The Diary

I was at a barn sale this past weekend and bought an old diary for 25 cents.

I'm always facinated by how other people live and, although this diary isn't that old (from the 1970's), the author is a Mennonite woman and because of their lifestyle, you would think that it was the 1870's!

From what I can gather, she is in her 50's, has 3 children, lives on a farm, likes to quilt, and makes tons of butter!

Here are some of my favorite excerpts...

"April 17, 1978 27 above zero, I milked the cow, the hiathius (?), mountain pinks, and violets are blooming. The cats have a cold. Dad dug garden, the hens had a nest behind the curtain. Big eggs. I ironed. I must chase sparrows, I can't shoot."


"May 1, 1978 A clear day, want to sow cow peas. Frost. Wash dried good. I ironed nothing, planted cow peas and took milk over to Viola."

"Aug. 7, 1977 I milked the cow at the wood pile with a rope and no chair."


"Sept. 9, 1977 A nice day. I am canning apple sauce, have 8 qts. done. I picked the kidney beans. We had lettuce out of the garden. Good sleeping weather. We are picking peaches at the chicken house - it is full."

"Sept. 18, 1978 It is a quiet morning. I crossed the road before 4:30am - the moon was so bright I could see. Tomato for breakfast."


"Sept. 19, 1978 A good rain. I want to pick tomatoes, beans, and can peaches. Joe Hoover is still in hospital. I want to stop eating so much."

"Sept. 21, 1978 I want to take peaches to Susie Moor. I am afraid of the dog. Ada could not eat her egg. A nice morning. Liz took the butter to Eby."

"Oct. 2, 1978 The stars are shining. I have to pick up the walnuts. I fetched the cow last night when dad was sleeping. I picked up apples and made pumpkin and ground cherry pies."

Whew! It's exhausting just reading about how hard this woman worked!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On another note, here is the state of our little room that we are renovating. Demo is complete and hubs is working on installing insulation and plywood today.

And I'm just trying not to let the extra dirt and dust that is floating around my house drive me nuts! It'll be worth it, right? Ugh.

I'm so anxious to see what it'll look like when it's done! Yay for handy husbands!!