to see Aunty. Frank and I spent most of the evening catching pigeons. Hugh McQueen is buying them this time for a shooting match and paying thirty cents a pair for them. It has been too mild to day to wear a coat, but looks rainy.

Thursday January 27th

About the first thing this morning I went over to Mrs. McBride's and got the clothes. Aleta was there and Mrs. McBride away, they have all gone back to live with Sam and he has made all kinds of promises about acting like a good husband and father and they say he signed the total prohibition petition. Alan Law says it is all her fault anyway. He said this Christmas she asked him to go down to Jane's for dinner but Sam wanted to have their own Christmas at home and accordingly went down and bought a goose and presents for all the family when Christmas came he went home and as Alan says "No damned Susan there" so poor Sam had to eat alone, when she did come she "throwed" the presents and spoke very desparagingly of them. "Why" Alan says "How would you like it if you were a married man to go home there at night and have to get your own supper and have no woman to sit down and talk to and go to bed alone and have her come prowling in about midnight and then never get up in the morning to get your breakfast and the house all upset, its enough to make any man discouraged." He said " I've lived beside them a long time and know them both and there isn't a better man living than Sam McBride." "Yes" I said "I guess he's all right when he's sober" "Why" Alan said "I never found him out of the way when he was drunk, and if she was half the woman that he is a man there would be no drinking go on in that house." However they are a united family at present we'll see how long it will last. When I got home from there I took a chicken down to Aunty Alice and just got home by noon. Joe was feeling very much like what might be expected since she has done nothing whatever the last couple of weeks but stand in and eat oats and hay too of course, but the roads were so bad she couldn't do much, they say the frost is all out in some places, Alan says that Fred Rose down the Plank was digging post holes to-day. This after noon Dad. and I carried four big bundles of straw over to the the chicken's new floored scratchin shed. I think it is going to be a great improvement. To-night I