When Johnny and I first started going to the farm, I was eight and he was nine. The visits were twofold: we helped out with chores but it was also a fun holiday in many ways and each year after school was out, we eagerly anticipated the bus trip to Kingston where we were met by one of our uncles. The first summer on the farm, we only stayed a couple of weeks and helped in simple ways like feeding the pigs and collecting the eggs from the chicken coop. I just loved collecting eggs and feeding the pigs. Pig food was called mush. It was a combination of some kind of dry flaky substance poured into the trough and then mixed with water. The pigs loved the mush and I loved watching them eat. They made a lot of noise.
As we became older we stayed longer and helped out in other ways. I would help grandma with chores around the house and Johnny helped grandpa and our uncles in the fields with the hay.
I remember helping grandma do the laundry outside near the pump on at least one occasion. It wasn't as easy as one might think. There weren't just small items of summer clothing like shorts and tops. I'm talking about overalls and shirts that grandpa and my uncles wore when they were working in the fields. We certainly didn't change our clothes every day. We wore them for several days in a row unless you stepped into a cow pie or something like that. But that's a story for another day.
I found this video on youtube. It is so cute I have to share it. This little girl is adorable and she reminds me of our granddaughter Eden.
Washing clothes on the farm was a big job even though it was not as elaborate a procedure as shown in this video. I don't remember all the steps, with the boiling water and the double rinsing etc. I'm thinking maybe grandma skipped some of them.
I know there were two tubs, one for washing and one for rinsing and a bar of soap and the scrub board. Grandma filled the two tubs with water from the pump, using the metal pail that was kept beside it. The water was really cold. I remember grandma heating up some water in a large pot over the wood stove in the kitchen. She then poured the water into the washing tub to take the edge off the frigid temperature. Grandma let me try using the scrub board but the clothes were pretty heavy when they were full of water so my contribution was basically to rinse each item in the rinse water as well as I could and then grandma and I would ring it out; each taking an end and turning the opposite way.
It was a lot of work for grandma. I don't remember if she changed the water at all, but she probably did: I do remember the water getting pretty dirty. I don't know how clean the trousers and shirts etc. were when they came out of the tubs but they were certainly a lot cleaner than when they went in.
After ringing out each item, grandma would hang it on a clothes line strung between two trees over to the left of the house as you were facing it. The wooden clothes pins were already on the line, probably from the previous laundry day.
When the clothes were dry, grandma brought them into the kitchen and I helped her fold them on the kitchen table. They didn't take long to dry with the hot sun and the summer breeze.
I took what belonged to Johnny and me and put them away. We each had a dresser for our clothes. I had my own room but I think Johnny slept in the landing at the top of the stairs.
I only remember helping grandma with the laundry this one time. I don't know what she did in the winter. I vaguely remember a wringer washer in the kitchen so I'm thinking wash tubs outside in the summer / wringer washer in the winter? I don't know.
As we became older we stayed longer and helped out in other ways. I would help grandma with chores around the house and Johnny helped grandpa and our uncles in the fields with the hay.
I remember helping grandma do the laundry outside near the pump on at least one occasion. It wasn't as easy as one might think. There weren't just small items of summer clothing like shorts and tops. I'm talking about overalls and shirts that grandpa and my uncles wore when they were working in the fields. We certainly didn't change our clothes every day. We wore them for several days in a row unless you stepped into a cow pie or something like that. But that's a story for another day.
Washing clothes on the farm was a big job even though it was not as elaborate a procedure as shown in this video. I don't remember all the steps, with the boiling water and the double rinsing etc. I'm thinking maybe grandma skipped some of them.
I know there were two tubs, one for washing and one for rinsing and a bar of soap and the scrub board. Grandma filled the two tubs with water from the pump, using the metal pail that was kept beside it. The water was really cold. I remember grandma heating up some water in a large pot over the wood stove in the kitchen. She then poured the water into the washing tub to take the edge off the frigid temperature. Grandma let me try using the scrub board but the clothes were pretty heavy when they were full of water so my contribution was basically to rinse each item in the rinse water as well as I could and then grandma and I would ring it out; each taking an end and turning the opposite way.
It was a lot of work for grandma. I don't remember if she changed the water at all, but she probably did: I do remember the water getting pretty dirty. I don't know how clean the trousers and shirts etc. were when they came out of the tubs but they were certainly a lot cleaner than when they went in.
After ringing out each item, grandma would hang it on a clothes line strung between two trees over to the left of the house as you were facing it. The wooden clothes pins were already on the line, probably from the previous laundry day.
When the clothes were dry, grandma brought them into the kitchen and I helped her fold them on the kitchen table. They didn't take long to dry with the hot sun and the summer breeze.
I took what belonged to Johnny and me and put them away. We each had a dresser for our clothes. I had my own room but I think Johnny slept in the landing at the top of the stairs.
I only remember helping grandma with the laundry this one time. I don't know what she did in the winter. I vaguely remember a wringer washer in the kitchen so I'm thinking wash tubs outside in the summer / wringer washer in the winter? I don't know.
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