Dearest Mummy, As you will see from the children’s letters your birthday parcel arrived in good time and of course caused huge excitement! I asked Lindy if I should put it away and she said “Well – it’s such a long time. How about opening it & if Granny has put in more than one thing, we could save one & open one!” so that is what we did! The children were delighted with their gifts – Charlie was a little dubious of the shirt at first – did boys wear such bright shirts! – but he tried it on & it looks so nice & fitted so well that he was reconciled! Thank you so much for my gloves – they are so nice & I am delighted to have them as I have so few nice gloves. I also got your letter with the cheque & will get the shoes & batteries & send them off this week. I was over at the Coin wash at McArthur Plaza last week, so went to Bata & asked about the shoes. They have the exact shoe but in a very ugly yellowy brown, but he has another pair which he says is made on exactly the same last & which looks very much the same to me. This is in the same beige-y colour as yours & he says they don’t come in white. I had no money at the time, so didn’t get them, but will do so this week. Tomorrow we take Lindy to this Dr. Hargadon to see about her front teeth, & then I must begin getting ready for our holiday, as we leave a week on Sat. The weather is still very changeable & has been hot & humid with violent thunder showers, so I hope it gets it all over before we go. Cec is asphalting the driveway – such a job, but it begins to look nice.
This is a bit of a change, because after Linda’s Birthday Parcel arrived a month early from St. Vincent, both the children wrote to Grannie and their letters were included in Cyn’s next. The book that she sent is a guess on my part, but ‘Black Beauty’ seems to fit, the sort of English classic that Grannie might have been able to get in St. Vincent, and certainly guaranteed to make me cry, even though I was not a mad-about-horses girl reader. I’m not sure I ever re-read it, which was not the usual pattern, but the 1957 edition I have could easily have been with me for 60 years!
Dear Grannie,
We went to swimming lessons all last week and the week before, I didn’t learn to swim but I got the idea.
Daddy went away on a trip as you probably know. He brought me home a Royal Mail coach for my train. You should see it. You put the mail bag on a hook. The mail coach comes along, picks it up and throws it out again in a little box.
The other thing I want to tell you is that I won a prize at Sunday School. It was a picture to hang on the wall.
And thanks for the shirt you sent me.
Love from Charles
XXXXXX
Dearest Grannie,
I am writing to tell you that we received your birthday parcel and opened it right away. Mummy took one parcel but I opened the one with the book and doll skirt in. It’s very cute. All the afternoon I was crying over the book but I like it in spite of that!
Now that I have finished swimming lessons I can swim. I can swim beautifully on my back but I don’t do half so well on my front which is rather a pity I think! We go to the cottage next week and I hope I learn to swim well there. Love Linda
P.S. Say hello to Doris and Luenda do for me. L.C.
Dearest Mummy, It was two weeks ago today that I posted my last letter to you in Montreal when I was with Mary Egan, and it seems more like two months ago! Cec has been home for more than a week and we are beginning to feel that he was never away, although my goodness, we were glad to see him! I might as well begin right away and tell you of our doings and then I can answer your letters and say thank you properly. I think I told you of Flora W. coming to tea one day with the baby, and then the next day Mrs. Bowen invited me to tea- this was really because of “My Position” and she also invited Marjorie as Past President and Gertrude Pierce who is President of the Altar Guild, but it was very nice anyway. Marjorie’s Mother was there too and Mr. Bowen and we all had quite a chatty time. The next day (Fri. 9th) I took Ruth Lockwood to Almonte to the Woollen Mills Shop. Of course when I suggested it to her before Cec ever left I had great plans to buy all sorts of things, but after my great dress spree I had no money, and Ruth wasn’t much better, so we really went for fun! Ruth actually took a piece of material and matched it, so we didn’t completely waste their time, but actually I was very glad to see what they had and how the prices compared so that in the Fall I can plan what to get if I want to go again. They have very nice sweaters of all shades as well as woolen material, and also blankets. The latter of a mixture of rayon and viscose and something else, as well as the pure wool ones, and I was thinking that for Charlie it might be better as he finds the wool too hot. We had a picnic lunch on the way back, and although it wasn’t warm enough to make us want to get out and recline on the grassy sward, it was very pleasant sitting in the car with the windows open! During the week I had a phone call from Lila who is back in Ottawa for two months, so I invited her to come to dinner on the Sunday. It turned out to be a nice hot day – one of the few we’ve had – so we had it out in the garden and I cooked meatballs and chicken livers in bacon on the little grill. They got a bit burned, but Lila is a polite girl and said she liked the charcoal flavour! Myrtle annoyed me immensely by peering at us, and talking and as she had laryngitis we’d all have to stop and listen and say ‘Pardon’ and in the end never know what she was talking about. By the time Cec got home I could hardly be civil to her. She was in and out and on the phone every day and she’d be saying “What are you doing now?” and “Where are you going today?” until I felt I had an inquisitor on my heels. The day I went to Montreal she phoned me after 10 at night and demanded very indignantly “Where were you all day?” As you can imagine this did not go down very well with me! Next day- Monday- was the day Charlie S.[Stainthorpe] was to be in Ottawa. So after the children set off to school I dashed around and made beds etc. and then about 8:40 a.m. I phoned the Château Laurier and asked for him but they said he hadn’t come yet, so I left a message with my phone number and about half an hour later he called me. He had just arrived after a night in the train from Toronto and hadn’t had breakfast yet, so I suggested that I would come for him at 11 o’clock, and if he felt like it he could stroll up and look at the outside of the Parliament buildings as I knew I would never find a place to park there. I’d given the children their lunches, so I got organized and set off in my new blue patterned dress and black hat that Mary and I made and we duly met at the right time and place. Charlie is just the same – a little more paunchy, but full of pep and enthusiasm and having a wonderful time. We went to the car at once as he had been up to Parliament Hill, and I set out to show him Ottawa. I can’t say it was much of a success as a guided tour, as he was having so much fun telling me about Ruth and the boys, and all the things he done on his trip and the things he’d seen that I didn’t have the heart to keep interrupting him and saying this is this and that is that! However, we went around the Driveways and Dow’s Lake so he must have had a favourable impression. Unfortunately the tulips had just completely finished and not much else was in bloom and the same applied to our garden, but everything was beautifully green and springy looking. We got to the Champlain Island in the Ottawa River just around 12, and I showed him the rapids, and the log booms higher up, which interested him very much, and then I suggested that we have just a light lunch in the restaurant there, and he thought this was a good idea. We had toasted Western sandwiches and coffee, and he’d not had such a sandwich before and he thought it was a beautiful restaurant so it was nice to please him. Afterwards, I took him over the bridge and down through Hull and he saw the view from that side of the river, and then we went down Sussex Drive, past N.R.C. and the Prime Minister’s and Governor General’s etc. and through Rockcliffe Park. On the way home we passed Steinberg’s and Loblaw’s and I told him I shop there, and then I suddenly thought he might like to see one, so back we went and I took him through Steinberg’s much to his amazement and interest! He bought some cherries to have on the train next day and then saw some corn and asked if that was what it was, as their Courier had said they hadn’t lived until they had eaten corn on the cob, so of course I got some, although it was not in season, so it wasn’t very good, but at least he’d have some idea of what it is like. We got home around 2:30 I think, and we sat chatting for a little, and I noticed that he was looking a bit droopy eyed, so I suggested that he should lie down and have a little nap, so I think he was very happy to do so. I was happy too, as I shut myself in the kitchen and managed to get the dinner well on the way. I had a chicken casserole with bacon and mushrooms, mashed potatoes, fresh asparagus and corn on the cob, and then afterwards a strawberry shortcake. I found it very hard work with both Lila and Charlie being both host and hostess and missed Cec so much – it is really hard to entertain and cook and serve dinner at the same time! The children came in from school while Charlie was still asleep, and we crept around for a little while, and then he stirred so we made tea and I introduced them. They were very tickled at some of Charlie’s English expressions and of course we got so muddled up with the Charlies that we had to say Big Charlie and Little Charlie! Big C. brought them both pretty little egg cups and spoons with the arms of London on, so they were very pleased and I was glad that I had the things to give him for Ruth’s boys. I was quite glad that he had grandsons because whenever the children suddenly got uproarious, or were particularly child like he would say “Just like Richard and Michael!” and look quite pleased!
Charlie (in the back) with Ruth, Richard, Michael, and Peter Haynes in England.
He was tired after his night in the train, and they were off to Montreal early in the morning so we drove him back to the Château soon after 8 o’clock, and this suited me fine as I didn’t want to keep the children out too long. It really was nice seeing him again and he seems very contented with his life now. I suggested he try a trip to the West Indies, and he said that you had said so too, and he seemed quite interested so you might be seeing him next! On the Tuesday Fanni had very kindly invited us all to a barbecue supper, so this was a lovely free day for me, without even dinner to prepare. Unfortunately it was as changeable as all this peculiar summer has been, and about 4 it clouded over and began to pour with rain, so we couldn’t sit outside doors after all. Teddy has built a lovely new fireplace outside and we were going to christen it but we had a nice time anyway. Talking of christenings the Bowen’s smallest girl, Patty, aged four had me very puzzled the other Sunday – she kept telling me that she was going to – – – – and that I should come to this – – – – and there would be nice things to eat! I couldn’t make out what the word was and asked her again and again and finally got it – a “bastism”! Next day, Wednesday, I set out on my trip to Montreal. I gave the children their lunch and arranged for them to go to Mrs. Lockwood’s after school, and then dashed around and did a few chores before I set out at 9 o’clock. It was really a perfect day for driving, as it was sunny but quite cool, so I wore the navy and white checked outfit you helped me buy before you left, and my pink straw pillbox hat. I took just about the three hours to drive the 120 miles, and felt very proud of myself as I only got lost once in the city, and then I drove in onto a side street and found myself on the map! I found a parking lot very near the bus station and was there at 12:05 to find Mary just arriving. She looks practically exactly the same – no gray hairs and just about the same figure, but of course her complexion is 10 years older, like mine! We set off and found an Italian Restaurant nearby, and decided to take our time, and ordered a bottle or rather a half bottle of white wine and sat there sipping and talking and eating for two hours. We showed one another pictures of our children and told one another about our families, and caught up on our friends and their children and had a thoroughly good time! Mary had stayed one night with Olwen and Noel in Vancouver (3 children) and I was wrong – I thought Noel was a teacher but he is with an advertising firm. I was very amused because apparently they loathed Canada to begin with and a few years ago went back to England, and although they both worked there they couldn’t make enough money to live on! Not, I gather, in the style to which they would like to be accustomed! So they returned to Canada, but for Mary’s few remarks it sounds as if Owen is still quite affected. Mary’s mother and Gerard were meeting her at Prestwick, and Gerard was lending her his car, so she hopes to get around and see everyone. She is then going home via Rome, and Gerard will go there with her, and then she goes on to Singapore and so home. She has left the 2 girls in a convent boarding school where Ann already goes, but the young one just for the term, and the three boys and Michael are looking after each other. She seems to have very much the same kind of life as I do I think, and seems very contented. After our long lunch we went and looked at the shops a bit and I got some candy to take back to the children and Mrs. Lockwood, and then before long it was getting on for 4 o’clock. I wanted to leave before the evening traffic rush began, and Mary wanted to be back before too late as she was staying with a young English couple, so we had a cup of tea and said goodbye and I was home soon after 7. My activities still weren’t over though, as this was the evening of Mr. Bowen’s presentation, so I got tidied up a bit, and then went over to the Lockwood’s and took Mrs. L and Linda and Charlie down to the Church. There has been a great mix-up over the parish letter telling the people about the Bowens’ leaving and asking for subs. etc. – in fact it was never sent, and in the end the Wardens had to ask some of us in the Guild to phone everyone, so we were quite relieved to find there was quite a nice crowd there. The Guild served tea and coffee and cookies, and then the gifts were presented – very nice leather briefcase to Mr. Bowen and a set of dishes to Mrs. Bowen and a cheque ($100). The dishes were exactly the same as my blue Wedgewood, but yellow as Mrs. B wanted those, but I didn’t think they were as pretty as mine. We also gave a cheque to Mr. Trumbull the organist (Mrs. Rothwell’s lodger – remember?) as he wouldn’t accept a salary apparently. He is leaving Fairfield School so of course leaving Mrs. R and the Church too. I didn’t stay to the end of the social as I had the children, but it was quite pleasant and I think that the Bowens were pleased. Next morning I blessed Mary Orr, as this was the day that she had talked me into going and helping her with this lunch. The Save the Children have a Dog Show every year apparently at Ashbury College and Mary and some of the other women provide and serve lunch for the dog show judges. It really wasn’t hard work, as I had to be there at 11, and about 4 of us set up card tables and then one long buffet table table with the food on it – all cold- in the gym. We served about 25 people and then had our own, but had no washing up or anything, and as they all trickled in a few at a time there was no rush. I left about 2, and went to the Coinwash and did my washing! Did I tell you that the washing machine had passed out? Cec says the motor has burned out and we don’t feel inclined to spend $50 or more for it, so we have decided to leave it until after the holidays, and then decide what we’ll do and in the meantime I take my washing down to the good old Coinwash. The next excitement that week was the Sunday School Picnic, which was at the same place as last year – the big park at Hogs Back. It was a lovely day, and it was really very nice. It began at 10, and I took Joanne with L. and C. and they ran races all morning and then had lunch- hot dogs and pop and ice cream! Afterwards there was a Treasure Hunt and some silly races for adults. They had made me join in the throwing the raw egg business as they had last year and I gave a great heave up into the air and it nearly came down on a man’s head! It was all over around 2, so that gave us a nice time to get home and have a great bath and hair wash do for Daddy coming home! It was rather a pity that we had to miss this Sunday in Church as it was Children’s Sunday with all the presentation of Sunday school prizes etc. Not only that, but the Service was taken by the children too, and they had asked me if Linda would read one of the lessons. I had to explain that we wouldn’t be there, and I didn’t tell Lindy as I knew how disappointed she would be, but her Sunday School teacher told her and of course she was quite sad. They both got prizes, but someone else had to take them for them. On the Sunday morning we were all set to leave at 10, as Cec’s plane was due in at 1:35, and I thought we’d get there in good time and have some lunch and watch the planes. However I decided to try and check before I left Ottawa, so I phoned BOAC, but after a lot of hoo-ha they told me if I called in 2 hours they would be able to tell me when the plane got in! This was ridiculous of course, as we’d be nearly in Montreal by then, so off we set anyway, and had quite a nice drive, though the children got a bit bored! We stopped by the side of the road and had picnic cookies and milk and coffee, and we got to the Airport just at 12:30. We parked the car, and went into the Terminal and to the BOAC Enquiries, and asked about the plane and the girl said calmly “Oh, that flight has been cancelled.” I was so infuriated, particularly as it turned out that they had known for hours, and must have known when I phoned in Ottawa. However, they said Cec would arrive at 4 o’clock, so we had lunch and resigned ourselves to a nice long wait. Fortunately there were a few drug stores etc. open in the concourse, so we bought Linda a book and Mummy a book, and Charlie 2 little matchbox cars, and amused ourselves as best we could! Watching the planes was very disappointing, as they arrive and take off behind another building, and although they have a lovely terrace and viewing deck, one can see nothing! Time passed and who should I see the George Lindsay, off to Halifax, so we chatted a little while – by the way, I don’t think I told you that they have been posted for 3 years to the Italian Riviera! For once, June has nothing bad to say about this move! Getting on for 4, we went and checked on the plane again, and this time they told us 4:30, and of course, we finally saw Cec at about 5! But it was worth waiting for him!! We drove home, and on the way Charlie began to wilt, so I gave him a car sickness pill, and he dozed and slept most of the way. When we got home though he didn’t feel like eating any supper, so I took his temp. and it was 102, and the eczema behind his legs was a mess – all broken out in yellow pustules, and looking so sore and inflamed. So that was a sad ending to our day. However, we were all so happy to have Daddy home, and he brought Linda a lovely little Dutch doll with wooden shoes which take off, and for Charlie from England lots more tracks for his train, and a dear little Royal Mail Van. Also all sorts of souvenirs – a model of the Little Mermaid from Copenhagen – a carved wooden statue of William Tell from Switzerland, – a Delft tile from Holland,- some table mats with views of Cambridge. My big present was a seascape by Van Gogh from the Modern Art Gallery in Amsterdam, and of course we had the children’s pictures waiting to surprise him, so we are going to have some framing done! Cec and I have always wanted a sea picture and I like this one very much – I told Cec I had to laugh when he wrote and told me he had bought it as he carefully said he had bought this picture by Van Gogh and then added (reproduction)! Poor old Charlie got to bed, and to sleep and Cec and I talked our heads off. He saw Charles Courtois in Belgium, Langseths and Boks in Copenhagen, Klemans in Stockholm and Fischers in Lucerne – all people who have been over here at the C.ouncil – and they were all so kind to him and gave him a wonderful time. In England he visited Miss Lefroy and Chris as I told you, and also Gunborg and the girls as well as 2 ex-Fellows of NRC, then he went up to Birmingham University and stayed there with a Prof. whom we had met here, and then onto Cambridge where he stayed as a guest of St. John’s College. In Cambridge he visited his friend Dick Chapman who was our best man, and also various scientists he knew, and then on the last evening he found he was free, so he phoned Anne Winnick. She was out, but he finally got her old mother to realize who it was and she told him that Anne was at the Arts Cinema, so he went there and nearly gave Anne apoplexy to find him waiting there for her to come out! He went home with her and her friend (the new Headmistress of Coleridge) and saw the children, and then to the friend’s house for supper. I just wish I’d seen Anne’s face of amazement! Didn’t he cover a lot of ground and people though? And what do you think – he wasn’t home two weeks when he got an invitation to attend an International Symposium next year in JAPAN and give a paper! He is not at all keen, but it is a great honour and he is definitely among the Greats of the Physics world. Dr. Herzberg and 2 other famous scientists are to give long papers, and then about 20 scientists from all over the world give shorter ones – these including Sir Gordon and Dr. C. C. Costain! It isn’t until the Fall of next year, but he is disgusted because he has to write this month and say what his paper will be on and he doesn’t know what he will be doing all that time ahead! We only hope that this won’t put a spoke in our plans for 1963. Poor little Charlie was still very poorly on the Monday so I kept him in bed and had Dr. Whillans. He had a very sore throat, and Dr. W. said it was a strep throat, and that he wondered that he could be so cheery as it looked so sore. His legs were a bit better, but he gave me some ointment for them and some penicillin pills for the throat, and really, they worked like a charm, and by Tues. he was feeling so much better. I was glad as I had a big Guild Coffee Party on the Wed. morning. I had invited the past executive committee and the new one and various people like Pat Tomlinson and Mrs. Martin – making about 20 altogether, so it was a relief that Charlie was feeling better. It turned out to be a pouring wet day, and everyone was saying “What a day to have a party”, but they all came just the same, and everyone seem to have a nice time. Charlie was well enough to go back to school on the Friday, and work with him at home, and not having a car and staying quietly at home it was quite a nice change from my wild dashing about! A little goes a long way when all the other jobs are piling up just the same. Cec began working around the garden that weekend, and it really has been lovely, but the weather this summer has been so strange for Canada. We never seem to have had more than one or two fine days in a row, and we have had so much rain – heavy thunder showers, and sudden drenching downpours, and then sunny but cool – just ideal for the gardens, but not settled summer weather at all. Actually, Cec was saying the perennials have done wonderfully this year but the annuals are doing very poorly – however the tomato plants recovered and although they haven’t much in the way of fruit yet at least they are alive. The people who are on holiday now will be very disappointed as we have had a lot of rain and it hasn’t been swimming weather at all.
The next week was the children’s last week at school, and I took them to the dentist one day too. Both with small holes, and Linda is to go to a periodontalist (?) to see about her front teeth coming to a point. She is quite resigned the thought of wearing “bands” as most of her pals in school do anyway! They both did well in their reports, and now Linda is in Grade 6 and Charlie Grade 5 – big kids!
Cec has now started work on the driveway – first of all he is lifting all those big flag stones at the front door and putting fill underneath and levelling them out and now he is going to put new asphalt on the driveway itself. He then has to re-tar the roof – both such horrid messy jobs. I can’t remember if I told you that while Cec was away I finally booked us a cottage for the first two weeks in August. We had looked over the literature previously, and decided on one or two that looked nice, and I wrote and one of the places was booked up and the other had a cottage, so I booked there. It sounds good – on a lakefront, with a sandy beach, indoor plumbing, refrigerator, and electricity of course, inner spring mattresses and boats to hire, so I hope it turns out as good as it sounds. It is due west of here and is north of Toronto in a part of Ontario called the Haliburton Highlands, and it is supposed to be very beautiful country, so I hope we’ll have a good time. We leave here on 29th July and stay there for 2 weeks, then we plan to drive down to Stratford to see the matinee of “The Pirates of Penzance” and then go on to Merle for the weekend before coming home. Last week was the first week of the children’s holidays, and I had booked them both for swimming lessons at the YWCA. Charlie’s lessons were from 10 to 10:30 and Lindy’s from 10:45 to 11:15 so they fit in very well. They were both quite excited about them and then of course on the Sunday poor Charlie’s eczema all broke out again, and he had a temp. once more. I called the Dr. on Mon. and he sent out some more penicillin pills, and I kept putting the ointment on them, and then suddenly he threw up his breakfast. However, he wasn’t sick again and by the evening I could give him a pill and he was feeling fine and hungry! Of course he couldn’t go to his swimming lesson though but, I took him along to watch Lindy’s and the teacher suggested he come and watch his own classes and that is what he did until Friday when he was O.K. and could go swimming himself. His legs cleared up and I came to the conclusion that it must have been a slight tummy flu because on Thursday and Friday I was quite off, and very achy and tired. They are both loving the lessons though and on the very second day Lindy took off and swam across the pool! I am not allowed to watch but she says she can swim on her back and that they are going to learn to dive and can hardly bear to come away from the lesson. The teacher is a young teenager, but the classes are nice and small – not more than 12 and Lindy’s has now dwindled to 4, so they get lots of attention. Of course I spend my whole morning in town spending money and drinking coffee and getting no work done!
The previous Sat. we had Chris Møller out to dinner as his time here is getting short, and then last week Boris and Joan had a Cocktail Party as a farewell for him. I hadn’t been feeling too good that day, but I was able to sit and drink a little reviver and felt better. On this Sat. I had a dinner party and had Teddy and Fanni and Alec and Phyl and a young Portuguese couple from the Council to a cold buffet. I had soup first – crab bisque – then I had cold Gaspé salmon, cucumber sauce and then a salad plate, and a Hawaiian chicken salad with hot French bread- oh yes, and I forgot- a plate of cold meats and stuffed eggs, then after, a strawberry cake. Everyone seem to enjoy it and afterwards we showed some of Cec’s pictures – he hasn’t got them all yet- and Teddy showed some of his, and then we went downstairs and played darts and did jigsaw puzzles! It was really fun though and I had a good time too! Yesterday I washed up! Well, at last I have caught up with ourselves – I have been writing this letter for three weeks, but what with Charlie being sick, and swimming lessons and one thing and another the time has flown. I am so sorry that it has been so long, but I know you will forgive me. I still haven’t answered your nice letters but I think that I will have to leave that till my next or I will never get this away. As Guild Pres. I am now on the Church Advisory Board, and they have been putting me to work with regard to the rectory. We are getting it all painted inside for the new rector, and today I had to go and get the painters and show them the place and see about the paint and take down the curtains and send them to be cleaned. Tomorrow we begin swimming again – 4 more lessons this week – and so I will be off on the spree again! Must stop – will write soon again and we all send much love to A. Muriel and lots of love and hugs to you, from Cyn.
Cyn’s birthday was April 3rd. In her letter of June 3rd, she had told her mother that there still had been no sign of the birthday parcel that Carol had no doubt mailed in early March! Not only had there been her birthday presents and treats for the children inside it, but Carol had also included some items she thought would sell at the Anglican Bazaar that Cyn’s Ladies Guild had held in May. And just days after that last letter, Cyn sends another one because the parcel has finally turned up!
2043 Montreal Road, Ottawa 2. Ontario. 8th June, 1961
Dearest Mummy, At long, long last your birthday parcel has arrived! Many, many thanks! I am delighted with my petticoat and panties, and you should have heard Linda’s squeal of delight when she saw your old red poppits! She is going to wear the yellow hair fastener tomorrow with the yellow dress you once sent her. Charlie has been walking around in his sun glasses although it was a nice rainy day! The baskets and hats are fine – the hats are a bit squashed but I have just been steaming them and they are all right now I think. It is such a pity we didn’t have them for our handiwork stall as I think they would have looked very gay and attractive, but I am having a coffee party in a little while and will show the girls and if anyone wants to buy I will sell the things, and if not I will put them away for next year. It was very sweet of you to send so many things for us and I know all the girls will appreciate it. Ruth Lockwood just phoned me after dinner to say that she had had such a nice card from you, so I don’t know if it took as long as the parcel. I also got your typed airmail of June 1 and think that you did very well. Don’t worry about mistakes – when you type letters to me just try to buzz along and you will soon find it not such a chore and you will get quicker. Obviously I don’t worry about mistakes! But if you are being too careful it slows you down unless you are an expert. I wrote to you just on Monday and already it seems long ago. One thing is piling on another, and unless I am careful Charlie will be coming to dirty floors and dusty house! On Tuesday morning I went over to the N.R.C. on Montreal Rd. and helped at the Blood Donor Clinic. There were 6 of the Scientists Wives there including Sheena and me, and we served orange juice or coke to the people before they gave blood (my job) and some checked cards and helped the nurses, and then the others served coffee and cookies and doughnuts afterwards and gave them little tokens. It was interesting and quite fun, particularly as I met all sorts of our neighbours! I took Sheena home with me for lunch and she stayed chatting all afternoon until tea time. She is expecting, did I tell you? We had a nice time, but of course I got nothing done. On Tues. evening it was the Guild meeting and I had asked Eddie Savic to sit with the children, but he got a stiff neck, so kind Peter came instead. I went to the meeting and was duly elected president. We also presented Mrs. Bowen with a nice aluminum tray and six coasters to match. It was very pretty – quite big with a handle at each end and a design of pinecones beaten into the polished aluminum. She seemed very pleased with it. On Wed. a.m. I dashed around and then at 10 o’clock set off for Mary Orr’s with all the paraphernalia to make my hat! It was very intriguing to watch her swathe the tulle and try it this way and that until we were satisfied. It is a small turban shape and made of a kind of nylon lace stiffened. Then over this Mary has draped black tulle with velvet spots to give a slightly bouffant look! I have some pretty little mauvy-blue flower clusters which I am to place hither and thither! I think it will look very pretty, but since then I haven’t done a thing to it, but I must finish the creation for Sunday. When I came home I got the children’s lunch, then washed all the windows in the house and washed and polished down the stairs and the downstairs bathroom. Then, at 4 o’clock Flora Wansbrough came to tea with the baby! She had left the little boys at a party, but Linda and Charlie were very amused at watching the baby get her cereal – and of course the baby loved the attention and laughed and chuckled and splurted cereal and was a riot! She is a lovely chubby little thing now and Flora is looking well. Flora left at 6, and we ate dinner in a rush and then Charlie was off to Cubs, and I had to go and pick him up at 8.00 so that’s how the time flies. This morning I decided I had better go downtown to the bank as I wouldn’t get another chance before next Wed. and I wanted to have a decent amount when I go to Montreal. I took Mrs. Martin down and dropped her there and then did a few things, and I got a pretty handbag with your five dollars for my birthday – thank you very much! It is black patent leather with sort of tapestry sides with a rural scene! I wanted black to match my black patent leather shoes and both my new coat and my pink suit are trimmed with black, but I felt that plain black wasn’t very summery, so I am delighted with this – it is quite plain inside, and nice and roomy. So I am now really well fitted out. I certainly am glad I got my coat when I did as it has been cold and rainy so much since, and I have worn it practically every day and got so many compliments.
After being in town – by the way I got some small things to give Charlie for Ruth, and the boys as I hadn’t sent them any birthday presents this year. Ruth, a very pretty brooch – I would like to keep it myself! – Richard a small pocket knife with a Mountie on it, and Michael a pair of those slippers socks. Then I went to the coinwash and as well as my wash did a blanket and the loose cover off the sofa- I found I had enough material to replace the entire seat, so I put it in and then washed it to make it all the same colour! It was after 2 when I got home, and I was to be at Mrs. Bowen’s for tea at 3! Rush, rush, rush! Tomorrow Ruth Lockwood and I are going on a little expedition to Almonte – a place near Carp where there are woolen mills and a mill shop, and we are going to look over the woolens. I suggested it to Ruth before Cec ever left, and now I really have no money for material but we are going for the fun of it anyway and will have a picnic lunch. I only hope it is a nice day – today poured solidly till about 3 o’clock. Lila phoned up the other evening and is back at N.R.C. for 2 months, so of course I asked her out, and we are collecting her at 3.00 on Sunday afternoon, and she will have dinner with us. The children think this social life is wonderful – when Cec gets home I will be glad to be carless and forced to stay at home for a while! I must stop now as I am tired and as you will see the mistakes are increasing! I am enclosing two hair nets, and hope that they are all right. I didn’t know if you preferred nylon or hair or what – you will have to let me know when I get you some more. You have me full of curiosity over this mysterious expensive birthday present you thought of sending Linda! I am glad you found something more reasonable, but do tell me what it was! Much love to Auntie Muriel, hello to Doris and big hugs and kisses from the children. Linda is very pleased with herself this week because 1.) she has lost 2 of her 8 year old molars – one of which she pulled out herself! and 2.) there was a Dominion Test at school in Vocabulary and Comprehension and she was top of the class in both. Out of 75 words she got 72 correct and she got all the other test correct – clever girl. Charlie says “Well, I wasn’t the best in my class, but I wasn’t the worst either!” Lots of love from Cyn.
Dearest Mummy, You seemed to approve of the type written letter and feel that it encouraged you and your typing out effort, so I am very happy to continue that way, as it really is much quicker than writing and I do get so much more on the page. The children enjoy getting your typed letters and think you are doing very well. I do too, but you mustn’t peek – better to have mistakes, because otherwise you will never get any speed if you stop to look and see what you are doing! Thank you so much for both your letters -14th and 26 – I am very sorry that I have been so long in writing, but I have had a kind of cold, or rather a sore throat, and I felt rather ‘punk’. Charlie had a bit of cold and sore throat the weekend before Cec left, and I kept him home from school on the Friday, but it cleared up quite quickly only unfortunately I caught it and it turned into real hanging-on thing with me. It didn’t develop too much the first week – I had a sore throat and kept expecting it to turn into a real cold but after we saw Cec off at the Airport it went up into my sinuses and I got earache that night and puffy all round my eyes and felt miserable. I don’t know if I got chilled standing waiting for the plane to take off or if it was just developing but all weekend it was just the same so on Monday I phoned your friend Dr. Kastner and he told me to come in that afternoon as there were a lot of strep throats around. He gave me a penicillin shot and penicillin tablets to last a week, and I have been gradually improving, and feel pretty well back to normal now – not very energetic though! Dr. K.’s nurse was enquiring for you and I think it was that same day that I had a phone call and here it was Basil’s wife, Win is it? We had quite a little chat and she seemed very nice and said that they would come and see us if they were in Ottawa. She was very complimentary about you too, and said how much they had enjoyed meeting you. She told me that Helen Hadley had been there but was now in Toronto after settling Sally in a job with Bell Telephones – apparently she couldn’t get into – was it T.C.A. she wanted? – and they had quite a time getting her something, but it was all fixed now. Helen was to go home soon I think she said so I don’t expect that I will see her. Next week Charlie arrives, and what do you think – it never rains but it pours – I am also meeting Mary Egan! I had heard from Nan that she was visiting England this summer [from Australia] but thought nothing of it until last week I had a hasty airletter saying that she was flying via Canada, and after stopovers at Vancouver (where she will see Olwen and Noel – remember?) Banff, Calgary and New York, she was going to Montreal to stay with someone for two days before flying to England. She went on to say that she understood that Ottawa was close to Montreal so could she pop over to see me or could we meet somewhere. Of course she barely gave me a week to reply as she was leaving on the 3rd and didn’t tell me her address in Montreal or anything so I dashed off a reply and said I would meet her in Montreal bus station at 12:15 by the bookstall on 14th June, as Ottawa was 120 miles away and by the time she reached Montreal she might be glad to stay still for a day or so. So – I only hope that she gets my letter and that we do manage to meet – it seems very haphazard somehow! It will be fun seeing her after 13 years, and I must look my best! Last week my hair was long and straggly and I felt a wreck, so I went over to Emil and had a hair do. He cut it quite short and straight and trim across the back and gave me nice fat curly bangs and short sides, and everyone has been complementing me on it. Except the children that is -they just groan and say ‘But it doesn’t look like you it’s awful!’ I must say that I feel quite happy not to look like me for a change! (P.S. Mrs. Emil doesn’t make the flowers – she just sells and rents them – they are plastic. [This is a reference to their Bazaar decorations mentioned in the last letter. They were successful there but Cyn would not have been a customer!]) I had determined that the first week that Cec was away I would do some sewing, so despite my indisposition I began on my pink suit on Monday and was able to wear it at a dessert party of Marjorie Graham’s on Wed. afternoon. The lining wasn’t too much extra and it does make it look much nicer I think, and it looks nice – not homemade I presume, as quite a few people asked me where I bought it! I still have quite a lot of material so I will make Linda a skirt and also the suit pattern has a pattern for a blouse – a kind of tailored one with a round neck and zip at the back and it shows a picture of this worn with a skirt and made in the same material it looks like a dress, so I have cut this out and will make it this week. I have also got Linda’s flowered cotton cut out, but no further and I hope I will get it done soon. Somehow I seem to have got involved in all sorts of things these next two weeks – going to the Blood Donor Clinic tomorrow to serve coffee and juice – next week going to help serve a luncheon in aid of the Save the Children and what with both Charlie and Mary coming next week and each taking a whole day is as it were, I can see I’m going to be hopping! I was listening on the radio this morning about the Kennedys in London, and that reminded me that I am sending you a LIFE about their visit to Ottawa. It really doesn’t have any very good pictures but I thought that you would be interested. Lindy, Cec and I went to see them the evening they drove from Gov. House to the Am. Embassy in Rockcliffe. Charlie was at Cubs so he couldn’t come, but I don’t think he minded too much. We got a good view standing on the flat stone walls at the gateway, but you know how quickly they seem to go by even if the car is going slowly, so I don’t think poor Lindy got more than a backview and she was so excited about Jackie! I got a quick glimpse and saw that she had a big strawberry pink organza stole around her shoulders, but the main impression was that they were both laughing and seemed to be having such a good time! Very natural and informal and it is such a nice change from some of the old stuffed shirts.
The next day I did go out to Carp – just set out from here around 9:30 and got there in less than an hour – had a cup of coffee and then came home. I gave the children their lunch at school so I didn’t have a rush and stopped at Simpson-Sears on the way home but saw nothing enchanting! Lea looked pretty well and seems to be getting on all right, but of course their odd ways and method of living amazed me as much as ever! The house was in even a worse mess than usual! Poor Lea! We had a nice holiday weekend for the Queen’s Birthday – you are amused at me saying this and not Whit. but Whitsuntide is not recognized publicly in Canada or the States, and it just so happened that the Monday nearest to 24 May, Victoria Day, happened to be Whit. this year. We had Cec’s birthday on Monday and gave him a sports shirt, a key case and a new cigarette lighter and a big bag of fireworks! We had a steak and apple pie for dinner and then lit all the fireworks and had great fun. The weather was not bad most of the weekend so we got quite a lot done in the garden but since Cec has left it has been weird – we had frost a couple of nights and half of our 18 tomato plants are dead I think, and it has been wet and cold with just two nice days I think. We haven’t had any really nice weather since that hot few days I told you about earlier. Of course the lilac and tulips have lasted wonderfully and the garden still looks lovely with them although the tulips have been out for about 3 weeks, but none of the seeds are doing a thing. Do you remember Monie sent some Morning Glory seeds and one or two others last year? I planted them more than two weeks ago but there isn’t a sign – probably rotted in the ground! We are having an awful time with crab grass in the flowerbeds as the new soil we got last fall must have been full of it. Cec and I weeded all the beds and got them clear before he left, and they are just as bad again. As you can imagine we are all missing our Daddy very much, and that first weekend seemed a week long – particularly as I had the cold. However, on the Sat. morning I had made an appointment to take the children to have their portraits done in pastels! One of the stores in town advertised this artist giving sittings – 2.50 a black-and-white sketch and 5.00 for pastels, and so I went and looked at some of his drawings one day and thought they looked quite nice, so decided to have the children done as a surprise for Cec on Father’s Day, which is actually June 18th – the day he returns. The drawings took about 30 – 40 minutes each, and I think they have turned out very well – at least you can tell who they are! They are in profile and Lindy’s is very good I think – she looks quite animated and although not actually smiling she has a pleased look on her face, whereas Charlie who sat like a little statue the whole time looks very serious and so less like himself to me, but Myrtle thinks that his is better, so who knows! [I always thought it was lucky I had long hair, because Charlie’s showed the artist couldn’t draw ears!] I must get Cec to take a picture of them to send you so that you will get some idea. The colour is very good and he sprayed them with a fixative so they won’t smudge at all. After the portrait business we went to the Library and then on to Rockcliffe Park for lunch – hotdogs and ice cream cones! I just sat in the car but the children ran around and as usual thought R. Park the most wonderful place! The Sunday was a rainy day so it was very dreary, but this weekend was better although it rained both evenings and it’s pouring today (Mon.) Lindy went on her Brownie Picnic on Sat. and Charlie played with Jimmy, and then yesterday kind Margaret Savic asked us to dinner, so the time passed quite quickly. Oh, I forgot to tell you – last Thurs. I had a real spree. Before Cec left he said while he was away I should buy a coat, as the black bengaline one I had is very old now and is no longer waterproof, and this year one has really needed a spring coat, though some years it gets too hot very early. Anyway, I thought I would have a day in town, so I gave the children lunch and then went to town and to the bank. I began looking in the shops in Sparks St. but found that the season for spring coats was about over, and there were very few to choose from. I had thought I would get what they call an ‘all-weather coat’ – that is a coat which is waterproof, but not just a raincoat, and earlier they had some nice ones in brocade or tapestry, some reversible and so on, but I couldn’t find a thing I liked. So I thought perhaps I would get a nice silk print dress with three-quarter sleeves, because most of my summer dresses are very summery and sleeveless or pastel colours, and by this time I was down on Bank St. and prowling around some of the little dress shops, so I went into one and got into the clutches of a very charming gentleman! He was really very nice, but of course a great salesman, and when I asked for coats first he brought out some and I tried them on but didn’t care for them, then he brought out this one – lilac coloured and quite plain but with a small collar bound with black braid continuing all down the front. I tried it on and it looked so nice – it is waterproof and the material is a new thing- backing laminated onto a kind of plastic foam, which insulates against heat and cold. I hadn’t wanted mauve, but in the end I liked it so much I said I’d have it and then I looked at dresses and tried on such a pretty cotton satin in just the style I wanted and it fitted me and suited me so I took that too! Bang went $50! I wrote and told Cec I would be spreading the housekeeping money thin this two weeks! I am sending a piece of my new dress to show you as I shortened it to wear to the Savic’s yesterday.
I needed a new summer hat to go with all these, but felt I’d been extravagant enough for one day, so I got a hat form in a small turban shape, and some black tulle and some mauvy- pink flowers and Mary Orr is going to help me make a hat on Wed! So what with my new mauve coat, new pink suit, new flowered dress and the navy and white outfit you helped me buy, I am doing pretty well but I was very low in clothes as I got nothing last summer except the cotton dress you gave me and the cotton skirt and blouse to wear around the house, so I really needed quite a lot – oh yes, and I made myself that white and blue cotton dress too, but it is quite ‘bare’ and hot weather. I still have some tissue gingham to make Linda and me sundresses, but then I think we will be well set up. I feel that if we are going to go to England in two years, I had better begin to gradually build up a suitable wardrobe, as I won’t be able to suddenly dash out and buy everything I want at once, and I think this coat will be very good for travelling as it is very light but warm, and is loose enough to wear over a suit or a dress. The children were most impressed with my rashness, because after buying all these things I took them out and bought them both new sandals, and Linda a new pair of blue slacks, and they felt I was really going wild!
We had three nice postcards from Cec last Wed. from Belgium and then just now we got two airforms from Holland. He seems to be having a hectic time, but to be enjoying it and all his friends are determined that he should see every bit of their countries available! He was only in Belgium from Sat. morning till Sun. afternoon, but the things he did and places he saw with Charles Courtois would be enough for a week. Charles took him to spend the night with his uncle, a retired judge, and aunt and their family, at a lovely manor house in the country and he said they were all so wonderful to him. He was busy at the meeting at Holland, but was having the day off after he wrote and going to the Zuyder Zee.
Now he is in Denmark and as today is a Danish National holiday he will be sightseeing I expect. The weather had been mostly sunny but cool although it rained the day he wrote but that is better than too hot. We wrote to him this weekend and sent it to London as we are not sure of reaching Sweden in time and have no Swiss address. We wrote once to Holland, and talk of trying to keep things quiet, of course Linda wrote a poem “Mummy had a shot In the bot For her cold She’s getting old.” and of course I hadn’t intended to mention it! Also Charlie told him we let the well run run dry on Thurs. and I had to get Ken to come and prime the pump! No use trying to keep secrets! I am so glad that you and Auntie Muriel enjoyed your holiday so much at H.B. Cottage. Even we have had some hummingbirds on our lilacs lately! I am glad too that A. Muriel’s cough is better and I hope that you both feel quite rested and well again. Don’t forget that you have to go and have your blood checked every now and then. I will try and remember to get the white hair nets when I am in town this week and will send them as soon as I do. I will willingly get the shoes at Bata but you must be sure and give me the number on the shoe and the size and all particulars, because I can’t remember a bit what they looked like. I will send the recipe for the Lemon Loaf with the hair nets – I just had a piece with my lunch and it is delectable I think! I was just busy writing this this morning when here I saw Charlie strolling along the road! I dashed to the door thinking he must be ill or something, only to find that a boy had pushed him in a puddle at recess, and his pants were soaked, so his teacher had sent him home to change! Of course he was taking as long as possible over it! How wonderful that Monie and Owen are coming next year, and imagine bringing Hugh and Ginny [their nephew and wife]! Lucky, lucky people! Particularly Ginny – marrying a man with such a generous godmother! They will all have a wonderful time I’m sure and the young couple will have a real dream holiday – can’t you imagine Hugh getting the biggest kick out of everything just like his Dad! You were telling me about making the Java plum jam for Monie, and you sound as if it were quite a job, with all the big stones, but I am sure Monie will be delighted. I am looking forward to my stewed guavas when they are in season – any burny sugar cake or coconut candy?!! I must stop now and get this posted or you will think that I have collapsed. I shall rush down to George’s and mail this and then do the vacuuming I should have done this morning!
Lindy and Charlie have been home for lunch and send big hugs and kisses. Much love to A. Muriel and lots of love to you from Cyn.
When reading the somewhat infrequent letters that survive from 1960-61 after the 3 year gap, the thing that strikes me is how things have changed. The children have grown, of course, and are more independent, involved in outside activities and performances, but also the community has grown. Both the Anglican and United Church congregations have now got their own ministers living locally- Mr and Mrs Bowen with daughter Deirdre in my class were the Anglicans- and have buildings near the school- the United Church building a modern church with rooms on the sides, and the Anglicans have a Hall, dedicated in December 1960, with an altar that could be screened off leaving a space for other activities, with a choir balcony over the entrance. There was a vestry, kitchen, and nursery off to one side and a a second story above those rooms, for the Sunday School classes. As well as taking the littlest ones in Sunday School, Cyn was very involved in the Ladies Guild which took fundraising seriously, and Carol was interested in hearing all about it.
Cec has professional travel plans that take him further afield- Europe in May and June of 1961- where he can meet and catch up with colleagues, former Fellows, and their work- and families. As for neighbours, Joanne and Susan had a baby brother now, and the Savics who lived a little beyond the Blachuts and had 2 older boys, had become friends through the NRC and church, so Margaret Savic had coffee with Cyn, Fanni and Pat, and Charlie played football with Mike. Friends further afield had had changes too. Charlie’s godfather, Dr. Charlie Stainthorpe, was a widower now, and was going to visit Ottawa and see us in June; and my godfather, Dr. Gordon Sutherland, had been knighted, and Cec was hoping to visit Sir Gordon and Lady Sutherland while he was in England.
2043 Montreal Rd. Ottawa, Ontario
17th May, 1961.
Dearest Mummy, You can probably type better than I can now, but I thought that as this was going to be a long letter it would be more economical on the postage to type it! Do you have fun using your little typewriter? You must be getting pretty good at it now as you seem to be practising regularly. You asked in your letter once how long it took me to learn to type fairly fast, but you must remember that I was at that Secretarial School for a year, and typed every day for quite long periods, so we can’t really compare. We have two big topics of conversation today – the Ottawa weather and the visit of President and Mrs. Kennedy. The weather is quite extraordinary – at the weekend it was simply beautiful, warm and sunny and like summer – all the tulips came out and the leaves and grass were so lovely and green, and then it got so hot that it just about finished us and the flowers! On Sunday it was over 90 degrees, and Sat. and Mon. it was up to 80, then of course on Mon. evening we had a tremendous thunderstorm with a tremendous lightning flash which hit the telephone pole just across the road outside Mrs. Cardinal’s house and put all the telephones in the area out of order all yesterday. I know you will think this was a great hardship for me, but I didn’t even know it till first Myrtle and then Miss Sproule came and asked me! After the storm it began to get cooler of course, and by the evening yesterday it was really cold and the furnace was on, and now this morning it is down to 40 degrees, and we are all back in our winter clothes again! Such a shame to be so cold for the President’s visit, but apparently there were thousands of people out to welcome them yesterday afternoon when they arrived and they said on the radio that there were crowds already waiting around Parliament Hill. We had thought that we might go to N.R.C. yesterday and watch them drive past to Gov. House, but Charlie got an invitation to a birthday party for 5 o’clock, so this was just the wrong time. Linda had to be at Brownies at 6:30 too, so it would have been a rush. Today Cec is taking the car to have a check up, so our only chance will be to go this evening and watch them drive to the American Embassy for dinner at 8 p.m. which actually will be rather nice I think, as Jacqueline will be in evening dress, but I hope it isn’t a dull evening or we won’t see much. They leave tomorrow and of course I could see them then, but the children will be in school. Charlie’s party was a big success. They had dinner at the little boy’s house, and then the father took them to the movies to see a funny film “The Absent-Minded Professor” which Charlie thought was uproarious! – They didn’t get home till nearly 10 o’clock, so he was feeling very much the worse for wear this morning! I am feeling very relaxed now because all our big events are over for the time being. Of course, Cec leaves a week on Friday, so he is as busy as a one-armed paper hanger, as Til used to say, but although he is going back to work a lot and working very hard he seems to be fairly content with the way things are going. I am content because I got him to come down town with me last week and we bought him a new suit and a new pair of shoes, and I have got his raincoat and his other good suit cleaned so I feel that I am getting my jobs done! The suit is very nice – a mixture of wool and dacron, and is dark blue – not quite as dark as navy, but a nice colour and Cec looks very nice and clean in it!
The last big event I was talking about was Linda’s Ballet Recital on Saturday afternoon. I think I told you that their class was doing “Mistress Mary and her Garden” and Linda was one of Mary’s friends in a red and white striped skirt, white blouse with puffed sleeves, white apron, wide red belt and big red bow in the hair. The theme was that the garden wouldn’t grow, so the little friends call in the bees, butterflies, birds, sun and rain to help, and all these are little children in costume and they all do a little dances, then the silver bells, cockle shells and pretty maids all perk up and do their dances, and last of all Mary and her friends do a joyful dance. It was very sweet, and of course the tiny ones who were bees and butterflies were a riot! They always forget what they are supposed to do and try to see their Mummies and drop their wings and other antics which greatly add to the enjoyment! The other teacher’s class did a ballet too about ‘The Magical Cat’ or something, but of course it wasn’t so good! As I told you it was a roasting hot day, and the children were all there all morning rehearsing and then all afternoon for the show so they were all tired.
Sunday was Mother’s Day – do you remember “Fresh, I am your Mothaw”? [reference to a comic strip, as I recall- Dick Tracy perhaps?]– but as Cec had been at work the previous night till 2 or 3 o’clock I didn’t get breakfast in bed. Instead the children and I just had tea and toast before church, and then afterwards when Daddy got up we had brunch with Daddy cooking the bacon and eggs. Charlie had made me a raffia frame with a picture of himself at school and Lindy gave me a clip she bought at the White Elephant stall at the Bazaar and a bottle of eau-de- cologne and Cec gave me a very pretty pair of baby-doll pyjamas, so I did very nicely. I hadn’t the strength to make a cake, but I made a Swiss roll with a chocolate filling and as I had a chicken, we took it outside, and cooked it on the charcoal grill. I forgot to tell you, that on the Friday I was asked to come down to the school at 3:30 to see Linda’s teacher, and at first I thought “Horrors, what is the matter?”. Then I discovered all the mothers had letters too, and little things began leaking out, and in the end when we went, here it was, a Mother’s Day Party! We were all ushered to our children’s desks to find a card for us and a corsage no less! Then the children served us tea and cookies and then a big Mother’s Day cake! They were all very attentive and so thrilled with themselves! All last week I spent trying to catch up with myself after the Bazaar. The house needed cleaning and I had letters to write and washing and ironing to do and I wanted to begin making some summer clothes for Linda and myself, but of course I haven’t got around to that yet. Just to complicate matters, the day before the Bazaar our water heater burnt out, and we had no hot water. It just did it all quietly in the night, but Cec had quite a time getting the old element out and then chasing around town trying to get a new one to replace it. However, he managed and it is fine again. Then last week I was in the middle of a big wash and went downstairs to find the whole thing silent and still and a horrible burning smell – not to mention all my sheets sitting half done! Fortunately, it was a nice sunny day, so even if the wash was very drippy when I got it on the line it did dry before too long. Cec says the motor must have burnt out, and as we don’t feel like spending money on repairing the old machine we are going to shelve the matter until Cec comes home from Europe, and in the meanwhile I was down at my old friend the Coinwash yesterday! Of course we had to have three things go wrong and the last was our toaster, which began toasting only one side of the bread, but clever Daddy soon fixed that. Now, I only hope nothing else decides to go wrong while Cec is away! Are you and Auntie Muriel interested in a recipe for a delicious lemon cake? I got it last week and tried it yesterday and could eat it all, it is so good. It is baked in a loaf pan, has 2 eggs, and while it is still warm you pour a mixture of lemon juice and ordinary sugar over the top which makes a lovely sugary crust. Yum! I had such a busy day yesterday- Pat Tomlinson was going to walk up with the baby so I asked Fanni and Margaret to come and have a cup of coffee and see the baby too. However, I had the car so decided I must make full use of it, so I got everything ready for the coffee and then drove over to Orleans and got my meat before my guests arrived. After they left, the children came home for lunch and then I collected the washing and went to the Coinwash, and afterwards to the cleaners with Cec’s things and to the Library and to get Charlie a birthday present for his little pal. After tea I drove Charlie to his party, then got dinner, saw Linda off to Brownies, and set off for a Guild Meeting at 8:30! I yawned through most of it, but managed to sell quite a lot of my left-over aprons to the girls! Most of the meeting was a hash-over of the Bazaar of course, and although we still haven’t all the ticket money in, we think we will have made around 600 dollars. Actually this is about 60 dollars less than last year, and one year we made about 750 I think, but I think on the whole money is tighter this year. Another thing too, is that we have put on so many things during the year that on the whole year’s achievements we are way up, and after all you can’t expect either the Guild or the visitors to spend as much at one thing or work as hard if they have been giving all year long. Also, it was in our new hall, and although it looked lovely, it isn’t nearly as big as the school was and so we were more crowded, and some of the stalls that we had to put up on the balcony didn’t do well at all, because people just didn’t go up there. Our stall, the Handicrafts and Aprons did much better than I ever hoped, because we made nearly $80 after the expenses were paid. I didn’t think we would do it very well because at my suggestion we had put it all the little children’s things that I had sold so well the previous year on a special stall for children, so actually we had no small cheap selling things, and we really didn’t seem to have very much, but we made the stall look very pretty – Joan Mainwood’s husband made us a thing like football goal posts which we put over the stall and covered with green crepe paper, and then we had a pink sign ‘Handicrafts’ hanging from this and we decorated it with pink paper roses and leaves and it really stood out and attracted the eye. The tea room had to be in the hall too of course, and you know where the red curtains in front of the altar were? It stretched from there back to the other side of the opening into the kitchen. They had screens across the hall there, with entrance and exit, and they covered these with green paper and they looked very nice but of course it took up a lot of the space.
The hall did look very nice as we kept all the decorations in white, green and pink, so that they harmonised, and then do you remember Emil the hairdresser’s wife went in for artificial flowers? Well, Edna Thomas who looked after the tearoom is a great friend of Ruth Arndt’s, so she had the idea of renting flowers from Mrs. Arndt and it worked out very well. She made a pretty little vases of small flowers for all the tables in the tearoom, and of course they not only looked very sweet, but did away with the worry of spilling water and children knocking over etc. and then she made up two lovely sheaves of big flowers – gladiolas etc. in shades of pink and fastened these to the wooden grills that are on either side of the altar, in front of the red curtain. Then along the green covered screens in front of the tearoom she put trails of ivy draping over the top and on the Front of the balcony clusters of fern and hydrangeas, so that looking up it looked very attractive. Mrs. Arndt came and arranged all the flowers and worked for hours on the Friday evening and for all this and the rental of the flowers it came to less than 4 dollars, and even this we covered because we sold the little table vases at enough profit to pay for it. Wasn’t that good? They really did help to make the hall look very gay and spring- like and quite a number of people remarked on them. We had our M.P.’s wife, Mrs. Paul Tardiff, to open the Bazaar and she was very nice – a fairly small plump French woman in a smart black suit and a most fancy hat composed entirely of pale pink silk gladiolas! Mr. Bowen introduced her and then she made a short speech opening the affair, and then I thanked her, and little Glen Ashton (the little son of the one you used to call “the pretty girl” – she has a baby now too) presented her with a corsage of pink rosebuds which exactly matched her hat! Wasn’t that clever!? I wore my navy and white dress and jacket and my pink hat. Talking of babies, Mrs. Cook, the United Church Minister’s wife has a son – a huge baby I hear, but apparently they are both doing well. The Bowens are leaving at the end of next month but so far we have heard of no one else coming. We have been busy in the Guild deciding what to give Mrs. Bowen for a parting gift – it hung between an electric kettle and a pewter tray, and the tray won, although personally I would far prefer the kettle! The Church will also be giving something, but I haven’t heard anything about it yet. Our kitchen is still only partly done and all the men have begun working on their gardens, so goodness knows when it will be finished. Discouraging! The Guild even offered to pay for someone to come and finish the cupboards etc. so that at least we could put our china away, but no, they said they were going to do it! Mrs. Barltrop came back from England just before the Bazaar, and brought her Mother back with her no less! The old lady is 87 I think, but apparently full of go and was at the Bazaar, although I didn’t see her. I was talking to Eve [Eve Proudfoot, the granddaughter] on the phone the other day and she was saying that they were going over to Simpson-Sears and Carlingwood Shopping Centre that day and going shopping and having lunch, so she must be pretty spry. Mrs. B. said something at the Exec. Meeting about going into the hospital in the fall, but I didn’t enquire about it. Your friend, little Mrs. Davis, is going to be on the Exec. next year – we don’t have our elections till next month, but it is hard work getting one candidate for each job, let alone an election, so we don’t have much competition. It seems obvious that I will be president, willy-nilly! I am answering all sorts of odd questions you have asked from time to time, so this will be very disjointed, I’m afraid, but at least your curiosity will be satisfied! Re. Pauline Johnson on the stamps, she was a Canadian poetess, apparently, and either Indian or half-Indian. She lived near Brantford where Merle lives, and when we were there last summer we went to the Six Nations Indian Reserve there to see a Pageant, and I think Pauline Johnson lived there long ago and her father was some big chief or something! By the way, Cec’s Mother and Father aren’t coming down this summer after all. They seem to like it so much in Penticton and be happily settled there, so it would really be a pity for them to give up the apartment and make the long trip down here and visit from one of us to the other, which after all is very tiring. Also, I think they are very happy to be near Leona and Carman and the children, and we had a letter from Leona not long ago telling us that she is expecting again. We laughed, as Leona said “Carman and I were quite horrified at first, but we are used to the idea now. I used to think I wanted five children, but no longer – three will be enough!” She was in the hospital when she wrote, as she had been having quite a lot of trouble, and I think had had a rupture, but was going home soon, so I am sure they will be glad to have Mr. and Mrs. C. near by. This has changed our plans for the summer somewhat, as Merle is going to finish her Summer Course in Toronto during the vacation, so this finishes our idea of sharing a cottage with them somewhere, but we are thinking of trying to get a cottage somewhere about halfway between them and us, so that they could perhaps come and spend the weekend with us. We don’t want to spend much money this summer on holidays as Cec will probably have to spend a bit on his trip, and also we want to save money for 1963 and our European Jaunt! [never happened.] You will have to consider trying out one of those nice banana boats and we will have a reunion in London.
You sent me Jean’s address for Cec but I didn’t even mention it to him as he is not going to Oxford, and his time in England is so crowded that it will be a toss up as to whether he can see half the people he wants to. He will be less than a week in England and he will be in Cambridge and Birmingham as well as London. One person he himself suggested that he would try and visit is Miss Lefroy, [Carol’s former headmistress, and family friend] but if he does find he has time to go he will telephone first. I haven’t even told Anne in Cambridge because he isn’t sure if he will have a spare moment. He is staying in St. John’s College the two nights he will be there and is pretty well booked up with people he has to see. He leaves here on Friday 26th and arrives in Brussels (jet) where he sees men who were Fellows here and sees a little of Brussels and Namur.
Then on Sunday he goes to Amsterdam and is there for the whole week at the conference and gives his paper. He goes to Denmark for the first weekend in June and visits the University of Copenhagen, where he will give another paper and sees two Professors who were over here and whom we know. About the Tues. or Wed. he goes to Sweden and stays with the Klemans in Stockholm – they were here for two years a while back. He visits the University and sees some people there and then flies to Frieborg in Germany for a day and night. After that on the Friday to Berne in Switzerland where he spends the night with a Swiss couple, the Fishers, who were here two years ago and sees the Univ. and then to England.
He hopes to go out and see the Sutherlands on Sun. afternoon, and then the rest of the week he will be visiting the National Physical Laboratories, the University of London, the University of Birmingham, and the University of Cambridge. When he is in Birmingham he will stay with a Prof. Sheridan and his wife – the Prof. was here last summer and came to dinner with us and sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers afterwards – were you here then? No, I think it was before you came. Then on the Sat. evening he flies home, and arrives in Montreal on the Sunday, and as there is no flight to Ottawa for hours, the children and I are going to drive to Dorval Airport and meet him. Do you remember us passing the Airport the day we went to Montreal? It is on this side of the city, so I don’t have to go through. The day he comes home, 18th, is Father’s Day so we will be able to have a nice celebration. Cec’s birthday will be while he was away, so this weekend is a public holiday for the Queen’s Birthday (24th but we get a holiday on the 22nd to make a long weekend) and we have decided to celebrate Cec’s birthday on the Monday too. This is also the day that Canadian children have fireworks, so I have got a bag full that will be one of Daddy’s presents!
How is Judy getting on and have you got any of the puppies left? The children always like to hear news of them and think it a great pity that you can’t air mail one to us! Just as well that you can’t as Mrs. Martin’s Siamese cat was killed on the highway on Sunday, and I just hope Nicki can survive, but I don’t think there would be any hope for a puppy. I have been meaning to write to you about the Will, and say that I certainly agree with you that it would be much wiser for you to have one of the Banks as executor. I can just imagine that me here, and things in England and St. Vincent would make for a great muddle. I said to Cec “Which bank do you think?” and he just grinned as he doesn’t have much opinion of either, but personally I think you might as well make it Barclay’s as you can talk to them about it instead of writing, which is always unsatisfactory. Also they have a big organization in England which will be able to cope with the English side whereas if you made it Martin’s they would probably have to get Barclay’s to cope with the St.V. side anyway. Cec is sorry that he has never written to you about the letter from Martin’s about your shares and transferring them etc. He has meant to, but has really been so busy with his work and writing letters in connection with his trip that he hasn’t had a chance. He was quite disgusted with the letter, and the Manager saying that he “thought” this was so, and that was so, you would think that he could have made the effort to find out the information completely before writing, because we really don’t know much more yet as his opinion don’t mean a thing. However, I think Cec feels that you might as well leave things as they are for the time being, but he will write himself and be more definite when he has not so busy. I haven’t written to Mr. Carnegie, but still mean to. Actually, what he and Mrs. C. say is not so much different, except that J.M.G.E [Cyn’s father] seems to be withdrawing all the time now instead of having moods of withdrawal and moods of outgoingness. But I think this is only to be expected, and if he sleeps a great deal of the time this is to be expected too, as he is an old man, and I don’t mean only in years, but has been ageing in his mind as well as body all the time he has been in the hospital. It doesn’t seem much good sending things or magazines or anything now, but one feels that one should.
You will be amused to hear that I am still hanging on to your 5 dollars! Now that Cec’s clothes are bought I hope I will be able to get a coat at last, and then I will spend my 5 dollars on a handbag! Of course both the children need summer shoes now, but I really must begin and replenish my wardrobe as I am very low in both summer and winter clothes. I plan to make Linda a school dress out of the flowered material you brought from the Miss Finlays, then I will at last get on with my pink suit. I think I have been so long about it because I don’t much care for the material now, but I had the idea that I might make the suit with just a “cardigan” jacket (loose – no buttons) and then get a linen–like moygashel type material in a plain pink to match and I could wear the jacket with that too, and so make two outfits. The material is very loosely woven so I am going to have to line both skirt and jacket, so I must get the lining material this week. I plan to get a flimsy black hat to wear with the pink, so I think it should look quite pretty. I have never been out to Carp to see Lee [her sister-in-law] since she had her operation, and Cec has no time now before he goes, so I am planning to drive over tomorrow morning. I want to do some baking now as I have to make cookies for a Home and School Meeting tonight and I thought I would take a few things out to Lee as I am sure she won’t be feeling like doing too much yet. I hope that you and Auntie Muriel are having a lovely time at your cottage and really enjoying the sea. Can you bathe just there at the cottage or do you have to go further along to the Breakers? Anyway, I hope that it is doing you both a world of good and that you are recovering from all the giddy social round and getting rid of A. Muriel’s cough. That errant parcel has not turned up yet, and Ruth Lockwood was saying last night that it must be lost, but I said no, two months or more wasn’t too unusual! The children have been home from school for their lunch and send a big hugs and kisses. They both have homework now, and what with that and the nice weather there isn’t much hope of letter writing just now, but maybe when the holidays begin! Much love from us all and I hope I remembered to answer all the questions! Love Cyn.
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 suchfun! 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.
In November 1960, Carol left New York and returned to Ottawa to spend the winter with the Costains. I suspect she had left St Vincent for almost a year because there were health concerns, and she consulted doctors in both Ottawa and New York, being diagnosed at some point with pernicious anaemia which may have responded only temporarily to treatment. This means, of course that there are no letters between Cyn and Carol, but in the collection there are 2 letters to Carol about her husband in Newcastle.
As has been covered earlier in this Project, Cyn’s mother, Carol Ewing, had left her husband, Dr. J.M.G.(Gordon) Ewing, at the end of 1947 and joined Cynthia in Cambridge. In 1948, they had met Cec who was working on his Ph.D. at Cambridge, and Cyn and Cec married in the summer of 1949, and left England at the beginning of 1950, while Carol went home to St.Vincent. Because Carol and Cyn were living together in Cambridge, there are no letters covering that period, but sometime during those 2 years, Gordon Ewing was institutionalized, diagnosed with hardening of the arteries of the brain, and remained there until his death in 1964. There were letters exchanged between Carol, Cyn, and lawyers and doctors; Cyn sent her father gifts and magazine subscriptions, with notes and photos occasionally, which he acknowledged; and from these letters, it is clear that Carol was kept informed of her husband’s condition by friends in Newcastle. The letters give us a window into elder care in the 60s with a difficult patient- and the little anyone at a distance could do. The Carnegies are quite formal in writing to Carol, so not close friends, but they are kind. The letter seems to have arrived in Ottawa after Carol had gone home to St. Vincent in March 1961 and been sent on by Cyn.
1, Victoria Square, Jesmond, Newcastle-on-Tyne.
2. 61.
My dear Mrs. Ewing, Our sincere apologies for the long delay in acknowledging your gift box to your husband and for the very nice box of notelets for myself. It was kind of you to do this and I have found them very useful – thank you. I went with Alec to see the doctor, he gave us quite a nice welcome, but very unfortunately he refused to accept the very nice parcel of good things you and Cynthia had so kindly sent. We are using them ourselves as you suggested, thank you very much. Now about the doctor. We were told he is most difficult and sleeps ever such a lot. Some days he won’t use his dentures or have his hair cut. He insists on seeing the C. priest every other day and has ceased to read or write. They think he will just sleep away. So you see Mrs. Ewing we are not hiding anything from you. He insists on wearing a felt hat all day. We had a very happy Christmas and new year, but since, we have been rather tired and have been resting a lot. I will be 71 this year and Alec 72. We are so glad you are having such a happy time with Cynthia, her husband and children. Wish we had known earlier about your going to Long Island because my sister Margaret & her husband are there. Alec is going to see the doctor on Friday after which he will write you. Our love, many thanks and all good wishes. Yours very sincerely Alec & Mary.
1 Victoria Sq. Newcastle upon Tyne England
13 Mch 1961
Dear Mrs. Ewing, Once again I spent half an hour with Dr. Ewing today, and in spite of the fact that the Male Nurse said he would not talk to me, as soon as I entered the Ward, he got up and came to meet me, and we had half an hour of talk on both sides. He said he could not talk very well now, so I told him that if he would only wear his dentures he could talk quite well, you see Mrs. Ewing he will not wear his dentures; – he said he could not be bothered, just in the same way, he, some days refuses to shave. He will also now only wear Hospital woollen sports shirts – he says it is too warm to put on a collar and tie. I am afraid he is often very awkward and stubborn with the staff. He did today however have on one of his own suits. In spite of all this however he does look well, and says he does feel well. With me today he was quite chirpy, and took a keen interest in all the people I spoke about, you see it is only the past you can discuss with him, as he does not read the papers nor will he watch the Television. They have just got a lovely new 21” set in the Day Room, but he will not look at it, and grumbles because it is on all day & evening. The Nurse told me he just sits, and whether he thinks whilst he is sitting one cannot tell. Certainly his memory of the past is still good, and he keeps referring to people, I must confess I had forgotten. By the way he is still wearing the booties we got for him a year past Xmas, so he must like having & wearing them. I hope you are well, and derived much benefit from your holiday. Give Cynthia our good wishes and for you our kindest thoughts. Yours Aye, Alec Carnegie.
In this letter, the whole Costain family is represented: me, sixty years later, setting the scene; Cec writing to Carol about a loan- which apparently enabled them to buy their new car ‘Rosie’; Cyn continuing the letter with family news; and Charlie reporting on his suffering sister and his own activities. Carol is still in New York, staying with another niece, Mona and Owen Banner’s house in Long Beach, now that the summer at the Pembleton’s ‘camp’ is over. Margs, the third sister and family, lives right next door and it appears that Carol will be coming back to Ottawa in November. Some of the names Cyn mentions in 1960 and on are the same, but over the 3 years of missing letters of course the N.R.C. Fellows have changed, since their Fellowship is only for 2 years; Lila Howe, who was so kind to the children, is moving to a new job in Toronto; and Cyn’s friendships in the community have expanded as the church activities did, and Mrs. Craven, Mrs. Graham, and Mrs. Haynes will join Mrs. Tomlinson in future letters as friend and allies, as their daughters were with Linda!
Sept 21, 1960.
Dear Mom, I was going to write this a few days ago, and send it separately, but I never got around to it. It probably would have been too much of a shock to you anyway. The money order is for $100.00 Canadian for Aug. & Sept. I can send you $50 Oct. 15, or if you don’t want to squander it, give you $100 in November when you are here. Just to remind you, and us, we borrowed $750.00 Canadian. I hope to get at your shelves & closet next month, this month I am transforming the outside. We got three truckloads of topsoil and now have a new lawn seeded. The flower bed in the lawn has been eliminated, making the lawn twice as big, and from 3” to 12” of new soil added to the beds on the other side of the driveway, I hope they won’t dry out quite so fast next year. I got a whole set of new muscles from shifting 5 tons of stones and 20 tons of dirt. I hope there will be some evidence of grass by the time you come back. Cyn will give you the rest of the news. Glad to hear you are feeling better & having such interesting hurricanes. Love to all the cousins, & you, Cec.
Thursday.
Dearest Mummy, Cec has been meaning to write since the weekend, but he really did a mammoth job with the garden & toiled from morning to night getting the lawn in last weekend. He has got it looking very nice & smooth & we are hoping it will rain gently & frequently & get a little beginning anyway, before the snow comes. The other three side beds are half done, as Cec has built them up & put the soil in, but we still have to smooth them & transplant the perennials & all the bulbs. The weather has been quite cooperative – pleasant & not too warm, but is quite fall-ish now with all the trees turning colour & the furnace on most mornings, but no frosts yet, thank goodness.
Well, Lindy has no tonsils now! On Monday afternoon Dr. McKercher’s nurse phoned up & said there had been a cancellation & if Lindy was well would we like to take her to the Civic at 7a.m. next day. It was a bit of a shock coming so suddenly poor little thing, but after the initial storm she was very good & didn’t seem too upset. On the Tuesday we all got up at 5:45a.m. (no b’fast for Lindy – we just had a drink) & were off at 6:30 & got her admitted. Then it turned out that she was to wait in the waiting room till a bed was ready, so I stayed with her & Cec & Charlie left. We waited there (L. had 2 new books) until 8:45 with other mothers & children & then she was put to bed & I left. I got home around 10 & had breakfast & her operation was at 11, so about 12 the doctor phoned & told me it was all over & that she was fine. He gave me all the instructions – 1 night in hospital – 2 in bed at home – 1 week in the house & 10 days away from school. Some children come out of hospital the same day, but with L. being done later they said they’d keep her over night & when Cec & I went to see her in the evening we were glad, as she was still very dopey and drowsy & would wake & look at us & then drop off to sleep again & not at all ready to be moved. Charlie stayed at the Savic’s, so had a good time. Next morning he went off to school & Cec & I went & got Lindy at 9:30 & brought her home. She was a bit wider awake, but was quite miserable all day, poor sweetie & not only was her throat sore, but the sides of her face & even has earache which Dr. McK. warned me she might have. He said to give her a 222, but you know she’d rather lie & suffer than take a pill! She slept in the afternoon & had a good night’s sleep & is a little happier today, although her throat is more swollen she says. She is drinking lots of liquids & has had some soup & bread & butter. I think it has been quite an emotional shock for her, you know – she is very quiet & subdued & of course finds it hard to talk. However, it is all over & will soon be feeling fine again – I am reading ‘Daddy-Long-Legs’ to her and she is enjoying that! Apart from the tonsils & the gardening we haven’t done much – I went to a Scientist Wives Meeting on Mon. evening & heard an Indonesian girl give a talk & show a film about her country. Then last week we had Lila to dinner to say goodbye – she left last Friday – & on Thursday we were having Miet & Michael Hollis (an English Fellow) to dinner & Miet didn’t come. We were mad at him! Lindy is calling so I had better stop – I say “calling”, but I have given her a little bell to ring instead & it goes tinkle – tinkle all day long! Thank you so much for your 2 letters – we were so relieved the hurricane was no worse – we wondered how you would do with the canal so close. Enjoyed hearing about the weekend at Marie’s- glad you had a nice time – your bridge will be elegant by now! I haven’t rung Dr. Kastner’s office yet – I thought I would talk to his nurse & I always forget until the middle of his office hours & then I know she is busy. I will call & talk to her & let you know though. Have fun with your returned hundred dollars! Now, a little bit of Rosie belongs to us! The whole family send love to Monie & Owen & the Jaegers if they are back – Much love & big hugs to you from us all – Cyn.
Dear Grannie: Lindy is feeling much better. I hope you are having a nice time with Monie and uncle Owen, I’m sure having a nice time here especially when it’s Sunday. I’ve been going to Mike Savic’s house, and playing football, I can kick a ball quite far, and my throwing is even better. Well, have to go to bed now, good night. Love from Charles.
I have no memory of this time- although I have loved Jean Webster ever since- except for having joined the members of the family who had been in the hospital! Mummy had been in the hospital lots of times, Charlie had been in the hospital as a baby and 2 years before, and now Linda had had her tonsils out- but Daddy had never been in hospital- he had apparently had his tonsils removed as a child on the kitchen table in rural Saskatchewan!
As this first letter in three years shows, the Costains’ address has changed. This was not because they had moved- they hadn’t, though it is possible they had bought their half of the duplex (if not, they were thinking of it)- but because the community had grown, become a bit more part of Ottawa, and was no longer on a Rural Route for mail, but had a street address with the post delivered directly to their door. The children’s area for playing had expanded over the 3 years, and now included the hollow down the hill behind the house, and the field beyond that- complete with an old log fence where chokecherry bushes grew, handy for playhouses and mouth-puckering sustenance in season. The letter was written just after they had come home after their visit to New York and to the Moors on their way home. Carol is still there, visiting her nieces and other family members for a month or two. Cyn has written her bread-and-butter letters to their hostesses, and can have fun telling her mother all the details of the rest of their holidays. She and her mother had seen the Niagara Falls on their American trip back in 1939, and she alludes to that fleetingly- 21 years makes a difference!
2043 Montreal Road, Ottawa, Ontario.
Monday, 29th. Aug.
Dearest Mummy, I wrote to Mill and Merle yesterday, so thought that I would have a little type today for a change, and I didn’t think that you would mind. Charlie had the typewriter out to write a poem as he has seen in their magazine ‘Jack and Jill’ that boys and girls send in poems etc. and have them printed, so he is fired with ambition! When it is done I will send you a copy.
Thank you so much for both your letters, and the letter to Lindy and the cards. The last just arrived a few minutes ago, and the children were very pleased with the pictures of the lake. We have been having sweltering weather since we came home – particularly the last day or so, and wouldn’t we have loved to just pop down to the dock for a swim! I only hope that we don’t suddenly get a deluge on Wednesday as that is the day we are having Lindy’s party, and I have decided to make it a Picnic Lunch in the garden. There are to be 8 little girls, and they will come at 12:45 and have hot dogs etc. straight away. If it is really nice I will set up the little grill and table out in the back and we will have it out there – if not I think that I will have it in ‘your room’. After eating we will play games outside – charades, sardines etc. – and then about 3:00 I will bring out the birthday cake and cool drinks and ice cream cones before they go home. They are to come in play-clothes not party dresses, so they will be able to play treasure-hunts etc. up in the field, so I hope that they have fun and that I don’t find it soo wearing. Last year we had a dreadful day – hot, humid and exhausting, and the children got tired of game after game, and really we were all fair wore out. Hope this year the time whizzes by! Charlie is to be my helper! We were so glad to hear in your letter that the Sat. after we left was a nice day for the wedding. We heard that there was a hurricane somewhere off the coast that caused the bad weather on the Friday morning, so we wondered if it would ever get finished by the next day. We got out of the bad weather after about an hour, although it continued raining for quite a while afterwards, but it wasn’t the tremendous downpour. It was dull and drizzly all day really, but very nice for driving as it was cool and we didn’t have to bother with sun in our eyes or anything. It was a long drive but quite nice and uneventful, all along the Thruway, and we stopped every hour or so for drinks and changed over drivers. We got into Buffalo between 5 and 6 and had a bit of trouble finding our way as the Thruway was marked as finished right to Niagara Falls on the map, but we discovered that it wasn’t. However, we eventually found a motel on the U.S. side without too much trouble and got settled before we went out to dinner. After dinner we went to the Falls and saw all around the U.S. side – they have roads and bridges to all the islands above the Falls now, and we took a ride in a funny little train thing which took us around. We were on one of the islands when the lights came on and it was really quite disappointing as the spray was blowing towards us and the lights seem to just disappear into the mist, so it wasn’t a bit like the pictures we’d seen. We realized afterwards that it would have been much better from the Canadian side, but it couldn’t be helped. Next morning of course we did cross over to the Canadian side, and saw the Falls from there, but we didn’t bother with the boat trip or going under the Falls or anything. We arrived in Brantford during the afternoon, after a lovely drive through the Niagara Peninsula – all orchards and vineyards and lovely roadside fruit markets, so of course Cec couldn’t resist this and we arrived at Merle’s laden with peaches, greengages, plums, and gladioliis! They have a lovely big house on a very pleasant, exclusive older residential street, with big old trees lining the road, and a beautiful green terraced garden behind, full of flowers, and behind that more trees and a sort of shrubbery. I had forgotten that their rented house in Brantford was furnished, so they had only had part of their furniture down, and as they had only been in their new house 2 weeks, they hadn’t got their other things from Port Arthur yet. Because of this we were a bit of a squash, but two of the boys slept in sleeping bags on air mattresses on the sleeping porch and we managed fine – particularly Cec and I, as Merle and Dix gave up their bed to us! The first evening we set off after dinner to an Indian pageant! The Six Nations Reservation is very close to Brantford, and Merle and Dixon have lots of Indian boys and girls in their classes, and it was in this Reservation that the pageant was, in what they called the Forest Theater. It was very interesting seeing all the Indians dressed up and some of the dances – it was representing some of the history of the Iroquois Indians – but we didn’t stay till the end – we were tired and the benches were hard, and then to crown it all one of the Indian Chiefs went to see George Washington, and they recited his speech, first in Iroquois and then in English for half an hour and it was still going on when we left! As we went out they had stalls of Indian handwork, so we looked at these, and I thought I would buy a feather for the 3 children – not a big headdress, but single feathers which they had for sale, and when I asked the price I nearly fell in a heap when they said 3 dollars each! Instead we found a few more modestly priced mementos! Next day – Sunday – Merle had planned that we would pack a picnic dinner and go to London which is about 60 or 70 miles away, where they have a lovely park with what are called ‘Storybook Gardens’ for the children. It was quite a long drive, particularly as we were all in one car – Dixon’s obviously! – but it was a lovely park, and we all enjoyed the Gardens. There were animals too, all very tame, and very nicely arranged and set out so it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we had our picnic in a lovely place just by the river, and then the children went for a sail in the Pirate Ship! Monday was Lindy’s birthday and she had a lovely day. Unfortunately Merle hadn’t been able to carry out our original plan, because for one thing ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ finished at the end of July, and she had a very hard time getting any seats at all, it was so booked up. ‘King John’ wasn’t so popular, so there were seats for it but it wasn’t nice for the children, nor ‘Romeo and Juliet’, but eventually she managed to get us three seats for ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ on the Tuesday and that was the best she could do. Fortunately the Film Festival was on at the same time and they said that they would go to that while we were at the theatre, and they said that they were sure we could take Charlie in and hold him on our knees, as when they had Bruce there last year, he couldn’t see and so sat on his dad’s knee all the time. Anyway, on Monday we just stayed at home and Lindy enjoyed her presents – the dress fit perfectly and she was in raptures over it so I was pleased! Merle and family gave her a dear little china family of deer, and a pretty cottonknit sweater, and she and Brucie spent most of the afternoon cutting out ‘Sleeping Beauty’ – Lindy in charge of the ladies, and Brucie in charge of the gentleman! I took Lindy down town in the morning and bought her a pair of new shoes, which blistered her heel before the day was through! Auntie Merle made her a lovely big chocolate birthday cake with favours in, so we had a wonderful dinner and enjoyed the cake enormously– both Linda and Charlie had two huge pieces (3 layers high) and I was amazed! After the children were in bed Merle and Dixon and Cec and I played bridge, and Cec and I had wonderful cards and could do nothing wrong – even bid and made little slams and piled up a colossal score – we felt it was so nice and hospitable of Merle and Dixon to provide us with such good luck!
On the Tuesday I washed and ironed and we had an early dinner and set out for Stratford about 6 as it is quite a long way away – 60 miles or so. We got there in nice time, and as Merle had said they made no difficulty about our taking Charlie in. Merle and Dixon and Bruce were with us and they went to see if there were any turned in seats, but there was a great lineup waiting for those even, so they went off to the Film Festival. Our seats weren’t together, so Lindy and I sat together for the first two acts, then we changed and Charlie and Cec had our seats and she sat on my knee on the other one. Lindy had on her new dress and felt very elegant, and really looked sweet – it is just her style. The play of course was fascinating – I just loved it all and seeing the theatre and stage after hearing and reading so much about it. However, I wondered how much the children would understand, and if they would like it, but I needn’t have worried – they loved every minute of it and have been acting Puck and Titania ever since! It was beautifully staged and the costumes were lovely, so even if they hadn’t understood it all it would have been fun to watch, but they really seemed to love it and Linda has had the book of Shakespeare’s plays out since she got home, reading bits of it over.
We didn’t get home till after 1:00, so we didn’t get such an early start next morning as we had hoped, but we were off by 10:30 and had quite a good day’s drive, although it was very sunny, which made it a bit more trying. We got home about 9 o’clock, and were so glad to see our home again even though we had a lovely holiday. As I told Mill the place is completely dried up, and you never saw such a dreary miserable garden – all the flowers withered, and the grass quite brown and crunchy. The only nice part is the back with the patience all in bloom, and down the hill we do have some tomatoes. The house seemed full of spiders, so I have been spraying around and don’t meet so many livestock now. Not long after we arrived home we were out calling and looking for Nicki, but didn’t see a sign, and then in a little while we heard a little meow, and there she was, so pretty and clean and so happy to see us – full of purrs and rolling over to have her tummy scratched! We were delighted to find her all safe and sound, and she has been eating ‘like sixty’ as Charlie says, ever since. The little black cat is still around, and Jimmy says that he had to keep chasing her away from Nicki’s dish, but I think she must have got the lion’s share, judging by Nicki’s appetite now. Since we got home the children have had a nice time playing with Jimmy, and Cec has been at work and I have been trying to catch up on myself. We were all very tired so slept quite late on Thursday, but even after Cec went to work I didn’t seem to get much done – unpacked, sorted out etc. and that was all. On Friday we drove Cec to work, and then went to Steinberg’s to do our shopping and then to the butcher’s in the afternoon. I vacuumed and dusted, and then on Saturday I did a huge wash – I don’t know how people like Fanni manage to tour Europe with 3 children for weeks on end, because we were away 3 weeks, and I made 2 trips to Laundromats and did odd washings in between, and still when I got home I had a mountain of dirty clothes! Yesterday I went to Church in the morning and saw a few of the girls and saw that they have begun the foundation of the church, but I didn’t go close to examine the progress. Tomorrow I have been invited to a Bathing Party at the house of one of our more affluent residents who has a swimming pool which is to raise money for the church. I don’t think I shall bother to swim – particularly as we have just had a big storm and it is much cooler, but I shall be curious to see the swimming pool etc. The entrance is 1 dollar, and we get refreshments (I am to bake some cookies!) but no children are invited, so I must see what to do with L. and C. School begins a week tomorrow, so this is their last full week – I am always sorry to see them go back, and of course they are moaning, and it is hard to think that the summer is practically over. I must stop now and do some housework and try to get some ironing done – I can see that what with making B’day cakes and cookies etc. and then the party I shall be busy till Thursday, so I had better get Cec some shirts to wear. I am looking forward to hearing all about the wedding when we see you again, and I am so glad that you had the blood test done and hope that it is fine. We enjoyed hearing about the babies and Monie – I had a nice little note from her when I got back. By the way, Cec and I were so tickled on the way home – the children had a lovely new play in the back of the car – acting Ford and Millie! Charlie would be Ford showing pictures, and Linda would be Millie and it was really uproariously funny – mostly because they were so serious! – They were most affectionate to each other, and Millie would say “Did you get enough to eat, hon?” And Ford would answer “Yes darling, that was a lovely dinner.” So you can see what a happy impression Mill and Ford made on them! It will be fun seeing Marie’s home, but I can’t say I really envy you the visit – she is very kind and really hospitable, but I feel that it will be very wearing too! I know that you will love being with Mona Carol and Owen and look forward to hearing all their news when you see them. Lindy and Charlie and Jimmy are all dressed up and acting Titania and Puck and Oberon, so I won’t suggest that they stop to write just now. They send hugs and kisses and thank you for the cards. Lots of love from us all, Cyn.
I remember the birthday party only because of the mishaps! The 8 girls at the party were set to play some sort of Hide and Seek or Sardines in pairs, and so scattered to hide in the sloping field behind our house. It was quite wild and untended, at the end of a hot summer, with a clump of elms, a huge boulder, dry tall weeds, and a length of log fence stretching away up the field, lined with bushes. Of course I was the only one who knew the terrain, and I took Joanne up the fence to hide in the bushes where we played house. Other pairs headed for the trees or boulder which could be climbed or dodged around to hide. Unfortunately, we were not the only ones playing house- Joanne and I came across a pair of snakes, screamed at the top of our lungs, and abandoned all hope of hiding by racing for the house. The other pairs headed for ‘home’ by the most direct route and when my mother enquired of us all, panting, what the emergency was, it was discovered that Pamela’s lovely blonde braids were covered with burrs. I hope the birthday cake made up for the pain removing them must have cost her!
A Family History in Letters 