This is the true story of the childhood of Madie Barbara Bayer Krenz and her family. She wrote most of the following by herself from her memory. It is a story of hard times living in the 1880's and 1890's.

This book contains memories of the authors as they lived throughout the 20th century. Life for them started on small Michigan farms that lacked utilities, and ended in a very different modern world. They describe their first experiences with radios, automobiles and airplanes; and their honeymoon trip from Michigan to Washington DC in a Model A Ford at a time before a modern road system existed. The book also contains many poems from their courtship times, as well as stories in verse form that recount the adventures of youth; felling a giant perfectly balanced oak tree, taking a horse and cutter for a winter ice-fishing experience, and other memorable activities of yore.

Reginald--better known as "Dutch"--Thompson is a multi-faceted storyteller with unforgettable voices--those of Roy from Murray Harbour North, Adelaide from Bunbury, Gus from Chepstow, and countless others--to tell the stories of the Bygone days in Prince Edward Island [sometimes NS, too]. Stories that, without Dutch's talent and care, might be remembered only by family and close friends or lost altogether. Remember when the train ran from tip to tip and along all the small branches, taking goods, people, and baseball teams to other parts of the Island? How about when ice cream and two pieces of cakes cost 10 cents at White's Ice Cream Parlour on Kent Street? When lobster was not the gourmet's delight it is now and the backs were used to fertilize the crops? That butchering the pig before a full moon will mean less fat on the meat? Or that it was bad luck to cut your nails on Sundays. From CBC Radio to the pages of this book, you'll hear Dutch's voice encouraging these informative, illuminating, poignant, and hilarious stories from the minds and hearts of Maritimers born between 1895 and 1925, almost as if they were all still here and telling them to you.

Excerpt from Memories of by-Gone Days About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

I suppose I must be one of the luckiest people to be alive! Anyhow, that's how I feel now. Of course, there have been times when I didn't feel this way. These occasions have been several and varied, and I will try to recount some of these in this publication. I will attempt to be reasonably accurate, but please allow some poetic licence, memories alter over the years. As suggested in the title, I will put more of an accent on the humorous side of my life, which has been spent as an agriculturist, or farmer! I have tried to follow a logical sequence, but in some instances have failed miserably. Please be a little tolerant.