Saturday April 20, 1974

Wake up at 10 but drop off again until 1. Up for lunch which was very nice. John and Lynn decide to go to Leeds in order that John can buy a new suit. Mum and I then sit with a cup of tea and discuss my financial situation. I say I want a Barclaycard or something, but she is doubtful. Dad thinks it's a great idea. I will look into this next week.

Go upstairs and listen to 'Radio 5' which is put out on the BBC by Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame every afternoon at 2.

John and Lynn home at 5.30. J buys a £30 suit from Burton's - very attractive indeed. After washing my hair, Sue blow waved it for me and she did exactly the same thing for John, which he didn't really like. We ring and Chris and decide to go to the Hare (and Hounds) in Menston and we leave, on foot, at 8. I wear a pair of John's platform shoes and he wears flat ones in order to do justice to his suit. Arrive at 8.30. When Chris arrives, the three of us, have a good time around the juke box. Chris and I keep playing 'When I Fall in Love' by Nat King Cole. John is furious at our taste in music, but Chris calls him a 'narrow minded git.' We all decide to go to Wikis at 10.30 but on leaving the H & H I find I cannot walk in John's shoes, which rub my feet terribly. I ask John to swap shoes, which would have remedied the problem, but he refuses. I decide to go home to change shoes, and then decide not to go back to Wikis. My brother is a swine and he knows it. Talk with Lynn until 2.30. John comes in but I ignore him and go to bed.

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Sunday February 3, 1974

4th after Epiphany. Mother wakes me at 10. A beautiful morning - very bright, crisp, and clear. Have my breakfast with Dad who is on duty until 2pm. At 11 Mr Rhodes, the driving instructor (no relation) picked me up - drive until 12. Don't do too badly though I feel very self-conscious about the whole thing. Rhodes is quite a decent chap really - 35-ish. At 12 John goes out driving until 1. My next lesson is on the 12th. In the afternoon, John Little brought Stewart, Mum's godson, to see his Auntie Nora. He's well and truly a little horror - being a typical 5 year-old. Spoilt, selfish and enormously greedy. John nearly died laughing at the tea table when the little lad crammed his mouth full of sticky chocolate cake - even Mum saw the humour in it. I suppose that most 5 year-olds do the same. To Lynn's relief he went at 7. Poor Lynn hates children. I'm sure she'll be the type of mother who beats the brains out of her little Angels (joking of course). Chris rang at 7. John decides to go out - but I decide to have a quiet evening. Monty Python comes before any other method of enjoyment. See a slapstick war comedy on tv - quite funny. Monty Python gives me heart-burn I laugh so much. It was the episode about storage jars exploding in the House of Lords... Mum and Dad go to Burley-in-Wharfedale. Home at 11. I talk with Dad about the current political problems until well after 1 o'clock. "Tiger Feet" by Mud. -==--

Sunday January 27, 1974

Mama is going to flog the family jewels so that she can make her annual pilgrimage to the hot climate of the Continent. Lynn and Sue will be taking Al and Christine Dibb along as chaperones.

Get up at nearly 12. Have beans on toast for luncheon then see the tv until bedtime. Monty Python closed the evening. A boring Sunday by anyone's standards and the weekend is over far too suddenly.

The selling of the family jewels seems to be the only item of excitement, and what poor Lady Crawshaw would say if she heard I don't know. You may recall from last year that Lady Crawshaw is Dad's only sister. Born Dorothy Claptrap-Rhodes she married in 1951, the Hon Leslie Muggins-Disley-Cutout, DSO, and the peerage is held by 'Aunt Dot' in her own right. She's the 18th baroness. The heir to the title is her eldest son, the Hon Robert Muggins-Cutout, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge.

The items of value in Mama's jewelry collection amount to a semi-platinum-nu-form-vinyl-type locket (Woolworths Ltd circa 1963) valued at fifteen shillings in old currency. The other main article in the Muggins Collection is a plastic, unbreakable mug (1923) commemorating the birth of Lord Harewood. The last article, is, in fact, quite priceless.

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Sunday January 20, 1974

2nd after Epiphany. Death of George V in 1936. My theory about toilet paper rationing was used by Giles in his Daily Express cartoon this morning. He pictured thousands of football fans queuing for sheets of toilet paper to throw at the match. Whatever became of petrol rationing anyway? They soon quietened down about that didn't they? The poor, deranged MP was said we should all clean our teeth in the dark apologised - it seems he tried it on several occasions, and emerged with his hair spattered in Macleans, or something equally nauseating. Old Lord Carrington suggests that if we're good we may be put on a four-day week very shortly! Isn't it nice of him? But in general, this week's been another step down the path to destruction. Pity really. Wake up at 2.45 in the afternoon! Have a nice lunch and see a very funny film about marriage. Completely domestic evening. See Monty Python's Flying Circus. Died laughing. The poor Duke of Windsor became King Edward VIII thirty eight years ago today. The massive burst of 'Windsor mania' which erupted at the time of his death in May '72 is now quite stagnant again. No one gives a damn about the duchess, who winters in Cap d'Antibes. The poor old thing will be 78 in the summer. --==--

Sunday January 13, 1974

Get up at 3pm. Beautiful sleep. Awake feeling very refreshed. Nearly tea time, and light is already fading. Have lunch and see a film starring Gregory Peck - a western. A very quiet evening and nobody rings at all. Last night's party was very successful, and I enjoyed it much more than New Year's Eve. Sue is still wearing her engagement ring. Such a darling child she is - very good at keeping a joke. Whilst listening to Tom Brown and 'Solid Gold 60' Lynn tells me that Nigel Smith wasn't even at Martyn Cole's party - but I don't let Sue know this just to keep the joke rolling on. The girls go to another party tonight and John, Mum, Dad and me see a Bette Davis film - not equal to her usual so-called 'thrillers'. Bed at 11 after seeing a pantomime Princess Margaret on Monty Python's Flying Circus. Hilarious. I'm going to scribble the number 1 record in the corner every Sunday to create a record of the top records of 1974. 'Merry Christmas Everybody' by Slade. -==-

Saturday February 17, 1973

John got me up at 11. I was surprised to see him. He usually works Saturdays but he has slept in. He tells me he wants to go to Otley or Bradford. We select Bradford catching the 12.20 bus to the city centre - 14p each way!
John bought an LP - Diana Ross's Greatest Hits. I would have preferred the Monty Python record, or the BBC 1922-1972 record - but it was his cash. After spending an hour in the record shop we went for lunch to a small cafe - sausages, chips, peas and tomatoes for 20p - can't be bad, can it? We then set off on the near impossible task of finding a hairdresser for John. We did find one, but after a search of 45 minutues. It was in a tiny back street miles from anywhere. He was only in for 10 minutes and charged 40p. That's inflation for you. We then went down to the Library and sat for nearly an hour browsing through Debrett's Peerage 1973 and Burke's Peerage 1970. John was very bored and eventually dragged me out at 4.30. We arrived home and had dinner at 5. Mutton, roast spuds, turnip, etc. I then collapsed into an easy chair in the lounge to watch "Dr Who" - my very favourite programme. Arrived at work at 7. The usual rush at 10 o'clock. We went through the usual rigmarole sitting about waiting for them to go. At least I got paid. Sue (Riley) is now very excited about the extension which is to be done in October. The CW will hold twice as many people as it does already. Saints Preserve us! It's bloody big enough already.
Lately I feel terribly restless and unsure of everything. I arrived home at 1.30 and sat feeling untired until 2.40. Dad, who is on nights, got home at 1.40 - and I had some supper with him. He says work has been dead since Christmas. He cannot understand why everything is so quiet. We have only had a murder, a rape, and several indecent assaults in Guiseley in the past few weeks.
June and I are of course going to the Emmotts on Sunday. You may have already guessed my main reason for going there - yes, Ivy (Ha Ha).
Byee!

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