Junior Farmers ready to Beat the Winter Blues
Free family-friendly event happens Wednesday
Farmers and other folk involved in the agricultural world are invited to sign on for an hour of family-friendly games on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Beat the Winter Blues has been planned by local Junior Farmers and the Ag-Roundtable. It’s free, but you must register at eventbrite.ca/e/beatthe-winter-blues-tickets-132569108773. If you need help getting Zoom going, email ptboagroundtable@gmail.com. While you’re at it, have a look at the website ptboagnews.com for morelocal agricultural news.
Villiers yoga
The Villiers Community Centre continues to offer yoga classes via Zoom. A 10-week session starts Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m., for $65. Payment of $65 by e-transfer is preferred. Contact villierscommunity@gmail.com.
Diaries of an Otonabee farmer
The journals of John Graham Weir are at Trent Valley Archives.
1883 Jan. 18, Thurs.
We have splendid times now.
We sleep till about seven and some mornings till eight o’clock, we have no hired men at home and very few chores to do. We went to town for a drive in the afternoon.
1883 Jan. 19
There was a perfect storm of snow raging from the east all day.
1883 Jan. 20
Lovina and I went to town in the cutter. I got my pay for work of teams on the Missing Link. Mr. Orr came home with us in the cutter. Rained less or more from dark until daylight.
1883 Jan. 22
Last night, Mr. Orr and us went to church and we were very nearly froze.
1883 Jan. 23
Pretty cold this morning the mercury was down to 12 below zero at sunrise and a steel cut icy wind blowing from the west the same as yesterday. We went to town today in the cutter and James Duffus and Lovina and I went to spend the evening at Mrs. James Wilson’s, and we got home at 2 o’clock in the morning. A pleasant time you bet we had.
1883 Jan. 24
John Fulton commenced to work this morning. I took him up to the Missing Link to drive teams and wagons. Pretty cold this morning but not so cold as it has been. The icy wind has ceased.
1884 Jan. 19, Sat.
I went to town with a load of barley and sold it to H. Calcutt at .65 per bushel and his brewer Harry Neil tried to do me out of $10 on a load delivered on Thursday and did cheat me out of over two bushels on the load today. I guess I don’t sell any more there. Very cold east wind all day. Four of us went skating tonight.
1884 Jan. 21
We cleaned all our barley and laid by 40 bushels for seed and took the rest to market. This finished my barley of last year. I sold 256 bushels and received $153.38 for it. Very cold weather again tonight.
1884 Jan. 22
Miss Geary went this evening to board at Mrs. Galvins. Stormed at a dreadful rate this morning. I went with the horses and cutter to take the school teacher to school but could not get further than the gate. Got the horse down, broke the cutter and with difficulty, got home. After dinner I went and helped to dig the train out of Redmond’s cut.
1884 Jan. 23
William Downer and I went to town this morning with the horses and sleigh. The roads were terrible drifted and heavy with snow all the way. We brought out William Downer’s tool chest and lumber to fix the stairs and hall. Snowing all day but not very cold. I deposited in the Ontario Bank today $200.