When our pristine 160-acre property south of Calgary, Alberta, went on the auction block recently, the top bid came in below our expectations. Therefore, we won’t need to bid farewell to the farm any time soon. The memories that my siblings and I share of growing up there run deep. May I share some with you?
In the Beginning
on a piece of remote rolling land west of Okotoks,
Alberta, in 1918. Born and bred in England, they
purchased a half section with high hopes but lost
half of the land because they couldn’t pay the taxes.
105 years ago. It was their first attempt at farming on land
they owned. The rugged, isolated property was nothing
like farms in the Old Country or Argentina, where my
grandfather had worked on rural estates.
was no electricity, centrally heated homes, phones, mail
delivery or all-weather roads. Since water was scarce,
snow often had to be melted and heated in buckets
on the wood cookstove that warmed their tiny house.
The bathroom was outside around back. A horse and buggy
or sleigh were their only means of transportation.
Mom Lived There All Her Life
her family moved to their farm. Then she walked
a mile to Ballyhamage School. The family
periodically picked up their mail in DeWinton, 12
miles away, where they also bought supplies.
Those trips were exhausting, all-day expeditions.
dressmaker in Calgary, she and Dad made it their
forever home after they were married. They faced a
harsh, demanding life that required endurance and
courage.
Life on the Farm
Calgary was only 25 miles away, getting there was a serious trip
in a Model A. Mom always packed lunch, even when we went
to visit kin. Shirley and Bob were just little tykes then.
A John Deere D tractor powered the belt in the foreground
that kept the threshing machine teeth clacking. A team of
workhorses pulled the rack to gather the stooks of oats
or barley.
on a wooden wagon shows a doubletree for horse-harness
in the foreground. We continued to rely on horsepower
for many farm chores for a long time. The milk house and
chicken house are in the background in the 1950s.
‘pail-bunters.’ They were just my size. We milked their mothers,
separated the cream and fed the calves and pigs the skim milk.
Once a week, Dad made the trip to Calgary to deliver the cream,
the commodity that earned most of our livelihood.
litter except one, Bob stepped up to raise her. Jess thrived
under my brother’s care and finally outgrew being held in
his arms, but rushed to him when he called her.
event like Dad towing a granary was noteworthy. Never mind
that it might take a year to shoot an entire roll of 12 frames.
We took the film to Farrow’s Drugstore on 8th Avenue in
Calgary to be developed.
equipment on our farm was the stone boat. Old Dick
pulled many a load of kindling to start fires in the wood
stove on the flat wooden deck mounted on wooden
runners. The stone boat was also used when we picked
rocks off the cropland. I don’t think Old Dick enjoyed
that chore any more than we kids did.
made a path so my siblings could walk to Ballyhamage School.
With youngsters of his own, Roy understood what a thrill it
was for farm kids like us to climb up on the mammoth machine.
was cold, we still liked playing outdoors.
Art shows how we created our own
entertainment.
wrong, lived only a stone’s throw away from
us in a little house. We were constantly underfoot
and she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
told us she loved us; she didn’t have to. Everything Mom did,
she did out of love for us. The farm is her legacy to us.
What Would Grandfather Think?
of willows and poplars and
wandering creeks have changed
little in a century. Yet, if Grandfather
glimpsed the Calgary skyline
sprawled across the horizon to the
north, he would marvel. Our family’s
property is no longer isolated!
You Be the Judge
Come see nature at its best in photos taken on our farm that I’ve collected for a five-minute video entitled Down to Earth.
To watch the video again, click on the center play button.
Time to Move On
Over the years we made enough good memories at our family’s farm to last us a lifetime, but now we’ll have time to add a few more.
Scrolling down, you’ll see a number of comments that readers posted when they read that we planned to sell the farm. What wonderful, caring words!
* * *
Here are some of my favorite stories about growing up on the farm:
Reflecting my cherished Western Canada and Texas rural roots, I am irresistibly drawn to the stories of country people whose lives resonate with purpose, courage and hope. I invite you to read more about them at www.elainethomaswriter.com to see other stories I’ve saved.
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Prayers for you Elaine 🙏🏻 I know it will be so hard for you to say goodbye to this beautiful place. All of your pictures and words show the hard work and love that was always there.
Paula
I appreciate your kind words, Paula. When Mom passed away 20 years ago, she asked that sharing ownership of the land would never divide us and I’m proud to say it hasn’t.
A beautiful remembrance and tribute. 🥲
Thanks, Liz. I appreciate your comment.
Elaine, It must be bittersweet to put your family land up for auction. However, in this way, a new family can begin a legacy of their own, building on what your family began so long ago. Your wonderful stories, photos and video will serve to stir the precious memories always in your hearts. Hugs to you all!
Thanks, Deb, for your perspective. I must add that when I viewed the drone footage, I thought something was missing. That’s why I gathered photos from following cattle and wildlife trails through the property. The views and the wildflowers truly tell the rest of the story.
Excellent capture of your heritage.
Thanks, Gary. I’m glad this post holds meaning for you.
Thanks Elaine for sharing. What wonderful memories. I am very impressed w/ this & other past memories you have shared. Your presentations over years have made me proud of your family.
Thanks, Fred. We do have good memories of growing up even though life was far from easy. By telling my family’s stories, I feel like I am capturing a snapshot of a time and place that others, like you, can relate to. I hope you are recalling some pleasant thoughts about your family, too and growing up in the Rio Grande Valley.
Elaine, I read your blog this morning, and it feels so near to my heart. Your writing stirs my emotions. Thank you for what you do. Love & hugs to you my friend! ~Becky Weise, Weise Farms https://www.weisefarms.com/blog
Becky, so glad I’ve touched your heart this morning. I know how much life on the land means to you and your family. It’s a connection that’s hard to put into words, but I think those of us who share it have a special bond.
Elaine,
Oh my, the old “12 to a roll” photos of your family and the stories just warmed my heart. And the video of the beautiful flora and fauna of the Farm. 💕💕💕. It does break my heart for all your family to have to part with your homeland. Time marches on, and families are reaching out further. Carry all the wonderful memories in your heart forever. I know I do. Thank you for baring your soul to us.
Thanks, Marcy, for understanding how a piece of land can hold a special place in our hearts and bind a family together always.
Wonderful for you to share your story of your family’s farm. Life in those early days might not have been easy, but that was the way life was lived. Now life on the farms have been made a lot easier so when looking back 100 years, we see it as extremely hard living. How did they manage!! I know you will miss your farm. I feel very fortunate that our family still has all the farms that our grandparents developed. Wonderful memories. Hugs to you Elaine.
Thanks, Junette. Yes, a century ago life on a small farm whether it was in Texas or Canada was not easy. Our ancestors were tough. They made it through faith, back-breaking work and help from every member of their family and neighbors, too. We can take pride in what they accomplished! I’m so glad the farms of your grandparents are in good hands.
Wonderful photos, Elaine! It will be a sad day for your family in March. My thoughts and sympathy are with you.
Aren’t old photos a true joy? Every time I look at those old pictures, I notice something new. As always, thanks for your kind words.
Love the pictures of the farm and your family. Your grandmother reminded me of mine. Wonderful memories!
So glad your grandmother was like ours, Donna! Unconditional love was what Grannie represented. We were greatly blessed to have her in our lives until Alzheimers took her away from us.
There are so many lines in that story where I could input my grandparents, parents and siblings. So many of the things your parents and grandparents said, the daily tasks and tools simply replicate my experience. I found myself gleaning the fields by hand as I read. It was very enjoyable, yet sad.
David, so glad my narrative stirred good memories in your heart and mind. Time changes all things. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories. You come from strong folks and I’m sure you know they are very proud of you. The pictures and video are just amazing.
Your Mom was the glue that held the family together — so was mine!!
Thanks again.
Glad you enjoyed the photos and video, Maureen. I didn’t realize until mid-morning that I put on a sweatshirt this morning with a Canadian maple leaf and stylized flag on the front. It’s in honor of my heritage! I am so glad my comment about Mom resonated with you. We were so fortunate to have the example of wonderful mothers!
Oh, Elaine, it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to your family home. But I remember times you came home for a visit and managed to pack a little something to take back to your Texas home.
When the drone passed by the house it brought back memories to me of meeting your mom and dad, your mom’s garden and just the beauty of the area. Especially for a city girl seeing farm life for the first time!
You’ve got a lot of memories and photos of a century farm, so I hope we get to read many more stories in the future.
Yes, lots of good memories, Jan! I remember when you came out to meet Mom and Dad. They liked you right off and thought it was so interesting that you were from Quebec and French wasn’t your first language! They also appreciated your Scottish heritage since it is something we share. Yes, the farm is truly beautiful. You’re right about packing a little bit of the farm back to Texas on every visit. Wait a minute! That sounds like an idea for a future blog post!
Elaine I spent many hours riding thru your farm, checking Bob,s cows, . I used to ride my pony to school and most often joined the other Mcnab’s walking to Ballyhamage school. I was 6 years old and rode my pony 2.5 miles to school every day. It was the only way to get there as dirt roads and no old trucks
Hi Bonnie! I bet if someone dropped you at the bottom gate where our property met your grandparents’ land, you’d know exactly where you were even after all these years. Those old memories are sometimes sharper than what happened last week. Good memories, too!
Hopefully this will not stop you from coming back for your annual visit! I wondered if that two window home in the black and whites is that same red home at the start of your story? If so it has stood the test of time!
I was showing a colleague the photo I took in 2018 of finding Winston’s school records and the paper cutout from 1942 when he was a POW. Amazing that someone had the thought of adding a clipping to a grad from three years prior.
The two of you were both great storytellers for the area. Looking forward to the next one. Since I work at William Roper Hull’s legacy agency, I see the importance of the early settlers of Alberta like your grandparents and how they created the foundation for our province today.
John, thank you for your good wishes. I do hope to come ‘home’ this spring or summer. COVID put a kink in my plans for a couple of years running. The little house in the black and white photos is my grandmother’s cottage. If you follow the link to Rosebud Auction, you’ll see our farmhouse in the drone footage. The first little house that my grandparents’ built was used to build a garage. That generation never wasted anything! So glad you are sensing the legacy of early settlers viewed through your work. My best!
Oh Elaine! Thanks for sharing another wonderful story and memorable photos. Your post touched me deeply. Yes, it’s difficult to release your ancestral home and property into the care of others. Hopefully they will steward the property in the future, just as your family has done through the generations. It’s wonderful that sharing ownership of the property did not divide your family. That in itself tells the story of a strong, loving family. Your ancestors are smiling with pride. Hold on to those precious memories! Although challenging, we continue to hold on to several tracts of ancestral property and our century old Graf family farm. Sending hugs!
I appreciate your feedback, Darlene, because you know that selling our family’s property is not easy. Someone asked me what I would miss most about selling the farm and I replied that I will miss being in a partnership with my siblings. We are fortunate to be so close. We not only love each other, we like each other.
Well, I must have needed these tears. Thank you for sharing. Reminded me of Matthew 6:28b and 29
Consider well the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not toil, neither do they spin thread. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed like one of these. Beautiful video.
Thanks, Nona. This verse from Matthew reminds us that we may be caretakers of the earth for a time, it’s not ours. Perhaps the land will be developed in ways we can’t even guess, but for as long as our family owned it, it remained close to how God made it.
Oh Elaine, I remember so vividly sharing stories of “THE FARM” in class. I know that this has to be a bittersweet advent for you and your family. I loved looking at all the pictures and reading the story behind each one. I know that you have so many memories that will keep the family farm alive forever. HUGS from another farm just over the hill.
Thanks, Denise! Yes, we have no shortage of memories between us kids. I’m also hearing stories from neighbors whom we grew up with. Now how special is that? Hugs back from our hill to yours here in Fayette County!
Your memories, the photographs, the video, the music! Lovely, just lovely!
Thank you for sharing this about your farm and family! Forever in your heart.
Yes, forever in our hearts describes our family farm’s place in our hearts. I’m glad you enjoyed this tribute to it.
My heart goes out to you and your family on the upcoming sell of your 100 plus year old land and home. Your memories and pictures will ease the loss ….and your hearts will hold tight to times gone by but you will always ponder what if…. It took your whole family to work to take care of that land, animals and each other at that time….so… Hold tight to all those memories and know you and your family have made the best decision that works best for all….with that said I can still shed a tear for the loss of such a beautiful, precious, fun filled, hard time, beautiful piece of a family owned, treasured and improved homeland. Peace be with you, my friend.
Thank you for the ‘peace be with’ wish, Gesine. You understand where we are with this decision.
How bittersweet for you; I thank God for your gift of writing that allows you to process important times in your life and to share them with us.
My extended family sold my great grandparents’ farm in Troup TX in 1996. The two-story frame house had been built in 1924 and my grandmother and her seven siblings were raised there. I have a letter written by a friend of the family to my GGM when my GGF died in the ‘30s. In it he remembers what a joy it was to visit in their home because of the joy and love and laughter therein.
GGM died in the ‘60s, when she was well into her 80s. I was in high school at the time.
As a child growing up in east Texas, I spent many Sunday afternoons and all major holidays. My memories include sliding down the bannister, playing on stacks of hay in the barn (its two-toned shingled roof is a whole ‘nother story.), collecting eggs from the henhouse, “helping” to pull up the bucket of water drawn from the well on the back steps, and so much more.
I was fortunate to know all of my grandmother’s siblings, their spouses, their children and grandchildren. I met Uncle Charlie only once, as he seldom visited from California. But Uncle Robert, Uncle Dixie, Aunt Lois, Uncle Carl, Aunt Sue, and Uncle John were all beloved family to me during my formative years and beyond.
As you surely know, I’ve shared only the tip of the iceberg with you. How blessed we both have been.
Ann, we have, indeed, been blessed to have memories of such wonderful elder family members who helped shape our young lives. We are who we are because of them to a great degree, don’t you think? I’m so glad that my post took you on a pleasant trip down memory lane. Hearing your memories was a joy for me, too!
Elaine, I so related to your story about selling the home where you grew up. It is so very hard. And it is said, time changes everything.
We sold our place almost 18 years ago and it still pulls at my heart strings every time I drive by, but, we do have the memories.
Looking at some of the pictures you posted made me think about pictures I have of a long time ago. It seems a lifetime and I guess it was. My how things have changed.
As always, thank you for your wonderful stories.
I echo your thoughts on this decision being difficult but the beauty of having the memories. I also agree that our early lives do seem like they were a lifetime ago. Things have, indeed, changed. During my last summer trip back to the farm in Canada, I could hardly get my mind around seeing a herd of elk parade down the open treeline from the old well. I recall being quite upset because milk cows were supposed to be headed to the house down that trail – not elk. I was terribly disappointed because I didn’t dare go for a long walk on the land because of the herd of elk. In a contest of me against them, they’d easily win…
Dear Elaine,
Your grandparents, parents and you and your families will always cherish this beautiful video. Yes, those who have gone on are right here with us as we embrace change, and I know they love all that you have captured. The story of persistence, vision, mutual support and love is readily apparent and defines lives well lived. Although it is always difficult to let go, each of us hopefully knows when the time is at hand. I must say, you are blessed to be covered in these memories and to have been nourished and nurtured by your family and this beautiful land. Your siblings are most fortunate to have you to provide such a beautiful path to refer to on the journey ahead. With love, Sally
Sally, what lovely thoughts you have expressed. I, too, feel that our loved ones are with us even though we can’t see them. The memories are special, ours alone. I’m so glad we could share them via this blog post. Thank you for your kindness – always.
This is an absolutely beautiful piece, Elaine. At least these treasured memories will remain in your heart forever. I can well understand they will be bittersweet, too, the closer you and your siblings face that closing March date. I am praying for you. Lovingly,
Brenda Miles
So glad you enjoyed this post, Brenda. Life happens, doesn’t it? It’s how we deal with it that is the challenge. Hugs my friend!
What a beautiful piece of land. Thanks so much for sharing your memories. I wish I had more photographs from when my grandparents lived here on the farm.
Going to the country was always a weekend treat for this city girl. I wasn’t raised here, but I moved here as soon as I could! When I was a small child, I always told my family I was going to live on the farm when I grew up. No one put much stock in that, but as the song goes, “Don’t believe me? Just watch!”
You’re welcome, Liz. I can see you sitting in the back seat of a sedan headed to Fayette County thrilled to headed to the country. I’m so glad that that little girl stuck fast to her dream and made it her reality. There’s such satisfaction in being where you are supposed to be!
How fortunate to have all the photos that help tell the farm’s story. There’s something bittersweet about having to give up a place that has played a significant role in your family’s history.
Yes, you have pegged the emotions accurately. Thanks for your kind words.
Seeing these photos brought back so many memories, and the beautiful property it was. Remembering your dear mother, always having a meal for anyone who shows up, and also sending me home with things from the garden.
May the new owners treasure the property that has been infused by hard work and so much love, 🤗
I thought the sale of the farm would be meaningful to you because you spent so many happy hours there visiting Mom. She loved you like another daughter. Thanks for giving your time that made her life brighter!