Sunday December 15th

Sunday December 15th

It’s always Sunday in this place. Today is a good example for showing how it is the wind that makes it feel cold outside rather than the actual temperature. The temperature has been 10℉ steadily all day, overcast and almost windless, but I wore only shirt and pullover and no gloves when I cleaned out the foxes in the afternoon, and later when Brownie raised a false alarm about a bear outside we went outside with the revolver and I had on only a shirt with sleeves rolled up and it was not a bit cold. Brownie is always raising hopes about a bear, but it’s always ‘wolf.’ Matilda seems better today - she is frightened when I clean out the cage and sits on top of her little house and turns round and round in circles. Valiant Leonidas is a treat: he sits on top of his house and growls and snarls and snaps at the hook, so once I put it near him and he looked at it for about 10 seconds then made a sudden bite at the iron, which made him even more angry.

Had a washing day today - a lot of snow outside easily got, pleasant weather for fetching it and plenty of opportunity for melting it on the stove so it was an ideal day. Some towels (very dirty), two handkerchiefs and a pair of pyjamas of Brownie’s which he had put away as dirty in the days when we remembered what we called dirty in England. Yes, it was just a little dirty and it came out even cleaner even though it had been washed in the same water as the wash-up towels.

In the evening I took up a needle for the first time. First some trouser buttons which had given under the strain due to increasing girth, and then a mend in my flannel trousers. I suppose I should have put on a patch, but what with ? So I darned it with brown wool; it was rather an untidy mess in the end for the loops at the end were too long, but I hope it will shrink and also that the rent will stop getting bigger. And then really a technically good darn in a pair of pants repairing a slit made when my knife slipped and cut through trousers and pants. It was during this darning that I made up my mind not to wash clothes again unless absolutely necessary for (a) it is a nuisance (vide supra) (b) if you don’t wash yourself it’s no good washing clothes, and vice versa (c) if something fits why ask it to shrink by washing it, (d) the darnings will probably come to bits in the wash. Handkerchiefs and towels perhaps, but never more than a minimum. It really is troublesome this washing business, the water is nice and soft and all that, but it is the water production that takes such a long time and trouble: one bucketful of snow reduces probably to less than a quarter of a bucketful of water. The most efficient way is to start with a capital of water and boil it in the kettle and then pour it into the bucket of snow and melting it and then pour most of the water (equal to the capital) back into the bottle and the profit into the jug, and go outside and fill the bucket with snow again, and so on. If done systematically this is no trouble on and ordinary day, but on a washing day, not only is much more water needed but also the bucket is used for the washing so that another smaller vessel must be used for snow collecting, and the number of snow journeys is increased in the ratio of Vb/V where Vb is the volume of the bucket, and V that of the vessel used. In addition a hot fire has to be maintained for all the snow melting which is unpleasant from a physical point of view. So you see it hardly is worth while.

Nearly died bicycling to Robert today, for the room had got greenhouse-ish with the washing. Daniel sent a message to be sent to England including the word 'Trogdolyte.' At Brownies’s suggestion I replied (we always send double to one another) “Trogdolyte Trogdolyte usually usually spelt spelt Troglodyte Troglodyte. Shall shall I I send send Troglodyte Troglodyte or or Trogdolyte Trogdolyte”. Robert - “ Didn’t receive message, please repeat” - Self:- “Trogdolyte Trogdolyte usually usually spelt spelt Troglodyte Troglodyte. Shall shall I I send send Troglodyte Troglodyte or or Trogdolyte Trogdolyte” Robert Troglodyte Troglodyte Troglodyte Troglodyte. Good night uuu-u- (this means ‘I am closing down and will reply only if you say anything that needs reply). Self:- “ok ok will will send send Troglodyte Troglodyte not not Trogdolyte Trogdolyte. Good night. Good night. uuu-u-”.