Uncategorized

Lion’s Fall Fair

It’s not quite fall yet, but school has started and the nights have started to cool off (thankfully, need it for sleeping!) so it’s getting closer. Back before I moved away, and quite possibly still, the Random Lion’s Club used to put off a fall fair as a fundraiser, and for that matter a fun raiser!

Its amazing how time flies by, and I can’t even remember much about it now, but I do remember there being games of chance (crown and anchor anybody?), food (fish n brewis I think? Moose burgers maybe?) and the highlight (for some anyway, young boys/men included) a queen of the fair competition.  I can still see Warren Brooking, Bert Crummey, Allison Bugden, and many others I’ve not seen (and in some cases won’t again) in years.

I am pretty sure there was also a vegetable show and sale, perhaps with prizes? I don’t rightly remember, but I do remember seeing some nice Newfoundland Blue potatoes (mail me some!), and of course carrots, turnips, cabbages etc.

But most of all, it was a social event, a “time” if you will, a time for everyone, young and old to get together and shoot the breeze, have fun, and celebrate.

Anyone have memories to share?

September 14, 2014 by Uncategorized 4

Brush that Stout off your Back! And Mind the Hornets!

Berries

Its that time of year, or it was when I was younger anyway, berry pickin time!

Really I guess there are multiple berry picking times, we go for Bakeapples in July usually, and Partridgeberries in September or even October, but when you mention berries to me, the first that come to mind are Raspberries and Blueberries, probably because they were so plentiful so close to home.

We’d sometimes go as a family, but often as not, I would go alone, or me and Eric would go off somewhere. We didn’t have to look very far usually. I loved picking blueberries, not sure why them since there was more bending over, but I did. There was a patch just to the right of the old road leading from the old school garden in Apsey Brook, and there was no trouble to pick a gallon or more there in a short time, some as big as marbles.

Whats odd to me, is that I never really cared for raw blueberries, I find the kinda tasteless, but still loved picking them. But once they were home and in a blueberry pudding, well then, yum!

Raspberries on the other hand, I loved raw, but disliked picking. There were a couple of reasons for that I guess. One, they were hard to pick clean (ie: with no leaves and all good berries) mainly because they ripened fast and spoiled fast and you’d always have some ones with spots on them. Another reason was there were always stouts around. Anyone from Newfoundland knows what a stout is, annoying as hell, always pitching on your back, bites as hard as hell when they do, and nearly impossible to swat. They have a black bar across their wings, and apparently are properly known as deer flies.

And lastly another reason I hated picking them was because a lot of the bushes grew amongst old dead falls back home, or at least the easily accessible ones, and there was always a hornets nest somewhere around. Even if you didn’t step in a nest, you were likely to get a sting from a hornet somewhere along the line. nasty bastards, they are mean, and like to sting just for pleasure I think.

The thought of stouts and hornets always reminds me of Lloyd Colbourne and Newfoundland Outdoors. There was an episode where I can remember now Lloyd saying “Brush that stout off your back there Bryce!”

August 16, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

The Afterglow

Maybe I heard it somewhere else, or maybe I can attribute it to me, but the recurring thought I’ve had since yesterday is: Some people are a candle, a flame burning brightly. I am not one of those, but I hope that the light illuminates me, and I gain something in the afterglow.

Many people have come and gone since the advent of social media, may celebrities, sports stars, and ordinary people have lost to their demons or just the normal part of life that is the ending, yet, for me at least, I’ve never seen an outpouring of sustained sadness from everyone, without dissent, that I’ve seen for Robin Williams since yesterday (and dissenters need not show up here and now).

I’m no celebrity expert, heck I’d not know most of them if the bit my ankles (which I’ve heard they are inclined to do). But Robin Williams was special, he had a gift, a gift to lift us, to make us smile, no matter how we felt. I don’t know anyone who didn’t find at least some of his material hysterical, and his ability to improvise was amazing.

Its unfortunate them that he had no soul that could lift him. We’ve all had our Robin’s in our lives, those whose demons became too much.  We are learning more about them every day. Support often seems hard to find, but it’s there, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places.

For what its worth, I’m here, for whoever.  I don’t have answers, I don’t have solutions, but maybe, just maybe, we can share a laugh, or a cry.

Rest in Peace all you flames, and those who you’ve illuminated.

August 12, 2014 by Uncategorized 4

Paths
Granny Walter's Hill, Old Road to Petley.

Granny Walter’s Hill, Old Road to Petley.

Apsey Brook, and even Random Island aren’t/weren’t highly populated places, but we seemed to have an abundance of paths around. It always amazed me how long they lasted, with not a ton of traffic to keep them without becoming grown over and disappearing in the brush.

I’m sure that likely has happened more so back in Apsey Brook in recent years because there are even less people now than was once the case.

But still, memories return of paths.  So many of them.  There was one from the old road down by the old bridge and Uncle Luther’s mill all the way to Uncle Hay’s, and yes even further though less plain all the way down to Colin’s house across the old garden.

There was one around Ross’s fence the sheep used to take to get down to the beach area up to the old school garden area.  There was one from Sam’s meeting the old road, and of course the old road itself that ran from over by Edgar Martin’s all the way to Petley! And of course off shoots everywhere, to get to all the ponds and berry patches along the way.

One from McGrath’s Cove to Friggin’s Cove Rattle, and likely beyond.  Paths to the steadies and to the barrens where Dad would tail slips for rabbits.

I’m sure each community had the same, as over the fields and through the stands of trees, and over the bog holes we’d make our way.

Just another memory of home, and the freedom we had, and something that stays with me over time as I think about how they formed, and how they remain.

July 9, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

Randall’s Store

When I was a boy, Bax and Eli Randall had a store on the road in around the harbour in Shoal Harbour.  I even remember an old gas pump outside saying something like 35 cents a gallon, though it wasn’t operational that I can recall.

The store had pretty much everything, building supplies (who didn’t have panel board on their living room walls from Randall’s at some point?), groceries, appliances, and many other things, plus, lots and lots of dust! Dad used to say though that Bax and Eli would rather spend hours talking about chain saws and chain saw parts than they would sell a fridge or stove!  I remember going there with Dad for plugs and feeler gauges and the like for the old pioneer,and they’d pull out the parts and talk about them and show them off.  There was rarely a light on, or if so, very few, always so dark and dingy.  Fussels cream and Carnation milk on the shelf covered in dust.  It was…. heaven!

I always heard stories about the Randall’s being “frugal” as well, no idea how much truth there was to any of them, but my favorite had to be the story about Bax bought 2 cars in St. John’s, and rather than paying someone to drive the 2nd home, he’d drive one a mile past the other and walk back and do the same over and over till he got them home!

I can still see the store now in my minds eye, not far from the old bridge as well with the double concrete loopy sides.  If I remember correctly it was so narrow you used to only be able to have one car on it at a time, but that’s fuzzy now.

Fun memories!

June 17, 2014 by Uncategorized 2

In a Stew

A lot of memories of growing up seem to have food in them.  I guess because most of our socializing was done over a cup of tea, or a meal, or even a community supper.  We used to say that we had to eat in shifts because the table wasn’t big enough for everyone to gather round at once, was nothing at my place to have 8 or 10 around at meal time.

Nowadays when anyone says stew, you usually think of beef in the slow cooker with a thick broth and big chunks of vegetables.  But growing up, when we had stew, it was usually stewed fish, or stewed salmon or stewed beans.

Here in Nova Scotia if I mention stewed beans to people they have no clue what I am talking about, all they know are baked beans. I never cared for baked beans, but stewed beans, YUM!

The picture on the left comes from a Newfoundland Recipes site (click it to go there), but isnt quite like what I was used to.  Similarly it was white naval beans, soaked for a while, and also an onion, but we’d use salt beef instead of salt pork.  When cooked up so the beans were soft yet firm and holding their shape it was delicious, even more so with a bit of ketchup.

Then there is stewed cod and stewed salmon, both are the same recipe, just replace the fish.  The recipe I linked to here has carrot and uses broth, but what I had growing up just had potato, water, fish and onion.  And of course substituting salt beef for salt pork. I don’t think we precooked the cod or onions either like the recipe says, but I’m sure either way is delicious.

Simple meals, but a taste of home and of growing up, and something I still like to have today.

June 7, 2014 by Uncategorized 1

Mothers in Changing times

Its Mother’s Day, and once again we give thanks to those wonderful Mom’s who were mom to many, nurtured kids of many families and kept them all fed and clothed.  We all had extended mothers in those days, and no one thought twice about chastising someone else’s child as they would their own, nor would us kids back talk, or fail to obey (well most of us and most times anyway).

We grew up in a simpler time though, and things have changed, some for the better, some for the worse.  When I was a boy, it was nothing for me to take off in the woods and be gone for hours, perhaps walking as far as Friggin’s Cove pond on my own, or to go to McGrath’s Cove or on the beach and wharf for hours on end, out of sight and earshot of everyone.  Or to get off the bus in Elliott’s Cove or Snook’s Harbour and only let anyone know when I showed up with Dad later on.  But in those days everyone who saw us was “minding” us, Aunt Vick looked out to me when I was there as much as mom did, and was just as likely to pull my ear or tell me off for whatever reason.

Nowadays, at least living in the city, those days are gone, I’d not think of letting my niece out of site like that, barely for a minute, let alone the whole day.  I know Random Island is still small, but the modern world has crept in there as well, and I doubt many would let their kids be off like that nowadays either.

There is no right or wrong here, things change, and in some ways I’m glad, but in some ways I do miss the carefree days we had, and wonder if kids today have lost something special with it in the name of the safety we feel we have to provide with all the people who now try to take advantage.

Our mothers didn’t love us any less, just the needs and times have changed.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who give so much to us who don’t realize how much it is till much later.

May 11, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

The roads that weren’t

Likely few know or remember it now, but back in the late 60s or early 70s, Random Island nearly had 2 more roads.  Some may still remember near the Apsey Brook cemetery they had even cut a “line” going through the woods, passing near Island Pond (not whats labeled Island Pond on the map, that’s Fox pond),  curving round it, and passing between the two ponds of Double Pond to meet up with the road to Bluff Head Cove Pond.

I really don’t know the real reason for this planned road, rumors had it it was mainly as a convenience for the ministers, but not sure how much influence who had on whom to get it started. It would have been nice for all of course, to be able to more conveniently connect to Petley, Britannia, etc, but unfortunately, it never came to pass.

I’ve added this map with the route highlighted, you can still make it out on the map.  Link to unhighlighted version below.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.1517425,-53.82556,2220m/data=!3m1!1e3

If memory serves correctly, there was another “line” cut from Lower Lance Cove to Deer Harbour before resettlement quashed that.  I seem to recall it even being started and being able to see the road going up over the hills, though my memory may be manufacturing that.  Others can correct or confirm!  But if you use the link here, https://www.google.ca/maps/@48.1375084,-53.6848017,2386m/data=!3m1!1e3 and scroll around, you can see google even highlights the “road” that wasn’t to Deer Harbour.

I’ve never made it down there, nor to any of the other abandoned communities out the end of the island, something I hope to correct someday, but it’s very disappointing to me that this road in particular was never completed.

So much work, gone for naught, communities that may have prospered, abandoned.  More money spent on resettlement than a road would likely have cost, especially since it had already been started.

April 7, 2014 by Uncategorized 1

Tastes of Old

Nowadays we have foods we never heard of (and likely would have been wary to taste) when we were young kids.  I mean in the early 70’s who had heard of butter chicken? Or Shrimp Pad Thai? We get foods and flavours from all over the world now, and we are better for it of course.

But there are some meals we don’t have, or at least I don’t, anymore. Or if we do its very rare.  That in some cases may be for the best, but I’m sure I’m not alone in remembering eating catsup (and yes it used to be spelled that way on some bottles at least) sandwiches.

Another favorite of mine was franco-american spaghetti (not Heinz, that was like crap, and not spaghetti-o’s, the sauce tasted different, yes I was picky).  But not just from the bowl, what was even better was to pour the hot spaghetti on a slice of toast!

I also loved, and still do, meatballs and gravy, tho I hate gravy (I told you I was odd).  I really can’t say the gravy from those tastes anything like gravy though.

I also used to love hazelnut spread on toast (nutella? not sure that was the brand back then), but my sister has a nut allergy and not sure I’ve had that since I was about 10! I should try some someday, tho the memory is probably better.

We also used to use the pressure cooker a fair bit back then, and I’ve not seen one of those used in years.  And before the days of the home coffee maker, we had the coffee percolator on the stove.  That stuff was tasty!

I can remember now the old folks asking if you’d have a cup of tea in your hand, and proceeding to pour their tea into their saucer and drink from that.  And of course a cup of tea meant more than tea, there was cake, cookies, and a dish of jam, often eaten with a spoon rather than on bread.

Ah memories!

April 2, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

Education Week

When we were kids in school back on Random Island, there was no March break (and maybe there still isn’t, no idea).  We did have some time off at Easter, but the big week I remember most was Education week.  We’d try to earn points for our classes with themed days, dress up, participation, best decorated chalk board (I really think Karen’s or more specifically, Karen, class nearly always won that, no wonder she became a designer!). We’d have read alert (at least I think thats what it was called) where when the bell rang 3 times we’d have to stop whatever we were doing and read for 10 minutes, and the grand daddy event of them all, the talent show.

This was always a huge blast, I remember in grade 6 I think it was, in our class all the boys in our class dressed as girls and vice versa, and went on stage singing what shall we do with the drunken sailor, carrying flasks filled with water and vanilla to simulate whiskey.  Maybe I’ve got two years combined together, I don’t know anymore. Then there was the year we lip synced the Rolling Stone’s Emotional Rescue.

It may not have been education week, but some other event (and I know there’s a picture in a yearbook somewhere that’ll I’ll try to find), but at one point our class, or group of some sort put off a skit where I was the narrator, sitting on a high stool on the left of the stage.  I remember parents were there, but not exactly much more, except… except… that at one point I lost my balance and went tumbling off the stool, off the stage, onto the gym floor.  Now at this point I was a little bit smaller than I am now, and I remember mom was there and thought I was killed.  But nope, i got up walked up the steps picked up the stool and sat back down to keep narrating.

Probably too stunned to know the difference I say!

 

March 26, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

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