With a little shallow online digging and reading ahead in the this diary, it turns out that in 1900, Daniel, Lavina, and Ray Haley are actually living in a house on 6 acres in Colfax proper, at least according to an online atlas from 1901 that contains a biography of Daniel Haley, they own 6 acres in Colfax. According to the diary, Lavina indicates they move from the house in Colfax [and apparently someone else moves in], and they move into their farmhouse right before Thanksgiving in 1901 which, according to the biography and the plat map, is 200 acres in neighboring Clyde, Jasper Co., Iowa.
Thus, these beginning entries are from when they are in town on their 6 acres. I'll have to rent microfilm of the land records to verify everything and see what I can see. There are no mysteries with this family line that I've come across yet. But these entries are good for -- at least -- 2 purposes. They serve to honor the Haley family and they serve to help others place their ancestors in a time and place. For Lavina will eventually casually notate marriages and deaths in their community as well as neighboring farms Ray goes to visit. [And given his age at the time, I'm thinking when Lovina uses the words "visit" or "went", she means Ray went and worked and helped others out on their farms. I'm guessing though.] But later on, others in the community do the same for the Haley family.
Now, back to February in 1900 at their house on 6 acres in the Woods' Addition [I think.] in the very cold city of Colfax located in the Washington Township. She mentions the family [or maybe just herself] attending the Stock's surprise party on the 10th. There are several Stock households living in Jasper County in 1900. If it was a surprise birthday party, then it could have been for Joseph Stock's wife Rachel whose birth month is listed as February in the 1900 census and they are living near the Haley family in Colfax. Just a guess though. And I need to locate some newspapers for this time and place to enhance what is going on at the time.
Lavina also mentions the Haley family all having "Lagrippe." This is the flu.
~Caroline
[page 4]
Colfax Feb 1 1900
1 cloudy in morning 4 below
2 clear zero
3 clear 14 above
4 clear 8 above
5 cloudy snowed a little 16 above
6 clear 2 above
7 cloudy foggy 30 above
8 clear snow a little in morning zero
9 clear 10 below
10 clear went to Stocks surprise party 6 above
11 clear 18 above
12 snowing 26 above
13 clear 7 below
14 snowing zero
15 clear 15 below
16 clear 14 below
17 clear 10 below
18 clear 0
19 clear 7 above
20 clear 14 above
21 snowing 28 above
22 clear 8 above
[page 5 -- top half of page]
temperatures
mornings
Colfax Feb below above
23 snowing we all have Lagrippe 28
24 squally windy 8
25 cloudy 6
26 clear 2
27 cloudy 10
28 clear 16