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look what we left out - 
3416 Glebe Rd. North, Arlington, Va.
26 Feb. 1956

Dear Doris:

Dad has been having a wonderful bonfire of the old apple tree that at last fell down. He has managed to make a box for the bluebirds and nail it up the other old apple tree, and we saw chickadees investigating it this afternoon. The old fallen tree was rotten so he lugged parts of it around to the gar-den and made a great fire with my helpings of dry grass and so forth, and now it has been so diminished in size that we shall get rid of most of it by bedtime.

Last Saturday both he and Mr. Robinson caught cold after trimming the grapevine and making the trellis and Dad stayed home chiefly sleeping for two days then came Washington's birthday so he worked only 2 days this past week at the office, - he did plenty on his Floras at home though to make up for it. I hope he doesn't get cold or anything from this afternoon. We are both rather all in this winter, and need to get used to hard work again.

I have gotten off my second article this week, with the promise of having it published in the December number of the Proceedings Ent.Soc.Wash So I shall have two papers as usual -- though not so long as usual--- had 2 long ones and 1 short last year. Sophy is laboring over her first long paper, the page proof. I noticed her hands and the knuckles were all swollen so the hands looked deformed. I was foolish enough to commiserate her on them and she flew into a tantrum and said it was only her business and really got so frantic I was sorry for her. She tries to cover up all her ailments.

n  Miss Deichmann has been here this week and we had luch at the Mellon Friday. She has been for 2 weeks at the Hot Springs where she has treatments for her arthritis, which seems to be chiefly in her legs. She is trying heroically to diet, but as Miss Bryant used to say, she needs a lot of food to feel at all satisfied.

I have spaded up enough for 4 not too short rows of peas and planted them and lettuce. I hope they come up, but our winter has been so long and steadily cold and wet that they may rot in the ground before spring comes. The forsythia is coming out in places and our snowdrops and little eranthis are blooming and daffies appearing.

Washington's Birthday we took Helen Cambell and drove out to Julia's in the forenoon. What did you do, I wonder?