Overview
Wed Decr 24
Hooray for Hastings and Maud. Mother drove me to station to catch 11.56 am train. Large areas on Makurerua Swamp bright red, the flax being in flower. Lunch at Palmerston [North] station – trains so crowded that I had to stand as far as Woodville where an extra carriage was put on. Reached Hastings just before 7 pm – Maud down to meet me – a perfectly radiant vision, so well + happy + wearing a cream + blue costume + hat with blue “bird-tail” bow. Gerty was waiting with the trap + they drove me down to their house which is situated at the end of the street, Avenue Road, running west from the railway station, +
[new page]
Which reminded be very forcibly of the old home in Bruce Road, Levin, both as regards position + similarity of architecture. I was warmly welcomed by the family – John was on sofa convalescent from his recent operations for appendicitis but now doing nicely. Maud gave me a surprise gift, a nice pocket edition of Marion Crawford’s “The Upper Berty”, a tale which I greatly admire. After some tea, Maud + I walked down town together to do the sights + have a good time. Xmas Eve + streets crowded – shops busy. Maud was most vivacious + gay + proud I was to have her by my side. We started off on strawberries + cream + then visited a book-shop where I bought her as an Xmas present a “Little Gift Book” containing a series of 32 studies of girls’ heads by Harrison Fisher, an artist whose work she admires. We walked round town + also visited the Methodist Church, a most picturesque building which took my fancy
[new page]
very much and there took the opportunity of telling her in the proper style how glad I was to see her + be with here + how lovely + sweet she looked. We met Frank Goulding in town + he was invited to dinner tomorrow. Later we met Gertie + Alice + returned to the ice-cream shop where we had ice-creams and then ice-cream sodas of different flavours – the two lots together were rather a big order but we all enjoyed the drinks immensely imbibing them by means of straws in most approved manner.