Unwinding With Madeleine
Featuring Madeleine Blouin
Retired Teacher
August 6, 2014
North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada
Madeleine was born at a teacherage near Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan in 1922. A teacher like both her parents, she was at the helm of Tulip School—a one-room schoolhouse near Delmas, SK—when she met and married her husband Louis, who farmed in the area.
Madeleine embraced farm life and its many challenges. Almost every spring, her garden was home to the first lettuce, first radishes and first cucumbers, ensuring her top spot in the unofficial garden “competition” with the neighbours. Madeleine and Louis often spent summer Sundays at the Battle River for picnics and fishing expeditions with their five children and various friends, neighbours, and extended family members. During their years on the farm, Madeleine drove the tractor and combine each autumn, harvesting the crop while her husband trucked the grain to storage.
Now almost 93, she still relishes riding in the combine with her sons as they work the family farm, and marvels at how the technology has advanced since her day. Recently retired from gardening, Madeleine is always up for family gatherings, “doing lunch,” card games with friends, shuffleboard competitions, and the occasional ladies-only pool tournament.