I’ve always imagined the hardships our earliest settler families might list would include isolation, lack of survival skills, or illness. Upon arriving in Upper Canada, Loyalist settlers were promised a three-year supply of food by the government. One of their greatest challenges was getting their grain allotment ground into flour.
Continue reading “Early Settlers and Milling Grain”
Travel ignites my imagination. Whether venturing off to a destination far away, or one closer to home, a change of scenery and a new experience leads me to a new writing idea. My recent weekend trip to a small town, a few hours drive from my own, was no exception. Continue reading “Standing by the Millpond”
In a recent short story, I wrote that two young men went off to work in a sawmill. There was a glitch in my logic. The events occurred in the 1830’s during the month of January. Sawmills ran on water power at this time, so their peak operating season came in the late winter and early spring. The mill wheel continued to run as long as the water flowed in rivers and lakes.
(Please enjoy this Wellspring Podcast of Ice Harvesting and Spring Houses.)
Gwen Tuinman 