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[[Underlined]]Friday July 25" 1884[[/Underlined]]. I went over to my studio and spent the forenoon performing a lot of sketching canvases, cutting them to fit my box and coloring them.  Had a telegram from Mary saying they are detained by appointments with the dentist and will come by the Powell tomorrow. Mamie Livingston and Elize Diller came up and I invited them to stay to tea. They are going back to Clermont tomorrow. The weather continues perfectly comfortable and so far we seem to have had no bad weather.
Saturday 26[[underlined]]. It has been a most comfortable day. I went over to my studio and painted the glass in the front of the dining room clock in which there has been for many years an old print of New York from the [[narrows?]]. On taking it out I found a date upon it showing it was put there in 1860 and ever since it has been an eyesore to me. A telegram came from Joe from Boston and he arrived about 5 o'clock. Mary Gretchen's came up a little later with Sarahs little daughter Jennie. Mary had not been here in nearly two years and she
seemed much saddened by the changes. She went to Philadelphia when Sarah died and has been home since.  I went down to the Powell and met Mary, Calvert and Sara and so this empty house is filled up again for a short time. I saw a notice of Phil Johnsons promotion to the grade of commodore and wrote him a congratulatory note.
Sunday 27" [[underlined]] It has been a cool, grey day and toward evening it began to rain quite hard. It was so cool that that a fire in the dinning room was very comfortable. It has made the house seem more like old times to have Joe and Calvert and Mary here and has taken away the lonely feeling. Am reading Mrs. Olyphants "Perpetual Curate" which I thought at first was by Trollope.
Monday 28. [[underlined]] I have had nothing particular to do today and I always feel it a misfortunate not to have some definite plan or object for the day. It has been cool and grey. Joe and I have talked and this afternoon we went over to my house and fixed the lightning rod on my outside studio which had become detached at the top. I received a note from the Treasury Department in relation to Maurices share in the Farragut price fund in which it seems he did not share. Yesterday I sent to Lucy Swedenborg's "Heaven + Hell" by mail. 
Tuesday 29. It has rained all day, a part of the time very hard. Joe started for home by the 11 o clock train. I drove him down to the ferry. He seemed restless and to wish to get back although he had enjoyed his visit here. I feel sorry for him and can understand how lost he is without Gussie. We have had a fire in the parlor and sat there all day. I burned out the sitting room chimney this forenoon. When I was sweeping up the ashes I found two little chimney swallows. One was burned to a crisp and quite dead, the other had its feathers all burned but was still alive. I felt very badly about it and wished I had deferred the burning for in a few days they would flown from the next. I have been reading in the lives of the British Artists which dear Gertrude gave me on my birth=day ten years ago. What a charming gift it was and in the front of the first volume is the sweet, and wifely note with which she presented this same gift, which no one but she would have thought of. The beautiful edition has been owned by some one who has written in a delicate hand many notes on the margins. It is an edition of 1829. 

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---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-04-26 19:19:28 ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-04-27 17:29:51