It was during those quiet months that father would use his time to repair his fishing nets. This was done in one corner of the kitchen. Father had a knack of using the mending needle, in such a way that the long nets were not spread out around the floor, as fishermen usually did. That always amazed me, as when father was finished the nets were always neatly coiled in a small bundle and carried outdoors to the fish building. It was there that father kept barrels and puncheons of cured fish for the family and for sale. Father was much involved in the fall smelt fishery, as a buyer and exporter. The smelts would be iced and packed in boxes and barrels for shipping. They would leave on the early morning train, destined for the markets in New York , Boston and Halifax , NS. The return on the American dollar in the 30' was ten cents on the dollar. This exchange was shared, by father, with the fishermen even after he paid them in Canadian money at the time of sale. Coming on spring, father would repair his lobster traps in an outbuilding heated by an old pot bellied stove. Fishermen would work long hours in those years, repairing old traps for fishing in order to feed their large families .We would watch father making wood shivers for the traps. He would cut up old leather footwear to make buttons for the trap doors. The boys would help out after school with some of the nailing and shaving of the wood. There was very little waste in those days; it seemed everything we throw away today was used back then. Fishermen would work together tarring their traps in huge outside iron vats and in preparing their boats for launching at the harbour. They would gather large flat rocks from the water's 31