Friday, April 22, 2011

April 22, 1963 The Frances Hubbard Diaries

April 22, 1963
Monday, Mostly sunny clear and very cool in am 25 - 45 in pm.  I painted the living and dining rooms.  Kids went back to school.  Clifton sharpened the fence stakes and cleaned some (not fences stakes) in the barn.  David home from work 1 hr early.  Clifton and Doug went to Bartholomews in pm and bought 2 calves.
Comment:  Lots of work going on.  Dad must be cutting fence stakes to sell them, sounds like he only had a couple of days work in Poughkeepsie.  We used to cut smaller logs then,  using a mall and wedge, split them into sections then sharpen the end with an ax.  Lots of work...here is a picture of how they used to look after laying around for a season or so...."fixing fence" was a constant chore through out the spring and summer as we put the dairy cows out to pasture.  We'd load a wagon with fence stakes, barbed wire, hammers and fence staples then drive the tractor as close to the fence as possible and re-connect wire and straighten or replace posts as needed.  Many days were spent thusly..it was strangely satisfying and  challenging as we tried to figure out how to best mend the fence with the least materials and effort.

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You're always young in your mind it is said, No matter the face in the mirror, That you see with surprise then say to yourself, "What is that old man doing here?"