_. High winds, rain. Woke up at 10 and switched off my alarm and slept until 12. Downstairs mother was going through her papers, settling bills,&c, and was composed after last night's upset. Dad was nowhere to be seen and was out on constabulary duties. I bathed. Ally showered. I stood looking at my face in the bathroom mirror wondering what to do about my beard. I haven't shaved since last Tuesday, and resemble a convict.
At about 2 [Ally and me] walked down the lane to look at spin dryers in Wigfall's. Mrs D is posting Ally a cheque by way of a Christmas present, and a dryer is top of the list. We found nothing suitable in this 'olde worlde' electrical appliance shop but caused a scene gasping at a news bulletin on the TV there proclaiming the death of Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone, Queen Victoria's last surviving granddaughter. The old girl would have been 98 next month. It seems that the Queen cannot get through a Bank Holiday without have to pack and head for Windsor and a family funeral.
We returned home at 3:30 bedraggled. Dined with Mum and Dad and then sat very quietly watching Sophia Loren re-enacting her own life on film. Mum and Dad were slightly subdued. It always takes them a while to recover from a bust up. Saw 'Arsenic and Old Lace'. Went to bed at 1:15.
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