Dec 17th Wednesday. Mary went to ironing this
morning and Jane did the housework and I have been
knitting on Susans hood have got the front done and
commenced the back Abby spent the afternoon
& Malvina came in past eight Jane ironed 7
shirts this afternoon Very cold weather
Old Oliver Ames didn’t always agree with his senior daughter-in-law, but on this day he and she shared the same opinion about the temperature outside. “[T]he coldest day we have had this winter,” he wrote in his journal. Not surprising that Evelina and her servants stayed inside and focused on their indoor domestic responsibilities. All three women seemed to have recovered from their recent colds and illness and they probably wanted to keep it that way.
Some people went outside, though. Evelina’s nieces, Abby and Malvina Torrey, spent part of their day with her. They must have walked over from the village – a short walk, fortunately, in the windy, freezing sunshine. Other Eastonians who were out and about would have moved around best in their sleighs, as a buildup of snow had hardened into a smooth, slick surface on the roadways. Old Oliver himself may have gotten around that way. He noted that “light slays run pritty well now.”
evelinaames 