Then once the car was empty it had to take all that and pile all in the crossers on skids to the side of the laneway that you're in. A lot of handling, a lot of work, a lot of physical labour. But it was just the way it was back then. Sixties, seventies.

That's where our playhouse was, was out in this kind of a little bunch of trees that was across the laneway so we had flowers in our playhouse the next year.

Speaker: But ah, we used to bike up the hill, ah, from our farm ah there was- a slow grade of a hill and then a higher one, and then you could coast all the way back down to- Interviewer: Mm. That's good. Speaker: Our laneway, yeah. As they say, it was uphill both ways.

Interviewer: So you remember helping out your dad a lot then do you? Speaker: Yes. Yeah we would ah- a lot- of course in those days, we hunted, we fished on Lake-Simcoe and- and ah as a kid um I would set into the bowling alley which is now the legion. So we would manually set up games of ten pin.

Speaker 2: And there were people around town that played maybe fiddles and- ... And all that. ... Speaker: So that was a bit different. And eventually, ah, after that they got the Legion. That would be after we got married, right? Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker: Yeah. 'Cause it was a bowling alley at one time. And then the bowling alley sort of petered out.

... it was a bowling alley at one time. And then the bowling alley sort of petered out. 'Cause we belonged to bowling- we did belong to the bowling, ah- ... League. ... And then, ah, it kind of petered out and they- somebody- I guess the Legion bought it and made it into a Legion. ... So that's where the dances then- ... Became popular.

We had over a hundred people there. Well almost a hundred, not- not over the hundred, about a hundred. ... And we just kept it simple. We just booked the legion, said we'll do visiting potluck. Somebody said "Are you having music," I said no. "Are you having speeches?" "No. We're just going to visit and talk." And we did and it was great.

The main- the main dog house was the- Interviewer: What's the word mow mean? Speaker 1: Mow, mow. Interviewer: M-O-W. Speaker 1: Yeah, where you pour the hay. Goes in the mows- Interviewer: The hay mow. Oh, okay. So that word was used in Ellerton's house. Got it. Speaker 1: The log house was- was log barn. Speaker 2: Yeah when um- when Ellertons bought my grandfather's log barn and- and- ah, that was the one- the one mow became- became the living room and the other mow became the- the kitchen and- Interviewer: Oh I understand, okay. Speaker 2: So the big wide- big wide hallway.

My grandfather was a barn-builder and-that too, and my dad learned the trade and my Uncle Wilfred, he was there and he liked that sort of thing. So I had lots of help. So we tore down the old barns that were there, and one was ah wasn't a log barn they were frame barns and their roof was steel. So we took the steel roofs off, saved that, saved most of the boards and the big ah timbers they were like about a foot square and-everything, tore them down. That was nineteen-fifty.

Yeah, we sh- m-- we built a new house when we were teaching so that we- there was here- the original log house that the pioneers built was here originally. And then somebody, I'm not sure who framed it over, made it look like a framehouse. But it had seen better days, so we tore it down and ah built this one in nineteen-seventy-two.

Sure. Yeah, there was an old log house. Darren's mother and father and then ah there's five siblings in that family. They lived here and um, R-J were they called them, Robin-Jeff, ah, he worked in a factory in Port-Credit and my father, when we had the farm here, he worked this land.

Yeah, okay. Couple of them were scandalized by- by that and I said, "Look it, I'm- I'm not a dairy farmer, but you guys tell me where you get your milk from for your family tables." And they all laughed and-so-on. Probably just dip into the bulk cooler and take the milk to the house.

Speaker: Yeah. It was quite a few dishes. (laughs) Now something Patrick also mentioned, and I thought about it, was the meat ring. Do you remember the meat ring? And Patrick said that, um, they would slaughter a beast- Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: And then because a lot of us didn't have fridges at that time they would divide that beast up, however many was in the meat ring.

Speaker: And then because a lot of us didn't have fridges at that time they would divide that beast up, however many was in the meat ring. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And then when that was gone then the next person would have to put a beef in and that one would be slaughtered and- Interviewer: Oh, okay. Speaker: Divided up- Interviewer: yeah. Speaker: Amongst the- the neighbours, that was.

Speaker: Now something Patrick also mentioned, and I thought about it, was the meat ring. Do you remember the meat ring? And Patrick said that, um, they would slaughter a beast- Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: And then because a lot of us didn't have fridges at that time they would divide that beast up, however many was in the meat ring.

Well my father would do that. And I can- I can remember skinning them. Skinning the fur off them. And then he would cut the cow up and bring it down into our basement, make it into steaks and roasts and-whatever. Wrap it up in brown paper and label it and then share it with other farmers. It's called a meat ring.

Speaker: And I can- I can remember skinning them. Skinning the fur off them. And then he would cut the cow up and bring it down into our basement, make it into steaks and roasts and-whatever. Wrap it up in brown paper and label it and then share it with other farmers. It's called a meat ring. Interviewer: Oh, I've heard about that. Speaker: Yes. So they would- they would probably- they would do that with pigs as well as cows and then it would be shared with so many other farmers.

Speaker: What? The stairways still there from the bedrooms. Speaker 2: The- Ellertons house? Speaker: Yeah. Speaker 2: Well yeah, our grandfathers barn and- and the living room was- Speaker: The ba-- one mow. Speaker 2: One mow. The- the dry floor was the hall and the other- and the- and- Speaker: Other mow was the- Speaker 2: And the other mow was the kitchen. The main- the main dog house was the- Interviewer: What's the word mow mean? Speaker: Mow, mow. Interviewer: M-O-W. Speaker: Yeah, where you pour the hay. Goes in the mows- Interviewer: The hay mow. Oh, okay. So that word was used in Ellerton's house. Got it.

Speaker 2: What? The stairways still there from the bedrooms. Speaker: The- Ellertons house? Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker: Well yeah, our grandfathers barn and- and the living room was- Speaker 2: The ba-- one mow. Speaker: One mow. The- the dry floor was the hall and the other- and the- and- Speaker 2: Other mow was the- Speaker: And the other mow was the kitchen. The main- the main dog house was the- Interviewer: What's the word mow mean? Speaker 2: Mow, mow. Interviewer: M-O-W. Speaker 2: Yeah, where you pour the hay. Goes in the mows- Interviewer: The hay mow. Oh, okay. So that word was used in Ellerton's house. Got it.

Speaker: Yeah when um- when Ellertons bought my grandfather's log barn and- and- ah, that was the one- the one mow became- became the living room and the other mow became the- the kitchen and- Interviewer: Oh I understand, okay. Speaker: So the big wide- big wide hallway.