Witley Mar. 11th 1917

Dear Ollie:-

This is Sunday and we just had our dinner and now I am going to try and scratch you a few lines to pass away the time for Jack will tell you the news.  Jack and I had 11 letters come all in a bunch.  They had all been to France.  I had two from Mother and one from Bob and yours and one from Mary and Fred so we had all the news.  Bob’s was written Jan 14th almost two months ago.  I have been writing every week and sometimes twice a week but there wasn’t much satisfaction in it for we never had any questions to answer and that is about all we can do now since we have been in quarantine.  This is 38 days we have been in this last time and we don’t get out until next Sunday anyway and besides that we was in 10 days at first and was only our four days so we have had quite a siege at it.  I wouldn’t mind if we was shure of getting right across but we ain’t shure.  That is the Hell of it.  Half of the quarantine bunch got away last Thursday and that only leaves 60 or70 of us and I am afraid they won’t wait for us.

We are having it mighty dirty now.  It has been very cold but it is quite warn today and raining to beat the very devil and they say it will be like this all through March.  I don’t see many flowers like Bine Foster was talking about and if there had been any last week I think it would have kept them guessing to keep alive for it froze hard enough to freeze up all the water pipes and burst them.  So it would be kind of hard on flowers.  I guess we had a very cold winter over in this country by what the people around here say.  Anyway we had some mighty cold days but it must have been a hard old winter in Canada.  You must have had great fun trying to thaw out water pipes when it froze faster than you could heat water.

And so you did not get water piped to the house after all.  I thought it would be something wonderful if you ever had water handy.  He would rather have the men doing something that was no good.  I suppose by the time you get this they will be thinking of starting the drive.  I bet there is some funny looking logs to come down that river this Spring.  But suppose it will make saw dust and slabs.  And Kelley has a son has he?  Well I bet he is very proud.  I would like to be home to have some fun with him.  We could for a while anyway but suppose he would get used to it and will think as much of the damn thing as anybody else would.  I suppose old A. A. is very proud. 

Paper is getting scarce so will have to write on both sides of this sheet.  You wanted to know about socks.  Well we are pretty well fixed just now.  We got the ones you sent all right.

I guess will quit for Jack is writing to you and he will write more news in ten minutes that I could in an hour so will close for this time.

Major