still motionless, there was no laundry done that day. The next morning, Joe rubbed some vaseline on the agitator, and it immediately cured the ailment. The washing machine worked well from that day on. There were no more broken windows. We had many laughs about it over the years.

As a town girl I lived on the Main Street in Souris. It meant that there was traffic passing our home day and night. When I moved to the country, it was a different story. There was very little traffic, and everything seemed so quiet and still. In fact, there were nights that I could not sleep because of the silence of the immediate surroundings.

The birth of newborn animals was quite an experience for me as well. At that time the barn was old, and not up to date. There was no running water, electricity or other modern conveniences available.

In winter the barn was very cold, so it was easy for the wind to penetrate through the buildings. If Joe was expecting a new calf, lambs or piglets, they would arrive at night in most instances. It would be so much more convenient if the births occurred in the daylight hours when there was more light. Sometimes I had to hold the lantern during the birth but not very often. I was scared of the animals, and as a result, I was more of a nuisance than an assistant.

Occasionally, some little piglets were put in boxes and placed on the oven door when they were in need of warmth. Often Joe fed them warm milk with a baby’s bottle. Sometimes they would survive the night, but occasionally, they did not.

New baby chicks were ordered from Charlottetown every spring. They were shipped by rail, and it seemed that the cold air always greeted their arrival. The cool temperature would not permit them to stay in the hen house, so they usually took up their abode in the porch. It was very annoying to hear them chirping as they tried to content themselves in cramped surroundings. With time, the chicks managed to free themselves from the carton, and became a nuisance. They were then shipped off to the hen house to live or to die.

The winter seemed long with many storms and huge snow drifts, that often kept me indoors for days at a time. I anxiously awaited the arrival of spring which seemed to be everlasting in coming.

Nature had its own way of announcing the arrival of a new season. I

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