Tuesday, August 25, 1925

Tuesday, August 25, 1925
Hot

Put in a big day cleaning woodwork in upstairs hall and the two front rooms downstairs, then windows, chandeliers, floors, etc. Was nearly dead by evening, for after they were cleaned, I put clean papers on the pantry shelves and everything back in there. Gilbert put in the evening manicuring the basement and set the new cot up for me to sleep on and rugs down.

(Grandma was still working on cleaning in the house. In previous months, it always seemed like she worked hard one day, and then had to rest the next day. Now, she is working hard several days in a row. Must be true about that “nesting instinct” that new mothers get before they have their babies. Need to get everything ready!

I called my mom to find out about the cot and if it was really set up in the basement, because it was not clear from the diary. She said she remembered that in the kitchen the original sink was the kind that hung off the wall with no cabinets around it, and she remembers her mother setting up a cot under that, but that seems to make no sense, either. We wondered if they put the cot in the basement where it would be cooler. Surely they weren’t planning for Grandma to go down there to have the baby? It would be so damp. I think what they probably did was straighten up the basement; set up a cot someplace, but not necessarily in the basement or kitchen; and then put down rugs, which she may have taken outside to clean. That would make some sense?

I don’t usually like to send people back to previous days, but please go back and read the August 11th post. I have added some additional information about their neighbor Miss Dunlea, the one with the chickens.)