Our diaries here are more or less public property, and as we have
been nowhere or seen anything at all exciting since we last wrote,
I am going to copy down from the journals the incidents, if any,
of the last week.
You seemed to appreciate it the last time we
sent you home a copy, but you must forgive if it is somewhat of a
repetition to our numerous letters. The weather, for one thing, is
daily chronicled, as it takes up much of our thoughts, so much in
the future depending on its being propitious just at this time of
year, when the seeds are all sown and the hay almost ready to cut.
_Tuesday_. - Beautiful day, so warm and nice, without being
hot; everything growing, too, marvellously; even the seeds in the
garden, which we began to despair of, are coming up.
The men have been very low, on account of the scarcity of rain;
but we have had one or two thunder-storms lately which, have done
good, and in this climate I do not think one ought ever to give up
hopes. E - - has been painting wild flowers, which at this moment
are in great profusion and variety all over the prairie, most of
the day, varying her work by painting the doors of the room, which
were such an ugly colour, a pale yellow green, that they have
offended our artistic eyes ever since we have been here. I am said
to have wasted my whole morning watching my two-days-old chickens,
supposed to be the acme of intelligence and precocity. The
afternoon was spent in shingling the hen-house. It was only roofed
over with tar-paper laid on to the rafters, which answers well if
the wind doesn't blow the paper about, or that it has not any
holes; but as the hen-house is only a lean-to of the stable, the
roof of which we have been very busily painting, it has been
trodden upon a good deal in getting on and off the roof, and, in
consequence, the paper is much like a sponge, letting any rain in,
and drenching the poor sitting fowls; but with the shingles
overlapping each other on the tar-paper, the roof, will be quite
water-tight.
_Wednesday_. - Our factotum has gone into town, and we are
left in charge, E - - parlour-maid, Mr. B - - scullery-man, and I
cook. We have heaps of mushrooms at every meal, a most agreeable
change to the rice and white beans we have only hitherto had.
_Thursday_. - Hot day. A - - went into town to some meeting at
the Club. We have been dreadfully tormented with mosquitoes today,
also the big "bull-dog" fly, which, whenever the kitchen door was
left ajar, came into the house in myriads; but we find that
Keating's powder most effectually destroys them, and in a very few
seconds. We have been busy making a mattress and pillow for Mr.
H - - , really one does not realise how clever one is until our
genius is put to the test in an establishment like this.
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