BLACKWELL FAMILY Gen. Correp. Belden, Anna 1937-49Please return 3505 MACOMB STREET WASHINGTON, D.C. March first, 1937 Dear Cousin Alice, As I can't make my check book balance I'll give my subconscious mind a chance while I write to you. Eleanor has been home from the hospital almost two weeks, and I am prowling up and down through the cookbook trying to plan attractive meals without too much repetitions. She & her father not liking the samethings makes it difficult. She still stays in bed until afternoon, though this last weekend she and her father took the afternoon boat to Norfolk, having the car along, and watered back stopping at Williamsburg and Richmond on the way. She plans to return to college next Monday. Helen Bell is also in bed with a bad cold. Last night her temperature was 103 but is only a degree above 35 Macomb Street Washington, D.C. normal this morning. While the Sayres were away I had Howard for a meal, and he accompanied me to church yesterday. Ethel dropped in Saturday to say that owing to a case of scarlet fever in the lower school spring vacation will be this week. Mrs. Smith, who runs the Hillside Inn at Holderness, was always very friendlywith Howard's family, and she also has a house at Southern Pines N.C. which she has offered to Geo. & Ethel for the vacation. Ethel is overjoyed at the prospect. It is about 300 miles from here, and they mean to live in the open practising their golf, in which they are about equally poor. Geo. found that his car needed a new engine, so turned it in for $200. and bought a more recent model, 1935. It doesn't look any better 3505 Macomb Street Washington D.C. than the old one, but is, or will be, more marketable when they again sell. Our two red moons (fish) have presented us with 11 babies. They are almost colorless and very lively. The old ones shoo them now and then, but have kindly refrained from eating them. We shall have to give some of them away when they outgrow our aquarium.We also have three snails which were not part of our original purchase. I think there must have been snail eggs on the aquatic weed which we put into the tank. We have a little electric heater, a rod of metal, which keeps them warmer than the room temperature, [which] this seems to be necessary for most tropical fish which are not gold fish. A very enterprising water lily raiser sent a catalogue offering fancy fish as well as lilies for outdoor pools. I hope your eyes are improving Only a half hours use at a time is a great hardship. You must get Mrs. Sumpter to read to you. Always with love Anna Mar. 24, 1937 Dear Cousin Alice, I'm hoping that both you & Florence are felling better. I wish that you both could sit on our porch couch in the warm sunshine. It has been very comfortable out there several times already. Ethel & Geo. dropped in for chicken & peas the other day. I don't mean that that was what they came for, but they are both so appreciative of the extras that don't come often at school that it is a pleasure to hear them gurgle with delight. Later in the evening they sped off to a concert. Ethel eats, drinks & sleeps music and Geo. very docilely trails along. Did I tell you that they thought that they were going to miss going away for spring vacation. The school was closed on account of a case of scarlet fever & it wasGOOD LUCK and HAPPINESS THIS IS NOT EXACTLY "NEWS," 'N I SUSPECT YOU KNOW IT, BUT I DO WISH YOU EASTER HAPPINESS 'N THIS IS ONE WAY I CAN SHOW IT HAPPY EASTER! 5 E 9560 GIBSON CINTI., U.S.A. EXTRA Just a "SPECIAL EDITION" to wish you -- Anna Belden 3505 MACOMB STREET WASHINGTON, D. C. April 23, 1937 Dear Cousin Alice, The good word from Howard was that you were sitting up and feeling better. I was so glad to hear it. This came from Alison on her return from her [peep?] at Bermuda. I don't know where she plans to be for her second week of vacation, which she will take later. I have just agreed to take the two parents ofsome people who are going to spend July at the King camp at the Vineyard, now known as the Barn House. That is, I am going to take them if they are willing to get their dinners at the camp. I can't manage dinners single handed, and as well to to market at V.H., do my laundry, take sheets to the North Rd. to be washed, keep the house clean, and chase someone to cut the hay. But if breakfast & supper will do I will take them, though I hate to be tied 3505 Macomb Street Washington, D.C. thought that that week would have to be called spring vacation. It happened that Ethel had such a cold that they couldn't leave school. Afterwards the parents felt so disappointed at having the time changed that they are keeping school on Saturdays, so that they may leave vacation as usual. That ill make it possible for them to accept Mrs. Smith's offer of her cottage at Southern Pines, S.C. Mrs Smith keeps the Hillside Inn at Holderness [?]remembers all the family when they spent their summers at Holderness. On Easter Ethel is having a tea, and has asked me to preside over the teapot. Last week while Helen Bell's aunt from N.Y. was visiting us we spent a most delightful balmy day at Mr. Vernon. We took along a picnic lunch, and enjoyed the clumps of daffodils and crocuses blooming [growing] by the paths. Ever so much love, Anna P.S. Think of seeing northern lights in March! 3050 MACOMB STREET WASHINGTON, D.C. May 27, 1937 Dear Cousin Alice, Thank you so much for sending the Vineyard Gazette. Certainly the Mrs. Hough and her son who are the editors have made an unusually good paper. Howard reports that you are looking better, which is good news. I wish you could wait until fall to move, then if I hadn't a job I could pack you up andunpack you. It doesn't seem to me that you ought to do it without either Howard or me. I know you managed to move into the place in which you are, but it may have been just that that used you up and left you ready to succumb to any infection that came along. Yesterday Barbara lunched with me downtown. Knowing what a capable young person she is I wanted her to give me any suggestions she might have as to possible jobs for me. 3505 MACOMB STREET WASHINGTON, D.C. In spite of the melting atmosphere she devoted the entire afternoon to me telling me her various ideas most patiently. One of them was to ask you whether you might know of any group or organization that might be able to use me in the capacity of hostess in club rooms or other meeting places. I don't seem to feel that women's organizations have any money to waste on such frills, evenif they wanted to. But Barbara was very insistent that I ask you. She feels that you know endless people connected with a great variety of groups. Tomorrow Mr. Sayre is having his very nice young assistant and his wife for their annual dinner here. I have seen her at the Landon School where the small son was distributing programs when Ethel was helping the children give a puppet show with three scenes from Siegfried with the proper music. 3505 Macomb Street Washington, D.C. Tan, the Siamese boy, for whom Mr. Sayre is responsible while he is in this country, also arrives tomorrow. He has been attending the University of Alabama where he has been learning, among other things, to grow rice. He hopes to be Minister of Agriculture when he returns to Siam. I shall leave to dash to the Vineyard the moment I amfree here as my two boarders expect to arrive July 5th for a few days more than three weeks. McLaughlin is the name. He is a retired professor of Chicago University & they still live in Chicago, so perhaps I shall find that they know Leila's husband who is prof. of anatomy there. I do hope Alison may get a chance to work with Dr. Richard Cabot, who needs someone to help him with social work with children. She is to have an interview but may not qualify on the social part. [*Ever so much love dear Cousin Alice, Anna If you don't open your own house at M. V. do come to me anytime.*] May 18, '37. Dear Alice, Florence had all those troubles & woes, but in spite of them she thoroughly enjoyed life & was always ready to chuckle or admire or to be interested or am- used. She always came out of her blues at a moments notice. She was not strong physically & so felt helpless before things which needed physical strength. She needed a strong husky person to take care of her & it seems to me she would have gone on being interested in life & people & problems for years. She helped many peopleby her determined stand on what she considered right. I am going to ask Estrel [?] to send you a letter or two well worth saving that she has from people Florence helped. Well our flower show came off & I won a 1st & a 2nd & two honorable mentions. It was the first time I even entered anything so I was quite encouraged & try again. My pansies & tulips & early peonies & a flowering shrub were ribboned but my little lilies of the Valley were not out enough & my violets were greatly out shown. Some people must have hot beds. 2 Florence wouldn't allow herself to spend money on a really good housekeeper & helpers. She was so anxious to save it for the causes she liked & for Wallis. She was very devoted to Wallis only she worried him by being so spineless & swayed by Doris {?}. Well his worries are all over but I catch myself saying I must ask Florence or Florence will know about that. I was so used to stopping at my desk and dropping her a line & her letters were always so newsy & Vinegary {?} Tom & I both miss them, always once or sometimes twice a week. Love to you. Alice thank you for returning letters so promptly. Chilmark July 8, 1937 Dear Cousin Alice, This is the and of a perfect day--our uncut grass is blowing like grain in the wind and a misty horizon line over the ocean in spite of sunshine all around. Two stalks of beautiful Regal lilies stand in front of the dining room windows, and both the pink & the white roses are in bloom on the house. Friday afternoon I was squeezed in with Elizabeth, Lawrence and three of their friends into the car belonging to one of them, and we whizzed down to Woods Hole only to get a patient hourwaiting for the boat, so we weren't in bed much before midnight. The young people all had to depart on Monday and I was expecting my boarders on that day, but mercifully for me their granddaughter was taken ill and, they probably won't be here until Saturday. As only one of the three burners on my old stove works I am happy to have them among the missing. Agnes Tow{?} came down for a week to give Kenyon{?} a chance to use some of his vacation here. They picked us up for supper, which we had at the Howe Port, a very modest little place at Wenenshore{?}. Nothing could have pleased me better. Six lobsters were set before the four of us with little glasses of melted butter into which to dip our lobster laden forks. Salad, raspberry pie & coffee was added. The lobsters were young & tender--perfect of their season. We also drove to S. Haven to shop, and there I met Cousin Lizzie. She had been having pains that Dr. Mayhew couldn't account for. I think she wondered, whether it could be a stomach ulcer. He said if she had any more to go to Boston and be xrayed. She planned to open her Chilmark house yesterday. I haven't heard whether she did. Miss Webber now has a cottage of her own, and for the moment Mrs. Geitz is alone. Cousin Lizzie is delighted with the people in your house. She feels that ashe has delightful neighbors in having them & Mrs. Staushal{?}. I felt the delay of my boarders a good chance to paint my bathroom floor and a gouge in the dining room floor where the children dragged the living room couch in cold weather in the living before the fire. I hope they won't misbehave & refuse to dry promptly. Agnes goes off the end of this week to sketch in Essex, but I shall have May & Albert to keep me alive when I'm not cooking for the McLaughlins. Without my asking Miss Eliot wrote me that they would pay me $1000. instead of $800. if I wished to go to them, and let me off from their summer session if I were willing to pay someone to take my place. I wrote her that I would do it -- so you see you did get me a job. I think it will be terrific, and I hate city houses, and can't remember 20 peoples names, but its Hobson's choice and I'm sure its better than trying to do decorating with nowhere to stay and nothing to live on while trying to work up a clientele. I was sorry that things crowded so that I couldn't see you before leaving. I even let Laurie bring my suit case from Helen's without returning from my trip to town. I hope your apartment will be a joy in every way. I shall see it on my return. Have to be back & report for duty Sept. 1st. Grace seems to be doing more for herself under Miss Doloris management. Leaves her to feed herself dessert, and get her out on the lawn to sit. Lots of love dear Cousin Alice from AnnaChilwork, Mass. Aug.14, 1937 Dear Cousin Alice, How I wish you were here and part of all the good times we are all having -- family good times. I was picked up; by Agnes & Tom on Thursday for a supper picnic at the Brick Yard on the Northern shore. The tall chimney still stands and the old water wheel, which by the way, was made by the grandfather of Charlie Whiedder's {?} brotherswife. He manufactured water wheels & this was one of them. It is a desolate but lovely spot, and the little [childrens?] paddled in the mill stream, where it flows into the sound, while the rest of us enjoying unusually high waves for that side of the island. Barbara & Blackwell took charge of the cooking of bacon & toasting of muffins and getting the coffee blazing hot, They built a little stone fireplace close to the cliff and heat a grill to hold coffee pot & frying pan. Everything was piping hot and tasted so good. We rambled along the shore drinking in a lovely sunset, and gathering bits of nicely bleached Irish moss. Needing a brick to repair a broken one in my fireplace I picked up one of the old ones there. There are heaps of them, and Barbara knew at once where the brick terrace would come from when she & Blackwell have a bungalow on Moro {?} Barbara wonders whether she could locate a little old cottage somewhere on theisland and have it moved instead of building anything new. All a dream, as yet. Last evening I again joined them for the annual clam chowder party at which Tom presides as chief. We all gathered at small tables in Agnes' veranda and Tom appeared in cook's cap, (paper) and apron with a very French goatee added to his chin and a little of the sauve black to his mustache. He was quite perfect! He was He has concocted the chowder which, as well, was very delicious. Afterwards [*we all went up on mors to see the view & sunset. Much love, as always. Anne] West Tisbury Massachusetts July 24, 1939 Dear Cousin Alice, Yours with Agnes' little note has just arrived. I am rejoicing that she has reached Chilwork but I've not ventured to go to see her yet. All the excitement of going home and then the trip to the island must have tired her. Thursday I traveled up to Ethel Robinson's.stopping on the way to get a peep at little Christine Jones. She had been tucked into her bed ready for a nap, but had not yet goine to sleep. She has large dark eyes and a happy expression. Barbara says she is very well and very good. Ethel's lill top tenants very kingly took us to the beach in their car, so Ethel did not have to walk. It was the second time that she had ventured into the ocean. It was nice to see her looking so well, and not seeming to be West Tisbury Massachusetts tired by a rather active day. As Alfred was away in New York on business Ethel had asked her young tenants to have dinner with us. Her Mrs. Bryant is a quiet middle aged person, and had prepared a very nice meal for us, with elderberry jelly (the first I had eaten) and delicious cake and fruit for dessert. Alfred has worked away until they now have a very pretty terrace on the ocean side of the cottage. It is just large enough to play croquet, so we had fun playing a game before the young people departed. then Ethel showed me where Alfred had set a bench, just a little below the brow of the hill overlooking Quilson {?} Pond. We sat there for a while, and I noticed how very spick & span your Sunset View looks with its new shingles. Alison seems to find her work at Mrs. Lydon's not too overpowering. She says that she is very considerate that they have a good deal of the frozen WEST TISBURY MASSACHUSETTS Birdseye food which is easy to prepare, and that she is very patient with her two year old who throws his spoon and undresses at odd times. She agreed to stay with her only through August and I think she will be here for a while in September. Elizabeth is quite absorbed in the goings on at the Wayside Farm where there are horses, ponies, goats, dogs, cats and hens.She went out as instructor with a man who seemed to have plenty to spend. He was staying at Edgarowi's most expensive hotel, had hired a man to drive him to the farm at the edge of Chilwork, paid him two dollars to wait while he rode, having to pay for his own horse and for the instructor, there he planned to drive on to Gay Head. Elizabeth also was teacher to some children who rode pretty will, but were not allowed to go alone. The owner of the place is just erecting a new ten stall barn West Tisbury Massachusetts where he will keep the extra horses which his increasing business seems to call for. Also he has three horses already to board for other people. During her vacation he has agreed to let Elizabeth help with the riding, so she is crowing with glee. As Miss Belden had to vacate her camp Bowie{?} has returned to the island and is staying at this farm. Elizabeth takes him sugar and he calls to her whenever she appears, and offers his foot to shake which is his only accomplishment. He is getting a little gray on his nose, but seems still very frisky and well. Elizabeth wishes she had been able to do something of the kind here, but for the first two years the riding did not even pay for the keep of the horses to say nothing of supporting their owner who seems to have a independent income which makes the farm possible. I do so wish you were at Hobson's Choise where everyone could run in and visit with you. I've not yet been to see Cousin Lizzie, but hear that her head bothers less. I'm glad she has someone [*with her.-- Very much love dear Cousin Alice from AnneChilwork, Mass. Sept. 10, 1940 Dear Cousin Alice, It's always so nice to see your own handwriting, tho' I know it is by feeling, and, also, not by sight. Miss Alice Jordan is one of Charles' very able assistants. She is head of the children's department at Copley Square, and it is a shame and a great loss that she will have to retire (she will have reached the age limit) next November. Her sister has a school somewhere, I can't remember where and they will live together. The sister's retiring also. They have a summer cottage to which they have gone for many years on Grand Nausau. The sister remarked that if Hitler should ever arrive there she would burn the cottage and every stick & bush and tree (tho' I guess there aren't any trees) rather than let him get them. Miss Alice Jordan is a rare person. She lunched with me not long before I cam here. Until her sister was to join her she lived in a darling little ancient house on Chesnut{?} Street at the foot of Beacon Hill. She had three rooms (the whole of the second floor). A very attractive place, but she felt she must have something larger for her sister. Please give her my love, if you think of it when you next see her. Bonnie and I are keeping each other company, with lagging footsteps, has had to return to her job. A friend of Elizabeth's who she knew in college as well as she & Laurie, were here for the weekend. We were having breakfast on the sunny veranda when Bonnie meandered up the steps, and had his nose practically on the table before he was invited off. Then he stood with his head over the railing within a few inches of the table & relished bits of toast from Elizabeth. We had left the back screen door open to carry in the breakfast dishes. Bonnie was prompt to discover it and walked into the backroom and over to the table where I keep various bags of vegetables. Elizabeth had to explain to him that it was not part of the barn. I have been cutting out quantities of my rambler roses which occupy too much of the lane and scratch cars as they go by, and now I'm wondering where I can put it all before a good rain comes to make it safe to burn it. Last Friday evening I took Elizabeth & her friend as my guests to the meeting of theCommunity Club. It was at Lucy Vincent's, which is a pleasant place to go, and the speaker was the treasurer of the American Audubon Society, Mr. Guy Severson. He has a cottage on the far slope of Abel's Hill and is a N. Y. banker, but finds or takes a great deal of time to study birds in all parts of our country. He talked for more than an hour most interestingly. He said that the Albatross is so skillful at following wind currents that it can remain in the air for six or seven hours without moving its wings, just soaring with the wind. The condor is [our largest] the bird with the largest wing spread, twelve feet. May Bruno and family left for New Jersey today. It does seem too bad that with so much lovely weather ahead they still want to go. They seem to find it hard to keep warm. Alison has been enjoying the English children who have been taken about a good deal, but one of them has come down with mumpsso they are quarantined for the moment. I forgot to mention something of importance to Elizabeth. She hired a horse for the month while she was here and rode it at the Fair, winning a blue ribbon which pleased her uncle. I wish she could have her fill of horses she does love them so. Must go and cook a squash presented by Tom from his own garden. This is the first year he has had a vegetable garden. It has been very flourishing. I'm so glad you go out everyday & [*get a sniff of fresh air. Always affectionately, Anne]WEST TISBURY MARTHA'S VINEYARD MASSACHUSETTS Sept. 16, 1942 Dear Cousin Alice, I should have thanked you long ago for the amusing jingle which you sent for my birthday. We all enjoyed & laughed over it. Also many thanks for the Globe article you just sent me. You look so much like your Father, and Aunt Lucy is so lovely in the background.When I called on Ethel Robinson on Monday I was sorry to find her all packed up for departure next morning. Not being able to leave her hill easily she found it lonely and rather monotonous, but she looked well, and I am sure the Vineyard has done her good. Pretty much everything at Quitsa is closed now. Charlie Whidden lengthened his vacation to a month, & he and Sammy diligently shingled all one side of their roof. It looked to me quite as good as a carpenter job, and saved him several West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts hundred dollars. Ethel, inside, painted the bathroom sky blue with very glossy paint so that it shines all over. Marjorie Rogers also did a big job of interior painting, so that Anna would be pleased next summer. Mr. Henry put in a bathroom for him, and he & Betty spent a couple of weeks getting the cottage ready for next season. I am harvesting tomatoes so fast from my dozen plants that I have had to can some in order to keep up with them. And about a peck of wild grapes, gathered by Elizabeth & Elsie last Sundayawait my attention. They took an equal amount back with them, also a lot of tomatoes and a big pan of squash muffins. It is easier for them to take the grapes & make jelly with them at the apartment than to carry glasses of jelly from here. I am sure you will like to hear this letter from Lawrence. The first since he left Montpelier. His stay at Burlington will be until about Thanksgiving. There are about 300 men there taking various courses in pilot training. Some are army tho' Norteast Airlines runs the school. Please return letter when you next write. Much love, Anna [*P.S. I had forgotten that Eliz. & Alison will want to see it. I'll send it along later.*]Chilmark July 19, 1945 Dear Cousin Alice, Elizabeth & I have enjoyed the pictures and your citation in the Boston Alumni bulletin. I wish you could see them. It is quite evident that you and Koussy were the favorites. And the article written about your father by my mother is a good one and serves to show thechildren who never had the pleasure of having him juice his current jelly making on 4th of July. I have always felt that that was the time to get ours here under way. But either we have had an extra bird population or less wild food to their liking this season for our scanty strawberry & current crops were all cleaned out very thoroughly. And now a nimble young rabbit, small enough to squeeze under the wire fence, is living high from the vegetable garden. As Lovina used to say "There is so much life on this island!" Though she was really referring to mosquitoes, ticks, and other insect pests. I can remember when she put a lighted lantern in the garden at night to frighten away muskrats, which were what were bothering us at that time. Poor Ethel Whidder had another kind of trouble when she opened her Whale Hill bungalow. The hurricane had tore out a piece of the roof and somehow the temporary covering had not been tight enough to prevent some large birds (maybe a hawk) from getting in. The opening was over the closet shelf, and there she found a big messy nest with remains of the skeletons of food brought for their young ones, and much litters to clean up, as well as a few dead mice or rats. She was quite disgusted. Had you heard that Meyric {?} Rogers came some weeks ago with his children? Anne remained behind for a while to rest after her winter exertions. Meyric {?} is down for several months while he is writing a book on antique furniture, though what there can be new to write I do not know. I hope you get enough eggs since they take the place of meat in your diet. We are lucky in having the nine year old boy next door supplying us with eggs from his flock of 16 hens. This is the first year he has kept hens & at the price of eggs it is a fine venture for him. Also Everett Poole's grandson, young Everett, is trying to have fish for sale daily at M----{?}, but I hear that he asks more per lb. than the Chilmark store (when they have any for sale) and says if he doesn't charge more he can't make any money. His sword fish $1.00 a lb. and Rex 80ยข. Both a whale of a price I call it! Must get to work--- Best love from Anna Many thanks for sending the literature. [*Anna Blackwell Belden cousin of ASB (daughter of Geo. & Emma)]West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts September 12, 1945 Dear Cousin Alice, This is to send my thanks for your fine birthday letter to me enclosing the pretty card from Strochies. Now it is my turn to wish you increasing happiness and send my love for your birthday. I was glad to know that you hadMiss Luscomb while Mrs. Smith was away, and that she left you with all the beautiful peaches. I also managed to get some canned & Elizabeth has taken some of them to her apartment, as there are more than we shall use here. Just now I am deep in tomato canning. I wish they West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts didn't all come at the same time, especially as I am also trying to paint the kitchen floor in sections, and bidding my mind to remember where not to step. It's a bother but will be worth it if I ever finish. My flowers are still rampant and the weather pretty good, so I am feelingextra lucky. Elizabeth spent a very happy month here and was able to get Bonnie & his companion brought up in a trailer & returned the same way when she left. Bonnie had forgotten none of his old habits. Came & stood with his great feet on the back door step & his nose at the door expecting a cookie or some such tidbit which he has always WEST TISBURY MARTHA'S VINEYARD MASSACHUSETTS had when he came begging. Elizabeth would make him give his paw before getting it. Having Howard's family and Laurie for ten days gave us lots of pleasure, & now Elizabeth comes down each Friday or Saturday returning Sunday, so I see her often still.I'll send my "thank you" to Strochie when she gets back. It must be lovely in the fall at Dorset. I remember visiting Aunt Ellen there, & the sidewalks made of slabs of white marble, so pretty with the green grass edging them. As always much love from Anne [*{Belden}] West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts Sept 12, 1946 Dear Cousin Alice, This brings you my love and birthday good wishes for the 14th. "May your shadow never grow less!" --and may you continue for years to come to be an honor to our family. I hope when you get this letter that we shall be having a family get-together here. My two, and Howard with John & Anne.The boats are reported to be running again, and we are due to have some good weather. The wet season has kept the grass in fine condition for Bowie. He came in June from the place where he had spent the winter near Vineyard Haven looking feeble & forlorn. He had been so clever at opening gates that they had not dared to let him out much, and his teeth were not good enough to enable him to get 2 much value from his oats. I did not think when he arrived [West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts] that he would survive the summer, but Eliz. gave hime stock-feed, which is a coarse meal of various grains, three times a day and turned him out to pasture. He has gained steadily until now he is fat & chubby, with his winter coat looking plushy already. This winter he will be in West Tisbury with someone who has a horse of her own, & has plenty of well fencedpasture. She is fond of animals & used years ago to help look after ponies when she was a governess at the Putnam's farm where Bonnie was born. Not long ago we made a picnic expedition to the west shore of Gay Head just beyond the Hornblower property. Even as far along the shore as where we were the cliffs have yellow & red clay cropping out similar to the far end. I wish you could see your house since the alterations. Dormer windows 3 WEST TISBURY MARTHA'S VINEYARD MASSACHUSETTS towards the ocean, and a large kitchen addition towards the stone wall. It covers the old drive way which goes now nearer to the wall. They have gas stove & refrigerator, and looking forward to sometime having electricity have had 42 outlets put in. Seven of them are in the kitchen. We still have a great stump in our back yard that I have not succeeded in getting anyone to tackle. Lately Robt. Vincent has held out hopes that with his new tractor he wouldif he could get a man to help him. He asked after Ethel Robinson, and spoke so appreciating of you remembering him each Xmas with a card. I have been learning to use a pressure cooker given me by my children for a birthday present. It is marvelous to cook a pot roast, which usually takes hours of slow boiling in 30 minutes, potatoes in 8 minutes. I put three jars of blackberries in and had them done in 10 minutes. But for small quantities I still prefer the old way.The Winslow, 45 E. 55th St. N.Y. Sun. June 12, 1946 Darling Cousin Alice, You ask how I am? I regret to say, and am ashamed to say, I have been having a little set-back. The electric treatments were somehow a bit severe & I developed a temperature. SoI have been keeping to my room, and having meals sent up, Horace insisted. He & Pete are taking wonderful care of me. Today, -- I can announce I am again normal. So I hope to go down to breakfast tomorrow morning. We may post-pone most of the rest of the treatments until fall. We may also delay going to M. V. for several reasons. It may be difficult [* darling Cousin Alice. I was amazed at what Helen Ho {?} did at John's wedding time.{?} I meant to write them. Ask them to forgive Me. Ethel Bk.]for Horace to get away, to take me, just now. Also I may have to pay for my room here all summer. We shall see. An excellent little friendly Portuguese or Colored maid, begins services from the 29th of June, whether I go then or later. She knows the Vineyard & its ways. Her Mother is on the Cape. She is in N. Y. We are all thrilled at our brides & grooms! I hope to send John & his Anne a little joy - thought soon. Bless them. Horace & Pete went to a wonderful party Ethel Whidden gave to introduce Kenyon's Betty Boon;--altho' everybody knew her in Montclair. They hope to go to the wedding-doings July 13th Horace is an usher, & they spend the two evenings in a Cousin's house in Montclair, invited by the bride to be-- it is her cousin's house. Kenyon came to see me the other day--full of it all. He has acquired a sub-let apartment of glory--for 2 mos, so far. They go to M. V., to Sea-gull [*Much much love to all,, & you especially]4 most of the time I find my reading confined to the daily paper [West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts] & the Atlantic, but now that it gets cool & dark earlier I have been diverting myself reading Hawthorne's Marble Faun which is new to me. My interest in the story is secondary to the delightful descriptions of Roman highways & byways, sculpture & art, and the ancient palaces. I am reminded of Cousin Kitty's & Aunt Elizabeth's five months in Rome, & my own much briefer visit. It's lunch time for Bowie & me, so I'll wind this up with much love, AnneDec 1948Dear Cousin Alice, Our menageries not quite as exciting as when we had all the puppies, but at the moment we have three dogs and nine ducks at "Dog Run" or "Buckminster Farm" as it is variously termed. Piggy, the pup who was kept, is now bigger than his mother, Tinker, and has a beautiful black curly coat and huge white ruff. He is a very *[Morning Ride Court ladies guide their spirited mounts along well-tended path to the open countryside. eighteenth century painting on silk in the style of Ch'iu Ying.] Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and love from Elizabeth [B. Belden] (inside please)friendly dog, and always greets us with great enthusiasm even though we may have been out only a few hours. The latest addition in the animal line is a young all-black kitten named "Mitty" and I wish you could see him play with Pig and Tinker - particularly, Piggy. He puts his little black paws around Pig's neck and then tries to bite at him, and Piggy will bow to Mitty and gently paw at him. They then may chase each other about, or roll over and over on the floor together. Cleopatra, the Newfoundland, would like to join in also, but she is so big that Mitty is a bit wary of her, and usually leaves Cleo pretty much alone. They all get along beautifully together, and all sleep in the laundry at night - Piggy and Mitty in baskets, Cleo on a couch and Tinker in a crib! We have our original pair of muscovies - Carol and Sir Francis Drake - and also the seven ducks who were hatched out this summer. They all waddle up every evening from the pond to the duck house (erstwhile stable) for feeding and the night - with Mitty accompanying them with great bounds. The dogs are shut in as they are prone to move the ducks at too rapid a speed! Bonnie's as flourishing as ever and this winter Canter and Clemens, the two thoroughbreds, are staying at the same place in West Tisbury, so he has six equine companions altogether there! He had a [WEST TISBURY MARTHA'S VINEYARD, MASSACHUSETTS June 16, 1949 Dear Cousin Alice, I certainly did not mean to leave Camb. without having another visit with you, but somehow I got involved in last things that had to be done before leaving and the time slipped past. In the two weeks that I have been here the season has changed from the end of spring to what seems like midsummer. I hopefully planted my vegetable garden only to find that thedeer, of which a herd of 8 have been seen in this vicinity, seemed to consider it planted exclusively for them. Having eaten a whole row of beans, I thought dusting all the green leaves of everything remaining (might) with a bug repellent powder might make them unappetizing, but some were eaten even then. I was told that a lantern in the garden would frighten them away. It seemed to work for a night or two, but then there appeared tiny fawn tracks as well as their elders. Tomatoes [West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts] they do not seem to care for, but think I'll have to give up a garden another season. Phlox and delphiniums along the well by the house have also been beheaded. But there have been some joys, one of which appeared at the brook. As I approached with a great whirl of wings & loud quack a wild duck flew up from the water. Very soon seven tiny ducklings came up into the path. They have olive backs & yellow underneath. They waddle into the grass with much peeping, & I departed so that their mother could find them. Behind the house a chickadee and a tree swallow each has a nest in a couple of tree holes, and in front a song sparrow has a nest in the box bushes, and on the west side of the house a robin has set up housekeeping in a honeysuckle vine. At twilight two unwelcome bunnies hop around the lawn. Bonnie and the two riding horses which we had last summer are [West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts] here again -- Bowie looking even more plump and fit than last year. I am surprised to hear that Laurie Huntington is having a swell house built just over the brow of the hill where her original Quitsa house stands. She has sold her place in West Tisbury where she & Wilfred have lived since selling the Quitsa place to the Balls. I don't see how she can live there in the winter, so far from the road. This very dry hot weather is fine for everything but the gardens, and I have spent a great deal of time out of doors doing weeding and watering, and spraying to prevent fungus spots on the grape leaves of the two cultivated vines. Judging by the [wel] wealth of blooms on everything it will be an abundant berry year. Must to my chores. Very much love, Anne [*Please tell Strochie that it is the Pequot mills at Salem that have the colored sheeting.] West Tisbury Martha's Vineyard Massachusetts Sept. 12, 1949 Dear Cousin Alice, Three family birthdays in three weeks, yours, George's, and mine, keep the family pretty constantly celebrating. My birthday love, as always, goes to you with wishes for many more to come. This summer the Vineyard has outdone itself with day after day of sunshine. No outdoor activities ever being marred by rain. Elizabeth has rejoiced in having again the two beautiful thoroughbreds. [*Again best wishes for a happy birthday - afly. Anne]horses which belong to the Butlers, but which they are glad to have here for the summer. They are both sorrel with white markings on their faces & white socks. Both so friendly that their noses are against one's face when near enough. Bonnie still fat, and already raising a plush winter coat, & happy to have the horses for company. Alison is making the most of her stay in California to see as much as she can of the state. Last weekend she went to Monterey & Carmel. As she makes her trips by bus she sees a lot West Tissury Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts of the country, and finds that the bus drivers are glad to give information as they go along. A note from Ethel Whidden who is trying to get settled in Bangor says that she will not be able to come to the Island as she had hoped to close her Whale Hill cottage & visit with Sam until he has to go back to college. Instead Sam is to close the place by himself. I hope he will stay here while he is doing it. He is just back from being cook for the summer on a small sailing boat carrying 15 passengers, and coasting along Maine. He, and the other two crew members have been at it for 3 months. He will have become really experienced by now. Ethel couldn't come because the schools have postponed opening on account of polio, and she wanted to see Barbara started in a new place. They find a great dirth of houses in Bangor, and price high. Where Geo. left for Lake Forest be left a tiny sail boat which be hopes to use next summer & Laurie was invited to use it until time to store it in our barn. He has had a number of delighted trips around our pond sailing [*far down to the eastern end. It's just originally belonged to John.]