| Description | Letter from Amelia Nyasa Laws, Aviemore, Crieff, to her parents, 'installed in a most beautiful hous ewith the kindest of landladies', who do the cooking as well, the road is quiet as it just leads to a boys' preparatory school, view of Ben Ledi and Ben Vairlich, good Collard piano in the drawing room, Uncle reading aloud from the life of Dr. Elsie Inglis, while Aunt and Amelia darn and sew and Aunt Amy does nothing as usual, long complaint of Aunt Amy and her capricious nerves, and her remarks about Amelia, Aunt is good about making sure that Amelia has some time to herself to write and study - she has a great number of letters to write, letter to M. Benignus to give him help with his boy who is intending to come to England, and to ask about working in a military hospital next winter, comparison of life at Uncle's and life in a hospital, with her preference very much for the latter, her preference is also for nursing soldiers, not children, particularly after a visit to Sara Paterson's two children of three and one, the Patersons have a year's leave at the end of which they can either go back to Canada or to any of the bank's branches in Scotland, Sara sarcastic about the wedding of Mary Fleming to David Cormack, a businessman in Lockerbie, visit to Dr. Salmond who has moved from Morningside to Pilrig on his retirement, seeing his daughters: 'Lottie is in a bank, Isabel in the revenue office (both girls having volunteered to fill the places of men during the war). Isabel is an M.A. and both will leave their places when men are free to fill them.', all the girls except Bessie Millar have only one aim, marriage, and only one interest, themselves, Nora Hunter is in France after her engagement was broken off, visit to Bangour Hospital to see the orthopaedic department, with electrical arrangements, and whirlpool and compressed air baths, staff of 32 masseuses, by whom she was not so impressed, some decoration to be done at Thirlestane Road, fine turn out at open air church meeting in the grounds of the Academy, good music at St. Cuthbert's the week before, Aunt Amy's deep objections to the National Anthem being sung at the beginning of church services, Aunt Amy thinks Amelia ought not to write such long letters, though she never complained about them when they were written to her, 'I have been studying of late the faces of ministers and Christians in general and I marvel that the young attend church as they do with those un-sunny faces around them. It's time they learned to enjoy God as well as to glorify Him,' appalled at the thought that Aunt Amy wants her to settle in Edinburgh or London so that they can live together, missing playing the organ. |