Monday June 7, 1982

 Bank Holiday in the Republic of Ireland

Hot, sticky, but dull. Back to the YP. Sarah off with one of her heads. Home to Pigeon at 5:30. We sat in the window eating sandwiches and salad. Mary [Moore] was in and out like a yogo. [Do yoyos go 'in and out' ?] 

John & JPH

To Guiseley at 8 and found John underneath the Toyota covered in oil. We sat with Mum and Dad talking about Yugoslavia, and John wallowed in the bath and joined us at 9. ____ Jobless, carless.______ John has placed photos of JPH and Catherine next to his bedside. He is coming to look at our cupboards and give an assessment of the situation. Mother seems to be switched off from the crisis, as though she is unable to tolerate the complicated circumstances. We watched 'Count Dracula' with Ingrid Pitt and where Lesley Anne Down stars as a virgin. I exclaimed that it must be a very old film if Lesley Anne is a virgin. We left at 1am. We drove home quite befuddled by John's change of circumstances.

-=-

Sunday June 6, 1982

 Trinity Sunday / Full Moon

The Pope in Britain.

The Pope has been and gone from Britain without a mention from me herein. One could not escape His Holiness's progress and we looked in on several of his 'concerts' at different stages. I argued with Gill last night saying Pope John Paul's visit had been concocted purely to undermine the established church here. She disagreed. In my lifetime the Queen will cease to be the supreme governor of the Church of England and Anglicans will be led by a Pole in Rome. You mark my words. The old boy left on Wednesday.

Sat in the garden reading about Nancy Reagan in a Sunday magazine. The Queen is having the Reagans at Windsor next week.

Phone. John is now in Guiseley. David brought him back at 4pm yesterday. ____________.

Graham and Gill came to an hilarious lunch. Pork and lots of 'Blue Nun'. Bessie was in great form and had the table throbbing with laughter. We left for home at 4:30. Sticky and hot journey, but clouds appeared over Derbyshire. Home at 9:30 to find remnants of a flood at Lidget Green. People have been struck by lightning all over the place. Some golfers got more than they bargained for.

Bed at 10:30 after fish and chips.

-=-

Saturday June 5, 1982

Charlotte & Graham

 Hotter today than ever before in the history of the universe. Well, at least since the 'Big Bang'. Went to Winchester where the car decided to come to a grinding halt on a narrow road near the college. The car boils, and so do we. We let out some naughty words, and the atmosphere was far from healthy. We marched on to the nearest pub called the Queen's where we sat grunting over warm beer. After half an hour, and the car having cooled down, we moved on. We drove to Weeke to see Graham and Charlotte Smith and the new arrival, Isobel Clara. Subdued atmosphere. I think they were about to go out until we burst upon them. They are still in mourning for Oxo [the cat] struck down dead at Easter. The baby looked very much as babies do. We listened as Charlotte told us of the pitfalls of breast feeding and the unpredictable outpourings from her nipples. The Smiths are coming north in November. To the Cricketer's at 2 for another ploughman's. Tonight out with Graham, Gill and Tony Ellis to the Bush. Pissed. Stella Artois at 80p a pint.

-=-

Friday June 4, 1982

 Bessie is 60 today. We went down to give her our presents. Birthdays mean nothing to her and she would have preferred to have it forgotten.

Bessie: 60.

The phone rang. Bessie came in and said it was Mum. I immediately thought something was wrong. It's John. He's been living in the caravan at Lochans for almost three weeks and has had enough, and is returning to Guiseley to live with Mum and Dad. David is driving up to Stranraer for him this evening. Mum says Dad has taken it very badly. You know how emotional he is.

Took Bessie to the Bush for a birthday ploughman's. She drank dry Martini saying it doesn't give bags under the eyes like gin is prone to do. Afterwards to a supermarket at Alresford to buy potatoes and pears. Stifling hot.

Out at 8pm with Frank and Bessie to Graham & Gill's and then to the Hutt at Chandler's Ford [it's a Beefeater] for dinner. T-bones, Knickerbocker Glories, &c. A vast repast. Gill says that the baby, if female, is to be called something unpronouncable, Siobhan, or something.

-=-

Thursday June 3, 1982

 Back to Winchester after breakfast on the hunt for a suitable birthday present for Bessie. We sat in the Baker's Arms [packed with stuffed trout and salmon in glass cases] writing a postcard to Auntie Hilda. An old man sitting nearby was coughing and spluttering into his ale. Then to a cafe, or cocktail bar, where the waitress almost dropped her tray on seeing Ally. "Didn't you go to the Plough with John Pinder?" she enquired. Ally had no idea who the girl was. The waitress said it was Ally's brown eyes she recognised first. We sat talking about Pinder afterwards. No doubt he's fat and balding somewhere in Dorset.

To the Bridge at Shawford and to an old book shop afterwards. At 3 we went to Alresford to buy Bessie a thimble and stand on which to display it. Tonight to the New Inn [where we bought Andrew a drink for fixing the car lights], and finally to the Horse and Groom where we cuddled.

-=-

Wednesday June 2, 1982

 Ally and I to Alresford looking at the shops. We bought a china bed pan and chamber pot for £1 each. We went to the Globe, and because of the early hour [11:30am] we sat outside surrounded by ducks, who disturbed Ally. She hates things that move. Then, to the Horse and Groom at the top of the High Street.

Back to the garden at Chillandham Cross. Frank and Bessie went out to dinner at Fordingbridge. Ally and I went out for a pizza at a deserted and characterless place in Winchester. We were the solitary diners, and sat upstairs. Later we walked in the cathedral grounds. It's eerie that nothing has changed for 900 years.

-=-

Tuesday June 1, 1982

 Ally and I shopping to Winchester. Does Bessie want a garden umbrella for her birthday or would that be a white elephant? We decided not to bother. Drove to the Bush at Ovington for lunch [yes, we are addicted to the place]. We had a ploughman's lunch in a corner. Watching the Hampshire debutantes with their glasses of bitter lemon.

England has no equal on a summers day when the temperature is 80 degrees F. This afternoon we sat beneath a tree drinking a large jug of Campari cocktail and writing ridiculous postcards to home.

This evening we had soup made from the Sunday roast lamb and Bessie and I shared a large trout. Delicious.