| Title: | Agnes Shakespeare (Nesta), Alberta, to "My darling Mother" |
|---|---|
| ID | 2418 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Shakespeare, Agnes/19 |
| Year | 1897 |
| Sender | Shakespeare, Agnes |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Alberta, Canada |
| Destination | Ireland |
| Recipient | unknown |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | daughter-mother |
| Source | D3590/M/4/1-16: Deposited by Godfrey Higginson Skrine Esq. |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9909224 |
| Date | 25/05/1897 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 21:09:99. |
| Word Count | 397 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | May 25th. My darling Mother. This is the letter from Nurse Tyers which I promised to send you. You will remember that I have seen her since then in Calgary. It's safer to write on the back of this, as I can't weigh letters, you know. I want to tell you that when Walter went into the Stock-Meeting in High River, he heard there was a P.O. for ÷10 for me, but as they hadn't so much one in the Office, they couldn't hand it up till they had sent to Calgary! Quite like old times, wasn't it? Might be Cushendun and Mary O'Hara. That woman made a deep and lasting impression on Walter's mind. However, now you know that it has come safely, for I presume this is the money you were to send from [Naas?] and Walter will get it next time he goes in. I have not heard again from Eckersley, so the marble cannot have arrived yet. I never expected this long delay; but I am told the freight-trains from the States are often very late in spring, and this year there have been awful floods. We have the most beautiful weather still. I am wearing cotton frocks, and the country wants rain. The little birds singing all round the house are a great pleasure at this time of year. The fly-catchers are the nicest, I think. The prairie-larks have a very short song, which they repeat over and over. The buffalo-birds chirp and call just like starlings. All the hills are so green and soft with grass. They have not been the least burnt yet with the summer sun. And the cattle get fatter, and the little calves are coming now awfully fast, so Walter is in very good cheer. His summer job of watering the "posy garden" has begun. I do all my work now with the trowel and the watering pot May sent me. I don't know how I ever got on without that trowel before. Billy comes and borrows the watering pot for his very special boxes of cabbage and cauliflower seedlings which are still on the hot-bed. I must tell you Billy requested Walter to allow him to "run the kitchen garden," that he might have some out-of-doors work in the summer. We were very glad. Now this boy has never minded a garden before, but he is naturally intelligent. Only you have to give him a first hand in anything he undertakes. So he first of all transformed the whole kitchen-garden, (of course it's only a quarter of an acre) so that he might have fresh soil, and fenced it in with a close leash fence to keep the hens out. Then he sowed it all in very high ridges with deep furrows between, and then, grand climax, he started a perfectly new system of irrigation. There is a particular little irrigation ditch, for watering the kitchen garden; and he arranged it so as to run the water down these furrows and leave it standing, with funny little gates that he put down between the ridges. So far it seems to answer splendidly; and I do hope that the vegetables will be a success this summer. It's impossible to start them very early because of the frosts. We have only had one night of slight frost this month. The morning after I thought that Billy looked rather low in his mind. It turned out that "the frost had knocked a row of beans on him." Luckily there remain some other rows, planted later. There is a kind of wild spinach, the wort weed here. They call it lamb's quarter. We have it now with our beer - treated as greens. It tastes rather good. I do so wish that kitchen garden may do this year. No mail for me yet. I know something has happened to it, as I have had no letter now for 3 weeks; so I am not fussing so thinking anything has happened. And Mr. Waldy will enquire for me again at the [symbol - ranch bar-U]: as I think he will be leaving us tomorrow, and coming back again. Best love from us both. I do hope you got to Lisloughrey, and had a good time there. What do you think? We have had a house - cleaning!! Your loving daughter Nesta. |
