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There was a nice and large yard in Gyergyoszarhegy. My mother adored flowers and the garden. A gardener came from Meggyes, and in the same way parks are set up, he made our flower-garden: in the middle there was a big round flower-bed with a thuja in its center. At the edge of the grass there was a border, and the rose trees were planted there. And between there were pebbles from the mine in Gyergyoszarhegy. It was very nice. This flower- garden was in the front, and in the back there was the vegetable garden, which was separated by a wooden fence.
In addition there was another big fenced yard, where we kept poultry. We mainly kept chickens and ducks. For me it was the greatest experience when the little chicks hatched. I was sitting there all the time watching the little chicks hatch. My father liked looking after the chickens. It was always him who got up first; he recited his prayer, then went out and let the chickens out, as they had a coop where they were locked in. It was a storied coop, the chickens had a ladder they could use to get up to the upper coop, because their sleeping place was there. In the lower part were the ducks, because they couldn't go up. Since there was a streamlet in front of our house, the ducks knew well that if we opened the street door, they could go out, they could go all the way from the house to the streamlet, and after spending a good time there, the little ducks came back. They didn't need to be driven out or in.
We used to eat our own poultry, but not the hens. On weekends my mother always bought a hen from a villager, because we didn't slaughter those we kept at home. Mother used to go out, and had the hens slaughtered at the shochet's. We felt sorry for the hens we were keeping, because they were laying eggs, and so we always had fresh eggs. After a while we did slaughter them, I suppose, but we always felt sad about it. There weren't problems with the chickens, but we didn't let out the hens, they were always within their yard, because they dirtied the sidewalk, the entrance.
In addition there was another big fenced yard, where we kept poultry. We mainly kept chickens and ducks. For me it was the greatest experience when the little chicks hatched. I was sitting there all the time watching the little chicks hatch. My father liked looking after the chickens. It was always him who got up first; he recited his prayer, then went out and let the chickens out, as they had a coop where they were locked in. It was a storied coop, the chickens had a ladder they could use to get up to the upper coop, because their sleeping place was there. In the lower part were the ducks, because they couldn't go up. Since there was a streamlet in front of our house, the ducks knew well that if we opened the street door, they could go out, they could go all the way from the house to the streamlet, and after spending a good time there, the little ducks came back. They didn't need to be driven out or in.
We used to eat our own poultry, but not the hens. On weekends my mother always bought a hen from a villager, because we didn't slaughter those we kept at home. Mother used to go out, and had the hens slaughtered at the shochet's. We felt sorry for the hens we were keeping, because they were laying eggs, and so we always had fresh eggs. After a while we did slaughter them, I suppose, but we always felt sad about it. There weren't problems with the chickens, but we didn't let out the hens, they were always within their yard, because they dirtied the sidewalk, the entrance.
Period
Location
Gyergyoszarhegy
Romania
Interview
Magda Fazekas