Category Archives: work

A surprise during a farm haying day

HOT and DRY! These were the words for the summer of 1988. But one day, while working at baling hay a surprise came from the sky that brightened our day.

Listen and find out what stopped farm work.

Some days you just work but there are times when farm work takes a back seat to a surprise visitor. Even Bob thought it a good idea to stop work and greet our visitor.

Hoping a good surprise comes your way today.

Copyright © 2021 Susan Manzke, all rights reserved.

The spring cleaning bug

Most springs the spring cleaning bug doesn’t bite me, at least not right away. This year was different. In 1988, I went wild.

Hear how spring sprung on me in this long distant column.

This year, I’m outside picking up sticks and pinecones. Better to be out when the sun is shining.

Actually, housework is never high on my to-do list, unless company is coming.

Copyright © 2021 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Bob’s past winter work

Without a heated machine shed, farm projects waited for spring and warm weather. That meant winter was a time for things needing doing inside the house.

The list was long and we knew that everything wouldn’t get done. So the most pressing was attacked. This is about the one project Bob tackled.

If we were lucky the house project would be finished before spring or it wait until another winter came our way. This time the bathroom work was finished in time.

Copyright © 2021 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Bob could never relax

It was January, Bob had no farm work and he was on vacation from the canning company. Of course, he couldn’t sit still. There had to be a project that needed doing. Housework didn’t count.

He found a window that needed fixing. I was drafted to drive tractor and … Well you’ll have to listen and find out what Bob had me doing.

Lifting Bob in a tractor bucket wasn’t fun, but somehow he found chores that needed me driving and raising him up.

I always held my breath doing this kind of work with Bob. I also had my fingers crossed.

Copyright © 2021 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserve

A snowsuit dilemma

Snowsuits were handed down as our children grew. In this account from 1988 I tell about snowsuits that almost didn’t make it through to spring.

The expense of a new snowsuit wouldn’t have fit our budget, even if one could found for sale.

The eighties gave us many problems. Money was tight. I always say we hung onto our farm by the skin of our teeth. Sadly some of our friends lost farms.

We did our best, even patching a disintegrating snowsuit helped save money.

Copyright © 2021 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserve