New Market, Va
Nov.23.1886.
My dear Girl,

     I will try now to give you a little of my experience since I wrote last, & I assure you that you will find it a somewhat "variegated" account that is out of the usual routine. Well, to "begin at the beginning," I washed Monday, & E. rolled up the clothes that evening. I made a pr mittens for a darkey after dinner & did several other things Tues. morn, E. ironed some after breakfast & some at dinner; we washed a dress & apron for Aunt Ann Tues. morn. Mrs Peck came up, brought a pitcher of milk an apple pie lump of butter. I fixed up Cous. M. B's old bonnet, it took me all the forenoon Tues, but I brought it out all right, Mrs. Phillips almost went into extacies over it. E thinks it "lovely" so I suppose it will "do." Woodie admired it & I told her what it was. I made

the crown longer pressed the rim into the shape I wanted, but chip is hard to press lined & trimmed with velvet, just the pompoms & feather on, washed my old satin strings with coffee & soap, and they look like new. I thought my black ones must be made over, but I really did not have time to do it. I sponged and pressed the lower ruffle & made the sleeves smaller & one cuff & Miss Fannie saidlooked "just as nice as I could." I wore her cloak Aunt Ann went to Mt. Crawford the same day, Mrs. Dr. Miller & her Mother were going to Staunton, so Aunt A. had good company all the way. E & I were down there Tues. night. I carried the little table home & E the big rocking chair; Miss Harriet took the other one. Glen met me at train. They were eating dinner & supper together when I got there. Week before last Jim was sick with cold & sore throat could not help his mother much, he has a hacking cough. Last week Fannie had sore

throat; was not out atall until morning of the sale. She is a dear little thing, When she told me "goodbye" she jumped up put her arms around my neck & cried. She & I washed the dishes when supper was over. Sallie was going all the time as hard as she could from one thing to another. I put on a gingham apron & helped them till 9 o'clock to get things ready for sale. I went with her to kitchen loft to get things down, she gave me some pop corn, some sedge grass, beans, geranium seed, Aunt Susans fly bush I gave Fannie 5 cts for a cut china butter cover, the dish was broken Cous. S. scorned the idea of taking anything for it she told me to take it, but hshe had told me to put to work other dishes that were to be sold. I got it for you. The other dishes were 5 saucers & six cups, old, 2 white plates, & 2 blue ones, some odd vegetable dishes & a few little things. she had packed all her good dishes

we had broken plates & pie pans on breakfast table, Mr. Bowman from Harrisonburg came down on train and took breakfast, Woodie jumped up & washed her plate for him. We had a "heap of fun" over our breakfast. I took every thing out of the cupboards & put in the pantr (eatables) on the porch after breakfast I sewed a long rip in Jesus' coat & sewed sleeve linings in, the night before I looked over a basket full of sock's, most of them Glen's and mended them. I helped carry things into the office, & the men set them out in the street. Modie was not well & nearly broken down, but she was helping all the time, Sallie washed up tin ware I wiped & put it in the office. There were so many bottles & glass jars for sale. Aldhiser had bought the drugs. Every thing they had to pack in their trunks was lying on the floor up stairs in Cous. S's room. She and Jen & Laura slept on a pallet in that room, but the bed clothes were sold. Wood & I slept at Dr. Williams just opposite. Got up at daylight