St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1889-01-12
A DAY BEWITCHED:
ana One Other FUN of ouiet ana
Pleasant Enjoyment
AAao Reader. Can Yoa Ten Why All Davs
Are Not Alke:-Is Not Careless
ness the Cause OF Much
Annoyaace1

1oOyOoCe1
Can you tell why 1t is, and how Il a
that some days 60 wrong from begin
nlng TO end! This has been rs beauti
iul an October day as you ever saw
put have had no peace nor pleasure
Is it all in myself: Have a set o
iretted nerves? Is Mary Spencer Who'll.
~ to blame for the outrageous events
that have taken place: This morning
rose with the sun, and sat dowr
among my books to catch q few mo
ments for my pen. had hardly writ
ten line when the shout came: ..Th.
hens are out and In the vineyard COB
bling down the grapes" II there il
any thing l hate to have loose II Il
mems You can catch a horse or hal
dozen cows. but try it on forty hens,
running forty ways at once! Chick
chick! you cry plaintively. with pan
OF oats and corn "Chicky! chicky!
dear. nice, little chickens! como in,
and get some breakfast mo. We thank
you! We will help ourselves. Grapes
suit u.s." Your golden Pocklingtons,
Wordens. Lindleys are going at q
terrible rate. Then you begin to
shout. and John. Jr.. shouts, and
you shout for John the elder
to come on. The hens get excited,
too. and the games fly over your head.
There is no knowing where they will
come down. Bless my soul! but will
John never get here. Not only the
grapes, but the tomatoes and the late
sweet corn are suffering. There is
that horrible speckled hen scratching
in the new strawberry bed. The plants
OF Logan. and Pearl, and Havland,
that set out yesterday, are flying out
faster than set them. ''Biddy! Biddy /!
Biddy! bid! bid! bid! bi! bi! bi! b! b!
b." John comes just in time to see
me break down into collapse Of tears.
1t was two hours of the hardest kind
OF work before those hens were housed;
and then to see them chuckle over it
and prance over their inclosure was
aggravating!
Breakfast was late and nothing writ
ten! Don't be too sure OF that A I
hac gone out ina hurry had forgotten
to shut the study door. Our baby, TAX
ing advantage. had gone in. climbed
my chair, taken the pen and gone on
writing where had stopped. Not sat-
isfied. she had spilled or poured the
ink from the bottle over my paper and
desk. from which it ran in Q stream
into the center Of my pet Persian rug.
Mother! mother!" came a CRY from
the cellar ''Who drew cider yester-
day? Whoever did left it leaking. and
the cellar is flooded" The day is
bewitchedr' cried. 1T 10 possessed
Of the devil! Hens, ink and cider!
and it is not yet half-past eight clock.
What will come next?" Twas in an
upset, and scolded. It did not mend
matters; it nsyer does. especially
when a woman scOlda As for men,
would as soon they should scold rs
swear, which seems 10 be their prefer
ence. This cider was from my pet
tree OF Spitzenbergs. and it was not at
all common stuff. made one-haN Of
dirt and worms. Why should / not
scOld? Who could have been 50 care
less as to leave it leaking all night3
No one but myself drew cider yester-
day, and that did not help matters
when John said: Mother, think it
must have been yOurselfr'
Breakfast was now cold and soggy.
The chocolate Was overscalded, and
the toast was hardened, and the pota-
toes and meat indigestible. No one
can digest quails on an angry stomach.
much less cold potatoes. Can you inn
agine any thing worse than .
sulky breakfast-a sort Of edge |
wise morning meal? Dear me!
But the delightfulest thing in the |
world is to wake out of honest sleep |
and greet each other at the break of |
day to break our fast; is 1t not fact |
when one has not seen those she loves /
for ten hours? 1t should be all smiles
and love, and with the children the
very fullness of vital youth. There is
no need of much eating. but it should
be an appetizing meal. The cares Of
The day have not begun. Ono sips the
cream of the morning on the toast Of
good fello ~ship. But, with me. alas.
the cream was spilled.
How delicious it is to excuse ones
self! This began to do. '.Dear me.
how could q saint endure such ! state
of things? Jobs trials were nothing
70 mine" John saw that my spunk
had given out; the excitement Was no
longer keeping me up. and he came in
With . bit Of sympathy. 10 BE- sure