_. 19th Sunday after Trinity. British Summer Time Ends
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| Jim. |
On to Fieldhead Road where Jim looked at Audrey's bottom. Our suspicions were confirmed by him and Pamela's boyfriend, Peter. Both were on their backs beneath the car gasping at the horrors of the cunning of Jack Andrews. We are advised to 'get rid'.
Back at Club St we painted the hall and landing a shade of pale jasmine until after 7. We had a roast chicken.
Watched the final part of 'Churchill: The Wilderness Years'.
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_. United Nations Day
Up late, 10:30. After a greasy repast of sausages and eggs we walked, yes walked, to Whetley Hill garage and collected an ailing Audrey recently fitted with new king-pins to the value of £78. We drove, quite illegally, to Morrison's for our weekly provisions. I say illegally because the MOT expired over a week ago.
On at 1:30 to the Hermit at Burley Woodhead to have a couple of drinks with Jim Nason. He says he will inspect the holes in the car floor, but the rain puts off the inspection until tomorrow. Sank a couple of lagers. On to Sue and Pete's. We decide to dine with them at the Hare & Hounds tonight. We left them at 4 and drove to Burley, but there was no sign of the Bakers. We went back to Club St, bathed, changed, and then drove back to Guiseley. Lynn, Dave & Frances were at Sue's. Lynn very sheepish and peculiar. Similarly, Dave was non-committal. I showed my annoyance and I think Lynn got the message. She made some remarks about us going out tonight, and planted feelings of ill will. She must have some form of depression. The long hours she spends alone with the baby must be having an adverse effect and getting her down.
At 7:30 to the Hare & Hounds. The four of us had steaks. Pete was thrilled. They under-charged us for the wine. We paid £2.20 instead of £4. An animated, pleasant dinner. Afterwards we went down to the Fox and bumped into Diane and Paul. They're coming over to ours on Oct 31.
We slept at West End Terrace.
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_. The car is a thorn in our side. Obviously Jack Andrews sold Ally a wreck on Sept 23 last year. The floor is seriously corroded to the extent that Ally has been precariously close to disappearing through the bodywork, and it's so obvious now, but too late. The vehicle was bodged by Jack Andrews to sell to an innocent lady buyer.
Mum and Dad go to Northumberland. We had a mince concoction for dinner. Reading of Baldwin's early life up to 1920 he seems to have been unambitious. Watched a bit of telly, but programmes were abysmal.
We have decided that tomorrow we will go to Guiseley to see Jim Nason, and then to Sue's and finally to Lynn's at Burley.
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_. At the YP _________ is becoming more and more schizophrenic. Maniacal, in fact.
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| Baldwin: devious |
Home to Piglet at 6. Walked to the local library. Back at 7 with a biography of Stanley Baldwin by H. Montgomery Hyde. I have never taken to Baldwin always having looked at him through the eyes of the Duke of Windsor, and he painted Stanley as a devious, sinister, pipe-smoking vole, with a cunning and shifty gaze. Obviously, Edward VIII bore a grudge.
We had fish and chips. Mum and Dad go to Northumberland tomorrow, and still haven't heard from Lynn. Horrid girl.
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_. Out of bed at 6:30 for a leisurely breakfast. We eat a lot of boiled eggs and toast these days. ________.
Lively at the YP. Amused by an article in the Times which states that the blood sucking leech is now on the list of endangered species. People are actually worried about this and plans are to be set in motion to preserve the lives of these revolting worms. Perhaps they could all be grouped together in a leech game reserve? Before you know it they'll be accusing the Princess of Wales of slaughtering them in the Scottish heather. Surely there's a Chinese leech over in Peking that they could ship over to London Zoo to impregnate our beloved, and last surviving giant leech?
The ridiculous family feud continues. I phoned Mum at 10:20 [I tried at 8 but she was out at Sue's] and she is still waiting to hear from Burley. Since Saturday Lynn has cut us all off. Bloody hell, you'd think David would use his common sense and make contact. Ally disagrees. David, she says, will have been blinded by his all consuming wife, and made to think that his mother-in-law is the vile ogre responsible for the break in diplomatic relations. Lynn's behaviour is thoughtless and cruel. She has always been a willful girl and always said and done everything without thinking about anyone else. Oblivious to her own pitfalls she is very quick to pin-point the faults in others.
Susan is in bad with a bad cold, and Mum and Dad visited her tonight. She left work on Friday, and was hoping to celebrate at the White Cross.
Bed at 10:45.
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_. Woke up, and to my horror, see that the alarm clock is blatantly proclaiming 7:58am. I fled from the house and arrived at the office at 9:15. They cannot complain. Since my marriage I haven't turned in late.
I was home for 6. Phoned Mum. Still no word from Lynn. I would never have thought that Lynn could be so horrible. If I was one of those modern thinking types I could put it all down to post-natal depression, but that would put me of a par with some feminist Guardian columnist.
Paint flowers. Bed at 11pm.
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_. A black, wet morning. Up at 6:30 to a wintry dawn. Breakfast with Ally and Dave. Malt loaf of all things, as we had forgotten to buy a loaf. We left Ally at 7:45 and got the bus into Leeds where I said goodbye to Dave at the YP. He did say, en route, that he cannot understand Lynn's behaviour to Mum.
YP dull. Sarah had lowered herself to collect my mail. Phoned Mum. She has had no word from Lynn.
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| Flower painting..... |
Ally should have seen Dr Glover today, but he seems to have forgotten.
This evening I made a start on a flower painting for Bessie for Christmas. Got the idea from a flower arranging book. Bed at 11:40.
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_. 18th Sunday after Trinity
News: Sir Steuart Pringle, 10th Baronet, has had his leg blown off in an IRA attack. Moshe Dayan, the one-eyed Israeli general, is dead.
We had sausages for breakfast. Had no word from Lynn.
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| The Fiddlers Three. |
Bus tonight at 8 into town to Duke's Wine Bar where a 'wet t-shirt' competition was in full swing, if you pardon the pun. Hundreds of randy males howling at three flat-chested Bradford girls being publicly humiliated standing in a cold shower in the bar. Dave, clamouring for a good view, stood on a table. Ally was far from happy.
Bed at 12:30.
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_. Hangover. Dave B came and collected Mum at 10:30 and off they went. But first he fixed the light fitting on the stairs.
Poor Mum always comes out of these squabbles the loser. We heard nothing from Lynn all day. Embarrassed that our guest Dave G should witness this family fracas, but he is a honorary member of the family.
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| The Flying Pigs. |
Bed at 11. Dave slept in the pigs room [so named after the flying pigs on the wall]. He says he was awake all night counting the passing cars. By morning he'd counted 48,645.
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_. Arrived at the YP and Sarah threw a tantrum about collecting the post and papers from the Mail Room, and stormed off downstairs coming back with only her post and morning nationals. Miserable cow.
Met Dave G at 5 at the railway station and we walked back down Wellington Street and got the bus to Bradford. Dave's quiet repose is no way a sign of unhappiness. He is a very relaxed and contented being.
Mum and Dad came for dinner at 7. We had a sing song around the piano. Candlelight too. All very Victorian. Sue and Pete came at 8 followed by Lynn and Dave later. Lynn in a very queer mood, and was very cool to Mum, almost nasty. Dave B and I went over to the Oddfellows for two pints and then to the fish and chip shop for everyone, at about 10.
Sue, Mum, Dad and Ally were discussing something about religion when Lynn, sitting with Dave G, leapt up and told Mum to 'get out or go upstairs'. No one ever tells Mum to 'go upstairs' or go anywhere for that matter. Mother was furious at first and then in floods of tears. Dad sided with his daughter, as he always does, which alientated him from Mum, and the whole party was shattered and split into two belligerent camps. I seethed for some time and then blew my top. Dave took Lynn home, and Dad went out and drove off leaving Mum on out settee, exasperated at the mess. Lynn was out for a fight, and had succeeded in upsetting everyone.
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_. No great desire to leave my bed on this dark, autumnal morning. Frost everywhere. I kid you not. Silly Kathleen is back and it transpires that in her fortnight's holiday she's been no further afield than Kirkbymoorside. She is going very grey.
Margot is 20 today. She bought doughnuts.
Met Ally at Morrison's at 6:15 and gave her a kiss in the fancy goods, or was it up against the cheese counter? We walked home carrying our bags in the frost. It's funny but in the cold Ally always goes deathly white where most other people go a shiny pink. She looked like alabaster.
We ate something with mince and watched a charming old film, 'The Adventures of Hucklberry Finn'. It had me in stitches. I didn't see Ally all night. She is still 'spring cleaning' upstairs, the drone of the vaccuum cleaner coming down through the ceiling, rattling the spider plants in their chamber pots on the piano.
Later, saw 'Fanny By Gaslight', and no, it's not a porno.
News: The BBC were yesterday singing the praises of Francis Pym as though Mrs Thatcher was dead. They are now saying that Geoffrey Rippon is to lead a revolt for the party leadership. What rubbish. Margaret Thatcher will be PM into the 1990s, if you want my opinion.
Bed at 11:50 with a mug of Ovaltine. Ally still on with Jilly Cooper. Perhaps I should get some jodhpurs and a riding crop.
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A warm, gentle day. Ally and I took off to town with Samuel at 1pm. We didn't take the pram and I carried baby for two hours, by the end...
