27

The wash tub
1915
Musée des Pionniers et des Chanoinesses, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

28

I notice my mother seems a bit nervous lately. She has a lot of work to do. She takes care of the baby, of the other little ones and the house. She also helps out on the farm. My older sisters help out as much as they can. I myself try to give a hand. This afternoon, I worked the wash tub. Now my arm hurts!

29

The flatirons
1912
Musée des Pionniers et des Chanoinesses, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

30

Now that the clothes have dried on the clothesline, they have to be ironed. For that, we need to use the flatirons. We place them on the woodstove to heat them. Mama always handles them because she's afraid that the children will get burned.

31

The garden seeder
1925
Musée des Pionniers et des Chanoinesses, Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

32

The weather is nice lately so my mother was able to plant vegetables and tomatoes in the garden with the new seeder my father bought last week when he went to Winnipeg. It's the first time we have one and Mama is really happy not to have to do it all by hand anymore. Papa is also planting the fields with his brothers.

33

The sawmill
1930
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

34

The sawmill boss called my uncle yesterday to let him know that his load of wood is ready, so we went to get it.
Audio: "My father, a few years afterwards, had a sawmill. Later, I myself learned to operate it. In those days, there were logs everywhere. People would bring their logs in winter with their horses, by sleigh, and they would leave them in a sort of marsh. They would put their name on it. And when it was their turn for the saw, we'd call them by telephone. We'd sometimes cut logs throughout the month of March. We'd stop for seeding. Afterwards, we'd start again. Then, there was harvest and we'd start up again after that. We split a lot of logs, you know."
Louis Chaperon

35

The Ascension of the Lord
25 May 1911
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

36

The Ascension. This week is Rogation Week. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, there was a procession after mass that went right up to the road crossing at the outskirts of town. May 25, Ascension Day, was the first communion of my little brother who's six years old. To receive communion, each child must know his prayers, the formula for confession and the main mysteries of faith.

37

The funeral
10 September 1910
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

38

A few days ago, my great-aunt died and today is her funeral. Her body was laid out in her house for two nights before she was buried. Everyone was crying and wearing black. I feel sad because this aunt had a really good heart and now, her husband will be alone in the house.

39

The hearse
1922
Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Manitoba

40

At the funeral, mourners form a procession to the town cemetery. The deceased is transported in a hearse and the horses pulling it are walked to the cemetery.