stakland.

1960

May 21^st

Seventh day. Wes and Mum and Davie and I to Saskatoon. Shopped and went to museum. Attended Mary’s wedding in evening. Left Mum and Davie at Joyce’s.

1961

October 14^th Seventh day. 80 degrees; warm bright day. Edith working with tomatoes. Worked on house a bit.

October 16^th Second day. Nice warm day. Edith and I did a big wash and Edith made last of crabapple jam and tomato ketchup.

October 17^th Third day. Edith very sick all day, a lot of pain. I phoned hospital, doctor away. I washed separator and ironed some.

October 18th Fourth day. Edith not much better. I got her ready and Harry took her to hospital in morning. Doctor phoned 2:00 AM last night. Harry took us into Borden to see her at night.

October 19^th Fifth day. Daisie here to dinner and we killed ten hens and she took six of them at $1.00 each and fifteen dozen eggs. To town at night to hear Harold Foster talk, and see Edith. Not too good.

October 21^st Seventh day. Phoned doctor. Edith little improved, but very ill.

October 22^nd First day. Phone call from doctor. Edith worse. Arranged to go in to town with Daisie and Eric. Took feed in truck up to cows and on to U-Dot. Had to use chains – show very deep and wet. To town, saw Edith, pretty low, in oxygen tent. Doctor phoned late – Edith passed away. Got in touch with Gordon.[1197]

October 23^rd Second day. Wes took feed out to cows at home and up in pasture. Carl went with him. Alice sent bread down. Phoned Winnie and Len, may come. Wes and Harry and I to town to fill papers etc. Wes back to town for Gordon.

October 24^th Third day. Wes and Gordon up to feed cows after dinner and up to U-Dot for visit.

October 26^th Fifth day. Wes and Harry and I got ready and left for Saskatoon in both cars. Dinner at Susie’s. To funeral at Park Funeral Home. Bill Graham took service, several spoke. Helen W. sang Beyond the Sunset. [1198] Up to Susie’s afterwards.[1199]

October 27^th Sixth day. I cleaned over at house some, made up bed for Len. Harry and Len and Gordie home at night.

October 30^th Second day. Len and Gordie[1200] and I got ready and Wes drove us to Saskatoon to pay funeral expenses and get land all transferred into Gordon’s name.

November 2 Fifth day. Len and Harry got ready and left for Saskatoon after dinner.

1962

May 17^th

Leyn born in Costa Rica to Mary and Eston Rockwell.

July 9^th

Marriage of Barry Hinde and Nola Thompson.

August 4^th

Birth of William in Iowa to Martha and Don Bedell.

December 13^th Fifth day. Wes and David and I to Saskatoon. I went shopping, got stainless steel set for Kirk and Carol’s wedding present.

December 14^th Sixth day. Cooked two roosters for wedding and Wes killed two more and I dressed and cooked them. Made two lots of twists and pies. Pretty busy, up very late.

December 15^th Seventh day. Kirk and Carol’s wedding day. We chored, packed and got ready and left for Halcyonia School early. Helen Thiessen and Effie Taylor there. David home to get ready and Wes for plates. Effie came back with him. Lots of people came, church and school packed. Bride looked very lovely. Kirk did well. Bob came home with us.

1964

February 1^st Seventh day. Got a letter from Bob. Mary has baby girl, 9 pounds 5 ounces; 25 hours in labour, but safely over and both doing well.[1201]

February 22^nd Seventh day. Ruth Chamness phoned and told us Merlin died 2:00 this morning.

February 25^th Third day. Harry phoned first thing, asked me to pack a bag for him, as he and Min have decided to go to Ontario to see Len and Ruth, and Evelyn, and Roberta,[1202] so I did and sent it with Wes when he took David to school.

March 22

The birth of James Scott Kettles. There is no reference in Elsie’s diary until March 30^th, when it is noted that the baby has jaundice.

June 7^th First day. Harry to Meeting and made his Declaration of Marriage.[1203] Wes took me to Committee meeting in afternoon at Meeting House.

June 24^th Fourth day. Daisie came at night and we had a good visit and she brought the dress that Bobby made, with jacket. Very nice! Gave me advice about clothes, Harry too.[1204]

June 27^th Seventh day. We got finally ready and Wes took Harry and Davie and I to where Volks was, and got it started and Harry to Borden to get it fixed, and we on to Saskatoon and took David to dentist and I got hat and dress. To Min’s. Harry there, and Wes left us there, and we started for Ontario about 3:30 in the afternoon. Got to some cottages just inside Manitoba border and stayed night. Cost $3.50 and real nice!

June 30^th. Third day. Had supper in Huntington, and found Mary’s place on Lake of Bays without too much trouble.

July 3^rd Sixth day. Mary’s friend Isobel and David and I drove to Norwich and picked up Len and took him to Friends’ House to attend wedding. We got lost and Len got sick, but Evvie came and fixed him up and he enjoyed himself at the reception.

Harry and Mary’s wedding day at Friends’ house, Toronto. Mary’s brother and I signed the register with them. Quite a nice lot of people there.

October 2^nd Sixth day. Wes and I got ready and left for Red Deer and Gordon’s wedding.

October 3^rd Seventh day. Windy and cool and cloudy. Wedding Day. We up in good time and as everything was shut went up to Sylvan Lake, intending to get breakfast at Rocky Mountain House, but stopped to phone Bea, and she said to get in touch with the others at a motel and come up to breakfast. So we did that and it took a lot of time. Met Mrs. Gamble. Finally Betty and Jack (Lund) came with Wes and I and we went to Rocky Mountain and called at some friends of Betty on the way. Shopped a little and Wes met come of his old pals.[1205] Back in time for lunch at the Lake and to the church at 2:00. changed at the motel, to Red Deer for Reception in a beautiful hotel. Met Carl and Helga (Christensen) and took them up to room to change. After reception, Wes and Bobbie and I went to Rocky Mountain House and took a room there and Wes sent visiting until late. We had baths and went to bed.

December 13^th

Birth in Iowa of Elizabeth to Martha and Don Bedell.

Elsie’s SUMMARY for 1964

Mary and Jack Crane had baby girl, “Shauna Elizabeth Catherine” in February. Mary Needler came for a visit. Harry and Harold went to Alberta for her (Friends’ Conference.) In July Harry and David and I left in Volks for Toronto and had a lovely trip down, finding Mary at the Lake of Bays, to Toronto and Friends’ House and attended Harry and Mary’s wedding. Met Isobel and she and I got Len to wedding and took him back and had visit at Norwich. Evvie took us to her home and saw us onto plane. Back to Wes, how happy we were! [1206]

1965

March 10^th

Death of Winnie Hinde Chamness, Elsie’s sister. No reference found in the diary in the ensuing two weeks.

October 22^nd

Birth of James McCheane, first son of Gordon and Bea McCheane

November 26^th Sixth day. Bob wrote Mary had another daughter.

1966

August 19^th

Birth in Costa Rica of Kimbra, fifth child of Mary and Eston Rockwell.

September 3^rd Seventh day. Wes and I to Doreen and Rusty’s wedding in United Church. Reception in hall. Very nice.

1967

May 11^th Birth of Randy Lund, the first child of Rusty and Doreen Lund.

1968

February 6^th

The birth of Chris Kettles, second child of Carol and Kirk Kettles.

April 30^th

Birth in Costa Rica of Shawna to Mary and Eston Rockwell

August 4^th

The birth of Michael McCheane

1970

August 24, 1970

The birth of Alexis to Barry and Nola Hinde

November 27 Sixth day. Up early and Wes took Harry and I in Jim’s car to Saskatoon Airport, where we got tickets for Paris, Ontario. Got to Toronto and took taxi to Ruth’s. She and Min seemed happy to see us.

November 28^th Seventh day. Went up to hospital to see Len, who knew us but couldn’t talk much. In very low state. Roger brought the children[1207] in for a few minutes.

November 29^th First day. Took it easy. Up to hospital twice, Len failing. Roger came and took Harry and I back to house. Ruth told me of Roger and Anne’s trouble. Anne has left him and is living in Brantford. Min and I to church.

Elsie’s Diary: Memorandum at the end of November 1970: Harry and I took the plane for Paris (Ontario) to see Len. Stayed almost two weeks. He knew us but is very low. Min there too.

December 6^th

First day. Harry and I down to see Len. Came home with Roger, Min and Harry and I to church in morning. A cold and windy day.

December 9^th. Fourth day. Harry and I to hospital. Len sinking but still holding on. Ruth went later. Roger came and drove us home.

December 10^th Fifth day. Left Ruth’s at 1:45 PM by limousine. Got on plane at 4:10, got to Saskatoon 7:30 PM, Roberta with us.[1208] Met Rivetts. Wes there to meet us. Home in good time.

December 12^th Seventh day. Booked Mum’s passage to Victoria with Roberta on Monday.[1209]

December 14^th Second day. Up early and took Grandma to airport, and she and Roberta boarded plane for Victoria….Ruth phoned in evening – Leonard died this morning.

December 15^th Third day. We up early again and Wes took Harry and Mary to Saskatoon to catch plane for Ontario and Len’s funeral.

1970 Memorandum

Traded in Moffatt stove and bought a new one with warming shelf. Len died and Harry and Mary went to funeral. Before that, Harry and I went to Ontario, and spent a couple of weeks. Talked to Len. Min and I had some nice walks.

The five year diary for 1970 – 1974 included summaries for each month. A few of these are transcribed. Those omitted contained mainly the prices received for cattle. Regular entries of particular note are also transcribed.

October 1970 Memorandum

John Alec McPherson died.

1971

January 1971 Memorandum

Harry and Mary in Jamaica. We bought Kirk’s skidoo. Mary McCheane turned 80. Ten feet nine inches snow in January and below normal temperatures.

September 19^th First day. Cool and cloudy. Wes home for breakfast. Had been waiting up at gate for cattle rustlers. We up to pasture with Abe Rempel and three policemen. No sign of rustlers.

December 27^th Fourth day. (Wes and Elsie visiting Daisie and Eric in Salmon Arm.) Susie phoned. Bob had operation on bladder. Wants us to go.

1972

December 29^th Sixth day. With Daisie and Eric to town. Found our tickets to Victoria on bus. Cost $28.50 return.

1973

January 1973 Memorandum

Wes and I at Salmon Arm and Victoria. Came home on the 17^th.

October 1973 Memorandum

Harry and Mary came home on the 9^th from down east. Joshua and Hannah moved to Borden.

1974

May 10^th Sixth day. Mary and Harry away to Radisson for Harry’s test (didn’t pass.)[1210]

May 31

The birth of Darci to Barry and Nola Hinde

October 1974 Memorandum

Mary and Harry bought a 48-foot trailer and lot in Borden.

December 1974 Memorandum

Mary and Harry still living on Ranch although trailer is ready all but hot water heater.

1976

February 2^nd Second day. (Wes and Elsie in Saskatoon, stayed 18 days at Carol and Kirk’s while truck was being fixed.) Min phoned. Ruth died. Wes and I over in evening. Ken there.

February 3^rd Third day. Min left for Ontario at 1:50 PM. Ken took her to airport.

February 4^th Fourth day. Ruth’s funeral.

November 23^rd

Birth of Bryn to Mary and Eston Rockwell, their eighth child.

1977

May 18^th

Birth of Alyssa to David and Marguerite Hinde, their first child.

1978

May 28^th

Death of Joseph Edward (Bob) Hinde,[1211] in Victoria, British Columbia

August 28^th Second day. Nice sunny morning. Wes getting veggies ready to take to Regina on Wednesday.

August 29^th Third day. We getting ready to leave for Regina and Davie’s wedding. I packed suitcases, new suit for Wes and long dress for me.

August 30^th Fourth day. Beautiful day. We got early start and called for cake at Phyllis’s.[1212]

We drove carefully and I held on to it, but it collapsed by the time we got there. Found Eleanor at house. David came in later from work.

August 31^st Fifth day. Eleanor over to breakfast, then Wes and Davie and she left for her flat and brought load back to house. I got lunch for all. Wes and I took them out to supper to Lakeside Restaurant. Very nice, cost me $50.00.

September 1^st Sixth day. Lila Piprell came early in morning and Eleanor brought her mother and two brothers over and we got a family dinner ready. Mr. Fulmore and one son late to rehearsal in evening. David Horn and Vicki[1213] and Scott came to party afterwards.

September 2^nd Seventh day. Pretty hot day. David’s wedding day. Everyone busy busy busy but finally got to photographers, all dressed up on time, and later to church. Nice crowd. Saskatoon folks came up to house for a while, then to reception. Carl MC’d, very nice.

September 3^rd. First day. Very very hot. Lewis and Jenny and Bob and Evelyn[1214] came for breakfast, visited and had lunch with us. David and Eleanor came and opened presents.

1981

February 2^nd Second day. Wes and I got ready for city, for Harry’s birthday. We called at Borden for some things for Mary.[1215] Had tea and visit with them.

February 14^th Seventh day. Wes and I to Borden, where we loaded up Mary’s stuff on van and our truck. Dave and Scott there and took it to city where Mary had a room.

February 15^th First day. Mary phoned in evening, Harry not well.

February 19^th Fifth day. We to Saskatoon. Wes and I to Mary’s. Harry is pretty sick.

February 21^st Seventh day. Mary phoned. Harry passed away this morning. Dear Harry, he’ll be happy to see the folks. Wes and I to town to try to make arrangements, grave digging, etc.

February 22^nd First day. Wes and I to city after lunch and talked to Mary about funeral arrangements. Decided to have Abe Rempel officiate with a short Silence. Mary Crane may come,[1216] and David and Eleanor and Ingrams.

February 23^rd Second day. Wes did a lot of phoning. Daisie phoned last night, can’t come, bad knee. Helga came down and did up buns. I mixed in afternoon. Brought two coffee cakes and two iced cakes. Wes and I up to Rempels to check.

February 25^th Fourth day. This is the day of Harry’s funeral. Over 200 people came, seven of the boys from Blaine Lake. (Many names listed) Dick Ericson. Harry would have liked that. Abe Rempel took the service. Gerald Bergman spoke at the graveside. Mary Crane was there; Carol and Kirk, Garry and Judy, Rusty and Doreen.[1217]

February 28^th Seventh day. Wes and I left after coffee for Borden and City to move Mary back to house. David Horn took his van and loaded up everything.

May 23^rd Seventh day. David phoned we have a granddaughter.

May 24^th First day. Wes and I left for Regina.

May 25^th Second day. We arrived in Regina about seven. David gave us a cup of coffee and took us to the hospital to see Eleanor and baby Jennifer Dawn. A perfect specimen, and so good!!

1982

March 18^th

Birth of Michael, son of David and Marguerite Hinde; their second child.

November 3^rd Fourth day. I cooked ham for wedding dance.

November 4^th Fifth day. Jim away and took ham to Lorraine’s.

November 5^th Sixth day. Jim’s wedding day. Beautiful day. Ceremony at 4:30 PM in the United Church. Wes and I got dressed in good time. Jim and Lorraine came in together and walked up the aisle. Sheri[1218] was maid of honour. Supper at the hall and we stayed until 10:00 PM.

1984

February 5^th First day. David phoned yesterday and told us we have a new granddaughter, six and a half pounds and 21 inches tall, and named Carolyn Anne.

June 21^st Seventh day. Cool and a bit overcast. David Horn’s wedding day. Jim and Lorraine called for us and took us to City to attend wedding at private house on Wilson Crescent. Had nice time. Saw Doug and Marion.

1987

March 14^th

Marriage of Barry Hinde and Jackie Bickmore in Yukon.

April 22^nd Fourth day. David phoned early. Eleanor in hospital. Wes can hardly walk, his knee is very bad. Eleanor had baby girl, Melinda Elizabeth.

July 24^th Gill had baby girl, Stevie, three and a half pounds.

EPILOGUE

Elsie and Wes Ingram retired from Valley Springs Ranch, leaving it to be run by first by James Olynik, their foster son, then by David Horn, their foster son and son of Elsie’s cousin, and his family. They lived in Borden in one of the seniors’ cottages the town had built for retirees. In her later years Elsie required more care than could be provided in the cottage, and her last years were spent in a pleasant nursing home in Hafford, Saskatchewan, visited regularly by Wes and many friends and relatives. She died in 1995 and is buried in the Borden cemetery. Wes lived on in the cottage for some years, moving to the new Borden Care Home when he too no longer could manage by himself. He died in 2003 and is buried beside Elsie.

Elsie’s diary entries continue for 54 years, recording the details of her life and the life of the community. The last entries are similar in spirit and content to the first, although the handwriting shows her frailty.

These diaries represent a life of hardships endured uncomplainingly, of demanding work undertaken willingly, of family feeling enduring through many challenges and many decades and of happiness experienced, implicitly if not explicitly.

My sister Mary Hinde Crane and I have been privileged to transcribe our Aunt Elsie’s words and make them accessible to our younger generations. We have come to know Aunt Elsie through her diaries as we never did in her lifetime.

APPENDIX I

Memories of Martha Chamness Bedell of the Winter of 1935-36 at Valley Springs Ranch.

These are the things I remember that missed the diary.

Of course I remember how exciting the actual arrival to Valley Springs

Ranch was to everyone. Mom had been away for 18 years, but had left indelible mental pictures in our heads of her loved ones and the wonders left behind.

It did not take Olive and me long to master the art of downhill skiing. This was our main daytime entertainment. Evenings, we gathered around the large, no doubt extended, dining table to play Geography Cards. The set I still remember after these almost 70 years is as follows. Belgium was the flag card with a card for each of Brussels, Gent, and Ostend. That made the set, and was played like Authors. Why did that stick in my mind, I have to wonder? I know I could not keep up with the pros, and probably seldom actually played, but I did learn some countries and their main cities.

I remember the chicken house burning and Aunt Elsie guarding the straw

stack down wind, thus inhaling a lot of smoke, which was at least in part

responsible for her being laid up a day or two following.

I also remember Olive and Harold helping with the milking on a regular basis. Maybe they were afraid I would get hurt. I seem to remember one cow that liked to put her foot in the bucket. No doubt there have been others! At what age did our cousins get in on that detail?

I remember accompanying Dad, I expect we still called him Papa, on one of

those oft recorded trips for a load of hay or straw. This must have been on the lower and far away flats and a full day's accomplishment as we ate a lunch around a bonfire. It was cold, and I expect I needed the fire to keep warm. I believe Dad unhitched the team while he loaded. Dad liked company, so was glad to build a fire and what ever extra was needed for my comfort.

Another time, Olive and Harold and I went with Uncle Harry with a team

and hay rack out onto the swamp or backwash from the river while it was still frozen over but not solid enough as the team of horses broke through the ice. Uncle Harry unhitched the team and carefully escorted us down the tongue to more solid footing. I am sure when the horses broke through it was a scary thrill that helped keep it in my memory book.

Aunt Elsie did not mention that Mom was present at thy birth Roberta, but

she very much was.

At Aunt Edith's in Saskatoon there was a thermometer posted, down the block and around the corner. Daily I would report the current temperature. I also had a ringside seat when the river broke up. Out near the Ranch, I remember

walking across the railway trestle, stepping from tie to tie, or whatever they used, and hoping a train would not come, or that I would not slip through the cracks. Surely that was when we returned to the ranch and not when Mary was along! I don't think Dad was either.

I remember a large crock in the pantry, where there was a covering of

"mother" on the bottom. It seems adding water produced more vinegar, quite a marvel.

While at Valley Springs Ranch, Grandmother taught me to knit, starting on a scarf, maybe for Uncle Harry, then I made one for myself. I am afraid I do not

remember the schooling Aunt Elsie mentions, but they must have at least tried. We have remembered that year as the year we missed schooling. I expect Olive can straighten me out on that.

If you record anything from Olive's memories you can include the poem she

wrote in anticipation of the trip --- starting out with, "Now let us go,

through the ice and the snow, to the house and the little cottage, where

we shall live in a house like a sieve, by the old Saskatchewan River." I

expect you have a copy.

APPENDIX II

MEMORIES OF OLIVE CHAMNESS STAKLAND OF VALLEY SPRINGS RANCH, WINTER OF 1935-36

I believe Martie was the one who sent you the mentioned poem written, we suppose, when we were really planning to go to Canada at last.

Come let us go through the ice and the snow to the house and the little cottage

Where we shall live in a house like a sieve by the old Saskatchewan river.

Where the horses neigh for their alfalfa hay under the roof of the barn;

And the women sit in the house and knit and darn and darn and darn.

When the men come in from their evening chores they open wide the old house doors

And enter in to the light, and eat their supper until they're tight.

Then they toddle off to bed and don't get up 'til the women come and wake each sleepy head.

Not sure where I got that last part--as it turned out Grandfather was usually, if not always, first up. Oh well, I was barely twelve, you understand.

Even in Iowa that winter was considered to be very severe; and that is the

winter we spent in Saskatchewan visiting our mother's family at Valley

Springs Ranch. Sometimes there were blizzards and sometimes the mercury in

the thermometer dropped to sixty below zero F.

Our family then, besides our parents, was Harold 15, Olive 12, Martha 9, and Mary 3. Our youngest brother, Lawrence, had not been born yet. So the

household of four living in the main house: Grandfather, Grandmother, Uncle

Harry and Aunt Elsie suddenly became a household of ten. Our parents had

not expected to stay so long but soon found they didn't have a choice when

winter weather locked down access to roads south. Horseback or horse-drawn

cutters or sleighs became the way of getting around to town, to neighbors

and even to get the mail.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Susie and their little daughter, Mary, lived in a cottage

not far from the main house. Their second daughter, Roberta, was born at

home that winter causing much happy excitement.

No matter what the weather the men spent much of their day outdoors tending to the livestock, sometimes bundled up so all that was showing was their

eyes looking out from the woolen scarves wound around head and neck.

We children were not of an age to be concerned that we might be a burden.

The economy was in depression and everyone was affected. It must have been

a challenge to keep food on the table for ten people. Also the house barely

accommodated such a group. But the family there was most gracious-I don't

recall ever seeing Grandfather anything but cheerful. Aunt Elsie gave up

her room for my parents and two younger sisters. Harold slept with Uncle

Harry and Aunt Elsie and I slept on a fold-out bed at the end of the dining

table. There was a curtain hung from the ceiling for night time privacy and

I thought it was just fine.

Grandmother did a great job fixing meals with help from our mom and Aunt

Elsie. I do recall helping with dishes. Lots of good stews were on the

menu and very often canned saskatoons for dessert, sometimes accompanied by

something delicious Aunt Elsie had baked.

Every evening the kerosene (coal oil)lamps were attended to and lit. We

helped make spilikins (sp?) to use in lighting them. This involved rolling

up sheets of an old catalog into a long twist which when lighted on the end

could reach down into the chimney to light the lamp.

Grandfather was the first up in the morning. I lay cozily in bed listening

to him bustling about getting fires going and making the morning porridge.

Then at about the same time every morning he would open the back door and

shout "Roll out Bob". I guess Uncle Bob didn't need an alarm clock.

Grandfather also kept the wood box supplied and tended the stoves. I can

still see him coming in with an armload of wood, huffing and puffing,

icicles hanging from his beard. What an important function that was.

Grandmother was always very supportive of our mother, whose life in the U.S. was not easy, writing long newsy letters beginning "My very dear Winnie".

So during that winter, I am sure, they made up for a lot of lost time

enjoying their mother-daughter relationship. Grandmother always had some

knitting in progress. She knit natural wool under- vests for Martie and I,

which helped keep us warm. I don't know where the wool came from but do

remember Grandfather carding wool and Grandmother using a spinning wheel to

turn it into yarn.

We were a bit in awe of Uncle Harry. He was a real life cowboy who subdued broncos and did rough riding at rodeos. He also played a guitar and had

records of cowboy songs, which he occasionally played on a wind-up

gramophone in a corner of the living room. Music was frowned upon as

un-Quakerly and a sinful distraction by Grandmother and Grandmother, backed

wholeheartedly by my parents, so we were expected to stay out of the living

room with the door closed when Uncle Harry was enjoying his songs. This was

a little hard to bear, for me. I thought it sounded fascinating. Once when

Grandmother had had enough, she stopped the music by simply lifting the

needle off the record with a slight grating sound. She didn't say anything

but looked quite determined. Uncle Harry grumbled some but since it was

Grandmother, gave up as gracefully as he could.

Often on weekends Uncle Harry got spiffed up and rode off to Langham to

socialize with friends in town. It was always fun when he was in an

animated mood and joined in with games of Jenkins-up, Geography etc. But

often he seemed quiet and moody, and I realize now he may have wished

sometimes for a little more peace and quiet when he came in from a frigid

days work.

Aunt Elsie came to Iowa to help Mom when I was born, staying several months, I believe, and even worked for a lady in the neighborhood for awhile. I was pretty young for bonding, but maybe that happened. When we arrived in

Canada I was soon tagging her around at every opportunity. I have tried to

analyze what was so special about Aunt Elsie and I guess the biggest thing

for me was that she made me feel special. She was accepting, non-critical

and fun, often finding entertainment for my siblings and me.

Aunt Elsie took care of the chickens, did most of the laundry for that big

household, and of course, was a proficient knitter. She knit herself two

attractive sweaters early in the winter and put them to immediate use. Our

mother had brought along some school books and some attempt was made to keep up on studies for us children.. Aunt Elsie helped out with the teaching,

but I don't recall this taking a major part of our time at the ranch. We

found other activities much more interesting.

As Martie remembers, she learned from Grandmother how to knit - and yes, the scarf she made was for Uncle Harry, for which he seemed quite touched and

appreciative. Aunt Elsie taught me to crochet a colorful woolen neck protector with some success. It was like a big collar fastening in the back and if your coat was a little open at the neck, looked colorful and pretty and was warm as well.

Although we were somewhat isolated by winter conditions, friends and

relatives in the neighborhood made sure we got acquainted. The Wake cousins

were nearest, both in distance and connection, and we visited there for

meals and talk. We also got to know John McCheanes, Laurie Crabbs, Ben

Saloways, Eddie and Sissy and family, who had children about our ages..

Except for the younger people, all of these were folk Mom had known while

growing up in Saskatchewan. Sissy in particular, besides being a cousin, was a

special friend.

Harold and I spent a few days at John McCheanes getting acquainted with the family. Little did I know that some day Ruth would be my sister-in-law and

the mother of Harold's first four children, all of whom have endeared

themselves to us on the rare occasions we have been able to be together.

Horses at the ranch were a vital part of life. All had names and each his

own character. Smoky was probably past his prime and a little crotchety but

was kept in for use. He knew he was supposed to give a kiss, when asked, to

earn the wisp of grain and straw one held behind one’s back; but he was

impatient and if you didn't watch out the kiss was more like a bop on the

nose. Once Aunt Elsie saddled Dick (a safe workhorse type) for me to ride

to Wakes. Of course, he immediately knew a greenhorn was on his back and

resisted leaving home. When I gave up and turned back he was a different

horse and sped back to the barn in short order.

Everyone was interested in Aunt Elsie's colt, Spee. He was a born pacer and that was not common, I think. His mother, Lasca, was Aunt Elsie's special

riding horse.

Most of the horses spent the winter on the range, pawing down through the

snow to find the good prairie wool and sheltering in bluffs or draws. What

tough creatures. Occasionally they came to the building site; a thrill when

they came thundering down the trail.

When March 10 arrived our family left for Saskatoon, the men having moved

our car across the ice to Langham. Soon after arriving at Uncle Edward and

Aunt Edith's home my father and little sister, Mary, left by train for Iowa

so Dad could be there to start spring farm work. Our mother and we children

stayed in Saskatoon, the roads still being unfit for travel. On March 30th

Uncle Harry stopped in and offered to take two of us back to stay at the

ranch. It was a tense moment before they decided Harold and I should be the

ones. I think it would have been a lifelong trauma to me if I hadn't been

allowed to go.

As it turned out that month at the ranch was a very special time for me

with many good memories. I remember a nighttime journey to Art and Sadie

Hynd's home by cutter. It was a very cold night but I was snuggled between

Uncle Harry and Aunt Elsie with warm robes atop and maybe a footstone. I

believe they played cards after supper, about which I was quite ignorant.

The ride home in the cutter with stars shining overhead and runners

squeaking on the snow was the best part to me.

During this month I worked for Aunt Susie a few hours a day, helping care

for Mary and doing some housework. Aunt Susie was a lovely lady and Uncle

Bob her knight in shining armor. Mary was an adorable, curly haired little

blonde. Roberta still so new, but a good baby. I remember being paid a

quarter a week by Aunt Susie - my first job!

When the time came to head back to Iowa, there were many tears and sad

farewells. Our mother undertook to drive all the way herself. Fortunately

we gave a lift to a young man of nineteen, who helped with the driving for

many miles. We were not impressed with him when he started to help Mom keep

us kids in line. It was a long trip at forty miles an hour, top speed-about

the speed appropriate for the roads and the old Model A Ford.

APPENDIX III

ELSIE HINDE’S IOWA JOURNAL

Elsie Hinde Borden, Sask. Age 19 years

My diary started on the 18^th of 6^th month 1923.

I have always wanted to start a diary, but never thought that I had enough to write about to justify one, however I start one now, as I am about to “try my wings”[1219] or in other words to leave home for the first time. I have often been away before but never for long. This time I am going down to help my sister Winnie in Iowa, and expect to be away about a year. I am going to try to make this diary like a letter to one of my sisters, though whether I ever show it to any of them I don’t know. I suppose it depends on what I write.

Today Edith[1220] came down in the afternoon. She did not stay long. Ruth Rogers[1221] came over on Topsy in the evening to phone her sister. She seems to be settling down there pretty well. I’m so glad, she seems like such a nice girl. As it is wet and Edith is along I have decided to go home with her and come back after Meeting tomorrow.

21^st of 6^th Month.

Raining hard now, just after dinner. I expect the boys[1222] will come home soon. The boys with my valuable (?) assistance gave our new horse “Pilot” or Alcatraz, a dandy subjection lesson. Bob has taken him on his team today, I hope he goes all right. Harry is going to put Betty and Captain on the lead today, I guess they will go fine.[1223]

The other day when Edith went up there to McCheanes’ we had to go around for the mail at Baxter’s. Alfred came out with it and he stood and talked in the rain in his shirtsleeves. He was very nice and I wouldn’t mind him at all if I did not have the suspicion that he is aspiring to be my cousin-in-law. I wish Lavinia[1224] wouldn’t encourage him – and she does. Anyhow I hope she knows enough not to marry him, by the things she has said to me. I don’t think she would mind marrying an outsider.[1225] I think if she wore a bonnet it would be easier for her. I am glad we do and I hope we never lay them aside.[1226]

Harry got a letter from Elias Jensen[1227] the other day. O my it was a funny letter, “laugh, well we did laugh.” He wants Harry to write to Esther. Well I just guess not. He doesn’t know that I am looking after Harry.

Weather – rain, rain, rain.

22^nd of 6^th month

Day before yesterday Leonard[1228] came down on horseback. He went back last night. We enjoyed having him very much. I expect it will be the last time I see him before I go.

24^th of 6^th month

It is decided for Auntie[1229] and I to start for Iowa on next fifth day as we had notice that the money is in Borden. Edith brought the mail to Meeting this morning, as the mailman didn’t come last 6^th day owing to the muddy condition of the trails. Father and Mother went up to Edith’s for dinner. We are expecting them down for supper, also Auntie from Wakes’ also Oscar and Blanche Brunst, and there’s no cake, no sugar hardly, very little tea and absolutely nothing prepared, just our luck. Also Daisy’s[1230] sick, she is lying on one side of the arbor and I’m sitting and writing (badly) on the opposite side. Daisy just asked me how to spell murder, atrocious, and inquest. When I asked what was the idea she said, ”Oh! I was just thinking of writing a story.”

Everybody I meet, almost, tells me how sorry they are that I am not going up to Long Lake,[1231] isn’t it nice of them? Well! I’m sorry myself and not only that, almost everyone has said, “Oh, you’ll be getting married down there and then you won’t come back, like Winnie did, ” as if I was a bit like Winnie. I sure hope I don’t do anything of the sort and I’m not likely to, but then “you mostly always never can tell.”

Wakes have been awfully nice to me lately. I wonder why.

The boys have just gone down for the cows on horseback. Bird and Pink. I guess they will take a swim too.

26^th of 6^th month

First day of the Grade 8 exam. Daisie was so sick yesterday that we thought it would be impossible for her to try her entrance, but this morning she was so much better that she got ready in a big hurry and Father took her in with the buggy. They got there just in time. She is going to stay at Annie Halstead’s[1232] with Effie and Mamie Orchard.[1233] Tonight when she phoned she said that the exam was easier than she expected, so I expect she will pass with honors probably.

Yesterday Auntie and I went to Borden, calling at Nathan Saunders’ on our way out for supper. They were very nice. Eddie[1234] said something about me going away and then as usual he said, “I suppose if thou meets a nice young man----“ but I interrupted about here and said, “Oh! Eddie, please can it![1235] I’ve heard that so much I’m tired of it.” Just then Tom[1236] came in and asked me if I was blushing. I wasn’t and I told him so. I wonder why everyone thinks I’m bound to get married, it is tiresome of them. I suppose they are short of something to say.

Edith came down today and we went down to the slough and across to the ditch and then on to the river. We were going to take some photos but when we got all set for a picture we found that the camera was out of commission, so we were “soaked again.”

28^th of 6^th month

We, Auntie and I, started for Iowa on the 28^th. I went up to the Wakes in the morning with Harry in the buggy to say farewell . Willie’s[1237] back . His first words were, “I wonder if thou will come back married.” I said, “Oh, nix on that, Willie.” So he said, “Invite me to the wedding, won’t thou?” And I promised to. At the school house we came to Edith and I got in with her, and Harry hurried ahead so as to put Dolly in McPherson’s barn, and go on with Joshua and Bob to town. Auntie Margaret and Lucy came down to the station with us as well as the rest, so we had quite a bunch to see us off. We said farewell to Daisie at Annie Halstead’s. But when it came to saying farewell, I felt just like running home. I did not want to go away a bit, and when Mother kissed me I just couldn’t help crying. Edith was such a comfort and helped me get over it, and as the boys came down to Ceepee with us it wasn’t so bad. The last I saw of Bob and Harry was when they stood on two posts and waved their caps to us, Oh, they are the best brothers ever.

Well, it was not long till we got to Saskatoon, where we went straight to T. J. Smith’s[1238] and got my new glasses. While we were there John Simister phoned up to say that he would call around for us in three minutes in his car. He did, and he soon had us up to his home which was a delightful place, all among the trees, where we were introduced to his charming wife and his son William, who is very delicate. We certainly got along fine with them and had a real good time. It felt like leaving old friends when we left. Margaret Simister asked me to be sure and go and visit them if ever I go to Vancouver. They are expecting to move there pretty soon. We stayed overnight with them, and in the morning they took us to see the University which we very much enjoyed, then they took us in their car to Helena Gambles’ where we parted with them. Cousin Helena[1239] was very nice, and we were introduced to her children, Nora, Eric, Kathleen and Dorothy, they are a very nice family and we enjoyed meeting them very much. I would like to get better acquainted. Helena came down to the train to see us off, and John Simister was there too, it was very nice of them.

Nothing extraordinary happened on the train between Saskatoon and Winnipeg, except that I was sick, not too badly though. No one was at the station to meet us and we had to stay in town till after dinner because of our trunks, so did our shopping. Feeling sick and tired, we had our dinner at the cafeteria. I had bread and butter and potato salad. As soon as we could we started out for Edith Williams’ and oh! My did we have a weary walk. It seemed like miles, and when we thought we were about there, we found that they had moved, so we had to retrace our steps back quite a way and then we decided to go to Elizabeth Wood’s instead and got there pretty well all in. E. Wood was very kind, she said I was like my brother Bob. She remembered him. I thought we were going to have a quiet time at Woods’ but on first day met Arthur Williams, and Margaret Shorie and we all went to Shorie’s to supper, it was real nice. Next morning when Auntie and I went down to breakfast we found a man getting breakfast ready in the kitchen. He introduced himself as Edgar Woods and said that he had just come home for a fortnight to see his mother. Her certainly was jolly and nice, and so lively, he

teased me a lot but I sure enjoyed his company. I teased him too, by getting after him about smoking. One day I swiped his cigar. He asked me to write to him and I said that perhaps I would. On 2nd day Edith Williams[1240] came home (I forgot to say that Edith and the children, and Ruby and Winnie, were all away camping.) Well, we saw Edith anyway, she came to see us off also Arthur Williams and Charlotte Taylor, a nice girl we met at E. Woods. I don’t think Auntie enjoyed her stay at Winnipeg so much as I did. However after a day or two’s misery on the train we arrived at West Branch, Iowa, and found nobody to meet us, so we went over to a restaurant and phoned Ida Chamness.[1241] They said that Merlin was on his way to town so we went and sat down by our boxes. We did not have long to wait, for very soon we saw them coming with a team and rig. I did not know what to think of Winnie, she had changed so. I think she was rather shocked at me. We soon found ourselves at their home where we had lunch before going to bed.

14^th of 8^th month.

And now I have been here over a month and pretty well settled for a while I guess. Well, “Things do happen and clocks do strike and none of the people are made alike.” Auntie only stayed a week here, and then went on to Ontario.[1242]

I like it very much here. Merlin and Winnie are very happy, and Harold is the dearest little boy. I am still in good with the folks more or less, I would be entirely if it was not for Elias Jensen, who has been staying here almost as long as I have. He has quit going to see Ina[1243] and she blames me. They think I want to marry him because he is pretty well off. They certainly might get something better to think about, they don’t know much about us and that’s a fact. I did accept a box of chocolates from him but I don’t think I would again. I certainly don’t think I could ever marry him. When he went away, as we were driving off I waved from the car window. Merlin thinks he will take encouragement from that. I did it quite thoughtlessly. I wish now that I had not. The whole business makes me tired.

Other things of importance that have happened to me – first that Merlin has taught me to drive the tractor and I helped him get in the hay with it and next, that I have ridden Jasper once and I hope to have another ride soon. He kicked up quite a dust and broke the saddle. And finally, we all went down and had a dandy bathe in a creek near here tonight. It was great fun.

(About 15 lines are illegible perhaps due to the use of pencil which photocopies poorly.)

…did not go in though. Pretty stormy tonight.

15^th of 8^th month

The road gang that have been working in front of the house for over a week felled the giant tree over the road. It sure made a crash. After using dynamite, the tractor pulled it over. The engineer had some nerve. He cleared away some rubbish from the yard.

Daisy’s letter came, “which pleased me much.” Tonight Merlin, Winnie, Harold and Alfred[1244] and I went down and had a swim.

16^th of 8^th month Rainy today. Winnie and I went to town this afternoon in the wagon and brought out a load of coal. Had a nice ride. I had an argument with Merlin about Canada joining the U.S. and various other subjects interesting if true. Merlin bought three watermelons and we ate one – it was scrumptious. They cleaned away the last of the big tree tonight, had quite a job with the trunk.

17^th of 8^th month

Nothing much happened today. Esther came this afternoon for Elias’s clothes. She had made a cake for us. Elias sent two apples for me with a note, and I sincerely wish he wouldn’t do such things.

Got a splendiferous letter from Harry today, it sure was interesting. I must write to the following people real soon: Lavinia, Mary, Daisie, Harry, Bob, Edgar Wood, Katie and Edith, and Len when I get his address, also Auntie Agnes.

18^th of 8^th Quarterly Meeting at West Branch today. Oliver Rosedale and his son Truman and his daughter Wyona and another friend came to see us this evening. I expect they will come to supper tomorrow.

24^th of 8^th

Have just come back from Rebecca Coppock’s where I have been helping for a few days. She gave me two dollars, which will come in handy. I like Rebecca fine, we got along fine together. Joseph Coppock brought me home and I found Winnie was laying out some clothes. Merlin arrived soon after and told us that we would have five or six men to supper, so we had to get a hustle on. Georgetta came over and helped us, and after supper I went over and helped them milk. I feel kind of discouraged tonight, I don’t know exactly why. I hope I get a letter from home tomorrow. I was weighed at Coppocks’ and I was 121 pounds.

25^th

I received a bunch of letters today much to my delight. They were from Bob, Mother, Daisy and one from Edith to Winnie and I, and some photos – oh they were great, I sure was tickled.

30^th

Yesterday I went to help Rebecca Coppock in the afternoon after Meeting. Walter Coppock and his two little girls were there. Tonight we went over to the folks’[1245] and ate ice cream, afterwards we went in to see Ina. I do pity her, she was 23 yesterday. Georgetta was 20 the day before or something like that. They think they are growing old. Very tired tonight.

7^th of 9^th month.

Yesterday Winnie and I went to Meeting over at the folks’. We didn’t know that Jensens were there till we were just going over, and I felt like going right back home, but of course I didn’t. I think we had rather a nice Meeting, at least I was not sorry I had gone. After Meeting we shook hands all round as usual and were introduced to Ida Chamness’s brother Samuel Roseland. I thought he was real nice. I’m afraid I acted kind of cool with Jensens but what can I do. Anyway we picked grapes in the afternoon.

Today it has been raining practically all day. Winnie and I have got quite a lot of sewing done. Winnie did it mostly and I did the other work.

9^th of 9^th month

Seventh day. Merlin is still on ensilage cutting so was away all day. While we were milking this morning the Jersey “Redwing” kicked at the dog and hit Winnie right on the breast and knocked her clean over backwards, spilling all the milk - and it hurt Winnie really badly, though we were thankful it was no worse.

Harold is getting too smart for anything. Today he said to his mamma, “Thank thee very much, much obliged.” We are trying to get him to stop sucking his thumb by putting red pepper on it.

18^th of 9^th month.

Raining most of today. Merlin has a bad cold, and was in most of the day. We are still sewing, and gradually getting it all done up. I sent a big fat letter off to Daisy yesterday, and a small one to Mary McCheane today, but didn’t get one myself.

The other day all of us went off in the buggy to look at a farm south of here, as we had heard it was for rent. We had a very pleasant drive, but found that the people did not want to rent this year. On the way back we called at Jensons’ but did not get out of the buggy. They were quite nice, and we stayed and talked quite a while. When we got home we found a letter waiting for us, from the Land Colonizing Co., whom I had written to some time before asking for information about their land in Wisconsin. Well, we sure got the information alright, we are all enthusiastic now, and it looks as if it was probable that Merlin will go up there and investigate and perhaps buy a farm.

29^th of 9^th month

Seventh day. Very wet and muddy outside. Have been very busy, canned 54 pounds of honey among other things, did not get a letter from home and was real disappointed. I wonder why Daisy does not write. Yesterday we all went across to the folks in the afternoon to make cider. We picked up over a barrel of apples and made over ten gallons of cider. It was quite interesting.

26^th of 10^th month

Almost a month since I last wrote in this book, and several things of importance and interest have happened, the chief one being the arrival of my little niece, “Olive Ida.” She was born at midnight – at least, eight minutes to twelve on the 5^th of tenth month, 1923. The doctor was Dr. Rohrbacher, and real good. He gave me the baby to dress, so I was the first to dress her . Since then I have been very busy waiting on Winnie and the baby and keeping house too, as we did not have anyone to help. I enjoyed the nursing part very much even though we had to sit up several nights with Winnie as she had gas on the stomach real bad and couldn’t lie down at all. The baby is very good, in fact she is just about perfect in every way.

Yearly Meeting was last week. We went to three meetings, Winnie and Merlin to one on first day morning and Merlin and I in the afternoon with Carney Meltvedt in his car , also we went to the last meeting on second day. A Friend from Ohio was here, named Elwood Conrad; he was a real minister and we regretted not having heard him more. He certainly has a lot of power. He said he had preached since he was sixteen; he is about 78 now. I wish the folks at home could hear him.

We had quite a few visitors during Yearly Meeting week. Ida Chamness’s brother and sister, Tory Roseland (who is still here) and Jergine Outland, then Lee and Melissa Moore came early one morning - I liked them - and several others including Carney and Irva Meltvedt and their little boy Robert. They stayed all night and we enjoyed having them very much. Irva sure is nice, and so is Carney. She invited us all to go up and visit them.

28^th of 10^th month First day

Last day of Tory Roseland’s stay – he went away today. The folks took him to West Liberty in the steamer.[1246] Although he is such a prevaricator, I rather enjoyed him. He refused to remember my name - yesterday he called me “Sadie” and today it was changed to “Susie.”

Harold caught a bit of cold yesterday, and today when we were across at Meeting – and we stayed dinner too – he sneezed so much that Winnie decided to come home and put more clothes on him. Well, we had just nicely got here when we saw Jennie coming atearing over. She was so mad – whew! – all over Harold, because he couldn’t go with them to West Liberty. She gave us a good calling down and then went back. It’s the first time I have seen Jennie really stirred up.

2^nd of 11^th month

Very little of interest happens around here just now, it is somewhat interesting to me though that Georgetta and Paulina have both bought and wear knickers[1247] like mine. I’ll really have to tell the folks at home, won’t they be surprised.

Olive Ida is doing fine and growing fast. We keep saying “Wouldn’t Mother like to see her!” Ida Chamness came over and stayed with the children while Winnie and I did the chores tonight – it was very nice. I’m hoping for a letter tomorrow, it’s time Daisy wrote again. I’m feeling pretty discouraged about several things; it’s my own fault though. Sometimes I long desperately to be home again, and then again I consider going to Barnesville[1248] for four years and then training for a nurse. Wonder what I will do.

7^th of 11^th month, 1^st day

Winnie and I went to morning Meeting. Merlin and Winnie went to the afternoon one. Merlin read a very nice book this afternoon. I have a pain in my right side; hope it is not appendicitis. Merlin thinks I lifted too heavy yesterday.

14^th of 11^th . Exactly one week since I wrote in this diary.

10^th of 12^th month

Merlin stopped me writing before, on the 14^th, wanting to read my diary. I sure do not expect to let him, though there is nothing that I mind him seeing particularly.

Well, my 20^th birthday[1249] has been passed. I had a real nice one, and several presents. Merlin and Winnie gave me a big bag of chocolate and a pretty box of stationery. Ina gave me a hand-mirror, Ida Chamness a nice little handkerchief, and Mother sent me $5.00, and Daisy a little bar pin. Several of the home folks wrote so I really felt well-off, and – oh I forgot to mention that Elias sent me a birthday greeting card. Interesting, isn’t it?

I received a very humorous letter from E. Wood not long ago

I broke out in a rash and felt sick for several days. We didn’t know what it could be so wrote to the doctor about it; as the doctor’s letter did not come and I continued to feel unwell, we decided to get Alfred to take us to Iowa City to see the doctor, so we did, and the doctor examined me pretty thoroughly. My tonsils, he said, needed to come out badly; they might be the cause of my trouble or it might be my toe – anyway they both needed seeing to and it would come to around $50.00 to get them done. The price sure gave us a shock, but we decided to go ahead, so I expect to go some time this week. I don’t know what the folks at home will say.

Winnie and I helped Merlin husk this afternoon and he helped us wash this morning. I think we did pretty well.

(Eleven lines of the journal entry are illegible here. 18 – is faintly visible in the date line)

A letter came today from Mother, it is such a comfort. She was so nice about everything. I had been so anxious to hear what she thought.

11^th of 1^st month – 1924

New Year’s Day has passed since I last wrote in here. I am about well again now.[1250]

(The entry below is in a different handwriting.)

6^th of 4^th month

Baby Olive is six months old yesterday. Spring is here and how we rejoice to see it - this has seemed a long winter and this beautiful weather makes us thankful we are spared to see it. We have all been nearly laid up with flu although not a temperature that I know of. I have had quite a bad spell with what seemed to be pleurisy and I sure felt miserable and very discouraged but I feel very thankful I am as well as I am now, though I seem very susceptible to cold.

8^th of 4^th month

Winnie was hindered from writing any more but I think she will continue if she gets an opportunity.

A long letter arrived from Daisy yesterday. It was quite unexpected and so was a very pleasant surprise. Daisy’s letters are so interesting, she seems to be growing up very fast, oh, my! won’t we have an exciting time when I get home. I venture we’ll talk half the first night through.

9^th of 4^th month

I am sorry I have not kept a better record of this winter. We have had quite a lot of sickness but I think are feeling better now, although at present I have a very sore throat. I have just given the baby her bottle; she is so sweet, I don’t see how I can go home and leave her. She 16 pounds at six months old. We think that is pretty good. Ida Chamness thinks she is so pretty. She tells us she thinks she is like some relatives of hers who are very beautiful, it’s a bit of a joke because Tory, who has been here for a few days, insists she is the picture of me. I don’t agree with him at all but it’s kind of funny. Harold is quite a boy now and can talk and understand most anything. He asked me where I came from the other day, and I said “Canada,” so he said “I think it was nice of thee to come from Canada.”

Ida Chamness sold Jasper not long ago, for $80.00. I was very sorry to see him go. I had only ridden him twice but he was getting real quiet. I have to console myself now with thinking about Snobits who is sure a little beaut.

Elias phoned the other day and Winnie has arranged for us to go down and visit them next first day if it’s fine. It’s a shame the way we have been invited and never go to see them; they think that we just don’t want to go and we do really. It’s a funny thing but ever since I wrote to Elias like I did last fall, I like him better. I think he has not taken me quite so much for granted, and he is somehow more deep. Perhaps he like me is struggling to do right. I don’t make much headway, but seem to slip back as much as I gain, anyway it’s queer but it seems much more possible to me now, to think of marrying him, than it ever did before.[1251] Merlin is so provoking, he teases most ridiculously. I don’t mind really, but it’s provoking when he makes me blush, and he does sometimes. Oh well, I expect to go home soon. I can hardly bear to think of leaving the dear ones here, yet, “I long to see the dear old folks at home!” Why oh why do they live so far apart.

14^th of 4^th month

I have not been feeling well for some time – sore throat and headache. I had a rash on my face too; we think it might be a slight attack of measles, as Baby is very much broken out; we are both about well now though, I think.

Yesterday, first day, Merlin and Winnie and Harold drove down to Jensons’ for a visit, they seem to have had a real nice time. Baby and I could not go on account of being sick, but Elias sent up three apples for me which I surely appreciated, as we have not had apples for a long time.

Winnie and I washed today. It sure is nice to have some clothes clean and today was such a lovely day for drying them. Merlin plowed the garden this afternoon, next thing I suppose we will be planting it. The folks were busy plowing theirs this afternoon. Sent a letter off to Daisy today.

15^th of 4^th month

Jennie brought over some dahlia and gladiola bulbs for us today; it was real nice of her. She had promised me some before. She has some lovely hyacinths blooming in her garden, they are so very fragrant and most beautiful.[1252] I sure would like to grow some too.

Winnie went to town this forenoon and among other things, bought me a straw hat which I like very much. She also bought some young cabbage plants which we have been out planting this afternoon.

Dr. Beard, the vet, came today, and raved some more about Snob, all very interesting if true. I’d rave about him myself[1253] but people think I’m not lady-like if I do (but who cares what they think, it does not worry me.)

18^th of 4^th month

Have been out disking all morning with the four horses. Merlin is using the tractor. If I go on working on the land I will soon look like a red Indian as far as complexion goes. I wish I did not care but of course I do.

20^th of 4^th month 1st day

Yesterday received letters from Harry, Mother and Daisy. I guess Daisy will have got mine to her.

28^th of 4^th month 2^nd day

None of us went to Meeting yesterday, consequently the folks were mad; we were really sorry not to go. I got up at 20 to 5 and made a cake and pie before breakfast also made butter. We were expecting Jensens for dinner and did not have time to prepare on 7^th day, and so were rushed. They did not come, however, owing to the rain, but we managed to eat the cake and pie alright. Last 4^th day we were surprised to have Elias call in. He was out driving a car, which an agent was trying to sell to them. Next day they all (Jensens) came in a big ‘Dodge’ car. Esther driving with the agent’s assistance.

On seventh day Paulina broke her arm in the cow barn. The folks could none of them stand to be with her while she was having it set, so Winnie and I went over and waited on the doctor quite a bit, Winnie mostly as I had chores clothes on.

Fourth day, it’s either the 6^th or the 7^th of 5^th month, I’m not sure which.

About 9:20 pm and I am about to go to bed. Merlin and Winnie have gone to town and will be pretty late getting back, I expect. Winnie and I were out in the garden most of the afternoon. (This pen is clumsy and I’m so tired I guess I’ll go to bed.)[1254]

11^th of 5^th month 1^st day

I had no sooner gone to bed last 4^th day when I got worried about the lamp I left downstairs, and was just about to get up when I heard them coming and presently Winnie came into the house and dear me! what a racket she made opening doors and windows and talking in a loud excited tone. I jumped up and lit a lamp and dashed down to see. The house was full of smoke from the incubator lamp, it sure was a mess. I had not looked at the incubator lamp last thing as I should have done, but I did not think it was very important as Winnie was only away for about an hour and a half.

We all stayed over at the folks for dinner today. Merlin teased Arnold,[1255] it was quite funny.

28th of 7^th month

It seems a long time since I wrote in this book, I seem too busy most of the time to write. We were very disappointed in not getting a letter from home today and have been feeling kinda blue. I have not been feeling at all well – headache and hot flashes that made me feel weak. How I do wish I could have a good talk to Mother. I need her advice so badly. I want to write and tell her about Elias but it seems so inadequate to write. I guess I stayed too long down here. I wonder what she will say when she knows that Elias says he really loves me, and I’m getting to think more of him all the time. It’s sure a queer thing. I thought I of all people was safe. What will Daisy think of me? I wonder.

7th of 8th month

What a long way from home I feel. By home I mean “my own Canadian home, not the one I just left, the one that has grown to be so much of a home to me.” However will I manage to leave it, I’m sure I don’t know. It has come to be so dear to me. It’s the people who are there that make it, of course, and the folks too in spite of it all,[1256] I cannot but feel that I love them. But then there are the homefolks. I’m so lonely for them and want them so badly. Daisy’s little verse keeps going through my head:

“Just awearyin’ for you, all the time afeelin’ blue, wishin’ for you, wonderin’ when you’ll be comin’ home agin.”

Dearest little Daisy, how I do long to see and talk to her, what an exciting time we will have together. That is what I will have to think about when I’m packing to leave here.

Well! I’m really out to work in Iowa, at Anders Mathers. Allida Mathers, his wife, seems a very nice woman and the children are real good. I like Anders Mathers too; he came for me last night in his car, and talked all the way home very interestingly.

This is a very nice house and I have a lovely little bedroom which I appreciate.

9^th of 8^th month

This is the end of my third day at Mathers’ and so far I like everything fine. Allida is just as nice as she can be and Anton is very nice too.

10^th of 8^th month

Mathers took me home on 7^th day night in their car and I had a very nice time at home over the weekend. Merlin and Winnie say they miss me, which I’m glad of. This afternoon Elias and Esther came to Meeting. I did not go but they came over afterwards and stayed supper. When they were ready to go and I thought they really were going, Elias called me into the sitting room and asked me to go a walk with him, so we went, and talked. In a way I was glad of the opportunity to tell him how I felt, but I don’t feel very satisfied now. I think I will write to him. The folks brought me home in the steamer - Ida Chamness, Georgetta, Jennie, Merlin, Winnie and the children and I – as soon as they had gone. I went with Mathers down to his mother’s and we stayed quite a while. Well, I guess I’ll go to bed.

12^th of 8^th month

We are not doing much at all today as neither the children nor I are feeling very well. I don’t know exactly what is the matter with us. I sure feel sick and miserable. I was in bed most of yesterday afternoon. It sure is great to be like this away from home. Allida Mathers is very nice and considerate about it. I feel so lonesome for a letter from home, I wonder why they don’t write.

_____ I forget the date, I think it is about the 21^st.

Well, I’m home again after being away for a week. I’m supposed to go back at the end of this week. There was a lovely long interesting letter from my dearest little “twin” sister, waiting for me when I came, which of course I very much enjoyed. She told me more about their accident[1257] than we had heard before. It sure was an awful affair. I’m so thankful it was no worse, but I do think they ought to take it as a warning.

It was Quarterly Meeting last weekend. Outlands came down, quite a crowd – Jequina, Joyce, Gladys, and Anna Tow, a nice little girlfriend of Joyce’s, and Frank. He came across the first evening of their arrival and stayed the whole time over here. He is quite a talker but mostly foolishness, I’m afraid. He and Merlin together teased me so about Elias, it pretty hear “got me.” We had them all over for dinner on First day, and quite enjoyed them, though I don’t imagine the folks liked it very much.

Winnie and I have canned 50 quarts of peaches since I came home, and a few quarts of beets. I wrote to Elias too. I wonder how he’s feeling, and I wonder why I care how he feels. It’s queer, but I do.

1st of 9^th month

Here is a little poem that I thought was nice. It’s by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, a colored writer. It’s called, “The Lord had a Job for Me.”

The Lord had a job for me, but I had so much to do.

I said, “You get somebody else, or wait till I get through.”

I don’t know how the Lord came out though, he seems to get along,

But I felt kind of sneaking like, for I knowed I’d done him wrong.

One day I needed the Lord myself, needed him right away,

And He didn’t seem to answer me, but I could hear Him say,

“Down in my accusin’ heart, Niggah, I got too much to do,

You get somebody else, or wait till I get through.”

So now when the Lord has a job for me, I never tries to shirk,

I drop whatever I has on hand, and does the good Lord’s work.

And my affairs can run along or wait till I get through,

For nobody else can do the work that God’s marked out for you.

Today has been quite wet. We went over to Coppocks’ this afternoon to help if it was needed. Merlin seemed to find quite a lot to do but we did not in the house, so I looked for a book, and the first one I picked up was David Grayston’s “Adventures in Friendship.” [1258] It seemed like an old friend.

8 of 10^th

More that a month has slipped by since I wrote in here. I’m still at Mathers’ and expect to be for a while yet. I was home last 1^st day afternoon for the first time in three weeks. Anders took me, and on the way we met Paulie and Esther and Elias in Jensens’ car, so I changed over and climbed in with them, oh yes, in the front seat. Ha Ha! We had a little joke about me going home. We were sitting at dinner and the phone kept ringing and I said, that phone makes me nervous. “Oh,” says Anders, “You must be expecting a ring.” And just then the phone rang and he said, “Won’t you answer it, Elsie?” and I said, “Oh, I don’t think that was for us.” But he jumped up saying, “Well, I will then.” He said “Hello, yes, all right,” and handed the phone to me, but I was thinking he was just joking, and wouldn’t take it, so he went back and said, “She won’t talk to you,” and then gave me the phone again. I was still unbelieving but wanted to have it over, so I said, “Hello” and what was my surprise to hear Winnie’s voice say, “Whatever’s the matter with thee?” So when we met them on the road Anders got out and said to Winnie, “I guess she’s mad at you all right.”

Well, we went to Meeting in the afternoon over at the folks’ and then soon after Elisha Bys and a friend from Alabama came to see us – I forget the friend’s name, but he took quite a lot of notice of me, I don’t see why. He had an appointed meeting in the evening for the young folks, to which Jensens went so I stayed supper at Merlin’s and they called for me about half past nine in the evening and brought me back here.

11th of 10 7^th day, night

I was to have gone home tonight, at least to call in and see Winnie and Merlin, but Russell and Edna Holy came so I don’t know whether Anders will go or not, anyway I saw them last night for a little while. Anders went to town for his mother, so I went along and got to see the folks. I hope to see them tomorrow again anyway. Well, I sent for a coat from Montgomery and Ward. [1259] I do hope it suits me. I’m just getting over a bad cold which has made me feel pretty miserable.

I wonder if Daisy still keeps a diary.[1260]

2^nd of 10^th month

The coat came from Montgomery’s and was very unsatisfactory so I sent it back and Winnie and I went to Iowa City with Anders on an all-day trip. I had my eyes seen to by Dr. Byewater, and expect my new glasses on next 4^th day, shell rims[1261] too. We also bought a coat for me which we both liked, blue, all wool Bolivia. I believe it will be real nice. I paid$14.75 for it, also paid $5.75 on the bill for my glasses. They will be $17.00[1262] altogether. Was home on 1^st day and had a nice time. Merlin brought me home, with Mike and buggy. He sure is a good brother to me.

Today some literature came from the Chicago school of training for nurses. Dr. Todd was here this afternoon and he said to get the course and start right out as a practical nurse.

11^th of 10^th month

Today has been rainy so I didn’t wash. Was home yesterday and had a nice time. Merlin and I went to morning Meeting and Winnie and I to the afternoon one. Winnie prayed. Oh, how I wish I was faithful like she is. I think that there is no hope for me, but Winnie is so good, she is a great help, I think to all of us, I know she is to me.

As we – Winnie and I - were crossing the road on our way home and I was carrying Olive, Jensen’s went racing by. They looked around and waved, but we sure thought it was kinda great. I have a letter written ready to send to Elias.

(? Date)

This is a poor place to quit but I’ve hardly looked at this diary since.

(At this point a page of the journal lists family birthdays)

Leonard’s birthday March 21

Edith’s birthday January 29

Bob’s birthday January 1

Lavinia’s birthday February 4

Mother’s birthday May 11

Daisy’s birthday June 13

Father’s birthday October 3

Winifred’s birthday December 22

Harry’s birthday (no entry but the date is February 5)

15^th of 4^th month. (1925)

I’m afraid my diary has been pretty nearly forgotten and the reason I’ve started this morning when Merlin and Winnie have gone out to plant grass seed and I have a pile of work to do, is to write down a piece of poetry I like. It’s nice to be poetical when the morning’s work isn’t done. But I have washed the separator, which is better than nothing. Well, here’s the “pome.”[1263] I don’t know if Daisy knows it all or not but she wrote one verse in a letter to me. I thought it was so cute.

Just a wearyin' for you,
All the time a-feelin' blue,
Wishin' for you, wond'rin' when you'll be comin' home again,
Restless, don't know what to do,
Just a wearyin' for you.

Mornin' comes, the birds awake,
Used to sing so for your sake,
But there's sadness in the notes, that come trillin' from their throats,
Seem to feel your absence, too,
Just a wearyin' for you.

Evenin' comes, I miss you more,
When the dark glooms round the door,
Seems just like you oughter be, there to open it for me.
Latch goes tinklin', thrills me through,
Sets me wearyin' for you.

Mighty Like a Rose, by Frank Stanton [1264]

Sweetest little fellow
Everybody knows
Don't know what to call him
But he's mighty like a rose

Looking for his Mommy
With eyes so shiny blue
Making you think that heaven
Is coming close to you

When he's there a-sleeping
In his little place
Think I see the angels
Looking through the lace

When the dark is falling
When the shadows creep
Then they come on tiptoe
To kiss him in his sleep

A newspaper clipping, date and newspaper unidentified, was found in the journal; title is “Edgar Guest New Book of Poems is Dedicated to the Little Folk.” Context suggests the newspaper might be the Cedar Rapids, Iowa Evening Gazette.)

The last three pages of the notebook containing Elsie’s journal are occupied with names and addresses under the heading, “Addresses - J. E. Hinde. “ It seems that the notebook first was used by Elsie’s older brother Bob (J. E. Hinde) to record the addresses of friends he was leaving behind in Birmingham when the family emigrated to Canada in April 1912. All are written in Bob’s handwriting.[1265]

APPENDIX IV

MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF THE UNITED FARM WOMEN

A notebook containing these minutes was shown to us (Mary Hinde Crane and Roberta Hinde Rivett) in the Museum in Borden by Gil Gerster. Seeing our interest, Gil offered to have it photocopied, and did so at the Municipal Office. It is reproduced here in full. Elsie mentions attending these meetings in her diary consequently they are appended to the transcriptions of her diary. The minutes reflect the life of the East Borden rural community of half a century and more ago. Where known, names are clarified in footnotes.

The December meeting of the East Borden UFW was held on the 14^th [1266] at

the home of Mrs. Leslie Pope.[1267] As this was a mixed meeting, there was a nice crowd attended.

The minutes of the October meeting were read and passed as read.

It was decided that we would not hold the Annual Meeting at this time. We then joined with the men to hear the report of the Annual Convention of the U.F.C which was held in Saskatoon this year and attended by Joshua and Hannah Wake.[1268] The report and resolutions, very ably given, were very interesting and made us wish we all could have been there. The opening address by John Evans was full of challenge and worth everyone’s reading it, ending on a high note. (If the Meeting wishes and thinks there is time it could be read now.)

There were many interesting resolutions brought up and discussed, including our own two which were sent down and passed, one on Peace and the other on Racial Prejudice.

We were all gratified that Mrs. Wake was elected Director-at-Large by this Convention.

After some discussion the Meeting adjourned to enjoy a good lunch and talk.

President Mrs. Eastes. [1269] Secretary E. L. Hinde[1270]

The February meeting of the East Borden U.F.W. was held at the home of Mrs. Joshua Wake on the 3^rd, 1949. Ten members were present.

The minutes were adopted as read.

Mrs. Eastes then read “The Creed of the Farm Women of Alberta,” and it was very nice, and there was some talk of adopting it for our own.

The Roll Call was a “New Year’s Resolution” and Mrs. Lund[1271] read a poem by Grace Noel Crowell, “Every Day Resolve.”

After some discussion on various topics, officers were elected for the coming year.

On Mrs. Wake’s suggestion, with the exception of herself, all officers were asked to stay in office for another year which simplified things considerably.[1272] On motion of Mrs. Wake and Secretary, two more directors were appointed, namely Mrs. Pope and Mrs. Lund. The office of Vice President was left open, with three names suggested, Mrs. M. McCheane,[1273] Mrs. Gerster[1274] and Mrs. E. McCheane,[1275] to be decided later.

Mrs. Lund then gave an interesting talk on the Indians[1276] and showed some of their handwork, beadwork, etc., a beautiful display.

We joined with the men for lunch and a collection was taken.

President Mrs. Eastes Elsie L. Hinde, Secretary.

The March meeting of the East Borden U.F.W was held at the home of Mrs. Joshua Wake on the 17^th 1949.

The minutes were adopted as read.

The Roll Call was answered by the members giving their maiden names and where born. This was very interesting. [1277]

Mrs. Wake then gave us some information on the Delegates’ Meeting which she attended in Saskatoon. This caused quite a lot of discussion. It was then decided that each member should contribute some article of clothing for a baby, to be brought to our next meeting. This is for the benefit of an Indian girl whom Mrs. Lund knew to be in great need.

It was decided to join with the men and pay half of the affiliation fees to the State Hospital and Medical League.[1278]

We joined the men and partook of a lovely lunch.

President Mrs. Eastes Elsie L. Hinde, Secretary.

The May (1949) meeting of our U.F.W was held in the evening at the home of Mrs. Gus Garth. A nice crowd turned out and the men held their meeting in the other room.

The meeting opened with the reading of the “Farm Women’s Creed,” by Mrs. Alice Christensen.

The Roll Call, “What I first read in the paper” showed quite a lot of diverse interests.

Mrs. Cook gave a financial Report, and accounts were straightened out.

Hannah Wake then gave a report on the two quilt blocks sent out by Mrs. Hart. This has not proved a very efficient way of collecting funds, mostly owing to the difficulty of circulating the blocks fast enough, so that it has come hard on just a few members. However I believe Mrs. Wake managed to get them off in time for “Farm Women’s Week” for which a vote of thanks should go to her and also to Miss Peggie Saloway who nobly came to the rescue.

It was moved by H. Wake, seconded by Mrs. Eastes that the secretary send in a report to Information once in a while.

Also moved by Mrs. Eastes, seconded by secretary, that Mrs. Cook send a “get well” card to Mrs. Raynor, who has not been well.

A report of the last Directors’ Meeting was given by Mrs. Wake, and an explanation of why they cut down on the staff at Central.

We then joined with the men for an enjoyable lunch and social time.

E. Eastes, President Elsie L. Hinde, Secretary.

The June (1949) meeting of the U.F.W was held at the Valley Springs Ranch on the 6^th. Six members came, and the meeting opened with a song or two, then Mrs. Brunst read the “Farm Women’s Creed.”

The minutes were adopted as read.

Discussion on inviting Mrs. Fowler to come up and talk to us on Cooperation. This was finally left with Hannah Wake to arrange.

Mrs. E. McCheane gave a short reading on “What kind of friend are you?”

All voted in favour of subscribing to the “International Observer” a magazine published in Denmark and edited by Dr. Manniche. $2.00 was left with the secretary to do this.

An interesting report of the Farm Women’s Week was then given my Mrs. Wake.

The meeting adjourned and lunch was served and a collection taken.

President Mrs. Eastes E. L. Hinde, Secretary

Our July (1949) meeting of the U.F.W was held on the 8^th to coincide with the men’s meeting in the evening and a nice crowd turned out in spite of muddy roads.

Mrs. Pope read the “Farm Women’s Creed” and the minutes were adopted as read.

As Mrs. Wake was not present to give her report of the Farmer, Labour and Schoolteacher Convention which she attended at Qu’appelle, Mrs. Eastes and Mrs McCheane each read a portion of “A Visit to a Danish Village,” which was very interesting.

Afterwards, Miss Daphne Pope entertained us by singing two songs, accompanied by her mother on the piano. This was enjoyed by all.

The meeting was adjourned by motion of Mrs. Cook and a lovely lunch was served, also a collection taken.

President Edith Eastes E. L. Hinde, Secretary

Our last meeting was held on October 20^th, 1949 at the home of Mrs. Carl Christensen. A nice crowd gathered, about 19, Jean Sutherland[1279] who is leaving for Scotland, being the guest of honor.

The evening opened with singing, and for Roll Call slips of paper were handed around with questions on them which each member was required to answer. This led to rather a lot of discussion, interesting but using up valuable time.

Quite a lot of business came up and by motion of Hannah Wake seconded by Lillian Brunst, the secretary was asked to find out from Mr. Ferguson or Dr. Shaeffer some questions re: the Municipal Hospital and report at our next meeting. This was approved by the meeting.

The minutes were adopted as read.

Time being short, Mrs. Wake cut her report of the Farmer, Labour, Teacher Convention down to a minimum.

Daphne very kindly gave us a song and Linda[1280] played several pieces on the piano, also Jo-Ann. [1281]

A U.F.C Cookbook and a few tokens of regard were presented to Mrs. Alec Sutherland.

The meeting adjourned by motion of Mrs. Gerster and Mrs. Brunst. Lunch was served and a collection taken.

Vice-President Edith McCheane E.L. Hinde, Secretary

The last meeting of the U.F.C.S.S (men’s and women’s) was held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Ted Piprell on October 28^th (1949) in the evening. A surprising number turned out. In the absence of the President Mrs. E. McCheane presided as Vice-President.

The minutes were adopted as read.

On a motion by Mrs. Pope seconded by Mrs. E. McCheane that we pay Hannah Wake for the U.F.C cookbook presented to Mrs. Sutherland.

Motion by Mrs. Crabb[1282] and Mrs. Peterson, that we send a parcel to Ernie Tallis.

Motion by Mrs. Pope and Mrs. Piprell that Mrs. Lund be appointed as delegate to the Annual U.F.C. Convention. Others will go as visitors if at all possible.

By Mrs. Pope and Secretary that we ask Mrs. Lund to draft a resolution on how conditions could be improved on the Indian reserves.

Business disposed of, Miss Marian Pope was asked to give some highlights of her experiences down in the Mayo Clinic which she kindly did and gave us a very interesting description of her life down there.

Lunch was served and a collection taken - $1.60.

Vice-President Edith McCheane Elsie L. Hinde, Secretary.

On November 7^th (1950) a good crowd gathered at Thistle Dale School and saw some very interesting and educational moving pictures shown by J. E. Hinde,[1283] and heard a short talk by Mrs. Fowler on Cooperation which we all enjoyed. Also Mrs. Arnold Larson gave us some facts about the hospital and answered a lot of questions. $10.00 was collected at this time and sent to the Cancer Fund.

One thing we found re: Hospital Management: the Government Hospital Board decides all the regulations concerning payment of fees, not the Municipality and not the Doctor.

A joint meeting of the men’s and women’s Farmer’s Union was held on November 24, 1950 at the home of J. K. Wake. It was held in the evening and a good crowd turned out.

The minutes were read and by motion of Henry Saunders and secretary were adopted.

Moved that the minute re: Hospital be carried on to another meeting. Carried.

Called on L.M.Lund to report on Annual Convention. Report on John Evans’ speech proving that the farmers still need a strong organization; Mr. Irwin that we must buy British; Mr. Eliason on the Hudson Bay Route; much more and in all a very good and interesting report.

Next, Eric Lund reported on the resolutions passed at the Convention, and discussion followed.

By J.K.Wake and H. Saunders, motion that this Local is in favor of ratifying the action of the Convention in reorganizing the Association of individual membership. Carried.

By H. Saunders and C. Penner[1284] moved that we interview the other Lodges in this municipality to see if we could hold a Farm Conference at Borden and try to get Mr. Phelps[1285] and Mrs. Hart to speak. Carried.

By C. Penner and Bill Saunders, moved that the Delegates be paid in full. Carried.

By L. Pope and H. Saunders, moved that a vote of thanks be given to the Delegates for a splendid report. Carried.

By Gilmore Gerster, moved that we adjourn.

C. Penner

A joint meeting of the men’s and women’s Farmer’s Union was held on February 23, 1950 at the home of J.K. and H. Wake. About 16 attended and by arrangement the women brought wieners and beans and sandwiches, etc., and we all sat down to dinner together and had a very pleasant time.

The meetings started separately with minutes passed, and a short discussion and explanation by the officers present, the president and vice president were both unable to be present.

Officers were elected, as this was an annual meeting, as follows: President, Mrs. Eric Lund. Vice President Mrs. Carl Christensen. Treasurer _______Secretary Mrs. Walter Pierce, Directors Mrs. Annie McPherson, Mrs. Art Walker and E. L. Hinde.

This meeting then joined the men in the front room and took part in their discussion on how to increase membership. It was decided that each one should contact at least one or two others in a membership drive.

Literature from Central was read by Secretary.

Mrs. Pope was asked to continue as Director-at-Large.

Lunch was served, and a collection taken.

L.M. Lund, President Elsie L. Hinde, Secretary

I thought I would write a short resume on our year’s accomplishments, which are not so great, perhaps, but we have had ten meetings in twelve months, which is quite an accomplishment in itself, I think. We have sent delegates to all the Conventions and have tried to help defray some of the expenses, I believe in each case, and have enjoyed the reports brought back. Only one member attended Farm Women’s Week, which is regrettable, and I hope we will be able to send more this year.

At one meeting we said farewell to a valued member Jean Sutherland, who with her family has left to make their home in Scotland.

We raised $10.00 by serving lunch at a picture show in the School, and heard Mrs. Fowler give a short talk on Cooperation; afterwards Mr. Arnold Larson answered questions about the Hospital. One thing he made clear – that it is the Government Hospital Board which decides all the regulations concerning payment of fees, not the Municipality and not the doctor.

The $10.00 raised was sent to the Cancer Fund.

I regret that I cannot report more resolutions sent in but may I make the suggestion now that a committee be set up to put into proper form, resolutions as they come up in our meetings. The unsettled state at the Central Office has discouraged us I think in this last year, but now things are on a sounder basis and we’re ready as Mr. Phelps says to go “full steam ahead.”[1286]

A joint meeting of the Men’s and Women’s Farmers Union was held on April 20^th 1950 at the home of Mrs. Pope. There was a very appreciable improvement in the turnout.

The minutes were read and corrected.

Miss Hinde gave an interesting resume of last year’s work. Motion by Mrs Christensen and Mrs. Wake, thanks to the retiring executive.

Motion by Mrs. Pope and Mrs. Wake that Mrs. C. Christensen be on the Resolutions Committee. Motion by Betty Penner that Miss E. Hinde also be on the Resolutions Committee. Carried.

Moved by Mrs. Pope and seconded by Mrs. Wake that Mrs. Christensen send a letter of sympathy to Mr. Crabb[1287] stating how much we had valued Mrs. Crabb as a member of our U.F.W.

Members were asked to bring resolutions to be sent to the Farm Women’s Week.

The Roll Call for the next meeting was decided to be to give your own view on what is the place of the women’s section of the Saskatchewan Farmer’s Union.[1288]

We all listened to Sidney’s report on the recent Convention which was interesting indeed. He told us that the position of the Farmer’s Union at large is very much better and that most of its debts are paid up.

It was suggested that I take over as the Lunch committee for this year.

Every lady contributed lunch for the joint meeting. The tea fees were collected.

Mrs. Christensen offered to have the next meeting at her place.

The meeting was moved adjourned by Mrs. E. McCheane.

President L. Margaret Lund Secretary Daphne Pearce.

The May meeting of the S.F.U. Women’s Section was held at the home of Mrs. Christensen.

The meeting was opened with the reading of the minutes to which a few words were added.

The Roll Call brought forth several ideas to which everyone responded, the subject being the place of the Women’s Section in the S.F.U.

The Creed was then read by Mrs. Wake and the Secretary read the correspondence received. Also the Amendments to the Constitution were read and voted on by members present.

It was decided to have a Membership Committee. Miss. E. Hinde nominated Daphne Pearce and Mrs. Wake nominated Mrs. Lund.

It was moved by Mrs. Christensen and seconded by Mrs. Wake that we have a wiener roast and play at Thistledale with the 16^th of June as a possible date.

Mrs. Wake suggested that Mrs. Art Walker as director of the play be on the Committee with the executive for the evening’s planning. All in favour.

It was suggested by Helen Walker that we send a delegate to Farm Girls’ Week. It was suggested by Miss E. Hinde that we serve drinks at the June Roundup. Everyone was in favour.

The Farm Women’s Week would be before our next meeting. We all joined in hoping that Mrs. Christensen would be able to go as our delegate.

A delicious lunch was enjoyed by all. Three guests were present and very welcome they were.

Vice President A.C.Christensen Secretary Daphne Pearce.

Our last S.F.U. meeting (June 1950) was held at the home of W. Pearce. Our Vice President Mrs. Christensen took charge of the meeting.

Our meeting was called to order with the Roll Call. Its theme was what form each member would like for our cultural papers for the following meeting to follow. Suggestions given were: reading of poems, book reviews, panel discussions. It was agreed that the directors act as convenors and choose their subject.

Mrs. Lila Pope chose International Relations.

Miss E. Hinde chose Cooperation

Mrs. McPherson -----

Mrs. H. Walker-----

The minutes of the previous meeting were adopted as read. Correspondence was read.

Motion by Mrs. Wake and Mrs. Brunst that our treasurer purchase two or three new cups. Carried,

Discussion followed on the plans for selling hot dogs and drinks at the Roundup the following week.

On June 20^th Mr. Bob Hinde showed some Co-op pictures for us at Thistledale.

The evening’s entertainment consisted of softball till dark, a few musical items, the showing of the Co-op films. Lunch was then sold, consisting of hot dogs, coffee and ice cream. A collection was taken at this time for the Flood Relief Fund, amounting to $15.00.[1289] The evening closed with a short dance.

The treasurer then gave her report. ____was realized from the sale of lunch.

The buns left over from this event were given to Burkes, Heberts and Garths.

As the meeting was rather long, Mrs. Wake just gave us a short resume of her trip to Farm Women’s Week. The meeting was then adjourned by Mrs. Brunst and a delicious lunch followed.

President L. M. Lund Secretary Daphne A. Pearce.

The July (1950) meeting of the S.F.U. Women’s Section was held at the home of Mrs. A. Walker.

The meeting was called to order with the reading of the minutes, which were adopted as read. This was followed by the secretary reading some Correspondence received.

The Roll Call was interesting. The subject was ways of preparing Saskatoons.

Mrs. Cook read the Treasurer’s Report.

Old Business: We served refreshments at the June Roundup and it turned out very successful. ____ was realized from the effort.

New Business: It was decided to discuss going to the Battleford Convention at the men’s meeting the following night. As many ladies to be present as possible.

Program: Mrs. Wake gave a very interesting report on her trip to Farm Women’s Week.

Mrs. Poth, a speaker from Saskatoon, followed up with a talk on Cooperative Guild work which was very interesting too.

Several visitors were present. Mr. and Mrs. Bob Hinde had driven Mrs. Poth out from the city.

The Roll Call for the next meeting was to write down the first uplifting thing you think of in the morning, suggested by Mrs. Brunst.

Miss E. Hinde offered to have the next meeting at Valley Springs Ranch.

Mrs. Christensen moved the meeting adjourned. Lunch was served by the hostess.

President L. Margaret Lund Secretary D. Pearce.

On October the 12^th (1950) our Farm Women’s meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Carl Christensen with 9 ladies present. The Roll Call was answered. Linda Pope was then asked to give a Report on the Farm Girls’ Week re: sponsoring it next year.

It was moved by Mrs. Wake, seconded by Mrs. Christensen that the delegates to the Saskatoon convention go to the University Extension Department and ask for information on Farm Girls’ Week, etc.

Re: Credit Unions

Moved by Miss E. Hinde, seconded by Mrs. Wake that we send word to the Advisory Committee that we are interested in the Credit Union and we would like to know when the next meeting is being held. Carried.

Moved by Mrs. Christensen seconded by Mrs. Pope , we answer the request and buy $5.00 worth of T.B. seals.

Program: Mrs. Pope led a study hour on the “Bill of Human Rights,” using the question and answer method as prepared by the Council of Women in Saskatoon.

It was suggested the Roll Call for next month be suggestions for Xmas gifts.

Mrs. Lund agreed to have the next meeting at her home on November 2^nd.

Mrs. E. McCheane moved the meeting adjourned.

President L.H. Lund Secretary D. Pearce.

Our Monthly meeting of the S.F.U. was held at the home of Mrs. Wake on November 16^th 1950.

It was a joint meeting but later the ladies retired to complete some business.

The minutes were brought up to date and adopted.

It was agreed on Mrs. A. Walker’s suggestion that we ask Mrs Keale to address our next meeting to be held at Lunds’ on November 24^th.

Correction: Later this meeting place was changed to Mrs. G. Walker’s.

Lunch was enjoyed by all.

President:____ Secretary D. Pearce.

Our January meeting was held at the home of Mrs. Wake on January 19, 1951.

We met with the men to hear the reports of our delegates Mr. Wake and Mrs. H. Walker. Their reports were interesting and much appreciated.

Later after the Correspondence had been read by their Secretary we retired for our Annual Meeting. But this we did not accomplish.

Discussion followed on whether or not to dispense with the Ladies’ Section of the S.F.U. There was a difference of opinion in this matter. It appears that there are not many Women’s S.F.U organizations now in Saskatchewan. (Alberta women are proud of their group being so large.)

The meeting was opened for business. It was moved by Mrs. Wake, seconded by Mrs. Christensen that we pay our delegate $10.00. Carried.

Moved by Mrs. Wake, seconded by Mrs. Walker we send $5.00 to the Mr. F. Eliason[1290] fund as soon as the money is available.

The meeting was adjourned and a nice lunch followed.

President L. M. Lund Secretary D. Pearce.

Our Annual Meeting was held at the home of (Mrs.) D. Pearce on May 17, 1951. This was due to the bad weather and road conditions in the early spring.

Our Vice President Mrs Christensen occupied the chair in the absence of the President.

The meeting was opened with the Roll Call on gardening hints or storing vegetables.

The minutes of the last meeting were adopted as read.

The secretary read the literature received. A paper on Education was discussed. Mrs. Walker agreed to fill in the questionnaire.

We then proceeded with the election of officers. Miss Marion Pope acted as chairman for the voting. Mrs. Lund and Mrs. Christensen were nominated for President and Vice President. It was moved nominations close. A vote was taken. Mrs. Lund was elected President and Mrs. Christensen Vice President.

Nominations were then open for Secretary and Treasurer. Mrs. Christensen, Mrs. H. Walker and Miss E. Hinde were nominated. Mrs. D. Pearce moved nominations closed. A vote was taken. Mrs. H. Walker was elected treasurer and Miss E. Hinde Secretary.

New Business: A delegate for Farm Women’s Week in June was discussed. It was agreed that several would like to attend for one day and perhaps two cars would be available.

Mrs. McPherson sent word she would like to have the June meeting.

The tea fees were collected and the meeting was adjourned by Mrs. Wake.

We were pleased to have some visitors present and a very nice lunch followed.

(No signatures.)

The June meeting of the Women’s S.F.U. was held at the home of Mrs. J.A. McPherson on June 21^st 1951. A good crowd turned out and the meeting was mostly taken up with a demonstration given by Mr. Butcher on cleaners, polishers and mops – quite entertaining and interesting.

It was decided not to take in the Roundup this year, as no one was able to take the responsibility and be there for sure (we missed Mrs. Wake) but a proposal by Mrs. Lund was unanimously agreed upon when she suggested members make pies and sell them at the booth when they hold their Rodeo on July 18^th.

The report of Farm Women’s Week had to be postponed for this time although Mrs. Wake who was the only member there right through the week, had sent a report back to the President, but time did not permit its being given at this time. One carload of women did manage to get down for the last day of Farm Women’s Week and seemed to have a very nice interesting day and came back eager to spend more time there next year.

A new member joined us at this meeting and we welcomed Mrs. Lou Bourke into our organization.

A most delicious lunch was served and a collection taken. Mrs. Nickel (?) was not able to come.

President_____ E.L.Hinde, Secretary

A delegate was appointed to go to Regina Convention at a joint meeting with the men held at Thistledale. Mrs. Lund to go as our representative. Mrs. Cramer was present at this meeting and gave a very interesting talk.

The July meeting of the Women’s S.F.U was held at the home of Mrs. Carl Christensen on July 19^th, 1951.

The meeting was opened by singing the hymn “The Old Rugged Cross” accompanied at the piano by Miss JoAnn Christensen.

The minutes were adopted after some additions re: the Regina convention.

Motion by Hannah Wake that we sponsor the three girls to Farm Girls’; Camp and pay five dollars toward expenses. This was seconded by E.L. Hinde, and after some discussion passed unanimously.

Arrangements for holding an Arts and Crafts exhibition were discussed and it was decided if possible to hold it in the last week in August.

Secretary was asked to get gift for Mrs. Eastes from S.F.U. (This has been done.)

Motion by Mrs. Penner that we arrange with the Wheat Pool field man to put on show, and the girls give their report of Co-op Week at that time at Thistledale School. The S.F.U. to put on a lunch and collect for the Cancer Fund.

Mrs. Penner undertook to contact Mr. Lindsay.

Also a sing-song to be led by Corney Penner.

A report of Farm Women’s Week by Hannah Wake was enjoyed at this time.

Mrs. Lund gave us the proceeds from the sale of pies at the Stampede, and we were delighted to find it came to $25.00.

We are pleased to welcome Mrs. Gosling into our membership.

Meeting adjourned by motion of Mrs. E. McCheane, and a delightful lunch was enjoyed by all and a collection taken.

E.L. Hinde, Secretary

At a joint Men’s and Women’s meeting held at Joshua Wake’s in the evening we heard a good report of the Farm Convention in Regina by Mrs. L.M. Lund, contributed to by Mrs. McCheane and Joshua Wake who also attended.

The October meeting of the Women’s S.F.U. was held at the home of Mrs. Carl Christensen on the 18^th, a fairly representative meeting considering the roads.

After the minutes were read and approved the new treasurer gave a report and finances were generally straightened up.

The Wheat Pool picture and the proposed Arts and Crafts exhibition were discussed, and regretfully postponed until spring.

Mrs. Alma Lund then gave us some interesting highlights on her recent trip to Denmark, and many questions were asked.

Mrs. Gosling offered her home for the next meeting which will probably be a mixed meeting with the men.

Mrs. Walker moved we adjourn, and everyone enjoyed a good lunch, and a collection was taken.

E.L. Ingram, Secretary.[1291]

(This was found on a page opposite the last of the formal minutes, in Elsie Hinde Ingram’s handwriting.)

LUNCH RECORD 1950

1. Joint meeting – all brought lunch. Popes.

2. Mrs. Wake and Miss E. Hinde. Christensens.

3, Mrs. Pope and Mrs. Christensen. Pearces

4. Mrs. Lund and Mrs. Pearce. Mrs. A. Walker’s

5. Mrs. Cook Hindes.

6. Mrs. Wake and Miss E. Hinde. Christensens.

7. Mrs. Art Walker and Mrs. G. Walker. Wakes

8. November 24^th Mrs. Pope. Mrs. Piprell

9. Meeting after Lund’s

LUNCH RECORD 1951

Hannah Wake E. L. Hinde. May 14 Pearces

Alice Christensen and A. McPherson.

---

[1] Years later, Elsie’s 1923 diary came into our hands; it is shown as Appendix III.

[2] Abram Rempel, Susie’s younger brother.

[3] George Rempel, Susie’s older brother, who worked several winters for the Hinde family at Valley Springs Ranch.

[4] According to the Borden History book, Clarence Elliott died January 2, 1935. This may be an indication that Elsie did not always write daily in her diary.

[5] A granary is a small structure about the size of a one-car garage, having the purpose of grain storage.

[6] A small building at the east end of the house yard. It housed the hired men in double bunks. It had a small stove, and a workbench along one side with storage for hand tools. In front of the bunkhouse was the forge and anvil for metal-working.

[7] Langham was a village on the other side of the river from Valley Springs Ranch, and the source of supplies when the river was frozen. Borden was the source of supplies when the river was open but in the winter was effectively inaccessible over thirteen miles of unplowed roads.

[8] Carl Christensen, a near neighbor. Straw was required for bedding animals. Those who had excess sold it to those who had more animals than straw to bed them with.

[9] Heavy trails: The prairie was surveyed and road allowances marked in the late 1800s. The road allowances provided for roads a mile apart going east and west, and two miles apart going north and south. It was up to each community to maintain the roads. In 1935 the country roads were ungraded and largely unditched dirt roads with three ruts: two for wheels and teams of horses, and the centre one for the motive power for one-horse conveyances. In the winter these roads could vanish due to snowfall and drifting. Trails through private properties also vanished, being maintained only by the users on horseback or in sleighs.

[10] Linnet was a horse, judging by the context of this entry. Often it is difficult to discern from the names whether a person or an animal is being mentioned. This may reflect the near-equal importance of people and animals in this still-pioneering time. It also reflects the attitude of most of the Hinde family toward their horses. I have many times asked my aunts Elsie and Daisie for help in identifying photographs. If there was a horse in the picture, the horse was always named first.

[11] A Halcyonia neighbor.

[12] Peggy Saloway was another Halcyonia neighbor, who with her family – her father and aunts – was dear friend to the Hindes. In J. E. (Bob) Hinde’s book As I Remember it, he writes of Ben Saloway’s adventures in coming to Canada in 1902, and also of Peggy Saloway and her influence on the cultural life of the community. There was much visiting back and forth among neighbors and friends, even in the depths of winter with travel difficult.

[13] Anker Lund was brother to Eric and Herdis Lund; Alma was their younger sister. The Lunds were near neighbors of the Hindes. Eric later married Daisie Hinde

[14] Chores and choring. In every rural establishment with livestock there were daily duties of feeding, watering, mucking out and grooming the animals. Milking the cows and collecting the hens’ eggs were included in these daily or twice daily tasks.

[15] The bunkhouse door had leather hinges which often required repair.

5 Baskets were made of a special kind of willow that grew on the river flats. Long, straight and flexible, the willow wands were fashioned after preparation into containers of many kinds and sizes. Susanna Rempel Hinde was particularly adept at creating the baskets, having learned the skill in her girlhood. Bob Hinde writes of her basket-making in As I Remember It.

[17] The main chicken pen was upstairs in the barn, above the area where the cows had their stalls when they were being milked and fed. One of the tasks the Hinde children had was collecting eggs there. Chickens like all creatures produce a remarkable amount of excreta, and enclosed as they were in the winter, they had to have their quarters cleaned out and rebedded periodically.

[18] Carding wool - this is taking the raw washed fleece of a sheep and forming it into batts about three inches by ten inches by half an inch thick, using carders. Carders are wooden paddles into which have been affixed stiff blunt wires in even rows such that the wool can be teased between two of them until it is evenly thick and of a uniformly sized batt. The batts then become the inner layer of quilts.

[19] Sadie Hynd, daughter-in-law of George Hynd, wife of Arthur.

[20] No clear explanation has been found for this term. Frank Saunders thought it might have some reference to cattle.

[21] Cousma Woikin was a near neighbor who had homesteaded in the northwest quarter of Section Twenty-six, next to Bob Hinde’s northeast quarter. He was a good friend of Bob Hinde’s.

[22] The Meetings for worship of the Society of Friends (Quakers) were held on First Day (Sunday) for an hour or more, and on Wednesday (Fourth Day) for half an hour, with Reading Meetings for study of Quaker and other writings and Monthly Meetings for business being held in addition. During the worst of the winter each of the Quaker families held its meetings at home. When the weather improved and the roads became passable, meetings were held in the Meeting House on Joshua Wake’s land, about three miles from where the Hinde family lived at this time. For more information on Quaker beliefs and practices, see http://www.quaker.org/fwcc/EMES/booklet.html

[23] Porridge was a breakfast staple at the Ranch, being made of cleaned grain, ground once in the coffee mill, soaked overnight and cooked for about an hour in the early morning. Barley was ground twice and roasted – a substitute for coffee. The grains used might vary but all were home-grown, and were anything but instant in the preparation. Eggs were on the breakfast menu as well, depending on how well the hens were laying, and on some Sundays there was a delicacy called dried beef gravy made with finely-sliced beef jerky, fried with heavy cream.

[24] In earlier times hens stopped laying in the winter and didn’t resume until about Easter. Having eggs all winter was the result of advances in the care of chickens. See also Susanna Rempel Hinde’s story, and Mary Saunders McCheane’s diary.

[25] Flats: the flood plain of the North Saskatchewan’s north bank. A natural levee along the riverbank was broken in places such that the spring flooding covered the flats. When it drained, the hay crop was excellent.

[26] Fifty below on the Fahrenheit scale translates to about 47 below Celsius.

[27] It appears that the steer was in some way diseased, consequently would not be used for human consumption. However chickens were glad of protein in any form and the lump-jawed steer would be metamorphosed into eggs and roast chicken, presumably being cleansed along the way by biological processes.

[28] The calf pen was in the lower level of the barn, on the east side. The young calves were kept there in the coldest part of the winter, and fed on the skim milk left after the cream was separated. During the Depression the sale of cream was the only regular source of income for the family.

[29] The water troughs at the Ranch were mostly made of the ten-foot metal wheels of steam engines, with bolt holes plugged with cement, and cement-based. Occasionally mending of the trough itself, or of the pipes leading from the natural springs, was required. There was one at the south end of the barnyard, down a slope and fed with spring water which flowed all year. Another was west of the house yard, near the “down-below” cattle shelter, and similarly spring-fed. This wealth of water obtained without effort was a boon to Valley Springs Ranch, and much treasured after the dry years of water-hauling at Joseph Hinde’s homestead quarter on the plateau above the river bank.

[30] The shelters were three-sided, sod-roofed log structures where the hardy cattle and horses could have some protection from the winds of winter. One was at the east end of the stack yard which was to the east of the main barn. The other was “down below,” in a cleaning in the woods to the west of the ranch buildings. These shelters received rough usage from the animals crowding together to get out of the wind, and required frequent repair.

[31] It was around this time that the community pasture, the East Borden Grazing Association, purchased purebred Hereford bulls, and the scrub stock started to improve. By ten years later the herd at Valley Springs Ranch was fully purebred white-faced Hereford. The white-faced calf was evidence of the beginning of this genetic improvement.

[32] It is probable that Joseph and Martha Hinde were going to Saskatoon to visit their married daughter Edith, their married son Leonard, and Martha’s step-brother Joseph Wake and his family.

[33] Cheese-making was a process not fully revealed by the terse “I made cheese.” For more information, see http://www.ebs.hw.ac.uk/SDA/cheese2.html

[34] The Pasture, also referred to as The Big Pasture, The East Borden Grazing Association, is often called “the Ranch” in Elsie’s diary, making the distinction between it and Valley Springs Ranch at times unclear. The Hinde children always knew it as The Big Pasture.

3. The Big pasture operated under government regulations, consequently had to have its books audited.

4. Herdis, called Bobby, was sister of Eric Lund who later married Elsie’s sister Daisie.

5. Papering – internal walls were covered with wallpaper or with kalsomine, a commercial whitewash. Today wallpaper is pre-pasted. Then, paste was made by boiling flour in water to the appropriate consistency and applying it to the back of the wallpaper with a wide brush.

6 In the 1920s George Williams had run away from home as a boy of about twelve to be a cowboy, and had worked at Valley Springs Ranch for a time. Bob Hinde writes of this boy’s adventurous career in As I Remember It.

7. Oscar Brunst, a near neighbor. It appears that their cream separator wasn’t functioning, had to be sent to Langham for repairs and a neighbour’s was borrowed in the meantime.

[40] Stone hauling is described in detail in Bob Hinde’s book, As I Remember It. In the winter the railway paid local people to haul loads of rocks to repair the footings of the railway bridge near Borden. It was an opportunity to raise cash in the cash-poor Depression.

[41] The stone box was the conveyance on sleigh runners that was used to haul the rocks.

[42] Twenty-six was the section on which Bob’s homestead quarter was located, no the north of the ranch buildings.

[43] The railway bridge at Ceepee near Borden.

[44] There was competition among the local people for the money available from the railway for rock hauling. The word would go out that rock was needed and people moved quickly to get their loads to the bridge as at any moment the line foreman could announce that no more rocks were needed. Hence, being “first in” meant the assurance that the load would be paid for.

[45] Duncan McPherson, a neighbor, one of the earlier settlers.

[46] A team of driving horses. Driving horses were often also ridden; heavier work horses weren’t ridden but were sometimes used to drive lighter transport vehicles.

[47] Borden was thirteen miles away, on unplowed roads. He might have ridden, or taken a vehicle on sleighs.

[48] George Hynd, father of Arthur. He had been an early pioneer in the Borden area. His wife Agnes was the first teacher at Thistle Dale School.

[49] Peter Rempel was Susie’s brother, Abram’s twin. Katharina Rempel was Susie’s mother.

[50] The ice house was a log structure dug into the rise on the west side of the front dooryard of the Big House. Most of it was underground. The well was the pit where ice was placed in winter mainly to keep the cream, the regular source of family income, cool in summer.

[51] The Rempel family was loving but undemonstrative. Susanna Rempel Hinde told her children that when Peter left he uncharacteristically hugged and kissed her. It was the last time she saw him alive.

[52] A friend of the Hindes’ who had been a cowboy earlier at Valley Springs’ Ranch.

[53] Ice was cut in thirty inch cubes from the river in the coldest part of the winter, and kept in the ice house for use in the warmer weather.

[54] United Farmers’ Cooperative

[55] The George Walkers were farmers at Thistledale. See Borden History.

[56] The Popes were neighbors who lived in Halcyonia.

[57] See Mary Rempel Bieber’s story about her brother’s death in Rempel Stories, privately printed, 2004.

[58] There is no reference to people of this name in the Borden History.

[59] Billie is William Oliver Wake, son of Hugh and Margaret Wake who homesteaded near the Hinde family. Joshua Kelsall Wake and his father Hugh had emigrated in 1902, Arthur in 1906 and the rest of the family in 1913.

[60] Bob would be going to Great Deer in support of his wife and her family, grieving the death of Susie’s brother Peter.

[61] Alf Baxter and his wife were neighbors about three miles northeast of the Hinde ranch.

[62] The hens, in comfortable quarters in the barn loft, continued to produce well even in the depth of winter. Earlier it was usual for hens to cease laying during the winter, and resume around Easter time; see Susanna Rempel Hinde’s story.

[63] This was the Depression. The linoleum that covered the board floors wasn’t discarded because the pattern had worn through in places. It was lifted and turned so that less badly worn portions would have their turn in the high-traffic areas.

[64] Susanna’s sister Olga and her husband Alex McLean were homesteading to the north of Meadow Lake, participating in a program wherein the provincial government provided land grants to city people who in the Depression would otherwise be on the city relief rolls. Their homestead was remote; in order to get them word of Peter’s death, the message had to go out on local radio. Alex was getting supplies in the nearest village and was told the message had come. They would have been on their way back to their homestead after the funeral when they stopped at the Ranch.

[65] Chopped oats were a special food for working horses and milking cows. By the time Mary Crane’s memories begin, the Ranch had its own chopper. Either there was not yet one present so the Wake cousins’ chopper was used, or the Ranch chopper was out of order.

[66] The level of political activity of this family and community is interesting, from an urban perspective many decades later. Management of the hens was usually the work of the farm women, aided by the children’s egg-gathering from the time their hands were big enough to hold eggs.

[67] It seems Smoky had an injury or infection which required draining. While there were veterinarians in the district, Bob Hinde had for many years served as untrained but very experienced veterinarian for all farm creatures, his own family’s and those of the neighbors. He writes of this, and of his longing as a young man to go to Guelph, Ontario to Veterinary College, in As I Remember It.

[68] From context it seems that Heatherbelle’s labour had reached an impasse. Or it may have been a bowel impaction.

3. George would have been at home in Great Deer, following the funeral of his brother Peter.

[70] The melted lard would be applied externally to Smoky and internally to Heatherbelle. Lard played a role in many home remedies. For example, mixed with powdered sulphur it was the cure for ringworm.

[71] In the winter the mail was redirected from Borden to Langham.

[72] Bran mash was for animals like chicken soup for people – a cure-all in times of illness.

[73] Bunty was a riding horse, usually Harry’s. Being brought in suggests that she had been fending for herself on the open hills of the riverbank at this point, and not doing too well in consequence.

[74] Making rugs by braiding strips of outworn garments, then stitching the braids together in circles and ovals. Joseph did the braiding and was a dab hand at it; Martha and Elsie sewed the braided strips together. Decades later in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Eric and Daisie Lund made rugs the same way, with Eric braiding and Daisie sewing. In the latter case the goods were not outworn garments, but rather items of clothing bought from thrift stores.

[75] There was no February 29 in 1935.

[76] Henry Badman and his wife were the nearest neighbors to the east, an elderly English couple. Their property was called Green Acres.

[77] Cutter – a box, open or closed, on runners, drawn by a team of horses – winter transport for people. The Ranch cutter was closed, with a window in the front for the driver to see to control the horses, and a small heater, although heated rounds of soapstone were usually used for warmth.

[78] The poles could have been diamond willow stakes for fencing, or wood for construction, or stove wood.

[79] Subjection: this was part of the process of training a colt. Harry had purchased a manual on the training of horses which I remember reviewing in the summer of 1950 to help me in training the filly I had been given. (RER)

[80] Oats and molasses were given to animals requiring extra nutrition – in this case calving cows.

[81] Madame Queen appears to be the young horse that was being trained. Halter training – learning to follow the trainer when led by a rope attached to its halter (a simplified bridle not having a bit in the horse’s mouth.)

[82] Ironing was done with a “sad-iron” or “flat-iron.” Shaped roughly like a modern iron, the flat-iron was heated on the wood stove. When it was hot, a wooden handle was clipped on. Heat was tested with spit on a finger. The iron cooled quickly and was replaced with a second one heated in the same way. Thus every few minutes in the course of doing the ironing, the cooling iron was replaced by a hot one, with the wooden handle moved from the cool to the hot iron.

[83] These people were not from the immediate community and appear to have come to the school to lead the community meeting. This may have been a Moral Rearmament meeting.

[84] Mary is Bob and Susie’s baby, then about five months old.

[85] The pole in this case is the wagon tongue, the heavy wood pole that is fastened to the wagon and suspended between the horses of a two-horse team by their harness, and through which their power is exerted to move the wagon.

[86] Kerosene – coal oil, used to fuel chimney lamps for indoor lighting and storm lanterns for outdoor lighting. Electricity by way of a small generator did not reach the Ranch until 1938; see Bob Hinde’s story of his son Barry’s birth, in As I Remember It.

[87] Gas – fuel for the several small engines – the oat chopper, the fanning mill and others.

[88] Ash and Lou Cook were neighbors. The eggs she came for might be fertilized eggs for hatching, or eggs for the kitchen.

[89] Henry may be Henry Wake. Mary may be Mary Saunders McCheane. They may also be Henry Badman and his wife, nearest neighbors to the Ranch; however we have no other evidence of Mary being Mrs. Badman’s given name. Alternatively they may be Susie’s brother and sister.

[90] Auntie is Margaret Wake. Her husband Hugh, Martha Hinde’s brother, had died in 1933.

[91] In this part of the country, a bluff was a grove of trees, usually poplar.

[92] From context it appears that they were preparing to sell seed potatoes. Len, the oldest of the Hinde family, was at this time living and working in Saskatoon. It appears he took time from his work there to help the family with the work of spring planting.

[93] Taken to be sixty-three cents a bushel.

[94] The drain and well are the line from the kitchen and the bathtub upstairs, to the “well” - the pit into which “grey water” drained, a kind of septic tank. The pit was covered by a flower bed and a ring of stones and was located some yards from the steps leading to the flagged patio outside the door to the kitchen. If a vehicle came to the door of the Big House, it would circle this flower bed. This road continued west, to “down-below.”

[95] It was possible to get a ride into Saskatoon with the creamery truck if the timing was right. This would have meant crossing the river, still ice-covered, making the trip a total of four miles to Langham in the winter.

[96] The Assmans were neighbors. From the earliest days at the Ranch, the Hinde boys, Bob and Harry, had developed a reputation for taming the most unbreakable horse. This may have been one of those. Bob writes of this in As I Remember It.

[97] Ash Cook and his wife Lou were neighbors and good friends of the Hinde family.

[98] Logs would be stove wood - deadfalls or trees cut in the poplar bush and hauled to the Ranch yard, to be sawn into stove lengths and split with an axe.

[99] Connection unknown.

[100] While not loved at other times, gophers emerging from their winter rest and crows returning from the south were harbingers of spring that were welcomed.

[101] Worn clothing was patched with any available material. Dyeing was done to make the garment all of one color, usually a dark color.

[102] The trail across the river ice would become impassable as the air warmed and snow-melt flooded the surface. This would happen in the days or weeks before the ice had warmed enough to rot and become dangerous to cross. Then breakup would happen, sometimes gently covering the river flats, sometimes with catastrophic flooding. See Bob Hinde’s story in As I Remember It.

[103] Hazel had calved a few days earlier. The calves got the first days of their mothers’ milk whole, after that they got the skim milk in a bucket after the cream had been separated. It was the task of the Hinde children, when they were old enough, to help the weanlings to learn to drink from the bucket. A hand dipped in the mild and then put in the calf’s mouth started the calf in the right direction.

[104] Gloves were hand made, cut to the pattern of the owner’s hand. Possibly the leather used was from the tanned hides of the animals slaughtered for food.

[105] Quirt – a riding whip with a short wood handle and a lash made of finely braided leather.

[106] Tim Buck. The name is in quotation marks in the diary as shown; there is no further comment. Tim Buck was a leader of the Communist movement in Canada.

[107] The Tallises were a Halcyonia family, among the earliest pioneers in the area.

[108] Animal care was undertaken by the people that owned the animals. There were no farriers, and very few veterinarians, and in any case no money to pay them.

[109] This is the Jemima Blake who was then in England and who later in 1936 married a Saunders connection and honeymooned in Canada.

[110] The seed order would be for garden seeds. For many garden items seeds were saved from the previous year but new orders supplemented the saved seeds.

[111] Ezma Wallace. She and her husband Jim operated a plant nursery business at which Susie Rempel Hinde worked before she was married. Later in the Depression they sold up and moved to the United States

[112] The Larsons were neighbors to the west of the Ranch, about three miles east of Borden. They were early settlers on good farming land, and prosperous. They were good friends of Bob Hinde.

[113] Bee-keeping began in the thirties and continued for about ten years. Honey was a good alternative to sugar and had the merit of not requiring ongoing purchase after the initial outlay. I remember my father, Bob Hinde, dealing with a swarm with competence. (RER)

[114] The incubator was a device to incubate fertilized eggs. It had a source of warmth, probably a kerosene lamp, and was usually kept in the house until the chicks hatched.

[115] Group Meeting refers to the Oxford Group, or Moral Re-Armament (MRA) movement. Some of the Quakers in the area became involved with the movement, Billie Wake to the extent of making it his life’s work.

[116] Bob Hinde had taught himself the working of leather, and made and mended much of the harness and saddlery for the Ranch.

[117] Fertilized eggs were clearly a source of income at this season. Peter McKenzie was a neighbour who kept sheep.

[118] Roger Hinde, son of Len and Ruth. Roger would be about a year old.

[119] Democrat – a four-wheeled horse-drawn conveyance, seating four comfortably on two seats.

[120] Probably Billie is shown in quotation marks to emphasize that this was the horse Billie, not cousin Billie Wake. The Hinde family regarded naming animals after people as honoring the people. This didn’t sit too well with the neighbor who had an obstreperous and ungainly sow named after her.

[121] Manure, a mixture of the excreta of animals and their straw bedding, was banked up around the walls of the barn and house to reduce drafts and provide some measure of winter insulation. It was effective, and available. In the spring it had to be removed.

[122] The meat would probably be chicken, the non-laying hens being culled for food. Butchering of cattle was usually done in the late fall.

[123] Probably, ten pounds of seed potatoes, for sale or inspection.

[124] Soap was made with lard and tins of lye. In earlier days ashes were used instead of lye. This made a very rough and caustic soap which was used for all purposes when nothing else was available, with the exception of infant care.

[125] Papering: Interior walls were covered with wallpapers or with kalsomine, a commercially available whitewash. In earlier days people made their own whitewash of limestone.

[126] Elsie is testing eggs by candling. See :

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/eggs/res26-candling.html “Forty-eight out” would be the rejects.

[127] It was not possible to buy replacements for machinery that broke down. In the Depression people became adept at maintaining their equipment. Bob Hinde set up a forge at which he crafted all manner of metal replacement parts.

[128] Thirty-six was the section on the plateau above the river whereon Joseph Hinde had his homestead quarter. It was from this quarter that the Big House had been moved nearly a decade earlier.

[129] Sawdust was the product of sawing up wood for the stoves. It was then used as insulation on the ice in the icehouse.

[130] Connection unknown.

[131] A stone-lined small pool fed by a spring had been constructed some years earlier, just downslope from the cottage.

[132] Marriott was the potato inspector. His approval was necessary for selling seed potatoes.

[133] Car tires were virtually irreplaceable, and much more fragile than they are now. When not in use, cars were put up on blocks so the tires would not be under pressure from the weight of the car.

[134] So named because a tennis court had been constructed there. There are pictures of the Hindes and their friends playing tennis; the racquets, stored in the ice house and unstrung, were later playthings for Bob’s children.

[135] The Eaton’s catalogue was the source of a great many of the purchases made in this decade, earlier and later as well.

[136] Blankets were made in special mills from two-thirds used woolens – coats, sweaters, winter underwear provided by the buyer, and one-third new wool. The last one operating was in Moose Jaw, in 1963.

[137] The feathers would have come from the plucking of the chickens which had been canned earlier.

[138] The McCheanes were one of the early Quaker families in the area. By 1935 they were John and Mary Saunders McCheane and their children Philip and Ruth.

[139] “Down below” was one of the several garden sites over the years. This was the large clearing in the bush where, in the winter, cattle sheltered. In leaving their droppings fertilized the garden for the next spring. In the driest part of the thirties, this garden was always damp, with springs oozing moisture higher up the slope.

[140] Mrs. Raynor was connected to the Wainrights; she taught art at the Borden School – Barry Hinde was one of her students.

[141] “Ranch” here means the East Borden Grazing Cooperative, or the “Big Pasture.” In later years, Ranch always meant Valley Springs Ranch.

[142] Many different operations were required to prepare the land for seeding, to seed the grain and finally to harvest and thresh the grain. All these operations at this time used horsepower; tractors were not in use at Valley Springs Ranch until after the war.

The first step would be plowing – using one of a number of different kinds of machines, to turn the soil. This was followed by harrowing, breaking the turned furrows of soil into smaller pieces. Then the soil was disked, to further pulverize it, then seeded, using a drill – a machine which deposited many rows of grain at once and covered them up. At harvest time the ripe grain was cut with a binder, which in the same process bound swatches of the stalks of grain into sheaves. The sheaves were then stoked by hand, stacked skillfully into little tents which shed rain and allowed the further drying of the grain. Later, the sheaves were pitchforked onto hay racks which moved them to the threshing machine. There the sheaves were pitchforked onto a conveyor belt which moved the sheaves into the threshing machine where the grain was separated from the straw. The grain was directed from the spout of the threshing machine onto wagons, which were then driven to the nearest grain elevators, for sale, or to nearby granaries for storage. The straw was blown into stacks and later used for winter bedding for the horses and cattle.

Haying required a different set of operations. The hay was cut with one implement, raked into rows with a dump rake, picked up with a hayrack and hayloader. All implements at this time were horse powered.

[143] Cleaning seed wheat was done with a fanning mill. I remember that the fanning mill was made of light wood, about four and a half feet high, thirty inches square. There was a hopper at the top into which Dad poured the grain. Underneath was a series of screens with different sized holes, set on a slant, on an angle to each other. A handle powered their movement from side to side. The holes were round. Dad said what he was trying to do was get out the buckwheat seeds. Being smaller, the buckwheat dropped through easily. Other weed seeds and sand would also be eliminated from the grain. The cleaned grain was caught in a burlap sack with its mouth braced open. (MHC)

[144] Bees were fed a solution of sugar and water when they started to be active, until there were flowers blooming.

[145] Lydia Tomes was cousin to the Hindes, a daughter of Hugh and Margaret Wake. She had married before the family emigrated and had remained in England. This was probably the first time they had seen her since 1912. She would be staying with her parents for her visit.

[146] Lasca – named after the heroine in a poem – a Mexican girl who with her cowboy sweetheart was caught in a cattle stampede.

[147] Mike Strelioff. His homestead was immediately to the west of the Ranch.

[148] King George V had been on the throne for 25 years.

[149] Chuck wagon – exactly as seen in western movies!

[150] Fence phone: In addition to the public phone system, a party line using an operator, there was a fence phone system running along the continuous barbed wire fence the seven miles up to the “Ranch” – the East Borden Grazing Association shack from Valley Springs Ranch. Where the line came to a gate it was carried across above the gate on fifteen foot poles. The phone at Valley Springs Ranch was at the Big House, at the far left corner of the dining room, on the wall. It was a square black box with a receiver and ringer, but no dial. It was used only from the Big Pasture for emergencies like someone being injured, or running out of supplies. It seems to me that the person at the Valley Springs Ranch had to yell, and probably at the other end as well. If the phone didn’t work someone had to ride horseback along the fences all the way to the Big Pasture to check for and repair breaks. I remember that insulators were used along the line and at the top of the fifteen foot poles. I remember seeing the same arrangement when we drove through ranching country in the States, on holiday. Mary Hinde Crane, 2004.

[151] When you "Pickled" wheat, what you were doing was treating it with a mixture of Formaline and water, which was to control a seed borne fungus called SMUT, which could turn the affected parts of a plant, generally the kernels, but sometimes the complete head, to a dusty black powder.

Frank Saunders 2003

[152] It appears that either the Wakes or the McCheanes had picked up a grocery order from Borden for the Hindes.

[153] Alfalfa was a perennial legume crop, used to feed stock. Raking with a horse-drawn rake would loosen the earth to encourage new growth.

[154] Tom may be Tommy Scott but several people named tom worked at the Ranch at various times.

[155] Pacha’s surname unknown.

[156] For more on potato species, see: http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/af_potguide03.pdf

[157] The “boys,” Harry, Eric and George, would have been living fairly rough at the Big Pasture, in the shack. It was seven miles from the Valley Springs Ranch buildings. At this season they collected herds of cattle from surrounding farmers, sometimes many miles away, and drove them to the community pasture for summer grazing, breeding, branding and inoculations. See Harry Hinde’s History of the Big Pasture, and several chapters in Bob Hinde’s As I Remember It. This was the cowboy work so loved by the “boys.”

[158] Bob and Harry broke many bones and had many other injuries in the course of working with horses and cattle. The broken ribs this time may have been the occasion for Susanna Rempel Hinde’s poem, “To My Girdle” in which she tells of her rubber girdle languishing in a drawer until it served the purpose of binding her husband’s broken ribs.

[159] Living rough at the shack in the community pasture, the boys would have been glad of a meal of other than beans, and the opportunity for a tub bath!

[160] Probably Abe Newbold, the butcher in Borden.

[161] Peter was Lydia Tomes’ youngest son who had come on her Canadian visit with her.

[162] Joseph Wake and his wife Agnes, and their children Douglas, Frank, Fred, Margery and Joyce. Joe Wake was the adopted son of Henry Thomas Wake, father of Martha Wake Hinde, and thus Martha’s adopted brother. Joe had emigrated to Canada in the first decade of the 20^th century.

[163] Earlier the boat had been too leaky to cross the river, having been out of the water for the winter. After being in the water for a few days, the leaks would have swelled shut.

[164] Gopher poisoning was done by putting a mixture of grain and I believe strychnine at the entrances to gopher holes. It was a constant task to keep ahead of the depredations of the gophers, which proliferated as cereal crops replaced the native prairie plants, providing a richer food supply.

[165] The garden down below was planted from time to time. The east garden, east of the stackyard and row of Manitoba maples, did not do well in the dirty thirties when there was little or no rain in several consecutive growing seasons and finally was discontinued. The main garden was the irrigated garden, at a little distance from the houses, but watered by springs higher up the slope which were directed in channels to water the garden. Another garden was between the two houses; there the water table remained high due to the proximity of springs. Although there was no flowing water there, the subsurface soil was always damp.

[166] Sissie is Margaret Wake the younger, now married to Edmund Saunders and living near Borden.

[167] Probably Armand Christensen, bachelor brother of Carl Senior, Thistle Dale neighbors.

[168] The chicks being hatched and in the brooder, the incubator was no longer needed and was stored for the next year.

[169] Peter Boyle was an early settler in the area, and was regarded as wealthy.

[170] The Sutherland family is written of extensively in the Borden History book.

[171] The old place was Joseph Hinde’s homestead quarter on Section Thirty-six, from which the Big House had been moved in 1926 to its present location.

[172] Pop – usually, a carbonated drink. What it was in this case is not known.

[173] Philip McCheane, son of Mary and John McCheane. He would be 18 in 1935.

[174] Fishnet – this might have been the fish trap that had been made from scrap wire strewn along the route of the electricity poles, by a man who then sold them for five dollars to people living along the river. That trap caught many fish each summer until it was swept away, along with the irrigation system, when the river flooded massively in late April of 1943.

[175] Connection unknown.

[176] Connection unknown.

[177] Straying animals were a continuing challenge. Much of the land was fenced by this time, but by no means all of it. Time had to be taken on horseback to track down animals, sometimes found miles away. Mary Saunders’ McCheane’s Journal of two and three decades earlier reflects the greater challenge at that time, with practically no fences.

[178] Settled: paid their wages.

[179] Probably Frank Saunders, son of Eddy and Sissie Saunders. He would have been about nine then; farm children were customarily given young animals to raise.

[180] Saskatoon friend, evidently one with a car.

[181] Surname unknown, possibly the Charlie M. noted on the 13^th.

[182] Cream, after separation from the whole milk, was kept in five gallon cream-cans in the ice house until it was taken to the corner three miles away where the creamery truck picked it up.

[183] . Calves were inoculated for blackleg; see:

http://cattletoday.info/diseases/blackleg.htm The vaccine was provided by the government.

[184] Kay Dixon was a bachelor neighbor who a few years later lost his mitts when inebriated in a blizzard and froze off most of his fingers. He was said to be a nephew of the Dixon who surveyed the line dividing the United States into north and south – the Mason-Dixon Line.

[185] Wagons could have different bodies attached for different purposes. The rack was a hayrack, a wide-bodied wooden affair with framed ends, open at the sides for loading and unloading. It was intended for transporting hay.

[186] Logging: Every year the spring breakup of the river ice would leave quantities of flotsam and jetsam on the banks when the high water receded. Much of value could be harvested from the river as it collected its load of goods all the way down from the Rockies. Bob Hinde writes of seeing a whole house go by, but that was when the river was in full flood, making salvage impossible. Many of the Ranch buildings had components that had been salvaged from the river.

[187] Tommy Scott appears to be a new hired man, perhaps the Tom referred to earlier.

[188] Effie MacKenzie, contemporary of Elsie’s and daughter of one of the early homesteaders. Effie later married John Taylor.

[189] Peeling logs: the gifts of the river might come with the bark on. This needed to be removed and the logs dried, before using them for various construction purposes.

[190] Harold Cruise – another hired man.

[191] Mary Saunders McCheane and her daughter Ruth who would be fourteen in 1935.

[192] The day spent at the University may have been to attend a conference or short course, which the University from its inception offered to Saskatchewan’s rural population.

[193] A Saskatoon doctor.

[194] Having palms read is surprising. The occult was not approved by Quakers! It may have been regarded as entertainment.

[195] Henry, Mary and Laura were Susie’s youngest brother and sisters, at this time twenty, seventeen and twelve respectively.

[196] Ice cream was made of heavy cream, sugar and sometimes fresh strawberries, in a drum rotated by a handle inside a larger drum filled with salted crushed ice from the ice house.

[197] Early pioneers in the Thistle Dale area. See Borden History for further information.

[198] Elsie would need to take it easy after being kicked in the chest; Susie was at a meeting, so it seems it would be baby Mary rather than Susie’s teen-aged sister Mary who would lie on the lawn with Elsie.

[199] The “down-below” garden and the irrigation garden were already dug, so this would be the house garden, the one between the Big House and the Cottage. It tended to be worked later because of the high water table keeping the soil wet until later than the other gardens.

[200] Another early homesteader, from the Halcyonia district.

[201] The “once over” in this context would be the local gossip.

[202] Sharing Meeting – one of the practices of the Moral Rearmament organization was to have meetings where people were invited to share their feelings, speaking only the truth as they saw it.

[203] Eddie was Edmumd Saunders, husband of Sissie, cousin to the Hindes. Edward McCheane, Edith’s husband, was always called Ed.

[204] Alma Lund, younger sister of Eric and Anker.

[205] Community picnics were sometimes occasions for the demonstration of trick riding. Harry may have received his injury in this manner.

[206] The Newbolds were an early immigrant family who came from Fritchley, Derbyshire and who were known to the Quakers of Derbyshire. The sons farmed and the parents ran the butcher’s shop in Borden. Susanna Rempel Hinde writes of buying sausages from the shop when as a girl of sixteen she hauled wheat to Borden for sale at the elevator.

[207] It took serious illness or injury for a doctor to be called. In this case it was bad enough for the Borden doctor to take Harry to Saskatoon, probably for an x-ray.

[208] Cherry was an ill pregnant cow. The starvation was on the principle of feed a cold, starve a fever.

[209] The most dependable crop on the stony river hills was rocks. Each spring, through the action of the eight or nine feet of frost in the ground over the winter, more would have worked their way to the surface and require clearing off the land.

[210] At Long Lake was a sort of holiday camp where the young people of the Quaker community holidayed for a week in the summer. Bob Hinde writes of this in As I Remember It, and several pictures show the assembled group

[211] Member of one of the early pioneer families in the district.

[212] Bessie McKenzie or Bessie Crabb?

[213] Member of another of the early pioneering families in the district, brother of Oscar Brunst.

[214] Evidently more combs – the frames of waxen cells wherein bees stored their honey – were expected. This was a poor year for the bees.

[215] There were few bridges across the wide North Saskatchewan in 1935. Then, ferries holding perhaps a dozen horses or cattle, or a car or a wagon, conveyed people and goods across the river. These ferries were attached to an overhead cable anchored on each side, and moved backward and forward across the river using the power of the river current. There was a six foot pulley wheel with a chain that altered the direction of a rudder under the ferry according to the side of the river you were on. Mary Hinde Crane remembers Bob Hinde helping a ferryman pull the wheel around, the chain dripping water.

[216] A swim in the river on a hot Sunday afternoon was a frequent summer treat. The knowledgeable swam in quiet backwaters or the lee of islands. On one occasion, with many of the community present, Anker Lund misjudged the depth of the water and the speed of the current, crossing a benign-looking sandbar. He was swept away and had to be rescued by Bob Hinde and Joshua Wake, to the near loss of all three. Bob Hinde writes of this in As I Remember It.

[217] Nine quarts of what? It seems unlikely that there were nine quarts’ worth in the few strawberries that were picked the day before.

[218] This was an enormous outlay for the time.

[219] The heater used for keeping the brooder house warm for the chicks. It used a kerosene lamp.

[220] Hens mostly laid their eggs in the egg boxes provided in the chicken houses, but sometimes they became secretive and hid their nests, hatching the fertilized eggs (there were always roosters in the flock) out of sight. Then the hen would reappear with her brood of chicks.

[221] Jake Rempel was Susie’s oldest brother; he and his wife Eva were teachers.

[222] Young roosters, prepared for sale.

[223] Laurie Crabb. His brother David had married Lydia McCheane before the family emigrated in 1903; Laurie married Lydia’s older sister Hannah Mary. They were members of the Quaker community.

[224] Blanche Brunst was one of the grande dames of the community, much beloved by everyone. She was with her family, Oscar, Wilfred, Stanley and Muriel, was an early homesteader. Her husband had been a British diplomat to Russia.

[225]The Siemens family had a market garden on the river on one border of the Big Pasture (the “Ranch.”) There were some minor disputes between the market garden and the community pasture about use and maintenance of the water and the water troughs.

[226] Mary P. and Allie are presumed to be Saskatoon friends.

[227] Harold Edney is another hired man. The comings of hired men are often noted, their goings less so. George Rempel would have gone in the spring to help with spring planting at home in Great Deer, and in the summer off to be a cowboy on a ranch elsewhere.

[228] These would be wild raspberries.

[229] It would appear that sewing harness constituted light duties for the injured Harold.

[230] Against blackleg. See http://www.agvax.com/rural_resources/diseases/blackleg.htm

[231] This would be the ditch to drain water from the swamp below the homestead buildings, to the big irrigated garden lower down the hill.

[232] The roof of the ice house was made of sods. Regular repairs were needed to ensure it retained its insulating capacity, to keep the ice intact for as long as possible through the summer.

[233] Neighbors in the Thistle Dale area.

[234] Bull wheel: This is a wheel on a binder. It was a fairly large wheel probably about 30" high, and 8" wide, with cleats on it so that when the horses pulled the binder the wheel turned and drove all the parts of the binder by means of a chain from a sprocket on the side of the bull wheel.

Frank Saunders, December 2003.

[235] Neighbor to the north, in the Great Deer area.

[236] Neighbor to the north, in the Great Deer area.

[237] Surname not known.

[238] Racks: the racks above the area where dishes were washed. Instead of towel-drying them, dishes were placed in drying racks and air-dried as well as stored there. The racks had a wood frame, with two rows of heavy wire spaced to hold plates of different sizes. A metal trough underneath drained the water into the sink. Cups went on top, upside down.

[239] A bushel is about eight gallons, or roughly 35 litres

[240] Stack – hay was piled such that it would shed rain and not decay quickly. Stacks were made near where the hay was cut, or the hay was hauled by hayracks to the stack yard east of the barn.

[241] Assuming this is a surname, connection not known.

[242] . “Visiting Friends” appeared from time to time, from Ontario, England, and the United States, to provide contact with the other Quaker meetings and maintain ties. Joshua Wake writes of those who visited the Thistle Dale Meeting. His paper appears in The McCheanes of Halcyonia, privately published, 2004.

[243] The slough was the flood plain of the North Saskatchewan River which was part of Valley Springs Ranch. Hay for feed for the animals came from here, or from the cutting of prairie wool.

[244] Edith Burke – friend of the Hinde girls. Annie J. – not known.

[245] Bob and Susie would have been visiting Susie’s mother and family. The meat was very likely pork, as the Rempels kept pigs and regularly butchered in the fall. See Mary Rempel Bieber’s story in As I Remember, privately published in 2000. Only rarely were pigs kept at Valley Springs Ranch; one was Rosie a few years later – remembered to this day with dislike by Mary Hinde Crane.

[246] High-bush cranberries, which grew in the partial shade of the big cottonwoods by the river.

[247] Thistle Dale neighbor, north of Valley Springs Ranch. See also Borden History book.

[248] Auntie Sue was Ben Saloway’s sister and Peggy Saloway’s aunt. Sue and her sister Fanny were universal aunts, regardless of relationship, and a generation later, so was Peggy Saloway.

[249] The Bennet buggy was named after the current Canadian Prime Minister Richard B. Bennett, who had presided (August 1930 – October 1935) over the first half of the Depression. The “buggy” was the body of a car with the engine removed, modified so as to be pulled by a team of horses. The engine itself might be used for small jobs like charging the batteries for household light generation.

[250] George Rempel and Lucie Edmondson. They were to be married in April 1937. Lucie was one of the Registered Nurses at the Borden Hospital.

[251] Marion Cook, daughter of Lou and Ash Cook, neighbors.

[252] Glory Hole – a spectacular sinkhole on the riverbank.

[253] Ketchup.

[254] Elsie’s frequent severe headaches would probably be called migraines now.

[255] Marrow jam was a special treat – small cubes of marrow cooked in heavy sugar syrup, spiced with ginger root, and sometimes with walnuts added. Susie Hinde made it every year.

[256] Marge or Marjorie is Margery Wake, oldest child of Joseph and Agnes Wake. She would have been in her teens, and was interested in training to be a hairdresser.

[257] Sturgeon grew to a considerable size in the river. This one was probably caught in the fish trap. See also Susanna Rempel Hinde’s story in Rempel Stories Part II.

[258] Picking up rocks on the shore of the river and piling them into cairns made the winter task of hauling rocks for sale to the crews reinforcing the foundations of the railway bridge much easier and quicker.

[259] Hepburn is a village some miles distant from Valley Springs Ranch. Susie’s older sister and her family lived there; the date suggests that the visit would have been for the purpose of seeing the new baby, Phyllis Siemens, who was born on September 3. In the Bennet buggy t would have taken most of the day each way to accomplish the trip.

[260] When hay stacks were located away from the stack yard, it was necessary to fence them to control the animals‘ access to them.

[261] King was the Clydesdale stallion which, it was hoped, would sire a line of heavy work horses, to be sold. The family could not know that within a decade tractors would replace draft horses.

[262] Mrs. Wainwright – the matriarch of one of the early pioneer families in the Borden district.

[263] Doped, meaning treated medically.

[264] Reddy was the first of a long line of mares of that name. Reddy’s great-granddaughter was Carol Lund Kettles’ riding horse in 2000.

[265] Lydia and her son Peter would be interested to see a western roundup!

[266] Stella Todd. Bob Hinde writes of her in As I Remember It.

[267] ThistleDale farmers – originally from Ontario. See Borden history book.

[268] The Larsons were one of the wealthier families in the area, having come to the Prairies with both money and farming experience. They were greatly respected. Bob Hinde writes of Arnold and his wife Nellie in As I Remember It. They also appear in the 1980 Borden book, Our Treasured Heritage, and in Harry Hinde’s History of the Big Pasture. Arnold was an early supporter of the community pasture. The “cutting out” part of the work of the Big Pasture was sorting out the cattle which had herded together all summer into bunches, by owner. This was the real cowboy work, the roundup.

[269] Borden area pioneers.

[270] Farmer from Great Deer area.

[271] Area farmers who pastured their cattle at the Big Pasture –(“Ranch.”)

[272] The veterinarian would be testing for bovine tuberculosis.

[273] Nearby farmers participated in the fall roundup and took their own animals home for the winter. More distant people paid extra for their animals to be trail-driven to the community pasture in the spring and returned to them in the fall. Bob Hinde writes of this in As I Remember It.

[274] The “Z” would be a brand.

[275] Could be Abram Rempel, Susie’s brother from Great Deer. However it may have been a shipper – were the calves being shipped to Saskatoon?

[276] The cottage in which Bob and Susie Hinde and their first child, Mary, lived up to this time was small, two rooms only. With the second child expected in December, Bob planned an extension to make the cottage four-roomed, with a cellar under the addition and with the pump at the well to be enclosed next to the sink, in the kitchen part of the addition. Many women envied Susie’s pump by the sink, along with the drain that emptied both the sink and the bathtub outside, down the hill to the swamp.

[277] Winnie and Merlin Chamness had been living in Iowa since their marriage. They had come to spend the winter with Winnie’s parents. With them were their first four children, Harold, Olive, Martha and Mary, respectively 14, 12, 9 and 2 years of age.

[278] In 1957 the Canadian Parliament declared the second Monday of October to be a Day of Thanksgiving. It did not become a paid holiday until some years later. So this was the American Thanksgiving day which was in October until established in 1941 as the fourth Monday of November.

[279] This was a request stop on the Canadian Pacific Railway. There was a water tower, a section worker’s house, and not much else. The Hinde family in the Depression winters hauled rocks to stabilize the footings of the railway bridge that crossed the river at CeePee.

[280] Pete Epp – a neighbor at some distance. He was not well thought of for only one reason: he hunted deer, even on Valley Springs Ranch property, which was posted against hunting.

[281] The calf pen was a large pen inside the east door of the barn. Evidently the pigs were to be given a part of that space.

[282] Connection not known.

[283] Culling hens – identifying hens that had ceased laying, and using them for food. Later the Hinde children were taught how to recognize a hen that had ceased to lay, and to select that bird for the dinner table. For culling instructions see: http://www.msstate.edu/dept/poultry/extcull.htm

[284] The cellarway was the outside entrance to the cellar under the Big House. In the winter it was blocked with straw for insulation.

[285] Bob Hinde, in As I Remember It, provides detail about this horrendous event.

[286] The bug would be a bedbug or a flea. These insects were regarded with horror as they were felt to be signs of poor housekeeping, yet it was hard to avoid them, with the numbers of people who came and went in that household, many of whom slept rough in barns and granaries during the course of their work and travels.

[287] School was for the Chamness children. Olive Chamness Stakland and Martha Chamness Bedell have written their memories of this time – Appendix I and II.

[288] Auntie Mary would be Martha Hinde’s sister who had married Tom Hallam, and with him and their two sons emigrated to Canada some years later than her sister. They settled in Ontario, in the Norwich area.

[289] Connection not known with certainty. Martha Hinde’s sister Elizabeth died in 1905. There was a first cousin Elizabeth who was thirty years older – a niece of Joseph Hinde – who may have been referred to as Aunt Betty.

[290] Connection unknown.

[291] Susie was close to her due date for delivery. It may be that she went into false labour or that she was taken to Borden to wait at Sissie Saunders for her delivery at the Borden hospital.

[292] As Susie tells it, since the baby had no intention of arriving yet, she wanted only to go home and was prepared to have the baby at home rather than wait at the Saunders’ near Borden and have it in the hospital.

[293] A friend of Elsie’s.

[294] F. W. – unknown.

[295] The Wainrights homesteaded a few miles east of Borden, before 1905. They are connected to Fosters and Raynors. See Borden History book.

[296] Bob and Susie’s second child.

[297] Ten days in bed after the birth!

[298] Halcyonia was the next school beyond Thistledale. Every school put on a Christmas concert and everyone who could, attended.

[299] Bessie and Ken Crabb, adopted children of Hannah Mary and Laurie Crabb. They would have been fifteen and ten in 1935.

[300] “Waist” is an old term for blouse.

2. Jemima Hannah Blake was a Fritchley Friend, who a short while later married a connection of the Saunders family; they visited the Borden Friends on their honeymoon in 1936.

[302] Connection unknown.

[303] See J. E. (Bob) Hinde’s explanation in As I Remember It, 2004, of the payment system for grain under the Wheat Pool. Essentially this was an initial payment when the grain was delivered to the elevator in the fall, followed by a further payment later depending on the final price of the grain.

[304] See Borden History book, 1980, page 15. Borden had many doctors before acquiring the services of Dr. Paulsson.

[305] Connection unknown.

[306] The train could be caught in Borden, which was not possible due to the thirteen miles of unplowed roads in the winter, or in Langham, or in CeePee. The latter two stations were across the river, three or four miles away and accessible when the river was frozen.

[307] The shop is Globe Signs, Edward McCheane’s business on First Avenue in Saskatoon.

[308] Many friends are mentioned during Elsie’s weeks at the University. These are some of them.

[309] King George V.

[310] Alma Lund Senior. Her daughter is referred to as Alma.

[311] From the Internet: Wax-plucking, or adhesive dressing, is particularly designed to remove the hairs and pin feathers after most of the rough feathers have been removed. If dry roughed, the bird is allowed to cool to a skin temperature of about 70º and then immersed in especially prepared wax. If semi-scalded, the bird must be allowed to cool and dry after the rough feathers have been removed before dipping in the wax.

[312] Pullorum: - a highly destructive bacterial disease afflicting the young of domestic fowl and other birds, transmitted chiefly by the egg. Frank Saunders, 2004.

[313] T. J. Smith was the Saskatoon oculist who looked after the vision of the whole family.

[314] Princess had an udder infection. Working matter out – expressing pus from the milk ducts.

[315] From Frank Saunders September 2007: I wonder if this could be Pederson’s. They moved to the Boyle farm (see Borden History Book pp 236-237) I think that was where Alf Dyck later lived. Agnes married Clarence Orchard and Gladys married Sid Piprell.

[316] During the depression a great many people simply could not survive on the land, and sold up their goods and moved on. Presumably this man was one of these. According to Frank Saunders, September 2007, “This should be Victor Cowley. He had just received the position of municipal secretary at Arlee. He was married to Wilhelmina Wensley, the only sister of Vesta Wainwright. (my ex’s mother.) He had a brother Harry who had married a sister (Winifred) of Clifford Wainwright. I spoke to the only remaining Wensley of that family - Ken – and he said that the family didn’t move right away. Maybe they finished the school year at Borden. Their son Arthur was in the same grade as I was. They lived one mile northeast of Borden, beside the railway tracks, but that would now be beside the highway. I bought the land from him, I believe in 1946, for $500.00. It was cut in half by the railway and the south half now has ten acreages and homes on it.

[317] From Olive Chamness Stakland and Martha Chamness Bedell, August 2004, came the information that the family (except Merlin and Mary who had departed earlier) remained in Saskatoon for 20 days, waiting for better road conditions for the drive to Iowa. Then Harold and Olive returned to Valley Springs Ranch leaving Winnie and Martha in Saskatoon. Their final joint departure was April 28^th.

[318] Philip McCheane turned his hand to anything, self-taught. Here, it was boot repair. He was nineteen at this time.

[319] C. Epp drove the cream truck, and would oblige people needing a lift to or from Saskatoon if they complied with his schedule.

[320] Abe and Lizzie were Susie’s brother-in-law and younger sister . They had been married for about a year and a half, and lived in Hepburn.

[321] The meat would probably be from the calf killed a couple of weeks earlier.

[322] Connection unknown.

[323] Calling an animal after a species of potato – thereby surely must hang a tale.

[324] Flinch – a card game introduced in 1905. See: http://thehouseofcards.com/retail/flinch.html

[325] It may be that the friends failed to equip themselves for the cold weather, hence the loan of hats.

[326] This seems to be a friend of Harold Chamness.

[327] Rope-making: see http://www.rope-maker.com/makingrope.html Mary and Roberta both remember their father using a device like that shown at this web site to make rope, and helping in the process.

[328] “Fix” – castrate. Bull calves when neutered became better beef animals, and more tractable.

[329] The A-house or brooder was a small structure with steeply pitched roof down to the ground. It was home to the chicks.

[330] The Big Ravine was a small valley with a stream which ran in the spring. It was a mile to the west of the Ranch buildings, and on its high eastern bank were rings of stones, the evidence of an Indian encampment. Visiting and tracing out the Indian rings was always a treat for the Hinde children in later years.

[331] The Meeting house near Joshua Wake’s property would have been unused during the winter, and would require cleaning.

[332] Ernie’s surname unknown.

[333] In this part of the training of a young horse, efforts were made to teach the animal to tolerate “scares” without bolting.

[334] This is the first reference to purchasing new-hatched chicks from a hatchery.

[335] The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation party was formed in Alberta in 1932 and quickly spread across the prairies. The medical scheme referred to was an early approach to health insurance. For more information see: http://collections.ic.gc.ca/abpolitics/events/party_nd.html

[336] Stoneboat: a heavy wooden sledge on runners, built very low to the ground. Used for transport of large stones, sick animals and other heavy loads.

[337] Henry was in hospital in Saskatoon, very ill with kidney disease.

[338] Frank Saunders says, September 2007, “There was a Harris family that lived two miles north of Borden and three miles east. One boy, Harold, married Gertrude Larson.”

[339] Mary and Marion McLean, daughters of Olga and Alec McLean, were born on 18 April 1936. Word of their birth was slow to reach the rest of the family because their parents were homesteading in the northern edge of the arable part of Saskatchewan, remote and without a telephone.

[340] Muskoday, or Muskadee from another source, was the name of the house Ed McCheane built for Edith. According to their son Gordon it was a mile north of the Thistledale school.

[341] The fruit trees didn’t thrive. There were none on the property a few years later when the Hinde children’s memories begin.

[342] The business of branding and earmarking calves is described in Harry Hinde’s History of the East Borden Grazing Association.

[343] Esau Saunders was brother to the Nathan Saunders who was the patriarch of the Saunders family of Borden. Esau’s descendants remained in Saskatchewan, he himself returned to England a short time later and lived the rest of his life there.

[344] Trailing 180 head of cattle all day with two or perhaps three other riders – yes, she would be tired out!

[345] Neighbor, brother of Arnold Larsen. See Borden History book.

[346] Dr. Bildfel was one of several doctors who served the Borden area for short periods until Dr. Palsson came for a much longer period. The ten dollars, it is assumed, was paid for services rendered earlier; perhaps in relation to Harry’s injury some months earlier.

[347] Turnips.

[348] The tomato plants would have been started as seed in the “hot bed” – a wooden frame holding a layer of raw manure under a bed of earth, with old windows covering the frame. This procedure allowed plants to be started weeks before the last expected frost, with the manure generating the necessary heat.

[349] Connection unknown.

[350] How very casually Harry’s ride with a broken leg is related! Bob Hinde in As I Remember It describes this occasion with great admiration for his tough younger brother. Harry had to get on the horse, Fox, before he could ride home, and how he managed that, Bob could not guess.

[351] As nothing was said about medical attention to Harry’s broken leg, it is assumed that Harry’s splinting was home-made. We marvel at the toughness of our forebears.

[352] These would be the huge metal rear wheels of a steam tractor, presumably now defunct. The wheels were used for watering troughs for animals, set in cement and having the holes filled in and an overflow drain provided for.

[353] This was done to support the peas as they grew, a double row of sticks at an angle to each other on either side of the young peas.

[354] The young tomatoes would have been transplanted to the garden from the hotbed.

[355] It is taken that the north spring at the Big Pasture needed to be cleared in readiness for a season of use by hundreds of animals. It seems they planned to install one of the tractor wheels there as more permanent drinking trough. Rock and sand would have been for the trough’s foundation.

[356] Mary remembers pots and pans to catch the drips, on the floor of both the cottage and the big house, and coming in, being yelled at not to kick the pots of water over.

[357] King was their Clydesdale stallion standing at stud. They would have brought their mare to be bred.

[358] Connection not known.

[359] Frank Saunders, September 2007 “Could be Helen Penner, Cornie’s sister, who often worked for Mum (also her sister Agatha.) Could be she was working for Aunt Mary; only a guess.”

[360] Possibly Frank Wake, son of Joe and Agnes Wake.

[361] In the summer Elsie slept in a tent on a permanent wooden floor with walls about two feet high and a door frame.

[362] Probably George Rempel.

[363] This couple came from England on their honeymoon trip to visit relatives in Saskatchewan. Edmund was uncle of Mary Saunders McCheane.

[364] This was the first day of Canada’s longest and deadliest heat wave. Victoria Times-Colonist, February 13, 2005.

[365] Salt blocks were provided to supplement the diet of cattle and horses in areas – like this one – where there was insufficient salt in the soil. The blocks were solid salt, white or colored depending

on what trace minerals were added.

[366] Connection not known.

[367] The Thiessen boys were first cousins of Susie’s.

[368] David and Lydia Crabb. The Crabbs were one of the five Quaker families which came to Canada in the early years of the century. Lydia was sister to John and Edward McCheane.

[369] Taken to be a member of the MacKenzie family – see Borden History book – but no Pat MacKenzie is mentioned in the relevant writeup.

[370] The sweep was a horse-powered device that piled hay into stacks. The loader was pulled behind a hay rack, picking up swaths of hay using a revolving belt with claws. Bob Hinde describes these implements in his book, As I Remember It.

[371] In transcribing the diary, we put the dates right by placing going to Meeting in the appropriate days.

[372] Connection not known.

[373] The record books for the Big Pasture, in which each owner’s cattle were listed by brand, description, age, sex and sometimes name.

[374] Probably yet another hired man.

[375] Helen Fehr was Susie’s older sister.

[376] This would be Hannah Hatcher.

[377] Connection not known.

[378] Two horses pulled a binder. We take it that Tommy was unused to the binder, which was a noisy thing to be coming behind him. He was probably teamed with a horse more used to the work.

However – from Frank Saunders, September 2007, the following: “We always had four horses on a binder, but I’m sure Valley Springs horses were far superior to the nags we had.” (From Mary and Roberta: Valley Springs Ranch had a Clydesdale stallion and they worked hard to improve their draught stock, as well, later, as their riding horses.)

[379] Was it chicken pox? Mary definitely had it in 1951 so it may have been something else.

[380] There is a Stephen Forsey mentioned in the Borden History Book (1980). From Frank Saunders, September 2007: “The Forseys lived one mile east and one mile north of our place. The father Sam ran the ferry for some time. Their daughter Cluda married Bill Morgan.”

[381] This could have been the day that the picture was taken at the Meeting House, which appears in the Lowndes book, The Quakers of Fritchley.

[382] Len had homesteaded and proved up his quarter but by this time he had sold his property to the rest of the family and was living in Saskatoon. That land was still referred to as Len’s quarter.

[383] Cora was the step-daughter of Susie’s sister Olga. She was fifteen in 1936.

[384] Douglas Wake, his mother is Agnes; Frank is Doug’s next youngest brother. Ted is not known. Doug was eighteen in 1936.

[385] Neighbors.

[386] Hub City was Saskatoon.

[387] Connection unknown.

[388] Len’s injury must have been severe.

[389] Connection not known.

[390] Dr. Palsson’s stay in Borden as the municipality’s doctor is described by Bob Hinde in As I Remember It (2004).

[391] Martha Hinde was being monitored for possible tuberculosis infection.

[392] This entry is in a different hand – it may be Harry Hinde’s or Martha Hinde’s.

[393] Probably a family from Great Deer district.

[394] Probably truckers from Saskatoon.

[395] From Frank Saunders, September 2007: “There was a Roy Clarke living on the farm that later became Sid Piprell’s place.” Later in his comments he notes, “In the Borden History Book it says, Adam’s sonk, Roy, left in the early thirties. When I worked for Syril Golding threshing in 1943, 44 and 45, I remember a Hermar Anderson farming there. Sid moved there in 1945, so I guess it was Sid’s we threshed for in 1945.”

[396] Connection unknown.

[397] These farmers would have had cattle at the Big Pasture; now the cattle were being returned for the winter to their respective farms.

[398] The Raleigh man and the Watkins man were the last of the traveling peddlers of cooking supplies and spices. They always turned up at Valley Springs Ranch just before the mid-day meal!

[399] The Lavoies raised horses. Not known whether they lent horses for the roundup, or whether they pastured horses for the summer at the Big Pasture.

[400] Canners were animals that were old and tough, hence suitable for canning rather than as fresh meat..

[401] A grader was a large scoop shovel with two handles, pulled by a two horse team. The grading in the corral would be to remove the accumulated manure. The manure would then be applied where needed on fields, hauled by a stoneboat. From Frank Saunders, September 2007: “We used to call these slushers. We used them a lot for cleaning out drinking holes in the pasture. There was a larger one with only one handle in the middle, we called a ‘frezno.” Neither word is in the dictionary.”

[402] The barn was made of logs. Sticks were used to fill in the major cracks between the horizontal logs. The sticks were held in place and the remaining cracks filled with a plaster made of clay from the riverbank, straw and cow manure – fresh cowpies. This was done in the fall to weatherproof the barn for the winter.

[403] This may have been the representative of the cattle auction house in Saskatoon.

[404] Apparently another farmer who had been unable to continue in the dirty thirties.

[405] Apparently the barn had been raised up from its original foundation of logs – probably now rotted - in preparation for placement of concrete foundations.

[406] McDermids – see reference in Borden History Book.

[407] Wensleys – see references in Borden History Book.

[408] Family friend from Saskatoon, a professional librarian. Her father Dave Murray was also a staunch friend of the family.

[409] Connection unknown.

[410] Movie was about the life and short reign of Lady Jane Grey. Starred Miles Malleson and Cedric Hardwicke.

[411] Beulah was probably a friend of Elsie’s – still a patient – from the time Elsie also was a patient at the Saskatoon Tuberculosis Sanitarium.

[412] Connection not known.

[413] King, the stallion which had run off, must have encountered barbed wire fences in his escapade.

[414] Probably Bible Society. Mary recalls that Grandma Hinde supported the Bible Society.

[415] Probably D. R. Dyck’s, misspelled. Thistle Dale farmers.

[416] This would be an electric generator.

[417] Horses weren’t branded; instead their hair was clipped with a special clipper in the form of an H, at the top of the foreleg.

[418] Evidently a new hired man.

[419] This was for human consumption. It was ground in a coffee grinder which was attached to the wall of the pantry. The ground grain was soaked overnight in a big pot on the back of the stove which at this time of year would be kept going all night. In the morning after Grandpa (Joseph Hinde) woke everybody up by yelling “Roll OUT!” the men would go and feed the animals and do the milking. Then Grandpa would spend that hour cooking the porridge, stirring it on the stove which would now be built up enough to give good heat.

[420] Comfort felt was a form of insulation, black felted material about half an inch thick that would be nailed to the studs. Any left-over scraps were used as insoles in winter footwear.

[421] See http://scaa.usask.ca/gallery/uofs_events/articles/1932.php. This article notes that the Borden Bridge was completed in late 1936, as a make-work project.

[422] Jack Gibbenthal, who had a general store in Langham and was regarded as a family friend.

[423] Rennie is taken to be a friend of Ruth McCheane’s.

[424] Bob commissioned the making of a spinning wheel for Elsie – the cost was $10.00. Mary Hinde Crane has this spinning wheel now.

[425] A member of the Mennonite community – not a relative of Susie’s.

[426] Lydia was a McCheane, sister to John and Edward and Hannah Mary.

[427] The electrical plant ran on gasoline. It seems that there was not a proper exhaust system at this time – the plant was in the cellar. It was run for two hours from dinnertime to charge the batteries.

[428] Mary as an adult asked her mother about this. Susie said, “We were very disappointed. He had always been so admired and looked up to for doing his duty. And now he had given up his duty for that woman.”

[429] The abdication of Edward VII was instantaneous. King George had been king for three days; his birthday was indeed on December 14^th.

[430] Norwich, Ontario. Martha Hinde’s sister Mary Wake Hallam lived there with her family.

[431] This involved sawing poplar trees for stove wood. The limbs would have been cut off as the small trees were felled, to allow for efficient stacking in the wagon or sleigh. They were sawed into fifteen inch lengths. The twenty-inch circular saw was powered by an automobile engine – probably from the vehicle that became a Bennett buggy. The sturdy bench that Bob had been working on supported the wood as it was fed into the saw.

[432] Effie McKenzie was to marry John Taylor. She was a good friend of Susie’s.

[433] Connection unknown.

[434] Muriel Brunst Bergman – daughter of Blanche, sister of Oscar and Stan.

[435] Do we remember the picture, or was it the story? According to Bob Hinde’s story the eagle perched on the barn roof because its mate had been shot and was in the bunkhouse where Bob had taken it after he found it dead. Valley Springs Ranch was posted NO HUNTING but poachers did not always obey the signs. The young dog that perched, seemingly empathizing beside the grieving eagle, was a border collie mix.

[436] The aerial would be put up to improve reception on the radio referred to in December.

[437] The manure was used as an alternative to sand on the icy trail up the riverbank.

[438] Cumulative for the week, probably. The family counted on Elsie’s diary as a record of what was owed to others.

[439] Stovepipes. Doing this would require letting the stoves go out, which suggests that there was a serious concern about buildup of soot and the threat of fire.

[440] Previously Elsie called it the Ranch – the East Borden Grazing Cooperative.

[441] This must be a cumulative count for the week.

[442] One of Roberta’s nicknames. She was fourteen months old at this time.

[443] Runners – perhaps four of them if this was a bob-sleigh.

[444] The landing was the place on the riverbank where the winter trail crossed the river over the ice. The boats were tied up here in the summer, and the fish trap was usually placed in the river near the landing in the summertime.

[445] Previously the rocks were hauled to the railway bridge at Ceepee. This is the first indication of taking rocks to the highway bridge.

[446] After butchering, strips of beef were cut along the grain of the muscle and hung indoors to dry. After they were dry the strips were dipped in melted paraffin wax to preserve them.

[447] Presumably J. Powers was a farmer near Langham who had straw to sell.

[448] There were government programs to help the farmers and ranchers in the depression – this one was for feed for the animals and seed grain for spring. It was regarded as a little shameful if they couldn’t manage to support themselves, but did accept help even with respect to the animals and crops. Bob and Susie were proud that they had never accepted “relief” for themselves.

[449] There was a cistern in the cellar that collected rainwater from the eaves-troughs. This was used in the kitchen/dining room pump for washing hair and laundry. The pump in the cooking kitchen where the big range was, supplied water needs for drinking and cooking and came from a very pure spring well under the north end of the kitchen. This water also supplied the bathtub; there was a water tank upstairs that was “pumped up” daily by Joseph Hinde.

[450] The crowbars would have been worn down from earlier digging in the frozen ground to get rocks for the rock haul.

[451] According to the Borden Heritage Book Catherine McPherson died on March 12, 1937. This family was among the first to settle in the Borden area.

[452] Probably Art Doyle, a friend from Saskatoon.

[453] Historical drama with Fred McMurray and Claudette Colbert, made in 1937.

[454] Melodrama made in 1937. Starred Errol Flynn. From a Lloyd C. Douglas book.

[455] Logs – usually poplar – were first sawn into stove-lengths. The thicker logs were then split using an axe into halves or quarters.

[456] A Borden family. Reference to Harry’s book is not understood.

[457] Connection unknown.

[458] Amanda is not known. The shower would be for Lucie who was married to George Rempel on April 12 1937.

[459] It appears that hay was traded for oats. Hay grew well on the river flat; grains did poorly on the plateaus above the river in the dry thirties but oats were required for the horses.

[460] Chaps were leather leggings buckled on over trousers, worn when working cattle on horse back. Their main purpose was to protect the rider’s legs when in the saddle, when riding through thorny brush. They also protected the rider from rain.

[461] Connection unknown.

[462] Before the ice broke up and went out, melt-water collected on the surface. It was still passable but increasingly risky to cross on the ice.

[463] Assumed to be Fred Weston. He must have made a purchase from Valley Springs Ranch - perhaps livestock.

[464] Fox was a sorrel stallion who was never tamed all the way by Harry. He was bright and spirited and beautiful. Mary and Roberta remember him well.

[465] A Friend; there are many references to her on the Internet. It is likely that she would be speaking about the Spanish Civil War.

[466] A. and Leane are assumed to be Saskatoon friends.

[467] This was the first car the family owned. It was a 1929 Model A Ford.

[468] Reverend Littlewood may have been a Baptist minister. The Saloways were Baptists; Ben Saloway was a lay preacher and acted as minister in the early days before a qualified minister was available.

[469] The Bronk lives in the myths of Valley Springs Ranch. He was said to be an Indian pony, not large, and came from the Rockies. Horse-traders came with a herd of horses to sell. They had been trying to get rid of the Bronk all across Alberta and Saskatchewan and nobody would buy him because he was mean and unrideable. Harry said, “I’ll ride him.” The traders said, “If you can ride him, you can have him.” Harry rode him, and the Bronk was his. Harry and the Bronk matched each other in stubbornness and toughness. The last time the Bronk threw Harry was in 1961 - Mary remembers this well. The Bronk was by this time elderly as horses go, but as usual he bucked when first ridden, and bucked himself into barbed wire and went crazy, throwing Harry severely and breaking his pelvis. Harry was hospitalized for some time with this injury and thereafter always walked with an awkward gait. Harry was then 59 years old.

[470] By the time Mary’s memories begin this lily pool was just a depression in the flagstones of the patio.

[471] Overseer’s meeting: was this an activity in relation to the municipality?

[472] Raspberry canes. These would have come from her mother’s farm. Katherina Rempel had a green thumb up to her elbow.

[473] A Saskatoon friend.

[474] Elsie rarely expressed complaint or even comment. This must have been a truly dreadful experience.

[475] Not known which Katie this would be.

[476] The Borden Bridge was completed in late 1936. Possibly the formal opening ceremony was planned for the better weather in early summer, combining it with the King’s Birthday celebrations. Mary Hinde Crane bitterly regrets that she was too young to remember this important occasion.

[477] Connection not known.

[478] The movie that Sonia Heinie (spelled severally in different references) made in 1937 was called Thin Ice. Male lead was Tyrone Power.

[479] The “plaster” was the clue to who Fred Weston was. He was the man who stuccoed Bob Hinde’s cottage and plastered the inside of the big house. In Bob Hinde’s book, As I Remember It, he devotes a chapter to this man, entitled “The Right Man for the Job.”

[480] There is a picture taken at this time, of Katharina Rempel, her three daughters – Laura, Mary and Susanna, and Susanna’s two daughters. This picture is included in Susanna’s book of stories, The Rempel Stories, Part II, privately published 2004.

[481] Young animals had their budding horns removed to prevent injuries when fighting. They were sawn off, and as the horns were still growing and had a good blood supply, there was often much spurting of blood. This was controlled to some extent by placing a ring of old inner tube around the stumps of both horns.

[482] Before drywall, laths – slats of wood, 3/16ths by one inch by four feet - were nailed over the studs in the interior wall about a quarter of an inch apart. Then wet plaster was applied to the laths, with small amounts squeezing through the cracks. These squeezings were called “keys” and held the wall of plaster in place.

[483] Beams were installed to support the plaster ceiling. They were not of solid wood but constructed of lumber.

[484] Frank Saunders, September 2007: “ There was a Walter Brown at Langham. He was on the Saskatoon West School Unit Board at the same time that I was. The Langham school is named for him. There were also Browns northeast of Borden, but I don’t remember a W.”

[485] It is assumed that the six horses brought by W. Brown were bought and taken for use at the Ranch during the roundup. The horses could also have been lent or rented for the period of the roundup.

[486] Cyrus Cooper and William Stanley were visiting Friends from the United States. Cyrus Cooper is referred to on the Internet.

[487] This seems to be a new Tommy!

[488] These seem to be Susie’s connections. J. Thiessen may be her cousin.

[489] Clients of the Community Pasture.

[490] Connection not known.

[491] Bob Brand was one of the Ole and Astrid Brand family of Borden.

[492] The “A” may be a brand or an initial – not known.

[493] See http://www.bitlessbridle.com/gallery.phtml A war bridle is a bitless training bridle.

[494] Stella’s pasture was a part of the Community pasture that had been owned by this Stella. Bob Hinde writes of her and her connection with Valley Springs Ranch in As I Remember It.

[495] Connection not known.

[496] Connection not known.

[497] Topping a stack involved arranging the top layer of hay so that it would shed rain.

[498] “Beef” would be cattle intended for sale for meat.

[499] Spiller seems to be a buyer for the Saskatoon stockyards.

[500] Initials? Brands? Part of the responsibility of managing the community pasture was keeping records of this nature.

[501] Connection not known.

[502] A connection by marriage to the Hinde and Wake families.

[503] Daughter of Lilah and Leslie Pope of Halcyonia.

[504] It seems that the hired man, Walter, had the surname of Johnson.

[505] Extra horses were always needed for the roundup, spring and fall.

[506] Helen , Susie’s sister, was expecting her third child imminently (Julia was born on September 4) and the Sunday visit in the middle of haying and roundup may have been the only time Susie could go to help her sister.

[507] Fox had been a spirited stallion, recently gelded, but clearly the spirit remained. Given Elsie’s mastery of understatement, we think “pitched a little” meant Fox had made a sincere attempt to buck Elsie off, and had failed, where a few days earlier he had bucked off Eric.

[508] The knives would be the blades of the mower, which were bolted on and could be removed for sharpening. Mary Crane remembers an incident relating to the danger of these sharp blades. A hired man was mowing on Twenty-six; he came riding down on his bicycle to get the blades sharpened, holding the eight-foot mower arm with all its blades, balanced on his forearms as he cycled. He hit a bump and a blade cut deeply into his arm. He continued to the house, and asked Elsie to help him. Mary came into the house and saw them sitting at the dining room table. There was a white cloth under his arm as Elsie sewed up the deep cut. Neither of them made any kind of a fuss. The young man sat very still, and she sewed. She said to Mary, “Not now, dear, I’m busy.” People were tough in those days, and did what they had to do.

[509] Breaking at this period would not likely be unplowed prairie, but rather preparing land from which brush and trees had been removed.

[510] An infectious disease of horses.

See http://www.horses-and-horse-information.com/articles/0196stran.shtml

[511] Assumed to be a Saskatoon friend with a car.

[512] Cattle were put out on arable land after the crop was taken off. This was one of the years that the crop was so poor that Bob writes of not getting his seed back at harvest.

[513] This is clearly a comestible but it rings no bells in the memory of the editors or on Google.

[514] Halcyonia farmer – 18 years old at this time - later married a granddaughter of Esau Saunders.

[515] Can’t tell from context if these are people or animals! From Frank Saunders, September 2007: “There was a Roy Cox living in Halcyonia.”

[516] Assumed to be clients of the Community Pasture – may be from Langham. However from Frank Saunders, September 2007: “There was a Mike Struan and a Roman Shypowich living north and east of Borden.”

[517] It’s fall, and the log barn needs to have its chinks sealed up again.

[518] This was a big decorative Quebec heater with mica sheets in the door. It had chromed fenders at the sides and back; the menfolks would often sit with their feet on the fenders. In the memory of her grandchildren the heater in Grandma’s parlour remained in the parlour all year but evidently it had been taken down at some point this year and was now replaced for the winter. Possibly this happened every fall without our being aware of it.

[519] The chickens would have run free for the summer and early fall, and were now being put into their refurbished loft above the cow barn, for the winter. They would be about to start to lay, these young hens, and needed to be housed where their eggs could be found!

[520] The health insurance system as we know it now in Canada came into effect across Canada in about 1960. Health insurance started MUCH earlier in Saskatchewan, and obviously was talked about much earlier again.

[521] The Canada Lye man sounds like a commercial traveler but this is uncertain. Connection unknown for Mike Waychuk.

[522] Art Weatherby ran one of the two general stores in Borden. In 1937 it began its evolution into the Coop store.

[523] Road maintenance and repair was done with a big scoop with two handles, pulled by a team. One man drove the horses, the other manhandled the scoop.

[524] The McDermids were a Halcyonia family; Charlotte was the matriarch.

[525] Connection uncertain. There are several Clark/Clarke families in the Borden history book.

[526] This was likely necessary because people often attempted to hunt on the ranch property, which was posted against hunting.

[527] Bob had sustained a riding injury some time earlier which had not healed well; the doctor prescribed a series of electrical treatments in Saskatoon. The family took advantage of this necessity for Bob to enroll in the School of Agriculture. See his history of this winter in his book, As I Remember It. The furniture was to equip the room that Bob and Susie and the children, Mary and Roberta, occupied at Edith and Ed’s home in Saskatoon. This day is also memorable as the day that Mary and Roberta, left behind in the care of their grandmother, got “lost.” This story is told in the Rempel Cousins Book by Roberta Rivett.

[528] A movie theatre on 20^th Street, second run films and a second class establishment.

[529] Lloyd’s of London, 1936, historical drama starring Tyrone Power and Madeleine Carroll.

[530] White navy beans, grown in great quantity. When they were shelled a fair amount of the brittle shells got in with the beans, which then had to be carefully cleaned. These were soaked overnight, then cooked the oven in a bean crock for hours and eaten as Boston baked beans. They were a winter staple.

[531] Part of the pantry was the space under the stairs to the upper storey.

[532] This is the seventh year of the drought. Cattle would eat rank rushes when starving, or perhaps this vegetation was intended for their bedding.

[533] Fences were still not totally in place, and bulls got out of their intended enclosures and mated with cows at all seasons. By thirty years later, all the calves were born within a couple of weeks’ period in April. Coral having a calf at this season meant having to get a very young calf through the winter – but also having a cow freshened – giving milk.

[534] Storm windows were used as an insulating layer – a second set of windows put on in the fall and taken off again in the spring.

[535] Relief wages: the government allowed $10.00 a month to rural people who employed others. The kinder employers gave the money to the men and women who were hired. Others worked for half of the relief money, or only for their board and room. At that time, they were glad to get it.

From Frank Saunders, October 2004: The program was federally funded and locally administered. He remembers his father employing a young man on this basis - $5.00 to the young man, $5.00 to the farmer.

[536] Socials: a generic term for community gatherings. There would be strawberry socials in season, for example, and this one being in early winter involved pie. Each family would bring a pie and there was a certain amount of competition for the best!

[537] Connection not known.

[538] From Barry Hinde, September 2004: I remember making horseshoes at the forge in front of the bunkhouse at Valley Springs Ranch. Horses at the Ranch were shod when they were worked or ridden. From Frank Saunders: We rarely shod horses, either for riding or for field work. I think it depended on the nature of the land. Where it was soft loam, no shoes were necessary. Horses were shod for traction when traveling over the river ice in the winter. Unshod, their hooves had to be trimmed regularly at least once a year.

[539] Connection not known, but using the honorific is unusual for Elsie. Was she a schoolteacher?

[540] Connection not known.

[541] This may be Eleanor Williams, a Great Deer woman who helped out when women needed assistance, often at the time of the arrival of babies. She came to look after Mary, Roberta and Barry when Susie was in Borden Hospital having David.

[542] There was very little crop this year; 1937 and 1938 were the worst years of the drought. There was no straw for bedding – or even fodder – for the animals. Dried rushes from the river flats were used to bed the animals.

[543] It seems that an effort was being made to segregate the Hereford (white face) animals from the others in the effort to save the animals with the best breeding, giving them what food there was to supplement what they could find under the snow, foraging.

[544] According to an Internet web site, finger craft is tatting.

[545] Auntie Annie – Anne Wake Sturge, Martha’s sister – kept close touch with the family in Canada, as evidenced by those of her letters which survived to the 1980s to be donated to the Saskatchewan Archives Board. See also “Letters to the Ranch” to be privately published in 2008.

[546] Muskrat traps. See Bob Hinde’s story in As I Remember It, privately published 2007.

[547] Meaning that the call had gone out from the railway that rock was needed to shore up the foundations of the railway bridge at CeePee, and that money was to be made hauling rock. It was to prepare for this money-generating activity that during open months of the year the men piled rock on the beach or on the hills.

[548] Probably Ida Chamness, mother of Merlin, Winnie’s husband. She was a well-known Quaker preacher in Iowa, where Winnie and Merlin returned after their winter at Valley Springs Ranch.

[549] “Fixed up” – there was no money to get anything new lumber, new parts for equipment. There was a constant need for repair of buildings, fences, machinery, harness, transport vehicles, clothing. The catch phrase for the Thirties was “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”

[550] The children would be Mary and Roberta, in Saskatoon with their parents while Bob was attending the University and getting treatment for his old injury, and probably also Roger, Len and Ruth’s son. All three would be toddlers at this time – three, two and three respectively.

[551] Betty would be the oldest child of Eddy and Sissie Saunders; she would have been 14 at this time, visiting her cousin Ruth McCheane.

[552] Mary Crane remembers her father saying that this well never was much good. It would have been a great labour-saving to have water accessible right in the barn.

[553] Manure of any kind – an Elizabethan term.

[554] Bob had paid a man in a nearby community ten dollars to make a spinning wheel for Elsie.

[555] Connection not known.

[556] Jim was a hired man; his notices from the Government may have been in connection with his relief wages.

[557] This mending would have been done with a soldering iron. The tank referred to was probably the water tank in the kitchen.

[558]. Harry hated milking and was heard to say that he would give a quarter to anyone who would milk a cow for him. Mary learned to milk on Cynthia, and demanded a quarter the first time she completed the job. Cynthia later was the family cow when the Bob Hinde family moved to Borden.

[559] Laurence (actually Lawrence) was Winnie and Merlin’s last child.

[560] Connection unknown.

[561] It is not clear which Peggy had the convulsions but it is assumed to be Peggy Parks and not Peggy Saloway. The story explaining the presence of this woman and her baby at Valley Springs Ranch is unknown.

[562] Elsie’s autograph book for this period is owned by Jim and Lorraine Olinyk of Borden, Saskatchewan. Entries in the book have been scanned and will be made in the near future into a small volume – three of Elsie’s autographs books, one of Bob’s and one of Len’s . Some of the entries are miniature works of art.

[563] This is the height of the Dirty Thirties; crops were poor or non-existent. Straw was sent by freight train from elsewhere, perhaps Ontario, for bedding for the animals.

[564] This was a large treed island in the middle of the North Saskatchewan river. The biggest trees were cottonwoods.

[565] From the Internet: Cant hook - Stout wooden lever used in rolling logs. Differs from a peavey in that it has no spike in the end of the stock. -Tool similar to a peavey, having a toe ring and lip at the end instead of a spike.

[566] From the Internet: Clevis -U-shaped metal fitting, with a pin connecting the two ends, used for connecting cables and rigging). - C-shaped hook with a pin through it for use in towing or attaching to a cable.

[567] Reapplying putty around the windowpanes where it had dried and cracked would reduce heat loss and cut down the drafts.

[568] Is this Peggy Parks and her baby? Doesn’t seem to be Peggy Saloway.

[569] Apparently people from over the river, probably Langham. The trail across the river came through the yard of the big house, then through the barnyard and on up the hill.

[570] Ring-necked pheasants. They were not native to North America and had been brought by many English immigrants with the thought of providing game for hunting as in England. Henry Badman had brought these pheasants from England as eggs, and they had thrived when released. The Hinde property was posted against hunting, and rather than shoot the birds, they fed them in the winter, even when grain had to be obtained on relief. See also story in Susanna Hinde’s book, Rempel Stories Part I, 2004.

[571] Connection not known.

[572] Water front is a tank attached to the firebox side of a wood or coal-burning range. Coils in the water front are attached to a water tank for storage of heated water, and a water source, in this case a well in the kitchen.

[573] Probably Jack Giventhal, who operated a general store in Langham and was a friend of the family.

Penner’s might be a café.

[574] Henry Badman was ill. The chores would be feeding and watering the animals and milking the cows.

[575] This Sykes may be one of the family of visiting Friends from the eastern United States, mentioned by Mary Saunders McCheane in her diary in about 1914.

[576] Three days earlier there was water on top of the ice and the last trip was made with a team. This time the boys walked over the river, and the anxiety would be due to the possibility that the ice would break up with them in the middle of it.

[577] The pipes and tanks and faucets that Harry had been working on represented a major improvement in the plumbing system. Now it was possible to have a bath without carrying the water upstairs to the bathroom.

[578] Mary Hinde Crane remembers helping her grandfather shingling the walls of the garage, being instructed how to select shingles of suitable size. She would have been three and a half years old.

[579] Connection not known but evidently a helpful neighbour. The only Badmans were Henry and his wife, so this must be his wife, perhaps visiting the Hindes as a break from looking after her sick husband.

[580] See Bob Hinde’s story about this, in his book As I Remember It.

[581] The fish net or trap is also described in Bob Hinde’s book. His granddaughter Mary remembers his smile when fish were caught and brought up to the house. Grandpa didn’t smile often; Mary asked why he smiled over the fish. Grandma said it was because when he was a boy in England they ate fish almost daily.

[582] There is an Andrew Saunders, son of Esau – this may be the person referred to. Pete Siemens – connection unknown.

[583] Connection not known, but suspect he was a Visiting Friend.

[584] We suspect that this would be a CCF nominating convention.

[585] This is the version of Robin Hood that made Errol Flynn famous. Wee Willie Winkie was a 1937 Shirley Temple movie, one of her best according to Leonard Maltin.

[586] This may be Peggy Saloway, who had severe rheumatoid arthritis.

[587] This is taken to be in connection with the Quaker Meeting.

[588] Connection unknown.

[589] A rich fruit cake. See also http://www.juliangraves.co.uk/pages/press_releases/29_04_02/easter_200302.html

[590] These would be the weaned calves fed on the skim milk the cream had been separated from the milk.

[591] Planting the potatoes was a task that several were involved in, as Mary Hinde Crane remembers it. The sorting of the potatoes had been done earlier. Then Grandma cut the seed potatoes so that there was an eye in each section. Grandpa and Bob and Susie dug the holes and covered them, and the small children (who didn’t have so far to bend!) placed the potato section, with the eye uppermost, into the hole, pressing it in firmly.

[592] The picnic would be in celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday. May 24^th was not at this time a national holiday, but was celebrated by people of English origin.

[593] Two catalogues came: T. Eaton and Robert Simpson’s. Simpson’s combined with Sears to be Simpson-Sears in the 1960s, then the Simpson name disappeared and only Sears remains.

[594] The river would rise, sometimes to flood levels, at breakup when there were ice jams. This would be around the end of April. The June rise was caused by the snow melting in the mountains, far upstream.

[595] Mary Hinde Crane remembers hearing about this. The colt fought so hard against its impending castration when it was roped that it broke its neck. This was regarded as a tragedy.

[596] Connection not known.

[597] The reference to a pump at Richard, and now to a steam engine at Waldheim, point to the beginning of implementation of a plan to build an irrigation system.

[598] These would be local people helping with the roundup.

[599] Connection not known.

[600] Redberry Lake was a nearby resort, now a provincial park and bird sanctuary.

[601] Perhaps a Saskatoon friend.

[602] Henry Badman was ill in hospital – possibly due to an infection in his cut earlier. As good neighbours, the Hinde family undertook looking after his animals – the cows requiring milking twice a day. Perhaps his fences weren’t in good order, permitting the cows to wander. The cows were finally collected and brought to Valley Springs Ranch so that they could be milked and presumably fed there, with considerable time saving. They would need to be penned up or they would try to return home.

[603] It is taken that the slough was drying and probably alkaline, and being young animals they would not know the way to fresh water at springs or troughs.

[604] Connection not known.

[605] Leo Hansen was husband of Stella Todd’s daughter Sophie. Stella’s pasture was west of the Community Pasture and may have been rented or leased to the Community Pasture. See also Bob Hinde’s story in his book, As I Remember It.

[606] Logs used for construction needed to have their bark stripped off. A special blade with a handle at each end was used for this purpose.

[607] These people, also Bob M., may be friends from a distance, perhaps Saskatoon. The Saskatchewan River below Valley Springs Ranch had a beach and a safe area to swim in the lee of an island. With the river valley being dotted with springs, the Ranch gardens flourished even in the driest years of the depression. There was always food and the hospitality was generous.

[608] Brome grass – coarse grass for forage.

[609] Sally is a cow; Jock is her calf. Putting her in slings meant she would be held in a standing position, otherwise when ill she would lie on her side and cause compression of her lungs.

[610] Silos for storage of forage for the animals were long narrow pits, rather than the tall structures as seen in Ontario.

[611] This was probably the former home of the Adam Clarke family, just west of Valley Springs Ranch along the river. Adam Clarke’s son Roy had sold the farm, called Kenjockety (see Borden Heritage Book) by this time, but in the manner of country people everywhere it was still referred to as Clarkes’ place.

[612] Taken to be a client of the Community Pasture. Spelling is uncertain.

[613] It had been a month since Harry had been thrown and trampled by his horse.

[614] Hannah Pollard was a teacher in Ontario, and a member of the Friends’ community near Norwich, Ontario. She was to marry Joshua Wake the following year.

[615] Harry had been some weeks in this cast following his injury – on “light duties” and riding in the buggy rather than horseback. It must have been a relief to get the cast off.

[616] There was such a poor crop that thistles were used for animal food.

[617] Lumber was not bought – if lumber was needed, it was salvaged from previous use – or as a gift of the river. This was the way of the thirties.

[618] A 1937 Gene Autry movie.

[619] Stewart Orchard was later to become a general practitioner and was the family doctor for the Hinde family in Saskatoon.

[620] Connection unknown. It is assumed that Percy and Amanda were a team of horses.

[621] Probably a hired girl. Agnes Hynd was a long time ill and there was usually a hired girl in that household.

[622] Adcott. It appears that Mr. Adcott had a defunct engine from which he was offering parts. From Frank Saunders, September 2007: “I think this is probably Adcock’s. They lived on the quarter just north of our home place. He was uncle to Bob Clarke, Ted Foster and Harold Foster. The Bob Clarkes lived on the quarter east of them and Harry and Ruth Clarke – twins – were in the same grade as I was. Harry was always bragging about his tractor, but I never saw it working. It just sat in the bush. This winter at the Western Development Museum, (I volunteer there) we have been restoring that same model of tractor. Last week we had finished it to the stage where we were trying to start it, with limited success. I am going in again tomorrow and hope we will succeed. (We did! Today, September 1, 2007.)

[623] Clothing left too long on the line in that dry climate got firmly wrinkled. Before ironing could reasonably be expected to remove the wrinkles, it had to be damped – sprinkled with water and folded so as to allow the cloth to become evenly damp.

[624] Harry Hallam was cousin to the Hinde family – son of Martha Wake Hinde’s sister Mary.

[625] Hurricane – a 1937 John Ford movie starring Mary Astor, Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall. From novel by Nordoff and Hall.

[626] Katie Crabb had married a Goodrich and lived in Radisson.

[627] The hired man of a client of the Community Pasture.

[628] Ada may have been the nurse who accompanied the doctor on most of his deliveries.

[629] CC is not a familiar abbreviation for outdoor privy or outhouse, or WC (for Water Closet, or Waste Collection) but this is what was meant.

[630] Several sales are mentioned in the fall of 1938 – the worst year of the dirty thirties. People who had started the year hopefully saw that little or no crop - and therefore income - had resulted, and those who didn’t have the feed to keep their animals over the winter, simply sold their goods and their homestead and moved on.

[631] Rosie as an adult sow was vicious. Once she got out of her pen and chased the two little girls, Mary and Roberta. The girls were strictly ordered to stay away from Rosie when she had littered, because if she was disturbed she might eat her piglets. We didn’t disturb her and she ate them anyway. She was subsequently butchered.

[632] Tommy was one of the sons of Arnold and Nellie Larson; it was said at his birth that he was meant to be a cowboy. Here, at age about twenty, he was helping with the Community Pasture roundup.

[633] Mary and Roberta remember those birds – small African parrots. They were blue and yellow. Their hanging cage was in the parlour of the Big House.

[634] Apparently another member of the Community Pasture.

[635] And another.

[636] And another.

[637] Connection not known.

[638] Connection not known.

[639] Perhaps one of the Langham owners.

[640] See Bob Hinde’s story in As I Remember It.

[641] Burlap, glued to the wall to a height of about three feet and painted, finished at the top with a narrow board called a chair rail, was an inexpensive form of wainscoting, and helped provide insulation.

[642] The plateau of the riverbank on which the Ranch buildings were located was riddled with springs. In the treed areas and farther down the slope in the open, the continuously running water formed bogs and muskeg. The Hinde children were forbidden to go in the bogs, so in the manner of all children we went there when nobody was looking – heading for the hills, and then circling round to explore the bogs. The river too was forbidden and that caveat we always obeyed – it looked dangerous, and the bogs didn’t.

[643] This is the first reference to the Ranch people obtaining any sort of relief (now would be called welfare or social assistance) for themselves.

[644] Rendering honey – separating honey in the comb from the wax and unwanted bits of insects, etc.

[645] Connection unknown.

[646] Probably chinking – filling in the gaps between the logs with manure and straw.

[647] Green tomatoes were laid on newspapers under beds, to ripen.

[648] Presumably, young women of the McAvoy family.

[649] Connection unknown.

[650] To attend the Christmas concert, probably.

[651] A 1938 comedy with Joe E. Brown.

[652] Drama starring Claude Raines, from a book by Lloyd Douglas.

[653] http://www.dsloan.com/catalogues/RanchCat1/851-875Web1041.htm This site gives details of the book, including the asking price in 2005 of $600.00.

[654] Connection unknown.

[655] Foxtail was a weed of the grass family, the seed heads of which could harm animals’ mouths. The fact that poorer feed was being used for the animals is a reflection of the poor harvests in these drought years.

[656] Probably Joshua was visiting his intended, Hannah Pollard, in Ontario. They were to be married later this year. Farmers travelled in the wintertime!

[657] This is probably Jack Giventhal, owner of one of the general stores in Langham. There is no earlier mention of his establishment having burned, but evidently it did so. This may explain why Carruthers – we believe the owner of the other store – bought the firewood from the Ranch.

[658] A visiting Friend.

[659] Government bills – taken to be the paperwork related to getting funding to pay hired men.

[660] The horses would have been fending for themselves on the river hills, and evidently not faring too well.

[661] It seems that Harry was taken across the ice to Langham to catch the train to Borden to see the doctor, and two days later, walked to the riverbank from Borden where Bob picked him up.

[662] Ditcher: From Frank Saunders, February 2005: This may have been a device for ditching in relation to the flooding of the river flats every spring, or in relation to preparation for the irrigation system which was built later in 1939, and for which items like pipes were already being assembled.

[663] Surname not known, but was evidently a client of the Community Pasture.

[664] From Frank Saunders, February 2005: Frank remembers working for a dollar a ton, unloading coal from a boxcar by wheelbarrow. First he found a disused door, or planks, to make a ramp to the sliding door of the boxcar, then loaded the wheelbarrow and wheeled it to the storage bin near the track. When all the good quality lump coal had been offloaded, what was left was about half a ton of “coal shorts” – smaller bits of coal down to dust, which had sifted down to the bottom of the boxcar during transport. This was sold for much less than the lump coal. It couldn’t be used like lumps could, to keep a stove going overnight, but did add to the heat of burning wood when sprinkled on it.

[665] Howard Buswell ‘s involvement with the Community Pasture was referred to in the Borden History Book.

[666] Upset on hill – meaning, the sleigh carrying the load of hay overturned. The hill was steep and twisting, and there would still be much snow, and ice ruts. The horses would have to be calmed, the sleigh righted and the straw forked back on to the hayrack on sleighs.

[667] Screenings, also referred to as mill feed – all elevators had a fanning mill to clean grain for seed. The material cleaned out of the seed grain was weed seeds, broken grain, wild oats. It was sold cheaply as animal feed. After the depression it was often regarded as valueless so the farmers didn’t bother picking it up even if it was free. But during the depression it was valued as animal feed. This information from Frank Saunders, February 2005.

[668] This was a wagon that was loaded with manure, with gears that moved the load toward the back and a device that threw the manure thinly and evenly out the back of the wagon in a fan shape.

[669] A lower grade of the grain.

[670] The little engine was in the basement of the Big House; it ran every afternoon for two hours to charge up so that there would be electric night at night. Evidently the little engine had been inoperative, and with coal oil having run out, everyone was living by sunlight only!

[671] Surveying: the irrigation system which was now being built had to have channels dug whereby the water lifted from the river by the steam engine to run along the flume would be distributed to the alfalfa fields. The levels of the channels would have to be known for this to operate properly. See also Bob Hinde’s chapter on the irrigation system in As I Remember It.

[672] The big cottonwood trees that had been cut and hauled from the island in the river needed to have their bark peeled before they could be sawn into lumber by the sawmill now being built. This was done with a “draw knife” – a double-handled blade designed for this purpose. See “barking logs” in Google.

[673] http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex979/$file/420_651-1.pdf?OpenElement This reference explains the significance of this pest, but refers only to “insecticides” as treatment. Other Internet sources refer to derris root as a source of rotenone.

Mary Crane remembered treatment for warbles involving something like turpentine but this wasn’t satisfactory as it spoiled the animals’ flesh for human consumption. Derris root powder was preferred when available. Frank Saunders remembers an oily substance being used before derris root powder. He also remembers structures being made so that the animals could walk under them and scratch their backs, where the emerging warble fly larvae must have caused tormenting itching.

[674] Connection unknown.

[675] Connection not known.

[676] Mary Rempel was one of the three Rempel sisters who at one time or another worked for the Wake family. The others were Susie and Tena. Walking using shortcuts would make this a trip of three to four miles.

[677] http://www.fawc.org.uk/reports/dairycow/dcowr071.htm This article explains the intent of earmarking – largely for identification, in support of the additional identification of branding.

[678] The trail to the irrigation garden cut through the edge of a swamp. Putting planks on the trail would allow easier passage of vehicles and people to the garden.

[679] Could be the Cream Pool, or the Egg Pool. Frank Saunders remembers that there was a Dairy Pool building on Avenue D, and that the building is still there.

[680] 1938 film with Rosalind Russell and Robert Donat, from the book by A. J. Cronin.

[681] 1938 film with Henry Fonda, George Raft and Dorothy Lamour.

[682] Drums 1938. English Raj in India. Raymond Massey and Valerie Hobson.

[683] The engineers would be people from the PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act) who were consulting about the construction of the irrigation system. See also Bob Hinde’s story about this in As I Remember It.

[684] Perhaps these were of the visit of the King and Queen to Saskatoon. Perhaps they were taken by Edward McCheane as picture-taking by the Valley Springs Ranch people was a rare matter, given the cost of the film.

[685] Wing fence – fencing starting at a distance from the corral gate, on either side, wide apart at the outer end. The fence creates a funnel which allows animals to be herded into the corral.

[686] That is, straightened out ownership of horses.

[687] Sonningdale is a village directly west of Borden.

[688] For information about the game – or is it sport? – see http://heracles.itsc.adfa.edu.au/~sme/croquetweb/

The memories of the Hinde children of the adults playing this game center on our grandfather, who was the kindest, gentlest, softest-spoken man imaginable, but a VICIOUS croquet player. In preparation for the game, Grandfather cut the grass with great skill – with a scythe.

[689] See also Bob Hinde’s account of this holiday in As I Remember It.

[690] It is likely that Elsie had most of the care of Barry, then nine months old – this would certainly account for her being busy, and for omitting some diary entries.

[691] Connection unknown. Might have been a visiting Quaker.

[692] This would be Evelyn Fowler, niece of Ruth Hinde, daughter of her sister Minnie Fowler. She would be about eight years old.

[693] Henry Mason was a nephew of Mary McCheane, son of her sister Eliza; a cousin to Philip and Ruth McCheane, come recently from England.

[694] Borden friends.

[695] Minnie Fowler and her son Kenneth, from Saskatoon. Minnie was sister to Ruth Hinde. Ruth and Minnie Rogers had nursed one of the Orchard ladies in earlier years and were well known in the Halcyonia community.

[696] Bob Hinde, in As I Remember It, describes the device that they used to move quantities of hay into stacks.

[697] Connection unknown.

[698] Jag – English slang for a quantity – here, jags of hay.

[699] The injuries must have been thought to be serious for him to be taken to Saskatoon – probably fractures. Mostly, injuries and illnesses were treated at home. But he was home again and working within a few days.

[700] Vera Hayter ran the post office in Smith’s Store in Borden; later she married Norman Smith, the owner. The store now belongs to Stan Foster.

[701] Magwood was the owner of the steam engine which they later bought. We think that Magwood was using it to power his threshing outfit and Harry, through working with Magwood’s threshing outfit, would have learned how to operate the steam engine.

[702] The tank would be to hold water to supply the steam engine, and as well, for the thirsty threshers.

[703] Katharina Thiessen Rempel died on October 6 and was buried on October 9. The only explanation we can see for this seven day discrepancy is that Elsie, in the busy harvest season, caught up with her diary after many days, possibly weeks, and made the one-week error.

[704] Canada entered the war on September 9^th, seven days after Great Britain. Note that this is the first mention of the war, which began three weeks later.

[705] Perhaps a landmark?

[706] The steam engine which was to power the sawmill and then the pump to raise water into the irrigation system that was to be built was a monstrous iron-wheeled tractor. It would require thought to work out how to get it safely down the steep riverbank to the ranch site. Some guests – like Dave Murray – never attempted the road down the riverbank, but left his car at the top and walked down. Negotiating that monstrous steam engine would be a vast challenge – dangerous and difficult.

[707] Susie’s double first cousin Susie Rempel married Leonard Siemens on October 22, 1939. Elsie is still a week out in her dates.

[708] Connection not known, but presumably involved with the Community Pasture.

[709] Bob Hinde refers to this in As I Remember It as “the harvest of the river.” Many items came down the river which were of use to the ranch people.

[710] Connection unknown.

[711] Connection unknown.

[712] It is assumed this was a larger group of pacifists than just the Quakers perhaps including Mennonites and Doukhobors, meeting to articulate their concerns about the war.

[713] It is taken that this is engineering done to ensure that the water in the irrigation ditches ran the right way and the right speed.

[714] Printed – probably, putting a pattern on the quilt for the quilting process. There many ways to accomplish this; the Internet has perhaps half a million references.

[715] This was probably the cut in the riverbank where the steam engine would be emplaced to serve its function of pumping water up from the river. From this time on, visitors to Valley Springs Ranch always included a trip to see the progress of the irrigation system.

[716] Connection unknown – may have been a hired man at Wakes.

[717] Arnold Larsen’s older brother.

[718] See Bob Hinde’s chapter on the irrigation system in his book As I Remember It. The pipes had been “surplus to requirement” at the waterworks in Saskatoon.

[719] Mary Hinde Crane remembers this occasion. The demonstration didn’t work well with the weak electricity, home-generated. And Grandma had the money because starting in September or October , she and Grandpa received old age pension for the first time.

[720] William Shepherd Hinde, brother to Grandpa Joseph Hinde, died on November 6, 1939, in England.

[721] December 17 1939 was the day the Graf Spee was scuttled off Montevideo, Uruguay. Roberta Hinde Rivett remembers listening to the headset of her uncle Harry’s cat’s-whisker radio, being told she was listening to history. This event, which had been in process for several days, may have been the centre of the argument about the war.

[722] Carol Erica Lund Kettles.

[723] Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Act. See also Bob Hinde’s story of the building of the irrigation system, in As I Remember It.

[724] The manure had to be hauled away in any case, and using it to make the track across the river also marked the track and gave better traction on the snow-covered ice.

[725] 1939 Frank Capra film with Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur.

[726] The irrigation project was initiated and implemented entirely by the Hinde family, however a number of others assisted. Bob Hinde writes of this initiative in his book, As I Remember It.

[727] Skins plural suggests that this isn’t a butchered animal’s skin that is being cleaned, but rather muskrat skins, which the Hindes trapped each winter. See also Bob Hinde’s description of this activity in his book.

[728] Cornelius Penner. At this time he worked for the Wakes; later he married Auntie Margaret Wake’s granddaughter Betty Saunders.

[729] The Fuller Brush man - traveling salesman who specialized in brushes of all kinds. This salesman was from one of three companies which fielded sales staff, the others being Raleigh and Watkins.

[730] The sawmill was required to make lumber from the cottonwoods that had been stockpiled through the past several winters. The lumber was then used to build the irrigation flume. Mary Hinde Crane remembers people hauling logs to sell to the Hindes once the sawmill was up and running. The wheat Bob took to Langham was probably traded for the lumber.

[731] The price of beef is going up! There’s a war on.

[732] Raising pigs was an intermittent effort at Valley Springs Ranch. Mary and Roberta remember several tales about pigs including the injunction that they stay away from them – after a memorable occasion when Rosie the sow chased them across the yard.

[733] The blacksmithing probably involved fabricating metal parts for the sawmill. See Bob’s story in As I Remember It.

[734] Susie had learned as a girl how to design and cut garments. She had no formal training, but may have learned from her sister Tena, who did have formal training. Later she made an 1895 gown for a Mrs. Norman, in Saskatoon, who wore the gown to meet the Queen at a special Pionera in July 1959.

[735] During the Depression, the government paid farmers $10.00 a month to take on unemployed men for farm work. Now, with the start of the war, there was cash available to hire men.

[736] Although Tom Needham had left Valley Springs Ranch to find work elsewhere, clearly Elsie was still in contact with him.

[737] Auntie Margaret Kelsall Wake, Martha Hinde’s sister-in-law.

[738] It seems that enough egg production was anticipated to justify the purchase of additional crates, and further, that the price of eggs made the effort worthwhile, which was not always the case during the Depression.

[739] More sleeping accommodations would be needed for the additional men required to develop the irrigation system.

[740] The carrier for the sawmill that was under construction was the mechanism that held the logs as they were brought up to the saw, and returned them for the next cut.

[741] Frank Saunders advises that grain not threshed in the fall would be threshed in the spring.

[742] Roy Ferguson was son of a good friend of Bob Hinde’s, Stan Ferguson, Borden’s municipal secretary.

[743] The truck is further evidence of increased prosperity. “There’s a war on.”

[744] The trellis and archway were set up in the middle of the garden between the cottage and the big house. On each side of the archway was a plum tree which came from Susie’s mother’s garden. They did not survive long enough to produce more than one year. Near the arch was a honeysuckle bush which attracted hummingbirds.

[745] Mangel-wurzels – used as cattle food, rarely by people. A relative of the turnip.

[746] Onward Domino was part of the government scheme to improve the quality of beef cattle. It seems that at this point Valley Springs Ranch owned enough cattle to justify having their own government bull.

[747] This seems to be Tom Needham, evidently still in the picture in Elsie’s view.

[748] Nature of illness is not remembered. Elsie writes that Susie was in hospital for three days, with Elsie looking after the children; when she got home she was ordered to stay in bed. Eric Lund’s sister Herdis, who had nursing training, was sent for to come and help.

[749] Mutiny on the Bounty, 1935, with Charles Laughton and Clarke Gable.

[750] It is assumed that this is the well in the kitchen of the big house. Having a well within the house was a fabulous saving for prairie woman. Susie had a well in the cottage as well. The high water table was thanks to the hillside being riddled with springs, which also served to keep the garden between the two houses moist.

[751] 308 Spadina Crescent, Ed and Edith McCheane’s home.

[752] The sawmill was made of parts cobbled together for the least possible expenditure. See Bob Hinde’s story in As I Remember It. There were constant breakdowns. In addition the cottonwood trees that they were turning into lumber were very hard on saw blades, which had to be sharpened laboriously, frequently.

[753] When the saw was working well, the lumber was just thrown aside as it came off the carrier. Later, neat stacks had to be constructed from the scattered lumber so that it would dry straight and even.

[754] Now with greater prosperity there was money to refurbish the Meeting House. The Friends’ community gathered to do this work.

[755] The first purpose of the huge steam tractor was to power the home-made sawmill. That work being done, the steam engine was now moved to its planned location on the river bank, where it would power the pump that lifted the water from the river, to the top of the flume whence it would irrigate the dry slope where alfalfa was planted. The sawmill had been set up in the stackyard to the east of the barns; the riverbank location was about a mile west of the ranch buildings.

[756] In As I Remember It, Bob Hinde refers to the number of loads of alfalfa harvested off the fields before irrigation started – as now in 1940 - and after. With irrigation, the harvest was four times as big.

[757] The irrigation system called for much piping. It is not clear how the joining was done, nor is this process in the memories of the children – Mary and Roberta Hinde.

[758] Wilfred Nowell had been one of the many young men who worked at Valley Springs Ranch in earlier years. He is not mentioned in the first five years of Elsie’s diary (1935-1939) so it would have been earlier that he had been at the Ranch. At this point he and his wife had three children, and were visiting from Edmonton. Wilf had talked to his family so much about the Ranch that when the visit was planned his wife insisted that they stop in North Battleford so she and the two older girls could have their hair done. Consequently they arrived at the Ranch looking very elegant. Later on, after the war and his service overseas, Wilf had a dispute over a minor matter with his boss and shot him with his souvenir German pistol. He was one of the last people in Canada to be hanged.

[759] The boiler was used to boil soiled white clothing to whiten it. Picture dealing with this task, and also with canning the raspberries and rhubarb, on a wood stove, in the middle of the prairie summer.

[760] Caleb Marshall was a visiting Friend. See http://www.swarthmore.edu/Library/friends/ead/5147cmta.htm

also http://www.religion.stir.ac.uk/aej/72aw/6-72aw.html for reference to Mary Lusk.

[761] This was a Rempel family reunion. These were held every year if possible, with all of the brothers and sisters and their families meeting at one or another of their homes. Earlier, before Katharina Rempel died in 1939, family get-togethers happened at the home place.

[762] Cora was Alex McLean’s daughter by his first marriage, and Olga’s stepdaughter.

[763] Katie had been a Crabb, a connection of the Saunders family through Lydia’s marrying David Crabb.

[764] The drought had not entirely ended, with a grain crop being relegated to fodder.

[765] Sugar would be for canning. Repairs - perhaps the blacksmith mended what was broken, if not, the parts would be available from the farm machinery establishment in the town. Rock salt was used in the ice surrounding the cylinder holding the ice cream mixture, to speed up the freezing process of the ice cream.

[766] Wife of George Wainwright, an early settler in the Thistledale district. She was an accomplished musician, and gave music lessons to the local children, including Mary and Roberta Hinde. See Our Treasured Heritage, 1980.

[767]Wife of John Alec McPherson, another early settler in the Thistledale district. See Our Treasured Heritage, 1980.

[768] A section of the river flat had been planted to alfalfa, and with the irrigation system in its present configuration, this area could be irrigated, consequently there was a good crop.

[769] Another instance, reinforcing the memories of Mary and Roberta Hinde, that people came in droves to see the irrigation system, usually on a Sunday.

[770] The hay loader had been bought, after borrowing it earlier. It was seen to be a good investment.

[771] Register for what? Was it to do with rationing? Citizenship? The Hinde family did not have Canadian citizenship at this point – they were British.

[772] If you had a puncture in your car tire, you fixed it, on the spot. Spare tires were not used. Every car carried its own mending kit. Bob Hinde was skilled at repairing punctures, accomplishing the repair in under half an hour.

[773] Connection unknown.

[774] Some crops seemed to be good enough to warrant threshing. Bob refers in his book As I Remember It to working in the fall for thirty years with the threshing gang.

[775] The hayrack would go up to the Community Pasture loaded with supplies for the roundup, which included fodder for the horses – perhaps some of the chop referred to, and hay, as the grazing would not necessarily be adequate to nourish working horses. In addition a tank of water was taken for the men, the closest water otherwise being the river, close to two miles away.

[776] Mary and Roberta remember Muggs. She was a big, homely productive cow. She ended up having twelve calves in twelve years, but she was hard to milk, and would kick or swish her tail in the face of the milker. We think she was the one that kicked Grandpa into the gutter, causing him to utter an oath, mild for anyone else but EXTREME for him. Roberta writes of this event in one of the Grandma stories; see Rempel Cousin Stories 2006.

[777] This is the first mention of the flume, which was to be built of the lumber than had been produced by the sawmill, and was to carry water pumped by the pump and steam engine to the top of the sloping field seeded to alfalfa.

[778] There was still a certain amount of barter going on.

[779] See http://www.garrybreitkreuz.com/publications/Article79.htm where the sequence of events relating to gun registration during World War II is described, in part as a prelude to current gun registration.

[780] Betsy was “the cow with the crumpled horn,” a freckled face and a bad temper. Once when Mary and Roberta were being shown her new calf in the barnyard, Mary inadvertently got between Betsy and her calf, and she tossed Mary. Mary remembers flying through the air and landing. Dad laughed; Mother gave a long lecture about not getting between a cow and her calf.

[781] The water trough was made out of the tractor wheel brought earlier from Radisson.

[782] Friends from Saskatoon, previously mentioned only by given names.

[783] This accident was used by our parents as an example of what could happen if we put our limbs out of car windows.

[784] Schecter’s and Smith’s were two general stores who would have allowed credit; the same with the doctor, who at that time was Dr. Palsson. Shorty – connection is not known. Rentals would be lease money for the crown land which made up a part of the Valley Springs Ranch property.

[785] We don’t know whether this was the “grandmother” clock in the dining room end of the kitchen, or the mantel clock which sat on the buffet in the parlour.

[786] Wheat Pool picture was probably a documentary movie made by the Wheat Pool.

[787] The boiler of the steam engine would have to be drained in preparation for winter.

[788] Henry Mason was a nephew of Mary McCheane and of Eddy Saunders. He had come out from England at the beginning of World War II and lived in Saskatoon with Joe and Agnes Wake and their family. Bill and Sam – connection not known.

[789] This may have been the beginning of Bob’s serious allergy reaction to harvest and roundup. By 1944 it almost killed him.

[790] This may have been to do with the League of Saskatchewan Municipalities, which is still in existence according to the Internet. Stan Ferguson was the municipal secretary.

[791] Several times in the past grain or straw had been collected from other people. Now it is clear that this was in payment for their use of the East Borden Community Pasture. Times were better but barter was still going on rather than cash payments.

[792] David seems to be Dave Murray, from later context.

[793] This is probably the letter dated September 26, 1940, in which is noted her response to the offer by the Ranch people to have Mary’s four children to live at the Ranch for the duration of the war. See Letters to the Ranch, to be printed in 2006.

[794] This is the actual start of building the flume.

[795] Mary Katherine Hinde. She would be six; presumable was “Mary K” to distinguish her from the other Marys in the connection.

[796] This was probably Roberta’s first experience with the dentist. None of her teeth emerged until she was two and then they seemed to decay rapidly and give much trouble. She was not quite five.

[797] The land was pretty well fenced at this point, but fences didn’t last forever. The colts would have found a stack of oat sheaves intended for the Kaslows’ animals, and helped themselves.

[798] Bunny was gentle old horse who was to have been the school horse for Mary and Roberta. Apparently it was thought that she wouldn’t make if through the winter, and was put down. From Martha Chamness Bedell, in 2005, came a picture of one of the Chamness children on Bunny.

[799] The first outside light to go up was on a tall pole outside the bunkhouse, between the house and the barn.

[800] Dave Murray always had a car, but he didn’t want ever to drive it down the river bank but always left it at the top. On this occasion his hosts went up with a team and wagon and hauled him and his car to the gate over the snowy untracked road, to where a better-travelled road was at the edge of the property.

[801] Elsie’s pup was bought from an ad; she came by train and was picked up by the Saunders’ and kept overnight in their chicken house. When the pup – called Minnehaha – got to the ranch, we children fell upon her with glad cries, and we ended up with lice – perhaps chicken lice – in our heads. Our mother cleaned our heads with some kind of oil, and we were kept separate from people for what seems now to have been several days. Eventually the oil was washed, and washed, and washed. Not a happy memory.

[802] The process of home-butchering a pig is described in detail in Mary Rempel Bieber’s book, privately published in 2000.

[803] Buffet lunch.

[804] With the river road now open, people passed by on their way to Langham, and did errands, coming and going, for the dwellings they passed.

[805] This indicates a considerably greater affluence than earlier!

[806] 1940 with Lawrence Olivier and Greer Garson.

[807] 1940 with Conrad Veight and Sabu.

[808] 1940 western with Jean Arthur and William Holden.

[809] The depression may be over but the practices of economy continue – there is a war on.

[810] Now there is money for coal. Frank Saunders doesn’t remember coal being rationed, but it WAS expensive.

[811] Throughout the war, the women at Valley Springs Ranch and their connections made quilts, which were sent to England. Reference is made in a letter from English relatives to the receipt of quilts for them to distribute for war relief.

[812] Evidently this horse was named after the hero of Nordoff and Hall’s The Hurricane.

[813] By Pearl Buck, a biography of her parents who were missionaries in China. Mary remembers reading the book as well.

[814] Electrolux was the brand of vacuum cleaner that was purchased by Martha Hinde with her first old age pension cheque.

[815] We take it that Mahaffy was one of the McCheane horses, and it fell through the ice on the river. Had it come to a fatal event, more would have been said.

[816] So the next day Philip had his father to help him cutting ice on the river.

[817] This is the first reference to the Hinde family’s involvement with the Cooperative movement. See Bob Hinde’s book, As I Remember It, and also (Mary’s book about the Cooperative movement in Saskatchewan from 1928.)*****

[818] This is the first mention of Wes Ingram, who years later was to marry Elsie. He was twenty-three at this time, and had applied for work through the Saskatoon labour exchange to which Harry had called for a hired man.

[819] Wes quickly showed that he was a quick and competent worker, and much appreciated by Bob especially.

[820] Fine wool was knitted on fine needles to make underwear. The “vest” would be this, a singlet. According to Grandma Hinde – in a north country accent, “Ne’er shed a clout ‘til May be out!” -meaning don’t stop wearing woolen underclothing until after the end of May. This phrase may have come from Grandma Hinde’s Cumberland stepmother.

[821] Getting the temperature readings for other places indicates that the family was listening to the radio, not just checking their own thermometer. Perhaps they had developed the habit of listening for the war news?

[822] Ralph McKay - connection not known.

[823] See entry for March 11^th. The loads of wood were being taken by strangers, without permission.

[824] The notice would indicate that the woodlot on Len Hinde’s homestead quarter was private property.

[825] The barnyard was lower than the road into the farmstead, and higher than the swamp below the animals’ water trough. In spring, with snow melt, rain and an accumulation of manure, it needed to be drained, a demanding and backbreaking job. Perhaps it had been done every spring, but perhaps Wes was the one who thought of doing it and didn’t want to wait for nature to take its course and dry the yard.

[826] A Halcyonia neighbour.

[827] “Rug” could be either braided rug, or rug hooked on burlap sacking. Braided rugs used outworn stockings, or cloth cut in strips. Hooked rugs used thin strips of woolen fabric cut from outworn woolen clothing. The burlap would have been recycled from a feed or seed sack.

[828] Another hired man.

[829] The steam tractor which had powered the sawmill in the stackyard now powered the pump to raise the river water up to the head of the flume, thence by gravity to irrigate the alfalfa field. The engine required stoking with a great deal of wood to maintain its head of steam; they would be stockpiling the wood for use later in the spring.

[830] Sometimes hired men were fed at the cottage as opposed to the Big House. All of them slept in the bunkhouse. On this occasion everyone ate at the Big House.

[831] With four men working, construction of the flume would be progressing well. It was an enjoyable excitement for the women and children to see progress and watch the men at work. Pictures were taken only by visitors from a distance who had both cameras and money for film – family members from the city, friends,

[832] All the joints of wood in the trough of the flume had to be tarred to make them watertight. Tar was heated in a container in a barrel, to a semi-liquid state and painted on the joints. Elsie does not mention that during this process Bob, in attempting to save a container of liquid tar tilting above the fire, had tar spill onto his hand. It must have been exquisitely painful. Mary remembers him sitting at the supper table with his hand alternately in a pail of cold water, and raised above his head. She recalls that the doctor debrided the burned skin. Roberta remembers that her mother made a partial glove of cotton cloth to cover the burned areas – thumb and forefinger – to protect them while he continued with his work.

[833] The rock would be to stabilize the river bank around the pump, steam engine and intake pipe.

[834] The dykes and dams had the purpose of controlling the water level when the river flooded at spring breakup onto the flats. Production of excellent hay was the result of this effort.

[835] Cornelius Penner. He worked for the Wake family, and later married their niece Betty Saunders.

[836] There is a photograph of this group along with all the Valley Springs Ranch people, at the flume. Perhaps Wesley Ingram, who is not in the picture, was the photographer.

[837] A letter dated February 11^th, 1941,from Mary Artiss, cousin to Elsie, Harry and Bob, was preserved by the family and donated to the Saskatchewan Archives Board. The letter refers to information received from Valley Springs Ranch about the irrigation system. See Letters to the Ranch, to be privately published in about 2006.

[838] It was about this time that the decision was implemented to improve the herd by acquiring purebred Hereford bulls. The role of the government inspector is not known.

[839] Mary Hinde Crane remembers picking raspberries, after being taught how to pick them without damaging them. They were in the irrigated garden, and were always referred to as Bob and Susie’s raspberries.

[840] There were three buffalo rocks (rough-surfaced glacial erratics on which buffalo had rubbed smooth areas) in the immediate environs of the Ranch buildings. On the hill to the east of the Ranch buildings, the rock formed part of a hunter’s lookout, from which animals coming to the springs could be watched and perhaps ambushed. A second buffalo rock was in the sandpit to the north of the Big House. The third was at the edge of the river flats east of the big ravine on flat terrain, well suited for potato growing.

[841] These were the alfalfa fields that were to be irrigated

[842] Braemar – reference unknown.

[843] The only dentist in the area was in Radisson. Roberta remembers some of those visits – she had very bad teeth as a child.

[844] Comb is the matrix for the bees to build their wax cells - a sheet of mesh on a frame which was slotted into the beehive.

[845] The younger men hauled the fuel, cut to boiler lengths, to the steam engine. It was Grandfather’s chosen task to feed the boiler to keep the steam up, and to keep watch on the pressure gauge.

[846] This is the first mention of growing flax. Perhaps there was a market for it, with wartime requirements? Frank Saunders recalls no specific wartime purpose but remembers growing flax for family use, as a cereal. It was harvested by the same methods as other grains, with a smaller screen in the threshing machine.

[847] The rigid top of the car was made of a heavy canvas material. Painting it would improve waterproofing.

[848] This would be the dammed spring in the roundup pasture, with a spillway created so that the overflow wouldn’t erode the earth dam. It had been created to provide water for the animals penned in the roundup pasture at roundup time.

[849] The new battery for the car was probably paid for by Harry’s Stampede prize money.

[850] Mary remembers that her father was very upset about this death which he felt should never have happened.

[851] Mildred Watkins was the Fritchley Quaker who at that time was caretaker for the Victoria Friends’ Meeting House; she was probably visiting Valley Springs Ranch from Victoria. Mary and Roberta, understanding that she was going to be doing some writing, built for her a little stool and desk (two stumps with boards on top) in the stackyard to use for her writing. When she came, we showed her what we had done; she sat at the little stool, put her hands on the desk and said it was very nice. We don’t recall whether she actually used the desk, but we were quite satisfied with her initial response.

[852] Wes worked hard, and would turn his hand to anything that needed doing – even food preparation.

[853] Elsie may have been attending this event as a local representative. Certainly she was active in the local organization.

[854] Was this a date? This is the first time she didn’t name the movie.

[855] Elsie had been a patient at the Saskatoon Sanitarium and had friends there still. She had recovered from tuberculosis but continued to be followed by periodic X-rays.

[856] 308 Spadina Crescent West was Ed and Edith McCheane’s home.

[857] Daisie wrote of this trip in two of her books, Corral Dust, (undated), page 9 , and Personal Records, 1989. The expedition was to buy mares to start the herd at the U-Dot Ranch.

[858] The mailman did a lot more than handle the mail. Susanna Rempel Hinde also refers, in slightly earlier years, to the mailman taking Eaton’s orders and the cash, and sending the orders off from Borden. There was no saying “It’s not my job” in those days.

[859] Lasca and Spee were riding horses, and probably unhappy at pulling a vehicle. Between the lines it is taken that they ran away with Elsie.

[860] Potato bug larvae could be sprayed; Paris green was the arsenical compound that was sometimes used but due to its toxicity the preferred approach was picking the bugs off by hand. Mary and Roberta remember being assigned to this task.

[861] Being Conscientious Objectors like the Quakers, and also engaged in agriculture, the Mennonite boys in Great Deer might be more available for farm work than others who might be in the Services already or by this time be overseas.

[862] This may have been the first load of alfalfa from the newly irrigated fields.

[863] A new hired man.

[864] Connection not known.

[865] Frank Saunders consulted his brother David about hand hold (or hard hold?) David said that this may have been an inspection port in the steam engine; neither of them was confident about this.

[866] Mary thinks this was a visitor from England, a paying guest who wanted to play cowboy. A picture taken at the time shows him looking more like a cowboy than the real ones.

[867] Bob Hinde constructed this device to assist in making stacks of the cut and cured hay. He describes this device in his book, As I Remember It. 2006.

[868] Bob’s allergies were building up, and at their worst in haying season.

[869] This seems to have been the first time that Bob and Susie and their family exchanged homes with Minnie and Frances Fowler of Saskatoon and their family. Minnie was sister to Len Hinde’s wife Ruth. These exchanges at Exhibition time became a regular feature of the summer, to the delight of all the children.

[870] Connection unknown.

[871] These are connections from Ontario – probably niece and nephew – of Hannah Pollard Wake, Joshua’s wife.

[872] This story is told earlier, in relation to Bob Hinde’s sharpening the mower blade.

[873] The depression was definitely over! Remember earlier, when a cow and calf brought thirteen dollars?

[874] The Kennedys were connections through the Crabb family.

[875] Frank Saunders advises that the poverty box was a device attached to a mower, intended to harvest poor crops. A box floored by metal slats one inch by four feet long attached behind the cutter bar of the mower with three sides about eight inches deep, gathered a poor crop of grain and laid it in windrows. This was an alternative to the usual binder when the crop was so poor that it was impossible to make sheaves, and saved much raking time.

[876] Perhaps he departed because with a deep, home-sutured cut across the muscle of his forearm, he was no longer able to work.

[877] War words were entering daily conversation.

[878] Susie went to Great Deer to help the family prepare for the auction sale at the Rempel home farm.

[879] Tired, yes. It would have been an exhausting process, physically and emotionally, breaking up the home of her youth. Mary Crane and Rawd Bieber both have written stories about their memories or what they have been told about that event – how the remaining siblings selected items of equal value from those that were to go to the sale. Susie chose her father’s writing desk, which Mary has to this day.

[880] This would be a mustard plaster. See http://www.answerbag.com/q_view.php/6581 for recipe and use.

[881] Susie’s mother Katharina Rempel had given her two little plum trees a few years earlier. They had been planted in the garden between the Big House and the Cottage and evidently were now producing well. They died later in a bad winter.

[882] Susie’s younger brother Abram was married in Great Deer on October 5. The service was in German – or perhaps Low German? - and during the sermon the minister berated those of the Mennonite faith who had married out of the church. Susie was upset and annoyed but didn’t say anything until we were all outside the church, when Dad asked her what was the matter. She told him briefly what the message had been, and he was amused rather than being offended, advising her not to let it upset her. Mary recalls that Susie wanted to leave immediately but she and Roberta both remember that they did stay for the reception meal afterward in the church basement.

[883] There is reference to this family on page 282 of the 1980 Treasured Heritage. Alvina Schimpky would be about sixteen at this point, and of the age that girls from Great Deer often went to work for established farm wives.

[884] The buggy doubtless was in the ravine as a result of Grandfather’s runaway.

[885] John’s father Abraham Kelsall Newbold was nephew of Margaret Kelsall Wake, wife of Hugh Wake, Grandma (Martha Wake Hinde’s) brother.

[886] This is thought to refer to the bins that held major supplies beside the railway track, offloaded from the train and held until purchased through the Co-op Store.

[887] Unfamiliar reference, but the Internet suggests pig potatoes are the tiny ones, the culls, fed to pigs as being too small to be worth preparing for the table.

[888] See http://www.handpuzzles.com/pickup_sticks.html for information about this game. Mary and Roberta remember it well. Grandpa was a demon at this game – this one and croquet. Called Jackstraws or Spillikins in England.

[889] Mary remembers: The quilting bee took place in the kitchen-dining room at the Wake place. The frame began fully extended and was worked on from each end, shortening as the quilting work moved toward the middle. The lady with the string and the chalk made arcs to mark the quilters to follow. Hannah invited me to quilt one little arc in the corner, in my very best seven-year-old stitches.

[890] The Christensen’s old house had not been grand. Carl had build a good new house, two storey, full basement. What was remarked on – and remembered! – was that he had left neat holes in the walls in the appropriate places for electrical outlets and switches, for when – as he was sure it would – electricity would someday come.

[891] Mary was seven. Her parents noticed that she was growing a double row of bottom teeth. The permanent teeth were coming in behind the baby teeth instead of pushing out the baby teeth. This called for a visit to the dentist.

[892] The “Day of Infamy” actually gets mentioned. Otherwise there have been only one or two mentions of the fact that the world was in December 1941 engaged in a war.

[893] Lacking an author we have been unable to identify anything about this book. There are 80,200 hits for this phrase on the Internet.

[894] Mary and Roberta don’t know what Cullen and Foster were doing when they were “doing” hens. Were they inspectors checking for the health of the flock?

[895] Mary and Roberta remember being taught how to identify non-laying hens. If the gap between their pelvic bones (just below the vent) was less than three child fingers (or two adult fingers) wide, the hen was not laying eggs and therefore was culled from the laying flock to become dinner.

[896] There was no “Aunt Betty” among the living siblings of her parents or spouses of same. This Aunt Betty may have been a cousin of one of her parents.

[897] This is the first reference to taking the car over the river ice to Langham. This suggests minimal snowfall that winter, with the riverbanks clear enough for the car to get up the trail. Normally the car would be put up for the winter.

[898] The “light engine” was what provided electricity – for the new washing machine, the Electrolux – and of course lighting. Buying a new one was another evidence of greater prosperity.

[899] We wonder if this skating party was at the big ravine just west of John Alec McPherson’s, near Thistledale School.

[900] We have no explanation for these books.

[901] Mary remembers the departure of Rosie with great satisfaction. The children had been directed to stay well clear of Rosie as she had a bad temper and at one point had eaten her litter.

[902] Autograph albums were kept by many people at this time. In the Hinde connection, funny verses gave way to uplifting verses and miniature works of art. Several of these albums – Bob Hinde’s, Len Hinde’s, Mary Hinde Crane’s and others have been photocopied. Some of them were begun in England shortly before the Hinde family emigrated.

[903] As a conscientious objector Philip was assigned to one of the many labour camps during the war, ending up in a lumber camp in the mountains. Mary McCheane told Mary Crane many years ago that because of Philip’s CO status she and John were required to pay $10.00 a month to the Canadian Red Cross until 1947. John McCheane died in May 1943, leaving only Mary McCheane and her daughter Ruth to manage the farm. They tried to get Philip released but could not at that time. Ruth McCheane Chamness Bergman, contacted about this in November 2005, did not recall that payments had to be made to the Red Cross, but did recall that the family had hired a local boy to help with the farm when John became ill. He had surgery for a brain tumour and was expected to recover, then had a stroke and died following the surgery.

[904] Douglas Wake. His father Joe Wake had died in 1940; Doug would have been running the Beehive Second Hand Store in Saskatoon where Elsie bought the valise.

[905] There is an Annie Matthews noted in the 1980 Borden History book on page 189.

[906] Connection unknown. This may have been a visitor from the other side of the river, seen only in the winter.

[907] Prairie wool was the native prairie grass ecosystem which cured on the stem and retained its nutritional value through the winter. Mr. Badman clearly had not plowed all his land but had left some of it to the native plants.

[908] John Thiessen was Susanna Rempel Hinde’s first cousin. He had married Helen Friesen the previous September.

[909] Frank Saunders – November 2005 – believes the inversion was something like a breech birth in humans where sometimes the infant cannot emerge without help, and must be turned in the womb. Sometimes in these cases the uterus prolapses; the harness would be to keep the replaced uterus inside the cow until matters corrected themselves.

[910] Animal names seemed to have some bearing on what the family was reading, or, in this case, listening to on the radio. Mortimer Snerd was one of Edgar Bergen’s puppets, heard from weekly on the radio.

[911] Edith E. – Frank Saunders, September 1007, refers us to page 69 of the Borden History Book, wherein there is a striking picture of Edith Eastes.

[912] The stamping could have been done in a number of ways. Whatever the method it involved transferring a pattern to cloth, for embroidery.

[913] The Assmans were a farm family in the Borden area.

[914] Dick – evidently another hired man.

[915] Corney Penner – from the Great Deer area. Later he married Joshua’s niece Betty Saunders.

[916] From Frank Saunders, September 2007: See page 70 of the Borden History Book. Alice Christenson gives a great account of all her neighbors in the area. I don’t know how these people survived on their little parcels of poor land. I remember once when we were visiting at Aunt Mary’s (Mary McCheane) and Stella Ford was there and taking a lot of pictures. Philip said to me “You don’t have to pose. She won’t have any film in the camera.”

[917] The tank contained a solution called bluestone, meant to extend the life of the green poplar fence posts. The substance was deadly and dangerous, according to Mary Crane’s memory, and the children were kept well away.

[918] Roberta remembers a colt being born with a deformed lip. It was decided soon that the colt could not thrive, being unable to nurse from its mother or even from a bottle, and the colt was destroyed.

[919] Mary remembers this as a gate-leg table from The Wakes’ Beehive Store in Saskatoon – a decorative parlour table, used as a tea-table for guests.

[920] Forty-one Seven was poor land on the riverbank north of the Big Pasture – the “Ranch.” There lived people who had come after arable land had all being taken up. They were sometimes referred to as Galicians, perhaps from the area of Russia from which they had emigrated a generation or so earlier. They had some connection, at this point not clear, to the Mennonite community, but they made use of it periodically to claim alms from the Mennonite Brethren Church at Great Deer. In the fall they would come to church and be saved, and then they would be supported through the winter, until in the spring there was work to be done, at which time they disappeared.

During the depression and the first year or so of the war hired men were often obtained through the Saskatoon labour office. By 1942 this source of farm labour was no longer available, so help had to be sought elsewhere.

[921] This would be Effie McKenzie Taylor, not a relative but a good friend of both Daisie and Susie.

[922] The UFW booth sold home-made ice cream. Mary remembers helping to make the ice cream.

[923] The Buswells were connected through the Esau Saunders family. The trough would probably be a wheel from an obsolete steam engine.

[924] That is, got up steam on the steam engine.

[925] Elsie had completed part of her nursing training in Regina before contracting tuberculosis and having to discontinue her training. It was wartime, and any training at all was valued.

[926] See http://www.doukhobor.org/Makaroff.htm for more information about Peter Makaroff.

[927] Evidently another hired man, to replace the departed Henry Ham.

[928] We are guessing that “Onward” was a shorthorn bull.

[929] The 1942 Rempel Reunion was at the home of Helen and John Fehr. There is a picture of the Reunion in the albums of Bob and Susie Hinde.

[930] Roofing – asphalt roofing came in rolls at this time, Frank Saunders recalled. Some had embedded gravel, some not.

[931] Thirty-five was leased land which adjoined Len’s homestead. No reference to this transaction was made in any of the letters of Len’s which have been preserved.

[932] This movie was 1941, black and white, Russian, with subtitles.

[933] This was not the same incident, but the diary entry called this to mind for Mary. She remembers finding her father lying down on the couch in the middle of the day, which shocked her. He had been sawing lumber, and the saw hit a knot on the 2x4 he was making. The board then jumped off its track and hit him on the temple, giving him a severe headache. He told Mary that he felt better and would Mary like him to read something? He read to Mary all of one of Shakespeare’s comedies, from the Everyman Publication of all of Shakespeare’s comedies in one volume. Mary remembers her delight at having her father to herself, and she remembers the green cloth cover of the book. Decades later she was able to find her own copy of that book.

[934] Connection not known.

[935] Among the documents of Susie Hinde were letters of thanks from the Friends’ Service Committee for quilts sent for distribution to people I England whose homes had been bombed out.

[936] Muggs was a big homely cow with asymmetrical horns, not good-tempered but “Twelve years, twelve calves, and still a good milker” said Bob Hinde.

[937] Ben Saloway was a lay Baptist preacher who from earliest days held services in his home, and sometimes in the small early churches who had only traveling ministers. His sisters Fanny and Sue taught Sunday School for many years in that pioneer community are were fondly remembered by generations of local people.

[938] Reference is not understood.

[939] This word and several others in this entry also in the entry for August 11^th are not decipherable.

[940] Eric had been chopping wood and while his arms were over his head, one of the McKenzies shot at a hawk which was perched on the upper bar of the main corral at the Big Pasture. Eric was not in his view, there being a rise between the two men. The bullet was held to be almost spent, and it punctured his torso only because of the position he was in when it connected. Eric was desperately ill before he recovered. This was well before the general availability of antibiotics, and the infection was serious.

[941] Almost certainly – from later context – this is Jack Lund, youngest brother of Eric.

[942] The spray is very likely DDT, which was then regarded as a wonderful creation – it had been developed early in World War II.

[943] These names are increasingly clear in the memories Mary and Roberta. Buck and Britain were usually a team. Spee was usually Elsie’s riding horse but pinch-hit as a driver. Spee had the trick of nipping off the hat of anyone who came in range.

[944] This appears to relate to the negotiations which had been going on with Len over his homestead quarter, Thirty-five.

[945] Eric was still ill and unable to work. The arrangement was made that Daisie would take over the running of the Borden Cottage Hospital from Mrs. Newsham, with Eric helping as he slowly recovered.

[946] Jack McEwan – Later he and Joyce Wake were married.

[947] Relatives of Hannah Pollard Wake – probably visiting Joshua and Hannah from Ontario.

[948] Formerly, a dinner given by employer for employees. Latterly, “any jollification.” See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean-feast

[949] For some time Bob had been developing allergies to the dusts associated with his work. This may have been the start of the more serious health problems which were to come. At this point, threshing for two days called for recovery time.

[950] Given the customs of the time and place, the cookies were probably for the reception after the funeral.

[951] When land was being broken, the ends of the plowed rows might be uneven. Squaring up would entail a couple of rows of plowing perpendicular to the main direction.

[952] Lars Peter Larsen. See page 168 of Our Treasured Heritage 1980.

[953] This would be Ruth Hinde, her sister-in-law, then living on her own with her husband in the Air Force probably in Labrador at this point as his letter to Valley Springs Ranch in November 1942 was from Labrador. Where was Ruth? It is thought, in Norwich, Ontario.

[954] This is the first time between 1935 and 1942 that Elsie records thatwas alone in the house without a task to do.

[955] It’s not that the bulls were no good, but rather that they couldn’t be found!

[956] For hand threshing of beans, see http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/buffalo/garden/garden-VI.html

[957] Not known who the parcel was from. One possibility was Millie Watkins, who had lived in several places in Canada.

[958] Not known – presumably a client of the Big Pasture.

[959] Patricia was the baby Daisie and Eric were planning to adopt. Carol Lund Kettles says the baby died of gastroenteritis.

[960] Whose wedding is unknown.

[961] The cart had two purposes – to be readied for getting Mary and Roberta to school the following year, and for the use of Joseph Hinde in taking the cream and eggs to the corner and picking up empty cans and mail.

[962] Daisie was managing the hospital in Borden with SOME help from Eric – he was not supposed to work for two years after his injury. Sweet Pea is taken to be a cow, to provide milk for the family and perhaps the hospital. With Eric’s physical limitations, wood already in stove lengths was required.

[963] Mary Hinde Crane has written about helping her grandfather with this task. See Rempel Cousins Book, privately printed 2008. He was very patient in instructing her how to select the appropriate shingle to hand to him.

[964] Mary and Roberta remember being enlisted to help round up all the hens which would have been loose in the barn and needed to be put in hen loft over the cow barn for the winter.

[965] Mary Rempel, Susie’s younger sister. She was then about 23, finishing high school in Saskatoon and working for the Dave Murrays.

[966] Because Daisie and Eric could provide overnight accommodation at the cottage hospital, overnight stays were easier for people but horses still had to be accommodated, hence the first instance of use of the livery stable. The stable was next to the hotel, near the present Coop store.

[967] This seems to be the first time animals are not referred to by name, but by description. Elsie was well known for assigning names to all the animals, and remembering all of them even when they numbered in the scores.

[968] This was probably from engine fumes in the defective car.

[969] The crosspiece to which harness traces of a team of horses are attached.

[970] This letter has been preserved; it is dated November 22, 1942, and will be published in Letters to the Ranch in 2008.

[971] Springs at Valley Springs Ranch flowed all year. In order to keep the water running to the animals’ troughs, lanes had to be kept open from the spring to the trough.

[972] Only three years earlier, a good cow and calf sold for $13.00.

[973] Family myth gets a little foggy here. Mary remembers “Uncle Anker” giving us presents around this time, because he and Aunt Elsie were going to be married, and it was Christmas. Then Aunt Elsie went to Borden to be married and came back still single. At this point Aunt Daisie’s memory diverges. She says Anker called it off because he had heard he would be nothing more than a hired man at Valley Springs Ranch if he married Elsie, and that he immediately departed for Prince Albert, where his work was. Mary’s memory is that Elsie had changed her mind because she couldn’t bear to leave the Ranch. Later entries in the diary indicate that Anker did go back to his job but kept in touch with Elsie by phone.

[974] The Showalters were tenants of Ed and Edith’s.

[975] Andrew Saunders, son of Esau Saunders, died on December 27, 1942.

[976] The blizzard would have covered any tracks and the Community Pasture was easily big enough to get lost in, without fences.

[977] This would be Bob and Susie’s ninth wedding anniversary.

[978] Bessie Crabb married Ken Krivoshien in Saskatoon on December 23^rd 1942. The Thistledale community honoured the bride a couple of weeks later.

[979] Elsie puts an asterisk beside as name or event but rarely.

[980] Cornelius or Neil Penner married Betty Saunders a year and a half later. At this point he was working at the Wakes.’

[981] Wood to run the steam engine for the irrigation system would be stockpiled for the spring. With the bitter cold, stove wood would have been burned at a great rate and the steamer’s stockpile was raided to keep up.

[982] Book with this title was made into a movie in 1943. Movie is described as bad propaganda, made to support Roosevelt’s wish to support Stalin during WWII.

[983] The Starr family were connections of the Pollards, Hannah Wake’s family in Ontario.

[984] Frank Saunders thinks this matter related to the fact that the Post Office was responsible for the control and distribution of ration books. Application for variance could be made; Bob Hinde refers to his brother Harry getting extra sugar for the cowboys at roundup time.

[985] It is assumed that this is in part payment for the $500.00 loan from the bank in relation to Len’s interest in that quarter section – it was next to the homestead quarter which Len had proved up, and earlier entries indicate Len was involved in some way. At this time Len was in the air force, in Labrador. Perhaps he needed the money to help support Ruth and Roger’s home while he was away in the services. We are trying to piece together family history of six decades ago when all participants are dead, and the only record remaining is Elsie’s diary.

[986] Susie was expecting her fourth child, David.

[987] This seems to be the first mention of purebred heifers. The bulls had been purebred for some time.

[988] This is the first reference to Elsie’s scrapbook. Mary and Roberta have no memory of it.

[989] A barrel of gas was 45 gallons. This gas was 17 cents a litre; today (2006, February) it would

$160.57 for the same barrel. However, Frank Saunders. September 2007, says, “A lot of bad math here! That gas was about 22 cents a gallon or five cents a litre. Today, September 1, 2007, it is $1.10 per litre or 22 times what it was in 1943.”

[990] This is taken to mean that J Thiessen (possibly Susie’s cousin Johnny) was paying his community pasture bill in kind, with chopped oats.

[991] It seems that Mary McCheane’s course with this broken arm was: use a sling; ask neighbors to take her to the doctor; doctor refers her to city for X-ray; X-ray shows bad break requiring cast and overnight hospitalization; she goes home with neighbors…She was a tough lady, not to have a fracture reduced for more than a week!

[992] Another hired man.

[993] This table was a long counter along the west wall of the kitchen, across from the stove.

[994] Bobbie was Herdis Lund’s nickname.

[995] Lawrence Chamness was Martha’s grandson, Winnie’s youngest, in Iowa. He was born after the winter the Chamness family spent at Valley Springs Ranch. He would have been five in early 1943.

[996] According to Frank Saunders, the ratepayers’ meeting would be a meeting of property owners who paid taxes. This might be an opportunity to influence their representatives on municipal council about the mill rate, or to express concerns about roads or telephone service.

[997] Bob had taken Susie to stay with Daisie at the cottage hospital until the baby was born. He was due at this point.

[998] Bob Hinde tells the story of this man’s freezing his hands, in As I Remember It. His hands were so badly affected that one after another the fingers succumbed to “dry gangrene” turning black and dry, and were removed by the doctor. He was left with part of one finger, and a thumb.

[999] With the trough “down below” not functioning, the cattle who were wintering there had to be watered at the trough in the barnyard. This meant driving them through the yard of the Big House and the way was not fully fenced. We have a vague memory of standing along the sides of the track to keep the animals moving in the right direction.

[1000] See Bob Hinde’s memories of this time in As I Remember It.

[1001] Roberta says: my memory is that we three children were in the barnyard when Harry drove a team through pulling a stoneboat, very slowly. Barry, who would have been about three and a half, tried to climb onto the stoneboat, and fell under the runner. I remember him being under the upturned end of the runner. Harry saw what was happening and yelled WHOA to the team, which stopped. Barry was pulled out and taken to the cottage where he was put into a hot tub. Mary remembers that it was at this moment that the phone call came with the news of David’s arrival, and that Barry was forgotten in his cooling tub. Mum learned later that she had almost lost one son while the other was being born.

[1002] In our childhood memory Harry and Eleanor were interested in each other at this time. Eleanor never married; Harry remained single until he was in his sixties.

[1003] Chores would be decreased with the cattle out because a big part of the chores was mucking out the barns and stables.

[1004] Any unoccupied hands were put to work. The children at 8, 7 and 4 were accounted old enough to do a variety of tasks. The correspondence course which Mary and Roberta were taking under Susie’s supervision had been deferred while Susie was recovering from David’s birth, and the children were at a loose end otherwise all day. Mary remembers developing a policy that if they couldn’t see us, we couldn’t hear them, thereby sometimes evading some of the less interesting tasks. There was a feeling that only Mum and Dad had the right to assign us tasks, and they didn’t so much assign us as invite us to help.

[1005] Mary remembers this walk because it was unprecedented for Harry to have anything to do with the children. In his desultory way he seems to have been courting Eleanor.

[1006] http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/press/top/2005/06/2005-06-23-03.html

The above site indicates that the Saskatchewan River peaked at spring breakup in 1915, 1916 and 1917, and as well as 1948. We take it that the 1916 flood was particularly bad at this location, hence became a local benchmark.

[1007] There pictures have been preserved.

[1008] Clearly the flooded flats with the great blocks of ice strewn across was a local sight, and the best view was from the road through the Ranch yard which led to the wintertime ice road across the river which was used by everyone.

[1009] The lumber may have been from the smashed granary, or the flume, or it could have been someone else’s lumber from higher upstream.

[1010] Henry was Mary Saunders McCheane’s nephew, who had come to Canada earlier from England.

[1011] We are not sure who Sophie was but think she might be the daughter of the Stella who had owned that part of the Community Pasture which later was known as Stella’s Pasture.

[1012] This land was homesteaded by the Kaslow family; they may have been one of the many families who gave up their homestead in the Depression. The land would continue to be called by their name. They are shown in Our Treasured Heritage as homesteading two quarters in Section Thirty-Four.

[1013] Melrose is farther afield than they have had to go for help in the past, and $55.00 is vastly higher a monthly wage. There was a war on…

[1014] The evener was one of the items that had been displaced by the flood in April.

[1015] David would have been two and a half months old. Mary and Roberta have no recollection of his illness.

[1016] Trixie was a pretty part-collie who appeared in the barnyard and was adopted promptly by the Hinde children. In those days dogs were not neutered, and in due course she had thirteen pups under the bunkhouse. She was uninterested in motherhood and buried most of the pups. Mary and Roberta remember finding the partly-buried pups dead and loading them into Barry’s wagon and burying them in the east garden. We sang Red River Valley by way of a funeral hymn, and marked the grave with “Pups” written on a shingle. However the pencil slipped on the rough shingle surface and it came out “Rups” which we found hilariously funny. Trixie did provide some care for the surviving pups but they were destroyed with their mother when she was found to be a habitual chicken-killer.

[1017] Teddy Price was the oldest of four boys of a Thistledale farmer. One of his brothers was still at Thistledale school the following year when Mary and Roberta first went to school there.

[1018] This is a larger number of stock by far than in previous years. To manage them, a wing fence would be needed, built as a funnel, narrow end at the corral gates, wide farther out. This allowed the animals to be moved in an orderly manner past the cowboys who identified them by brands and recorded them, then funneled them off to other parts of the corral for vaccination, branding and castration, thence to their different pastures – cows and calves in one, breeding animals in another, steers to be fattened and so on.

[1019] Broody hens are those who wanted to sit on their eggs rather than let them be collected. Fastening them up means shutting them away so that they could lay their clutch and raise their chicks.

[1020] 1943 movie with Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey about a Liberty ship convoy Halifax to Murmansk.

[1021] Reference to papers is not understood – papers usually were for purebred or thoroughbred animals. Frank Saunders was consulted – unable to add anything.

[1022] 1943 film starting Walter Huston, directed by Michael Curtiz. Made at the behest of FD Roosevelt to bolster support for the Russians who were then allies.

[1023] Roberta remembers: an upholstered couch had been purchased in Saskatoon from the Joe Wakes’ Beehive Store. It turned out to be riddled with bedbugs, which the family quickly learned. I recall being the most affected of all the children. The strategy for ridding the house of the bugs was to heat it very hot, for a whole day. The adults went into the inferno to stoke the fire and be sure nothing was at risk of catching on fire; we children kept clear. Both Mary and I later in our lives had experiences with such vermin.

[1024] At this point Harry has been going regularly to Radisson. We think he was courting a woman, but nothing came of it, so nothing is known. (See September 11^th)

[1025] Susie being disinclined to rows, we can guess what was happening: it would only be something related to the children. This was the day Mary and Roberta were to start school, and with the Hindes feeling as they did, it is likely that they expected the two girls now aged seven and eight would drive themselves to and from school four miles away, using one of the half-wild horses. And Susie objected.

[1026] Mary and Roberta both remember this. Grandma had to go back because she had a spot on her lung. This may have arisen from Elsie’s having had TB in the late twenties. The first province-wide mobile TB clinic began around this time.

[1027] Mary and Roberta remember the other uses of the icehouse. Tennis racquets were stored there, and traps, and the ice tongs with which the blocks of ice from the river were handled, also the special saw. There were no windows in this structure, and children were not permitted in it so it had an air of mystery and the forbidden about it.

[1028] We had been going to school for a few weeks at this point, and had taken on the responsibilities of picking up the mail on the way home as well as the empty cream cans, having dropped off the full ones out of the cart on the way to school in the morning.

[1029] Clearly it was Eleanor Wiliams that Harry was visiting so regularly in Radisson. Still, nothing came of his courtship.

[1030] Archie Parsons – an early homesteader, friend of Bob’s. Reference is made to him in Bob Hinde’s book, As I Remember It.

[1031] Connection not known.

[1032] He would be a client of the Community Pasture, or helping with the roundup, or both. Same with the Blaine Lake boys.

[1033] The Siemens’ had a large market garden which bordered on the Community Pasture.

[1034] October 15^th and 16^th are written in a different hand, suspected to be Harry’s.

[1035] We think this would be at least 35 miles of riding for the members of the hunting party on horseback.

[1036] This was the longest roundup recorded so far – usually it was finished in ten days to two weeks.

[1037] When calves were in with the adult animals, they would get short shrift at the adults’ mangers. Calf racks were too small for the grown animals to get their heads through, giving the calves a shot at solid nourishment.

[1038] These logs would have been left over from the flood in the spring.

[1039] There was a granary full of oats – with grain piled up into the peaked roof space –on the river flats. When the flood came in the spring, a block of ice hit the granary a hard enough blow to knock it out from under its roof with the roof and the oats it contained then resting on the block of ice. This block of ice bearing its unusual load was caught by the boundary fence between Valley Springs Ranch and Badman’s place. It melted there, leaving the roof and its oats sitting on the hillside. The subsequent crop of gophers was humongous. This chain of events was deduced by Bob Hinde. The roof was brought home on a hayrack, in Mary’s memory.

[1040] The cart that Bob had built for the girls to drive to school was open. For the cold weather he constructed a top of canvas.

[1041] Marking - hair branding - was done with a tool like a hair clipper. Horses were not branded with hot metal as cattle were.

[1042] Muggs was a kicker, so when she was milked her tail was clipped into a gopher trap hanging from a beam above, however she gave a lot of milk, and produced a calf faithfully every year.

[1043] Helen Hamilton was the teacher at Thistledale School. We do not know why she came on a Monday and left on a Thursday in the middle of the school term. One possibility is that her boarding hostess, Mrs. McPherson, was ill or away, therefore unable to carry out her tasks for the teacher. Mary remembers taking a walk with her while she was staying at Valley Springs Ranch and we both have a dim memory of her going to school with us in the cart.

[1044] Interesting that she records his name with honorific – must have been a stranger, possibly an engineer from the PFRA.

[1045] This might have been one of two documentaries about the battle for Stalingrad made in 1943.

[1046] A nicotine insecticide, still in use. Here it would be used against hen lice.

[1047] Mary remembers that Starlight was down in her stall at the school barn. Roberta was home ill. When the school closed for the day Mary was sent home with classmates, neat her classmates’ home that the cow had wandered into the kitchen and broken through the floor and was living in the cellar. The family went down there to milk her twice a day. When her father Bob Hinde came he was his usual friendly self. He left the vehicle at the road and they walked back to it from this strange dwelling, on the clear cold dark late afternoon, talking about the stars.

[1048] See pages 221 and 222 of first Borden Heritage book 1980.

[1049] Starlight was evidently well enough to walk home from school. After her death she would have been dragged to the “nuisance ground” – the Animal Graveyard, the children called it, just to the west of the small ravine east of the yard. In the spring they went there to see their pony’s remains and found birds and coyotes noisily quarrelling over the thawing corpse.

[1050] Dick replaced Starlight. He was taller and wider than Starlight. In Roberta’s memory the shafts of the cart had to be altered so his broad barrel could fit between them. She remembers his vast rump obscuring a lot more of the view than Starlight did. At this time the canvas top for the cart was in use.

[1051] In fact it was a 1929 Model A Ford.

[1052] The whole family was sick. Because of this Mary and Roberta were unable to participate in the Christmas Concert at school; they had been looking forward to it greatly.

[1053] The sequence of letters from Len Hinde to Valley Springs Ranch is broken, with none preserved from 1943. In 1942 he was in Labrador, ground crew in the air force; in 1944 he was in Centralia, Ontario, still in the air force. There Ruth and Roger were able to join him off the base.

[1054] Connection not known.

[1055] Harold and Katie Crabb Goodrich. See Crabb Family Tree.

[1056] Salvaging the remains of the irrigation system continued, with the trough sections of the flume closed at the ends being used to hold feed for the cattle.

[1057] Mary remembered that Gypsy came from Saloways, but not that she was the gift of Peggy Saloway. There was general concern among the adults that Gypsy, at the age of eight, was too young and spirited to be safe with eight and nine year old children. Roberta wove Gypsy’s one occasion for taking the bit into her teeth into a story she wrote for her granddaughter Katie in 1996; see The Rempel Cousin Stories, privately published in 2008.

[1058] This entry called for some searching of memory on the part of Mary and Roberta, with a satisfactory resolution not being found. Earlier we remembered with clarity, supported by Aunt Elsie’s diary, that the first horse we drove to school in the late summer of 1943, was Starlight, acquired from Henry Badman. After she died, Dick was used – he of the broad beam. Roberta remembers that he was too wide to fit comfortably between the shafts of the cart – however she recalls that the cart was the “rig” which Elsie refers to now which was not then in existence. Mary thinks that initial cart which was used was a one-horse carriage, quite fancy, belonging to Aunt Elsie. It had high narrow wheels with padded seat and back, and was painted green. Roberta has no memory of this equipage. The “rig” was a white box on wheels with a gate at the back to drop off the full cream cans.

[1059] New hired man.

[1060] Bob Hinde, in As I Remember It, writes in his chapter on the development of the irrigation system, about what these hindrances might be. Possibly some of them arose from the nature of the cottonwood logs which were being turned into lumber, cottonwood being resistant to smooth sawing, and prone to dulling the saw blades.

[1061] Mary and Roberta do not recall there being a well in the stackyard. It would have been important to have a water source close at hand to supply the steam engine which provided the power for the sawmill.

[1062] It seems they were doing custom sawing for the people round about.

[1063] Roberta remembers the patchwork quilts made at that time. They made use of pieces of dark heavy cloth cut from garments no longer salvageable; herringbone stitch in light yarn marked the edges of the pieces. The pieces were attached to an old blanket, giving the whole years more of wear.

[1064] 1941, starred John Wayne and Harry Carey.

[1065] 1941, starred Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall.

[1066] The West Side was the west side of the tracks down 20^th Street – things were cheaper there.

[1067] David Hinde would be just short of one year old.

[1068] Nothing is remembered about this presentation or the watch. Nor can we work out why Gypsy was being taken away.

[1069] Connection not known.

[1070] This is the first reference to tattooing. This practice related to registered animals. See http://www.piedmontese-napa.com/TATTOO%20%20INSTRUCTIONS.htm for more information.

[1071] The stockings would be those past use after many mendings, braided and coiled in circles. There were many shades, from black to pale beige. The result was attractive.

[1072] This may be the James Bracken whose story is on page 57 of the 1980 Borden book.

[1073] Buck and Dusty were brothers, matched buckskins – handsome light, fast drivers.

[1074] The Red Cross was engaged in war relief. He might have been collecting money, or clothing and blankets.

[1075] Connection unknown.

[1076] Not lost – strayed. August and Bob were good friends.

[1077] Mary and Roberta: we don’t remember being at home that winter but clearly we were. The school often was closed for two months over the winter, but this sounds like a much longer period, probably due to the impassability of the trail up the riverbank and to the municipal road. Travel for supplies in the winter was always across the river ice to Langham.

[1078] Roberta: I remember the hired man holding a mirror to the nose of the heifer, and seeing no fog, declaring her dead. I think this experience contributed to my interest in being a veterinarian.

[1079] See also Letters to the Ranch, wherein Mary Artiss expresses thanks for the quilt which was given to a bombed-out family.

[1080] Credit Unions started in Quebec as Credit Foncier. This may have been the beginning of the Credit Union in Borden.

[1081] Released in 1943; starred Roddy McDowell and Preston Foster.

[1082] See http://www.stonyrunfriends.org/Queries.html for information about Quaker Queries. We think this may have related to Uncle Len Hinde’s being put out of the Meeting due to his having enlisted in the air force the previous year. Mary remembers Susie saying she had been at that meeting with Grandma and Grandpa, and that she had felt it was a horrible thing to do.

[1083] This would be used woolens, shipped to a plant that turned them into blankets.

[1084] Mary remembers that he painted the cloth roof black, the body dark green and the wire spokes of the wheels were silver. Now there was money for paint!

[1085] McGee was not meant for a stallion, so he was castrated – the colloquial term being cutting.

[1086] Carol Rempel Siemens, who would be six months old at this point.

[1087] Cornie Penner was then hired man – later married a granddaughter of the elder Wakes; it is assumed that Mary – earlier called Mary L., was the hired girl, probably necessary as Margaret Wake was in her last illness.

[1088] Connection not known.

[1089] Not a blowout dining experience – a tire blowing out.

[1090] Unknown what it was that was unsatisfactory.

[1091] The colt was born with a hare-lip and was unable to nurse.

[1092] Count: 1934: Robert Donat and Louis Calherne; Sanders: 1935: Leslie Banks and Paul Robson

[1093] Mary remembers this Queen’s Birthday party – remembers that the booth was built at the side of the summer kitchen. She remembers too that Grandpa made two sets of stilts so the children could have stilt races. Croquet was played on the lawn.

[1094] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandfly

[1095] This is curious, as Spee was a gelding.

[1096] Post maul - an oversized hammer with which to drive in fence posts.

[1097] Mary and Roberta don’t remember a powered churn, only the hand-powered dasher churn. Perhaps it didn’t last!

[1098] Vesta Wainwright. Her story is in the Borden Heritage book, 1980 page 322.

[1099] Starred Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles; dated 1944.

[1100] Dick McEwan was Joyce’s fiance’s younger brother.

[1101] When there were two hired men, normally one ate at the big house and one at the cottage. With Susie away in Borden, with Bob being in the hospital, everyone would eat at the big house.

[1102] Len refers to this visit to Valley Springs Ranch in his letters, to help with the harvest. He got leave from the air force to do this. Pictures taken at this time show Len in uniform, and bob VERY thin and ill-looking.

[1103] There was always a bathtub in the upstairs bathroom of the big house. The earlier one was galvanized tin, painted cream. The new one clearly was a heavy porcelain one.

[1104] Bob Hinde writes of his experience with this first crisis of his illness, in “As I Remember It.”

[1105] Starred John Wayne and Clare Trevor. 1939, directed by John Ford.

[1106] Auntie Agnes Wake, and Minnie Fowler.

[1107] How they managed without a jack is unknown. The tires would be very worn because of the shortage of rubber, most rubber coming from areas held by the Japanese. Synthetic rubber was developed in the United States toward the end of the war.

[1108] Jack Johnson, according to the 1980 Borden Heritage book, homesteaded near Radisson, and is taken to be a client of the East Borden Grazing Association.

[1109] Alec McLean and his son Lloyd. Alec with a son (Lloyd) and daughter had married Susie’s sister Olga. Lloyd would be 25 at this time.

[1110] Mrs. Showalter was one of Edith’s roomers in Saskatoon.

[1111] During the war and rationing, Harry negotiated with the appropriate officials to have an extra allowance of sugar for the people working the roundup.

[1112] This represents more than five thousand acres, quite an increase from the three homesteads (Grandpa’s, Dad’s and Uncle Len’s - 480 acres) which Valley Springs Ranch started with. Much of this land was on long leases, but it was taxed the same as owned land.

[1113] While combine harvesters were invented in the mid-1800s, they were not in common use on the prairies until after World War II. This combine would have been a special event worth taking a trip to see. Frank Saunders, January 2007, advises that horse-powered combines – up to twelve horses – were in use earlier; this one was probably the first self-propelled combine in the district.

[1114] From Frank Saunders, January 2007: The reach is that part of the undercarriage of a wagon which ties the front and back axles together. It is bolted to the front axle such that the front wheels can swivel to turn.

[1115] Another hired man.

[1116] See Susie’s story (in Rempel Stories, Part II, 2003) for clarification at this point. Bob was unable to remain at Valley Springs Ranch and was unable to work. The doctor in Borden offered Susie the job of running the cottage hospital, which Daisie had just left. The job came with a house and a salary, and was to provide for the family. Bob has been told that with the damage to his kidneys he would never work again, but in fact he improved slowly and was again able to work.

[1117] Mary, Roberta and Barry were left with their aunt and grandparents for three days. In Mary’s memory it seemed much longer than that, feeling abandoned, with their parents, baby brother and the load of belongings disappearing around the corner.

[1118] Mike is actually Isaak. We imagine that having two people called Ike was confusing, and one got nicknamed Mike. He was Isaak Bighert, according to Harry’s diary later, and is of interest because after he was married a week or so later, he and his wife lived in the cottage for a time before Elsie and Wes were married and moved there.

[1119] Lydia McCheane Crabb and her daughter Katie Crabb Goodrich.

[1120] Bob was still very ill but was struggling to help the family.

[1121] Harry’s diary says the settling was “$75.00, paid in full.”

[1122] Black-leading was painting stovetops and stovepipes with a graphite solution to prevent rusting and improve appearance.

[1123] The awkwardness due to Bob’s departure was reflected in many ways, one being that since Bob had kept everything in repair, things were now falling apart.

[1124] Frank Saunders emailed to enquire about this person 16/1/07.

[1125] Harry’s diary clarifies that the rent and taxes were for the Community Pasture.

[1126] See Bob’s story in As I Remember It. As he slowly recovered he began to work part time at the Co-op store in Borden, gradually gaining strength until he worked full-time, salaried. Shortly he was made manager.

[1127] The calves whose mothers had been bawling days earlier were being weaned. First they were allowed to suck fewer times a day, and taught to drink from a pail. Mary and Roberta remember the process of coaching the calves by dipping hands into the milk and putting milky fingers into the little mouths – the feeling is memorable! – then putting cupped hands full of milk to the calf’s mouth, then lowering the hands until they were under the surface of the milk. The calves caught on very quickly. They were fed the skim mild that was left after the cream had been separated. Cream was still a dependable source of cash.

[1128] It is assumed that the “culler and tester” were government people who were responsible for checking the health of flocks which provided eggs for sale.

[1129] http://dairyantiques.com/Cream_Separators_2.html This suggests that the Saloways were no longer milking enough cows to separate and sell cream.

[1130] When Susie took on running the Borden Cottage Hospital, the doctor promised here there would always be nurses there and her tasks would be food preparation, laundry and cleaning. However the registered nurses were in big hospitals or overseas in the services, and the only people available were girls off the farm who thought they wanted to be nurses. They were put into white dresses and their instruction seemed to be complete with the doctor’s injunction not to faint onto the patient during surgery or childbirth. The other member of the staff was Queenie McPherson who was a trained nurse, now a farmer’s wife. She came and brought with her two small children who promptly came down with measles and infected the four Hinde children. So Susie’s start in managing the hospital began with nursing six children with measles.

[1131] Cornelius Penner and Betty Saunders married later in 1945. He joined the Quaker Meeting in advance of his marriage, leaving his Mennonite faith, as Susie Rempel Hinde had done in 1933. Both are mentioned in Walter Lowndes’ “The Quakers of Fritchley” 1986 as new members.

[1132] Susie was running the Borden Cottage Hospital, and the dozen roosters would be destined to feed the patients as well as her family. The hospital was licensed for seven patients, but often there were ten. The coupons were taken from the ration books – rationing continued through the war.

[1133] The calf had died in utero and decayed, presenting a risk to the cow’s life. Dr. Bell’s is taken to be a patent medicine. This is the first mention of the use of sulfa drug by civilians – it had been used extensively with wounds incurred in the war. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfa_drug

[1134] David would have been nearly two, and was always a big sturdy child, outgrowing Elsie’s knitting before it got to him.

[1135] Quilts had been sent from Valley Springs Ranch to Birmingham, to the Sturge family, for distribution through the Friends’ Service Committee. This destination was a change, perhaps due to an appeal to help our then ally, Russia.

[1136] Dates had been unavailable due to shipping being concentrated on supplying the war in Europe.

[1137] Tractors and self-propelled combines were gradually replacing horses, and the prosperity brought by the war permitted big purchases, hence the low demand for horses.

[1138] Little Old New York, 1940, starring Alice Faye and Fred McMurray.

[1139] Harold had been in a conscientious objector work camp; Grandpa had been in Saskatoon.

[1140] We are speculating that Grandma had come to Borden to provide some relief for Susie who still had the hospital to run, and now – since April 12^th – Mary had been very ill and nearly died from a heart condition brought on by rubella, rubeola, scarlet fever and rheumatic fever in close succession.

[1141] Roberta: I remember a parade in Borden, and burning Hitler in effigy…

[1142] Again it seems likely that Barry was being looked after by the grandparents to relieve Susie.

[1143] Alice Hartshorne was an English war bride whose husband was from Saskatoon, and was still in Europe. She had been meant to help Susie at the hospital, but having married at 16 and sent to Canada with a baby and no housewifely skills, she was not a help, and went to Valley Springs Ranch with her son Laurie to try to be of help there.

[1144]After running the hospital for almost six months, Susie’s health broke down. Managing the hospital without the registered nurses promised by the doctor, Bob’s illness and Mary’s illness finally were too much. Mary, still on bed rest, was put into the hospital and the younger children were taken to Valley Springs Ranch while Susie went to Saskatoon to rest at Auntie Agnes Wake’s.

[1145] Ill though he was, Bob kept helping the family with the tasks which needed to be done. Each visit to Valley Springs Ranch, each effort at work, worsened his condition, taking days to recover once he was away from the environment which triggered his allergic reactions.

[1146] Bob would be visiting Susie at Agnes Wake’s.

[1147] Mary remembers her mother being away for longer than the diary entries document – at least three weeks, when in fact it was less than two.

[1148] Daisie’s birthday was June 13^th.

[1149] Joseph Hinde was driving the democrat, bringing mail and empty cream cans home , when the horses ran away down the river hill towards the Small Ravine. The wheels hit a rock and the vehicle was thrown over and Grandfather thrown out with everything, including the tool box. His right eye was injured such that the lower lid always drooped down significantly thereafter. What horrified the family was that when he got up he found that a long sharp file had flown out of the democrat and stuck itself into the ground six inches from his head. There was no doctor that we can recall involved in repairing his eyelid – he just healed as best he could.

[1150] Mary was still on bed rest at this point. She remembers lying on the couch in the dining room and being given mending to do.

[1151] Elsie identifies the needlework as a cushion cover; Mary remembers it as a doll’s patchwork quilt. She has it still, and remembers that stitching on the backing was done by her sister.

[1152] The injury probably happened several days before. Mary remembers her grandmother asking her to check her leg, as it was giving trouble, and she didn’t want Elsie to know about it. Mary looked, and found a black line going up her leg almost to the knee. Mary told her grandmother “We’re going to have to tell Aunt Elsie”

[1153] Bob had bought a house on a homestead near Borden, now abandoned, and moved the non-sod part of it into Borden. Then he dug a cellar and built a new half to the structure over it. Detail about this construction is given in his book, As I Remember It.

[1154] This would be at least a week after the injury, and Mary does not recall particularly noticing the original injury four days earlier. One suspects the doctor lanced and drained the underlying infection and then stitched up the wound he had made.

[1155] Lanced and stitched 24 hours earlier and now picking beans and canning rhubarb – those pioneers were tough!

[1156] Mary had been at Valley Springs Ranch for more than three weeks.

[1157] The hired man and his wife left in July; Alice and Laurie moved in thereafter, still waiting for her husband to return from the war.

[1158] It was expected that such “minor” ailments would heal themselves with little attention and VERY little slowing of pace of activities. That wasn’t happening in this case. Grandmother was 76 at this point, and we believe was already diagnosed with diabetes and dependent on insulin.

[1159] Bob was now working at the Co-op store in Borden, and took the order by phone.

[1160] Bob’s explanation for how the sale of his share of Valley Springs Ranch to his parents and brother and sister came about is found in his book, As I Remember It. It is clear that he accepted a very low settlement in relation to the “sweat equity” he had in the place, but he was reluctant to distress his parents by taking the matter to court.

[1161] Rationing of sugar was clearly at an end!

[1162] Frank Saunders queried about bonus man.

[1163] Mary remembers this picture in Wes and Elsie’s house both at Valley Springs Ranch and in Borden. He is shown as staying at Valley Springs Ranch for more than a week – perhaps it was his holiday.

[1164] Harold Edney had been one of the hired men in the thirties. What a time it took, after the war, for him to be demobilized. And he would be changed indeed.

[1165] This story of cattle rustling is told in full in Bob Hinde’s As I Remember It.

[1166] At this point it has been well over a year since Bob and his family had left Valley Springs Ranch, and the agreement is still not settled. Susie’s employment at the cottage hospital lasted only six months and for most of the year Bob worked without pay when he could work. Just what we lived on is unclear, although Susie raised hens, and we had a cow and calf, and later a goat, and there was a big vegetable garden.

[1167] Bob Hinde notes in his book, As I Remember It, that his brother-in-law died of a heart attack following some strenuous yard work on a hot summer day.

From Gordon McCheane, April 2007: Dad passed away in June 1946 but Mom and I stayed at 308 Spadina Crescent for another year. We moved out to the ranch in the summer of 1947 right after I had finished school. I think it was because Mom was having trouble managing the house and me.

[1168] Red Pheasant Reserve, west of Battleford, where Daisie was the Indian Agent for several years. She and Eric and Carol lived in a large two storey old house which went with the job. This is where Carol saw the ghost.

[1169] Harold and Ruth went to West Branch, Iowa, his home, and there they lived for the next four years. Their first two children, John and Winnie, were born there. They returned to Borden April 21, 1952, according to a later entry.

[1170] Harold and Ruth were living in Iowa; this was their first child, John.

[1171] This was the start of a six weeks’ stay at Valley Springs Ranch, until August 6^th. Roberta is not mentioned every day during this period but it is clear that she was involved with the activities of the Ranch, both outside and inside – baked, rode in the roundup, weeded in the garden, trained a pony, picked berries.

[1172] Mary was 16 at this point, and on vacation from high school. She was to have a vacation at Valley Springs Ranch, and to “help.” There was a great deal more help than vacation. Mary helped Edith and Elsie planting tomato plants and cabbages in the front garden, pulling weeds,

ironing, herding cattle onto the summer fallow and undertook whatever other tasks were assigned.

[1173] Mary remembers the call – the party-line emergency call – six long rings. Edith took the call and told the family, assembled for the mid-day meal, what had happened. Oscar Brunst had been attempting to shift a big rock, and had excavated under the rock in preparation for getting a rope around it to pull it out. His eyesight was poor in his good eye, the other was artificial - and he couldn’t see that he was dealing with two rocks. One fell on him. Mary, having studied first aid, said that Oscar would be in shock and that blankets and hot water bottles should be taken. The adults acted on this but credited the idea to Edith.

[1174] Oscar’s injuries were serious, and in about nine days he died, apparently of kidney failure. While he was in hospital, Bob Hinde visited him, and when Oscar asked Bob to bring him beer, Bob went to a beer parlor and got the beer for Oscar. It was the first and last time Bob was in a beer parlor.

[1175] Life goes on. The funeral was in the United Church in Borden; it was packed. At the end, the minister directed that we all go out the side door, past the open coffin, to say goodbye to Oscar. Mary remembers this.

[1176] From this date until August 12^th, there are no entries. During this period Mary has a very clear and specific memory of a conversation between Elsie and her sister Daisie, at the dining room table after lunch, which went as follows:

Daisie: “Does thou know Wes is coming up to see Bobbie quite a bit?” Elsie: “No.” Daisie: “Does thou WANT to marry him?” Elsie: (Pause) “Yes.” Daisie: “Then if thou wants him, thee shall have him.” And then she asked for the Eaton’s catalog and said they would look for wedding dresses and send for them right now.

[1177] “Toni” was the first home permanent kit. “Which twin has the Toni?” was the advertisement.

[1178] Daisie had decreed that there would be a hot meal after the wedding ceremony, (on a very hot day in August!) and that it would be prepared by Susie and the girls. Carol offered to help, but then Daisie required that her hair be curled in long gold ringlets, so the bulk of the food preparation for the wedding guests was done by Mary and Roberta. We do not recall with certainty whether the cost of the roasts, vegetables, and so on was covered in part by anyone but Dad, but do recall that there was a considerable strain on the family budget.

[1179] James Olinyk, their foster son, who was then thirteen.

[1180] After forty years, Grandma had real electricity in her home – for about a year before she died. But note that the transformer and the wiring didn’t get installed for months.

[1181] Lydia Tomes and Lizzie Derbyshire, visiting from England. Mary and Roberta think they are the two in this family story: At six in the morning on a Saturday, the Saskatoon station master called to say, “ There are two little old English Quaker ladies here who would like you to pick them up.” Dad dressed hurriedly to do his behest. There had been no least intimation that they were coming, and he didn’t know who it was he was going to pick up. Lydia was his first cousin, Lizzie her friend, from Fritchley, Derbyshire.

[1182] Flooding – heavy bleeding, haemorrhage.

[1183] It is assumed that the hired man was fed in the Big House, given Elsie’s indisposition.

[1184] The family story is that she had a complete hysterectomy, and that she had “growths.”

[1185] Remember that the first Electrolux had been bought – by Grandma – as soon as she had the disposable income with the new Old Age Pension in about 1939. The Electrolux people kept their fingers on the economic pulse – and now that there was grid power (as opposed to self-generated) there they were again.

[1186] Merlin’s sister, Winnie’s sister-in-law, who apparently travelled with Winnie.

[1187] Grandma, Martha Hinde. had been diagnosed earlier with late adult-onset diabetes. I recall getting a glimpse of her insulin administration the summer of 1950. This episode of illness may have been related, but recall also that she is 83 years old.

[1188] As Martha’s condition worsened and with the rest of the family away, she needed to be hospitalized. She asked for Susie, then visiting, to take her to the Borden Hospital.

[1189] Edith would have stayed home to look after her father, her son Gordon, and Jimmie. This would have been a needed break for the others following Grandma’s illness and funeral, and a holiday for Len who had come from Ontario.

[1190] Ruth had baby Lester on December 24^th, 1954.

[1191] David Hinde remembers his father talking of this trip to get Grandpa to Saskatoon from Borden. Grandpa said, “Bob, they’re not going to get me well again, are they?” He was not regretting that this was the case. He was hoping for it.

[1192] Mary remembers attending the funeral with Mum and Dad. It was bitterly cold, both at the service and at the graveyard. It was very well attended, the United Church was quite full. The roads were too bad to have the funeral service at the Meeting House.

[1193] Her fourth child, Lawrence (Larry).

[1194] The community would have to pay for rainmaking, and so a vote was required.

[1195] Barry duly left Valley Springs Ranch and returned to Saskatoon, shortly thereafter beginning to work for the Post Office. He remained with the postal service in Saskatoon and later Watson Lake, Yukon, for most of the rest of his working life.

[1196] Mary McCheane was Eddy’s sister.

[1197] Edith’s son Gordon was in the army and had been for many years at this point; he would be 23 years old.

[1198] Names not recognized.

[1199] Mary Hinde Crane recalls: she and Gordon talked about the two of Uncle Edward’s paintings, which Aunt Edith had offered to Mary as a wedding present. When she showed them to Gordon, he said, “Pick one,” and she did, the one of the shack at the Big Pasture in oil pastels. Then he said, “And I give you the other one as a wedding present.” This was of a team and buggy, in front of the Meeting House, a water-color.

[1200] Gordon seems to have been given compassionate leave from the army for about ten days. While at Valley Springs Ranch he helped with whatever chores were going forward, usually working with Wes.

[1201] Shauna was born January 26^th, 1964.

[1202] While in Toronto, Harry stayed with Roberta and her family. I, Roberta, was then working at Scarborough General Hospital, while David completed his qualifications as electronic technologist at Ryerson. As I worked mostly evenings, I was free (along with the children, then five and three) in the day to take Harry about the city. I remember taking him to see his intended at her office at the University of Toronto, where she was a professor of classics; that’s where I met her for the first time. Another stop was at a jewelry store where Harry clearly intended to buy the least expensive ring available. I shamed him into going all the way up to $70.00!

[1203] See http://www.rootsweb.com/~quakers/quakmarr.htm for explanation of Declaration.

[1204] Daisie was always the most smartly dressed of the Hinde girls, and was regarded as well qualified to give advice. Elsie had little sense of style, and cared much less about clothing other than its functionality.

[1205] Wes had worked in a mine at Rocky Mountain House in the depression. He was caught in a cave-in with some other men. It was some time before they were rescued. He said one of the hardest things was that they must not smoke. This story came from Wes telling it to Peggy Saloway in Borden, with Mary and Aunt Elsie present. Elsie had never heard the story before. Mary thinks this was before Wes and Elsie were married.

[1206] Elsie’s expression of opinion and feelings increased significantly after she was married, also the opinions and feelings of others.

[1207] Roger Hinde’s children, Len’s grandchildren, would be 6, 5 and 3 at this point. Roger and his wife had separated and Roger had custody.

[1208] David and I and the children at this time were in London, Ontario, with both of us in graduate programs at the University of Western Ontario. Memory is dim but I recall having been ill, and David sending me off to visit his parents and mine, in Saskatoon and Victoria, over Christmas. I think I met Harry and Elsie by chance on the plane from Toronto to Saskatoon.

[1209] I had spent a few days with my parents-in-law in Saskatoon, then went on with Mrs. Ingram to Victoria, where she visited relatives and I my parents on Rupert Street in Victoria.

[1210] This seems to have been a signal for the move of Harry and Mary to Borden.

[1211] Elsie and Joyce McEwan were in England on an extended trip at this time. There was a gap in the diary during this period but by June 26^th, after their return, there was still no mention of her brother’s death. There may have been later mention of it in her diary. When Mary called Wes, he decided not to call her in England about Bob’s death. Later it was noticed that she had the date of his death wrong in her Bible.

[1212] Phyllis Taylor. She had been a classmate of Elsie’s at Thistledale. Her cakes were famous.

[1213] Vicki was one of several women mentioned in Elsie’s diary whom David Horn dated.

[1214] Lewis and Bob were Wes’s brothers; Jenny and Evelyn were their wives.

[1215] Harry had had a stroke several years earlier and was confined to a wheelchair. He and his wife Mary Needler Hinde had been living in Borden. At this point he was in his last illness, in hospital in Saskatoon. His wife had taken a room near the hospital to be near him.

[1216] Carol Lund Kettles had called Victoria to tell Mary about Harry’s death. She went; stayed at the Ranch.

[1217] Mary remembers coming back to the hall for the reception. It was packed. She got a few feet inside the door and so many people came to talk to her that she never got near the food and never got to sit down.

[1218] Sheri is Lorraine’s daughter by her first marriage. She would have been 16 at the time.

[1219] Mary Crane: this is a quote from poetry. Poetry was much appreciated by the Hinde family.

[1220] Edith was Elsie’s oldest sister who had been married for three years to Edward McCheane. They were homesteading at this time near Thistledale School east of Borden.

[1221] Ruth Rogers with her sister Minnie had come to Canada some time after World War I, having been army nurses during the war. The two of them were then nursing the matriarch of the Orchard family in Halcyonia. Later Ruth married Elsie’s older brother Leonard. Minnie married Francis Fowler. The Hinde and Fowler families remained friends for many years.

[1222] The boys would be Bob, then 27, and Harry, then 21 years of age.

[1223] As in her later diaries, Elsie refers to horses in ways, and by names, which might be confusing to a city dweller.

[1224] Lavinia Wake, who lived with her family where they had homesteaded near the Hinde property, was daughter of Hugh and Margaret Wake. Hugh was Elsie’s mother’s brother. Lavinia would be 21 at this time.

[1225] Outsider, meaning, not a member of the Society of Friends.

[1226] But the Quaker bonnet was laid aside. Daisie spoke of this decades later, relating a discussion she had with her father about garb having little relation to spiritual values. The Quaker plain garb was important to the older Quakers. Daisie laid it aside before she was 20; Elsie not many years later. From Olive Chamness Stakland, February 2008: Winnie did give up wearing a bonnet, possibly finding it lacked the simplicity Quakers hold dear, but always dressed plainly. She made her own dresses, always the same pattern in a fine print or plain color. The Quaker garb served well, I am sure, in keeping others from presenting worldly temptations. From Mary Crane: But it is easier in some ways if your garb reflects your inner differences. Consider the Amish and the Hutterites.

[1227] Elias Jensen was son of a Quaker family who were neighbors of Winnie and Merlin Chamness in Iowa, and Esther was his sister. With small Quaker communities and a strong imperative through their beliefs to marry only “within” there needed to be communication among the communities by the young people in order to find suitable spouses. In the back of Joseph and Martha Hinde’s mind was probably the thought that Elsie would indeed come back married – to an Iowa Quaker – and clearly Harry was being encouraged to correspond with Esther – notwithstanding Elsie’s “looking after Harry” – that is, getting in the way of his marrying.

From Olive Chamness Stakland, February 2008: Elias and Esther Jensen were the grown children of Chris Jensen, a somnewhat eccentric widower with a strong Danish accent having been born and raised in Denmark. They often came to Ida’s for Meeting on First Day. Chris usually had a message to share and for some reason his sort of footnote remark, “…the Apostle Paul, he say so…” has stayed with me all these years. Elias had had a head injury as a child which, we understood, caused him to have a tremor which increased over the years until walking, talking and even feeding himself became very difficult. Before he got that handicapped he enjoyed socializing and playing with us children. I think when Aunt Elsie knew him he was pretty well, driving his own car. He had a picture of her on his bureau and always lit up at the mention of her name. Elias passed away in middle age, a sadly unfulfilled man, I fear. Esther cared for him faithfully for many years. She later fell in love with Augie Christensen, married, and had a family. A very nice lady.

[1228] At this point Elsie’s older brother Leonard was “batching” on his own homestead nearby.

[1229] Elsie’s aunt Annie Wake Sturge from England had paid a long visit to the families of her brother Hugh Wake and sister Martha Wake Hinde, and was now to travel with Elsie to visit the Friends’ community near West Branch Iowa, where also lived Elsie’s older sister Winnie and her family.

[1230] Daisy (or Daisie) and actually Lydia Margaret was the youngest of the family, 15 at this time.

[1231] Every summer the young people in the Quaker community had a week’s camping holiday at Long Lake. This continued for many years.

[1232] Mrs. Halstead ran the telephone exchange in Borden for many years.

[1233] These were the daughters of the well-to-do Orchard family of Halcyonia.

[1234] Eddie Saunders. He had married Elsie’s cousin Margaret (Sissie) Wake the previous year, and they were living at the property of his father Nathan Saunders.

[1235] This is one of the several examples of 1920s slang which Elsie used in her journal.

[1236] Tom is probably Tom Clarke, then working for Nathan Saunders on the farm. The following year Tom and Eddie’s sister Lucy were married.

[1237] William Wake, Elsie’s cousin, son of Hugh and Margaret Wake.

[1238] Optician to several generations of the Hinde family.

[1239] Connection to Cousin Helena is unknown.

[1240] Edith had married one of the many cowboys who worked from time to time at Valley Springs Ranch. The Williams story includes the US Cavalry, bank robbers and the Texas Rangers – and is told in Bob Hinde’s book.

[1241] Ida Chamness was mother-in-law to Elsie’s sister Winnie – Merlin’s mother.

[1242] In Ontario, Annie Wake Sturge would find another Friends’ community, and her sister Mary Wake Hallam, who had emigrated to Canada with her family some years after her sister Martha Wake Hinde came in 1912.

[1243] Ina Chamness, Merlin’s younger sister, then twenty-three.

[1244] From Olive Chamness Stakland, February 2008: Alfred Roseland, a young Norwegian cousin.

[1245] “The folks” are Merlin’s mother and four sisters Jennie, Pauline, Ina and Georgetta. They lived close to Winnie and Merlin and were part of the Quaker community. Lester Chamness, their father, was living in Alabama.

[1246] Stanley Steamer, property of Ida Chamness. This is referred to in stories Rachel Chamness heard from her mother and husband. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Steamer

[1247] Knickers – knickerbockers trousers. Elsie had ridden astride since she was a child, and worn trousers in consequence. There is a picture of women’s knickers in the reproduction Spring and Summer 1927 Eaton’s Catalogue.

[1248] In Barnesville, Ohio was the Olney Friends residential high school.

[1249] Elsie’s birthday was 26 November.

[1250] It is possible that the details of Elsie’s medical problem were to be found in the illegible lines. However Olive Chamness Stakland clarifies the matter thus: Aunt Wlsie’s tonsillectomy was a horrid experience, very painful, done with scissors as I recall my mother telling. Dr. rohrbacker was better at delivering babies than doing surgery, a nice man however.

[1251] Elias appears in the photograph opposite page ___

[1252] Olive Chamness Stakland February 2008: Jenny kept a large and lovely flower garden which everyone enjoyed.

[1253] Clearly Elsie’s lifelong passion for horses was well-established by the time she was twenty.

[1254] Until the middle of the last century, fountain pens were for the well-to-do, and ballpoint pens hadn’t been invented. People used “stick” pens – a stick with a nib which was dipped into an inkwell. I can well remember the joy and terror of graduating from pencil to stick pen. Examining Elsie’s script in this passage, it is clear she is using a stick pen with the nib in poor shape.

[1255] Possibly a hired man?

[1256] Reading between the lines, with echoes from past family stories, it seems that Ida Chamness and her daughters were not always at one with Winnie and Merlin.

[1257] The nature of this accident is unknown. Possibly Carol Lund Kettles will know.

[1258] Mary Crane has a copy of this book. It was one Bob Hinde, her father, liked.

[1259] Mail order catalogue, the equivalent of Sears’ or Eaton’s in Canada.

[1260] When she was in her nineties, Daisie told me that she had kept a diary consistently from childhood.

[1261] Shell rims: these would be of real tortoiseshell.

[1262] Eight decades later, this prices seem incredibly low!

[1263] Written by Carrie Jacobs Bond. This version off the Internet is slightly different from the one Elsie quotes, which contains even more dialect.

[1264] This version, also off the Internet, has had the dialect altered, for comprehensibility.

[1265] Olive Chamness Stakland, February 2008: There, I’ve gone through all the pages. Elsie’s illuminating entries I find very endearing. I feel so fortunate to have had such a special, supportive, non-judgmental aunt all those years. How I miss her.

[1266] The year was not given but since the following meeting is dated 1949, this one is thought to have been 1948.

[1267] The Pope family story is in the 1980 Borden History Book, Our Treasured Heritage. The Popes lived in Halcyonia.

[1268] Joshua and Hannah Wake lived a short distance from Valley Springs Ranch. At this time they would be 73 and fifty. See Borden Book, also Walter Lowndes’ book on Fritchley Friends, to which he contributed.

[1269] Edith Eastes and has husband lived about a mile and a half from Valley Springs Ranch. See also the Borden Book.

[1270] Elsie Linnell Hinde. Linnell was the maiden name of Elsie’s great-grandmother.

[1271]Daisie Hinde Lund, given names Lydia Margaret; Elsie’s sister. She and her family were living on the U-Dot Ranch in the Thistledale area.

[1272] In another hand, possibly Daisie Lund’s, inserted here is, “…pretty good if you can make it stick.”

[1273] Mary Saunders McCheane. See also the Borden Book and the transcription of Mary’s journal 1907 – 1915, privately published, editor Roberta Rivett.

[1274] Pansy Gerster. Her family homesteaded in the Thistledale area. See also the Borden Book.

[1275] Edith Mary Hinde McCheane, Elsie’s sister. Edith and her husband and son had lived in Saskatoon until 1946 when Ed died suddenly; she and Gordon then moved to Valley Springs Ranch. See also the Edward McCheane book, privately printed, editor Roberta Rivett, and the Borden Book.

[1276] Daisie Lund and her husband Eric had been Indian Agents on the Red Pheasant Reserve for several years.

[1277] On the pages opposite the formal minutes this information was presented.

Mrs. Cook: Lucy Kay, Millbank Farm, High Flatts, Dinley Dale, Nr.Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England.

Mrs. E. McCheane: Edith Mary Hinde, Beech Hill Farm, Wingfield Park, Fritchley, Nr. Derby.

Mrs. Wake: Hannah Starr Pollard, Norwich, Ontario

Mrs. Lund: Lydia Margaret Lund, Bournebrook, Birmingham, England.

Mrs. Christensen: Alice Marie Edmondson, Joyfield, Benzie County, Michigan, U.S.A.

Mrs. Eastes: Edith Alice Elgar, 57 Clarenden Place, Dover, Kent, England.

Elizabeth Lynnell Hinde, Bournebrook, Birmingham, England.

[1278] This was a lobby group founded in 1936 in Prince Albert dedicated to pursuing universal health and medical coverage. In 1944 when the C.C.F came to power in the province, the Saskatchewan Hospitalization Plan was established. It seems the earlier term was still in use in 1948. See also http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/state_hospital_and_medical_league.html in the online Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan.

[1279] Apparently the same person referred to later as Mrs. Alec Sutherland. The family stories of the Sutherlands appear in the Borden Book.

[1280] Linda Pope. She, Jo-Ann and Daphne were in their teens at this time.

[1281] Jo-Ann Christensen, daughter of the hostess.

[1282] Hannah Mary McCheane Crabb. She died in 1950.

[1283] Roberta Hinde Rivett: I was present on this occasion. Dad was then working in the Education division of the Saskatchewan Co-ops, based in Saskatoon. We had moved to Saskatoon from Borden the previous year.

[1284] Cornelius Penner, later known as Neil.

[1285] Mr. Phelps was at this time president of the Saskatchewan Farmer’s Union; see also http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/phelps_joseph_1899-1983.html Mary Hinde Crane borrowed his wife’s historical costume for her part in a Saskatoon community Players production of The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker.

[1286] This report is unsigned but it is in Elsie Hinde’s handwriting.

[1287] Laurie Crabb’s wife Hannah Mary died in March 1950.

[1288] The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan online has an article about the changes in the organization of the Saskatchewan Farmer’s Union in which this group was embroiled in 1949 and 1950.

[1289] The Winnipeg flood, May 1950. See also http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-70-670-3783/disasters_tragedies/manitoba_floods/

[1290] See http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/eliason_frank_1883-1956.html Frank Eliason was secretary of the UFC, later called the Saskatchewan Farmer’s Union.

[1291] Elsie Hinde married Wesley Ingram in the summer of 1951.

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