Friday, November 02, 2007

Winter time for the Acadians was a cold season. The houses had no insulation and were built rough, since they had to make do with what they had. So when the north winds blew, a cold draft was felt as soon as our ancestors moved away from the stove or their fireplace. Everything in the house was frozen. In the morning the water in the Pails, the tea in the teapot, even the urine bucket was frozen. It is reported that many infants died during these cold winters. They had to sleep under lots of blankets or whatever they had to cover themselves, because in the morning there would snow on them. Heated bricks and irons used for ironing were placed at the foot of the bed to keep their feet warm.
Now I remember my mother telling me, that when we were small, we lived in a place called Highland View and we lived in an old log cabin, which was later condemned. Mom said she would bundle us all up, and make sure that our feet and hands were not bare, she made us sleep where the roof did not leak, and she said when my Dad and her would wake up in the morning there would be ice on their blankets. Apparently one night, I wiggled my foot out from under the cover and it turned all blue, Mom took me to the doctor and he punctured a hole in my heel to relieve the pressure. So I would believe that our ancestors spent some mighty cold nights huddled together.Mom said she even wore mittens on us some times.
I am reading in the book I received and sharing some of it with you,just in case you wonder where I am getting all this information.
Now I am reading that to light their house or room, our ancestors used light from the fireplace , Cod liver oil, and pork or beef rind could be used for lighting. Candles were made from mutton or beef tallow . Later on came Paraffin and oil lamps. Can you imagine going out to outhouse in back of their homes, pitch black and all they had were keresene lamps? I remember going to an old camp way back in the woods , to go there we had to go on a trolley ,over a thresle, and there were no lights outdoors and no roads to the camp. The owner of the camp had an outhouse in the back and let me tell you that when I went to the outhouse, my husband came with me , and stood by the door. We had a flashlight to guide us, and it was still scary. We should consider ourselves lucky these days, we have electricity, we have lights, we have phones, internet, cars ,our ancestors had no electricity, only lamps, no phones, they travelled by horse and wagon, or sleds,or by walking or by canoes. We have automatic washers and dryers, they had the streams, to wash their clothes, trees to hang them on. We have water right in our homes, our ancestors had to go to the nearest springs, or dig a well.
One thing for sure is that our ancestors worked very hard in their lifetime.
Thanks for the visit, do come again.
Have a nice day
Aline

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