Luebo,
August 13, '21
Dearest homefolks:
Have just heard that mail leaves this evening at 4:00 and this is 10:30 A.M. There are lots of letters I should write, but I suppose it will be just as usual. I'll only write my letter home. I don't mind writing home a bit, for I feel that I can write most anything and it will be accepted by you.
I "entertained" yesterday afternoon. Here when we want to invite people we invite them to come and have a cup of tea, but it always means more than that to the women who are doing the entertaining. Either cake, sandwiches, candy, or bread and butter is also served. Miss Larson, our nurse, a good friend of mine, came and helped me make my cake. I have never tried one, by myself yet, especially when I want it to be extra nice. And I made some very nice divinity candy. I meant to have a few sandwiches also but the bread was so porous it crumbled, so I could not make them. I had the "goody" all made up. I mashed up a can of sausage and ground my cheese, and had my dressing all ready. We got along fine without them.
I have also been playing tennis a little lately and enjoy it. It is such a good exercise and different from any other we get. I don't take much exercise otherwise now.
The women out here put on more style out here in the way of setting the table and serving and preparing meals. Much of which I haven't gotten on to yet, especially in the way of preparing dishes. As to serving there are lots of things I know but haven't the things to fix up with, which I'll have to wait until I come home to get. I am short on centerpieces, and I have to use them everyday. I have a beautiful round dining table, polished on top and want some dinner sets so bad so I won't have to use my table cloths all the time. I haven't but three table cloths now until my cedar chest comes. You know my nice one is in there. I had four, but one was so small I cut it up to make napkins out of. If anybody wants to send me anything, there's nothing I would appreciate more. Of course I don't suppose anybody would offer to, but I just said "if." I guess you know of what a dinner set is composed--a center piece, a doily to go under each plate, and under each butter plate. Our food is not put on the table, but on a small table by the side of the big one and served by the boys.
At night, we use candles more than lamps except to read by. A nice lamp we got in Brussels breaks so many lamp chimneys that we can't use it much. They do just like our big lamp used to. The chimneys just pop and we never know why.
We have to keep everything in the way of eats locked up. We have two magazines with food in them and I'm supposed to keep the keys, but they are so heavy to wear around my neck and I can't have any pockets in hardly any of my dresses, so most of the time they stay on the dresser in my front room where only one boy is supposed to go. The natives can't stand any kind of temptation, even the best of them.
Mother doesn't care for animals generally, but if she could see my cute little monkey, I know she couldn't help but like it. It's so pretty and cute. I had a list made of the things I wanted to tell you and he got it. I offered him a hair pin to play with instead, but he wouldn't hear to it. He gave his little call of displeasure and lay down in my lap and shut his eyes and commenced to kick. It's just the past two or three weeks that he's been so cute. He wasn't worth feeding when we first got him. He does more things now. You know how I am about pets, well he's the best one I ever have had. These blots on this last paragraph were ....
[Evidently the remainder of this letter has been lost.]
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