Uncle Clifford & The Girls

This Irish looking gentleman below is

My Uncle Clifford.

He was my father's younger brother

And they were connected by a deep, unspoken bond.

Clifford inherited the old family homestead

Where he proudly raised 3 daughters

that he adored.

A son, Stephen, came

late in his life.

He was well into his 50's

when Stephen was born.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of Blanche (his wife)

or of Stephen.

Uncle Clifford,

Being an Irishman

Had the Irish temper that went with it.

And you never knew quite WHAT was going to

Set him off.

Smash his jeep up in the woods

While driving around?

No problem!

Drop a bottle of pop on the floor &

Let it smash & spill?

Holy Mary, Mother of God...

Pray for your life because you are going to

Get a tongue lashing like none you have ever heard.

I was privy to enjoy several of those

Verbal outbursts

For various offenses.

Some needless.

Most called for~

The difference between an outright accident

and a spill? Ah...One HAPPENS

And ONE is just pure goldurned foolishness...

Yep! You guessed it -

The spilled pop was an avoidable occurrence!

But one of the joys of my life

Was visiting their farm.

That's Judy in the back,

Glenda (left) & Phyllis.

They were allowed to do so many things

That I couldn't do.

They could make mud pies,

(I think we ate some)-ugh :<(

They shared a room.

They could change their bedrooms around

With other rooms in the house.

They were allowed to bake

Whenever & whatever

They wanted.

Oh Yes!

I loved going there!When we got a bit older we were allowed to go

All by ourselves,

To the Falls.

Sorry this is the only picture I have.

The Falls were on the very edge of

Clifford's farm.

It was cool there on the hottest summer day.

There was a series of 3 Falls.

The first one (shown here)

Was about 60' high.

We were warned to NEVER climb

the face of it.

We climbed it too many times

to count.

One time..

when I was being particularly naughty

I threw a shoe over that

belonged to

my cousin, Phyllis.

I also rolled under a fence one time

On the way to the Falls

In one of Aunt Blanche's good coats.

I was NEVER allowed to borrow anyone's coat

after that day.

I never understood that...

hmmmm...

You DO remember that I was

The Naughty One

Right?

Well, the final straw for all involved

Came one day during

Sheep Shearing!

Yep! That's the day I REALLY got in trouble!

Did you ever hear of

Sneezing Powder?

Uh-huh!

Do you know what happens

when you sprinkle

Sneezing Powder

on a sheep...

On a sheep that's being sheared?

Uh-huh!
Let's just say that the sheep doesn't sneeze.

Let's just say that the shearer does.

Let's just say that the perpetrator

Has to walk home

3 miles on long,

lonesome,

country

roads.

Yeah...let's just say that.....
Let's just say

My cousins missed me

for quite a while

that time!