The Voice of Victoria

04/07/2022

I think I have this right, but I am not certain.

When we were boys, we didn’t go anywhere without our pocket knife. Here is a game we played with a pocketknife. I think I
have the steps correct. Do you remember?
“‘Klunks’ is out!”
“So is ‘Forgets’!”
Many a game of “Knives” started this way. The best knife for this one was one with a cylindrical blade. This made for easy
sticking into the ground, which is the object of the game. Good balance was a must, too.
“Klunks” happened when you hit a rock trying to stick your knife into the ground and it bounced out. Tough, because Klunks is
out and you lost your turn. “Forgets” was when you forgot how far along you were when you missed, so you lost your turn if
someone remembered and you didn’t.
First you find a nice, flat, grassy area about a meter square. Two or more can play. It’s great fun solitaire, too. The object is to
be first to get through some 9 steps in succession. Should you get klunks or forgets or miss your shot, you lose your turn. At
your next turn, don’t forget to start where you left off or it’s forgets, and forgets is out.
Now, you begin. You continue your turn as long as you keep sticking your knife into the ground. As long as your blade tip is in
the ground such that you can slide your fingers between the knife and the ground, it is legal. If your fingers don’t fit, it’s not
stuck in, and you lose your turn. Here are the steps. They’re not as hard or as easy as they seem. All steps are done from
your knees. Sorry about the grass stains!
1. Dig ins. Hold your knife-handle between your four fingers and your thumb.. Three times you must dig the blade into the
ground. Do it thrice more with your other hand.
2. Flips. Hold the blade by the tip. Throw it so that it flips end over end and digs in. Do it again with your other hand.
3. Fists. Lay the knife on the palm side of a fist, blade on the thumb side. Throw the knife so it digs into the ground. Do it again
with the other hand.
4. Palms. Lay the knife on the palm of the hand, blade towards the fingertips. Flip the knife up so it comes down blade first to
dig into the ground. Do it again with the other hand.
5. Backs. Do the same thing as palms, except with the backs of your hands.
6. Knees. Kneel on one leg with the other knee up. Place the knife-tip on your knee, your index finger on the top of the handle,
your other index finger in front of the blade on your knee to trip the knife. Flip the knife
forward to dig in. Do it again with the other knee.
7. Elbows. Put one hand behind your head so that your elbow points forward. Place
the blade-tip on your elbow, your index finger on the top of the handle. Flip the knife
forward to dig in. Do it again with the other elbow.
8. Ears. Grasp your right ear with your left hand. Holding the blade-tip with your right
hand, bring your right hand under your left arm so that the knife is beside your left ear.
Flip the knife forward to dig in. You guessed it, do it again with your left hand.
9. Overhead. Turn around so you are facing away. Flip the knife over your head so it
digs in. You win.
Did I mention to be careful? Funny, but we all had pocketknives. I don’t remember any
accidents during a game of Knives, but I’m sure there must have been one or two.Too
bad children today aren’t trusted enough.

03/31/2022

This is the pics I took of the excess waters flowing over the spillway at BlueHill Pond and the gorge with water. The eels, I expect, came over the spillway into the gorge.

03/30/2022

A few years ago, after a severe rainstorm, I visited Blue Hill Dam. I noticed some puddles in the old river bed gorge below the dam. Apparently, water flowed over the dam into the gorge. After the water dried up those puddles remained. Upon closer look, I discovered groups of eels trapped in the puddles.

I told Harold Priddle about this. He went up and caught the eels. He carried them down by the Power House and he and his father released them into the brook. This is a pic of the two Harold’s, Jr. an Sr. Releasing the eels impressive isn’t it?

Harold Priddle Sr. and Jr. about to release eels back to the brook at the Powerhouse.

03/29/2022

I wrote this eight years ago. Still brings fond memories!

03/22/2022

Yet again, an oldie.

Besides cleaving junks of wood and making splits, other chores necessary to help the old kitchen stove do its duty were required. Loads of blasty boughs were brought home on our backs after a swim in the Big Rattles. Alders were often burned, as well. Both were good sources of quick heat for summer cooking. Alders and blasty boughs were held in the left hand, presented to the chopping block, and rendered stove length by the trusty axe swung in short chops by the right hand as the left kept shoving the bough or alder forward. This was a skill mastered by us boys at a fairly young age. Cleaving splits required a similar skill. The junk of wood was held in the left hand. The end of the junk rested on the chopping block. While still holding the other end, we would chop with the axe in our right hand, making some 8 or 10 splits from each junk.

Long, steady heat was provided by the junks of split wood augmented with a nice lump of coal. Coal was delivered in brin bags by Albert Layden or Ed French. On coal day bags of coal were brought to the little shed out back. Sometimes the coal was left in bags; more often the bags were emptied onto the floor of the shed. A dirty job it was, too. From there it was brought into the house in the coal bucket as needed.

Of course, the oven door handle always had a towel hanging on it The stove itself always had the kettle on it. Often, too, the teapot with steeping tea was there. The teapot held loose tea swirling in the boiled water. A strainer was held over the cup while tea was poured from the teapot. The strainer allowed the tea to pass through to the cup while the tea leaves stayed in the strainer. Mom was quite pleased when Red Rose Tea bags came on the scene and she didn’t need the strainer anymore. Red Rose offered little glass animal figurines in each pack. Mom had quite a collection of them. Also found atop the stove was the flat iron. The flat was kept hot and always at the ready. When Mom ironed clothes (the kitchen table was used before Mom eventually acquired an ironing board) she always had a jug of water handy to sprinkle on the item being pressed. I was quite young when Mom got her first ‘steam iron’..

Behind the stove were a few hooks or nails where coats and such were hung to keep warm and dry. As well, of course, every kitchen had a little clothes line at the ready. There was always something hanging from it. Near the stove, too, was the day bed. That little bed was so comfortable and cozy! Beside the stove was the coal bucket containing, besides coal, the poker, the special little coal shovel, and bits of discarded cardboard, paper, and burnable refuse acquired during the day. Many two-storey houses had a hole with a grate in the ceiling above the stove to allow heat upstairs.

Cleaning the surface of the stove was a weekly chore. The fire was let go out so Mom could polish it. For this, a sandpaper like sheet we called water paper was used. One-quarter of a sheet was held under a cloth and Mom would press with both hands to get the stovetop nice and clean and shiny. A good, efficient, clean stove was a thing of pride; but it required attention to produce.

03/21/2022

Another oldie

Chores: I think they were considered more a way of life than chores. First, of course was the morning fire. That was always Mom’s job, with Dad off to work all week. Winter or summer, the morning fire was essential because we depended upon the kitchen stove not only to cook but to heat the whole house. In winter Mom would get out of bed, wrap herself in a blanket, and get the fire going. Often, if the fire was banked the night before, there might be a spark or two left in the stove. If so, you could easily get a fire going with a piece of paper.

As I got older, one of my chores was to ‘clave splits’. I suppose the correct phrase is ‘cleave splints’, but I prefer clave splits. Sometimes we would buy a bundle of splits from Sandy Clarke. But, more often, I claved them myself. Everybody had a load of wood always at hand. The wood was sawed into stove size lengths. I used my axe to split the junk of wood into two or four pieces. I used to fill the wood box, always near the stove or in the porch, by carrying armfuls and dumping them into it, usually after school. Splits were made by cutting those junks into ten or twelve little sticks. Then I would take my pocket knife and make shavings. I would shave the split so it looked like a curly little broom.

The shavings were added to the burning paper to get the fire started; then splits were added and the fire was soon blazing. Junks of split wood were added as needed to keep the fire going. Now, Mom would crank the stove. She would insert the crank into a little hole below the fire and turn the grate to shake the ashes into a little pan underneath. Every morning I would empty this ash pan on the bank of the Big Brook.

Usually the water tank attached to the stove, and constantly kept full, held still warm water so we could use the face and hands pan to wash up in nice, warm water. By now, the kettle would be boiling and the house would be heating up. We children would be huddled on the daybed and ready for breakfast. We would start with a bowl of cereal or, more often, a bowl of porridge. As we ate, Mom would be toasting homemade bread over the damper. That bread, thick and toasted on one side, and dunked into a cup of tea, was some good.

Supplying water was my chore only when I was old enough. We had two galvanized buckets for this chore. I wasn’t too fussy about this one, though. Our well was actually Nan’s and was in the corner of her yard about 500 feet from us. I would lower a bucket by a rope into the well to draw water and empty it into the galvanized buckets. In winter, as we inevitably slopped water over the ground around the well house, ice would form until it was just about level with the well house. The well house was just a little box built above the well itself. It was, maybe, three or four feet square with a liftable door on top. Then, I would have to lie on my belly to draw water, with someone holding my feet so I wouldn’t slip into the well. Then we had to scull that water back home. We had to fill the water tank on the stove besides keeping drinking water handy.

03/21/2022

An oldie from way back

11/01/2021

Swansea, light of our lives!

10/30/2021

This is the rock above The Big Rattles. Anyone who knows this rock needs no explanation. Hope you enjoy my little tribute to it.

Initial Rock at Big Rattles, by Bob Clarke
Does this old rock speak to you of things you often used to do?
Does it whisper of your secrets and share its thoughts with you?
Though hidden now and scarcely seen
Does it remind you of where once you’d been?
Did you carve your mark upon its face and frolic there around its base?
Did you sit on it beside a friend and dream of going to some far off place?
Though hidden now and scarcely seen
Does it remind you of where once you’d been?
Did you swim in the refreshing bowl below this rock in days of old?
Did you sit in the water falls that cascade down in sheets of cold?
Though hidden now and scarcely seen
Does it remind you of where once you’d been?
Does this old rock tweak your will and call you back to that little hill?
Though you’ve moved on and aged a bit, does it whisper still?
Though hidden now and scarcely seen
Does it remind you of where once you’d been?
(Sweet memories lie in the simplest things; and oh the thoughts a little picture brings!)

10/29/2021

The kitchen stove was such a centre piece of our homes. It required major attention; provided sweet comfort; and sparkled with pride. This particular one was Aunt Dolly Stephenson’s and still functions. Isn’t it something?

Besides cleaving junks of wood and making splits, other chores necessary to help the old kitchen stove do its duty were required. Loads of blasty boughs were brought home on our backs after a swim in the Big Rattles. Alders were often burned, as well. Both were good sources of quick heat for summer cooking. Alders and blasty boughs were held in the left hand, presented to the chopping block, and rendered stove length by the trusty axe swung in short chops by the right hand as the left kept shoving the bough or alder forward. This was a skill mastered by us boys at a fairly young age. Cleaving splits required a similar skill. The junk of wood was held in the left hand. The end of the junk rested on the chopping block. While still holding the other end, we would chop with the axe in our right hand, making some 8 or 10 splits from each junk.

Long, steady heat was provided by the junks of split wood augmented with a nice lump of coal. Coal was delivered in brin bags by Albert Layden or Ed French. On coal day bags of coal were brought to the little shed out back. Sometimes the coal was left in bags; more often the bags were emptied onto the floor of the shed. A dirty job it was, too. From there it was brought into the house in the coal bucket as needed.

Of course, the oven door handle always had a towel hanging on it The stove itself always had the kettle on it. Often, too, the teapot with steeping tea was there. The teapot held loose tea swirling in the boiled water. A strainer was held over the cup while tea was poured from the teapot. The strainer allowed the tea to pass through to the cup while the tea leaves stayed in the strainer. Mom was quite pleased when Red Rose Tea bags came on the scene and she didn’t need the strainer anymore. Red Rose offered little glass animal figurines in each pack. Mom had quite a collection of them. Also found atop the stove was the flat iron. The flat was kept hot and always at the ready. When Mom ironed clothes (the kitchen table was used before Mom eventually acquired an ironing board) she always had a jug of water handy to sprinkle on the item being pressed. I was quite young when Mom got her first ‘steam iron’..

Behind the stove were a few hooks or nails where coats and such were hung to keep warm and dry. As well, of course, every kitchen had a little clothes line at the ready. There was always something hanging from it. Near the stove, too, was the day bed. That little bed was so comfortable and cozy! Beside the stove was the coal bucket containing, besides coal, the poker, the special little coal shovel, and bits of discarded cardboard, paper, and burnable refuse acquired during the day. Many two-storey houses had a hole with a grate in the ceiling above the stove to allow heat upstairs.

Cleaning the surface of the stove was a weekly chore. The fire was let go out so Mom could polish it. For this, a sandpaper like sheet we called water paper was used. One-quarter of a sheet was held under a cloth and Mom would press with both hands to get the stovetop nice and clean and shiny. A good, efficient, clean stove was a thing of pride; but it required attention to produce.

10/28/2021

Those were the days, indeed!