What a cozy feeling it was to crawl out of a warm bed on winter mornings, put on stockings and shoes and scoot into our farm kitchen where the Montgomery Range was the main source of heat. (We were happy to have a warming oven on top of the stove to dry out mitts and scarves when we came in from outside.)
Next, we hurried into the sitting room where the wood-burning stove kept that room a comfortable temperature. By then, we were ready to eat a warm and hardy breakfast. Often, while we were eating our hot oatmeal, the men would bring in the bridles of the horses from the barn, raise the stove lid and heat the bits so the horses' mouths would not become sore from the frosty weather.
The water in the tank was kept from freezing by removing the lid from the 100-gallon steel barrel and using it as a wood-burning heater, which kept the water from becoming ice.
Damier canvas BagsHorses and cows were fed and watered twice each day. When the path to the watering tank was icy, one cow at a time was taken to the tank to drink.
Those horses that pulled the heavy loads in the wagon or the sled had to be shod. That meant all four feet had to have horseshoes nailed on by a professional blacksmith in his shop. He was always a self-trained engineer who knew how to handle horses gently and how to finish his work efficiently. Ice and slippery roads required corks to be put on the horseshoes to keep their feet from slipping.
The walls of the blacksmith shop were covered with horseshoes, sled runners and all sorts of tools used in his work. His forge burned steadily in order to be ready for his work.
Piaget FakeFeed for the horses consisted of a timothy hay stacked in the barn and thrown down a chute, then forked into the manger. Feed for the cows was clover or alfalfa hay stacked in the field.
The wood for
embroidered patches the stove was cut from the woods with an ax or a crosscut saw that measured 8-foot long with a handle on each end. Its teeth were designed to cut on both the forward and backward motion of the saw. The blade had to be kept straight lest it got pinched and be hard to get going again.
Wood for the range and heating stove needed to be cut the previous year before it was seasoned to be used for fuel. Wedges were used for cutting the wood for fence posts. If there was a knot in the log, blasting powder had to be used to open the log.
When heavy snow fell and the drifts filled the roads, the men would shovel the road wide enough for a sleigh to travel through. It seemed to us that the days were busy with caring for our non- negotiable needs and those of our neighbors.
Liz Lynch, 101, is a resident of Stonehill Care Center and is a regular contributor to the TH.
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