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Chapel Hill Jany 4th 1856,

My dear Husband,

Tired, dirty & of course, dispirited,
I commence my second letter to you - I have been out in the
kitchen all day, - yes & a part of the night, attending to lard'
and sausages - For the want of enough of hands, I worked hard-
er than usual & O! I am [mighty tired] of standing_ After
this preface, you need not be surprised if I am not very in
teresting_ Your letter by Ed, comforted me somewhat very
much as I was agreeably surprised at it's reception_ Ed did
not send it to me till about 3o'clock, altho' he came out to
the kitchen & talked with me_ I asked him if he saw you
&c - and even then, he forgot to give me the letter. He was
more thoughtful about the money as he gave that to Rich'd
soon after he came - You seem to be in luck - do you consid
er it good or bad to be invited to so many parties &c. ?
I hope you enjoy them but hardly think you do, if you have
much of a cold_ You must take better care of yourself for
my sake_ Well, I know that you will be glad to learn that
Mr. Cole's pork is very good. Ben says it is a good deal bet-
ter than the first [Morrisses?] - it yielded of course, more lard
in proportion than his. He brought 1175 lbs. or rather, sent
it, for neither of the Coles came with the last load. the ser-
vant brought a note from Benson (I think) saying that you

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Saturday morning - All iup but Lizzie who says she thinks she can come in after a while_ We have a glorious haily day _ the ground is quite covered with hail already. I have just burnt the chimney of one room with a 1/2 sheet of newspaper. You see I am smarter than some folks! - who couldn't even make it burn.