Barn Building

In the fall of 1947 Bill was putting the finishing touches to the new cement block barn.
November 18: Bud came down this morning and threaded a number of bolts to put through the hinges of the doors. Dad and I put some tin on the roof above the hip on the West side. After dinner Bud and I finished boarding it in.

November 19: Bud came down this morning and we pulled all the tin off the roof off the little stable. We were going to finish roofing the barn but it was snowing and quite miserable so Bud went home after helping us move the calf into the new barn. Dad has the doors at each end fixed up now and in the evening we got Raspberry and April Showers into the new barn and they spent their first night there.
November 20: Bud came this morning and we finished tinning the roof. A little awkward but not too bad. Bud had a rope over top of the barn and tied to his waist. He was on the slope and I was on the ridge. Dad busy with the doors.

The barn in 2014. 

A letter from Arthur Nevard to his brother, Horace. No date on this one but I would guess around 1911 or 1912.

                                                                                                            2210 Quebec Street
                                                                                                            Regina, Sask.
Dear Horace
I am sending you the receipts, or all I can find of them but don't show them on any account.
I think I paid, I am positive I paid up October and did not miss any before that but I
cannot find the October receipt so the best way would be to know nothing about the receipts but
 find out what is due from me. I have paid anyhow $345 this year. It should be easy enough as
 the bank or the collector would know how much he had to collect and if they don't, deduct $345
 from the amount of the note anyhow. I am glad you sent the money from S. Wheale and Fleming.
I had to pay my mortgage by the 15th so I had to borrow some.
Ask Earn about the October receipt if by any chance he has got it with his as we cannot find it
anywhere.
You had better keep some oats for the filly as I would like her to have some this winter. I think
you had better sell all the wheat off my place if Earn's Marquis turned out well. You can buy some
Marquis from Earn with the money that S. Wheale will pay and if he wants it before, pay it out of
the proceeds of my crop.
Please let me know how much I owe Earn for the wheat sown on my place last spring as I will have to pay for it this winter. I keep forgetting it and he could do with the money.
Also how much is number 3 per bushel, and oats as well? I guess it would be best to buy new oats for
my place but if you think they will be alright you can keep some back for seed. But don't take any
chances.
You might let me know how much you made with the outfit. I mean profit, and how did it work? How big is the filly getting? She should be as tall as her mother by now.
I hope all the stock is alright. I will try and spare the money for a fence next year. If you can get
pickets you can buy them but I will write later.
I hope you are ll well. Give my love to all and wish them all a Merry Xmas for me and yourself also.
I remain your loving brother,
Arthur.

October 29 1952

Today, October 29 , in Nevard history . Actually I already made reference to this occasion 3 years ago in this Nevardblog post so some of you may think it looks familiar if you have been following that long.
For those that haven't , the wedding of Joy Nevard and Les Goff as seen in this photo.

We did a re-enactment of this historic photo using the same car this past August. It went well.

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.