Winter Mornings on Flynn's Hill

It wasn't very often that we traveled to Flynn's Hill in the winter, because of the very snowy winters Newfoundland is known for.  But the few times we did, I remember clearly.

Early in the morning, while we were snug in bed under the comforters and quilts, Nanny would make her way down the wooden stairs quietly so not to wake us.  She would start the wood burning stove, as this was the only source of heat for their home.  Slowly the heat rose to the bedrooms upstairs through the iron grate covering the opening in the floor.

We could hear Nanny, now in the kitchen starting breakfast, setting the table and putting the kettle on the stove for morning tea.  The smell of bacon or sausage found it's way up the stairs, luring us out of bed.

The kitchen in my grandparents house was the only room that was fully heated and like most homes was the central meeting place for all things important.  We would scurry down the stairs to the kitchen for breakfast and tea.  I suppose, we did this just as my mother and her siblings had done, and just as my grandfather and his siblings had done as well.

I never thought of that before.

This is a photo of my grandparents house taken from a different angle then what we are use to seeing. The window on the lower level of the house is the kitchen window, that looked out towards the barn. Looking at the type of fence, and it's placement, I would guess this is an earlier photo.

My grandfather states in the letter he wrote "History of the Estate" that he built this house in 1920, and the barn was built a few years later.