Fri 23 Dec 1921
Mary's Journal Entry
showers nearly all last night. morn. sunshine one min & rain next men fussed around barn. I made pies, wrote F
Letter Sent Home
[Letter started on 20 Dec 1921 and completed on 23 Dec 1921]
Dear ones all,
The last line I wrote you was the one I wrote in Escondido. while waiting for J.P. to do some shopping the same day I sent Phoebe a card & asked her to forward your letters to Valley Center. I think I told you we were going to San Diego the next day well we went it is 17 miles over there & mountains all the way it was a very pretty drive we did not stay there more than 2 hrs. then turned toward Valley Center got back just about sundown. Fri. pa drove team all day on disk plow Sat. A.M. J.P. drilled more oats. P.M. pa drove team again did not go after mail as we intended to take a ride Sun, well Sat. eve. it commenced to rain rained all day Sun. & Mon. A.M. in P.M. sun would shine between showers & the prettiest rainbow & so low down . last even. it looked as if it would clear up about midnight it thundered & lightened & just poured down & kept it up rained 2 in. till daylight & it kept on raining all A.M. this P.M. not so much. at noon it had rained 7 1/2 inches on the level the water just hustled down hill out ditches thru the fields Sat. morn. when J.P. was drilling pa wanted to go sight seeing back to San Diego & over on the island &c but I said as long as we had written for our letters to be sent I wanted to wait for them as we intended to camp & be gone two or three days. well two Dec 6 & 8 come Sat. & Dec. 1 come today & pa has patted me on the back all thru this rain to think I did not want to go untill I got letters. I guess we would have drowned in camp (neighbors around here bring each others mail no carrier this way & 2 miles to V. Center).we are invited back if possible they say the roads are in bad shape so many wash outs but if it only stops raining the water soon runs off. don’t know when I will get a chance to mail this but will sometime & somewhere. Now theinterest on L.A. bonds are due Oct. & April 4.25 each pa says pay it & we will fix it up when we get home. oay them Oct. intst 4.25 & in April pay 4.25 again if they want to use it or put it in bank. glad they are getting on so well with the Annex wont know the place I am afraid. got the Clarence pict. Manorie’s letter O.K. The 94 cents due us on last yrs. supplies are paid when we sent for the extras (I forget what they were now) we sent the ballance out of our pocket so they cost the SS only 94¢. so thats allright. in my own mind I have been expecting Chet would be getting married well its perfectly natural. We have just enjoyed ourselves out here & just glad we were here in all this rain its so much pleasanter here than in the city pa drives the team & J.P. works at his house the “old farm” is good enough for us & talk about sleeping we go to bed about 8 o’clock & sleep like babies oh this air is so nice & fresh. when we left Nettie’s to come out here I bot 3 doz. of eggs of her 53 cts. doz. butter 50 here in Escondido I have made so much cottage cheese while out here pa begins to look like an “old cheese” ha, ha. oh but its so good & such nice fresh tomatoes in the garden potatoes growing & roses in bloom. Pa bro’t me a bunch of white roses from Mr Edwards the other day 5 in a bunch “Snowball” rose (poor Snow ball kitten what a shame) they were beauties but did not last long. it is so nice & warm tonight & sort of a fog well its getting toward our bed time & I may have lots of time to write before I get a chance to mail this.
(Wed. morn, 21 10.45)
Well it looks very much as if the rooster will have to die its still raining rained part of the night & is coming down right smart now. it was so very dry they were all praying for rain now they are praying for it to stop so they are a praying people out this way. well as far as we are concerned if we don’t get back to Los A. we don’t thats all. will be two weeks Fri. morning since we come here.
What about Himmelbachs note? glad the children are getting along with chicken pox. Pa has gone over to Mr. Evan’s to see them kill a pig in Calif. I imagine they cut the tail off instead of cutting their throat well we will know when he gets back. J.P. found an old hen with 2 chicks thie morn. with nice wing feathers aready he says he must get her in coop in hen yard or Cayotes will get her he says he hears them every night but pa & I can’t hear them I expect pa would go after them shirt-tail & all if he did. it has been so nice & warm we sleep out in the shed in the “Ford.” J.P. has two beds up both up stairs he wanted to bring one down & set it up in front room but we would not let him its just fine outside. he has a new fire place built & its a cracker jack worth 200 of the one Steve’s have he can put in a chunk as large as he can carry & it burns just fine & don’t smoke a bit & the one in Los A. smokes to beat the band they have to keep the windows open or you cant stand it. that is just a little better than none. it seems colder down there than out here. (11:30 A.M.) if we get back there for Xmas we will go out to Len’s a couple days between Xmas & New Years. at least that is our plan now. dinner time potatoes, cabbage soup (left from last night) crackers, dutch cheese onions bread & butter guess we will keep on that till supper Well we did not have dinner till 1 P.M. so late when we had break.don’t get up so early rainy weather I made J.P. a couple of towels out of a N.Y. grain bag one he bro’t with him. it is now 4.30 & the sun is shining so bright but will soon be over the mountains it acts like fair weather again. good 8 in. of water fell in 3 1/2 days I guess it would be about 1/2 day in the 4 it did not rain (some rain believe me) J.P. is on a hill & can’t drownd out the fields begin to look green. supper time again Johnny cake & milk for eats. This is our shortest day. they have all been short out here.
Dec. 22, Noon
Well I’ll be giggered if this is not another rainy day commenced this morn. about 2 o’clock & rained good & smart til 20 min. to 11 then sun shone for an hr. now it is raining like suds. such weather don’t know when we can get away can tell you better the next time I write. pa just said if the L.A.S. want to sell their bonds he will pay as much for them as any one will. so if they say any thing about it tell them but don’t offer to buy them untill they talk about selling. I forgot to tell the children Hoover is long haired yellow with a black back & about as large as Sadie’s dog. by the way how is she & how do they get along without her is C. planning to work the farm. Pa just said we better start in the morn. & go as far as we could so if it don’t rain I expect we will. (two weeks) J.P. has the cutest cook stove I ever saw & a fine baker the oven is 14 in. sq. 5 griddles & 6 1/2 in. across just 24 in. high he has it on a base (wood) so it is as high as any stove. he has a 3 burner blue flame & I never went in anyone’s kitchen that had such nice cooking ware all illuminum & good ware none of “Woolworths” ( I guess the girls & I will have to have a stove like his for our playhouse) a fireless cooker & a pretty 36 piece set of blue dishes he said the folks boxed up & sent down when they went away. maby they sent the kitchen ware too I don’t know. pa & J.P. are making the hen park smaller they have dug post holes between showers he has to shut the hens in every night & keep the Cayotts out. Pa would give his old shoes to get a crack at one. this A.M. while it rained he cut 4 in. off of J.P. shot gun put the bead sight back on & done a fine job. a nice piece of that hog pa saw die yes. come across the field today so if we can’t ge out the old rooster wont have to die after all Xmas. we will have a joke on Bill he said they never had more than one or maby two days rain in Calif. then it would be warm again this is the 5th day it is doing as it did yes. 3.20 sun shining & acts cleared up I expect in an hour it will be pouring. the mail has gone from Center today so no chance to mail this. you will wonder what has become of us. all O.K.
Fri. 23 9 A.M. well it has been raining all this morn. now the sun blinks out but can’t say what it will be in 10 min. it is some cooler but that cuts no ice. pa says he is not going today no mail has come to the Center since Mon. so thinks the roads are in bad shape. well I am going to seal this letter it will be late mailing I am afraid. Maby you get it by New Y. Happy New Year to you all.
Dear Little Grandchildren
I will have to answer your letters on mothers you wont care will you? the first I want to twll you about Hoover (the dog) he goes hunting with grandpa he will chase the rabbit a little ways then come back he don’t believe in doing all the running this afternoon they went out & G.pa tried to make Hoover wait for him & not go so far a head of him. so he boxed his ears just a little to make him mind well they went along a little way & the first G.pa knew away went Hoover by him like a shot & away went the cottontail to far off to shoot well on went Hoover & out went 3 Jack rabbits & G.pa never got a shot at them so back to the house they come & all G.pa got was wet feet & pants. he sat up close to the fire place & dried up. Hoover sleeps out inthe shed on the stalks. when we go out to go to bed he will start & run takes a big circle around the barn & barks & barks as if he was driving the Cayotts away then he comes in the shed & goes to bed. some nights he will go out & bark then go back to bed & Uncle Josh says he hears the Cayotts. in the morning Hoover comes & puts his feet on the running board & whines. I put my hand out & he noses it as much as to say “its time to get up.” some times his master calls him to eat his warm milk & he wont go till we go to the house. he don’t go in the house tho’ he stays in the woodshed. if we say something about Hoover he will run around to the window & laugh & wag his tail as much as to day “here I am what do you want.”
Now I will tell you about Sandy & Sandusky two yellow kittens. they are yellow tigers. Sandy is not so dark as Sandusky. Sandy’s stripes are strait & Sandusky’s are in rings on his side so I can tell them apart but they wont let me touch them. Uncle J. gives them warm milk at the barn when they get awfull hungry they come to the house & J- givesthem some bread thats all yo see them all day. they stay at the barn. there was a big black cat that was here on the place his name is “Skinny.” When J- bro’t the yellow kittens here Skinny went a way he stays out in the field & brush he hunts “Gofers” J- sees him once in a while. Gofers are something like rats only have short tails they live in the ground like woodchucks. thats what the people around her say I have not seen one yet. I saw something run under the house one day but it had a long tail & J- said he saw a rat in the woodpile so I called it a rat. if it was not so wet & raining all the time Hoover & I would break up his “happy home.” J- has two nice big horses a black & a bay one Prince & the other Phill they both have white stars the tail of Prince’s star runs nearly to the end of his nose. he is black Uncle J has 2 cows & 2 heifers only one cow gives mile. now I have told ou about his whole family only himself if you watch Uncle Will walk to the barn you see him. Happy New Year all.