1. Mother and I would make homebrew in the bush and creek many many times. I wish I would have watched how she made it now as she didn’t use a recipe and it was the best home brew. I always had home brew to take with me when there was a dance or curling game.
2. Whenever anyone came to visit mom and dad they always made sure the company had a meal before they left. There was never a shortage of food.
3. Mother always sat in the chair by the oven and laughed along with everyone and made sure we were all happy and fed.
4. Dad enjoyed playing cards with us, sometimes throughout the night. We played bid wist or poker. If dad had a poor hand, he would throw it in but if he had a good hand, he would bid; he couldn’t bluff well.
5. Mother would always make breakfast with a smile on her face after a long night of card playing.
6. When I would go cutting wood in the bush I remember mom making me a frozen fried pork sandwich with a bit of salt on it and even though it was still half frozen when I ate it, it was still really good.
7. Dad and I would be hauling wood and I wouldn’t cut the logs in half and dad would say “they are too dam hard on the horses”.
8. At harvest time if something went wrong, dad would just stop and roll himself a cigarette and think about it – not in a rush.
9. If there was a loose grain sheath, dad would pick it up and put it in the grain binder as he didn’t want to waste anything.
10. One weekend when I went home to visit dad, he wanted to go to Russell to have a beer. We met Isabel and her friends and had 3 or 4 beer at the Russell Hotel. When we left, I was driving and we were near the grain elevator and the RCMP put their lights on and stopped us. I thought for sure that I lost my license. They asked for my license and said “Oh, you are from Regina?” I aid, yes, just visiting my dad for the weekend. They said “OK, have a good trip home”. Boy, I was lucky!
11. Mother and dad always enjoyed dogs and grandchildren and called them “guys” and gave them money “$0.25” and candy and called the dogs “hounds”.
12. One time when we were playing cards, Phil and Bill were acting crazy at the table and dad got mad and he said to them, “If you guys want to play cards, quit acting like a bunch of kids!” – they kept quiet after that!
13. Brother, George, went to war and that day was very sad. He came home at Christmas and when he returned for good, he continued farming. I remember he used to cut our hair with ordinary scissors. I remember one time we went to George and Anns for a meal and George was drinking tea and all of a sudden he couldn’t breathe and passed out and fell off his chair. That was scary.
14. Sister, Mary, and John lived close to the Highway 83 by the Alexanders. I babysat James a few times and rode a horse to their house when I worked at Hartley, MB at Sommerville Brothers. Mary was a cook there in 1954 and Isabel was 2 years old. Mary was a really good cook. One time she got her finger caught in the meat grinder making hamburger. People used to love her food. At harvest time there would be 25-30 people out in the field and she would send food in a tin container with a plate on top to keep it warm to them. They loved her food.
15. On Sunday, I would take Mary to Ninette, MB to see John as he had TB.. They had a new 1953 Ford. She was a great sister.
16. We played alot of cards with Gerry, Phil and Elsie until late in the morning. Mostly we played Kanasta. After Gerry passed away, I would go to Margarets, and she would say “What are you doing here?” She was a great coffee drinker but don’t ever talk about politics as she would get so upset!
17. One time I went to Winnipeg and took Margaret home to Shellmouth and we stopped at the Club Cafe that served Chinese food and Margaret hadn’t had Chinese food so she didn’t know what to order. I told her to order the Chicken Fried Rice and she really enjoyed it. Some time later she wanted to go and have it again.
18. Lots of time, later in the evening, you would find Margaret watering the trees and flowers. That was a favourite thing for her to do in the evening. We would go for breakfast in Russell or Roblin and I would help her eat her pancakes as she would get a big plateful. Margaret and Gerry were very proud of their children.
19. Brother, Davey, came to Regina later than I did and we played ball together on two different teams and lots of times we would go for a few drinks and to parties with Davey’s friends. David and Carol moved to Kipling and he had an older friend that he would bring with him to Regina for coffee and he was a good friend of Daveys and we met them at Northgate Mall for coffee. Davey was a good counsellor to the people of Langenburg and Kipling and was well liked.
20. Elsie and Phil came to Winnipeg from the East and we saw them alot in Shellmouth in the summer. We played alot of cards and they were great company. Elsie especially enjoyed having the kids around and was a great cook. After Phil passed away we phoned each other 365 days a year.
21. One time I drove my car and trailer down below the Hoopers to get a load of manure and almost got stuck so I had Rosemarie and Elsie sit on the trunk of the car to put weight on it and they looked so funny and were laughing and almost fell off as I got the car and trailer out of the manure pile.
22. Whenever I went to visit Elsie in Winnipeg we would go for breakfast and shopping with her and her friend and then would watch Young and Restless. I still watch that show today.
I miss them all and have good memories and love them and I am sure they are all having good Kanasta games in Heaven and are looking down on us.
Thanks for the memories
I remember back in the late 50’s going with Grandpa out to the fields in the tractor. I remember when I had to go to the bathroom Grandpa said, “pull down your pants and go over there” pointing to an area in the tall grass. I remember churning the milk, feeding the chickens, milking the cows, shooting a 22 cal rifle at the Gofers and Jamez Z would drive the car shooting out the window as he drove. I remember filling the car up with Gas at the store in Shellmouth pumping the handle back and forth to force gas up to the glass bowl on top. The store owner “Whon?” would say he had APPLE CHERRY and RAIZY pie, NO CHERRY, NO RAZIE, only APPLE. I remember back in the early 60’s having a crush on the WHITE girl who lived near the Post office. I remember swimming in the river as a young kid. I remember helping Phil painting the outside of his house when I visited in 81 – he had picked me up from the bus terminal in Langenburg. I remember back in the early 50’s David putting me on the horse “GENTLE” and saying it was not my horse. I remember my sister Pat and I taking the train to Winnipeg from Hamilton back in the summer of 64 or 65 and staying at Margaret’s house for one month. I had brought my electric guitar and small amplifier and probably drove her crazy with the noise.