Scottish Piper


A Chairdean Ionmhuinn Mo Chinnidh

Fall,2009

EARLY LIFE IN EAST BAY

By Pat Mac Adam

My Aunt Katie (Catherine MacAdam) married Andrew MacDonald and they lived on a 170-acre farm on the Meadows Road at Sydney Forks. They had seven children - Margaret and Allan (twins), Mary, Norah, Annie, Betty (Bessie) and Clara. I think Margaret is still alive and living in Halifax. She had both legs amputated because of diabetes.
I can't ever remember seeing Uncle Andrew. He died young and left Aunt Katie to fend for herself and raise seven children.
And fend she did. She was a combination of Ma Kettle and Tugboat Annie. She has the local Postmistress and the Post Office was off the kitchen. There was an access window outside the house but most came in for a cuppa or a strupak. She took in borders from the local crusher plant and the table sagged in the middle at meal time. Initially, she had no electricity and we spent evenings by the fluourescent-like light of Alladin lamps.
She had a meadow - four or five acres of hay - root veg like carrots and potatoes. She couldn't afford pesticide dust for the potato plants so we went around with a stick and a pail and knocked the lady bugs off, put a little gasoline in the bucket and burned them.
There was fruit and berries in abundance and she was an avid canner. She had 14 cows, a few pigs and a couple of dozen chickens. The creamery shack with the separator was just outside the house and I spent many hours turning the handle to separate cream, milk and whey. She made butter. The cream and milk were placed in cans and kept cold in a natural spring that was covered by a small house. Every Saturday morning she took farm produce and dairy products into Sydney to sell at a farmers' market.
She was a crack shot with a .22 Long Rifle and farmers were allowed to shoot deer who were destroying their crops - even out of season. The only problem was lack of refrigeration.
Late in life, Aunt Katie must have been nearing 70, the very best road gravel was discovered on her farm and trucks rolled every day from 7 a.m. until dark. She received a royalty on every load from the municipality.
I think I can say with conviction she never took a nickle from the government or the church.
Every Sunday, she'd harness up the horse and buggy and we'd ride the few miles to St Mary's church in East Bay.

OPENING OF MISSIOM SAN MIGUEL



"A historic landmark will be dedicated Tuesday night after an earthquake forced it to shut its doors almost six years ago. A dedication mass will be held at 7 p.m., Oct 4, at the 200-year-old Mission San Miguel. The official public reopening ceremony will be held on the front steps of the church on Friday, Oct 9, at 10 a.m. Regular services will begin on Sunday at noon."
You will recall that the Mac Donald Bros came to SSn Miguel in 1869 and opened a hotel and saloon adjacent to the parish.
Michael's family are buried in the Mission Cemetery.


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