Dear Folks at Home – I note that you are solicitous about my welfare at this festive season. Well, don’t worry, the omens are good. We have at present time in the ice-house two sides of beef, two pigs, one sheep, six turkeys, twenty-two and a half chickens (one of the pups got in and ate the other half), eighteen brace of rabbits, and several brace of spruce partridges.