I'm sure that she thought long and hard before listing the farm for sale. A century family farm, the only home that she and her husband had ever lived in and the only home her now-grown children had ever known. After having it listed for a while with no luck, she went ahead and bought a house in town anyway and now had 2 mortgages. This went on for 2 years before we came along and 'rescued her'. It was a good deal for both parties but I couldn't help but feel that something had been lost when a century farm is forever lost to the original family.
The original building in the 1800's had been a log cabin. Years later, when they could afford it, the family had added a large addition that they called the 'summer kitchen' or 'back kitchen'. It was used for cooking on the wood cookstove during the summer to help keep the house cool. I think I'd like a summer kitchen, too! One night, shortly after moving in, we could hear a meowing under the floor. Totally confused, we hunted high and low for the source and took up the old floor boards to discover a well right under the room. This would have been used to pump water up to the sink and yes, I'd like one of those, too! Talk about convenient...water at your fingertips, no going outside to the well and no hydro!
Anyway, the cat that had just been 'donated' to us by friends (every newly-wed couple needs a cat, they said...Uh-huh!) had fallen down the well and was meowing so pitifully. We had no idea what to do so we slid a 10 foot board down into the at least 20-foot-deep empty well, hoping the cat would figure out the last 10 feet for himself. He didn't. We then decided to lower a basket, hoping he'd jump into it. Yeah, right! It even sounded absurd at the time but what to do?! Then we accidentally knocked a piece of wood down into the well and that cat shot up and out, flew past us and was gone, leaving us in fits of laughter! And now we had to repair the floor, find the hole where the cat got through in the first place and fix it and continue to worry about the cat getting in there again. Years later, when we tore that part down, we finally filled the well in. Needn't have worried, though...the cat left well enough alone after that! I've heard of 'moving like a bat out of hell' but not 'moving like a cat out of a well'! They are quite similar!!
This back kitchen was in pretty poor shape when we moved in. The floor planks had been nailed directly onto the floor joists - no subfloor of any sort. Over time, the floor boards dried out and left slight spaces between. When I swept, the dirt from the crawl space 2 feet below came up through, making more mess than before. Old windows and no insulation meant freezing cold and I mean freezing. I placed a bowl of water on the edge of a heat vent that was actually working. The water froze solid.
On the far side of this room was a door that led to a woodshed. This woodshed had a walkway that was level with the rest of the house but the rest of the room, where the wood was kept was actually about 5 feet deep. That would hold a lot of wood but at the time, all I could see was the mess. Old wood chips, dirt floor, and I assumed, lots of mice. We didn't use it as we didn't have a wood stove, just a wood furnace in the basement and we stored our wood in the basement. Now I realize the value of a dry, indoor place to store wood .
At the end of this walkway was another door that led outside to the clothesline stand...or so we thought. Underneath the stand was what seemed to be a carved-out half log, about 4 feet long. Hubby pulled it out, debated for a while, scratched his head a while longer, gave up and slid it back in. We found out later that its original purpose was not that of a clothesline stand but instead, was an outhouse! It was likely quite modern for that time as you did not have to go outside (it had walls and a roof at one time). It was still freezing out there but there was no wind, no rain and best of all, no snow. The carved-out log was actually the 'toilet'. After people had done their 'business' for a number of days/weeks, it was the father's job to slide it out then empty it. I think hubby washed his hands extra after that!! As much as all families would have look forward to the 'new' indoor washrooms, perhaps the father of this family did so a little more than most!
As bad as this summer kitchen seemed to be to us, it had at one time been the pride of the neighbourhood. Our neighbour, D., had grown up next door and told us that when he was small, all the wedding meals, summer BBQ's, get-togethers, etc. were held in Mrs. S's summer kitchen, at least the food prepping part. She had the best back kitchen around, he said, and I'm assuming because it had heat for cooking, water and lots of space, all rolled into one. Oh, and it had a handy 'toilet, too!
Anyway, after the family saved up for more years, they tore down the original log cabin (shame!) and built a double-bricked, 2-storied farmhouse onto the summer kitchen. This was the 100-year-old building that we moved into. We took down the summer kitchen and added a new bathroom/laundry room, living room and garage. I hope that this tradition of tearing down one part then the other part doesn't continue, though, because the old, red brick house is next in line and it would be a shame to lose another old, red brick farmhouse.
Not ours but somewhat similar.
Not our house but very similar. The summer kitchen was the whole back addition where the lady is standing, with the woodshed and outhouse continuing to the right.
A kitchen hand pump that I'm assuming is similar to what must have been in our house.
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