Reveries-Down on the Farm

REVERIES...DOWN ON THE FARM
By Edna Foley, R.R. 3, Farmington

My parents milked cows and separated the cream for the butter, which they sold. The cream separator was in the cellar. One morning after the cream was separated, my mother told my younger brother to pick up the milk and feed the calf. The calves were taken away from their mother when very young, and taught to drink the warm separated milk. A shallow pan was filled with the foamy milk. Your hand was submerged in the milk with one finger exposed. After a few times sucking your finger, the calf would drink the milk. He would hunch the pan, so it was necessary to hold on to it. My brother, who was day dreaming, went to the cellar, picked up the pail of what he thought was the milk and fed the calf. Mom went to the cellar to put the cream in the cream jar and found it gone! She knew what had happened. We had a large barrel churn that operated by a crank. After turning the churn for a few rounds, the operator released the lid a little to allow the gas to escape. One morning the operator left the churn unattended for a little while, along came my small nephew and gave the churn a whirl, cream spouted out along the floor and up the wall before the churn stopped. He ran into the bedroom saying "some body clean that up before mom gets here!" He called our mother mom as we did.

The cellar doors were keen for sliding down. We went barefoot in the summer. My sister Lucy got a large splinter under her big toe nail. She went into the house to have mom extract the splinter. She laid down on the floor with her foot on mom's lap. Mom used a large needle to extract the splinter. She worked until it was removed, accompanied by cries from Lucy. It was very painful.

Another sister rode old Prince to school, a distance of three miles. He didn't like to go, so one morning she slipped my brother's spur and put it on. Prince poked along until she gave him a dig with the spur! Away went Prince as fast as he could go with my sister clinging to the saddle! Mom didn't know that Golda had the spur on and wondered what it was all about. That was the last time for the spur.

We had a white Leghorn rooster that would fight us if he got a chance. I was afraid of him, so watched out for him anytime I entered the barnyard. One day I went to the cistern at the barn to get a bucket of water. I didn't see the rooster anywhere. Just as I was ready to pick up my bucket I looked around and behold! He was standing right there with his head cocked and "eye balling" me as Festus says! I took a look at his shiny spurs and froze and screamed loud and clear! Mom came to the kitchen door and asked what was the matter. I told her and she told me to pick up a stick and hit him. There wasn't one handy so I stood still. The rooster flapped his wings and walked away in disgust.

My oldest sister was a neat, tidy house keeper, prone to pick up loose things and put them in the kitchen stove. At butchering time, we got ready for the annual sausage grinding. We found out that the sausage mill needed a new knife. Dad went to town in the buggy and purchased a new knife. It was put into a small paper bag. He laid it down on the table when he got home. Some one came along, put the new knife into the mill and put the old one in the paper bag. Along came some one else, put the old knife into the mill and put the new one back into the bag! Well, the meat wouldn't grind, so my sister picked up the bag, opened the stove door and deposited the bag in the fire box. No fire though. The meat wouldn't grind so a search was started for the elusive knife. Someone thought about looking into the stove and there it was! The proper knife was installed and the grinding got under way.

Mom raised geese and one old gander liked to show off by flogging an unsuspecting person in the barn yard. Mom went to the hen house and gathered up the eggs, putting them into her kitchen apron. The old gander started to flog her with his huge wings. She reached down, grabbed his neck and proceeded to wring in. She left him on the ground, the fight taken out of him.

We had some cousins living in town who liked to come out and stay all night. One evening the two oldest girls came out. After supper we all played outside until dark. When we went into the house, there sat a bust of Happy Hooligan on the table, grinning and leering at us. Nobody knew how it got there! It was beginning to seem weird. Suddenly the older cousin began to laugh. She loved to play tricks. She had carried that thing all the way from home, hid it outside and slipped out and got it and surprised us all.

Such were the happenings in those happy bye gone days!

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