Meet the People in our Neighbourhood
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Carolyn Connors, July 30th, 2020 |
Olwynn Hughes: Alright, well, first of all, what is your name?
Carolyn Connors: Carolyn May Connors, I was a Webb before I was married.
OH: When were you born?
CC: I was born April the 8th 1944.
OH: Do you have family history in Avondale?
CC: I lived in Avondale since I was 5 years old.
OH: Did you live in what is now Bob Miller’s house?
CC: Yes
OH: Do you have any favourite childhood memories from here?
CC: Plenty, because back then we were just about free range kids and we got to do many, many, many things. My father was an orchardist at the Mounce farms and we were all over the place pedaling apples. That wasn't so much fun. But we did it anyway, and we were free range in the Orchard and climbed trees, and picked cherries, apples, plums and pears, and raspberries. Many raspberries.
I can tell you a little story about my brother and raspberries. My brother's two years younger than me, and he used to pick raspberries and no one knew at the time that he was colorblind. So he had a real hard time picking raspberries because he couldn't tell which was red and which is green. Yeah, and he had a real hard time, we talked about it the other night actually and he said, “Oh, my, he said that was just the worst”. He said, “trying to pick raspberries when I had no idea whether they were green or ripe”. Yeah couldn't tell the color.That was John [Webb]. Yeah, my older brother, older than Paul [Webb]. Yeah. Yeah.
OH: Did you attend school here?
CC: Yup, I attended school in the Avondale school until I was in grade 8. I started in the high school in Brooklyn, Grade 8, first year it opened. Yeah, I went there until grade... I finished grade 11 and then I got married that summer.
OH: Do you have any relatives that made significant contributions to this community?
CC: Well Paul, Paul wrote a book on the community and did a lot of research and picture taking, and the book is here in the museum. And yeah, he did. He did a lot of research on the community. Yeah.
OH: What has changed here since you were a child?
CC: Oh my land, what has changed? Everything has changed. First of all, you don't know your neighbors. Don't know hardly any of them anymore. Of course, I don't live right in the community now, but I still am attached to the community. Not that they're not friendly and they probably are, but just that you just don't.
A lot of times you don't have time, especially before, because everybody was working, and I was working, and my father, putting it on, when somebody moved into the community. My father was the first one there to welcome them, always - everybody - and at that time we knew everybody in the community, everybody. And now I can drive around the community and I hardly know anyone, you know, except some of them, Vivian and Russell, and ones that have been here forever. Did you interview Vivian and Russell? She probably would be pretty good. Yep. She's been here all her life and she lived in the farm down below where Bob lives now, where it's Basil's place? That was their home. Yep. They lived there. That was their home.
OH: Do you remember any community traditions?
CC: Oh my goodness. We always had Christmas concerts in the hall every year and everybody participated. And, I know Mary Taylor, who lived where Linda and Greg live, her and I used to write plays, for the concert, on people in the community and we used to have a blast. It was so much fun. It was fun writing it, playing it, and acting bad. We always had embarrassing things about whoever we were writing it about, we'd find something embarrassing somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. We had a blast. That was one tradition that we always had.
We always had Sunday School. I was in the choir back then and we had CGIT, Canadian Girls in Training, and we used to do different things with that, camping and similar. Yep. Just not Girl Guides. It was just Canadian Girls in Training, similar [Boy Scouts] to the same. Matter of fact, I found my shirt the other day in my closet. I didn't think I still had it. It's pretty old. Yeah. It's very very old.
Hm, what other traditions would there be? Always spent time at the Wharf. Just we were there always, and we swam off the wharf, jumped in the water off the wharf. Now everybody's scared to death of tidal, whatever they’re called, you know. We always swam off the wharf, always in the mud doing mud sliding. Always, always, always, always, and oh, yeah, it was hard going home when you were all full of mud. You didn't have water like we do now. Like hoses and stuff like that, used to have to get in the tub and yeah, we didn't care that much for it.
We always had a store right here. Everybody spent their time at the store, out of the store, around the store, and there used to be a store halfway up the hill in Avondale. Yeah right next door to where Sarah [Harvey] lives. Yep right there on the corner. Yep. Yeah, Chip Hill road. Yeah, used to be a store there. And I think, I'm pretty sure that used to be the post office too, can't quite remember, but I think it was the post office.
We were always doing things at school. And through the church.
OH: So you attended church here at the Avondale United Church?
CC: Yup
OH: Do you still attend church there?
CC: I haven't lately but I think I'm going to.
No, as far as traditional things I can't think of anything. I know my traditional thing, my father never ever ever missed taking us to the Apple Blossom Festival. Never, we went every year and it was a big day, big day. Yeah, he made sure we went to the Apple Blossom Festival every year, and I still do. I still do. I took Parker, my grandson, him and I used to go until he got so he didn't really want to go anymore. And then maybe every now and then I take one of my girlfriends. No, but of course, wasn't any this year. But we... I usually try and go early so I can park handy and usually park in the same place and go. Yeah, that was one, that was one tradition that I had that you, you just always did.
I'm trying to think what we did on July 1st, because we used to do things on July 1st, but I think most of them were just kind of around... here there wasn't any… oh, no, we used to go to Hantsport, which I still do. Yeah, that's right. They had a parade and celebration at the yeah, community center and stuff, and my first cousin lives in Hantsport. And yeah, we used to go down there. On July 1st, that's right.
What else did we do? What else is a celebration? Well, most of the other time my poor dad was working, and we were. We were working. We worked beside, like, for a long time and then I got married and moved out for a couple of years and then he got sick, and I had to move back home and then Paul was only 10 years old and dad was not able to do everything that he did so I ended up staying.
OH: Where did you move when you got married?
CC: We moved where I am now [Belmont]. Yeah. Yeah, only we had the half of the house made into an apartment. We had half the house and was made into a... we had a kitchen and the bedroom and the bedroom upstairs. Yep.
OH: Did you have a role in starting the museum? Or do you remember anything about starting the museum?
CC: Not really a role, I certainly was very interested in it, but not per se a role. Although I watched everything, everything that ever went on, like the laying of the Keel and all that, and building of the, you know, the building of the ship [Avon Spirit] and oh, yeah, I watched. I was down here all the time watching this, all the time. Yeah, but no I didn't really have didn't have a role in it. But really glad, I'm really glad to see it happen. Yeah.
OH: What was your line of work?
CC: I was an LPN nurse at Dykeland Lodge. I worked there for 30 years. Yeah.
OH: What would you like to see in Avondale in the future?
CC: Well, I certainly do not want to see the museum go. And I would love to see another boat being built. I don't even care if it's a canoe being built. I would love to see another being done. But you know, like if we can keep it the way it is and hopefully keep the water from ruining it. And I always wondered why it was built so close to the creek. I never, ever, ever figured that one out, never. I wondered why it was ever built so close, like even when they were building it. I kept thinking, I mean, it's okay, maybe the tide doesn't come up there right now, but if the wind was blowing one night or a storm you don't have a chance. And now the tides are higher because the water. I couldn’t believe the picture I took the last time here at the flooding. That just about got up to the door.
I'd still like to see the history stay in the boat building and all that, and have it just to know, because I mean this was a big, big shipbuilding place. Big, and I mean it was a big community at one time. There were a lot of houses, some of them burnt [down]. Yeah. No, I'm hoping that they keep it. Otherwise, you don't have, we won't have anything.
OH: What do you think the museum and these sort of events bring to the community?
CC: Acknowledgement that we're here. Probably some monetary things that come into play and I don't know. I know I love it, and do I ever miss it. Oh big time, but I think it's awesome, the festivals. Just absolutely can't wait till they come back. Can't wait.
OH: What do you love about Avondale?
CC: Peace. Quiet. You're not afraid of anything, like you, you feel comfortable, very comfortable. I don't think we've ever had anything really bad. Well. Nothing, you know, really. Trying to think if there was anything.
It's just peaceful. I mean, there's nothing like coming out and just sitting down at the wharf. Or here, out back, whatever, but it's just, I mean, it's just a quiet community like nobody, I mean I say I don't know everybody but I mean, I know a lot of people in the community that it's just, just a wonderful community. Can't say anything bad about my community.
OH: Do you have any photos or artifacts that you want to share?
CC: I don't, other than my CGIT thing, but no, I don't know, like Paul had quite a bit of stuff. And so I never ever had, I never ever had anything. I don't think, I don't think I've got anything. I shouldn't say that. Yeah, but I shouldn't say that because, eventually down the road, my daughter in law with my son or whatever, were going to go through the closet, and in the closet are things that belong to Albert's mum and dad and I don't know whether I was going to check with the museum, I don't know whether the Museum's interested in anything or not, but I know a lot of it is like, oh, ice cutting machine things, and I don't know what's there. And when they used to have to cut ice in the pond to put the ice house in the sawdust, back when you didn't have a fridge. Yeah, they used to yeah, and I don't know what's there, we, I haven't, I haven't looked. It was all underneath the eaves of the house like way up in behind and I haven't gone in there to look for anything, like never, never touched anything. They just stayed there forever and ever and ever and ever and it's still there, but I want to clean the closet and see what is there and I don't know whether anybody, whether they might be even interested in putting it in the boat house or something, like hanging up. I don't know what's there Olly, I'm going to I'm going to look one day.
OH: Do you have any stories or memories you want to share? Any stories tied to specific places here?
CC: Well the orchard for sure, because I spent a lot of time in the orchard and we used to have a u-pick, and that was interesting, and I met all kinds of people from Halifax and everywhere, all over the place because dad was sort of organic, not a hundred percent organic, but pretty no, he didn't have any pesticides, but he did have fungicides like for spray and yeah. No, it was, it was busy, because I mean I was looking after the house and looking after Paul, picking stuff. And then I, then I had my own kids, I had two of them, and it was, it was busy. Yeah, my neighbor across the road used to babysit and I used to take apples to the stores and town, apples and fruit whatever, and it was busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was, [but] I wouldn't trade it for anything, it was just, it was just a really good life and the kids had a good time too because they were free range and they used to spend half of their time down here with Vivian and Russell and their kids and everybody looked after everybody else’s kids. Like you didn't, you didn't worry about them all day long, because somebody was there, you just didn't, you just didn't worry about them. So it was like free range kids. You can't do that now, but I mean you'd be, you wouldn't be a very nice person if you let your kids run around and all that stuff.
It was, it was a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to bring up the kids. Yeah. It was really good. Yeah kids had all the dyke, they could drive a little dirt bike up there and be out of everybody's hair, not making any noise. But I can't think of anything in particular because I mean we were busy. We worked, it wasn't all play.
Yeah, I knew almost every tree in the orchard. I don't now. No, we had one accident in the field one day and a guy hit his head on the truck and, oh my gosh, on the tailgate of the truck and his mother was so scared. She only had one son. He was really hurt. That was the only really bad accident that we had other than once in a while somebody would fall out of an apple tree. Those trees were tall with the ladder. I can tell you right now. They weren't they weren't fun to pick apples on those trees. They were tall. They're not they're not small like Bob's got them now. They used to be big trees. They were tall ladders. I can tell you right now and I, boy I didn't like getting up on the top part of the ladders. It was awful.
My dad wasn't well at all. He had bleeding ulcers. He had a really hard time. But he never, he never stopped working. He never stopped working and he had pain like you wouldn't believe and he just never stopped. Worked and worked and worked. And then he used to look after the Mounces, Tom Mounce, and Ralph, he looked after Tom Mounce, and I don't know whether anybody's heard, but the house is haunted.
OH: Do you have a ghost story to tell?
CC: Just that my dad and Fred Sanford used to live on Chip Hill and he always was around helping, helping out. He was my driver before I got a driver's license, and they were up looking after Tom. And he was in bed and they had taken his tray in for supper. And they just got out in the big room where they were watching news on TV and they got out there and sat down and all of a sudden they heard the tray upside down, smashed all over the place. Both of them jumped up, went back in. Tray was sitting on his bedside, never moved, and they looked everywhere for something broken. There was nothing broken anywhere. Nowhere.
And one other time my father went upstairs, and he laid something on a table in the hall and him and Fred, and I think they had another, I wonder if they were showing somebody the house? And they went upstairs, and they came back down, and dad went to pick up his thing that he left on the table and he said to Fred, “Fred”, he said, “where's that box?” He said “I just set there”. Fred said “I don’t know”. Dad said “well you must’ve took it”. Fred said “I never touched it”. It was gone, and nobody was there, just my father, Fred and another person that they took, was showing the house to, yeah, no way.
You know where Matt and Lise used to live halfway up the hill? That place is supposed to be haunted too, and I asked Matt one day if he had any strange things happen. He said no, he didn't. I said, “well there was strange things used to happen in the house”. He said, “when I moved in”, he said, “I just told them that I had heard”. He did. He said, “I just told them I didn't want anything to do with any ghosts or anything in this house”, and he never had any problem. Yeah. It's up in the attic, way up. No [I don’t know what happened], just that there was noises and different things, yeah. So yeah, it was funny. I don't think the other house, I don't think the other house was haunted, the one where Emma and Morgana lived, I don't think they were, not that I know of. But I know you know, Tom's was.
You still got that on? Because well, I'll tell you a story about my father and that was when we lived in Canning. We lived in a house, just temporarily until we moved to Avondale, and the man that lived in the house, he said “there's a room upstairs”, he said “I don't want anyone near it”. He said “my wife's stuff is in there”. She had passed away and dad said that's alright. We just locked it, you know and everything he said “no, we don't need to go in there for anything”. So anyway, Johnny and I were just little, he’d probably only be one, maybe two, I'd be three, four. Four, because I was five when I moved here, five and a half. And in this one night, they had heard a ruckus upstairs. He thought, “those little buggers they're out of their bed running around upstairs, me and Johnny. So up the steps, he started to come to give us the old devil to get us in bed, back in bed. And there was a lady at the top of the stairs all dressed in white, standing there. Dad said, dad said, I stopped on the stairs, he said, “I swear to God”. He said, “my hair went right up”. He said, “right the back of my neck”,said she turned and walked into the room with the door locked, through the door. So that was all right. He never told my mother.
Now this, my mother and dad separated when I was six or seven. She'd been living in Halifax. I hadn’t laid eyes on her until I was 18 when I got married, my aunt brought her to me to meet me, and we were talking one day and we were just talking, she said, “Dad ever talk about that, did your father ever tell you anything about that house down there we lived in?” I said no. She said, “that place was haunted”. I said, “oh, don’t talk so foolish”. She said “I'm telling you right now”. She said, “that place was haunted”. I said “Mom!”. Here I knew all the time what my father told me, right. She said, “Carolyn, I went downstairs one day to get potatoes” and she said “I walked down the steps and here was this woman down on the bottom of the steps all dressed in white”. She said, “I just turned right around and I went right up them steps”. She said, “from then on your father got me potatoes”. She said I wouldn't go near the cellar steps. I said, “really, mum”. I said, “well, let me tell you a story”. So then I told her what Dad told me now. They were separated; neither one ever mentioned that to each other.
So that's how I believe in anything haunted. Yeah.
Carolyn Connors: Carolyn May Connors, I was a Webb before I was married.
OH: When were you born?
CC: I was born April the 8th 1944.
OH: Do you have family history in Avondale?
CC: I lived in Avondale since I was 5 years old.
OH: Did you live in what is now Bob Miller’s house?
CC: Yes
OH: Do you have any favourite childhood memories from here?
CC: Plenty, because back then we were just about free range kids and we got to do many, many, many things. My father was an orchardist at the Mounce farms and we were all over the place pedaling apples. That wasn't so much fun. But we did it anyway, and we were free range in the Orchard and climbed trees, and picked cherries, apples, plums and pears, and raspberries. Many raspberries.
I can tell you a little story about my brother and raspberries. My brother's two years younger than me, and he used to pick raspberries and no one knew at the time that he was colorblind. So he had a real hard time picking raspberries because he couldn't tell which was red and which is green. Yeah, and he had a real hard time, we talked about it the other night actually and he said, “Oh, my, he said that was just the worst”. He said, “trying to pick raspberries when I had no idea whether they were green or ripe”. Yeah couldn't tell the color.That was John [Webb]. Yeah, my older brother, older than Paul [Webb]. Yeah. Yeah.
OH: Did you attend school here?
CC: Yup, I attended school in the Avondale school until I was in grade 8. I started in the high school in Brooklyn, Grade 8, first year it opened. Yeah, I went there until grade... I finished grade 11 and then I got married that summer.
OH: Do you have any relatives that made significant contributions to this community?
CC: Well Paul, Paul wrote a book on the community and did a lot of research and picture taking, and the book is here in the museum. And yeah, he did. He did a lot of research on the community. Yeah.
OH: What has changed here since you were a child?
CC: Oh my land, what has changed? Everything has changed. First of all, you don't know your neighbors. Don't know hardly any of them anymore. Of course, I don't live right in the community now, but I still am attached to the community. Not that they're not friendly and they probably are, but just that you just don't.
A lot of times you don't have time, especially before, because everybody was working, and I was working, and my father, putting it on, when somebody moved into the community. My father was the first one there to welcome them, always - everybody - and at that time we knew everybody in the community, everybody. And now I can drive around the community and I hardly know anyone, you know, except some of them, Vivian and Russell, and ones that have been here forever. Did you interview Vivian and Russell? She probably would be pretty good. Yep. She's been here all her life and she lived in the farm down below where Bob lives now, where it's Basil's place? That was their home. Yep. They lived there. That was their home.
OH: Do you remember any community traditions?
CC: Oh my goodness. We always had Christmas concerts in the hall every year and everybody participated. And, I know Mary Taylor, who lived where Linda and Greg live, her and I used to write plays, for the concert, on people in the community and we used to have a blast. It was so much fun. It was fun writing it, playing it, and acting bad. We always had embarrassing things about whoever we were writing it about, we'd find something embarrassing somewhere. Yeah. Yeah. We had a blast. That was one tradition that we always had.
We always had Sunday School. I was in the choir back then and we had CGIT, Canadian Girls in Training, and we used to do different things with that, camping and similar. Yep. Just not Girl Guides. It was just Canadian Girls in Training, similar [Boy Scouts] to the same. Matter of fact, I found my shirt the other day in my closet. I didn't think I still had it. It's pretty old. Yeah. It's very very old.
Hm, what other traditions would there be? Always spent time at the Wharf. Just we were there always, and we swam off the wharf, jumped in the water off the wharf. Now everybody's scared to death of tidal, whatever they’re called, you know. We always swam off the wharf, always in the mud doing mud sliding. Always, always, always, always, and oh, yeah, it was hard going home when you were all full of mud. You didn't have water like we do now. Like hoses and stuff like that, used to have to get in the tub and yeah, we didn't care that much for it.
We always had a store right here. Everybody spent their time at the store, out of the store, around the store, and there used to be a store halfway up the hill in Avondale. Yeah right next door to where Sarah [Harvey] lives. Yep right there on the corner. Yep. Yeah, Chip Hill road. Yeah, used to be a store there. And I think, I'm pretty sure that used to be the post office too, can't quite remember, but I think it was the post office.
We were always doing things at school. And through the church.
OH: So you attended church here at the Avondale United Church?
CC: Yup
OH: Do you still attend church there?
CC: I haven't lately but I think I'm going to.
No, as far as traditional things I can't think of anything. I know my traditional thing, my father never ever ever missed taking us to the Apple Blossom Festival. Never, we went every year and it was a big day, big day. Yeah, he made sure we went to the Apple Blossom Festival every year, and I still do. I still do. I took Parker, my grandson, him and I used to go until he got so he didn't really want to go anymore. And then maybe every now and then I take one of my girlfriends. No, but of course, wasn't any this year. But we... I usually try and go early so I can park handy and usually park in the same place and go. Yeah, that was one, that was one tradition that I had that you, you just always did.
I'm trying to think what we did on July 1st, because we used to do things on July 1st, but I think most of them were just kind of around... here there wasn't any… oh, no, we used to go to Hantsport, which I still do. Yeah, that's right. They had a parade and celebration at the yeah, community center and stuff, and my first cousin lives in Hantsport. And yeah, we used to go down there. On July 1st, that's right.
What else did we do? What else is a celebration? Well, most of the other time my poor dad was working, and we were. We were working. We worked beside, like, for a long time and then I got married and moved out for a couple of years and then he got sick, and I had to move back home and then Paul was only 10 years old and dad was not able to do everything that he did so I ended up staying.
OH: Where did you move when you got married?
CC: We moved where I am now [Belmont]. Yeah. Yeah, only we had the half of the house made into an apartment. We had half the house and was made into a... we had a kitchen and the bedroom and the bedroom upstairs. Yep.
OH: Did you have a role in starting the museum? Or do you remember anything about starting the museum?
CC: Not really a role, I certainly was very interested in it, but not per se a role. Although I watched everything, everything that ever went on, like the laying of the Keel and all that, and building of the, you know, the building of the ship [Avon Spirit] and oh, yeah, I watched. I was down here all the time watching this, all the time. Yeah, but no I didn't really have didn't have a role in it. But really glad, I'm really glad to see it happen. Yeah.
OH: What was your line of work?
CC: I was an LPN nurse at Dykeland Lodge. I worked there for 30 years. Yeah.
OH: What would you like to see in Avondale in the future?
CC: Well, I certainly do not want to see the museum go. And I would love to see another boat being built. I don't even care if it's a canoe being built. I would love to see another being done. But you know, like if we can keep it the way it is and hopefully keep the water from ruining it. And I always wondered why it was built so close to the creek. I never, ever, ever figured that one out, never. I wondered why it was ever built so close, like even when they were building it. I kept thinking, I mean, it's okay, maybe the tide doesn't come up there right now, but if the wind was blowing one night or a storm you don't have a chance. And now the tides are higher because the water. I couldn’t believe the picture I took the last time here at the flooding. That just about got up to the door.
I'd still like to see the history stay in the boat building and all that, and have it just to know, because I mean this was a big, big shipbuilding place. Big, and I mean it was a big community at one time. There were a lot of houses, some of them burnt [down]. Yeah. No, I'm hoping that they keep it. Otherwise, you don't have, we won't have anything.
OH: What do you think the museum and these sort of events bring to the community?
CC: Acknowledgement that we're here. Probably some monetary things that come into play and I don't know. I know I love it, and do I ever miss it. Oh big time, but I think it's awesome, the festivals. Just absolutely can't wait till they come back. Can't wait.
OH: What do you love about Avondale?
CC: Peace. Quiet. You're not afraid of anything, like you, you feel comfortable, very comfortable. I don't think we've ever had anything really bad. Well. Nothing, you know, really. Trying to think if there was anything.
It's just peaceful. I mean, there's nothing like coming out and just sitting down at the wharf. Or here, out back, whatever, but it's just, I mean, it's just a quiet community like nobody, I mean I say I don't know everybody but I mean, I know a lot of people in the community that it's just, just a wonderful community. Can't say anything bad about my community.
OH: Do you have any photos or artifacts that you want to share?
CC: I don't, other than my CGIT thing, but no, I don't know, like Paul had quite a bit of stuff. And so I never ever had, I never ever had anything. I don't think, I don't think I've got anything. I shouldn't say that. Yeah, but I shouldn't say that because, eventually down the road, my daughter in law with my son or whatever, were going to go through the closet, and in the closet are things that belong to Albert's mum and dad and I don't know whether I was going to check with the museum, I don't know whether the Museum's interested in anything or not, but I know a lot of it is like, oh, ice cutting machine things, and I don't know what's there. And when they used to have to cut ice in the pond to put the ice house in the sawdust, back when you didn't have a fridge. Yeah, they used to yeah, and I don't know what's there, we, I haven't, I haven't looked. It was all underneath the eaves of the house like way up in behind and I haven't gone in there to look for anything, like never, never touched anything. They just stayed there forever and ever and ever and ever and it's still there, but I want to clean the closet and see what is there and I don't know whether anybody, whether they might be even interested in putting it in the boat house or something, like hanging up. I don't know what's there Olly, I'm going to I'm going to look one day.
OH: Do you have any stories or memories you want to share? Any stories tied to specific places here?
CC: Well the orchard for sure, because I spent a lot of time in the orchard and we used to have a u-pick, and that was interesting, and I met all kinds of people from Halifax and everywhere, all over the place because dad was sort of organic, not a hundred percent organic, but pretty no, he didn't have any pesticides, but he did have fungicides like for spray and yeah. No, it was, it was busy, because I mean I was looking after the house and looking after Paul, picking stuff. And then I, then I had my own kids, I had two of them, and it was, it was busy. Yeah, my neighbor across the road used to babysit and I used to take apples to the stores and town, apples and fruit whatever, and it was busy, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was, [but] I wouldn't trade it for anything, it was just, it was just a really good life and the kids had a good time too because they were free range and they used to spend half of their time down here with Vivian and Russell and their kids and everybody looked after everybody else’s kids. Like you didn't, you didn't worry about them all day long, because somebody was there, you just didn't, you just didn't worry about them. So it was like free range kids. You can't do that now, but I mean you'd be, you wouldn't be a very nice person if you let your kids run around and all that stuff.
It was, it was a wonderful place to live and a wonderful place to bring up the kids. Yeah. It was really good. Yeah kids had all the dyke, they could drive a little dirt bike up there and be out of everybody's hair, not making any noise. But I can't think of anything in particular because I mean we were busy. We worked, it wasn't all play.
Yeah, I knew almost every tree in the orchard. I don't now. No, we had one accident in the field one day and a guy hit his head on the truck and, oh my gosh, on the tailgate of the truck and his mother was so scared. She only had one son. He was really hurt. That was the only really bad accident that we had other than once in a while somebody would fall out of an apple tree. Those trees were tall with the ladder. I can tell you right now. They weren't they weren't fun to pick apples on those trees. They were tall. They're not they're not small like Bob's got them now. They used to be big trees. They were tall ladders. I can tell you right now and I, boy I didn't like getting up on the top part of the ladders. It was awful.
My dad wasn't well at all. He had bleeding ulcers. He had a really hard time. But he never, he never stopped working. He never stopped working and he had pain like you wouldn't believe and he just never stopped. Worked and worked and worked. And then he used to look after the Mounces, Tom Mounce, and Ralph, he looked after Tom Mounce, and I don't know whether anybody's heard, but the house is haunted.
OH: Do you have a ghost story to tell?
CC: Just that my dad and Fred Sanford used to live on Chip Hill and he always was around helping, helping out. He was my driver before I got a driver's license, and they were up looking after Tom. And he was in bed and they had taken his tray in for supper. And they just got out in the big room where they were watching news on TV and they got out there and sat down and all of a sudden they heard the tray upside down, smashed all over the place. Both of them jumped up, went back in. Tray was sitting on his bedside, never moved, and they looked everywhere for something broken. There was nothing broken anywhere. Nowhere.
And one other time my father went upstairs, and he laid something on a table in the hall and him and Fred, and I think they had another, I wonder if they were showing somebody the house? And they went upstairs, and they came back down, and dad went to pick up his thing that he left on the table and he said to Fred, “Fred”, he said, “where's that box?” He said “I just set there”. Fred said “I don’t know”. Dad said “well you must’ve took it”. Fred said “I never touched it”. It was gone, and nobody was there, just my father, Fred and another person that they took, was showing the house to, yeah, no way.
You know where Matt and Lise used to live halfway up the hill? That place is supposed to be haunted too, and I asked Matt one day if he had any strange things happen. He said no, he didn't. I said, “well there was strange things used to happen in the house”. He said, “when I moved in”, he said, “I just told them that I had heard”. He did. He said, “I just told them I didn't want anything to do with any ghosts or anything in this house”, and he never had any problem. Yeah. It's up in the attic, way up. No [I don’t know what happened], just that there was noises and different things, yeah. So yeah, it was funny. I don't think the other house, I don't think the other house was haunted, the one where Emma and Morgana lived, I don't think they were, not that I know of. But I know you know, Tom's was.
You still got that on? Because well, I'll tell you a story about my father and that was when we lived in Canning. We lived in a house, just temporarily until we moved to Avondale, and the man that lived in the house, he said “there's a room upstairs”, he said “I don't want anyone near it”. He said “my wife's stuff is in there”. She had passed away and dad said that's alright. We just locked it, you know and everything he said “no, we don't need to go in there for anything”. So anyway, Johnny and I were just little, he’d probably only be one, maybe two, I'd be three, four. Four, because I was five when I moved here, five and a half. And in this one night, they had heard a ruckus upstairs. He thought, “those little buggers they're out of their bed running around upstairs, me and Johnny. So up the steps, he started to come to give us the old devil to get us in bed, back in bed. And there was a lady at the top of the stairs all dressed in white, standing there. Dad said, dad said, I stopped on the stairs, he said, “I swear to God”. He said, “my hair went right up”. He said, “right the back of my neck”,said she turned and walked into the room with the door locked, through the door. So that was all right. He never told my mother.
Now this, my mother and dad separated when I was six or seven. She'd been living in Halifax. I hadn’t laid eyes on her until I was 18 when I got married, my aunt brought her to me to meet me, and we were talking one day and we were just talking, she said, “Dad ever talk about that, did your father ever tell you anything about that house down there we lived in?” I said no. She said, “that place was haunted”. I said, “oh, don’t talk so foolish”. She said “I'm telling you right now”. She said, “that place was haunted”. I said “Mom!”. Here I knew all the time what my father told me, right. She said, “Carolyn, I went downstairs one day to get potatoes” and she said “I walked down the steps and here was this woman down on the bottom of the steps all dressed in white”. She said, “I just turned right around and I went right up them steps”. She said, “from then on your father got me potatoes”. She said I wouldn't go near the cellar steps. I said, “really, mum”. I said, “well, let me tell you a story”. So then I told her what Dad told me now. They were separated; neither one ever mentioned that to each other.
So that's how I believe in anything haunted. Yeah.