BIG FARM OPERATION - PERFECT HOUSE

BIG FARM OPERATION

I found a few dates of items we purchased over the years. We bought a new washing machine with gas motor in 1947 (remember, there was a baby coming…). Electricity (REA) came in 1949. My first electric appliance was an iron. No more gas fumes from that awful piece of junk – and yet, it was better than the “sad irons” that had to be heated on the cooking range. Young moderns have no idea how lucky they are to have permanent press garments. The good ol’ days were good, but I wouldn’t want to go back to no electricity.

Other things that REA brought to the farm were a milking machine in 1950, milk cooler in 1957 and bulk milk cooler in 1963. We had to have a place to install this latest cooler, so Eddie found a small building on a farm sale. He got it home some way and placed it on a cement foundation/floor and behold – a milk house. It didn’t have running water but it did have an old sink, another sale item. Water came later – one thing at a time. We carried water to the milk house to wash the equipment.

1978

1982

             

Our first grain combine was purchased in 1952 replacing the old tractor-pulled one-man drive binder. No more shocking! A new silo was put up in 1966. Good thing a farm sale produced a silo unloader which was supposed to be the end of pitching out silage for the cattle. All this is great – as long as everything works. Greater love hath no wife, who is scared of heights, and yet will climb up the silo ladder to bring her husband tools with which to repair the beast. Oh, yes, a feed bunk complete with feeding floor came next.

             

More big purchases: In 1975 it was a new John Deere tractor – wish I could remember the size; anyway, it didn’t suit the master because it was too small, so in 1978 a new, bigger John Deere tractor (4440) was unloaded on our yard. In 1977 a steel grain bin was erected and the next year a grain dryer. What a plunge! But, the farm was paid for by then (1970)… By then we had a better combine and in our big machine shed were three big farm trucks!

I guess we got tired of carrying water to the chickens, filling the stock tank, etc., so we had a water system installed in all the buildings. A new cistern was built next to the well and was kept full so there would be enough water for the animals. Rural water reached us in 1976. Now there was no need for the cistern anymore. The pump house stood empty and it fell into much disrepair. Oh well, it had served its purpose.

1982- About four months before the stroke

1982- About four months before the stroke

PERFECT HOUSE

In 1980 it was time for a bit more improving in the house. Some time earlier the old walk-in pantry, a long, narrow room between two bedrooms, was partitioned into a closet for our bedroom and a smaller one for the other bedroom as well as a small hallway going up to the remodeled attic. More cabinets were added to the kitchen and a glass front cabinet for “fancy dishes” was put on the opposite wall. This wall was opened to a half wall into the living room. Perfect!

              Eddie also built a shower stall in one corner of the basement. Cement blocks enclosed the three sides of the shower.

That left a large area of the basement for another bedroom. A neighbor helped with that project. The rest of the basement was used for – you guessed it – more storage!