Friday March 4, 1983

 A Spring-like day. We slept in the attic room at the top of the house and awakened at 7 when Frances came to our bed whilst Lynn made breakfast. A sweet, old fashioned little thing. We held her up at the window and she gleefully pointed at the sheep in the fields opposite.Katie has a cold and is in her cot gasping and snoring. Poor little thing. We had boiled eggs and toast. I went at 8 down the lane and got a bus to Leeds. Ally waved me off nursing Frances. David took her to Bradford because he has a meeting there at 9:30. At the YP Kathleen is still off and Sarah is in Scarborough with Austin-Clarke. Carol says it will be a wrench to leave the library but that it has to be done. I say that we must have a joint booze-up when our 'severance' occurs and Ally and the President Carter look-alike must be included. She agrees. I am now feeling easier about going. Obviously, I'm nervous. It's the only thing I have done since leaving school. For ten years I've been encased in this concrete block with no windows.

Ally phoned saying she is hungover. Went to 'my' Park Square and had a chicken and mushroom pie. Home on the bus reading a magazine dedicated  to our historic houses recently demolished to make way for adventure playgrounds and coal miners' social clubs. Very depressing. We ate liver and onions with tons of mashed potato. Ally in her 'Andy Pandy' dungarees and white shoes. She says Lynn and Dave do not share our enthusiasm about a pub, and that Lynn cannot take it in that I'm willing to accept voluntary redundancy. They must think I am a fixture at the YP. ________.

News: Watched the 9 o'clock news. The Queen in the US. Her Majesty's jewels are bigger than Nancy Reagan's. Prince William has arrived in Scotland. The Prince of Wales on an omniped at a youth club. Glynnie phoned at 8 to confirm our booking. To bed at 9:42.

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Thursday March 3, 1983

 YP hideous. Some workmen have gone up to the mezzanine floor and painted it with a canary yellow/pink combination. The smell of the paint and the diabolical rush of colour has given me a throbbing head.

At lunch time I went to the building society and deposited the sum of £5. Ridiculous maybe, but the sum is building up. The woman on the counter always looks at me with contempt. Silly cow. 

Ally phoned. She hasn't found a Denbyware egg cup for Lynn, and so we'll just give her money instead. I had my usual salmon sandwich on a bench in Park Square, but had to fight off the hungry pigeons. 

Home to Ally, head throbbing on the bus all the way, reading the YP magazine account of the Lofthouse pit disaster of 1973. Hardly the sort of story to put in the rag when the miners are on strike killing old ladies and holding the nation to ransom. I'd like to put Arthur Scargill down a mineshaft and fill it in. Who wouldn't? 

Ally in a dressing gown painting her nails. I took some pills and got in the bath. Recover somewhat. Watched the pathetic Christine Keeler on Nationwide regurgitating the Profumo Affair. She looks like someone you'd find behind a fish and chip shop counter in a Leeds backstreet.

Ally wearing a new blouse covered in tiny hearts. We had cheese and crackers and watched 'Crossroads' waiting for David B to come from his squash club, or wherever he goes on a Thursday evening. He came at 7:30 and drove us, puffing on a large cigar, to Guiseley. He is very serious these days. Lynn, pink, and breast feeding Katie, was watching the TV without sound so not to disturb Frances. We had a few glasses of sherry. David and I were despatched to the fish and chip shop and we called on John on the way. ________________.We ate at 9. The well stocked drinks cabinet was opened and Lynn gave us chocolate liqueuer, just to get ride of it. Bed there at 12.

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