Ally came to Leeds to deliver a contract and met me at 2pm. We went to Da Mario's for food. I had a panzerotti and she had a lasagne. Mine was brill.
Life would be such fun if Ally worked in Leeds. She went shopping afterwards and picked me up at 5. She managed to get rid of her awkward present buying.
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4th Sunday in Advent
Thick snow falling throughout. It's OK for the likes of Bing Crosby but he doesn't have to shift the bleedin' stuff, does he?
We have the table set, the cocktail cherries ready and expect a nil turnout because of the weather but not so. We had a flickering fire, enough booze to sink a ship, and Ally looking like a debutante from the 1950s.
The first guest to arrive was Mary Moore from across the road. She is a splendidly eccentric spinster who tells us that for a bet she once swam across Dover Harbour on Christmas day. It was too cold she says, because she wasn't properly greased. Others arrived. Cousin Jackie was followed by Sarah and Trevor [unbelieveably] and then the family. A real shindig. Quite perfect. Dad had to dig the car out and he and Mum came with Lynn, Dave and Frances. Jacq & Paul, Karen and Steve, Dave L, Hilda and Tony the last to arrive and the last to leave.
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| Dickensian? |
A bright, crisp, and almost Dickensian day. Send for Nicholas Nickleby.
Back at Club Street I inserted the new battery and, as if by divine intervention, old Norman from across the road came staggering past and he took an immediate interest in Audrey's spark plugs, and he fiddled around helpfully. He gave life to the hapless vehicle. I am eternally in his debt. How can we thank him? He walked away in the deep snow with a look of my dear Uncle Albert stamped all over him.
Ally and I to Morrison's. Spend a king's ransom on party food. On to Lazenby's at 11pm. [Tony] Harney was violently sick and collapsed in the bathroom. Otherwise a quiet party. Home at 2am.
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Snow abounds. Christiana Ross was born this day in 1865. To the YP as usual. I have yet to make editor.
Audrey wouldn't start and so we resolved to buy a new car battery tomorrow. We sat watching TV quite calmly knowing full well that we are about to wave goodbye to £22.
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We intended going out tonight to buy food for our Christmas party, but we couldn't dig the car out to go to Morrison's. The battery is flat [again], and the snow doesn't help. We sat with long faces grumpily eating fish and chips.
Ally has received a Christmas card from the Pinders addressed to Miss Alison Dixon.
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Snow and Poland. Little else.
The snow delayed my journey and I didn't get home until 7:45pm. Coronation Street was in full swing when I fell through the door blue with cold and shaking with rage. I had been stood outside the YP for an hour, and the temperature on the clock there proclaimed 21F.
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| Club St or Gstaad? |
For the first time in many years the River Aire has frozen in Leeds. Some say that it last froze over in 1963, and you always get one who throws in 1947. I certainly never remember anything quite like it.
We dined on spaghetti. She was worried about me. I've never been so late home. Not like _____ who only returns home to his wife when the pub closes.
Dad phoned asking for his car battery charger. His car is having trouble now. No way can we dig out the car and drive over. Club Street looks like Gstaad.
After thawing in front of the TV we retired to bed.
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| Wichita Lineman. |
Slipped and slid across town at lunchtime to buy minced beef for dinner. Must have looked like Robin Cousins.
At 3:30 Kathleen announced that the weather was taking a turn for the worse and gave us leave to quit the office early. I left in the company of Roy Holland, who drove me home in his little sports vehicle. He came in for a pee, and, like most people, expressed his approval of our humble home. I am very proud of it, and stood, nose in the air, like Lord Hertford amidst his Grinling Gibbons.
Christmas cards behind the door. Eight in all. Ate mince beef, Yorkshire puddings and pancakes. Sat on our cushions relaxing I heard Mrs Greenwood knocking on the wall. Rushing round thinking something was wrong she was struggling to light her gas oven. It lit for me.
Watched dismal 'Brideshead [Revisited].
News: The Queen, caught by the snow, was forced to seek refuge in a two-star hotel near Bristol for seven hours on Sunday. Poland is in a poor way. Brezhnev will go in at Christmas.
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Deep snow which blocked most of the local roads. I'm sitting at Club Street. An eerie silence from the road outside which is usually packed with vehicles.
Up at 6:30. Ally walked to the AHA. No buses, so I phoned Margot to give the YP a miss. Sarah phoned later, just to check up on me. Susan phoned for all the gossip from Stockport.
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| Club Street. |
My snow-clearing was buried beneath fresh snowfall, and a thick blanket was spread over Lidget Green by the time Ally came in.
We had a disagreement about opening Auntie Elsie's Christmas present, and quarrelled for a few hours. It's depressing to fall out, and a rarity these days.
My wife has given me a beautiful Christmas card. _________.
To bed with hot chocolate. The news is dominated by Poland. Such a bore. Switched off the TV and went to bed with Stanley Baldwin. I suppose it's work for me tomorrow.
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3rd Sunday in Advent
Hangover. Billy gave me two Phensic tablets. Sat after eggs and bacon with the Sunday newspapers. The flat is too hot.
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| Mottram Towers. |
Dave's grandad fell over in the snow this afternoon cutting his head. Dave, worried about this, left with the lads at 4:30. We had roast pork with Brussel sprouts which had been on the boil on and off since 9:30am. Worrying about the snow we left at 5:30. I think Billy enjoyed having us. His 82 year-old mum has gone to live with a daughter leaving him free to entertain.
Treacherous drive home.The M62 was almost blocked by driving snow and we crawled and slid at 20MPH by many stranded vehicles. Unbelievable that Audrey made it. Arrived at Bradford at 8:30. Phoned Dave and Mum. Billy phoned later from the Armoury. He is incredible for 42, with the energy of an 18 year-old. Exhausted. We ate cheese toasties, drank hot chocolate, and retired to bed at 9:55pm.
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A bright, clear morning, but frosty. Installed the car battery at 8am after porridge and toast. Amazingly, the car burst into action and roared like a lion. We hurriedly packed, dressed, and head for the M62 to Stockport just after 10. A bad journey. Ice on the windscreen. Near Stockport we ran into thick fog. We got to the Hollywood just after 11:30.
We found the Hollywood refurbished and filled with jungle-style plants giving the whole place an atmosphere reminiscent of Kew Gardens, or perhaps the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Poor Lily was in the bar with her relief manager looking tired and pale and dressed in black. It is wrong to avoid talking about death and so later in the dining room we talked about Jim with Dave, Lily and Grandad. I don't think I have ever heard little Grandad Glynn speak so much. I suppose he is in a state of shock. Lily is being very brave.
Joined by the lads. We went to the Robin Hood and afterwards to a video hire shop and took out Jack Nicholson's 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'. We sat back at the Hollywood for a couple of hours viewing.
At 10 we returned to the Hollywood for a wild session which continued until after 2. Ally and I spent £22 on the dinner [2lb T-bone steaks]. I gave myself a blister cutting through the meat. We had the usual community singing - Billy performed a duet with Anne. He is so funny and never fails to have everybody in hysterics.
Afterwards it was back to Billy's flat at 61 Mottram Towers, on the sixth floor. A multi-storey greenhouse. Billy stripped down to his underpants.
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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...
