As an only child living with an elderly couple, Montgomery found companionship in her imagination, nature, books, and especially writing. When she was nine, she began writing poetry and keeping a journal. She also spent time with her Uncle John and Aunt Annie Campbell (her mother 's sister), and their family in Park Corner. There she spent many happy days, playing with her cousins and visiting her paternal grandfather, Senator Donald Montgomery, who lived close to the Campbells. She loved her Cavendish home and Silver Bush (as the Campbell farm was called) in Park Corner. At the age of six, she began attending the one-room school near her grandparents ' home in Cavendish. She completed her early education there, with the exception of one