31 Acacia Ave., Ottawa
Sunday 23rd Nov.
Dearest Mummy,
Thank you so much for your nice long letter which came on Friday, postmarked the 17th. Also for your last week’s letter – of which I have only received 1/2 as yet! If you remember, you must have written 2 Air M. forms- anyway one arrived on the Sat. I think, postmarked the 8th & with “No. 2” written on, so with great self-restraint I kept it till Mon. being sure the 1st half would arrive then, but it never has- not even on Fri. with this week’s mail, so it is most annoying! Needless to say, I broke down & opened the one I did get long ago, but there was the unsatisfactory feeling of just reading the end of a book!
Last week I was so busy telling you of Dr. Flora’s cruelty & Cec’s promotion that I hadn’t room to tell you much else. Anyway, I sent off the batteries about 10 days or 2 weeks ago- 2 large & 12 small- & I sent them by letter mail & wrote on “Gift” so hope that you won’t have to pay too much duty if any. I am sorry that I was so long in sending them, but at first I didn’t realize you needed them so urgently & then at the moment time just doesn’t seem to mean a thing to me – it just flies by so quickly. For me to get to Bank St. nowadays is quite a journey, so I rang up the Zenith people, & at first found both Mr. Pridhams away, but when they came back they were most obliging & chatty. They have no means of delivery, so they had to mail them to me & I just re-addressed the package & sent it onto you. I also mailed a couple of newspapers or so & will send more & will also promise most faithfully to send the parcel this week. I hung onto it recently thinking I would put your Christmas present in, but Cec & I were talking about it & we have decided to send you a subscription to the Canadian magazine “Maclean’s” instead of a regular present. We intended to send Sat. Evening Post but the mail charges on that are as much as the cost of the magazine so we have chosen the Canadian magazine which is the same type- it comes every 2 weeks & we hope you will like it. Christmas shopping for me this year is just about out I think- to begin with, Lindy is too small to trail around stores – to take her downtown & buy one thing & then come home is all right, but she gets tired very quickly & even if Cec were to keep her on Sat. & let me go down town alone, I really don’t feel much like coping with Christmas crowds. I have decided to send all the girls nylons which I can order over the phone from a store, & I have already got a pair of little red velvet overalls for Irene’s Stephen,
& when I send Dottie the cheque for the curtain material I sent her one for Peter & her to buy something for their birthdays & she insisted it would do for Christmas too, so that only really leaves Sandy & Ruth & the latter will get her “porridge dish”! When the famous curtain material comes (Dottie wrote that she sent it around the beginning of this month) Lee says I may borrow her machine again & I would like to make Linda a little dressing gown for Christmas, but I will have to see how much time I have. We will have to buy her more slippers- you would laugh if you saw the little dirty scuffed up fellows which are the smart red slippers you left her for her birthday! She can still get them on – just – but by Christmas she will certainly need more. The Sheedy’s white boots were a little smaller than the red ones we got her here – I don’t know if the English sizes are different for children shoes or not- anyway she wore them for a while & as they had rubber soles they were fine for not slipping when she was still unsteady, but now I have put them away as I was afraid they may be stubbing her toes & she wears her “Jumping Jacks” all the time & is as firm as a little rock on her feet.
Before I tell you of our activities I must answer your B.P.Xs & also ask you to say thank you so much to Jeannie for the little jacket pattern – maybe I’ll get one made in hospital – I certainly don’t seem to have 1/2 a minute here now! Anyway, despite all the chores & busyness etc. I feel fine & so does Algy! I am sure that it is a good thing to be busy & occupied instead of sitting around thinking of your symptoms like Peggy, because I truly don’t have time to worry or bother – even if I were the worrying kind!!- & the time has really gone so quickly that it hasn’t been a trial at all. Of course I am uncomfortable at times & my tum feels like a cannon ball! – also I get heartburn & cramp in my leg etc. once in a while, but after all you expect those things!
I went to the Dr. last week & was so pleased – I lost 2 pounds after my bad tooth do, so it was worth something. Dr. Smith says I am doing fine – he says he thinks Algy will be about 8 pounds & I certainly feel as if I were bigger than I was with Linda & my clothes feel more stretched!! He says he thinks Algy will be a boy & when I asked “Why” he laughed & said “Well, I must admit for no very good reason!” My feet don’t swell as much as they did in the hot weather – only when I have been on them a lot, but at the moment I am feeling the heat!! The weather has been grey, dull, wet & comparatively mild & I just swelter– poor Cec gets the house nice & comfortably warm & I think I am roasting! I am sorry Peggy is having such an uncomfortable time – I know just how she feels because particularly if I am out at someone’s house or we have people in & I get stuck in one chair, I get so cramped & stiff, & if she has had to have the baby moved so much maybe he hasn’t settled in a nice relaxed position! I hope all goes well with her & that she gets it over with soon – a month from now we should know if we have Algy or Algina!! We haven’t decided on any names yet & have no inspiration. The other morning I went into Linda just in my nightie & she leaned out of her crib & patted my tummy so I said “That is Algy“ so now she says Algy & pats my tummy & seems to quite understand that Algy is a baby – such a clever girl!
Thank you very much for all your hard work over the linen bedspread for me – I would very much like to have it made into sheets for Linda’s bed – the flannel that ones are all wearing & she sticks her little finger in any little slit & says “Hole”! So far she hasn’t managed to make any of the holes bigger, but she will I expect! The mattress size is exactly so there should be at least allowed for tucking in, so you can decide how to divide the b’spread up. In the New Year I will have to get some more sheets anyway I think- a double & a single pair as I am just using week & week about now, so I think it is best to use yours for Lindy’s bed.
I forgot to tell you- Lindy is getting her big teeth at the back. The first one came through with no trouble – we knew nothing about it till the day I first went to the dentist, I came home & Cec told me she had yelled & he had seen it – so I was losing them & she was getting them! Now she is getting the left lower one- (the other was right lower) & it looks very swollen & sore (just one point through) & she is a bit fretty, poor little lamb. Also I had a horrid cold this week & now I am better she is a bit snuffly, so that may be making her a bit miserable too, but she is really a good little girl compared to what you hear with some children & their teeth. She still only has 2 lower front ones, but has a bite like a little crocodile! She is very dribbling & chewy-fisty at the moment, so it is obvious they are bothering her, but I hope it will be over soon. Last week it rained for about 3 days solid & she couldn’t go out, so you can imagine how much Mama got done around the house! – also having a cold & now I do try & sleep each afternoon when she sleeps, so the ironing is piling up again – darn it! Today was lovely though, so hope it continues. Must stop now & will tell you our doings in my next- also plan to write by sea one day & answer all your letters again. Hugs & kisses from Lindy & lots of love from Cec & Me.
A Family History in Letters 