18th May 1911
My dear little Juliet,
I was very pleased to hear all about you from Kathleen, I am sure you must very much have enjoyed seeing her & going out with her; it would be very nice if you can go & spend a night at Sydenham a little later on. I had a letter from Arthur today from Dowlais, of course he is enjoying himself very much there, he & Mary must have got a lot to talk about; he will be coming home some time next week.
So you have got a little garden now, how big is it? Father sends his love & will send you a few plants for it; if possible he will send them tomorrow & when you have planted them if there is no rain, you will have to keep them watered for a few days. Have you had a ride on your bicycle yet? does it take long to get out into a country road? I want you to give me a detailed account of what you do on Sundays, what time you get up & have breakfast etc.
We have had Mrs Savory lunching here today, she has been in the Nursing Home for eight weeks for a rest cure & is looking so much better, she is quite fat & is quite lively as she used to be. Your pussy sat on her lap for some time & when we were walking round the garden, he followed us about like a dog; he killed a rat last night.
Fancy Shylock having kittens! they will have to change her name & call her Jessica or Portia. I expect you play with the kittens when you get a chance. I think your old doggie was very pleased to get me home again, he & I generally go for a walk together between tea & supper. It has been quite warm since I got back & we have had no rain, so that the dust is rather bad.
May has just started giving Ralph Bent some French & Latin lessons, he goes up to school for the French, but she goes to their house for the Latin on Tuesday & Thursday afternoons, as he couldn’t work with Tommy Horsfield who has only just begun. On Tuesday Mrs Bent was out & had told him he must give May tea, & she was much amused at his politeness.
We had the Territorials at church here last Sunday, Enid, Oliver & Betty walked over to church. Mrs Openshaw is still away at Weston so Enid can’t come to lessons. The post office baby is a girl, that makes six.
With very much love & many kisses to you darling
I am
Your loving mother
Eugénie N Sladden
