Hello everyone, well I had composed a nice blog but it did not go through , so I will attempt another one. I received some free books at the genealogy center, and one of the books is very interesting. Inside the book it has a chapter on Culture in Acadia by Bernard V LeBlanc and Ronnie Gilles. They did a fabulous job. Anyway in the book there is a chapter that I enjoy.
In the springtime the Acadian women used to do their spring cleaning with home made soap ,white sand or ashes. They would wash down their walls, their wooden floors,and everything that had to be cleaned. They would then change the straw from their mattresses, and they would go down to the book to do their annual spring washing. They would wash their bedclothes, linen, underclothes and any dirty clothes from the previous year. They would also wash daily or weekly. This was also the opportunity to take their annual bath if they wanted to. It was not uncommon never to take a bath.
When the women did their daily washing for baby diapers and clothing , water had to be brought from a spring or well or stream. Some women had to travel quite far through the woods so they carried two pails suspened by a yoke on their shoulders.
My mother told me she remembers my grandmother taking a large branch that was quite strong and putting a pail on each end over her shoulders and go to the spring to get some water.
There is much more in this book that is interesting if you want to read it, go to your library see if they have the book Acadia of the Maritimes. I will give you another story another time.
Have a great day
Aline