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237 Wednesday Oct. 7" 1885. Cold and autumnal. It is a year ago tonight since my father had his attack. As he painfully climbed up the stairs to his room tonight he said "I shall not be able to climb up these stairs many times more" Girards family all went to her Mothers today and he dined with us and spent the evening and sleeps here. Tom and I this forenoon dug up and removed to the garden the peonies from my mothers little flower garden in which I have seen her work so many times. I am going to abandon it as she wished to before she died because nothing grows well in it on account of the fibrous roots of the trees. It gives me many a pang to obliterate this little garden so closely connected with her, but it seems to me I have daily to do some such sad work. While we were at work a large bird flew swiftly by towards the barn. Not long after Tom had occasion to go to the Carriage house when he called to me to come there. He said he saw a large strange bird in there. On the top of the wood pile was a poor frightened partridge which I wanted Tom to allow to escape out of the open door, but he thought this refusing the gifts of Providence and caught it and cut off its head saying it would be nice for my father. The instinct in almost every one is to kill these poor frightened Creatures when they unwisely seek shelter with us. I fixed a new ventilator in my fathers room and set out some bulbs and then went and sat by the fire in the parlor and wrote to Mr. McLaren in Canada, Mr. Farnhams man about the birch braid and also a letter to Fuller acknowledging the receipt of his check. A note came from Joe Warren to whom I wrote a few days ago asking him if he were still in the same place. Thursday 8". Cold and grey. I put up my stove this forenoon and had Tom clean the hall stove preparatory to putting it up. Sara had a long letter from Mary giving an account of Gertrude Tomkins visit. Just before she left she got upon the vexed subject and gave poor Mary another lesson of the interminable Tomkins view of the situation, accusing her and Sara and ending with a request that Mary should invite Joe to come there which she had the good sense to tell her she would not do as she did not want to see him. It is about time for him to make some demonstration, not having the sense to see how entirely odious he is making himself to all of us, for it is evident to me that this visit of Gertrudes has been planned by him. Gertrude asked Marys advice about coming here and she told her that feeling as she did toward her Aunt Sara she should advise her by no means to come. I wonder what the next folly will be. I wrote a long letter to Joe Warren telling him all about my visit to Clinton. We sit by the fire in the parlor every evening and Girard is with us while his family is away. Nannie came up this morning after having seen Ellie off to Boston where she has gone to study the kindergarten system. She seemed to have many troubles and anxieties as we all have. I picked the last flowers today for we had a frost last night. Friday 9" Tom and Henry put up the hall stove directly after breakfast but we have not made fire in it yet. There are indications that it will be warmer. I went to Kingston and when I returned Sara and I drove out to the Alms house to see Mrs. Burns about my visit to Katy Sara is to see Annie and try to make some arrangement for her. Then I went down town on appointment with Dr. Rosa to look at a troublesome tooth. Found the nerve was exposed and had to be destroyed. I mailed my Fuller check of $200 to the Bank of the Metropolis. Sara got a note from Gertrude Tomkins directed to my father in which she said she was coming here to spend Sunday if convenient. Would come on the train reaching Kingston at 7. P.M. I mailed a postal card saying I would meet her at the station. Now for a [[?]] [[?]]
