Tuesday September 13, 1977

Jacqui.

Jacqui phoned today and said she and Joy are coming up on September 23 for the weekend. They are staying at a flat in Leeds and she suggests we go out for a couple of nights on the town. I say it's a great idea and we had a pleasant chat about it. However, John (Grady) phoned from Rossendale this evening and said next weekend wouldn't be suitable for our visit to Lancashire, and could we make it the weekend after instead? All would have been fine but what about Jacqui coming from deepest Muswell Hill? John is undeterred and says she's only after my Hylda Baker body. We laughed. I think of Dave G. He'll never be able to get Sept 17 off. Oh God, I'm fed up with all this muddled arranging. John also said Noel would be free to join us on Sept 24 because he's going away with his fiance next weekend. We'll sort something out and I'll contact Jacqui tomorrow.

Tonight I sat and worked out the number of people descended from my grandparents John Wilson and Levinyer Wood. You may think it a silly thing to do but I'm interested. They have 35 descendants, 17 of them male; 18 female. They are all living too. They range from 58 years to one week old. I was the eighth grandchild and fifteenth descendant, and sixth grandson. Only 10 of the descendants bear the name Wilson today. The other 25 are Harwoods, Myers, Gadsbys, Williams, &c. They don't have as many descendants as King Edward III, but they haven't had the amount of time he's had. A proper little statistician aren't I?

Retired to bed at midnight.

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Friday July 23, 1976

I don't feel like talking about work today. After all, there's more to life than bloody slogging away like a half wit and no further elaboration is needed.

At tea time I tell mother that her mother would have been 80 today. She says her mother was 60 when she died in 1957, and that she had been born in 1897. My records must be incorrect. It's a rotten shame that my grandma didn't live longer. My memories of her are very vague but I think I remember seeing her propped up in bed in what must have been the year of her death.

Lynne comes up at 9 o'clock and we go down to the Hare & Hounds. David and Lynn are in for the first time in months. John & Maria are very boisterous. Chris didn't really say much __________________. Lynne and I stood with Jimmy Macdonald and his so-called mate Bob, a repulsive freak who works in Bradford City Council Planning Dept - which is probably why he's unhinged. They talk about Balzac and other obscure 19th century authors. At 10.45 Lynne and I announce to the mob that we are going to Harrogate's Damn Yankee for a pizza. Nobody else felt inclined to join us and so off we went on our lonesome. The food is delicious and quite inexpensive. Lynne suggests I stay at Ty Gywn for the night and I fall in with her wishes. Peter was entertaining Richard Mair/Mayer/Mare/Mayre for coffee and after his departure Lynne and I sat for half an hour. Slept in a sleeping bag on Peter's bedroom floor.

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