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Goldfoot
Farm
Sun., July 26, 1925
It's
Sunday and the day has been ours--except for morning and
evening chores, and a runaway calf, almost as hard to catch
as a greased pig.
The first thing we did on our own was to take a bath in
a nearby stream. It was certainly great to wash in something
larger than a basin, even though we could only splash in
a shallow pool.
Ma and Pa Goldfoot are very particular about Robert's washing
his face and hands, but I bet, during the week we've been
here, not one of the three has washed any further. Every
bit of water has to be lugged in and, after use, lugged
out again and thrown away. To complicate matters, there
are two kinds of water, pump water for drinking and cooking,
and brook water for washing and cleaning. The pump is 100
feet from the house and the brook as many yards. Robert
keeps two big milk cans filled with brook water and brings
in a pail from the pump when he thinks of it. I never ask
him to get water, because he has so much else to do. Besides
helping with the milking, haying and churning, his particular
job is feeding the livestock, consisting of four horses,
hundred of chickens, eight pigs, twenty cows, one bull,
twelve calves, six cats and a dog. The cats are the favorites
of the establishment and have to be fed hot potatoes, mashed
up in either gravy or warm milk. No cold dried up stuff
for them!
After our baths we visited the Adirondack Light and Power
steam plant on the Mohawk River, and experimental station
for G.E. Not only is it kept in applepie condition but is
decorated with potted palms; swallows fly among the high
steel rafters. A grating in the floor permits one to observe
masses of gayly painted pipes of all sizes, resembling a
tangle of huge angleworms, and to follow the course of each
pipe by means of its identifying color. The boiler room
is a good place to keep cool on a summer's day, for no heat
is wasted. Bill absorbed much interesting information.
The Mohawk River is used here as a barge canal and we enjoyed
watching a good-sized launch go through the nearby lock.
At Amsterdam we felt in such holiday spirits that we hunted
for something reckless to do to celebrate, but nothing better
turned up than gorging ourselves on three ice?cream sodas
apiece?disgusting!
The low rolling hills in this section are covered with cultivated
fields and trim prosperous-looking farm houses. Driving
home the long way around, under a flaming sunset sky, we
reached here just in time for milking.
Our first week as farm hands has ended.
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