HOUSE & lAND
The Smokehouse/Shop, Pigeon House Fly Cage, Chicken House, Tater House & Outhouse
The smokehouse (now the old shop) is located about 25 feet West of the house. Along the left and across the back sides were boxes, about 6 feet long, by about 3 feet wide and deep. These were the "salt boxes" used to "salt down" pork as soon as it was cut up. The meat was kept there until it was taken out, washed, then smoked and cured. Along the right side is where the lard cans, full of lard and some with cracklings were stored.
Southwest of the smokehouse, about 50 feet was the pigeon house and fly cage. This house was about 10 by 12, with nests built along the West wall. The windows to allow the pigeons to get into the fly cage were on the East side.
To the West of the pigeon house was the chicken house. It was about 8 feet by 30 feet. There were roosting poles along the North (long) side and nests along the West, East and South sides. The South wall had chicken wire along an area about 3 feet high for light and ventilation. There was a ramp about midway along the South wall for the chickens to walk up to get inside. A small door could be closed, along with the walk doors to keep foxes and 'possums from getting in to catch the chickens.
The outdoor toilet was located about 30 feet to the northwest of the smokehouse. As noted elsewhere in this mess, it was a "two holer!" There was a wire stretched on both the North and South walls that would hold two Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, Jim Brown, Spiegel catalogs used for toilet paper. The colored pages weren't good for wiping, as they were too stiff and slick. The best ones were the thinner, black and white pages. After wadding them up a time or two, they were about as good as some of the modern tissue of today.
Out to the North of the potato house, there was an old part of a large "laying chicken" house. Daddy once had laying chickens, but had to get rid of them when egg prices went down to about a nickel a dozen. That old house was used for miscellaneous storage until it was torn down.
No comments:
Post a Comment