Author: admin

Yes we moved in 1968. I Was 13 and living in Rutherglen ,Ontario GPS co-ordinates 46.256409, -79.080538.

Dad and his brother Emmett ran 400 acres as partners . Dad also drove school bus to make ends meet.

Dad slipped a disk in his back throwing hay ,around the summer of 1966. The building they where putting the hay into was an old brick school house. It was never intended to store hay in . The windows where too small and too high off the ground. They should have knocked a bigger hole in the school house. It was difficult to throw a 50lb bale up and through the little window. I was watching dad when it happened. Emmett was on the inside where it was hotter .

Dad managed to get a job  as a custodian at a hospital in North Bay. Mom ,Emmett and me tried to keep the farm going but dad hadn’t taught me everything and Mom and Emmett where poor teachers. I was missing plowing and mowing , two of the more dangerous tasks. Mom never really wanted to be a farmer and Emmett would rather play the fiddle.

Dad got a better job in Porcupine as a 4th class stationary engineer. It was at the mental hospital there.

The farm was sold but all the animals were sold first. The horses had been sold already and Buster the dog got sick and had to be put down. I can remember the cows and calves being loaded into a big truck and taken off to auction.  These animals had all been my friends for 13 years so it was sad to see them all go. I remember how silent it was when they were gone. 

Dad sold his half of the equipment to Emmett.  

A Two furrow plough, disc harrow, tooth harrow, haymower, new holland rake, new holland baler, Otaco wagon, binder, Renfrew Scale, 2 Tractors(Cockshutt 20, Massey Harris 22)  . (Otaco Orillia Tudhope Anderson Company, a lot of the equipment was Otaco). Dad sold the manure spreader to somebody else because Emmett had no animals.

I remember dad sold the piano for $50 . After it was loaded the guy that bought it came over to dad and asked him what was really wrong with it . Dad didn’t know what to say, he just said nothings wrong with it.

Dad had rented a house at 226 Duke street in Porcupine ,where we stayed for a year while our house at 220 Queen street was being built.

Dad had sold the farm for $14,000 . The new house was $25,000.

I was with dad when he went to the bank to get a loan for  the $6000 .  I stayed outside in the car. He came out of the bank very angry . He said they wanted him to put up his car as collateral too. He said they weren’t going to take his car too. Dad went back to Rutherglen and borrowed the money from his Mason friends there. The mason’s helped dad a lot through this whole mess.

To me Porcupine was the big city. I missed all the animals and a lot of other things. The freedom to build what ever you want with out a bunch of inspectors telling you what to do. You could park your truck and trailer where ever you wanted. Room for a dog to run free and case rabbits. Go for a walk without getting into a fight. See the milky way at night . Smell new mowed hay. Catch fire flys at night. Here the sounds of silence. Wave at everybody that you meet on the road. Go hunting deer in your own back yard (without a license). Try out all the excellent home cooking at the neighbors homes during trashing or haying (I still make my own pickles).

Emmett gave up farming after dad moved away, he couldn’t do it by himself.

I almost forgot. Part of the move was 5 gallons of Potato Champagne that I had made and buried behind the play house. I dug it up and hid it in the trunk of the 1962 Pontiac for the trip to Porcupine. Half way to Porcupine the Pontiac hit a pot hole and I heard a cork pop in the trunk. Shortly there after the interior of the car filled with the wonderful smell of a gallon of Potato Champagne. Dad pulled the car over and found most of my stash in the trunk. He wasn’t too impressed. Dad didn’t find the six bottles I had hidden my suit case.

The best Christmas we had was when I rented the chalet on Sylvan Lake in Alberta. But I already told that story.

Most Christmas’s we managed to get together some where.

Red Deer , Bentwood Bay, Saskatoon . It depends a lot on the weather . Last year 2023 was great there was no snow believe it or not. We drove to Red Deer no problem. I can remember when we lived in Blind River we would load the kids into the car and head for Timmins then load them up again and head from Timmins to North Bay.  I did not look forward to this drive because the weather was always bad. We stopped doing this in Blind River and stayed home and had a wonderful Christmas with who ever was brave enough to make the trip to Blind River to see us.

When I was a kid in the 60’s we would go to Dads brother/sisters houses Aunt Edna or Aunt Joe or Aunt Hazel or mom would have them all over to our house. Emmett, Chester, Jake, Cliff too  . Elmo’s kids where usually there too Roy and Marian Smith , Alice and Kenny Mclaren . Grandpa would be there too. The Mawhineys. The Buchanans. It was possible to have four Christmas dinners every year.

Christmas was a big deal and a lot of fun. The house was full 

of relatives . Some we hadn’t seen since last Christmas. The food was unreal . Rita still makes moms pineapple,Velveeta cheese salad at Christmas. Uncle Cliff would make his Swedish meatballs.

If you went to see the Christmas parade in North Bay you could see Uncle Jake go marching by blowing his bag pipes. Dressed in his Buchanan plaid Kilt.

Uncle Jake worked for Boart Long Year drilling. Aunt Jo and him  would take Wendy and I to the Longyear Christmas party instead of Keith and David when they got too old.  (Aunt Jo always had my back. She sent me $50 every month I was in University. I still love the sound of Bagpipes but they make see cry now).

I grew up on a farm so my world was full of animals.

Not many were considered pets however ,even my dog Buster had a job to do . We had 1 dog, 13 cats , 20 cows , 1 bull, 2 horses , 50 chickens , 1 rooster, 20 sheep and  1 pig.

Busters was the same age as me and was sort of my brother. He was a white and orange border coley(Heinz 57) .His job was to bark like crazy if any wild animals came around . He saved my life once by attacking the bull so I could run away. I cried a lot when he died. He  died of old age when we were 13 years old.

The cats job was to kill the mice and rats that were eating our grain and vegetables. We never fed them so they were always hungry. They might get a dish of milk when we milked the cows.

I had around 20 banty chickens that I looked after . You could eat the eggs but they where really just pets I guess.

With all these animals around I was never lonely and could always find something to do .

Trying to find where the kittens were hidden every spring was fun. 

Looking after the calves has a big job but was fun too.

Watching the city people mooing at the cows was funny too.

You never made friends with the pig cause he only lived for one year.

Dad was a farmer who quit farming when he was 50 because he hurt his back. To go from farming to being an hourly paid employee took a lot of courage. With some help from his friends he pulled it off. 

One of dads sayings was “If you can’t say anything good about somebody don’t say anything at all” .

Dad was a past master of the Mattawa Masonic Lodge 268.

Much of what dad did was because he was a Mason. I know they helped many people that were in trouble.

Dad was a supporter of the United church , did some road work for the Town Ship of Bonfield and drove a school bus.

Another saying of dad’s was “Damn the Luck”. I heard him say this when the baler (or something)  broke down and when he found out he had leukemia. I miss him.

(Originally posted by Wayne in Storyworth, 2023)

Helmcken Falls, in Wells Grey Provincial Park in BC. 

Desolation Sound Marine Park , Lund , BC.

I’ve been to Europe , Australia , Arizona  all over Canada but the two above are pretty unbelievable.

To see Wells Grey properly you need a canoe and tent . You can see the falls with a car but not the volcanoes and true wilderness of the park . 

Candle Lake Sask .. Northern Lights

Candle Lake Sask .. 50 teenage Canada Geese with 5 mothers all in one flock on the beach. The mothers were watching me very carefully but they did not run away. I just backed away slowly.

The Grand Canyon .. hard to believe.

Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick. watch the tide go out or in.

Lake Elsbeth on the Gibson Lake road in Timmins.

(Originally written by Wayne in Storyworth, 2023)

What was my mom like? My mom was awesome.

She always had my back . Even made my sisters angry because she spoiled me so much.  She was a city girl who had to become a farmers wife and she did most things better than the farm girls like. Knitting , CREWEL EMBROIDERY, CROCHET, QUILTING , SMOCKING , she made shirts and pants too. I learned knitting , embroidery and sewing from her. She was into many crafts too like copper tooling, paint by numbers.

Mom was a leader / member of the 4H , UCW(United Church Women) and WI(Women’s Institute) .

Mom taught me a lot about making preservers , pickles and cooking in general. As a kid I was her helper in the kitchen. She was an unreal cook. When I went to university I did the cooking and the other guys did the cleaning , there was four of us. After I got married Rita banned me from the kitchen.

Moms love of flowers and things that grow is still with me today. We had a big garden on the farm .

Mom won a lot of prizes at the fall fair in Bonfield and used the money to buy her cherished china that Amy and Meghan now has.

Some farm things she did but wasn’t that great at like milking cows, shoveling manure, driving tractors .  She always sang out of key.

(Originally posted to Storyworth in 2023)

A drink of iced water. When doing hard work like loading and unloading wagons full of hay-bales on a hot summers day there’s nothing better.

Camping . watching the fire burn and tending it. Going for a bike ride through the camp ground. Meeting different people at the camp ground. They all seem to have interesting stories about why they are at the camp ground. Like: just got divorced. Looking for a job in Alberta (They were from New Brunswick). Installing wind turbines in the summer and living in Florida in the winter.

Watching the wild life .  The rabbits and prairie dogs hide in the camp ground to avoid the coyotes. Teasing the squirrels. Making poogy pies on the fire. Fishing at Carson Pegasus Park in Alberta.

Hiking when Rita was able. She drives around on her scooter now.

Driving across Canada  and finding interesting places to feast like “Bills sticky fingers” in Portage La Praire Manitoba. (Best ribs in Canada). 

Trans Canada Motel in Dryden Ontario. Fried Baloney and Corn Chowder (was owned by two new-fees but I think it burned down. I miss it).

“The Sub Place” in North Bay Ontario (the best roast chicken subs in Canada).

Andrea’s in Bracebridge Ontario (real Spanish coffee and beef tenderloin stroganoff)

“The Green Gables” in Whitecourt Alberta (best prime rib in Canada, owner was a butcher )

The Granada in Powell River BC (Baked spaghetti )

The White Fox Inn, Thunderbay (spent our anniversary there)

Saskatoon has many great restaurants too like The Granary, Mano’s , Arby’s,  to name a few.

(Originally written and posted to Wayne’s Storyworth in 2023)

My favorite store was “The Joke Shop” on main street in North Bay , Ontario.

Why? You could buy itching powder and little fire crackers to put in cigarettes. The itching powder was sprinkled down my sisters back . The little fire crackers were pushed into the end of a cigarette . When somebody bummed a smoke you would give him the one with a fire cracker in it. When you lit the smoke for him it would blow up. The smoke ended up looking like a peeled banana. 

The store had many neat things in it.

(Originally written by Wayne for Storyworth in 2023. His memory is from around 1960. The Joke Shop was on the corner of Main Street and Wyld Street, just a few doors down from Loblaws.)

Since I only know of one person who reads my blogs, I’m feeling quick free to speak my mind, especially today.

I went to a memorial for a 14-year-old girl, granddaughter of a friend of mine. How odd to attend one of these where not only were there adult goodies for visitors to snack on, but pizza and containers of gummy bears, Skittles, jubes, M&M mini-chocolates, etc. The place was packed, arranged by the local police who are actively looking into this case of bullying.

Sadie died in early January 2024 after ingesting over 100 anti-depressants, prescribed to her. I am very light on details of Sadie’s history. She suffered bullying at her school, was in therapy, moved to a new school, then after an “incident” with a group of four other girls with a “leader”, that caused enough fear about “something” going up on Facebook, Sadie went home and over the night took all the pills.

After three days on a respirator and life support, she was declared brain dead and was taken off the machines.

She was the ONLY child of her parents. Needless to say, the parents were beside themselves and my friend was in tears 90% of the time. Seeing Sadie’s beautiful rock collection displayed on a table reminded me of Meghan’s rock collection and, for a brief moment, I allowed the thought that this would be part of Meghan’s memorial, but I quickly moved my mind along.

I could not move my mind away from this thought though: Who is to blame for this, because someone is!

• THE DOCTOR: What doctor in their right mind would prescribe that many anti-depressants to be put into one bottle and given to a depressed teenager under his/her care? Did the doctor warn the parents to keep the pills under lock and key and only give Sadie the prescribed dosage?
• THE BULLY: The police found the bully to issued the fatal blow. The bully called Sadie parents to apologize, but the reports are that the apology was insincere. The mother of the bully called Sadie’s parents as well. Sadie’s mother reportedly told the bully’s mother to never call again. The case is being investigated.
• THE PARENTS: Who handed over the bottle of pills to a 14-year-old depressed girl with the misguided oblivious notion that there was not chance Sadie would down the whole bottle? Were they in denial, truly believing their daughter was too smart to do something so stupid. When I was 14 I did lots of stupid things and I truly believe my parents NEVER thought I was smart enough not to do them. My parents were absolutely right about me – I was a naive, blob of play-doh, just waiting for others to help me form my life. They feared for my safety. And even though I went ahead and did whatever I wanted to, I always was keenly aware of their fear and I believe that kept me from falling off the edge of the cliff. However, I did not live in a social media world.
• FACEBOOK: Why is it that things that go up on Facebook are so devasting? Isn’t that what BLOCK, SPAM, REPORT is for? Facebook (along with TikTok and others) are currently being sued by 4 school boards in the Greater Toronto Area for knowingly creating and executing a way of rewiring vulnerable brains, leaving the teachers to clean up the mess. Facebook has claimed that their parental-permission check box is their leading edge way curtail this, but they are missing the point. Because parents are smart enough to know that social media giants are actually REWIRING brains to believe that life is Facebook, TikToc, Instagram, X, etc. Social media was just coming out when my daughter was a teen. There were a few times, late into the evening when Meghan was on the computer, and she would read something on My Space perhaps, and she’d go charging out the door into the night to comfort a friend and face off with someone. I discovered quickly how to set the router to cut the internet to her computer by a certain time. But that only made her walk out the door.

Well, that’s enough for now.

There’s a few things to point out in this picture. Dad had a push-lawnmower that he obviously hadn’t used in awhile. The tub was our “swimming pool”. My memories of it were very exciting. As you can see by my face I was totally happy. The “playhouse” is behind us. I’m told, it used to be the chicken coop and it was in a different location. But Dad moved it here for us to use as a playhouse. It also was very exciting. And then there’s Buster!! Our fantastic, great dog. Half collie, half husky. The best dog ever.

Again, about in the same area as above, but looks like Dad cut the lawn. The store-bought swimming pool was a luxury. Wayne is a little shy of hair on his head from his surgery. Looking behind us is the garage, that I don’t think had a door and I don’t remember a vehicle ever being in it. To the top right, is about the spot where Wayne faced the bull, nose to nose. AND there’s Buster – best dog ever, with his collie-white mane and curled up husky tail and short-round snout.

Thanks Wayne for finding these pictures and sending them to me.