Fine clear morning but colder than usual. Copied in the morning and read a little of the Life of Columbus aloud. Nothing new. Krehmer and Watkins called upon me but had little or nothing to say. Took a ride with my Mother and Mrs. Smith as Mary was quite unwell. The time for her confinement is approaching. Wrote a long letter to Abby which was not finished when the dinner bell rung. And I was afterward obliged to hurry it. Conversation with Mrs. Smith. Affairs of our family, which seems on the whole to be the most singular in the world for Hot water seems our element.