Dear James,
Thanks a lot for the presents you sent me. They are all lovely. The children woke me long before daylight to look at them. We would have sent you some birthday cake but thought the candy would carry better. We haven’t been anywhere since you were here so yesterday being a lovely warm day we walked over to Rood’s. Mrs. Rood had gone to Hubbard so we walked over to Vokes for the rest of the afternoon and stayed for supper. Henry took us home in the sleigh afterward, about 8 o’clock.
(Next morning)
Vokes came for the second cord of wood. It is quite cold again. I got a letter from Anna this morning. I didn’t sleep very well last night. The house was cold when we got home and I drank a cup of coffee for supper. These people are hard to understand, they always make so many wise cracks about city folks a good deal like you do. It seems so silly. Each one knows best about their own way of living and working, why run the other fellow down because he doesn’t know someone else’s job as well as his own? I don’t pretend to know much about farming but I do hope the garden and chickens etc. turn out well and that will speak louder than words.
The wood pile looks good to me as I sit here by the table. Except for that one cord that Vokes took it looks just as it did when you left. We have quite a few big chunks underneath the pile. I piled some of the small stuff in the woodshed yesterday.
We wish you were here. We got a seed catalogue and have been picking out what we’d like to raise. They have the Dolga crab listed there. Well I must get busy at something. We’ll be looking for a letter from you tomorrow. Hope you are well and that Esther is feeling better and your Mother too. Sometimes it seems as tho we can’t stand it any longer here without you or some one with us. It may be better when you are here. Love from us all, Martha