More early memories.

I will try to add a few more memories today.
We lived on a small half section farm in southern Sask 7 miles from Kincaid, with just a horse & buggy for transportation. My brother Cliff & I were 15 months apart so were very close & did many things together. We once got up early & went down to the well where our drinking water was drawn up with a rope & bucket. We had lifted the well lid & were looking in it when my mother found us, so were inform never to go there again as we could fall in. Another time my parents were clearing the stubble field with a horse pulling a harrow section with fire to burn the straw, but we kids sneaked out to watch,so had to be informed of the danger of fire. Cliff & I just did everything together but when our sister Clara was born things changed. I remember we had a very bad hail storm. My dad had Cliff & I holding pillows up against the windows panes to keep them from breaking. Mother was laying on the bed weeping she wasn't the crying kind but the next morning she was gone & a neighbor lady was there & took us to stay with Grandma Cross. We were told we had a sister, who arrived early at the nursing home( where mothers went to to birth their baby) in Kincaid. It was a hard year for my parents, with their crops gone. Mother parents Ben & Bessie Phillips sent money for us to go by train to spend the winter in Illinois USA. I remember a little of the time with relatives there, we visited some of both my parents families .We had Christmas with our first real tree, which aunt Clara decorated with lit candles & home made decorations .Aunt Clara never married but retired early from teaching school to care for her parents until they passed away. We have a snap shot of Cliff with grandpa Phillips with several cottontail rabbits they had shot for a meal. Grandma & aunt Clara had dress, cleaned & fried up with butter for supper.

I remember when Cliff & I got in trouble with Cliff getting into Dad shaving case. It was a called a straight razor, very sharp blade, & he was using it on a chair rung to chip wood off, maybe it was his first carving experience. We both got a talking to on the danger cutting ourselves & it was the lose of dad razor. My parents didn't correct us without explaining the danger this was to our safety.

I recall another time we both were instructed on why we should never try to scare our sister. Our parents came late from somewhere. It was getting dark & it was near Halloween. I believe it was Cliff's idea but I agreed that we would put sheets over our heads & come in from outside & scare Clara, but out parents arrived in time to stop us . My dad told us that his brothers scared him so badly he fainted one time & it took years for him to lose his fear of the dark. I don't remember of any spankings for our foolish deeds but I still remember that we were making bad decisions.

Cliff & I didn't always like to have our sister to tag along with us everywhere, This time we had a plan, we felt our sister was a mama's baby & she didn't like to be bossed by her older sibling's, so she would show her Independence by doing the opposite she thought we wanted her to do. We didn't want her to come in where we were playing so, I believe it was Cliff said to me tell her to come & play with us but she had her own idea so she said,mother said NO. Our mother caught on to our trick, We got a private talk with mother, letting us know that what we are doing was wrong. Mother said " I know Clara is a bit stubborn but you two are causing her to develop this nature." I have never forgotten that advice!