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| Blogs > rm_swallow22us > "If ignorance is truly bliss, |
Age 7Learning from Gramps the hard way
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Age 7Learning from Gramps the hard way Ever since I started this on the anniversary of my Grandfathers death, so many things have come flooding back, so please forgive me if I tend to ramble on at times.It's just that many of these memory's really were not funny at the time, but now in retrospect they have taken on a new meaning. My grandparents came to Canada at the turn of the last century and were still of the old school,that meant simply you didn't work then you didn't eat.also age meant nothing,perhaps thats why the laziness of Kidd's today angers me so. My Granddads homestead consisted of a quarter section of land east of the town,now I have to use the term land loosely as it was mostly swamp or at best marsh,of the 240 acres we could really only farm perhaps 80 the rest was good only for bulrushes and ducks.This however was not altogether a bad thing as it was also right in line with the flyway of geese migrating north in spring.Lord what a site it was after the snow had gone and the marsh had filled with runoff.Then they would come,snow geese at first then the Canada's would follow,it looked like our land had been dumped on by two foot of snow,they would stay for a week or so lardering up for the long flight north to nest.Somehow my Granddad always seemed to find grain and corn somewhere to give them a helping hand and when I asked why he did this he would just smile and say he was just making an investment that would pay good interest,and that it did. It turns out that some of these lady geese were so heavy with eggs they just couldn't wait,and some of them dropped an egg or two,now if there had only been a few geese it wouldn't have been a big deal.However we are talking about several hundred thousand geese,now even if only a few geese out of a hundred dropped an egg we're talking about a lot of eggs here.So after the birds had started to head north to the Arctic circle,Gramps and I would wagon up one of the horses,load it with straw and wheelbarrows ,and then head out to the marsh to collect the interest.It was simply amazing the marsh grass looked like a driving range on a golf course now I had never seen a golf course but that's what it looked like.Wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of goose eggs.we would cart them back to the wagon unload them and pack them in straw an go get more ,we collected eggs this way for three full days.Meanwhile My Grandmother would be getting ready to make noodles, real egg noodles and when dried there was enough to feed the family for the whole year, plus a bunch to sell to the people in town.It was hard work but it was worth every sore muscle.Then of course before supper there were the Jersey cows to milk,and feed all thirteen of them,then the hogs,chickens,sheep and goats had to be taken care of. Then there were the horses that had to be dealt with,four Clydesdale's Thunder,Lightning,Spark-plug and Dynamite the four laziest,meanest most miserable creatures that I have ever known. They were however Granddad's fa vs and had to be groomed every fucking day.These leviathans and I took an immediate dislike to one another.Picture this a seven year old boy slight of stature standing behind some creature the size of a greyhound bus with an attitude.It's not a pretty picture.I will speak of them at a later time when my blood pressure comes down,but think of it this way it was my grandfathers way of throwing me in at the deep end.We also had two Missouri Mules but thats a blog to itself.For supper that night we had baked home-cured smoked ham,potato's covered with cream gravy and onions with apple sauce on the side.Also fresh baked buns with real Jersey butter.I slept well that night in my own feather bed.with no sound except the ticking of the clocks.  As always Swallow |
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You done good babes! A most refreshing story! Hugs and Kisses, Skye   Blessed Be
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Daqmn the memories ya brought back here! Thanx... for the trip down yesterdays lane... we raised geese and the wild ones always joined in to the fold on their journey.... I can still taste that egg noodle dough in my mind~ Excellent story well down~ ~Jeff Swallow As always Swallow
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Looking forward to and hoping to hear more stories about your grandparents,,,,,,,,memories warm us -L'
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