Down on the Farm

I don't much remember our arrival in Canada, but I remember waking up on the farm. We children were housed at the Eldege household. Many of us slept up in the loft that they called "au troisieme" which means on the third floor. When John Denver came out with Grandma's Feather Bed it reminded me of those days.

The grandparents house was across the road and had indoor plumbing. Nobody had warned me that there might not be such a thing. Eldege had an indoor bathroom but there was nothing plumbed about it. It must have been a chemical toilet of some kind. They did have a pump at the sink so nobody had to carry water or anything. I don't know if they had a bathtub of any kind. We kids, my age and younger, were washed by adults. When it was time to get properly bathed and dressed for the party, Mama did all that at Grandma's house that had a proper bathroom.


In the kitchen at the Eldege house they had one of those big steel wood stoves with at least 4 maybe 6 removable burners. It was a very modern one with a hot water reservoir on the side. It was the girls of the family that tended the stove. Put wood in the burner and lit the fire. It was so fascinating that they didn't use frying pans, eggs were placed right on the burner cover to cook.

I remember them covering the whole top with bread at breakfast time to make toast. Had to be at least a whole loaf at a time. They had a lot of growing boys who did a lot of heavy farmwork, not to mention all this visiting kids. Vonna and Tony were also there for the party with their six kids.

I have no idea what they did for refrigeration. There was a celler that one or another of the children would be sent to but I never was brave enough to go with them. We had a refrigerator at our house in Detroit. Vonna and Tony still had an ice box on their back porch and the ice man delivered ice. But down on the farm they didn't even have an ice man. I must have siblings that know more about that part than I do.

The twins, Fleur Aimee and Fleur d'Ange were my age and we hung out together. I went with them to get the cows in the afternoons. It was a longer walk than I was used to and up a couple of hills. They showed me their school house on the way. I didn't go with them to the barn to milk the cows in the mornings (too early) or in the afternoon either (too stinky). Plus, those big boys thought it was very funny to squirt milk at us. I'm thinking now that Rita and Monica were of an age to maybe do a little flirting (16 and 14) but I was oblivious to it then.

The barn, the smell, the flies There were dogs and puppies, cats and kittens, and I don't know what all; and we had free access to all of that. We rode on the hay wagon and I saw a picture of me on a horse but I don't remember riding him.

One treat for me was being exempt from Sunday Mass because there was insufficient transportation. The older adults traveled in Papa's Hudson and the younger adults hitched up the horses and buggies. I remember the confusion of transporting to Mass but I don't remember anything about how we all got to the party.

This picture of Grandma and Grandpa and eight of their ten daughters (collectively known as Les MaTantes) was taken at that party. One dauthter Jeanne who also lived in Detroit, did not attend. The other missing daughter was Flor who died young after bearing six children. When she died, a younger sister, Monique was sent into this motherless family to keep house for them. She ended up marrying her brother-in-law (Leo Pion) and bearing him six more children.

Les MaTantes who survive today are Alfreda, Julia, Monique and Marie Clair. One hundred and five years after the first sibling was born, that ain't bad.