Letter from Andrew Pettigrew to his son Andrew Alexander, 12 July 1902

The Gardens,
Cardiff Castle,
Cardiff.
July 12,1902

Dear Andrew

Glad to learn from your short letter received this morning that you were well, and that you catched the Rabbit that was the cause of your letter being so short. Glad also that you enjoyed your outing to the Wolverhampton Flower Show. You are getting a good day for your Lady Visitors. I hope you will entertain them in a way becoming your Station. Mrs Barry has been very kind to you and I am sure you will

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do everything you can to entertain them well, so that they will remember it. I am glad to say mother has been very well this week but she felt the change from tropical heat to chilly Nov-ember. I am not surprised at you getting into your heavy flannels again - it was warmer yes-terday and to-day, but the wind keeps still in the nor'-east. Your strawberries are very late. Ours are over, with the exception of a few they gather for our house. I am finishing putting the plants into the Castle to-day. We expect the family not later than Tuesday. Her Ladyship and family are coming to make preparations

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for Lord Bute's coming of age festivities. So we will have a good spell of them at this time. If they remain here till they come off on Aug. 7th. I hope I shall get on all right with them, and that Lord Bute will give me definite instructions to go on with the new garden. The governor has just been in to my office, and I have lost the thread of my narrative. The governor has been away for a short holiday, and only came back yesterday. He was up last evening and we had a jolly rubber with the misses Copland. Mother looked on and enjoyed the fun as well as if she had been playing. Henry has just

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come back from the castle. The decorating with plants is finished. He left Ludball watering them, and he says, it looks well. The only thing I am short of is vegetables and Lady Bute is not like your people in the way of buying. She will grudge paying high prices for them. I have not put the Pot Nine on the trellis yet. I am hurrying to finish this letter to get at it. I think that is all I have to tell you at this time.

With kind love, I am your affectionate father.

A Pettigrew

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