It's still standing. It's kind-of remodelled and fixed up but it's- you'll come to a log house and it's just up from that. But it wasn't the original school, just across the road from that. There's a house there now but there was a little school there that my father went- they call it the red- little red school house

I wouldn't- I know nothing about- but- but- but ah- but they had a butter print and they'd make it exact pounds you-know? And- and wrap them. I- I don't know what kind of fancy wrap they had but I can remember her making butter in that log house that was sitting here. Ah that would be um- I don't know if it was more than once a week or not. Like we didn't have much refrigeration. We didn't have any. We didn't really refrigerate.

Well ah- while I'd be busy in the garden or-something, one day she took Kira for a walk. And they w-- we had log fences along and ah sh-- they went down the laneway and aunt-Melissa get tired and so she said to Kira, "Well we just sit in the fence here," so they sat on the log fence and Ernest; he was down across on the other property.

Interviewer: Did you ever get into trouble with a bull? Speaker: Well yeah, they used to chase me the sometimes. There was a lot of times that I just- I remember one time with a long fence. Interview: Yeah. Speaker: And the bull was snorting and he- was he ever coming. And there was a wee hole like that. And I just threw myself in it and he ate the fence when I went through. That was once. But there was lots of times.

Um, the- the logs, yeah. Yeah. Look it- I said those guys, I said that the- they're all hand hewed, like, with an adze.

In the winter, I remember my father taking a load of fire-wood to the manse. Money was very scarce but that was one way to contribute. Many other folks in the area helped in other ways also. Work-bees were also held during the winter to cut fire-wood for the manse and the church building.

She was keeping an eye out. So she brought us pair into the school and ah tried to get us to tell. My cousin, he would not say a word, no. But I could just take so much of it and then I talk back and- and ah, so she was giving me a pretty hard time so I decided I weren't taking any more, got up to leave. So she decided she'd put me back down the seat. It didn't happen, I put her down on the floor and pinned her there and ah- <10> (laughs) Speaker: She u-- she weren't upset at all, and she couldn't quit laughing. She said "This ah really isn't the way it's supposed to be." (laughs) <10> (laughs) Speaker 2: (laughs) Speaker: I mind of that.

I can mind of the singing it. "Auntie-I-Over, throw your leg over."

Interviewer 1: And then once you've got a wagon load what- what happens then? Speaker: Oh you bring it into the barn, put it in the mow. Interviewer 2: Again- Speaker: And that- Interviewer 1: So you got to get it up high- Speaker: Is a hot job. I know never did that. My dad or- sometimes we'd have a hired man for the summer months. Interviewer: Would they fork it up there? How do you get it- the hay up there?

Speaker: ... you put that into the ah, into the hay. And then, the horse outside would pull that up on the rope. And then, whoever was on the wagon, would shout just for the horse to stop- well somebody would be driving the horse. And then, it would drop down into the mow. Interviewer: So was the horse like on the treadmill or something? Speaker: Oh no, oh no, not on a treadmill. There were just hitched to whiffletree and somebody had to drive them and that would pull the rope up.

Interviewer 1: So coming home you could have a whole wagon full. Speaker: Yeah. Interviewer 2: Mm-hm. Speaker: Old basket rack there that didn't hold very much but anyway, fork it on there, bring it home, fork it off! Interviewer 2: Mm-hm. Speaker: Fork it off into the hay mow. Interviewer 2: That would be work. Speaker: Yeah, if you're throwing over the beam. There's a big beam up there, you got to throw it over the top of that usually and ah- but we did.

And in the woodshed there was another- it's just the way the beams caught the barn and there was another sort-of hiding spot in there. And when you went out of the hay mow at the barn, you could get onto the barn roof. And there was these tiny little lightning rods that stuck- that would probably not hold five feet of pressure but we used to t-- tangle ropes to the tops of the lightning rods ...

Interviewer: What kind of adventures were there when the farm kids come for the farm vacations? Do you remember that? Speaker: Oh, y-- yeah, we'd play up in the barn, we'd make different hay mows or back to the Beaver-Pond or climbing trees or playing hide-and-go-seek.

Interviewer: In the barn? Speaker: Yes. And he said- well it hits your chest sort-of he said, but he come out of that and the cows got up after too. Amazing. And the s-- second time was up in the hay mow, then you drew the hay in a wagon and then you hitched a horse to the hay fork. You filled the fork with hay off the wagon.

Speaker: But when they got moved over in by Robertson's-Lake the farming area for some reason or other was not maybe as good? Speaker: Oh, oh. Speaker: Wherever they had set up but she said there was some lame days in that neck of the woods.

Yeah mo-- most of us again up here we relied on wood stove and ah so I don't- there was- there wasn't too many people in this neck of the woods, I don't think that were really desperate um, you-know we were lucky that we could go to Almonte and get gas or- or-whatever but if- if you-know if it was a like a huge, you-know you had to go a hundred miles to get gas.

My uncle had a- a sugar camp over here like in- in- still in my property but just kind of over in that neck of the woods.

Um, um you-know some of them like Middleville's is a full size pumper but up- in our neck of the woods up there sometimes getting into some of the areas, the smaller truck is a little bit better, it's four-wheel drive.

Not that- not that we realized, li-- um, part of the neighbourhood was, I think, from probably Northern Ireland, a part from Southern Ireland because some were Catholics, some were Protestants, but there was- we got along very well, everyone neighboured and there was no distinction between Catholics or Protestants or-whatever, it was-

... young people from miles around would come and they could- well they could skate there and they- the lads come up Saturday afternoon and clean it all off and they'd skate all weekend. There was never no money involved, you-know, just ah- that was the nice part of it the- ... parents knew where they were and you-know.