76 It Happened in Iona there. When I did there was always the rosary after work was tidied up in the evening with the three elders taking turns leading it, all hands kneeling on the floor. Since the main meals were around 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., night lunch was around 8 and bedtime by 9. The unfinished upstairs had a charming presence with the bed ticks of chaff being so cosy. When it rained at night it was a heavenly feeling to be so high and dry with the rain pelting loudly just inches away on the sloping and unfinished roof. Occasionally during haying a thunder and lightning storm blew in. If it got close the blessed candle was lit, holy water was sprinkled on the window sills and doorways and the rosary started. Though terrifying at times, these storms were an occa¬ sion for young and old to sense our perilous nature, to seek God's protection and feel his generous providence. Around the house a few things always caught our eye. A special novelty in the parlor was the music box, an unassuming machine that had come there in the early years of the century. It had to be wound up and the music came from large flat metal plates punched in a particular pattern to produce the melody for each selection. The music was delightful with so many of the old pieces available there, but it was only on very rare occasions that the box was brought out. In any case we saw and heard it as quite a machine, a marvel of the old technology. In 1939 they acquired their first radio, a Phinolo, with a cabinet long enough to allow the battery pack to be stored in its back. It had an excellent tone, but was used sparingly. The Patriot, arriving always a day late, was a feature of the Valley household. This was something new for us who subscribed to the Guardian. The Family Herald was another old standby which was probably read from end to end. On one wall of the kitchen was a fair sized cupboard with two doors. This was always referred to as the "post office". In the early 1900s the post office was kept at the O'Shea house there and this remnant of former times remained as silent witness to those days. The Valley homestead was a sort of parallel family, another type of home for us. In fact, we always referred to it simply as "in home". Even though I never enjoyed staying overnight or spending long periods of time there, yet the place surely had its unique charm. It was much quieter, more old-fashioned and much more secluded than our place was. Closeness to the earth and to the cycles of nature was more pronounced. They had many things we did not have: sheep, well, cherry tree, spinning wheel, binder, driving wagon-buggy, family prayer, superior