Life On and Off an Acreage

In-sights into moving from an Acreage back to Town, plus a few things I find of interest.

Two things that horses are scared about:


1. Things that move
2. Things that don't move




Old enough to be eccentric, but not rich enough
Showing posts with label Primitive Times. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Primitive Times. Show all posts

November 10, 2011

Nostalgic Thursday

When growing up, I had the opportunity to do a fair bit of flying. This is a shot taken in 1963 at a fly in camp about 70 air miles north of Kenora. When the plane came in, everybody turned out to unload food, gas, guests and everything that a fishing camp in an isolated area required. Even the jeep on the dock was cut in pieces and flown in.

The aircraft is a Noordyn Norseman, an ex military craft built in the 1930's. In 1963 it was already old, but reliable. It had a big round Pratt and Whitney  450 horse power radial engine. It was loud, and hence the aircraft nickname of Thunder Chicken. There are still a few flying, and I believe that Red Lake Ontario still has an annual fly in honoring the plane. Other notable aircraft were common at the dock, the de Havilland  Beaver, Otter (or Stone Boat), Twin Otter, Champion, Cessna 180, 182, 172, and even a Canso ( or PBY Flying Boat)
 Life was very different in 1963. Words that come to mind are, restful, peaceful, easy-going.

Life revolved around the dock, eating, fishing and relaxing.


I didn't guide at this camp, but went fishing with a good friend, and hunted deer and moose in the fall.

The camp handled about 120 guests at a time and had a support staff of around 30.

A big single cylinder diesel generator was brought in via ice road. It powered a town of around 5000 people in one of the northern states prior to going north. The flywheel weighted about 3 tons if I remember correctly.


August 16, 2011

A Not-so-brief History Lesson

A Good friend sent me this. It says to pass it on, so I am.


Where did Piss Poor come from?
Fascinating History


They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families
used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken &
Sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive
you were "Piss Poor"

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't
even afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to
piss in" & were the lowest of the low

The next time you are washing your hands and complain
because the water temperature isn't  just how you like it,
think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about
the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their
yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by
June.. However, since they were starting to smell . ..... ..
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.
Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man
of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then
all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the
children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so
dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the
saying, "Don ' t throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no
wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get
warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs)
lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and
sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof...
Hence the saying "It ' s raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the
house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs
and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence,
a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top
afforded some protection. That ' s how canopy beds came into
existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other
than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had
slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet,
so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their
footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until,
when you opened the door, it would all start slipping
outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.
Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren’t ' t you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big
kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit
the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly
vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the
stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold
overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew
had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence
the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas
porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could
obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When
visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show
off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home
the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests
and would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high
acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,
causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with
tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were
considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt
bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests
got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination
would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.
Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and
prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen
table for a couple of days and the family would gather
around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake
up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running
out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins
and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the
grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins
were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they
realized they had been burying people alive... So they would
tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the
coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night
(the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone
could be saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth....Now, whoever said History was boring!!!

So...get out there and educate someone! ~~~ Share these
facts with a friend.

Weird
 eh?

 


February 25, 2011

Primitive Times!

Once again we are learning on how to survive without well water. We got up Thursday morning and found that the water was gone from the taps. I figured as it was about -30C that the well had frozen below surface again. Not so. After dumping about 3 gallons of boiling water down the well head there was no improvement. I checked the pressure switch. It had current and was calling for the pump to start. The lines above the well head were nice and warm. After 2 hours on the phone, I found an electrician that would come up and check things out. He found no current going down the well and no resistance, meaning that the wires had separated or that the pump had blown.

Two more hours on the phone got me a well pump service guy that maybe can show up Sunday or Monday.

The fix involves pulling the 170 feet of pipe up the hole to get at the problem. Maybe the weather will cooperate as pulling pipe at -30C is not fun.

Posted by PicasaI would anticipate the cost for the service and pump replacement will be in the order of $1000. Hopefully, the pump is OK, but that is unlikely as it's been pumping for 14 years.

In the meantime we are showering at our son's place, melting snow and ice for the chickens and washing dishes. The water trough heater for the horses is melting ice about as fast as the horses are drinking it.

Hopefully, I will not have to haul water from town.

Meanwhile we are sort of learning what the pioneers went through.  Fun stuff!

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