Page 53 - Diary: Mary Smith of Smithville, 1890-92

ISSUE : Issue 41

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1986/1/1

Sunday May 9 ... our folks had a bad time getting the sheep in the house there was a great freshet in the Brook Monday May 10 Christiana came to help housedean we washed Blankets and quilts and woolen clothes in the forenoon and after dinner washed the cotton clothes and cleaned the kitchen loft ready to scrub Tuesday May 11 finished the loft and they cleaned Sarahs and Floras rooms it was a bright day but was blowing a little gale from the north we did not put the cotton clothes out that was washed monday but I washed the sheets and pillow slips off the best bed and my own things and got them nicely dried on the south side of the orchard and on Wednesday May 12th Put the clothes out fin? ished cleaning up stairs front room and bed room and front Hall and the Kitchen Pantry Mary Ann came at dinner time Thursday May 13 cleaned the dineing room and got the carpet down and cleaned my room Monday May 17 a rainy morning the girls could not go to plant so they cleaned the Milk house and in the afternoon it cleared up and they went to their planting Lewis went up to T Erasers saw mill to get lumber for the schoolhouse and Ellen came up to do a little sewing on the Machiene but she did not stop for tea as she had to go home to let the girl go out to work we got the account Sales from Newfoundland Tuesday May 18 began to make soap boiled two Pots of boans and set up another Lech Flora mended the paper on the'dineing room Sarah Busey a- bout the house and Bakeing I fixed up my Plants af? ter tea and the girls put another mat in the frame and the men began to sow oats sowed six bushels Lewis was putting out manure all day till tea time and Grandpa was cutting seed and fixing up the cur? rant bushes the sheep turned out yesterday Thursday May 20 fine morning but blowing quite a gale from the south west Grandpa went to sow Oats for Thomas he sowed 11 bushels and three pecks and then came home Lewis and the girls were picking stone off the field that they are going to sow tomorrow then he harrowed it and the girls cleared off the rubbish and stones off the garden we were boiling soap but the wind was so high that we did not dare keep a fire out doors so we only got about half a barrel boild Mrs N McKinnon came and had tea Sarah and Flora washed what things they could not do without I only washed a few pock? et kerchiefs we could not get water from the brook Friday May 21' ... could not make a fire out doors too wet boiled a pot and boiled soap on the stove and began to make the mat Tuesday May 25 cloudy morning South East wind Grandpa and I up early to cut seed to plough in to? day after breckfast Lewis spredding manure and ploughing, the girls dropping seed Flora went with the children to school Grandpa went to Thomas s to w&mi.; sow oats and after dinner Lewis had to go to meete the Building Commitie to open the Tenders for the School house George came to plough in his place but it came on to rain and they did not get much done till after tea when Lewis came home he got to work again Grandpa came home as it was too wet to sow and Mr Pushie was hear to tea and then George went home they put in nine bushels today and Grand? pa sowed six bushels Oats for Thomas the little girls came home to dinner and went back again they like to go yerry well. Alick Campbell came and took a calf away Sarah churned what little she had gathered we worked a little at the mat Wednesday May 26 rainy morning rained heavy in the night, after breckfast Lewis and the two girls went over to Neals to finish cleaning up the house got it done about 3 o clock in the afternoon then the girls went up to plant and Lewis killed a veal and Grandpa went to put up the fence by the gravel pit that.the wind blew down Sarah and I worked at the mat Flora not well she was makeing sun bonnets I got a letter from Rebecca this afternoon, the freshet did them a great deal of harm in St. Marys Lewis putting out manure for Barley this evening the little girls at school today Thursday May 27 verry fine morning wind South west Grandpa putting up fences in the forenoon and afternoon sowed seven bushels Oats for Thomas Lew? is finished ploughing in potatoes five bushels to? day and twelve before he ploughed the garden and ground for Barley I went over to mend a Coat for Thomas did not get home till sundown was never there since James left home till today the house seems lonely without him • ... Our thanks to Dr. Toni Laidlaw, Dept. of Education, Dalhousie University, for sharing her typescript of this diary. With Dr. Margaret Conrad and Dr. Donna Smith, Acadia University, she is collecting Mari? time women's diaries, letters and journals. Their forthcoming book: Recording Angels: Diaries and Letters of Nova Scotian Women, 1770-1940. The ms of Mary Smith's diary is in the Beaton Institute, UCCB. For photographs, our thanks to Mrs. Flora Hennessey, Port Hawksbury, and Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hart, Port Hood. Our source of dates is The Smiths of Port Hood. Best Western Claymore Inn Licensed Dining Room & Lounge * 52 Modern Rooms (54) P.O. BOX 1720, ANTIGONISH, NOVA SCOTIA B2G 2M5 Only 8 Miles from Keppoch Mountain Ask About Our Special Ski Package (accommodation, meals, & lift tickets) and Winter Weekend Rates PHONE 863-1050 * TELEX 019-36567

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