Cucamonga
Feb. 9th, 1890
Dear Auntie & Winfred,
Your letters from yesterday impressed me very much and I
hasten to answer as I wish you are getting better and you will not venture to
do work that is not fit for you till you are entirely well. If the milk and butter gets neglected, don’t you
mind about it. If you are laid up for
weeks by being over ambitious, where will the saving come in? I think now they can all take care of
themselves and why should you worry so much?
Your health has been good but you are not getting younger and it is not
expected you should do so much. Be careful.
Now I want to know what has become of Frank and his wife. You never mentioned them and you say you are
alone. I thought they would have lived
with you when the family was so much smaller.
Do you like his wife, or what reason is there? I feel sorry if you are not comfortable and
satisfied with what he has done. He was
old enough to take a wife and she is not young.
Tell me on your next letter.
We had a letter from Uncle last week and he says the girls
will all write to us soon. There is not
much prospect for Richard in work if we should think of going there. I won't want to work any more land. I should like a little house and lot the same
as Hutchinson and Richard working at something before we receive any benefit,
and we are getting older and most likely the children will not care always to
live here. So if we do not put anything
more on, most likely we shall get just as much for it. I believe land here will be always ___ in
value and we have not got so many home ties as you have to leave. You have been so long there and worked so hard to improve the place,
but after all, we have to leave it sometime.
We wrote to Mr. Adams about our property in Hutchinson. We have not heard from him yet. I suppose
things will be very quiet there now, but we really need money now. We have gotten along so far very sparingly and
we did hope that we would be able to do without a little longer, but it does. Besides land, we don’t seem to prosper in
trying to farm. We have been thinking
that we might make an exchange, but we shall want money as well because land is
so much cheaper than it is here. We don’t
know what to do for the best. We have been
five years here next Friday and we don’t know whether to prove up on our place
or not. We like the climate so much, but
there are so many other drawbacks for us. Other people do not feel it as we do because
they keep horses and cows and can get along somehow. I sometimes feel it is useless putting any more
expense on it. We want a rabbit proof
fence and about twenty acres more plowed and put into vines and then have to
wait five years, and expenses going on all the while is impossible. But I will not trouble you with that as I
know you must be worrying about so many things.
I wish we would see each other once more . I think my tongue would go till you forgot
about butter and everything else.
I must keep you
busy writing to all of them. How is
Annie? Has William got better? What are the girls going to do? They will be useful now if they are
good. Have they been prosperous on the
farm or have they had any losses? Bobbie
I hope is better now. Do you think you
caught cold with going to see him? I remember
you coming to me when __ throat was bad.
What dreadful cold time it was.
It just makes me shudder to think of it.
I never want to go through the same again. It has been very cold here this winter. The glass stood a freezing point and then it
rained for some days, but we do not get too much water where we are. But some neighbors about three miles away –
their land got washed and gulleyed out; but no loss, only work. Sunday morning we had an earthquake, the hardest
I have felt. It lasted, I should think,
about 3 or 4 seconds. It made me feel
rather sick. We were in bed and today it
is blowing a regular Northeaster, a sand storm.
I hope this will be the last for the winter.
Papa is out pruning and Walter gone to school and I have a
fire. The glass stands at 75 in the
shade. I sent your likes to Marion as I
had just been writing to her. She had a
cold, but I hope if the weather keeps warm we shall all pull through. I suppose by you get this Winfred will have
it but he will try to keep up as long as he can.
Write soon as you can.
Best love from all to all.
Affectionately,
M. A. G.
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