Haddock and Dill: March 23, 1962 The Wet Basement, The Stamp, The Sun and The Dinner Party

Dear Mother & Daddy,

"Look at the stamp on the envelope.

While I rest my legs a bit, I'll write my letter. I've been on the run all week and my muscles are sore from working on the kitchen floor. It was terrible & I scrubbed & waxed it on my hands & knees. It is so big that it takes most of a day to do it. Sounds like it was pretty dirty, doesn't it. I used steel wool to take off heel marks & such & that is slow.

Ann is doing some of her make up work & chattering too. She is better & will go back to school Monday but has been out all week. Her throat was pretty bad & she complained of her ears and I took her to the doctor. The ears were fine but he have her some stronger medicine to get rid of the sore throat. The glands were swollen & pressing against the ears & that made them hurt.

The sun is trying to shine & it is getting warmer. Monday was a wonderful day & I think everyone in town just about worked their sox off. The rest of the week was terrible & we had a terrific rain storm Wed. night & everyone we talked to had water in the basement. We did too & now some of the new tiles are loose. It just made us sick but we had to keep mopping. The tiles hadn't been down long enough to get set. We had some men come out to look in hopes something could be done about it. They extended the downspouts but it hasn't rained again. When it gets warm we're going to pack more dirt around the foundation & add another downspout.

I have the curtains up in the basement & the bolsters for the couch are covered but the seat cushions haven't come yet. B has been Defting a bit every day or so.

I'm surprised you hadn't seen some of the John Glenn stamps. They have the capsule on them but not his picture. I'm sure one of your letters had one on it right after the flight & I was surprised that the Richland P.O. would have them so soon. We did get some to keep.

Our dinner party was a big success but I was so tired Sunday that I could hardly move. We had turkey, dressing, twice baked potatoes, apple-cinnamon jello salad, green beans & fruit tarts. It was all real good. I bought the rolls but made the tarts. That took a morning. I used plain pie crust & shaped it on the back of muffin pans. They looked pretty & tasted good.

Bob has to go to the dentist today. We went to a parents' meeting last night to plan his high school work. He hopes to take Earth Science & typing this summer. We want Ann to take typing too but she doesn't know what she wants to take yet.

We have potluck here tomorrow night but I don't have to cook anything but coffee.

Spring must be about here. The little kids are out on their tricycles. Three strange ones rang our doorbell yesterday & just said they wanted to say "Hello".

Granny will be 99 on Sunday. Isn't that something?