Text
Elizabeth Oliver “Olive” Burgess (1896-1980)
1924-25
Transcribed by Rural Diary Archive volunteers
{Front Cover} M.S.S
{Inside front cover, written in pencil} {illegible} A.C’s {Archie Campbell’s} hay, how many loads?
1924 Diary Port Elgin. R. R. 1 EO. Burgess
Tue. Jan. 1. Kind of stormy. Arthur, Agnes & Norman Sparrow were here. The boys were at the
chores at the other place.
Wed “ 2. Dull & cold with some snow. Noble was in Port Elgin & at the other place. Rowand was at
Uncle Alfred's clover threshing & our own. {Uncleaned?} about 6 bags. Sweet clover 2 loads in about
1/2 hr. Alfalfas 1 load. Rileys were threshing for us. J.H. Schwass helped. They were here for
supper. Uncle Alfred brought me a book "Rosomond" by Mary J. Holmes. Alice & Norman were here.
They & Jessie & her husband went away to Sharp's to-day. Mr. R.D. Northgrave died to-night.
Thur. 3. Dull & cold with some snow. Rowand was doing carpenter work, chores & helping Archie
Campbell to load some of the hay that he bought from us. Noble was at the bush after dinner. He
was at Burgoyne last night.
Fri. 4. Dull & cold. Stormy at times with quite a bit of snow. Rowand was in P.E. {Port Elgin} in the
morning. He & Noble were at the other place after dinner. Ethel & Laurier Christie were here in the
evening. Tom Burgess's (Southampton) funeral was to take place to-day. Noble was cleaning pens
this morning.
January
Sat. Jan 5. Dull & cold. Stormy with quite a lot of snow. Noble was all day & Rowand in the morning
at the other place. They were doing chores, carpenter work & helping Archie Campbell with the hay.
Rowand is hard up with cold.
Sun, 6. Very stormy. Noble walked to the other place to do the chores. He has a cold. No service
held at church. Very few there. Lowest temp we noticed 8° or 10°.
Mon, 7. Snowed quite a lot. Part of the day calm. Rowand was at the other place. Noble was doing
carpenter work on the typewriter.
Tue, 8. Dull & turning milder. Rowand was at the other place. Noble was helping Arthur a little & he
& Rowand were doing some things in the house. Noble was at an egg-circle meeting at the store.
Wed, 9. Fine & mild. Rowand was in P.E. Noble was at the other place. They were putting complents
impliments into the barn. Uncle Alfred brought me the 1st number of "The Canadian Home Journal"
that Bessie Geddes subscribed to for a Christmas present It came for me. Uncle Alfreds got it in their
mail box last night. Uncle Sandy & Aunt Lizzie were here for supper.
Thur 10. Mild. Raining the most of the afternoon. Rowand was at the other place twice. He & Noble
were at Uncle Alfred's at night. Noble was in P.E. Archie Campbell got the last of his hay to-day.
Fri, 11. Raining last night. Turned pretty cold to-day. Rather stormy. Our boys & Arthur working in
our bush after dinner. We got 134 lbs. of beef from Uncle Alfred's to-day @ 10¢ per lb. It is a front
quarter. Rowand did the chores at the other place & Noble was doing some type writing. Uncle
Alfred was here yesterday for a short time.
Sat, 12. Dull & not very cold. Quite a lot of snow fell. Noble was at the other place & Rowand
cleaned out the pens here. Part of the afternoon our boys & Arthur worked in our bush. Noble has
not been very well this week.
Sun, 13. Snowed a little on some & a rather cold wind. Mamma was at church. She got a ride both
ways as Rowand drove over to do the chores. Noble was at Uncle Alfred's. O. {Oliver} Geddes,
Percy Sparrow & Uncle Alfred were here.
January
Mon Jan. 14. Some snow fell. Noble did the chores at the other place. Rowand was at the bush. In
the afternoon they were both working there.
Tue. 15. Drifting & after dinner bright mostly. Turned rather milder. Rowand was at the bush all day
& Noble did the chores at the other place & was at a wood-bee at J.H. Schwass's. Rowand cleaned
the hen-house.
Wed. 16. Rained quite a bit & turned to snow again. Rowand was in P.E. He finished at the dentist.
Noble was at the chores at the other place. He was at Uncle Alfred's in the afternoon. George
Campbell got a load of hay from the other place. Lewis Cobean's got a baby boy last night. Rowand
was doing some other work.
Thur. 17. Sometimes bright for a short time. Snowed some. Turned colder before night. Rowand did
the other chores. He, Noble & Arthur were at the bush after dinner. The boys were at Uncle Alfred's
at night. B. Geddes here in the afternoon. Pretty cold wind. Rowand & Arthur fixed the broken saw
&c {etcetera}.
Fri. 18. Snowed some. Bright sometimes. Cold wind. Rowand at the other chores. Our boys & Arthur
at the bush after dinner.
January
Jessie & Norman were here.
Sat. 19. Cold. Quite a lot of snow in the afternoon. Noble did the other place chores & cleaned out a
pig pen. Rowand & Arthur at the bush & they & Noble there after dinner. Noble was at Burgoyne at
night. About 50 of our logs are cut. 50 logs of ours are cut. Last Monday night Rowand was at Chas.
McLean’s.
Sun. 20. Stormy. Not as rough as the one on the 6th, but colder. 3° below to-night. Noble walked
over to the other place. Percy Sparrow was here in the evening. About 25 people at church this
morning.
Mon. 21. Stormy. 8° below & 10° below for a fair minute in the forenoon. Stormier than yesterday.
Rowand drove to the other place. He was mending & Noble was working with law-books. Arthur & P.
Sparrow were here playing crokinole & checkers.
Tue. 22. Stormy. 2° below. Later than when we looked yesterday. 14° about noon. Noble walked to
the other place. Rowand was doing odd jobs. J.N. Schwass was here & he & our boys were at Uncle
Alfred’s.
January
Alfred's. The boys were there in the evening too. Drifted this afternoon & evening about 22°
sometime.
Wed. 23. Snowed a great deal. Noble was at the other chores & in P.E. They were bagging chop &
c. The mail-man went past here to-day. Someone told Noble there was thunder, he thinks it was last
night.
Thurs. 24. Bright a small part of the day. Cold. Noble was in P.E. for chop & he & Rowand got a load
of logs from the bush. Rowand did the other chores. To-day is the first day I have been at the stable
since a week ago Tuesday, I had a cold though not bad all the time. We have been getting some
aprons, pinafores, bolster-slip & towels made & Mamma fixed over some clothes & she has been
knitting. The wind changed its quarter very often some of the last few days. Percy, Jessie & Norman
Sparrow were here this evening.
Fri. 25. Snowing & blowing. Turned very cold & stormy. Rowand did the chores at the other place.
He & Noble did some office work & some other work?
January
Arthur was here for a short time.
Sat. 26. Very stormy. Not blowing as much in the afternoon but snowing a lot. 2° below this morning.
12° below before supper. Noble did the other chores & was doing some work with law-books. 7°
below once in the morning. 3° below 10° P.M.
Sun. 27. Bright the most of the day. The boys were at Uncle Alfred's & Noble was at the other
chores. Frosty.
Mon. 28. Dull, Drifting some this morning. Noble was at the other place at the chores. He was
working with law-books & typewriting. Rowand was feeling miserable with cold. I was at the stable &
hen-house for the first time since Thursday. I was at Uncle Alfred's. Jessie & Norman were away,
Uncle Alfred was here. Warmer than yesterday.
Tue. 29. Mild & dull. Noble clean did the other chores. He & Rowand were cleaning clover seed.
Rowand had a pretty sore finger this morning from the a hammer hitting his finger on the nail.
January
when it glanced off a nail he was hammering. Mamma, Rowand & I were at Uncle Alfred's in the
evening.
Wed. Jan. 30. Mild & dull. Misty at first. Noble took the eggs to the store. They dug the sleighs out of
the snow & cleaned clover seed. Rowand did the other chores. The snow sank down quite a bit.
Thurs. 31. A frost last night. A crust on the snow. Nice & bright this afternoon. Noble took a load of
logs to P.E. In the afternoon the boys laid some skids in the top of the field between the house & the
creek & brought from the bush 1 load of logs & 1 load of poles. Some of us were remarking that this
afternoon was like a March day. A cold wind for a while to-day.
Fri. Feb. 1. Dull & not very cold. Sometimes there was a little gleam of sunshine. The boys went to
the other place. Noble took grain from there to P.E for chop to get chopped. He took his dinner over
with him. Rowand was at Andrew Kerr’s sale. The boys were at J.H. Schwass', Uncle Alfred was
here.
Sat. Feb. 2. Dull & mild. A little snow fell last night. A little snow & little like rain fine rain fell to-day.
Noble took logs to P.E. He & Rowand drew from the bush after dinner. Uncle Alfred, Arthur,
Georgina, Jessie, Norman & Percy were here for supper.
Sun. 3. Colder & dull. Mamma & I were at church. We got a ride with Noble as he was going to the
chores. Mamma's Uncle Wm. Rowand's son James came here after church. Arthur & P. Sparrow
were here. I was at Uncle Alfred's listening to the radio. Rowand has a cold. Mr. Rowand & I got a
ride with Noble from this side of the bridge. It is 11 years since he was home before.
Mon. 4. A very cold wind especially in the afternoon. Rather stormy. The boys were drawing logs
from the bush & skidding them in the afternoon. Noble took Mr. to Geddes's Rowand to Geddes's
after supper.
Tue. 5. Sleet fell. Roads hard to walk on as the snow under the feet was like sand. Rowand was
going some carpenter work. Noble was at Malcolm Esplen's funeral.
February
He was at the cemetary. Mr. Esplen died very suddenly on Saturday morning. He was Henery
Esplin's son. Uncle Alfred & J.H. Schwass were here.
Wed. Feb. 6. Snowing quite a bit. Not very cold. Rowand was at Andrew Kerr’s as well as the other
place. He & Noble drew logs from the bush. Noble is away to the store & Rowand to a Christian
Endeaver or literacy meeting. Percy Sparrow came to bid us good-bye as he was going away to-day
to Toronto & c. Mr. Rt. {Robert} Geddes Uncle Sandy's brother is dead. The boys sometimes do
more than chores at the other place. Rd. has not been very well lately. N. was at Uncle Alfred's a
short time yesterday Rd. was doing some carpenter work.
Thur. 7. Pretty calm. Dull mostly. The boys were drawing logs from the bush. I went to Geddes's with
Jessie, Noble & Norman in the evening.
Fri. 8. -2° this morning. Bright. Noble took a load of logs to P.E. He brought home poles, put logs on
the sleigh & cleaned pens. Rowand was helping Arthur to cut logs this afternoon.
February
Sat. Feb. 9. Bright partly. The boys were at the bush for logs but they did not get any as the one they
were trying to load was so hard to manage that it was time to come home before they finished it.
Noble took a load to P.E. & Ed. Schwass took in a load for him. Rowand was helping Arthur to cut
logs after dinner. I was at Uncle Alfred's & Norman was here.
Sun. 10. Blowing & drifting & snowing. There was no service held here at church. Noble did the other
chores. He & Rowand were at Uncle Alfred's.
Mon. 11. Dull, calm & mild. The boys brought home poles & Noble took a load of logs to P.E. this
afternoon. Rowand was helping Arthur. He is at Geddes's to-night. Jessie was here to-day.
Mamma's heart was bad this morning, Mrs. Mary Margaret May of Bala died lately. Earl Busch had
two operations at Owen Sound hospital last Friday.
Tue. 12. Dull mostly. Colder than yesterday. Momma was at Geddes's for tea. Rd. drove her. Noble
took
February
logs to P.E. & after dinner he & Rowand brought logs home. Arthur was in the house to-night.
Wed. 13. Bright. Noble took logs to P.E. & Rowand was in Southampton after dinner. I was at Uncle
Alfred's & Norman Sparrow was here for dinner. Rowand was at a Valentine Social & Noble was at
the store at night. Cold.
Thurs. 14. Quite a bit of snow fell in showers part of the morning & last night. Bright in the
afternoon.(?) Jessie & Norman were here. Noble was in P.E. with logs. He & Rowand were getting
logs home after dinner. Rowand was a short time at Uncle Alfred's.
Fri. 15. Blowing & drifting turned bright before dinner. Noble did the other chores. After dinner he &
Rowand brought home a load of logs.
Sat. 16. Cold & bright. Noble took logs to P. E. & he & Rowand were sawing at the bush. Mamma
was at Uncle Alfred's. Colin Campbell's cow that we have been feeding has been sold & was taken
away on Thursday. 16° below this morning.
Sun. 17. A cold wind. Bright. Mamma, Rowand & I were at church. Mamma & I got a ride with Noble
as he drove over to the other place.
February
Uncle Alfred was here.
Mon. Jan {should be Feb}. 18. A cold wind. Bright. Noble took logs to P.E. & the boys drew poles
logs home from the bush. Jessie & Norman were here. They went away on the train from P.E. They
expect to start for their home in Manitoba this week. John Schwass was here. Arthur was here but
not in the house.
Tue. 19. A very cold wind. It got very high by night. It went down a little & a lot of snow fell in the
evening. The boys took logs to P.E. both morning & afternoon. Noble helped Arthur in the bush after
dinner. He was at Burgoyne & I was at Uncle Alfred's at night.
Wed. 20. Snowed last night & to-day. Not so cold. The boys were at the bush for logs & poles after
dinner. Rowand was cleaning pens this morning.
Thur. 21. Snowing & blowing. Rowand drove to the other place & took the eggs to the store. The
roads have some bad drifts on them. He & Noble were working in the barn & Noble was helping
Arthur. Rowand was at Uncle Alfred's to-night. Mamma put a border around the quilt we have been
making so that it is ready to quilt.
February
Fri. Feb. 22. Blowing & snowing the most of the day. Nobel did the other chores & was in P.E. with
J.H. Schwass in the sleigh, Rowand did some odd jobs. There has not been a train from the South to
P.E. since Wed. night & the Thursday early train had not got as far as Paisley this afternoon.
Sat. 23. 8° below this morning. Bright. The boys took the cattle to the creek to water as the {illegible}
at the barn has not much water in it. Stevens Hepner are paying $50 per thousand ft. for elm logs.
Noble was helping Arthur with bush work. Rowand was doing chores & c.
Sun. 24. Bright except the middle of the day. Drifting some then. A cold wind till sometime in the
afternoon. I was at church. Uncle Alfred was here. A little snow.
Mon. 25. Bright & turned warmer. In the afternoon Rowand took logs to P.E. & Noble & Mamma
went to Christie's. Mamma stayed there. Noble was at McLean's too. A hard frost yesterday & today.
Tue. 26. Bright & more wind. 2° below this morning. Noble took logs to P.E. & he went in after dinner
with J.H. Schwass, Noble, Arthur & J.H. & & Ed. Schwass are unloading
February
a cartload of Western oats. Part of them they are taking themselves. Mr. McVittie, Southampton is
going to take some. He ordered the car. Rowand got a load of oats from P.E. for ourselves this
afternoon.
Wed. 27. Bright. Noble was in P.E. attending to the oats. Rowand did some chores for Schwasses &
some things at home. Oliver Y was here.
Thur. 28. Snowed a little. Dull at first. Noble was in P.E in the morning attending to the oats. He took
Ed Schwass oats that he bought out for him over to him & I don’t know what else he was doing.
Rowand was at Christie's & he brought mamma home. He was at the literary meeting at night. Arthur
was here & Noble was at Uncle Alfred's. All the oats over what there was wanted by Noble & c. have
been sold.
Fri. 29. Bright part of the day. Snowing a little. Turned colder. The boys were at E. Ferguson's sale &
they were doing other things. Rd. is away to a Box Social at a Saugeen school. The one Georgina
teaches in (Cassidy's school, No. 5)
March
Sat. Mar. 1. Snowing a little. Bright partly. Noble was in P.E. for chop. He & Rowand were drawing
poles from the bush, & c. Isabel was here. Mamma has not been well yesterday or to-day. I heard a
spring bird to-day.
Sun. 2. A cold wind. Bright part of the day. Snowed a good bit late in the afternoon. Mamma & I were
at church. The boys were at Uncle Alfred's.
Mon. 3. Bright mostly. Thawing in the sun. Noble was in P.E. on business. Rowand was drawing
poles & logs from the bush after dinner. Wilson Miller was here to see if we had cattle to sell & the
assessor was here. Mamma saw the 1st crow seen by any of us to-day. The boys saw their 1st.
ones to-day. Mrs. James McVeety's funeral took place to-day from Rt. Gowanlook's to Paisley
cemetary.
Tue. 4. Thawing. Rained quite a bit all together. Thunder & lightning in the evening. Noble was in
P.E. for chop & to do some business. R. was at the other place too before N. went away. Rowand
was helping Arthur to saw this morning afternoon. Aunt Jeannie & Bessie were here for dinner. N.
was at the other place. Uncle Alfred was here.
March
Wed. Mar. 5. Not very cold. {blank space} Rowand helped Arthur & R. & Noble drew poles home
from the bush. Noble's away to the store to-night. I was at Uncle Alfred's. Wilson Miller bought our 3
fat cattle to-day for $140. Mr. Chappell was here to-day & B. Geddes was here for a few minutes.
Noble got a sack of sugar for $11.50.
Thur. 6. Not very cold. Dull mostly. A little bit of snow. Archibald Campbell was here for hay. Noble
did the other chores. Rowand took a heifer of "Meadow Maid's" to Wilson Miller's. R. & Noble were
drawing poles from the bush. Uncle Alfred was here. I set 2 hens to-day.
Fri. 7. Pretty stormy part of the day. Over by night. Colder by night. R. was at the other chores. He &
Noble were doing some work in the house & Noble was at J.H. Schwass's storming some a good bit
of the day.
Sat. 8. A little snow last night. Drifting some to-day. Dull. Rowand was working at chores & c. this
morning & Noble was at the other place doing chores & John McArthur was getting 2 loads of hay.
The boys were trimming tops at the bush this afternoon. Drifting last night? This week the boys may
have done work not put down.
March
Sun. Mar. 9. Mild & dull. A little rain or snow in the afternoon. Mamma was at church, Rowand was
at the other chores, Noble was at Uncle Alfred's & Uncle Alfred was here.
Mon. 10. Mild & dull. Got windy. Noble was at the other place twice. McArthurs were getting hay for
John. Rowand was doing chores & c. & after dinner he was at a bee at Burgoyne to put up a building
for a blacksmith shop. I was at Uncle Alfred's & Arthur was here though not in the house. We made a
quilt last week made in stripes.
Tue. 11. Dull & Mild Rowand was at the other place. McArthurs were getting hay. Noble was at
Burgoyne helping with the blacksmith shop & was helping Arthur. In the afternoon the boys were at
Roppell's sale formerly Jos. Webster's farm. They only got 2 or 3 small things. Noble was at
Burgoyne.
Wed. 12. Brighter than Tue. A cold wind. The boys were drawing poles home after the chores. They
finished them.
I was at Geddes’s for tea. Rowand took the butter to the store.
March
Thur. 13. Frosty last night. Bright mostly & cold. The boys took the 2 cattle to Wilson Miller's & got a
load of logs home from the bush. They were at Uncle Alfred's to help Arthur & c. Earl Busch got
home yesterday from the Owen Sound Hospital.
Fri. 14. 7° this morning. Pretty cold. At first dull with a little bit of snow. Bright afterwards. Noble took
logs to PE. They got {blank space} from Stevens Hepner {illegible} for logs sold this year. After
dinner they drew home logs for wood. They were getting grain ready to take to the mill & helped
Arthur to set up a new stove. Mamma & I quilted the part flanelette quilt yesterday.
Sat. 15. Cold wind. Bright a good bit. Rowand was at Paisley for chop. Noble was helping Arthur at
the bush this afternoon. He got his supper at Uncle Alfred's. I was there to-night. J.H. Schwass was
here, Mamma & I quilted a quilt on Thursday, I was at Uncle Alfred's to-night.
Sun. 15. A strong cold wind. Mamma & I were at church & R. was there at night. Uncle Alfred was
here & the boys were at his place.
March
Mon. Mar. 17. Bright mostly & a cold wind. The boys were drawing out manure at the other place.
Rowand is away to a St. Patrick's Social to be held in the basement of the church. There have been
quite a few men here all together looking at the cattle. looking at the cattle.
Tue. 18. Bright. {blank space} The boys were drawing out manure at the other place but did not
finish were drawing out here the rest of the day. Noble was at Burgoyne.
Wed. 19. Dull mostly. A few flakes of snow. Noble did the other chores & took the eggs to the store.
They were drawing out manure. R. has a bad cold. Uncle Alfred was here but not in the house.
Thur. 20. Bright mostly. Cold wind. The boys were drawing manure out part of the day & got some
wood from the bush. Noble was doing some office work. B. {Bessie} Geddes was here for dinner &
she & I went to Mrs. McAndrew's to the Women's Institute meeting. Thawing.
Fri. 21. Cold wind. Thawing. Dull a good bit. Noble was at John Handbidge's for some
seed oats in exchange for Western ones. He was helping Arthur & c. this afternoon. R. & Mamma
were in P.E. this afternoon. Mamma went to see Dr. Wells.
Sat. 22. Thawing. Dull mostly. Noble took grain to P.E. from the other farm for chop. Rowand was
with him at the other place. He was at J.H. Schwass' this morning & after he was cleaning pens,
during jobs & c. I was at Uncle Alfred's. A few buggies in town.
Sun. 23. Bright & warm. Noble did the other chores. Uncle Alfred was here.
Mon. 24. Bright a good bit. Warm. Noble did the other chores, some business & cleaning grain or
other seeds. He was at J.H. Schwass's. Spence McLean came here & he & Rowand were sawing
wood for J.H. Schwass. They carried their dinner with them. Arthur was here.
Tue. 25. Bright partly. Not cold. R. & S. were working at Schwass's. Noble did the other chores, split
wood took the boys dinner to them, went to see horses at Geo. Byers & A. McLean's. Noble is away
to Burgoyne. Spence is away to A. McLean's & R. was at Uncle Alfred's. Frost harder last night.
March
Wed. Mar. 26. Dull & colder. A little shower of snow. Noble was helping at Uncle Alfred's to saw
wood with the engine this afternoon. He is away to the store to-night to do some business. R. & S.
were working at Schwass's. Mamma had a poor night last night. She did not get up to-day till the
afternoon & did not eat anything till 7 o'clock or so to-night. We think that is must be La grippe. I got
my Victor Victory Bonds on Friday for $200 through mail.
Thur. 27. Thawing. Bright partly. Noble was helping Rd. Spence & J.H Schwass with Schwass's
wood to saw & split it this afternoon. They finished it. John took the boys their dinner to-day. They
have to cross the bridge at the road to get there. Spence started away for home to-night. Thunder
this afternoon. The water is in our cellar this week.
Fri. 28. Bright partly. A cold wind. The boys were sawing wood near the house, Rd. was setting a
saw & c. Noble is not feeling very well. He has a cold. Mamma is quite a bit
March
better. Aunt Lizzie was here for supper.
Sat. 29. A cold wind. Thunder in the afternoon.
Sun. 30. Not as cold as yesterday. Snowed some in the afternoon. Noble did the other chores. I was
at Uncle Alfred's.
Mon. 31. A cold wind. Bright. Rd. took a load of articles to the farm on the 4th from Uncle Alfred's.
Noble split some wood & did other things.
Tue Tue. April. 1. Snowed some. A cold wind but not as cold after. The boys were cleaning grain &
c. Noble is away to Burgoyne. Rd to a social at the church.
{Blank page}
April
Sun. April 27. Warmer to-day but turned cooler again. A white frost. Spence went away in the
morning & came back at night. He did not go home. Noble & Rowand were each at the other place.
Mamma feels some better. Communion service was held at church to-day.
Mon. 28. Pretty warm in the middle of the day Frost. Spence was cultivating here & Noble was rolling
after supper. He was at H. Schwass's buying 3 cattle. He & R. were sowing beets & carrots at the
other place. N. & R. & R. alone were working at the fence. Noble helped Mr. Cunningham to clean
timothy seed here & R. was doing some carpenter work.
Tue. 29. Dull mostly. A cool wind part of the day. R. was working at the fence at the other place. N &
S. were working on the land. They have about 15 ac. sown. 8 ac. sown by last Saturday night. N.
was at the store with the eggs. He went with Spence who was going to A. McLean's.
Wed. 30. Dull mostly. Turned pretty cold about noon. N. & S. were working at the seeding & R.
April & May
was working at the fence. I was at the other place with B. Geddes to get some raspberry bushes for
them. Spence is away to P. E. Georgina called here. Mamma was at Arthur's yesterday. Mamma
weighs 133 1/4, R. {Rowand} 155, N {Noble} 160 1/4 & I weigh 128 3/4 lbs.
Thur. May 1. Dull a partly. A very cold wind. A sprinkle of rain in the evening. R. was working at the
fence on the other place. N. & S. finished the seeding here. I was at a Women's M. S. meeting at the
manse & I was a few minutes at Arthur's.
Fri. 2. Cold wind. Bright. N. was working Arthur's team this morning & this afternoon he & R. were
both working at the fence. Spence was working the field where the S. fallow is & where buckwheat &
c. is expected to be sown. N. was at Schwass's last night & to-night. R. & S. visited Arthur last night.
May
Sat. May. 3. Not so cold this morning. Dull & Rained nearly all afternoon & evening. R. was working
at the fence & doing some work in the house. Spence finished working the field with the cultivator &
helped Arthur on the land & to make chop & c. Noble did chores & other things. H. Schwasses were
here with 2 yearling cattle that we have bought from them. Spence went home to-night.
Sun. 4. Bright & a cold wind. I was at church & S.S. The S.S. opened to-day for the season.
Mon. 5. Dull. Started to rain this evening. R. & S. were working at the fence & N. went over after
dinner. He was doing chores & other things in the morning. Spence was away for supper to-night. It
is a year ago to-night that Papa went to bed.
Tue. 6. A lot of rain fell last night. Rained a little to-day. Bright partly. N. was doing office work & S.
was splitting wood & after dinner they went to the bush to cut stakes. R. & I started to paint the N.W.
bedroom. Arthur & Viola were here to-night.
May
Wed. 7. Showers of rain, a heavy shower in the morning. Sometimes it rained heavily. R. was
helping Arthur, N. did different things & he & N. went to P.E. Spence was at Arthur Esplin's for posts
for the other place & was at splitting wood. He & R. were in P.E. at night & N. was at Burgoyne.
Mamma went to see Dr. Wells. He gave her some more medicine. Windy at night.
Thur. 8. Pretty windy. A lot of rain this afternoon & evening. R & I were painting & he was doing other
things. N. & S were at the bush to get stakes & c. ready & they were doing other things.
Fri. 9. Windy (high & cold). Raining a lot in the afternoon. N. & S. took the 2 steers to P.E. that Geo,
Jamieson bought at 7¢ per lb. They weighed 2400 lbs. R. & I were papering in the N.W. bedroom
after dinner. N. & S. were doing different things. N. was at Burgoyne twice.
Sat. 10. Not very cold. N. & S. were at the other place getting grain ready for chop & doing other
things. R. & I were papering. We were at Uncle Walter Gowanlock’s. They expect to move to P.E. on
Tuesday.
Sun. 11. Not very cold. Thunder in the afternoon. I was at S.S. & church.
1925 Diary
January 1. -6° this morning. Dull & a cold wind. We had our dinner at Geddes's. Rowand was here
last night & waited for his supper here to-night. Noble was at Arthur's. Caroline & Elizabeth Schwass
were here at night.
Fri. Jan, 2. Snowed some. Dull. Rd. & I were in P.E. Noble was at the church at a Congregational
meeting. He was doing chores & I don't know what else. Rd. was working at something part of the
afternoon. John Scott was here & Alice & Georgina Burgess. N. was at the store at night.
Sat. 3rd. Snowed. I don't know just how much. Mr. Maxwell helped the boys at the bush.
Sun. 4th. Drifting & snowing some. Not very cold. Rd. was home for dinner.
Mon. 5th. Not cold. Snowed some. Mamma & Noble were at the school-house voting for the
municipal elections. Chas. Thomas was elected Reeve of Arran Saugeen & Dougald Smith Smythe
of Saugeen. The boys were doing some odd jobs. Noble was at Burgoyne at night.
Tue. 6th. Dull. Temperature was not low but the wind was cold. Noble took Mamma to the Dumblane
Church to vote on the "Church Union" questions. The boys were getting grain ready for chop & took
it to Arthur's & R. took some wood back with him.
Wed. 7th. Dull. Mild but the wind cold. The boys brought a load of wood from the bush for Rd. to take
away with him & a couple of loads of poles for here. They were working in the bush themselves in
the afternoon. N. was at the store at night. I was at Arthur's in the afternoon.
Thur. 8th. Colder. Dull. Drifted some last night. The boys were cleaning wheat. Noble took a little
more than 32 bw. to P.E. & sold it M. Chappell & c. for $1.55 per bw. He was at J. H. Schwass's for
logs.
Fri. 9th. Bright in the morning. A little snow fell. Not so cold as yesterday. Uncle Alfred was here. The
boys cleaned wheat & Noble took more of it to P.E. over 80 bu. {bushels} all together. He got $1.55
per bu for it. I don't know if R. was doing anything else here. He went away before night.
Sat. 10th. Dull mostly. & Small showers of snow. 14° last night or rather this morning. N. & Arthur
were cutting corn & making chop with the engine. N. had his dinner at Jc. Arthur's. He was here last
night. The P. Elgin Presbyterian church gave a majority of votes in favor of going into the United
Church. The results were known yesterday. R. did not come home to-day.
1925 January
Sun, Jan. 11. A very cold wind, bright. 6° below this morning. Rd. {Rowand} was home for dinner &
supper.
Mon. 12. Bright partly, snowing late this afternoon & evening. 6° below this morning. Rd. was home
for dinner. He went back after to clean the stable. He & N. were getting ready for chopping before
dinner. N. & Arthur made chop after dinner.
Tue. 13. N. was at Burgoyne at night. The boys did a little work in the house. N. was at the store at
night. The boys got poles from the bush in the morning & worked in the bush themselves this
afternoon.
Wed. 14. A good bit of snow fell last night. Snow fell to-day. Bright partly, Jimmy Christie & Bessie
Hill were here for dinner. N. was at Burgoyne at night. He was at Arthur's & J.H. Schwass's for a little
while.
Thur. 15. Snowed quite a bit. The boys did a little work in the house.
Fri. 16. Snowed a lot. Mild. R. & N. took a heifer to Arthur's. One of Ruby's calves, her first one.
Arthur gave $45.00 for it. They helped him some. They were at
1925 January
the store this afternoon & N. is there this evening. The results of the voting of the Burgoyne church
voting are 68 in favor of {illegible} Church Union & 91 against.
Sat. 17. Bright this morning. 14° this morning. N. & R. were getting poles from the bush in the
morning & after dinner they worked at the bush without the team. N. was at Arthur's.
Sun. 18. Snowing & blowing a good bit. Rd. was here for dinner & supper. He & I were at church.
Arthur was here though not in the house.
Mon. 19. 18 or 17° below zero this morning. Bright & cold. Arthur was here. He brought a young
horse that we are buying from him for $110. The boys worked at the bush in the afternoon. Noble
was at Arthur's.
Tue. 20. 2° this morning. Bright partly. Blowing & snowing in the afternoon. N. was at a
Congregational meeting at the church & he was at J.H Schwass's. He & Rd. were getting a load of
poles from the bush & driving the new horse, Mamma & Rd. were fixing stove pipes. Rd. went back
to the other place before night.
Wed. 21. 14° this morning. Very windy & drifting & bright mostly. N. was in P.E. & Southampton.
January
& is away to an egg circle meeting to-night at Burgoyne. More than half of a pane of glass in the
N.W. bedroom fell out last night on to the snow without being broken unless it was two corners were
broken off. The pane was cracked right across before R. was not home to-day.
Thur. 22. Not a hard frost last night but colder to-night. A high wind. Stormy a good bit of the day.
Bright partly. Rd. was home for dinner. Arthur was here but not in the house. N. was moved to be
auditor of the church books at the Congregational meeting. Donald A. Cameron son of Wm.
Cameron of P.E. died very suddenly at Toronto on the 2nd of this month.
Fri. 23. Bright & cold. 5° below zero this morning. Arthur got a heifer from us to-day. He paid $40 for
her. The boys were at the bush for the afternoon.
Sat. 24. Dull & cold but turned milder. 9° this morning. Rain in the air to-night. The boys got poles
from the bush after dinner & had the colt hitched up in the morning & N. was doing some other work.
R. was at the blacksmith's. A total eclipse of the sun occured this morning. It got quite dark here a
little after nine o'clock but as it was cloudy we did not see the sun. Mamma finished
January
a scarf for me to-night. It is blue-bell & white color. She has given it to me for a Xmas present. N.
gave me a book "Lorna Doone", R. {blank space} Olive Hill an apron, B.Geddes & card with a picture
& verse on it. It is to hang up. Alice B. a cup & saucer, H. Christie a handkerchief. Jessie Sparrow
do., & E. Christie do.
Sun. 25. Mild. Bright mostly. R. was here for dinner & supper I was at church. Arthur was here.
Mon. 26. Cold. Snowed a good bit. Blowing. The boys did work at the barn & were in the house part
of the time. Arthur was here. N. was at Burgoyne.
Tue. 27. Very cold. 15° below zero this morning & 26° below to-night. A cold wind to-day. The boys
were in the house part of the day. N. was at Arthur's. Arthur was here.
Wed. 28. Cold. Bright. 20° below zero this morning. The wind in different direction. Rd. did some
carpenter work & N. did some work in the stable or barn. They were in the house part of the
afternoon. Arthur was here.
Thur. 29. Not so cold to-day. zero this morning. yesterday morning at Paisley it was 30° below
January & February
zero. The boys drew poles home from the bush. Aunt Lizzie was here for dinner. I was at Arthur's.
Fri. 30. Snowing & blowing quite a bit of the day. The boys finished drawing home poles. N. saw 2
crows this week.
Sat. 31. A high wind, very high part of the day. Stormy part of the day. Mild for the middle of the day.
N. was at Burgoyne in the afternoon & he was at Arthur's & was doing different things. R. took the
metal part of the drain pipe out & thawed it. The water pipes to the cistern are frozen so that only a
little water can run through them. There is a little water in the cistern. We have been melting snow
for a while except when we got some water to use off the roof.
Sun. Feb, 1. Cold & bright. I was at church. R. was here for dinner. Arthur was here. He does not
very often come into the house.
Mon. 2. Bright. Not so cold as yesterday. 5° this morning. The boys bagged up grain at the other
place & brought it home. N. was doing carpenter work & c & R. helped Arthur illegible part of the
afternoon. He was here in the house to-day.
Tue. 3. 10° below zero. A hazy brightness till noon or sometime in the afternoon & then dull. Cold. N.
took a load of dry wood to P.E. to Rt. {Robert} Stevenson. R. did not come home.
Wed. 4. This morning, mild & dull. N. took a load. A sprinkle of snow last night.
February
of wood to P.E. to another man. He got $3.50 for it a cord. R. helped Arthur after dinner. Maxwells
got some hay from us at the other barn this week & they got some a while ago.
Thur. 5. Mild. A little rain in the morning. Pretty dull. The boys unloaded straw at Arthur's off our
sleigh & put hay on & took it to P.E. to Jas. Cassidy. Uncle Alfred was here for dinner. N. was at
Arthur's & I was at J.H. Schwass's.
Fri. 6. Mild & bright. N. took another load of timothy hay to P.E. & R. took chop over to the other
place before night. N. got $9.00 a ton for the hay. A mist this morning.
Sat. 7. Bright mostly. Quite warm. 38° to night. R. brought grain over to get chopped. The boys put
up the storm window where the pane of glass fell out & N. did other things. More mist this morning
than yesterday.
Sun. 8. Bright mostly. Thawing. Rd. was here for dinner & supper & Uncle Alfred for supper. I was at
church.
Mon. 9. Windy. Rained quite a bit. Water has come on to our cellar floor. Noble carried some wood
into the woodshed & c & helped Arthur to make chop. Mary Jane Esplin died on Saturday & was
buried to-day at Burgoyne.
Tue. 10. Colder. Dull. R. was home for dinner. He
February
did not feel very well. N. was carrying in wood & doing other things. He was at Arthur's.
Wed. 11. Colder. Dull. Snowed some. N. was working in the barn. Uncle Alfred was here. Mamma &
I finished quilting a quilt we started to quilt yesterday.
Thur. 12. Cold. Bright mostly. 15° this morning. R. was here for dinner. He & N. were working in the
barn. I was at Arthur's.
Fri. 13. Cold. Bright quite a bit. Snowed some last night & to-day. R. walked over before dinner &
back again to-night. They were doing bush work this afternoon. N. was helping Arthur with a heifer
that he bought from us for $50? We bought 1/2 of a for quarter of bee for the heifer.
Thur. 13. Cold. The boys were working in the barn. I was at Arthur's. The horse "Pearl" has had a
cold for a while.
Sat. 14. A cold wind. Bright mostly. Windy. N. took chop to the other place. He & R. cut & hung up
the meat. Uncle Alfred was here. "Pearl" the horse has had a cold for a while.
Sun. 15. Not cold in the morning but a rather cold wind in the afternoon. R. was here for dinner &
supper. N. was at Arthur's & Uncle A. was here. I was at church.
Mon. 16. Snow fell quite a bit of the day. Not cold.
February
R. took a load of wood to P.E. to the Baptist church N. got the horses shod & was at the barn &
stable working. Ethel Christie got home a week ago Saturday & went back to the Stratford hospital
to-day to either have an operation on her tonsils or go on training for a nurse till she is able for the
operation. She was recuperating at home after an attack of tonsilitis. R. was at Arthur's. Hogs are
selling at $11.00 per cwt. Wheat has gone down in price. The boys loaded the wood onto the sleigh.
Tue. 17. Bright partly & snowed part of the afternoon. Turned colder. N. took a load of wood to P.E.
to the Baptist manse. R. was at J.J. Hillis's sale. He bought a few things. One cow sold for $112. The
boys loaded wood onto the sleigh.
Wed. 18. 2° this morning. Cold. Bright partly. A little snow. R. took a load of wood to P.E. to the
Baptist church. N. took the eggs to the store put wood on the sleigh & did other things. R. took clover
seed to Arthur's to send away to get cleaned. I was at Geddes's. M. Chappell bought 2 heifers for
$100 & took agreed to take Rosie McDougall to sell. R. was at Arthur's helping with the seed. The
boys put wood onto the sleigh.
Thur. 19. Cold. Dull a good bit. The boys took the cattle to P.E. Viola was here. Snowed quite a bit
last night. Mild at first to-day.
Fri. 20. Snowed some & then turned mild. R. took a load of big blocks of wood to P.E. to the Baptist
February & March
Thur. 26. 14° about before breakfast. Tem. went lower before night. Cold. Stormy. High wind. N.
came home for dinner. He walked across the fields.
Fri. 27. 1°. Stormy & cold. R. was sharpening saws & doing some other things. I was at Arthur's.
Sat. 28. Bright partly. A cold wind. About 2° this morning. R. went over to see N. & afterwards N. &
R. got 2 loads of logs home from the bush & R. took one load to P.E. N did chores & other things.
Sun. Mar. 1. Not cold. Snowed quite a bit. N. was here for dinner & supper. R. was at Arthur's & I
was at church.
Mon. ,, 2. Pretty cold. Snowed & drifted quite a bit. N. was in P.E. & was doing work with papers? R.
brought logs & wood from the bush & took logs to P.E. & brought {illegible}. There was an
earthquake shock felt here on Sat. night. M. was sitting at the table & felt her chair shake & we saw
the flowers shake on the 2 tables. In some houses the people never felt it & in some did & some
didn't. R. was away to bed & he did not notice it.
Tue. ,,3. Very cold. Snowing & drifting a good bit. R. took the sleigh with wood to the other place &
got grain. They were getting it ready to take to Paisley to grind. N. was doing business & c. & R was
helping Arthur. A. was here.
March
Wed. Mar. 4. Not so cold. Snowing (quite a bit?). R. went to Paisley. He is away to Rt. Chappell's to
a party. N. did chores & business work. B. Geddes was here for dinner.
Thur. 5. Thawing some. The boys brought grain from the other place in the morning. Drawing some
poles I think from the bush.
Fri. 6. Thawing. Bright, R. went to Paisley for chop. N. was doing office work & c. I don't know what
else. They got some poles from the bush or one load & I think took another load off.
Sat. 7. Warm: a thunder storm at night. The boys finished drawing the short wood from the bush. N.
was doing office work & R. fixed the mail box onto the post. He did not feel very well. He was
cleaning pens I think. I don't know if they were doing anything else.
Sun. 8. N. was home for dinner & supper.
Mon. 9. Cold wind (in afternoon?). The boys were sawing logs up for wood near the house after
dinner. R. was doing some other things. He had a sore shoulder. He took Mamma to Geddes's.
Tue. 10. Turned very warm. R. was helping Arthur in the afternoon. I don't know what else they did.
Wed. 11. Colder. Bright (mostly?) & windy. R. helped Arthur. I don't know what else they did. I don't
know whether I have got the weather {illegible}
February {this could be a mistake – should be March?}
manse. He & N. were cutting logs after dinner.
Sat. 21. Rained quite a bit this morning. Turned colder. N. did not come home. B. helped Arthur.
Misty a good bit of the afternoon. Freezing to-night.
Sun. 22. Rained a good bit in the afternoon but it did not feel very warm. There was to be service
this afternoon when Mr. Gallagher was to preach. N. was home for dinner & supper. The rain was
freezing as it fell.
Mon. 23. A good bit of rain fell None the most of the afternoon. R. fixed the waste pipe from the
cistern sink, cleaned pens helped us to quilt & c. N. was home this afternoon. He did some bush
work on the road home. R. is away to Geddes's to-night. N. came across the field & went back by
the road.
Tue. 24. 16° this morning. Dull. Turned rather mild. R. was helping Arthur & after dinner he & N.
were doing bush work.
Wed. 25. Misty. Drippling a good bit. N. was cleaning grass seed. R. has a sore hand. A piece of
thorn is in it. Arthur was here.
March
Thur. 12. N. split wood at the other place & helped Arthur. R. Helped A. all day. I don’t know whether
the weather is {written?} down right or not.
Fri. 13. Dull turned cold & windy. Some snow after dinner. N. was at P.E. & doing other things. R.
was helping A. & helped Ed. Schwass to saw wood with the buzz-saw. Mamma was at Arthur's.
Sat. 14. Blowing & (snowing?).
Sun. 14. Warm? N. was here for dinner & supper.
Mon. 16. “ {indicating “warm”?} Rowand was clipping the cattle & N. was in P.E. for salt. Mamma
saw a robin.
Tue. 17. Warm. Florence was here for a short time. Arthur & J.H. Schwass was here but not in the
house. N. was not home. He was at King's sale. R. was putting a lice killer on the cattle & was doing
other things I think.
Wed. 18. Warm but turned colder. A few drops of rain fell. Dull mostly. Our boys, A., Ed & J.H.
Schwass sawed our poles, N. was at the store.
Thur. 19. Rain, snow & a high wind last night. Stormy at first. Not very cold. R. was cleaning pens &
c. He & N. took the sleigh to the other place & brought grain back to chop. N. got a sack of sugar for
$7.75 at Burgoyne.
March
Fri. Mar. 20. Bright, dull before night. The boys went to help A. to saw wood but the engine needed
repairing. N. & R. split & piled wood at home. R went to a box social at no.5 Saugeen.
Sat. 21. Very windy. Some rain this morning. The boys helped A. to saw wood after dinner & did
other things before.
Sun. 22. A few flakes of snow. Bright (partly?). N. was home for dinner & supper.
Mon. 23. Bright & turned dull. A cold wind after dinner. A few drops of rain. Sleet last night. N. was
splitting wood & R. was was helping A. The boys helped A. to finish sawing his wood & N. was at the
store & R. was doing odd jobs.
Tue. 24. Warm. Quite a bit of rain to-night. N. was splitting wood & took back chop with him. R. was
splitting wood & helping Arthur.
Wed. 25. Fine & warm. The boys were in Southampton & at Herman Schwass. R. got his teeth filled.
A Life Insurance agent was here.
Thur. 26. Turned very warm. Windy. A thunder storm about midnight with hail. R. took M. to
Christie's. Uncle Alfred & Isabel were here for supper. N. was splitting wood. A. was here but not for
very long.
Fri. 27. Colder. Dull some of the morning. The boys were in P.E. getting 4, 2 year old cattle from
Herman Schwass. They were splitting & piling wood this morning. R. was at Arthur's.
Sat. 28. Bright. The wind turned pretty cold by night. N. was splitting wood & R. cleaning pens. Will
Gowanlock
March
was here for hay & Bob Maxwell at the other barn for some. The boys were cleaning grain. John
Campbell was here for Timothy seeds. Uncle called for apples. N. was cleaning seed a while ago. J.
Campbell did not take any seed.
Sun. 29. A cold wind. Bright. N. was here for dinner & supper. I was at church.
Mon. 30. A pretty cold wind. N. was at Mrs Cheesman's (Mrs. Jas. Ferguson's mother) funeral. The
boys were cleaning grain & picking over rotten turnips & c. They were at A's. I was there in the
house. N. & R. were at Menno Faust’s.
Tue. 31. A cold wind. Bright. Arthur & Viola had a little boy last night but he did not live. I was at A's.
R. did some of A's chores. R & N were cleaning grain.
Wed. April 1. A cold wind. R. went to the other place & he & N. ploughed. R. brought home a red
cow that I bought from Menno Faust for $84. Aunt Jennie, Donnie & Jimmy brought Mamma home
to-night. Ethel had her tonsils & adnoids removed a while ago while she was at the hospital. She
was home for a while after & returned to the hospital on Friday.
Thur. 2. Warmer. R. & Arthur killed one of our pigs & R. ploughed at the other place after dinner &
cut the meat up at night. It weighed 171 3/4 lbs. dressed. C. Schwass was here.
April
Fri. 3 Not very cold. The boys ploughed & N. was working at a fence. Mamma was at A's. B, & F.
Geddes were here.
Sat. 4 A pretty cold wind. The boys ploughed at the other place and N. went to P.E. They were
chasing a steer at the other place that got out of the barnyard Rt. Maxwell was working at the other
place at a fence the last 2 days and this afternoon.
Sun.5 A cold wind. Bright, I was at church. N. was here for dinner and supper.
Mon. 6 13 about. A cold wind. Bright. a hard frost last night. The boys were ploughing the field at
the south side of the front lawn. I was at A's, R was away to Geddes's to-night but was not in the
house.
Tue. 7 Turned warmer, Dull a good bit. The boys were ploughing & c. N. is stopping at home tonight. Mr. Maxwell is to do his chores.
Wed. 8 Bright. Warmer in the afternoon than the morning. The boys ploughed. They used Jack part
of the time. N. went to the other place after supper see after the cattle to the store. George Maxwell
was here for supper. N. brought 2 loads of wood from the bush. I was at A's.
Thurs 9. Warm. Dull partly. The boys finished ploughing, cleaned grain & N. sowed grass seed & R.
cut Pearl's hoofs. I sowed some radishes, lettuce & planted a few onions.
April
Thur. April 10 Bright mostly. A cold wind. R. was disking the the field S. {South} of the front lane. N,
was cleaning grain, A. was here but not in the house. M, Strachan was here. I was at Lyness's for
eggs.
Sat. 11
Sun 12 A cold wind. A shower of snow. This is Easter Sunday. I was at church. Alice came home
with me. We were at Arthur’s. N. was here for dinner & supper
{back cover}
For more information on Elizabeth Oliver “Olive” Burgess, check out the “Meet the Diarists”
section under “Discover” on our website: ruraldiaries.lib.uoguelph.ca
1924-25
Transcribed by Rural Diary Archive volunteers
{Front Cover} M.S.S
{Inside front cover, written in pencil} {illegible} A.C’s {Archie Campbell’s} hay, how many loads?
1924 Diary Port Elgin. R. R. 1 EO. Burgess
Tue. Jan. 1. Kind of stormy. Arthur, Agnes & Norman Sparrow were here. The boys were at the
chores at the other place.
Wed “ 2. Dull & cold with some snow. Noble was in Port Elgin & at the other place. Rowand was at
Uncle Alfred's clover threshing & our own. {Uncleaned?} about 6 bags. Sweet clover 2 loads in about
1/2 hr. Alfalfas 1 load. Rileys were threshing for us. J.H. Schwass helped. They were here for
supper. Uncle Alfred brought me a book "Rosomond" by Mary J. Holmes. Alice & Norman were here.
They & Jessie & her husband went away to Sharp's to-day. Mr. R.D. Northgrave died to-night.
Thur. 3. Dull & cold with some snow. Rowand was doing carpenter work, chores & helping Archie
Campbell to load some of the hay that he bought from us. Noble was at the bush after dinner. He
was at Burgoyne last night.
Fri. 4. Dull & cold. Stormy at times with quite a bit of snow. Rowand was in P.E. {Port Elgin} in the
morning. He & Noble were at the other place after dinner. Ethel & Laurier Christie were here in the
evening. Tom Burgess's (Southampton) funeral was to take place to-day. Noble was cleaning pens
this morning.
January
Sat. Jan 5. Dull & cold. Stormy with quite a lot of snow. Noble was all day & Rowand in the morning
at the other place. They were doing chores, carpenter work & helping Archie Campbell with the hay.
Rowand is hard up with cold.
Sun, 6. Very stormy. Noble walked to the other place to do the chores. He has a cold. No service
held at church. Very few there. Lowest temp we noticed 8° or 10°.
Mon, 7. Snowed quite a lot. Part of the day calm. Rowand was at the other place. Noble was doing
carpenter work on the typewriter.
Tue, 8. Dull & turning milder. Rowand was at the other place. Noble was helping Arthur a little & he
& Rowand were doing some things in the house. Noble was at an egg-circle meeting at the store.
Wed, 9. Fine & mild. Rowand was in P.E. Noble was at the other place. They were putting complents
impliments into the barn. Uncle Alfred brought me the 1st number of "The Canadian Home Journal"
that Bessie Geddes subscribed to for a Christmas present It came for me. Uncle Alfreds got it in their
mail box last night. Uncle Sandy & Aunt Lizzie were here for supper.
Thur 10. Mild. Raining the most of the afternoon. Rowand was at the other place twice. He & Noble
were at Uncle Alfred's at night. Noble was in P.E. Archie Campbell got the last of his hay to-day.
Fri, 11. Raining last night. Turned pretty cold to-day. Rather stormy. Our boys & Arthur working in
our bush after dinner. We got 134 lbs. of beef from Uncle Alfred's to-day @ 10¢ per lb. It is a front
quarter. Rowand did the chores at the other place & Noble was doing some type writing. Uncle
Alfred was here yesterday for a short time.
Sat, 12. Dull & not very cold. Quite a lot of snow fell. Noble was at the other place & Rowand
cleaned out the pens here. Part of the afternoon our boys & Arthur worked in our bush. Noble has
not been very well this week.
Sun, 13. Snowed a little on some & a rather cold wind. Mamma was at church. She got a ride both
ways as Rowand drove over to do the chores. Noble was at Uncle Alfred's. O. {Oliver} Geddes,
Percy Sparrow & Uncle Alfred were here.
January
Mon Jan. 14. Some snow fell. Noble did the chores at the other place. Rowand was at the bush. In
the afternoon they were both working there.
Tue. 15. Drifting & after dinner bright mostly. Turned rather milder. Rowand was at the bush all day
& Noble did the chores at the other place & was at a wood-bee at J.H. Schwass's. Rowand cleaned
the hen-house.
Wed. 16. Rained quite a bit & turned to snow again. Rowand was in P.E. He finished at the dentist.
Noble was at the chores at the other place. He was at Uncle Alfred's in the afternoon. George
Campbell got a load of hay from the other place. Lewis Cobean's got a baby boy last night. Rowand
was doing some other work.
Thur. 17. Sometimes bright for a short time. Snowed some. Turned colder before night. Rowand did
the other chores. He, Noble & Arthur were at the bush after dinner. The boys were at Uncle Alfred's
at night. B. Geddes here in the afternoon. Pretty cold wind. Rowand & Arthur fixed the broken saw
&c {etcetera}.
Fri. 18. Snowed some. Bright sometimes. Cold wind. Rowand at the other chores. Our boys & Arthur
at the bush after dinner.
January
Jessie & Norman were here.
Sat. 19. Cold. Quite a lot of snow in the afternoon. Noble did the other place chores & cleaned out a
pig pen. Rowand & Arthur at the bush & they & Noble there after dinner. Noble was at Burgoyne at
night. About 50 of our logs are cut. 50 logs of ours are cut. Last Monday night Rowand was at Chas.
McLean’s.
Sun. 20. Stormy. Not as rough as the one on the 6th, but colder. 3° below to-night. Noble walked
over to the other place. Percy Sparrow was here in the evening. About 25 people at church this
morning.
Mon. 21. Stormy. 8° below & 10° below for a fair minute in the forenoon. Stormier than yesterday.
Rowand drove to the other place. He was mending & Noble was working with law-books. Arthur & P.
Sparrow were here playing crokinole & checkers.
Tue. 22. Stormy. 2° below. Later than when we looked yesterday. 14° about noon. Noble walked to
the other place. Rowand was doing odd jobs. J.N. Schwass was here & he & our boys were at Uncle
Alfred’s.
January
Alfred's. The boys were there in the evening too. Drifted this afternoon & evening about 22°
sometime.
Wed. 23. Snowed a great deal. Noble was at the other chores & in P.E. They were bagging chop &
c. The mail-man went past here to-day. Someone told Noble there was thunder, he thinks it was last
night.
Thurs. 24. Bright a small part of the day. Cold. Noble was in P.E. for chop & he & Rowand got a load
of logs from the bush. Rowand did the other chores. To-day is the first day I have been at the stable
since a week ago Tuesday, I had a cold though not bad all the time. We have been getting some
aprons, pinafores, bolster-slip & towels made & Mamma fixed over some clothes & she has been
knitting. The wind changed its quarter very often some of the last few days. Percy, Jessie & Norman
Sparrow were here this evening.
Fri. 25. Snowing & blowing. Turned very cold & stormy. Rowand did the chores at the other place.
He & Noble did some office work & some other work?
January
Arthur was here for a short time.
Sat. 26. Very stormy. Not blowing as much in the afternoon but snowing a lot. 2° below this morning.
12° below before supper. Noble did the other chores & was doing some work with law-books. 7°
below once in the morning. 3° below 10° P.M.
Sun. 27. Bright the most of the day. The boys were at Uncle Alfred's & Noble was at the other
chores. Frosty.
Mon. 28. Dull, Drifting some this morning. Noble was at the other place at the chores. He was
working with law-books & typewriting. Rowand was feeling miserable with cold. I was at the stable &
hen-house for the first time since Thursday. I was at Uncle Alfred's. Jessie & Norman were away,
Uncle Alfred was here. Warmer than yesterday.
Tue. 29. Mild & dull. Noble clean did the other chores. He & Rowand were cleaning clover seed.
Rowand had a pretty sore finger this morning from the a hammer hitting his finger on the nail.
January
when it glanced off a nail he was hammering. Mamma, Rowand & I were at Uncle Alfred's in the
evening.
Wed. Jan. 30. Mild & dull. Misty at first. Noble took the eggs to the store. They dug the sleighs out of
the snow & cleaned clover seed. Rowand did the other chores. The snow sank down quite a bit.
Thurs. 31. A frost last night. A crust on the snow. Nice & bright this afternoon. Noble took a load of
logs to P.E. In the afternoon the boys laid some skids in the top of the field between the house & the
creek & brought from the bush 1 load of logs & 1 load of poles. Some of us were remarking that this
afternoon was like a March day. A cold wind for a while to-day.
Fri. Feb. 1. Dull & not very cold. Sometimes there was a little gleam of sunshine. The boys went to
the other place. Noble took grain from there to P.E for chop to get chopped. He took his dinner over
with him. Rowand was at Andrew Kerr’s sale. The boys were at J.H. Schwass', Uncle Alfred was
here.
Sat. Feb. 2. Dull & mild. A little snow fell last night. A little snow & little like rain fine rain fell to-day.
Noble took logs to P.E. He & Rowand drew from the bush after dinner. Uncle Alfred, Arthur,
Georgina, Jessie, Norman & Percy were here for supper.
Sun. 3. Colder & dull. Mamma & I were at church. We got a ride with Noble as he was going to the
chores. Mamma's Uncle Wm. Rowand's son James came here after church. Arthur & P. Sparrow
were here. I was at Uncle Alfred's listening to the radio. Rowand has a cold. Mr. Rowand & I got a
ride with Noble from this side of the bridge. It is 11 years since he was home before.
Mon. 4. A very cold wind especially in the afternoon. Rather stormy. The boys were drawing logs
from the bush & skidding them in the afternoon. Noble took Mr. to Geddes's Rowand to Geddes's
after supper.
Tue. 5. Sleet fell. Roads hard to walk on as the snow under the feet was like sand. Rowand was
going some carpenter work. Noble was at Malcolm Esplen's funeral.
February
He was at the cemetary. Mr. Esplen died very suddenly on Saturday morning. He was Henery
Esplin's son. Uncle Alfred & J.H. Schwass were here.
Wed. Feb. 6. Snowing quite a bit. Not very cold. Rowand was at Andrew Kerr’s as well as the other
place. He & Noble drew logs from the bush. Noble is away to the store & Rowand to a Christian
Endeaver or literacy meeting. Percy Sparrow came to bid us good-bye as he was going away to-day
to Toronto & c. Mr. Rt. {Robert} Geddes Uncle Sandy's brother is dead. The boys sometimes do
more than chores at the other place. Rd. has not been very well lately. N. was at Uncle Alfred's a
short time yesterday Rd. was doing some carpenter work.
Thur. 7. Pretty calm. Dull mostly. The boys were drawing logs from the bush. I went to Geddes's with
Jessie, Noble & Norman in the evening.
Fri. 8. -2° this morning. Bright. Noble took a load of logs to P.E. He brought home poles, put logs on
the sleigh & cleaned pens. Rowand was helping Arthur to cut logs this afternoon.
February
Sat. Feb. 9. Bright partly. The boys were at the bush for logs but they did not get any as the one they
were trying to load was so hard to manage that it was time to come home before they finished it.
Noble took a load to P.E. & Ed. Schwass took in a load for him. Rowand was helping Arthur to cut
logs after dinner. I was at Uncle Alfred's & Norman was here.
Sun. 10. Blowing & drifting & snowing. There was no service held here at church. Noble did the other
chores. He & Rowand were at Uncle Alfred's.
Mon. 11. Dull, calm & mild. The boys brought home poles & Noble took a load of logs to P.E. this
afternoon. Rowand was helping Arthur. He is at Geddes's to-night. Jessie was here to-day.
Mamma's heart was bad this morning, Mrs. Mary Margaret May of Bala died lately. Earl Busch had
two operations at Owen Sound hospital last Friday.
Tue. 12. Dull mostly. Colder than yesterday. Momma was at Geddes's for tea. Rd. drove her. Noble
took
February
logs to P.E. & after dinner he & Rowand brought logs home. Arthur was in the house to-night.
Wed. 13. Bright. Noble took logs to P.E. & Rowand was in Southampton after dinner. I was at Uncle
Alfred's & Norman Sparrow was here for dinner. Rowand was at a Valentine Social & Noble was at
the store at night. Cold.
Thurs. 14. Quite a bit of snow fell in showers part of the morning & last night. Bright in the
afternoon.(?) Jessie & Norman were here. Noble was in P.E. with logs. He & Rowand were getting
logs home after dinner. Rowand was a short time at Uncle Alfred's.
Fri. 15. Blowing & drifting turned bright before dinner. Noble did the other chores. After dinner he &
Rowand brought home a load of logs.
Sat. 16. Cold & bright. Noble took logs to P. E. & he & Rowand were sawing at the bush. Mamma
was at Uncle Alfred's. Colin Campbell's cow that we have been feeding has been sold & was taken
away on Thursday. 16° below this morning.
Sun. 17. A cold wind. Bright. Mamma, Rowand & I were at church. Mamma & I got a ride with Noble
as he drove over to the other place.
February
Uncle Alfred was here.
Mon. Jan {should be Feb}. 18. A cold wind. Bright. Noble took logs to P.E. & the boys drew poles
logs home from the bush. Jessie & Norman were here. They went away on the train from P.E. They
expect to start for their home in Manitoba this week. John Schwass was here. Arthur was here but
not in the house.
Tue. 19. A very cold wind. It got very high by night. It went down a little & a lot of snow fell in the
evening. The boys took logs to P.E. both morning & afternoon. Noble helped Arthur in the bush after
dinner. He was at Burgoyne & I was at Uncle Alfred's at night.
Wed. 20. Snowed last night & to-day. Not so cold. The boys were at the bush for logs & poles after
dinner. Rowand was cleaning pens this morning.
Thur. 21. Snowing & blowing. Rowand drove to the other place & took the eggs to the store. The
roads have some bad drifts on them. He & Noble were working in the barn & Noble was helping
Arthur. Rowand was at Uncle Alfred's to-night. Mamma put a border around the quilt we have been
making so that it is ready to quilt.
February
Fri. Feb. 22. Blowing & snowing the most of the day. Nobel did the other chores & was in P.E. with
J.H. Schwass in the sleigh, Rowand did some odd jobs. There has not been a train from the South to
P.E. since Wed. night & the Thursday early train had not got as far as Paisley this afternoon.
Sat. 23. 8° below this morning. Bright. The boys took the cattle to the creek to water as the {illegible}
at the barn has not much water in it. Stevens Hepner are paying $50 per thousand ft. for elm logs.
Noble was helping Arthur with bush work. Rowand was doing chores & c.
Sun. 24. Bright except the middle of the day. Drifting some then. A cold wind till sometime in the
afternoon. I was at church. Uncle Alfred was here. A little snow.
Mon. 25. Bright & turned warmer. In the afternoon Rowand took logs to P.E. & Noble & Mamma
went to Christie's. Mamma stayed there. Noble was at McLean's too. A hard frost yesterday & today.
Tue. 26. Bright & more wind. 2° below this morning. Noble took logs to P.E. & he went in after dinner
with J.H. Schwass, Noble, Arthur & J.H. & & Ed. Schwass are unloading
February
a cartload of Western oats. Part of them they are taking themselves. Mr. McVittie, Southampton is
going to take some. He ordered the car. Rowand got a load of oats from P.E. for ourselves this
afternoon.
Wed. 27. Bright. Noble was in P.E. attending to the oats. Rowand did some chores for Schwasses &
some things at home. Oliver Y was here.
Thur. 28. Snowed a little. Dull at first. Noble was in P.E in the morning attending to the oats. He took
Ed Schwass oats that he bought out for him over to him & I don’t know what else he was doing.
Rowand was at Christie's & he brought mamma home. He was at the literary meeting at night. Arthur
was here & Noble was at Uncle Alfred's. All the oats over what there was wanted by Noble & c. have
been sold.
Fri. 29. Bright part of the day. Snowing a little. Turned colder. The boys were at E. Ferguson's sale &
they were doing other things. Rd. is away to a Box Social at a Saugeen school. The one Georgina
teaches in (Cassidy's school, No. 5)
March
Sat. Mar. 1. Snowing a little. Bright partly. Noble was in P.E. for chop. He & Rowand were drawing
poles from the bush, & c. Isabel was here. Mamma has not been well yesterday or to-day. I heard a
spring bird to-day.
Sun. 2. A cold wind. Bright part of the day. Snowed a good bit late in the afternoon. Mamma & I were
at church. The boys were at Uncle Alfred's.
Mon. 3. Bright mostly. Thawing in the sun. Noble was in P.E. on business. Rowand was drawing
poles & logs from the bush after dinner. Wilson Miller was here to see if we had cattle to sell & the
assessor was here. Mamma saw the 1st crow seen by any of us to-day. The boys saw their 1st.
ones to-day. Mrs. James McVeety's funeral took place to-day from Rt. Gowanlook's to Paisley
cemetary.
Tue. 4. Thawing. Rained quite a bit all together. Thunder & lightning in the evening. Noble was in
P.E. for chop & to do some business. R. was at the other place too before N. went away. Rowand
was helping Arthur to saw this morning afternoon. Aunt Jeannie & Bessie were here for dinner. N.
was at the other place. Uncle Alfred was here.
March
Wed. Mar. 5. Not very cold. {blank space} Rowand helped Arthur & R. & Noble drew poles home
from the bush. Noble's away to the store to-night. I was at Uncle Alfred's. Wilson Miller bought our 3
fat cattle to-day for $140. Mr. Chappell was here to-day & B. Geddes was here for a few minutes.
Noble got a sack of sugar for $11.50.
Thur. 6. Not very cold. Dull mostly. A little bit of snow. Archibald Campbell was here for hay. Noble
did the other chores. Rowand took a heifer of "Meadow Maid's" to Wilson Miller's. R. & Noble were
drawing poles from the bush. Uncle Alfred was here. I set 2 hens to-day.
Fri. 7. Pretty stormy part of the day. Over by night. Colder by night. R. was at the other chores. He &
Noble were doing some work in the house & Noble was at J.H. Schwass's storming some a good bit
of the day.
Sat. 8. A little snow last night. Drifting some to-day. Dull. Rowand was working at chores & c. this
morning & Noble was at the other place doing chores & John McArthur was getting 2 loads of hay.
The boys were trimming tops at the bush this afternoon. Drifting last night? This week the boys may
have done work not put down.
March
Sun. Mar. 9. Mild & dull. A little rain or snow in the afternoon. Mamma was at church, Rowand was
at the other chores, Noble was at Uncle Alfred's & Uncle Alfred was here.
Mon. 10. Mild & dull. Got windy. Noble was at the other place twice. McArthurs were getting hay for
John. Rowand was doing chores & c. & after dinner he was at a bee at Burgoyne to put up a building
for a blacksmith shop. I was at Uncle Alfred's & Arthur was here though not in the house. We made a
quilt last week made in stripes.
Tue. 11. Dull & Mild Rowand was at the other place. McArthurs were getting hay. Noble was at
Burgoyne helping with the blacksmith shop & was helping Arthur. In the afternoon the boys were at
Roppell's sale formerly Jos. Webster's farm. They only got 2 or 3 small things. Noble was at
Burgoyne.
Wed. 12. Brighter than Tue. A cold wind. The boys were drawing poles home after the chores. They
finished them.
I was at Geddes’s for tea. Rowand took the butter to the store.
March
Thur. 13. Frosty last night. Bright mostly & cold. The boys took the 2 cattle to Wilson Miller's & got a
load of logs home from the bush. They were at Uncle Alfred's to help Arthur & c. Earl Busch got
home yesterday from the Owen Sound Hospital.
Fri. 14. 7° this morning. Pretty cold. At first dull with a little bit of snow. Bright afterwards. Noble took
logs to PE. They got {blank space} from Stevens Hepner {illegible} for logs sold this year. After
dinner they drew home logs for wood. They were getting grain ready to take to the mill & helped
Arthur to set up a new stove. Mamma & I quilted the part flanelette quilt yesterday.
Sat. 15. Cold wind. Bright a good bit. Rowand was at Paisley for chop. Noble was helping Arthur at
the bush this afternoon. He got his supper at Uncle Alfred's. I was there to-night. J.H. Schwass was
here, Mamma & I quilted a quilt on Thursday, I was at Uncle Alfred's to-night.
Sun. 15. A strong cold wind. Mamma & I were at church & R. was there at night. Uncle Alfred was
here & the boys were at his place.
March
Mon. Mar. 17. Bright mostly & a cold wind. The boys were drawing out manure at the other place.
Rowand is away to a St. Patrick's Social to be held in the basement of the church. There have been
quite a few men here all together looking at the cattle. looking at the cattle.
Tue. 18. Bright. {blank space} The boys were drawing out manure at the other place but did not
finish were drawing out here the rest of the day. Noble was at Burgoyne.
Wed. 19. Dull mostly. A few flakes of snow. Noble did the other chores & took the eggs to the store.
They were drawing out manure. R. has a bad cold. Uncle Alfred was here but not in the house.
Thur. 20. Bright mostly. Cold wind. The boys were drawing manure out part of the day & got some
wood from the bush. Noble was doing some office work. B. {Bessie} Geddes was here for dinner &
she & I went to Mrs. McAndrew's to the Women's Institute meeting. Thawing.
Fri. 21. Cold wind. Thawing. Dull a good bit. Noble was at John Handbidge's for some
seed oats in exchange for Western ones. He was helping Arthur & c. this afternoon. R. & Mamma
were in P.E. this afternoon. Mamma went to see Dr. Wells.
Sat. 22. Thawing. Dull mostly. Noble took grain to P.E. from the other farm for chop. Rowand was
with him at the other place. He was at J.H. Schwass' this morning & after he was cleaning pens,
during jobs & c. I was at Uncle Alfred's. A few buggies in town.
Sun. 23. Bright & warm. Noble did the other chores. Uncle Alfred was here.
Mon. 24. Bright a good bit. Warm. Noble did the other chores, some business & cleaning grain or
other seeds. He was at J.H. Schwass's. Spence McLean came here & he & Rowand were sawing
wood for J.H. Schwass. They carried their dinner with them. Arthur was here.
Tue. 25. Bright partly. Not cold. R. & S. were working at Schwass's. Noble did the other chores, split
wood took the boys dinner to them, went to see horses at Geo. Byers & A. McLean's. Noble is away
to Burgoyne. Spence is away to A. McLean's & R. was at Uncle Alfred's. Frost harder last night.
March
Wed. Mar. 26. Dull & colder. A little shower of snow. Noble was helping at Uncle Alfred's to saw
wood with the engine this afternoon. He is away to the store to-night to do some business. R. & S.
were working at Schwass's. Mamma had a poor night last night. She did not get up to-day till the
afternoon & did not eat anything till 7 o'clock or so to-night. We think that is must be La grippe. I got
my Victor Victory Bonds on Friday for $200 through mail.
Thur. 27. Thawing. Bright partly. Noble was helping Rd. Spence & J.H Schwass with Schwass's
wood to saw & split it this afternoon. They finished it. John took the boys their dinner to-day. They
have to cross the bridge at the road to get there. Spence started away for home to-night. Thunder
this afternoon. The water is in our cellar this week.
Fri. 28. Bright partly. A cold wind. The boys were sawing wood near the house, Rd. was setting a
saw & c. Noble is not feeling very well. He has a cold. Mamma is quite a bit
March
better. Aunt Lizzie was here for supper.
Sat. 29. A cold wind. Thunder in the afternoon.
Sun. 30. Not as cold as yesterday. Snowed some in the afternoon. Noble did the other chores. I was
at Uncle Alfred's.
Mon. 31. A cold wind. Bright. Rd. took a load of articles to the farm on the 4th from Uncle Alfred's.
Noble split some wood & did other things.
Tue Tue. April. 1. Snowed some. A cold wind but not as cold after. The boys were cleaning grain &
c. Noble is away to Burgoyne. Rd to a social at the church.
{Blank page}
April
Sun. April 27. Warmer to-day but turned cooler again. A white frost. Spence went away in the
morning & came back at night. He did not go home. Noble & Rowand were each at the other place.
Mamma feels some better. Communion service was held at church to-day.
Mon. 28. Pretty warm in the middle of the day Frost. Spence was cultivating here & Noble was rolling
after supper. He was at H. Schwass's buying 3 cattle. He & R. were sowing beets & carrots at the
other place. N. & R. & R. alone were working at the fence. Noble helped Mr. Cunningham to clean
timothy seed here & R. was doing some carpenter work.
Tue. 29. Dull mostly. A cool wind part of the day. R. was working at the fence at the other place. N &
S. were working on the land. They have about 15 ac. sown. 8 ac. sown by last Saturday night. N.
was at the store with the eggs. He went with Spence who was going to A. McLean's.
Wed. 30. Dull mostly. Turned pretty cold about noon. N. & S. were working at the seeding & R.
April & May
was working at the fence. I was at the other place with B. Geddes to get some raspberry bushes for
them. Spence is away to P. E. Georgina called here. Mamma was at Arthur's yesterday. Mamma
weighs 133 1/4, R. {Rowand} 155, N {Noble} 160 1/4 & I weigh 128 3/4 lbs.
Thur. May 1. Dull a partly. A very cold wind. A sprinkle of rain in the evening. R. was working at the
fence on the other place. N. & S. finished the seeding here. I was at a Women's M. S. meeting at the
manse & I was a few minutes at Arthur's.
Fri. 2. Cold wind. Bright. N. was working Arthur's team this morning & this afternoon he & R. were
both working at the fence. Spence was working the field where the S. fallow is & where buckwheat &
c. is expected to be sown. N. was at Schwass's last night & to-night. R. & S. visited Arthur last night.
May
Sat. May. 3. Not so cold this morning. Dull & Rained nearly all afternoon & evening. R. was working
at the fence & doing some work in the house. Spence finished working the field with the cultivator &
helped Arthur on the land & to make chop & c. Noble did chores & other things. H. Schwasses were
here with 2 yearling cattle that we have bought from them. Spence went home to-night.
Sun. 4. Bright & a cold wind. I was at church & S.S. The S.S. opened to-day for the season.
Mon. 5. Dull. Started to rain this evening. R. & S. were working at the fence & N. went over after
dinner. He was doing chores & other things in the morning. Spence was away for supper to-night. It
is a year ago to-night that Papa went to bed.
Tue. 6. A lot of rain fell last night. Rained a little to-day. Bright partly. N. was doing office work & S.
was splitting wood & after dinner they went to the bush to cut stakes. R. & I started to paint the N.W.
bedroom. Arthur & Viola were here to-night.
May
Wed. 7. Showers of rain, a heavy shower in the morning. Sometimes it rained heavily. R. was
helping Arthur, N. did different things & he & N. went to P.E. Spence was at Arthur Esplin's for posts
for the other place & was at splitting wood. He & R. were in P.E. at night & N. was at Burgoyne.
Mamma went to see Dr. Wells. He gave her some more medicine. Windy at night.
Thur. 8. Pretty windy. A lot of rain this afternoon & evening. R & I were painting & he was doing other
things. N. & S were at the bush to get stakes & c. ready & they were doing other things.
Fri. 9. Windy (high & cold). Raining a lot in the afternoon. N. & S. took the 2 steers to P.E. that Geo,
Jamieson bought at 7¢ per lb. They weighed 2400 lbs. R. & I were papering in the N.W. bedroom
after dinner. N. & S. were doing different things. N. was at Burgoyne twice.
Sat. 10. Not very cold. N. & S. were at the other place getting grain ready for chop & doing other
things. R. & I were papering. We were at Uncle Walter Gowanlock’s. They expect to move to P.E. on
Tuesday.
Sun. 11. Not very cold. Thunder in the afternoon. I was at S.S. & church.
1925 Diary
January 1. -6° this morning. Dull & a cold wind. We had our dinner at Geddes's. Rowand was here
last night & waited for his supper here to-night. Noble was at Arthur's. Caroline & Elizabeth Schwass
were here at night.
Fri. Jan, 2. Snowed some. Dull. Rd. & I were in P.E. Noble was at the church at a Congregational
meeting. He was doing chores & I don't know what else. Rd. was working at something part of the
afternoon. John Scott was here & Alice & Georgina Burgess. N. was at the store at night.
Sat. 3rd. Snowed. I don't know just how much. Mr. Maxwell helped the boys at the bush.
Sun. 4th. Drifting & snowing some. Not very cold. Rd. was home for dinner.
Mon. 5th. Not cold. Snowed some. Mamma & Noble were at the school-house voting for the
municipal elections. Chas. Thomas was elected Reeve of Arran Saugeen & Dougald Smith Smythe
of Saugeen. The boys were doing some odd jobs. Noble was at Burgoyne at night.
Tue. 6th. Dull. Temperature was not low but the wind was cold. Noble took Mamma to the Dumblane
Church to vote on the "Church Union" questions. The boys were getting grain ready for chop & took
it to Arthur's & R. took some wood back with him.
Wed. 7th. Dull. Mild but the wind cold. The boys brought a load of wood from the bush for Rd. to take
away with him & a couple of loads of poles for here. They were working in the bush themselves in
the afternoon. N. was at the store at night. I was at Arthur's in the afternoon.
Thur. 8th. Colder. Dull. Drifted some last night. The boys were cleaning wheat. Noble took a little
more than 32 bw. to P.E. & sold it M. Chappell & c. for $1.55 per bw. He was at J. H. Schwass's for
logs.
Fri. 9th. Bright in the morning. A little snow fell. Not so cold as yesterday. Uncle Alfred was here. The
boys cleaned wheat & Noble took more of it to P.E. over 80 bu. {bushels} all together. He got $1.55
per bu for it. I don't know if R. was doing anything else here. He went away before night.
Sat. 10th. Dull mostly. & Small showers of snow. 14° last night or rather this morning. N. & Arthur
were cutting corn & making chop with the engine. N. had his dinner at Jc. Arthur's. He was here last
night. The P. Elgin Presbyterian church gave a majority of votes in favor of going into the United
Church. The results were known yesterday. R. did not come home to-day.
1925 January
Sun, Jan. 11. A very cold wind, bright. 6° below this morning. Rd. {Rowand} was home for dinner &
supper.
Mon. 12. Bright partly, snowing late this afternoon & evening. 6° below this morning. Rd. was home
for dinner. He went back after to clean the stable. He & N. were getting ready for chopping before
dinner. N. & Arthur made chop after dinner.
Tue. 13. N. was at Burgoyne at night. The boys did a little work in the house. N. was at the store at
night. The boys got poles from the bush in the morning & worked in the bush themselves this
afternoon.
Wed. 14. A good bit of snow fell last night. Snow fell to-day. Bright partly, Jimmy Christie & Bessie
Hill were here for dinner. N. was at Burgoyne at night. He was at Arthur's & J.H. Schwass's for a little
while.
Thur. 15. Snowed quite a bit. The boys did a little work in the house.
Fri. 16. Snowed a lot. Mild. R. & N. took a heifer to Arthur's. One of Ruby's calves, her first one.
Arthur gave $45.00 for it. They helped him some. They were at
1925 January
the store this afternoon & N. is there this evening. The results of the voting of the Burgoyne church
voting are 68 in favor of {illegible} Church Union & 91 against.
Sat. 17. Bright this morning. 14° this morning. N. & R. were getting poles from the bush in the
morning & after dinner they worked at the bush without the team. N. was at Arthur's.
Sun. 18. Snowing & blowing a good bit. Rd. was here for dinner & supper. He & I were at church.
Arthur was here though not in the house.
Mon. 19. 18 or 17° below zero this morning. Bright & cold. Arthur was here. He brought a young
horse that we are buying from him for $110. The boys worked at the bush in the afternoon. Noble
was at Arthur's.
Tue. 20. 2° this morning. Bright partly. Blowing & snowing in the afternoon. N. was at a
Congregational meeting at the church & he was at J.H Schwass's. He & Rd. were getting a load of
poles from the bush & driving the new horse, Mamma & Rd. were fixing stove pipes. Rd. went back
to the other place before night.
Wed. 21. 14° this morning. Very windy & drifting & bright mostly. N. was in P.E. & Southampton.
January
& is away to an egg circle meeting to-night at Burgoyne. More than half of a pane of glass in the
N.W. bedroom fell out last night on to the snow without being broken unless it was two corners were
broken off. The pane was cracked right across before R. was not home to-day.
Thur. 22. Not a hard frost last night but colder to-night. A high wind. Stormy a good bit of the day.
Bright partly. Rd. was home for dinner. Arthur was here but not in the house. N. was moved to be
auditor of the church books at the Congregational meeting. Donald A. Cameron son of Wm.
Cameron of P.E. died very suddenly at Toronto on the 2nd of this month.
Fri. 23. Bright & cold. 5° below zero this morning. Arthur got a heifer from us to-day. He paid $40 for
her. The boys were at the bush for the afternoon.
Sat. 24. Dull & cold but turned milder. 9° this morning. Rain in the air to-night. The boys got poles
from the bush after dinner & had the colt hitched up in the morning & N. was doing some other work.
R. was at the blacksmith's. A total eclipse of the sun occured this morning. It got quite dark here a
little after nine o'clock but as it was cloudy we did not see the sun. Mamma finished
January
a scarf for me to-night. It is blue-bell & white color. She has given it to me for a Xmas present. N.
gave me a book "Lorna Doone", R. {blank space} Olive Hill an apron, B.Geddes & card with a picture
& verse on it. It is to hang up. Alice B. a cup & saucer, H. Christie a handkerchief. Jessie Sparrow
do., & E. Christie do.
Sun. 25. Mild. Bright mostly. R. was here for dinner & supper I was at church. Arthur was here.
Mon. 26. Cold. Snowed a good bit. Blowing. The boys did work at the barn & were in the house part
of the time. Arthur was here. N. was at Burgoyne.
Tue. 27. Very cold. 15° below zero this morning & 26° below to-night. A cold wind to-day. The boys
were in the house part of the day. N. was at Arthur's. Arthur was here.
Wed. 28. Cold. Bright. 20° below zero this morning. The wind in different direction. Rd. did some
carpenter work & N. did some work in the stable or barn. They were in the house part of the
afternoon. Arthur was here.
Thur. 29. Not so cold to-day. zero this morning. yesterday morning at Paisley it was 30° below
January & February
zero. The boys drew poles home from the bush. Aunt Lizzie was here for dinner. I was at Arthur's.
Fri. 30. Snowing & blowing quite a bit of the day. The boys finished drawing home poles. N. saw 2
crows this week.
Sat. 31. A high wind, very high part of the day. Stormy part of the day. Mild for the middle of the day.
N. was at Burgoyne in the afternoon & he was at Arthur's & was doing different things. R. took the
metal part of the drain pipe out & thawed it. The water pipes to the cistern are frozen so that only a
little water can run through them. There is a little water in the cistern. We have been melting snow
for a while except when we got some water to use off the roof.
Sun. Feb, 1. Cold & bright. I was at church. R. was here for dinner. Arthur was here. He does not
very often come into the house.
Mon. 2. Bright. Not so cold as yesterday. 5° this morning. The boys bagged up grain at the other
place & brought it home. N. was doing carpenter work & c & R. helped Arthur illegible part of the
afternoon. He was here in the house to-day.
Tue. 3. 10° below zero. A hazy brightness till noon or sometime in the afternoon & then dull. Cold. N.
took a load of dry wood to P.E. to Rt. {Robert} Stevenson. R. did not come home.
Wed. 4. This morning, mild & dull. N. took a load. A sprinkle of snow last night.
February
of wood to P.E. to another man. He got $3.50 for it a cord. R. helped Arthur after dinner. Maxwells
got some hay from us at the other barn this week & they got some a while ago.
Thur. 5. Mild. A little rain in the morning. Pretty dull. The boys unloaded straw at Arthur's off our
sleigh & put hay on & took it to P.E. to Jas. Cassidy. Uncle Alfred was here for dinner. N. was at
Arthur's & I was at J.H. Schwass's.
Fri. 6. Mild & bright. N. took another load of timothy hay to P.E. & R. took chop over to the other
place before night. N. got $9.00 a ton for the hay. A mist this morning.
Sat. 7. Bright mostly. Quite warm. 38° to night. R. brought grain over to get chopped. The boys put
up the storm window where the pane of glass fell out & N. did other things. More mist this morning
than yesterday.
Sun. 8. Bright mostly. Thawing. Rd. was here for dinner & supper & Uncle Alfred for supper. I was at
church.
Mon. 9. Windy. Rained quite a bit. Water has come on to our cellar floor. Noble carried some wood
into the woodshed & c & helped Arthur to make chop. Mary Jane Esplin died on Saturday & was
buried to-day at Burgoyne.
Tue. 10. Colder. Dull. R. was home for dinner. He
February
did not feel very well. N. was carrying in wood & doing other things. He was at Arthur's.
Wed. 11. Colder. Dull. Snowed some. N. was working in the barn. Uncle Alfred was here. Mamma &
I finished quilting a quilt we started to quilt yesterday.
Thur. 12. Cold. Bright mostly. 15° this morning. R. was here for dinner. He & N. were working in the
barn. I was at Arthur's.
Fri. 13. Cold. Bright quite a bit. Snowed some last night & to-day. R. walked over before dinner &
back again to-night. They were doing bush work this afternoon. N. was helping Arthur with a heifer
that he bought from us for $50? We bought 1/2 of a for quarter of bee for the heifer.
Thur. 13. Cold. The boys were working in the barn. I was at Arthur's. The horse "Pearl" has had a
cold for a while.
Sat. 14. A cold wind. Bright mostly. Windy. N. took chop to the other place. He & R. cut & hung up
the meat. Uncle Alfred was here. "Pearl" the horse has had a cold for a while.
Sun. 15. Not cold in the morning but a rather cold wind in the afternoon. R. was here for dinner &
supper. N. was at Arthur's & Uncle A. was here. I was at church.
Mon. 16. Snow fell quite a bit of the day. Not cold.
February
R. took a load of wood to P.E. to the Baptist church N. got the horses shod & was at the barn &
stable working. Ethel Christie got home a week ago Saturday & went back to the Stratford hospital
to-day to either have an operation on her tonsils or go on training for a nurse till she is able for the
operation. She was recuperating at home after an attack of tonsilitis. R. was at Arthur's. Hogs are
selling at $11.00 per cwt. Wheat has gone down in price. The boys loaded the wood onto the sleigh.
Tue. 17. Bright partly & snowed part of the afternoon. Turned colder. N. took a load of wood to P.E.
to the Baptist manse. R. was at J.J. Hillis's sale. He bought a few things. One cow sold for $112. The
boys loaded wood onto the sleigh.
Wed. 18. 2° this morning. Cold. Bright partly. A little snow. R. took a load of wood to P.E. to the
Baptist church. N. took the eggs to the store put wood on the sleigh & did other things. R. took clover
seed to Arthur's to send away to get cleaned. I was at Geddes's. M. Chappell bought 2 heifers for
$100 & took agreed to take Rosie McDougall to sell. R. was at Arthur's helping with the seed. The
boys put wood onto the sleigh.
Thur. 19. Cold. Dull a good bit. The boys took the cattle to P.E. Viola was here. Snowed quite a bit
last night. Mild at first to-day.
Fri. 20. Snowed some & then turned mild. R. took a load of big blocks of wood to P.E. to the Baptist
February & March
Thur. 26. 14° about before breakfast. Tem. went lower before night. Cold. Stormy. High wind. N.
came home for dinner. He walked across the fields.
Fri. 27. 1°. Stormy & cold. R. was sharpening saws & doing some other things. I was at Arthur's.
Sat. 28. Bright partly. A cold wind. About 2° this morning. R. went over to see N. & afterwards N. &
R. got 2 loads of logs home from the bush & R. took one load to P.E. N did chores & other things.
Sun. Mar. 1. Not cold. Snowed quite a bit. N. was here for dinner & supper. R. was at Arthur's & I
was at church.
Mon. ,, 2. Pretty cold. Snowed & drifted quite a bit. N. was in P.E. & was doing work with papers? R.
brought logs & wood from the bush & took logs to P.E. & brought {illegible}. There was an
earthquake shock felt here on Sat. night. M. was sitting at the table & felt her chair shake & we saw
the flowers shake on the 2 tables. In some houses the people never felt it & in some did & some
didn't. R. was away to bed & he did not notice it.
Tue. ,,3. Very cold. Snowing & drifting a good bit. R. took the sleigh with wood to the other place &
got grain. They were getting it ready to take to Paisley to grind. N. was doing business & c. & R was
helping Arthur. A. was here.
March
Wed. Mar. 4. Not so cold. Snowing (quite a bit?). R. went to Paisley. He is away to Rt. Chappell's to
a party. N. did chores & business work. B. Geddes was here for dinner.
Thur. 5. Thawing some. The boys brought grain from the other place in the morning. Drawing some
poles I think from the bush.
Fri. 6. Thawing. Bright, R. went to Paisley for chop. N. was doing office work & c. I don't know what
else. They got some poles from the bush or one load & I think took another load off.
Sat. 7. Warm: a thunder storm at night. The boys finished drawing the short wood from the bush. N.
was doing office work & R. fixed the mail box onto the post. He did not feel very well. He was
cleaning pens I think. I don't know if they were doing anything else.
Sun. 8. N. was home for dinner & supper.
Mon. 9. Cold wind (in afternoon?). The boys were sawing logs up for wood near the house after
dinner. R. was doing some other things. He had a sore shoulder. He took Mamma to Geddes's.
Tue. 10. Turned very warm. R. was helping Arthur in the afternoon. I don't know what else they did.
Wed. 11. Colder. Bright (mostly?) & windy. R. helped Arthur. I don't know what else they did. I don't
know whether I have got the weather {illegible}
February {this could be a mistake – should be March?}
manse. He & N. were cutting logs after dinner.
Sat. 21. Rained quite a bit this morning. Turned colder. N. did not come home. B. helped Arthur.
Misty a good bit of the afternoon. Freezing to-night.
Sun. 22. Rained a good bit in the afternoon but it did not feel very warm. There was to be service
this afternoon when Mr. Gallagher was to preach. N. was home for dinner & supper. The rain was
freezing as it fell.
Mon. 23. A good bit of rain fell None the most of the afternoon. R. fixed the waste pipe from the
cistern sink, cleaned pens helped us to quilt & c. N. was home this afternoon. He did some bush
work on the road home. R. is away to Geddes's to-night. N. came across the field & went back by
the road.
Tue. 24. 16° this morning. Dull. Turned rather mild. R. was helping Arthur & after dinner he & N.
were doing bush work.
Wed. 25. Misty. Drippling a good bit. N. was cleaning grass seed. R. has a sore hand. A piece of
thorn is in it. Arthur was here.
March
Thur. 12. N. split wood at the other place & helped Arthur. R. Helped A. all day. I don’t know whether
the weather is {written?} down right or not.
Fri. 13. Dull turned cold & windy. Some snow after dinner. N. was at P.E. & doing other things. R.
was helping A. & helped Ed. Schwass to saw wood with the buzz-saw. Mamma was at Arthur's.
Sat. 14. Blowing & (snowing?).
Sun. 14. Warm? N. was here for dinner & supper.
Mon. 16. “ {indicating “warm”?} Rowand was clipping the cattle & N. was in P.E. for salt. Mamma
saw a robin.
Tue. 17. Warm. Florence was here for a short time. Arthur & J.H. Schwass was here but not in the
house. N. was not home. He was at King's sale. R. was putting a lice killer on the cattle & was doing
other things I think.
Wed. 18. Warm but turned colder. A few drops of rain fell. Dull mostly. Our boys, A., Ed & J.H.
Schwass sawed our poles, N. was at the store.
Thur. 19. Rain, snow & a high wind last night. Stormy at first. Not very cold. R. was cleaning pens &
c. He & N. took the sleigh to the other place & brought grain back to chop. N. got a sack of sugar for
$7.75 at Burgoyne.
March
Fri. Mar. 20. Bright, dull before night. The boys went to help A. to saw wood but the engine needed
repairing. N. & R. split & piled wood at home. R went to a box social at no.5 Saugeen.
Sat. 21. Very windy. Some rain this morning. The boys helped A. to saw wood after dinner & did
other things before.
Sun. 22. A few flakes of snow. Bright (partly?). N. was home for dinner & supper.
Mon. 23. Bright & turned dull. A cold wind after dinner. A few drops of rain. Sleet last night. N. was
splitting wood & R. was was helping A. The boys helped A. to finish sawing his wood & N. was at the
store & R. was doing odd jobs.
Tue. 24. Warm. Quite a bit of rain to-night. N. was splitting wood & took back chop with him. R. was
splitting wood & helping Arthur.
Wed. 25. Fine & warm. The boys were in Southampton & at Herman Schwass. R. got his teeth filled.
A Life Insurance agent was here.
Thur. 26. Turned very warm. Windy. A thunder storm about midnight with hail. R. took M. to
Christie's. Uncle Alfred & Isabel were here for supper. N. was splitting wood. A. was here but not for
very long.
Fri. 27. Colder. Dull some of the morning. The boys were in P.E. getting 4, 2 year old cattle from
Herman Schwass. They were splitting & piling wood this morning. R. was at Arthur's.
Sat. 28. Bright. The wind turned pretty cold by night. N. was splitting wood & R. cleaning pens. Will
Gowanlock
March
was here for hay & Bob Maxwell at the other barn for some. The boys were cleaning grain. John
Campbell was here for Timothy seeds. Uncle called for apples. N. was cleaning seed a while ago. J.
Campbell did not take any seed.
Sun. 29. A cold wind. Bright. N. was here for dinner & supper. I was at church.
Mon. 30. A pretty cold wind. N. was at Mrs Cheesman's (Mrs. Jas. Ferguson's mother) funeral. The
boys were cleaning grain & picking over rotten turnips & c. They were at A's. I was there in the
house. N. & R. were at Menno Faust’s.
Tue. 31. A cold wind. Bright. Arthur & Viola had a little boy last night but he did not live. I was at A's.
R. did some of A's chores. R & N were cleaning grain.
Wed. April 1. A cold wind. R. went to the other place & he & N. ploughed. R. brought home a red
cow that I bought from Menno Faust for $84. Aunt Jennie, Donnie & Jimmy brought Mamma home
to-night. Ethel had her tonsils & adnoids removed a while ago while she was at the hospital. She
was home for a while after & returned to the hospital on Friday.
Thur. 2. Warmer. R. & Arthur killed one of our pigs & R. ploughed at the other place after dinner &
cut the meat up at night. It weighed 171 3/4 lbs. dressed. C. Schwass was here.
April
Fri. 3 Not very cold. The boys ploughed & N. was working at a fence. Mamma was at A's. B, & F.
Geddes were here.
Sat. 4 A pretty cold wind. The boys ploughed at the other place and N. went to P.E. They were
chasing a steer at the other place that got out of the barnyard Rt. Maxwell was working at the other
place at a fence the last 2 days and this afternoon.
Sun.5 A cold wind. Bright, I was at church. N. was here for dinner and supper.
Mon. 6 13 about. A cold wind. Bright. a hard frost last night. The boys were ploughing the field at
the south side of the front lawn. I was at A's, R was away to Geddes's to-night but was not in the
house.
Tue. 7 Turned warmer, Dull a good bit. The boys were ploughing & c. N. is stopping at home tonight. Mr. Maxwell is to do his chores.
Wed. 8 Bright. Warmer in the afternoon than the morning. The boys ploughed. They used Jack part
of the time. N. went to the other place after supper see after the cattle to the store. George Maxwell
was here for supper. N. brought 2 loads of wood from the bush. I was at A's.
Thurs 9. Warm. Dull partly. The boys finished ploughing, cleaned grain & N. sowed grass seed & R.
cut Pearl's hoofs. I sowed some radishes, lettuce & planted a few onions.
April
Thur. April 10 Bright mostly. A cold wind. R. was disking the the field S. {South} of the front lane. N,
was cleaning grain, A. was here but not in the house. M, Strachan was here. I was at Lyness's for
eggs.
Sat. 11
Sun 12 A cold wind. A shower of snow. This is Easter Sunday. I was at church. Alice came home
with me. We were at Arthur’s. N. was here for dinner & supper
{back cover}
For more information on Elizabeth Oliver “Olive” Burgess, check out the “Meet the Diarists”
section under “Discover” on our website: ruraldiaries.lib.uoguelph.ca
