March 3- 29 1961

3rd March 1961

Dearest Mummy,
I’ve just written an A. M. but of course ran out of room so while I remember I must just jot down one or two things. I’ve just forwarded a mysterious card to you from N/Cle – don’t know the writing & it is by sea so will take forever. I would have opened it & enclosed it in mine, but it was too big to go in any of my envelopes.
Addresses coming up:-
Mrs. Barltrop Box 303 R.R.1 Ottawa (off to England yesterday)
Mrs. Davis – don’t know the box number – suggest you send c/o Mrs. Barltrop next door.
Mrs. Lockwood – 15 Seguin St., Cardinal Heights Ottawa 2.
Since you left Marjorie Graham & her Mother have both had flu very badly & quite a lot of other people too, so I’m glad you missed it. There seems to be a regular epidemic & everyone says that they have never felt so ill with anything & that it takes a long time to get over the weakness.

Tuesday – 29th
Thank you so much for all your letters – the last 22nd of Mar. & the one with Charlie’s enclosed & Lindy’s – also please thank A. Muriel for me. I am sorry Easter has crept up & I haven’t sent you any Easter cards. I thought about getting some a few weeks ago, but was in a hurry & left it & since then I haven’t been in any shop except Steinberg’s & IGA but we all send our love and best wishes for a Happy Easter. The children finish school tomorrow & Cec is actually taking today & tomorrow holiday as they are only allowed to carry 15 days of annual leave onto the next year & he has these 2 extra so must take them before 31st or lose them. So we are having a nice long weekend. The weather has been very nice & springy this week but is dull & windy today. Nearly all the snow has gone & there is a big pond down the hill behind, much to the children’s delight! Charlie goes down to catch tadpoles etc. & of course the other day he came in with “a soaker” as he calls it – over his boot tops & dripping! Great fun though!
On Friday Chris Möller (the Danish Prof.g) is coming with us out to the Sugar Bush for Maple Syrup & Sugar. He has never seen it so it is very interested & of course the children love to go & we will have pancakes for lunch! On Easter Sunday George Ritter (the S. African) is coming to have dinner with us. I plan to have ham – won’t the children be disgusted!
I had a letter from Charlie Stainthorpe yesterday, full of news that he is coming a trip to the U.S. & Canada this summer. It is a Cooks tour of 1 month (including Q. Mary & Empress of Canada to & from) so only has 1 day & 1 night in Ottawa but it will be great fun to see him & show him around. Another thing is that it is 12th June he will be here & Cec will be chasing around Europe, but it will be some excitement for me & the children while Daddy is away. He arrives on the Mon. morning from Toronto & stays at the Château Laurier, leaving for Montreal on Tues. morning, so I thought as I will have the car I would drive him around in the morning then we’d have lunch somewhere & come back here in the afternoon for the children & dinner.
Last week I had a most amusing time – we put on an Ad. in the paper to sell the old stove; the youth bed; the green sofa bed downstairs; the old greeny-blue sofa & Cec’s old armchair up here; the baby scales; and the children’s little old wooden table & 2 tiny chairs (we painted them blue). I was answering the phone all day long – & up to 11:45 at night and on Sunday! It was very funny sometimes & all sorts of people came out. In the end we sold everything except the stove & baby scales & made $31, which was quite nice as it nearly pays for one of the new sofas downstairs. They look very nice, by the way, & we have had a grand change around of furniture. We have put your/Lila’s bed up in Charlie’s room & we have moved the big old desk out of our bedroom into the window of the sitting room where the old sofa was! I have been madly washing & waxing floors as everyone brought mud in & men moving furniture etc. all over. I did the whole sitting room, kitchen & bathroom yesterday & the stairs only last Friday, but they had to be refurbished & now I must tackle downstairs.

We had another big excitement last week – THE OPERETTA!! Of course Lindy seemed to do nothing else for weeks previously, but the whole school was immersed in it at the end! They gave it for the school on Tues. afternoon & then public performances on Thurs. & Fri. evenings. We went on Fri. evening & took Charlie – he wanted to see it again & .50¢ a ticket was much less than a babysitter! Myrtle was there & the Knights & Proudfoots & everyone with a child of course & it was such fun! It was called “The Magic Beanstalk” of course, so wasn’t new, but it was so well done – all the costumes & scenery lovely & the singing very good. Lindy was one of the 7 little Chinese girls & they had a song & dance & really they were so sweet. They were the smallest in it & were so little & pretty in their gay costumes & makeup & flowers in their hair that everyone mentioned them & thought they were the nicest! We did too of course! It’s all over now & L. was exhausted but no ill effects. Must stop, no more paper –
Lots of love from us all –
Cyn.