Belle Stewart Robson

Born in the late 1890s, Bella (Belle) Stewart was the youngest child of Thomas and Mary Walsh Stewart of St. John's, Newfoundland. Belle had two older sisters, Mary (Min) and Ida, my grandmother. There were two other girls, twins, and a boy, Alexander, who died previous to her birth.

Belle lived with her family on Job, then Water Street opposite the railway station. Throughout her youth and into her married life, Belle was close to her sisters, Min and Ida. Like her sister, Min, Belle worked as a stewardess on the boats crossing from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia prior to her marriage. As they married and had their children, the sisters continued to spend time together and enjoyed each other's company. 

     Belle Stewart Robson

William (Bill) Robson, a young man of Scottish ancestry, like Belle's own father, became her husband. They eventually lived on Craigmillar Avenue when those houses were constructed. Bill worked at the dockyard as a brass smith. The Robsons had five children, Robert (Bob), Elizabeth(Bette), William (Bill), Hughey, Mary. 

          Bob Robson

Belle died of cancer in 1956, Bill predeceased her in 1944. After their deaths, the girls, Bette and Mary continued to live in the family home on Craigmillar. Mary had married Thomas Christopher.

Bette's son, Gary, lives in Goulds, Newfoundland with his wife, Donna. Gary and Donna had two children, Tina and Terry. Gary and Donna lived near the retirement home where my Aunt Angela (Pretty) Woodford spent the last years of her life. Gary and Donna were great friends with my Aunt, especially in the last years of her life. It's amazing how the family connection spanned the generations!

Classie Peonies

The peonies are in bloom. During the days that we have them every year, I think of Rick's grandmother, Classie Lawrence Mercer. She always grew the most beautiful deep red peonies. She nurtured them, divided the plants and shared them with family and friends. We had two plants in our garden in Grand Falls-Windsor. I hated to leave them when we moved. One of our first purchases for our garden in Summerside was a peony.

Classie was an avid gardener, working the soil, growing flowers, tomatoes and a variety of herbs and vegetables. She worked the garden before her husband, Dick, died but she certainly had more time after his death.

Richard E. Mercer was very dependent on Classie for everything. In his later years, he didn't do too much for himself. He found it difficult to walk any distance and his breathing was affected because of tuberculosis he had as a young man. He was one of the lucky ones to survive unlike so many of my ancestors.

           Classie and Dick Mercer

I'll never forget the time Dick and Classie were visiting Rick, Claire and I when we lived in Buchans, Newfoundland. I got breakfast, and placed it before Dick on the table. He had juice, toast and a boiled egg. I continued getting breakfast for the rest of us, but noticed that he wasn't eating. I asked if he had everything he needed. He did. 

Then Classie came out of the bathroom and noticing the same thing as I did said, 

"Oh, let me cut your egg for you, my dear."

I watched, flabbergasted, as she cut the top off the egg and Dick started to eat his breakfast. 

So the peonies are in bloom for a few days and Classie is in my thoughts. She was one in a million.

Five Generations

Rick was lucky enough to know his great grandfather, as I knew my great grandmother Hearn. However, his great grandfather, Joe Lawrence, lived to be one hundred and one, so our daughter, Claire, knew him as well.

Joseph (Joe) Lawrence was born in Channel/Port aux Basques. He was the youngest of four sons. His father died when Joe was young. We learned in recent years that his father committed suicide which wasn't talked about in the family. The story was that he had drowned. His mother, Elizabeth, remarried.

Joe married Julia Hardy and they had nine children. They lived in a big house in Channel and Joe was a conductor on the railway. He worked with my grandfather's brother Cyril Pretty, also a conductor, and knew both my grandfather, Sam, and his brother Fred, who were engineers living in St. John's.

I met Joe several times. One of the memories I have of him involves mealtime. Joe liked to eat at 12 noon and 5 p.m. He always made his way to the table a few minutes before those times, sat and hit a spoon off a cup when the clock struck the meal hour. Meals had to be on time! I think years of working the trains and getting a short meal break, accustomed him to expect timely meals for the rest of his life.

      Back, Joe Lawrence, Sylvia Smith

Classie Lawrence Mercer, Rick Smith, Claire Smith

Joe lived his life in Port aux Basques, living with his daughter Leci Farrell after Julia's early death. When he visited Corner Brook and stayed with Classie, his oldest daughter,  and her husband, Dick, he was just as demanding. Classie obliged, smiling when she heard the tingling of the china cup. I guess when you live past one hundred, you can demand service when you want it and people will comply, though not all of them with a smile like Classie.

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The attitudes about suicide today aren't very different from what they were over a hundred years ago. Today, generally, the subject still isn't talked about openly, or with hushed tones. It's as if talking about it will plant the idea in someone's head. In reality, the truth is the opposite. By discussing suicide, we may help someone with such thoughts and his/her family. It may also help the families of people who completed suicide to deal with the aftermath. Shedding some light on the topic of suicide is a big part of a discussion of mental health in general, which is an area needing discussion today.

Cabot Park/Beach, Prince Edward Island...Picnic Haven

Being picnic people, we love the parks in Prince Edward Island. There isn't a fee for day use at the parks and you can use all the facilities. The playgrounds, cook houses and washrooms are clean and well maintained.

      Monkey on bars

One of our favourite places is the park at Cabot Beach. It is on the north coast of Prince Edward Island, about a twenty minute drive from Summerside where we live. The park has numerous picnic tables surrounded by flat grassy areas for day use. (There is a camping area as well which we haven't checked out but it appears to be well used.) We have never had a problem getting a picnic table in the day use part of the park. In fact, we have used the cook house on several occasions when the wind has been too high for the barbecue to work.

                     Ready for lunch

Our granddaughter, Sylvie, was with us the last time we had a picnic and she loved the playground. She had to try each of the teeter-totters with her great grandmother and her grandfather in tow.

                    Cabot Beach

The beach is never crowded, even at the height of the tourist season; a beautiful beach, with red sand, that runs into the sand dunes that define it. At low tide, it feels like the beach goes on forever. The beach is clean and long enough for a great walk. There wasn't anyone swimming that day but it's early in the season. People swim there as the season progresses.

              Alone on the beach

Depending on the time of day, you may see the fishing boats going in and out of Darnley Basin while you're at the beach. They are a reminder of the heritage of the island and the continued importance of the fishing industry to the island today. The boats make the setting feel authentic, not a place manufactured for tourists. A visit to the nearby wharf at Darnley Basin is a nice mix of history and the modern fishery.

      Darnley Basin, a minute from the park

We look forward to our next picnic.

   

The Old Picnic Box

We are picnic people. We love to take a lunch, a stove and/or barbecue and go for a few hours to a park. If the kids are with us, we visit the playground and since we live in Prince Edward Island, of course we visit the beach.

   Sylvie at the playground

Earlier this week, as usual, we took the old picnic box. Certainly there are beautiful new picnic baskets on the market today. However, this picnic box is very special to us. This box was made and owned by Harold and Dorothy (Dot) Ralph, my next door neighbours when I was growing up in Newfoundland. Rick knew them as well.

                  The old picnic box

The Ralphs were originally from Flat Island, Bonavista Bay. This island was re-settled in 1957 and the residents moved to various parts of Newfoundland, a number of them moving to Mt. Pearl where the Ralphs settled. They were hard working people who took their lifestyle with them to their new home. This picnic box was part of their history.

             Flat Island, Newfoundland  

Picture:   www.paddlenl.ca

Harold owned a fishing boat and when he and Dot travelled by boat to a nearby area to pick berries, for example, they always packed the box to take a lunch with them. The box is heavy and stable (for the boat), with the cutlery box inside. The Ralphs gave the box to my parents when they weren't using it any more, and my parents gave it to us. It made the trip from Newfoundland to Prince Edward Island and we dust it off at this time every year.

                    Old cutlery box

A fancy new picnic basket just wouldn't be the same!

                                                            

Ready

It was warm and sunny the other day. We've waited for this weather a long time this year. The snow held on and after it melted we had another big snowfall the early part of April. Then it was cold, windy and wet. Now, looking at the dying days of June, it's warming up.

That evening then, talking to my neighbour for a few minutes in the back yard, I was eaten by mosquitos, at least ten fly bites in as many minutes. It felt like my arms and legs were on fire.

When we were on vacation, Rick and I were impressed with the lifestyles in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The people are out in the parks, plazas and squares, eating outside, walking around the city or town. In our climate, most of the year we are running from the car to a building or house, trying to get away from the cold, wind or whatever weather presents itself that day. Now the weather is beautiful and we're running from the flies, another thing to complain about. 

The thing is, in order to get a few months of outdoor enjoyment, we have to steel ourselves against the insects. Get the bug spray out again, summer's finally here. The insects, like us, are ready for summer!

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Tomorrow is my sister-in-law, Michele's birthday. The age doesn't matter because Michele is young in many ways. A few years ago, after several attempts over the years, she quit smoking. Now she is probably in the best shape of her life as she walks and works out regularly. Michele is getting younger as the years go by.

                              Michele

One of the middle children in a family of seven, Michele was born to Jack and Mary Taylor of St. John's. As such, she is a gregarious person, full of life, fun and energy. She has made her life's work the travel industry which is very suited to such a personality, but her career doesn't define Michele.

Michele is a family person. She and Frank had Mom living in their basement apartment for years and after her own mother's death, her father lived in the house with them for half of each year until his death. Michele is close to her siblings and cousins as well. She is a devoted wife and mother to Frank and Samantha.

A fisherperson at heart, Michele loves the cabin where she and Frank have lots of friends but also lots of peace and quiet. Michele is a kind friend and a wonderful Aunt to our daughter Claire. She has helped us numerous times and nothing seems like it's too much bother or trouble for her. 

Happy birthday, Michele. Have a great day! You deserve it!

There It Was

My in-laws, Melvin and Sylvia, at one time owned cabins on the west coast of Newfoundland. The second cabin was purchased from Sylvia's uncle, Reg, and his wife, Leona, after they tired of cabin life.

This cabin was on a beautiful piece of land, tree covered with enough land cleared for a lawn, driveway, shed, backyard. Eventually Melvin decided to put a large deck on the side of the cabin in addition to the one on the front. By this time there was a little fir tree growing up in the area of the proposed deck. The little tree was beautiful, perfectly even in shape. Melvin decided to build the deck around the tree, to make it part of the architecture rather than just cut it down.

Over the years, the little tree grew and before long it was taller than Melvin and Sylvia. Every year they packed up the cabin in the autumn, put across the gate and returned every spring. The tree grew taller every year until it finally towered over them.

                     Melvin and Sylvia

One of the neighbours across the road always kept watch over the cabin for them every year. People often commented to him about the tree growing up through the deck across the road. Someone mentioned that it would make a great Christmas tree. The neighbour suggested, in jest, that no one had better touch that tree because he had a rifle and was watching over it.

Eventually the neighbour got sick and died. The next spring, when Sylvia and Melvin returned to the cabin, they were shocked to discover the tree had been chopped down and taken away.

As Newfoundlanders say, "There it was...gone!"

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Happy birthday to a very special person, Rick's Aunt Marie. Marie is more than an Aunt to us however. She is a wise friend, confidante, cooking/baking expert, family historian and all round good person. She has a son, Jeff, daughter-in-law, Jana and two grandsons, Bryn and Nick, all of whom she adores.

                                                Two Maries and Georgie

Have a great day, Marie. You deserve the best, always!