1872 August 8, Awbury, to Lily

              Awbury 8 mo. 8, 1872

My dear Lilly 
We have has several very lively [postc--natical] letters from drivers of your party - one of which was from thee - which assure us that whatever may be your capacity to enjoy scenery fine air & the like you have great capabilities of appreciating the good things of this life which come through the hands of French [-----] if your hearts are set on these things you have probably by this time discovered that the prologue was better than the play - & maybe after all it was from the feeling you had of the necessity of making [hay] while the sun shone that you relished those dinners at [Delmonicos] & the Parker House. What is [Mt] [Desert] soup made of made of? Let me tell you what we had for dinner. It was prepared with our usual forlorn hope that we might have Quarterly meeting friends - but it shows the possibilities of our region & may make the little fishes tails of your region wriggle with envy - Spring chickens - like little Billy very young & tender - Boiled ham - cream corn, string beans, tomatoes from the garden - potatoes - bread - (I put that small - theres not much to be said about