Thursday June 17, 1982

 Ally went shopping at lunchtime to save us making the journey tonight. Home at 6. 

Ally like a beaver in the kitchen. I sat like a slob watching 'Top of the Pops'. 

Mum and Dad came at 9 with Jim and Margaret. A fine evening. Looked at lots of photographs of Yugoslavia, blurred and headless but good all the same. Got the gin bottle out and sat swearing at Wedgwood Benn on the TV. Mum looked thinner, but it may be just her clothes. Often she fails to wear the right things. They left at 2am.

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Wednesday June 16, 1982

 Muggy. [Nigel] Dempster says that the infant prince was due yesterday and that the palace is saying July 1 just to keep the heat off Diana. I am sure it will come when it's ready. September is a good month for monarchs. Look at Elizabeth I for instance.

Kissed Piglet goodbye at 8. She complains of lethargy. She's getting a cold sore on her lip.

YP busy. No Mrs Slocombe. She is, I fear, taking advantage of the new self-certification system. A layabout character. _______.

Home at 5. Salad sandwiches. It looked like thunder but all the same I took out the ladders and finished painting the drain pipes.

Watched 'The Ladykillers' [1955] starring Peter Sellers and Sir Alec Guinness. Stayed up until 10:30 watching Diana Ross singing her heart out. Obviously, a repeat. Spoke to Mama today. She was with Papa, Sue and Christopher. They are coming over tomorrow night for the first time since April 4. Doesn't time fly?

It was Cecil Ferguson's funeral today in Norfolk. We didn't hear from Bessie. Bed at 12.

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Tuesday June 15, 1982

 The war in the South Atlantic is all over with the Argentine surrender. Port Stanley is back in British hands for the first time since early April.  Jubilation. Mrs Thatcher has got her victory.

Heavy rain. Unable to paint because of the down pour. Watched a ridiculous film about a man-eating fish.

Ally made a brill steak dinner. In the news: The Princess of Wales went to the races at Royal Ascot but traveled by car instead of a horse drawn carriage onto the bumpy course. I remain convinced that the birth of the royal baby will take place next week and not on July 1. It doesn't seem right that the Queen will be in Scotland for the delivery of what will be a direct heir to the throne. Who wants to go to Scotland anyway? The infant will be George or Elizabeth or Victoria or Louis or Charles John. Or perhaps James or Albert Victor.

Watched the news and went to bed with cocoa at 9:45.

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Monday June 14, 1982

 David Lawson is 27 today, no doubt at his desk. ____________.

John started his new job at Tay Homes. Ally went to the Jack Andrews dealership and tried to persuade them to buy Audrey. She's going back to see someone tomorrow.

Frantic YP. Only Sarah, Margo and I. Carol has flu. Kathleen is holidaying in Wallingford, of all places. I spent the afternoon looking at the Queen's Birthday Honours awards. Joe Gormley's peerage was expected, as was Kevin Keegan's OBE. I never fail to be surprised that Morecambe & Wise haven't gone to the Lords in the first joint peerage. [Mind you, I believe that the first Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch were created jointly back in the 17th century]. The Queen always gives something from the Royal Victorian Order to a lady-in-waiting, and for one to collect a DCVO is quite normal, but I believe that Mary Morrison is the first Woman of the Bedchamber to be styled 'Dame'. Previous recipients have held a higher designation, i.e. 'Countess Spencer, DCVO' or 'the Marchioness of Abergavenny, DCVO'. Dame Anne Wall was an assistant press secretary, and only an extra lady-in-waiting. Today was Garter day at Windsor. Margaret Thatcher will one day be in the procession without doubt. Prince Philip is in Saudi Arabia for the funeral of King Khalid.

Pork pies and mushy peas. Out to put black gloss paint on the drain pipes. In at 8. James Bond. News - Falklands. Argentina flying the white flag over Port Stanley. Jubilation at Westminster.

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Sunday June 13, 1982

 1st Sunday after Trinity

Up at 9:30 and had a fried breakfast, but not leisurely. A used car dealer called Stuart Rawson came to inspect the car and went away looking pale saying he will ring us later. Obviously, we do not hear from him again. Jack Andrews put a jinx on poor Audrey last November and now I'm afraid we are stuck with her.

Got up a ladder to paint again. The front of the house has taken longer to complete than the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and the 'Last Supper' put together. Ally was beaming all day and bouncing around like a rabbit after a large helping of watercress soup. The iron works wonders. She has difficulty remembering which hymns were sung at our wedding. Poor thing. The soup helped her to stay awake until after 12 and we endured a disgraceful film.

News: King Khalid of Saudi Arabia has died of a heart attack. There's always something.

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Saturday June 12, 1982

 [Large paragraph withheld containing
sensistitve content regarding a living person].____________.

Hungover, horribly so. Got up at 10:30 and lay for two hours in front of the TV, clad in pyjamas, eating Rice Krispies and watching the 'Trooping of the Colour' [sic] from drizzly London. Climbed back into bed at 12:15 after a man from Rawdon phoned to say he saw the 'for sale' sign in the car parked on Over Lane last night. He is coming tomorrow to take a look. Good God! Ally's home made advertising has worked. The man must be a lunatic, or blind. Slept until after 3 and then we ate. Later to Guiseley to sit with Sue and Peter. She brought the baby down and he is an exact replica of Jim Nason. I fear we have neglected young Christopher. We go for months without seeing the child. On to Burley-in-Wharfedale where Dave took our car radio out of Audrey. Julie Baker there and she gave us an entertaining account of a recent wedding. Lynn, lounging in a dressing gown, gave us coffee. At 8 o'clock up to Guiseley for ten minutes to see Mum, Dad and John. Home at 9:30 with fish and chips. Watched 'The Bodysnatchers', Donald Sutherland. Bed.

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Friday June 11, 1982

 Dull day. Out at 8 and gave Audrey a kick as I passed. The 'for sale' sign looks ridiculous, but Ally is convinced it will do the trick. It would cost a small fortune to advertise it in the paper. I should know.

Judith.

YP abysmal. Kathleen arrived at 10. We assumed we'd seen the last of her for a fortnight. Escaped at 5 and went to my dentist in Rawdon. On the way I sat with Mrs Judith Brown on the bus and she informed me that they are to take a pub [the Fox & Hounds] at Glusburn, near Keighley. A Timothy Taylor's house. My teeth were cleaned and I was sent packing five minutes later with a bill for £3.50 and an appointment for December 10. On to Guiseley after meeting Ally at Rawdon, and we sat with sandwiches and beer until 7. John had been out with Peter until the early hours and had spent the whole day in bed. He looked debauched today - probably just a jealous reaction on my part. Lynn and Dave brought Frances in her pyjamas. The baby looked devilish, imp-like. Lynn, Dave, Ally and I had a drink at the Woolpack before moving on to the Allinson pile on Over Lane. Elaine was busying herself in the garden and we went out clutching large drinks and sat in deckchairs chattering about the Falklands and the pros and cons of Butlins Holiday camps. Elaine wasn't quite as noisy and controversial as usual, but is a fuss. Dave L and 'Knocker' were discussed. Dave A's brother, Mick, and his timid wife were there. We ate barbecued chicken, beefburgers, sausages, &c. Drank Pernod, whisky, Martini, lashings of lager. There was a speaker on the lawn which allowed us to dance around the shrubbery in formation. Great fun. It must have sounded like a zoo. By the end of the night were were dripping barbecue sauce. Quite pissed. Dave felt sick and so we left at about 1:30am. Went the wrong way home, going through Bradford.

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