12/3/73Dear Mom, Dad, John, Serena & Mary,
Hi! Thanks for your latest letter. It arrived today. We'd love to have you all come and stay here as long as possible. We'll even turn up the heat for you. As you know we have plenty of room and it would be good to have you here again.
We haven't bought the land yet. The perc test is to be done on Thursday. We're fairly sure we want it but if we do buy the transaction won't be until 1974 as the seller doesn't want the profit on this year's income tax. We're going to really have to watch our pennies. We've got enough money for the land but the closing costs are something else. X has some Stanley stock which he owns jointly with his mother. If he can sell that we'll be Ok. We sold all our stock on the"upswing" last week. Too bad we couldn't wait for the "long term" gain on some – but think for now our money will be better invested in land.
We're down to 58º now. We're thinking of moving our bedroom to the basement since it is much warmer there than it is upstairs. We got a little electric heater so we can warm up the bathroom when we take showers.
Also if we run out of oil we can use the heater to keep the pipes from freezing. Just hope we don't run out of electricity. According to what we hear, New England will be hurt more than the rest of the country, and Maine more than the rest of New England. The library is having its oil cut by 25% so we'll probably have to cut a day or two at the end or beginning of the week.
I don't guarantee that you'll get a picture of us this Christmas but we'll see what we can do. As far as our desires go, X wants a winch and a chain saw. If you'd like to give him some money toward one of those I know he'd appreciate it. Another suggestion for him is a turtleneck sweater - the washable type, acrylic I guess it is. I think Sears has some nice looking ones, of course, I haven't looked anywhere else. I think a medium size (38-40) would fit him all right. I'd like a winter pants suit but I thought I'd see if there are any bargains after Christmas. I'd even appreciate gift certificates at McDonald's. I could also use stationery, we can both use socks, Bic pens (fine pt. of course), plastic bags, light bulbs, typewriter ribbon, plants, dog food, a subscription to TV Guide (to go with the cable TV), candles, etc. That's all that I can think of at the moment.
We had an Open House at the library Sunday. It was definitely a social event as opposed to a "public" event. We did get to meet some previously unknown people. The head of the Board made up a questionnaire to see how people like the changes. Tomorrow some of the Board Members & X are going to Brunswick to see the addition that has been made to the public library there. There is a pretty good chance we can get some revenue sharing money for an addition here in the next few years.
I'm reading Michel, Michel by Robert Lewis. Ever read it? It's a big thick book (over 700 p.)
We're waiting to hear more details about your visit.
Love, Catherine & X
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