Life on the farm
Chores consumed the entire day. The seasons lended to the agenda of what needed to get done. Mowing the fields in the summer, planting in the spring, harvesting in the fall, ice cutting in the winter, all hard work that Mathias had to do. He would start early each day , milk the cow (Betsy), feed the chickens, pigs and horses, and continue with many more chores. Matt worked hard all his life, in fact, on the day he died he was chopping wood in the field at the age of 78!
Mathias Cormier gathering wood
There was little if any money, but plenty of food, warmth and love in the household. Phyllis would help with the finances, cooking for the
people that came from the city to the area for the summer. She cooked chicken most of the time( as they had plenty of chickens) and made wonderful homemade bread and rolls for others dinner parties. Phyllis would cook all morning to have the meals ready in the afternoon when they came to pick up their food.
The family always had fresh bread, fresh eggs, and fresh milk from "Betsy".
Mathias feeding the chickens
Phyllis would be busy in the house washing, cleaning, ironing if she wasn't cooking. Heating water on the stove that she had pumped for washing. Laundry was done on a scrub board out back by the well with the tub on a bench. In winter, it had to be done in the kitchen, and the clothes would often freeze before she had them hung outside. In later years Phyllis had a wringer washing machine, which helped but life was not easy!
Geneva Cormier helping with the chores
Life was not all chores. Phyllis and Matt enjoyed simple pleasures. Matt loved to play poka for pennies. His favorite was baseball with two and fours wild. He took a game of checkers very serious. The photo to the right is Matt playing a game of checkers with Grampa Whyte. Geneva is sitting at the table in the back.
Most evenings Phyllis would relax by knitting in her rocking chair while Matt listened to the radio. Matt smoked his own home-made cigarettes. He carefully filled little white papers with tobacco and then lick the sides to seal them.