Earl sort of- he considered me almost his sisters. And if he wanted to buy a new overcoat, he'd want our opinion and-stuff-like-that.

And I can remember da-- daddy going there and being fitted for, I don't know whether it was a suit or an overcoat.

Yeah, yeah yeah. But ah, Em ah- and then she married a padre in the army and they were posted all over Canada.

And he, as part of his job- and the Roman Catholic padre was the same and they were supposed to visit ah every place in the world where there were Canadian soldiers.

So you had to tie your boot laces. And they dress them. The government dress them. All in big boots you-know up here. Safety boots. The saw wouldn't cut them (inc). And they- pants on and hard to get people to wear braces to hold their pantses up to their crotch, 'cause of their- crotch was at their knees, they couldn't walk, you-know-what-I-mean?

And they lived in part of the house there, in the parlour, and they just had the parlour, and- and ah, and the little bedroom, that's where they started on the farm.

Speaker: And ah we had an auger there for drilling- well, they used to build fences. You see these- these fences with the pickets up them? Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: Well they drilled the holes in them. Interviewer: Okay. Speaker: And we had a big machine there to drill them.

They were good lads though. Oh yeah. But Gabe and I, we done plowing matches, we done weddings. I've never done a funeral with Gabe but I've done funerals.

The basement in the house, of course, was never heat- heated and, ah, because there was a cistern there it kept a certain amount of dampness there. So we had what they call a potato bin. ... And a potato bin was the same thing as a cold room. It never froze down there but it was never what you call very hot. ... Potatoes kept like crazy so that was a big deal. And don't forget all them wonderful turnips that I used to have to-

And by the time he got to the last place, it would be pretty near melted down (laughs).

And, ah, I took a stroke when I was fifty-one. So it kind of changed my way of thinking, you-know? ... I was paralysed pretty well on my left side.

Interviewer: That was the story your parents told you, but it- but it's true babies were always born at home. Speaker: Pretty well- we were all born at home except Ben.

Porridge was always for breakfast. ... With maple syrup and milk. 'Course we had our own syrup, our own milk, our own pretty-well-everything. We even made our own butter.

And she had three daughters, and they had pretty well all left home and there was this extra bedroom, so- ... Yeah, rented the little bedroom, and had a desk to do my homework at and-

Speaker: It was pretty well- Interviewer: Finished by then. Speaker: Yeah. ... The big dairies were taking over.

Interviewer: What was some of the issues that you had to deal with? Speaker: Well pretty well the same as they're dealing with these days. Same things, roads and schools and ... taxpayers. Trying to look after them.

Interviewer: Yeah, 'cause some people I 'member, when we had the historic society, said it'd be a day trip- Speaker: Pretty well, yeah.

Yeah. The thunderstorm was over then, pretty well (inc). ... Got on the phone and I had just got on there and there was an awful smash came, and the phone went flying (laughs).

Interviewer: Would you say it's maybe due to the fact that maybe farming is starting to change, that you're not getting the generational, you-know, the younger generation taking over the farms and continuing to farm? That's what happened in the old days. Speaker: Yes, yeah yeah. That has ended pretty well you-know there ah- and the other thing, there were, there were lots of- of ah bigger families I should say, you-know, and they didn't have access to education as- as much as they do now, you-know?

But ah, but it was pretty well the last water wheel that ah I knew, and now the Beales they used the water wheel for generating just their own electricity but ah, before it was supplying water- or electricity to Perth too, at one time.