Bigger & Better

So after less than 2 years on my great uncle's farm my father wanted to move on to bigger and better. We moved to a very large dairy farm where for the next 8 years with the exception of one year when we lived with my grandparents we worked for an Englishman who owned 2 farms. On one of the farms we just crop farmed and on the other one we also had a large herd of dairy cows. So as a young girl I would have to get up and go out to the barn to feed animals and sometimes help milk the cows before running to change and head off for the 15 - 20 minute walk to school. School was from 8:45 AM until 3:15 PM. When I got home I would have to change and then head out to the barn to start the chores all over again. Sometimes my Mom would ask me to stay in the house and help with dinner preparations. Either way there was never time for play! Thank God we never had homework unless we had missed school and needed to catch up. Winter time there were extra chores like bringing wood from the wood pile to the house as this is what we used for heat. In the summer time there were extra things we had to do like mow the grass, weed the garden, help put the hay up, and canning. I did say bigger and BETTER, right? The most important and best thing about moving to the bigger farm was INDOOR PLUMBING!! Although we had an outhouse on our new farm we did also have indoor plumbing which meant we could have a shower! At the previous place we had to haul the water inside, heat the water in a huge cooker, and then take a bath in the metal bathtub in the basement. No wonder some Amish people only take a bath once a week, and in the winter time there are some who only bathe once every 2 weeks for church and take sponge baths in between........gross! Huh?! Don't think I'm kidding, because I am not! This did not just happen 25 years ago when I was a young girl, it still happens today!