My Employment days

I worked one winter for a former neighbour, the ones I mention before, Bob & Alma Banks. They had a family of 4 small children. Alma had to go to either Moose Jaw or Regina for a operation. I was with them for several months that winter. I made the meals also doing all the house work. Some of the children went to school. I made home made bread, it was with the older type of yeast, which was a block of yeast which was slower to rise than we have now. I had to start the bread the night before. The yeast was soaked in warm water. I would put a large amount of the flour into the large bread pan add the soaked yeast mixing it into the flour until I had a large ball of bread dough which was put in a large bowl to rise. This was covered with a cloth & left to rise over night. It was all wrap in a heavy blanket where it would rise until early morning. This was how it was done in the winter. But in the summer I would get up early in the morning to make bread. After the dough had risen I punched it down & I would let it rise again, I may punch it down several time before I put it in the loaf pans to rise in a warm place for a hour. I had to be sure the oven was hot enough before I put the bread into the oven to bake for an hour or until it was a golden brown. There was nothing better than to have fresh baked bread for the evening meal.

While I as was still working here. Alma was home from the hospital, her husband Bob wanted to burn off some stubble back of this grove of trees behind their house. He was using one horse with one section of harrows. He lit the fire in the harrows, a wind came up caused the fire to come towards the horse. This horse lept towards the bushs then the wind sent the fire into the horse. Alma & I went out to see what was happening. Bob finally got the horse out of the fire but it was so badly burned it had to be put down. The sight of this caused Alma to wake up in the morning unable to speak. I don't remember if she saw a Dr but she did get her speech back, this was tramatic event for all of us as this was one of their driving horses.