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Wednesday Dec. 19" 1873. This has been a lovely Indian Summer day. I commenced the little Winter eEvening for Moore and after dinner Gertrude and I took a ride to Kingston and then to Rondout to do some shopping. The new carpet came today.

Thursday 18. My picture was not dry enough to work on today and I have spent the day helping arrange the parlor. We had the new carpet down which is very satisfactory, took down some of our best pictures from our room and rehung all the pictures in the parlor and made some changes in the dining room. We got all finished by evening and the result is most satisfactory. This has been another beautiful day so that I think we are having our Indian Summer now.

Friday 19. It snowed today but it is so warm that it will probably not last long. I painted a little Venetian sketch for a little frame I had to put in the parlor and the rest of the day I worked on a little Autumn I intend for Moore and finished the Winter evening (7 x 12) for him

Saturday 20. Painted on the Autumn; made the the sky lighter and much better. Finished it before dinner and wrote to Moore that the two would be ready to send in a day or two but I would not send them until I heard from him. I told him I would only charge him $50 for the Winter Evening although it is larger than the original sketch I sent him and that the Autumn would be $100 and he could do as he pleased about taking them as I thought I could get more for them. Told him I had a Morning effect of the subject I sent him "On the Hudson" mouth of the creek which he could have at the same price $75. Received a letter from Downing asking if he and Owen Olmstead could come up for the holidays. I wrote him in Gertrudes letter to Mary last night that we expected him but I answered his letter immediately and told him to come on Wednesday so that we could go for Christmas greens. Gertrude and I drove to Kingston after dinner and while she did some shopping I drove out to the Red House. It was pretty muddy but I met one trustful man in a sleigh. It grew colder before we reached home. There were fine effects along the mountains and frequent snow squalls.

Sunday 21. The weather is bright and cold again. A skin of ice on the river and a flashing sunshine glimmering on the thin snow. Have written to Bayard Taylor. I read an