Near our house there was a hillside, which used to be full of timber, therefore a two-man chainsaw was used with me on one side. The timber would be toppled over one another and I was instructed several times to trim the trees and pile the brush. The timber was cut and sold four dollars a cart for heating and cooking. During this time we had a green and cream-colored Kalamazoo cook stove. Irons were heated on this stove and it had an oven. This oven was removed from the house during the time the kitchen was being renovated with a new gas stove. The Kalamazoo stove was taken outside and set in the woods.

In order to get water we had a cistern and a well. The spring was to the left of the house and the barn sat on the right with the well in the front right of the house. If the cistern ran dry there was well water and was pumped as needed. When the summers were dry I remembers climbing into the cistern to clean out the worms and dirt. I can remember being so thirsty I laid down and drank out of the cistern.
