Last Sunday I was invited to my aunt's for a wedding shower. Her oldest grandson will be married in September. It was certainly pleasant to visit the old stomping grounds of my childhood.
This is the house I grew up in. When Dad bought it, it was just a two bedroom hired man's shack. He worked on it for years to change it into the ranch style home that it is today. On the left of the porch is a bedroom that he built onto the house.
The chimney is the one that Dad built when he put in the fireplace. It is the same one that I bounced my Indian Rubber ball off of when I was young. We also had red, white and blue rubber balls that we bounced there.
The old cement verandah is no longer part of the house...at least not the one that was there when I was young. The house has changed over the years since Mom sold it. None of the trees were in the front yard. The terrace had to be mowed and I was often the one that did it. I really didn't mind. In fact even today I would enjoy mowing the lawn. I love the fragrance of freshly mown grass or hay. Today this house is owned by my cousin.
Right next door, to the left of this photo is the house in the photo above. This was Grandma's house. The trees weren't there when I was young. In fact, my aunt's front lawn was Grandma's vegetable garden and one year Aunt May grew flowers in this area for the 4-H Club Gardening Project. The house has changed some over the years, but this part of it is the same. Grandma would stand on the porch and keep her eye on us kids as we waited for the school bus. The stop was right at the end of her laneway.
This is the barn that I loved exploring as a child. The metal silo wasn't there. The barnyard was to the right of this photo and there was a pond there where the geese and ducks spent their time. There were always tadpoles and frogs there. The haymow was at the far end of the barn and this end. The granary was under the haymow at this end of the barn. In the lower section 26 Holstein cows were milked morning and night.
The smaller roof that you can see to the left of the photo was the horse barn. This is where Grandpa kept his team and a couple of extra horses. Punch was a bay and Maud was black. They were well matched. Punch was my favorite...such a gentle giant. I loved to sit on his back when I was little and scratch his ears. He loved it.
The house in the background belongs to one of my cousins. It wasn't there when I was young. All of the area where it stands was pasture and just at the back corner of the barn was the haystack.
The cement silo attached to the barn is the one I went up in (to the very top) when I was six years old. I threw down the ensilage and then prepared to come down. That is where my problems began. That silo is 40 feet and I was scared to death. Uncle Willie had to climb the silo and help me down. I remember how angry he was. To this day, I'm still afraid of heights and I blame it on that experience. I can climb up anywhere, but have trouble climbing down because vertigo sets in.
Fond memories of childhood. What fun my brother and I had exploring the barn and though we worked hard between its walls, we didn't really think of it as work. It was a way of life and we enjoyed it.
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my past. Have a safe and enjoyable Labour Day weekend.
