Village Squire, 1975-11, Page 12The female ate nothing for two days but made several trips to
the creek. The fever went away. The puppies nursed and grew
fat, there was plenty of milk for three.
Reynard was a model husband; he ranged through the
meadows and the swamps bringing home mice by the dozen,
rabbits and ground hogs. The young ground hogs were easy prey.
At exactly four weeks to the day from birth the first pup sidled
up to the den entrance, took a hasty look and retired. That place
up there was too big. However, next day he tried again and soon
every day all three were playing on the hillside.
Jimmy Parsons had come to stay with his gra idparents and to
go to the country school. In the city the past winter had been hard
for him. He had measles and then a succession of colds. He was
in need of country air and lots of grandmother's cooking.
It took a few days to get used to the food at Grandma's. There
was no crispy crunchy cereal for breakfast, they had oatmeal
porridge slow cooked overnight. It didn't taste too bad, sort of
chewy but the milk was funny.
"The milk tastes awful thick, Grandma."
"That's the cream in it. It's Jersey milk dear."
"What's a Jersey?"
"It's a breed of cow that gives rich milk."
At noon they had a heavy meal; instead of wieners they had
thick slices of fried ham. There was so much food that he got an
over stuffed feeling just looking at it.
But there were so many places to see and so many things to do
that he had to go at a run. It was amazing how the stuffed feeling
disappeared to be replaced by a cavernous emptiness.
it was then that the mysteries of Grandma's kitcnen became a
delight. At one end of the long, low room, sat the old wood
burning stove made of cast iron with all the curliques and fancy
patterns on it. On the oven door it said "Old Homestead,
Western Foundry, Wingham". The wood box was behind it and
Jimmy had to keep the box filled with split sticks of hardwood
from the wood shed.
In the oven of this squatting monster, Grandma conjured up all
sorts of miracles. Three sticks in the fire box working on some
flour and buttermilk and what not in the oven produced biscuits
like no biscuits J immy had ever tasted. Eaten hot with butter they
melted in the mouth.
There was a cast iron frying pan.
"That's an awtul big heavy pan, Grand,.ia, I never saw one like
it.
"You can't buy a pan like that Jim. Paddy Burns made that pan
for me when he worked in the foundry. He slipped the mould in
with a row of other moulds. The boss never knew the difference.
Paddy was a good friend. We used to dance a lot together at
Paramount Saturday nights."
"I remember that," sato Grandpa, "You had to hold him up
he'd be so drunk. It took six bottles of beer to get Paddy sobered
up on Monday morning so he could mould again."
"Well, anyway, it's a good frying pan."
In the pan Grandma made huge pancakes. She flipped them
with a lifter, the pan was too heavy to flip.
A big pancake with a puddle of maple syrup in the middle was
a feast. The syrup tasted different from what you got in the
supermarket; perhaps because Grandpa made it in big iron
kettles on an open fire. Twigs and leaves and other things got in
Grandpa's syrup. It could be called a vintage syrup because some
years it was better than others. Perhaps the snow was deeper in a
particular spring or maybe more tasty twigs fell into the sap but
the standard was always high because Grandpa boiled the sap
down real thick.
Tup;dav was bread day. The yeast was made in a crock the
10, VILLAGE SQUIRE/NOVEMBER 1975
JUST ARRIVED!
Collection
of Co-ordinated
Autumn Sportswear
100 PERCENT POLYESTER TWEED
Carib Blue, Mosstone, Fall Wing
Pant - $15.98
Skirt - $17.98
Long Skirt - $23.98
Jacket - $33.98
Collared Vest $27.98
Shirts - $14.98
Sweaters - $12.98
SIZES 8 TO 20
aN
cliaje/r's
LADIES WEAR LIMITED
ON THE SQUARE GODERICH