_. I made fried liver and onions and we ate on trays in bed at 7:30pm. Afterwards, still in bed, I had a large drink with bobbing ice cubes, watching Burt Lancaster in 'The Birdman of Alcatraz'. Ally, sticking with Daphne Du Maurier, is now reading 'My Cousin Rachel'.
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_. Up at 6:30 and in the bath. Ally stayed in bed until 10.
News: Healey won the Labour leadership squabble, but only temporarily. The Princess of Wales has appointed three ladies in waiting. Her third cousin once removed Lavinia Baring, Hazel Alston-Roberts-West, and Anne Beckwith-Smith. No shady former flatmates included here, all traditional household appointments.
Ally went to see Dr Glover at 12:30. ____________.
Home at 6. I made lamb chops for dinner, after a chilled Martini. Ally phoned her parents to be told her mother is ill in bed after drinking too much champagne at Goodwood Races.
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| JPH: Fenian. |
We left at about 1. A hideous journey. Lynn felt car sick and threw up at Carrutherstown. I sat holding the baby. Home in Bradford for 7:30. Asleep, unconscious for 9:30.
What became of the Labour leadership election? I forgot to listen to the news.
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| Port Patrick. |
Back at Corner House. Some whisky, but not too much. Bed at 10.
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_. Lord Cornwallis is not dead. He was prematurely reported to have died. A Daily Telegraph error. Heads will be rolling on Fleet Street.
Home at 1 to find Ally, clad in blue. We squabbled. On to Burley at 2, and half an hour later we were in Dave's speedy vehicle heading for Scotland. Ally and I had custody of Frances in the back seat. She's incredible with little fat, brown legs. The replica of a Giles cartoon, all cheeks and flared nostrils.
Towns flashed by. Kirkby Lonsdale, Gretna, Annan, Dumfries, Carrutherstown, Gatehouse of Fleet, &c. It was fine to begin with but the rain set in as we went further north. Arrived at Corner House Cottage, Lochans, at 7. John has done a spectacular job. The birthday boy is also the proud possessor of a Billy Goat called Sandy, and he's living in great comfort. Maria is smoking more, eating less. JPH loves limericks, the majority very rude. He was caught attempting to insert a cocktail stick into baby Frances's ear, apparently to remove the excess ear wax.
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| Corner House Cottage. |
Home at 12:30. Maria decided to drive without car lights. We sat screaming as the vehicle traversed the dark, country lanes. Sat with Lynn and Dave listening to a Buddy Holly LP.
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_. Pay day. See in the Daily Telegraph that Lord Cornwallis is dead. He was president of the MCC for many years.
Home at and spent a couple of hours stuffing clothes into bags and stripping the house of vital provisions required for our Scottish jaunt. We went to the supermarket for some last minute things and bumped into Graham Wiles, the EP reporter, rummaging through the packs of frozen lasagne.
Ally ironing [again]. Watched 'Fanny By Gaslight' a new series. We have had a postcard from Graham & Charlotte Smith, in Luxor, Egypt.
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_. Felt exhausted all day. I must be growing old.
At the YP, Sat reading the dull morning newspapers. Shocked by a photo of Moss Evans, of the TGWU. He is obviously going the same way as Lord Boyle of Handsworth. From a Harry Secombe shape to Mahatma Gandhi in the space of three months.
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| Rippon: romance? |
Sarah has announced that she wants to marry Trevor before Christmas, perhaps on Dec 19. Register offices at the moment are refusing to marry people on a Saturday, but knowing Sarah she'd prefer to marry mid-week, like toffs do.
Home at 6 with a heavy head. Ally feeling not much better. ____________.
Mum and Dad have arrived at the Hotel Adler, in Alessio, where they will remain for a week.
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Moorhouse Inn, Leeds, &c Still dull outside. Who cares? Our alarm clock is on the blink and refuses to sound off. Samuel laid patiently...
