Sydney July 13, 1931
I have been in Sydney now for five days, and am staying with Chaffers. I've had very little time to myself so far, have been either with Chaffers or with Hindwoods most of the time. I miss Sverre a lot, despite all the lovely experiences I am having and the fact that I really don't even have time to miss him. I'm rather surprised at myself. We were not together on our wedding anniversary, which was sad. Only my heart was in Burrinjuck.
I am going to the dentist. Eight teeth need treatment, and the bad one I will probably get extracted. The dentist says it doesn't have to be extracted unless it makes me feel sick, and I will not be able to chew so well if it is. However I think I will have it out all the same. Maybe then I won't get all these boils.
I am looking around for a little car. Maybe I will buy one. Then Sverre can come for the weekend and drive me home. That would be wonderful. Russ Philips is dead.
Burrinjuck, July ?, 1931
Now I must tell you about my trip to Sydney. Before I went we had all this terrible rain. There was very little work that could be done, and finally everything was closed down and people were informed, that there would be no more work for at least three or four weeks. So Sverre said I should go at once, since it was easier for him to look after himself when he didn't have to go to work. So I went, although I had very little money. The bank is still closed, but everybody thinks it won't be for too much longer. I had a few pounds and Evelyn lent me some more. So I was able to get my mouth attended to properly, (Oh horror! My gold filling just fell out of my tooth a moment ago. That is very upsetting) and make some necessary purchases. For a whole year we had hardly bought anything, so there were various things we really needed
I stayed in Sydney for two weeks and had a marvellous time. Chaffers were, as usual, very kind to me, spoiling me in every possible way, inviting friends over, arranging our trips to various beaches, taking me to concerts or movies or lunch in the city. I also visited Hindwoods where l had a happy reunion with all the pretty things I have in my big trunk. Some of the things I brought back with me, including some more silver, thinking that if I didn't I might be dead and buried and never had any pleasure from them.
Pearl’s new baby, Barrie Neville, is a beautiful child. However, Pearl herself, in my opinion, has lost much. For one thing she doesn't look as pretty and more, and for another, she seems to have developed into nothing but a mother. That may be very good and right, but for other people it is not very interesting, especially when you don't happen to have the same joys and needs.
Evelyn has a friend, Nell Lang, who is Matron of a missionary hospital in India, and visited Chaffers recently. She is going back to India in January, and has persuaded Evelyn to go with her for half a year, as an assistant. Evelyn studied child care for several years. I'm sure it will be good for Evelyn to get away. She has always lived at home, and since she has never had an admirer despite all her very very many fine qualities, she is well on her way to becoming a very, very good Auntie Evelyn, which is most convenient for her sisters-in-law. I tried to drop a hint or two about this to Mrs Chaffer a year ago. Now she seems to have realised it herself. Evelyn will probably have a lot of disappointments when she starts looking round the world. She has always been protected from anything ugly or uncomfortable.
When I left Mrs Chaffer gave me a very beautiful fox fur. I have no idea what I will do with it. Sverre got the bright idea of getting sick while I was away, and was running e temperature of 39°C. For that reason I left Sydney a few days earlier than planned. However, by the time I got home, Sverre was fairly well again, though he still looked pale. His stomach is still troubling him a bit too. I hope it is nothing serious. Nothing came of my plans to buy a car, since I didn't have the money for it. We had expected to be able to get more from the bank, and that Sverre could come to Sydney and drive me home. However, I have asked an old friend of the Hindwoods, a Mr Gilbert, who is a car expert, to find us a good, second-hand Baby Austin as soon as the bank reopens. I am so looking forward to that. I was dreadfully down in the dumps before I went to Sydney; but now my spirits are high as a house, especially when it is not raining all the time, and cold. And if only we get a car, we won't be so completely cut off from the world. Just the thought of being able to get away for some wonderful weekends makes us happy and light hearted.
Work has not yet started again, but it is supposed to next week. If it doesn't, we will start fishing again, and now that I've got my old spirit back, the thought doesn't bother me at all. It won't be forever. The water has fallen a lot. Tomorrow I expect we will be able to enter the wash house again.
While I was in Sydney, Norman Chaffer took me to see the tannery. There was no one working at the time but it was still very interesting. The stink from all the cow hides, however, could make you quite sick. I looked around for a job while I was in Sydney, too. It seems I don't stand a chance of getting anything. There is no demand for foreign languages, only English is used.
Burrinjuck, August 1, 1931
I have just finished my "big washing" and now it is fluttering on the line and I have a couple of hours to myself before l have to start preparing dinner. We had planned to get up at 7 am so I would have time to do my washing, write this letter and go and visit Mrs Andersson, whom I haven't seen for a month. Sverre needed the time to repair a boat for a man in Burrinjuck, who is paying him £1 for the job. Instead we slept till 9 am and our nice program is somewhat spoiled.
I forgot to tell you, that while I was in Sydney, the Chaffers let me ask their dress maker to come to the house for a day. She came and made me two beautiful dresses; one out of the embroidered material my dear mother sent me, and one of the silk which I bought so cheaply in Colombo.
Since I also have my wedding dress, which I have not been wearing, but have decided to wear before it rots, I have quite a fine collection of clothes for summer and will not look like hard times at all.
Oh yes, the hard times! We really are in a marvellous situation at the present time: "The Starving Capitalists", the greatest most exciting film drama, in six acts! Work has still not started again. They say the water has to fall another 15‘ (6" a day), but most people think there just is no money available for the project any more. Our beloved bank has now closed its doors completely, and we cannot even get our £3 per week. Really delightful. The shopkeepers are now handing out everything on credit, but how long can they keep doing that I wonder. When Sverre is finished with the boat, I expect we will go fishing again. We are, despite all, in good spirits, and are not suffering any premonitions of doom.
Our poor little Jip is not allowed in the house any more. Sverre, the stern master, has forbidden it. He read an article in the paper recently, about hydatid , a disease which is quite common in this country. It seems that dogs nearly always have it, which is why one should not let them into the house. We have often shot rabbits that had hydatids. They have blisters, mostly round the joints, which are filled with a watery substance as well as small white grains. We always had to examine the rabbits very carefully for this, before we ate them. Jip howled to begin with, but she seems now to have got used to her new way of life.
NEXT: August 1931