Memory Tools

Here are some of Granddad's old tools. Mom and Dad mounted these on a board from one of the Etsell sheds some years ago. These tools could date back to the 1930s. I'll find a spot to hang this; Sean has a similar tool board. I should ask him to take a photo. 

EDIT: He took a photo! I was mistaken. Sean took a barn board, but it didn't have tools on it. Instead, he mounted it on his wall, added hooks, and now he hangs his stuff on it. 

Memory Beacon

Sean and I each brought home one of these Beacon oil lanterns, originally used on the Etsell farm in Virden, Manitoba, and residing at Mom and Dad's place as long as I can remember...maybe since 1982, when Grandma died. General Steel Works started making these in 1911, but I don't think this one is that old, though I suppose it could be. I suspect it dates back at least to the 1940s. I'd say it might become handy when the apocalypse comes, but first I'd need to find oil and a wick to make it useful. 

EDIT: Sean reminded me that we actually gave the other oil lantern to Aunt Jean and Uncle John when they came by for Mom's celebration of life last year. 
 

Farewell to Aunt Marjorie

We just heard from our cousin Dianne that her mother, my Aunt Marjorie Jones, passed away today. She was the last Etsell sister, at far left, beside Mom. As far as I know, the unveiling of the cairn at Salt Lake, on the former property of our grandparents, was the last time all four sisters were together in the same place. I'm glad Sean and Dad and I were there for it. 

Three sisters gone in the space of less than half a year. Time can be cruel. 

Rest in peace, Aunt Marjorie, with your sisters and Uncle Arnold. 


 

Three Sisters

Mom, Aunt Jean, and sitting down, Aunt Margaret, the eldest of the four Etsell sisters. All three of these remarkable women have passed on now. They are missed. 

Shadows cast through an upstairs window
Moonlight broken by a cross and black branches
And fluttering wings
But for an instant
 

Mom and Me at the Etsell Farm

Here's another new-to-me image from Aunt Jean and Uncle John's collection. I'm back at the Etsell farm with Mom and Smokey the "don't pull his tail, he'll put your eye out" cat. This image brings me peace. 
 

50 Years Ago...

Mom, me, her parents, my grandparents; the summer of 1975. I need to go back there again, just to smell the grass and the trees. I hope there will be sunflowers. 

Six year old Earl has a cute, jaunty hat. Looks kind of like one of the Little Rascals. 

Down on the Farm in '73

Here I am with my maternal grandparents during the summer of 1973. Their farm really was a beautiful place . . . in the summer. 

Cat Scratch Near Miss

When I was very young, I pulled Smokey's tail. Smokey was my maternal grandparents' cat, and did not suffer fools. Smokey retaliated by slashing at my face, slicing a shallow groove through skin just barely to the right of my right eyeball. I learned my lesson that day, and I'm grateful that Smokey chose not to half-blind me. 

As far as I know, this is the only photo of Smokey and me. Based on my approximate age here, it may even have been taken right around the time Smokey scratched me. 
 

Bozo Can't Come to the Phone Right Now

Mom looks on as I pretend to answer a phone call at her parents' place. We had that crokinole board for years, and I still have one red disc from the set. Bozo got popped a couple of years after this. Stupid clown. 
 

The Wheel Rolls On

This wagon wheel came from the Etsell farm. It's over half a century old, maybe even three-quarters of a century old. Mom and Dad have had it in the back yard for years and years. 

Last weekend, Stephen Fitzpatrick and his older daughter Fenya joined Sean and I in Leduc as part of our effort to wrap up the estate. Mom and Dad were generous to a fault, so I feel good that Steve and Fenya were able to make use of some of their stuff, including this wheel; Stephen's wife, Audrey, was happy to add it to one of their gardens. It looks great, and I know Mom and Dad would be happy that the wheel rolls on; like Sean and me, they were very fond of the Fitzpatricks. 


 

Breadalbane Church Model

While reviewing some of the photos stored on Mom's iPad, I found this image of a scale model of the Breadalbane Church . . . clearly shot inside Breadalbane Church. Church-ception! I wonder who built it, when Mom took the photo (or who sent it to her), and where the model is now. It's charming. 
 

More Colours Out of Time

 Here's a black and white photo of Mom (right) with her older sister, my Aunt Jean. It was taken sometime in the 1950s at the farm near Virden, Manitoba. 

Here's the same photo colourized by Jason Antic's image colourization software. Colourizing black and white imagery is nothing new, of course, but I'm pretty impressed by the results given how easy it is to use the software; just upload your photo and the algorithm spits out its best guess. 

I deliberately chose to shoot some of Michael and Naomi's wedding with black and white film. Here are Jeff and Susan at that wedding in glorious black and white.

And here they are in colour. 

Say what you will about the wisdom of colourization, but for all its flaws I find the process fascinating, and I imagine the colours will achieve greater fidelity and believability as the technology improves. 

Two Empty Lawn Chairs

There's something very relaxing about this image of the Etsell farm shot in 1973. Those lawn chairs look like they're just waiting for someone to sit with a book and a lemonade. And see how vibrant the flowerbed was...

Unrepaired

Here's a damaged photo of my Aunt Jean and the Etsell horse, Thopsy. The damage on this photo might be beyond my ability to repair. But it might have made the photo a little more interesting. In the real world, both Aunt Jean and Thopsy were reacting to something on their right, out of frame. In the photograph, it now appears they're alarmed by the blob of off-yellow gunk spreading out toward them. 

Thomas Earl Etsell and the Mystery Machine

Here's another photo of Granddad from 1918. I'm not sure what contraption he's operating, but  it's a farming tool of  some kind. 

Tractor and Pitchfork

Here's a photo from 1918! It's granddad on a tractor. Note the pitchfork leaning against the wheel. 

Thomas Earl Etsell Reads a Book

Here's a badly damaged print of my maternal grandfather reading a book.

Here's my attempt to repair the image - a little clumsy in some spots, but an improvement, I think.

I wish I could make out what Granddad is reading. It looks like the title might be The Prime Minster - 1961, but obviously I'm extrapolating that from the visible text "PRIME," "STER," and "1961" (or perhaps it's "1962"). A search failed to turn up a match. John Diefenbaker was Prime Minister in 1961, but the image on the back cover doesn't really look like him...of course, that could be an author photo. 

Etsell Horse

Here is a photo of one of the Etsell horses, shot sometime in the 1950s.

The Etsell horses were all gone by the time I arrived on the scene, so I had to wait until a junior high horse-riding field trip to learn that I'm allergic to horses, as I seem to be to all things with fur. 

Salt Lake Sunset

On August 11, Mom and Dad journeyed to Salt Lake (near Virden) for a community gathering and captured this sunset. It was 39 degrees C - a great day for a swim, and many locals took advantage.

 Here are Mom and Dad with my cousin David on the day. 

The Magpie and the Chicken

Mom retold an amusing family story for Mother's Day.