Late October 1949

October 22: I left the San and started for home on the bike but there was such a strong wind I walked nearly all the way. I found Dad at Jack Goff's. Also Hobetzeder. I bought bread , butter and chocolate bars and then headed for the farm, When I got there Uncle Arthur had just finished his dinner. I went up to Silver Birches and gave Joy Dick's camera. Then went down to the gravel pit and threw out 1000 shovels of gravel. Roy fixing the fence at the diversion , It was broken down.

Jack Goff as seen in the late 1930s.

Today In Bill's History

On his day off from working at the Fort San Bill Nevard walks the approximate 20 miles back to his farm home.
October 16, 1948
A miserable day. I walked most of the way home but Henry Meyer's two daughters overtook me with a car and gave me a lift for 3 miles. I had dinner with Uncle Arthur and afterwards went on up to Silver Birches where I saw Aunt Alice , Roy, Joy and Donald. Bud has gone to Calgary with little Eric. I collected a bag of stuff then headed back South. I had to walk all the way to Lipton getting there just in time to catch the bus. My first bus ride.
Oct. 17: Sunday. Got my first beets ready this morning. A messy job with beet juice all over the floor of the vegetable room making it look  like a slaughter house. At night Dick and walked down to the Fort to an Anglican service. Bill Levey gave us a lift in his car. It was a nice moonlight night.

Lipton main street in the late 1940s.

First Sunday At The San

October 3rd , 1948 marked Bill Nevard's first Sunday spent at the T.B. San. Here is what he had to say about it.
My first Sunday at the San but I worked just the same as Saturday will be my day off from now on.
It was also my first day alone in the vegetable room but I didn't find it too hard and was all through by 2:30 pm. Mr. Poy, the Chinese cook from 31 came in and told me they won't need any spuds on Monday. After supper I climbed the highest hill to the North and West of the San and got a good view of the district. After getting my ear fixed up I went back to my lodgings and washed my head.
The next Saturday.......

October 9: My day off and after breakfast I started out walking to Lipton. I walked about half way and rode the rest being picked up by John Hepting. A cold wind blowing. Dad and Uncle Horrie were doing Jack Goff's chimney. The three of us had dinner at the cafe. Roy came to Lipton on his bike. I picked up some rides on the  way back but walked most of the way and was too late for supper. A big road gang went through Lipton from the East. 8 big diesels with road graders , cabooses and other stuff. 

The Basement 13 Acres

How the term came to be.
The basement 13 acres. Its a term that shows up sometimes in Bill Nevard's journals. It was a means of describing and identifying one of the fields on the farm.
Obviously it was a field of 13 acres in size. The basement part refers to a basement that had been built some years previous on the edge of the field. It was on the east side of the
yard not far from the house they lived in. There is no mention of the construction in the journals so it must have been built some time previous to the 1930s. It represented
the plans and hopes they had of building a bigger and better house to replace the original homesteaders log house first built in 1903 when they came here. It is likely
that the dry years and poor crops of the 1930s put those plans for a better house on hold indefinitely. They never did build on the basement . It remains today, overgrown by the poplars as nature takes back it's own.

First Year At The San

September 30, 1949:
Today I completed my first year at the San and after finishing my day's work I started for home on the bike. Got to Lipton about 5:30 and found Jack Goff at supper. I bought bread and chocolate bars at Jampolsky's, then headed North. It was getting dark before I was half way home and I walked most of the way. I found Uncle Arthur at home. Had supper and went to bed.

October 1: The morning after breakfast I walked  up to Silver Birches and found them all well. Threshing and combining have been completed and dad's wheat went about 700 bushels, oats 400, and barley 120. Nine horses have been sold. Spark, Violet, Frank, Jubilee, Betty, Blaze, King, Beauty and May. We now have only Gleam, Embers and Castle. Arthur Lutz has Cloud and wants to buy him. I stayed at Silver Birches to dinner and then went back home. There is water in the big slough and also in our dugout. Donald has done quite a bit of disking but he had to take the new tractor down to Lipton yesterday to get the gears fixed.
I left home about 2:30 p:m and started back for the San. Arriving in Lipton I had supper with Jack Goff and waited a while in case Dad should turn up but he didn't. It was dark when I left Lipton and walked most of the way back to the San but picked up a ride for a little way with Dielson who got his arm scalded last week in the pig's mash. It rained a bit on the way back but not enough to wet me.

Letter From Grove Farm

A letter written by my grandmother, Alice Hall, at Saxmudham, Suffolk, to my grandfather, Horace Nevard in Canada.
                                                                                                                      Feb. 5, 1916
My Dear Horace
I was so pleased to receive your letter today as it did seem such a terrible long while since I heard from you. I was afraid you were ill again with shingles or something so I was very pleased to hear you were quite well. I expect the mails get delayed as it was more than three weeks from the time you posted it before it got to Saxmundham.
There have been three more Zeppelin raids over England lately. Last Monday night there were six Zeppelins over and there were 54 people killed and 63 injured. I don't think they were very near here but I heard the explosions of a bomb once only it was a long way off. I expect it was over Norwich as they went there. I wonder when this dreadful war will be over?
I think I told you we had a letter from Herbert before Christmas and we have had a postcard from him since Christmas and he was quite well and still in France.
I expect you have heard from Emily about your grandmother's death. She died on Jan. 8th. I have not seen Louie since then as I have not been to Sternfield but Dick told us about it.
I hope you are all quite well and also little Dick. He will soon be a year old won't he?Does he look anything like Ernie, his brother , did at that age? I think Mary said he has blue eyes and fair hair.
So now my dearest Horrie I don't think I have anymore news this time so I will close my letter as it is bedtime past nine o'clock. With love to all and my best , truest and fondest love to you my dearest Horrie.
I remain your ever-loving Alice . xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lilacs At The Poplars

http://mindlessramblings-rlg.blogspot.ca/2014/06/lilac-time.html
After this latest blog post at "Mindless Ramblings" I thought maybe it was more appropriate to show it here in the Nevardblog since it makes reference to Ernest and Mary Nevard's homestead at The Poplars.