_. Mum and Dad have severed diplomatic relations and the atmosphere at home is far from deliriously happy. I arranged to go out with Ally and sat underneath the heavy, menacing cloud awaiting her arrival. She arrived after 9 and Jim and Margaret walked in at the same time. Jim goes into hospital on Tuesday to have the varicose veins torn from his ailing legs.
Ally and I went out for a drink for the first time since out trip to Cracoe on March 23. Had a couple of drinks with Sue and Janet Simon at the Fox [they were drinking cherry brandy at £1.70 a round!], and then to the White Cross. It was like a scene from the Crimean War. Chaos and maladministration throughout, and we only just made it for last orders at the bar.
Back at home the house continued frosty and dull.
-=-
20200506
20200505
Wednesday April 2, 1980
_. A slight headache today which I put down to the plethora of wine last night. At lunchtime I found solace in the City library. I emerged blinking like a mole half an hour later with 'Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester' by Noble Frankland, a new biography of the semi-obscure uncle of the Queen. Back at the office Derek Naylor spotted the book on my desk. He winced and cringed and looked as though he might vomit. It's funny how the subject of royalty can bring on such violent emotions. Reading it tonight I couldn't help thinking that I've read it all before. John and I were in Windsor in June, 1974, when the duke conveniently died, and we watched his funeral procession through the town.
Frost and ice in the atmosphere at Pine Tops tonight. Mum and Dad spent the afternoon in Masham and had a difference of opinion over something which disrupted relations for the remainder of the evening. Lynn and Dave came to tea, but the frost didn't thaw. Lynn however was just as chirpy. Lynn and Dave go to Stranraer tomorrow to spend Easter with John and Maria. L left a bunch of fivers with Mum to hand over to me on my birthday.
Dad is very brooding and irritating when he choses to be. He is very like his father.
-=-
Frost and ice in the atmosphere at Pine Tops tonight. Mum and Dad spent the afternoon in Masham and had a difference of opinion over something which disrupted relations for the remainder of the evening. Lynn and Dave came to tea, but the frost didn't thaw. Lynn however was just as chirpy. Lynn and Dave go to Stranraer tomorrow to spend Easter with John and Maria. L left a bunch of fivers with Mum to hand over to me on my birthday.
Dad is very brooding and irritating when he choses to be. He is very like his father.
-=-
Tuesday April 1, 1980
_, This evening I ventured to Lidget Green for dinner with Ally. She concocted a spectacular lasagne which we ate with her very dry Beaujolais. Spent the evening taping music for the party on Saturday. Ally sat reading 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', but has yet to find the naughty bits. I left at 10:15 and was home in an hour. It was All Fools' Day today.
-=-
-=-
Monday March 31, 1980
_. Sarah saw Jacq in the Regent, without Paul, on Saturday. _________.
A night at home with the family gathered around the television. Saw Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould in a film 'Spies'.
-=-
A night at home with the family gathered around the television. Saw Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould in a film 'Spies'.
-=-
20200503
Sunday March 30, 1980
_. Palm Sunday
Sunny day. Auntie Mabel came this afternoon with cousin Jackie, who passed her driving test last week. Jackie is very thin and like a Kampuchean refugee. They stayed to lunch. Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, &c, and left at 6:30. We watched 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans' , a play by Agatha Christie in ITV. Francesca Annis playing Lady Frances Derwent, an aristo-sleuth. Good, but stretched out over three hours. Mum and Dad went out to the Birch Tree at Wilsill. They rarely venture out at night but Dad has an aversion to Agatha Christie. He paced up and down the sitting room like a caged lion, glowering at the TV screen and bearing a menacing expression. They returned at 11. Ally stayed the night.
-=-
Sunny day. Auntie Mabel came this afternoon with cousin Jackie, who passed her driving test last week. Jackie is very thin and like a Kampuchean refugee. They stayed to lunch. Roast beef, Yorkshire puddings, &c, and left at 6:30. We watched 'Why Didn't They Ask Evans' , a play by Agatha Christie in ITV. Francesca Annis playing Lady Frances Derwent, an aristo-sleuth. Good, but stretched out over three hours. Mum and Dad went out to the Birch Tree at Wilsill. They rarely venture out at night but Dad has an aversion to Agatha Christie. He paced up and down the sitting room like a caged lion, glowering at the TV screen and bearing a menacing expression. They returned at 11. Ally stayed the night.
-=-
Saturday March 29, 1980
_. Ally came here at 1:30. Still feeling unwell she collapsed on the sofa and slept until after 5. We, the conscious ones, watched the Grand National on the BBC. Ben Nevis won at 40-1, and only four horses completed the course. In the small family flutter held for the event Ally won £1.50 [I placed the bet for her and she snoozed through it all unaware of her great good fortune].
We had a very important debate regarding Walter, the man who delivers fruit and veg to us every Saturday. Does he wear eye make-up? I say he most certainly does, but am outnumbered here.
Tonight Ally and I ate with Mum and Dad and we watched TV afterwards. When did we last stay at home on a Saturday evening? I bet it was almost a year ago. Up until 1am watching a Trevor Howard epic.
-=-
We had a very important debate regarding Walter, the man who delivers fruit and veg to us every Saturday. Does he wear eye make-up? I say he most certainly does, but am outnumbered here.
Tonight Ally and I ate with Mum and Dad and we watched TV afterwards. When did we last stay at home on a Saturday evening? I bet it was almost a year ago. Up until 1am watching a Trevor Howard epic.
-=-
Friday March 28, 1980
_. Ally went to the Belfry tonight very much against my advice. Lynn and Dave came for tea and were angry at me for allowing her go to work so soon after been ill. I did explain that Ally is her own woman, and does exactly as she wants.
Saw TV tonight. The final part of 'Therese Raquin'. A haunting end, with Madame Raquin paralysed in her wheelchair, the cat with it's broken back squealing in the background, and her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law's lover laying dead at her lifeless feet.
Lynn and Dave's car was coughing and spluttering and Dad and I pushed it half way down the lane before the engine decided to turn over.
Took to my bed feeling quite sombre.
-=-
Saw TV tonight. The final part of 'Therese Raquin'. A haunting end, with Madame Raquin paralysed in her wheelchair, the cat with it's broken back squealing in the background, and her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law's lover laying dead at her lifeless feet.
Lynn and Dave's car was coughing and spluttering and Dad and I pushed it half way down the lane before the engine decided to turn over.
Took to my bed feeling quite sombre.
-=-
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Monday October 14, 1985
Moorhouse Inn, Leeds Columbus Day, USA - Thanksgiving Day Canada Old Red Lion. A very silly day. I climbed out of bed very early leaving my...
-
Moorhouse Inn I have the most disgusting hangover I have perhaps ever experienced. Ally too lay whimpering beneath the quilt and refused to...
-
I have just been summoned to thee bathroom by Susie who is sitting in a hot bath in complete darkness. "Michael, the bulb's just go...