July 8, 1851

1851

July 8th Tuesday  Julia has been here to day and we

have been to work on my borage Delaine  Have worked

very slowly  Julia has been to work on the waist

all day and it is not near done yet.  The waist

is made plain & I have made the button holes myself

This dressmaking is discouraging business with such

slow dressmakers.

Evelina was none too pleased with Julia Mahoney, the dressmaker whose fingers never flew as fast as her own when it came to stitching.  She wanted the new dress finished, and Julia was working too slowly for Evelina’s taste – and wallet, perhaps.

It’s worth noting that Evelina didn’t garden today or, if she did, she didn’t mention it. Her focus was not on her pinks and petunias, it was indoors on her barege delaine. Perhaps the weather was too warm to spend much time outside in her yard.

What was going on outdoors, beyond the flower beds?  On the larger canvas of the town, the vegetable crops, the corn and the hayfields should have been growing well, the latter two important food for the oxen and other domestic animals over the next winter. Haying was due to begin soon.  No doubt Old Oliver and other farmers were paying close attention to the weather and the readiness of all their crops.