Glenalvon, Auckland
April 10th /06
My dear Ethel
I don’t think I have written you a long letter for some time and I must answer yours of Feb. 8th by this mail. It is nice to think that we can post two days later from here than from Petone, but I must get some of my letters written beforehand. Yes I told the girls where the little brooches came from, they thought them very pretty. I am glad you are able to get to the Choral practices, it is nice for you having the Haynes to go to. I suppose Kathleen will be leaving for India within a few months, it is rather a pity she cannot be married at home.
Sorry to hear of Bert’s illness and hope he got over it all right, how is Daisy I wonder? Much stronger I hope. You must remember me to Mrs W Keen when you see her, also to Fanny Jelfs who I hope is stronger again now. I was very sorry to hear she had been so ill, I was glad to hear of the arrival of Mary Sears’ little daughter, tell her if you see her I was pleased to hear and if you see old Mrs Bennett tell her I shall have a lot to tell her about when I get home. How is Clara Byrd, I have had no news of her since I left. The Gepps do have a bit of illness, I wonder whether you will see Violet if she comes home.
I am enjoying our time here, we wanted to spend Holy Week quietly and be in some nice place for Easter and as it happens it suits them very well at Petone that we should be away until after the wedding as they wanted to have Frances down for a good long stay with little Marjorie, and of course when we are there we take up their spare room. Auntie is writing to Mother and will no doubt tell her what are her plans about our return. I think she will be quite ready to start in August she begins to feel she would like to get back to England and take up some work in Folkestone for the winter. As she says there is plenty of Church work she can do there and I think her present idea is to go into rooms and not take a house for a bit. As for me I shall be quite ready by that time to return, you see we shall have done all our touring in N.Z. and shall have had a long stay at Petone, time enough to get to know the cousins and though I don’t mean to be idle there by any means during the winter still when one is on a long visit without any definite work to do, one soon gets tired of the feeling that one has, for the time being, rather a useless member of the community. I must do some reading and must try and get hold of some French books to read, then there is always needlework. I shall have some blouses to make. It has been so nice seeing Bessie Laird again, we have so much to talk about, of the voyage and our fellow passengers. I was sorry we missed Mr Hutchinson, I thought he would be here but he has left. We went to call on Mrs Douglas Adkins, last Friday but she was out, she and her sister have just been in to tea this afternoon and were very pleasant. She asked us to go a drive with them up Mount Eden on Saturday afternoon. Her sister Mrs Alexander has just come out from England with her husband and two little boys, they had a very good passage in the “Suevic” which Mrs Alexander says is a very nice boat. Miss Ruby Laird is going home in her so I must tell Bessie I have heard it well reported of. We expect to get our next Frisco letters at Manton on the 21st, it is rather aggravating to know that they will arrive in Auckland on the 16th before we leave only of course we can’t get them. I must leave further news for Mother.
Much love from your loving sister
May E Sladden
