Wednesday April 27, 1983

 Full Moon

I played at Mrs Mopp and went about the house with brushes and cloths. I gave the piano a polish and dusted Augustus and Ocatvius the pot dogs. We have a dispute about Octavius because Ally seems to think he started off with another name. I know for certain they have these names because they are named after two of the sons of King George III. 

When Ally came home we both went out to the fish and chip shop where a nauseating OAP in a Gannex raincoat jumped the queue in front of us. I suppose that he thinks that because he was at Dunkirk he has the right of priority over us. In an fish and chip shop queue I wouldn't even give precedence to the Duke of Edinburgh. We ate like something from a jungle scene and collapsed afterwards. 'Coronation Street' and 'Dallas'. To bed after the news. With volumes, but we don't read.

The Telegraph & Argus had an advert for a barman and I phoned but the landlord told me the vacancy had been filled. It was a pub on Little Horton Lane wherever that is.

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Tuesday April 26, 1983

 Boiled eggs. Further doubt about the authenticity of the Hitler Diaries. I thought so.

Steve O'Connor returned at 8 confused about when he is starting here. I walked Ally to the AHA and bought a Daily Telegraph on Duckworth Lane. A girl passing in a car smiled at me and I recognised her as the girl who worked at WH Smiths and went out with Peter Mather in '77 and was also an escort of Tony's. What was her name? It is reassuring to know that after six years I am still recognizable.

I changed the festering bed and then did some washing and put it out on the line. Mrs O'Brien was doing likewise and we smiled at each other over the wall whilst clutching our damp underwear. (That doesn't sound as perhaps it should). Our other neighbour Mrs Greenwood is home from hospital and still with us and battling on. She is visited by several nurses and I suspect she is confined to bed. No. 6 Club Street is up for sale and I phoned Whitegates who tell me it's on the market for £9,950. It is nowhere near as 'well appointed' as ours. Ally pleased at this. Our place must be worth about £10,000.

Sarah has sent me a list of Knights of the Garter so created since the Queen's accession. She has made 41 appoinments to the order in 31 years.

Ally phoned at 11 and laughed at my washer woman activities. I told her that our red pyjamas from Ios are now flapping on the line.

Later I cooked and we sat watching the rain and listening to the thunder and flashes of lightning.

News: The British Leyland strike is over after 5 weeks. The CBI says we are on the road to recovery, or at least Sir James Cleminson does. Garden gnomes are banned from Chelsea Flower Show because they lower the tone. Good thing too.

Later eagerly awaiting the start of the Marilyn Monroe film 'The Seven Year Itch'. An excellent comedy.  Bessie phoned. Graham, Gill and Tara the dog are going there for the weekend. We had a glass of elderberry wine with lemonade and so ends this twenty sixth day of April in the Year of Our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Three.

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Monday April 25, 1983

 A wet, dismal day to begin with but a bright afternoon and evening. Ally left and Steve O'Connor was here at 9:10 to strip the roof, but I hadn't notified the Housing Department and so he went away arranging to begin the task on Thursday. He asked me if I am related to Malcolm Rhodes, the infamous Lidget Green 'head banger'. Thankfully not. ________.

Later I went to town on foot and saw the man at Kitchen Studios. They are coming with yet another new sink on Thursday or Friday. Came home at 4 minus £5 with nothing to show for it.

Royal news: an idiot on the TV is saying that Prince William is overweight. These so-called child experts know nothing. We saw the news and the young prince crawling on the lawn at Government House, New Zealand where the Prince and Princess of Wales are carying out engagements until the weekend. Afterwards they go on to the Bahamas for a ten day holiday whilst Prince William returns to London with Barbara Barnes. The baby seems to have tremendous spirit. What a life he has mapped out before him.

I had food on the table for starving Ally when she alighted from her bus at 5:10. A blind man with his guide dog got off the bus at the same time. Ate fish fingers. I attempted to insert a film into the Olympus Trip camera and got into difficulties and phoned Dave B. He sounded to be down in the dumps and I came away none the wiser.

Peter Adamson who plays Len Fairclough on Coronation Street has been remanded on bail on two charges of indecent assault. Watched 'Brass' and 'Panorama' which dwelt upon the US involvement in Nicaragua, followed by the news and a Lana Turner film. This saw us safely through until 11.

To bed. Don't read. Sleep.

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Sunday April 24, 1983

 3rd Sunday after Easter

A sunny, fun-packed day. We decided to go out for a walk and went across to the cemetery which is a very fine one, and well kept, and we strolled amidst the tombs.We laughed at some of the names and looked in horror at one of an old boy who is buried with his pet dog. We returned home after an hour and had a few glasses of beer and then went upstairs and climbed into bed for a couple of hours. A delightful giggle. _______. We later took a hot bath together. A tangled, soapy occasion.

A casserole and Yorkshire puddings. Revisited 'Brideshead Revisited'. I dislike the sloppiness of it all. The book is far better.

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Saturday April 23, 1983

 St George's Day

A quaint little chap wants the prime minister to declare this day a national holiday. Most other nations have a public holiday on their saints day. I agree. May Day with all it's lefty implications should be put aside and this day celebrated instead. 

The morning paper reveals the discovery of Hitler's diary. I am sceptical. Just imagine: 'Sept 1, 1939: Sleep in. Boiled eggs for breakfast. Invade Poland after lunch. Dine with Josef (Goebbels), and Martin (Bormann). Uneventful day.' I find it hard to believe that this evil little man would commit himself to paper. Lord Dacre of Glanton has laid his reputation on the line.

The premier barony of England has changed hands.The 27th Baroness de Ros has died aged 49 and has been succeeded by her son. Lord Mowbray can no longer call himself premier baron. No mention of the garter knights.

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Friday April 22, 1983

 Woke up to the sound of the pleasant thud of a book posted through the letter box. It's the Duchess of Devonshire's book 'Chatsworth'. No communication from a brewery. Made breakfast and switched on the TV. The morning news reveals that the Duke of Norfolk, Admiral Lord Lewin and Lord Richardson of Duntisbourne have been given the Garter. For eight years I have expected the Duke of Norfolk to be honoured. He is the Earl Marshal. Lewin saved the Falklands, and Richardson has been top man at the Bank of England since we came off the gold standard in 1917. No mention of the garters in the Daily Telegraph.

Ally goes off. It's the saddest part of the day when we part. I phoned Susie and asked her to look in the Leeds phone book to give me Geoff Hemingway's home address.. He lives at Fartown, Pudsey. Christopher was brandishing the telephone. The Menston house deal is coming off. I later baked bread and made a gallon of tea wine. Sarah phoned for no particular reason. Eileen is going in next week and they are considering setting her on part-time during the holidays. Played with my Paul Signac (painting) and studied Burke's peerage to work out the co-heirs to the barony of Butler.

Ally home at 5 and we ate simply - eggs and chips. Sat in a heap afterwards. An evening of quiet domesticity. A thunderstorm raged tonight and it was crashing like hell. I am sick of the looming general election. The revolting David Steel thinks that the choice of the all important election date should not be with the PM and that it should be fixed like in the USA. Election day, over the Atlantic, takes place on the first Monday after the sixth Tuesday after the last day of Lent. Stupid fool. If Steel ever became prime minister he would sing to a different tune. The SDP are acutely primative. (Roy) Jenkins is their 'PM designate'. Only the Queen can appoint a pm and it is most improper and constitutionally wrong to pre-suppose Her Majesty's decision, nay constitutional right. A political party can only select a leader.

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Thursday April 21, 1983

 Birthday of Queen Elizabeth II

The fifty seventh birthday of Her Majesty the Queen. Buried in bed beneath my quilt singing along to the National anthem on the radio. Has HM filled the vacancies in the order of the Garter? I expect to see the membership brought up to full strength on Saturday. I like to see good old fashioned aristocratic appointments. 

Biting cold. Went out and bought at Daily Telegraph. Nothing in it by way of scandal or possible stuff for tip money. Lord Buckinghamshire has snuffed it. I was thinking his peerage was doomed to extinction after the dead peer and his successor, but I see the new heir is a baronet with three sons on the Isle of Wight. Lord Brownlow is to sell Belton. Rumour has it that the Prince of Wales wants the place because the princess is reported to be dissatisfied with Highgrove. 

Baked bread and daubed at my Paul Signac copy. Watched an Audie Murphy western on TV. Was he the most decorated American soldier in the Second World War? I think so. 

Ally got off the bus in the company of that horrible tart who used to patronise the Staircase pub up the road. We ate fish pie and watched the news. The Waleses are in New Zealand and we saw them toasting the Queen at a banquet at Government House. Ally says this is such good training for Diana. 

I wrote to Geoff (Hemingway) and Kathleen. Geoff's was a letter of thanks for his assistance with my application forms, and the note to Kathleen was to say thank you for the camera. I never expected to receive such a gift. Carol J had to make do with a dictionary. 

Ally has taken to calling me 'Willie'. I cannot think why. We are in to nick names in a big way and have used them in varying degrees of 'sillyness' since our courtship blossomed in 1979.

We watched the 9 o'clock news together in the dark. An ageing US astronaut is to run for the US presidency in '84. I think Ronald Reagan will stand again. He may well be 93 but he looks great. Many people are capable of making important decisions in advanced age. Look at Lord Denning for instance. In royal news: the Duchess of Kent has had an operation for the removal of an ovarian cyst. Does this mean that HRH is no longer fertile? I am not up on the workings down under. Ally is reading out loud from the Daily Telegraph. She enjoys spotting misprints. We missed 'Soap' on Channel 4.

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Wednesday April 20, 1983

 A bright and sunny morning. Up at 7 and made Ally her egg. Switched on the TV and listened to Selina Scott. TV-am have sacked everyone. Took my daily stroll to the newsagents and returned home and washed all the windows. Mum phoned to say they are to call in on me today. They're doing Lynn and Sue this afternoon and dining later with John and Janette. _________. They arrived at 12 looking fit and well. Business hasn't been too good since Easter but they have a few bookings for Saturday because it's the Three Peaks Run. We had a few drinks together. Dad wants to buy my 'Oude Vinck at Lynden' oil painting and I smiled bashfully. Inspired by praise from Mum and Dad I took up a blank canvas and painted a snow scene copied from Paul Signac's 'Boulevard de Clichy, Paris'. Very successful. Ally was home at 5 and we had chicken curry, and felt hungry afterwards. ____. 'Dallas' was gripping. Sue Ellen found JR in bed with Holly and took to the bottle and crashed her car. What makes matters worse is that she had Lucy's lover Mick with her in the car at the time. Ate scones and jam. Bed at 9:20.

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Tuesday April 19, 1983

 Rain all day and an unwelcome chill. Ally went off into the grey and we watched each other until the green  bus carried her away. I took up my paint brush and daubed with my picture but stopped after two hours to let the thing dry. Oils can be messy. I sat afterwards reading 'The Three Musketeers' and drinking coffee. I ironed some sheets and pulled the carcas of yesterday's bird to bits and made a chick soup. Ally was home at 5:20 looking damp and we went straight out and to the Richard Dunn Sports Centre where we swam around for 45 minutes. I think we did 20 lengths of the pool but it's an odd shape with an island in the centre from which noisy children insist on diving and distrupting our calm. We climbed out feeling suitably exercised. Acheing limbs. Didn't get home until 8. Both cold and hungry. Chicken and dumpling stew. Watched  the fabulous 'Minder' with Cole and Waterman - a genius combination. Took to our beds after 10. Lay with our books. I am gripped with the excitement of D'Artagnan's quest for Anne of Austria's diamonds. The book is something which all eleven year olds have mastered and I feel guilty reading it now at the onset of my fortieth decade.

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Monday April 18, 1983

 The alarm sounded off at 6:54 and was too loud and it threw Ally into an Adolf Hitler mood and she lay seething in bed yelling naughty words at her long suffering husband who was downstairs preparing her breakfast. She eventually came down at 7:30 feeling better but was still dangerous. I went to clamour for a Daily Telegraph and the newsagent reported to me that sales of the YP have 'gone stone dead'. I wonder why? Ally went off looking like something that would be safer in a zoo and I was left alone for the day.

At 9:45 I went to the employment exchange and queued with the unemployed Bradford lads. Does anybody actually work in Bradford? I was handed a slip of paper commanding me to report again on May 16. I asked no questions and took a brisk walk back to Lidget Green where I decided to take up my oil painting. I played with a still life which I started in September 1981, and made a start on a copy of 'the Oude Vinck Restaurant in Lynden' by Max Liebermann (1847-1935), the only German impressionist of note. I am obsessed with the colour green. When I next looked at the clock it was 3pm and I rushed around baking bread and trussing a chicken. Ally was in at 5 in a much better mood. I chastised her for going out in such a mood. We watched Coronation Street. Mike Baldwin wants to open a discotheque in Rosamund Street and the Barlows are campaigning to oppose the scheme. The Barlows are so boring and miserable. Mavis and Victor are back from camping in the Lake District. Saw the royal tour on the news. Bed at 9:20.

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Sunday April 17, 1983

 2nd Sunday after Easter

Sunshine. We stayed in bed until 11. I was first to regain consciousness and crept away to make lashings of tea. We sat amidst the quilt talking about last night. I looked in my '73 diary. I first met Marita on Aug 25, 1973 when we went to Cinderella's. I spent £2.50 - an enormous sum a decade ago. We howled with laughter. Ally wallowed in her tub and I played a Michael Jackson LP so loud that he his dulcet tones reach up to the bathroom. At 2 we went out for a bus and made several good connections and arrived in Guiseley at 2:30. It was a toss up to see who we might visit first and decided upon Lynn & David.  We went to Thorpefields but found them in the middle of a furious argument about visiting Audrey and a DIY centre. We took Frances into the sitting room whilst they yelled away at each other on the stairs. It, the argument, was resolved, and they decided it was too late to visit Audrey and so we all went into the garden and sat around the garden shed like gnomes. Lynn is a fresh air fiend. Sue, Pete and Christopher arrived and it became a real family pow wow. Christopher chased the terrified Frances around the garden pushing her into the vegetable patch and pulling her hair. He is a terror. I took numerous photographs of the clan at play. Katie was reclining in her pram surounded by flapping white nappies on the washing line. The pram like a yacht in full sail coming into harbour. Like a scene from the 'Onedin Line'  - but bigger. David is a serious little soul. He took up a spade to dig the garden and Lynn suggested I joined him which I did for five minutes. Poor etiquette. Asking a guest to help dig is surely not on? Sue and Pete left and we went insidfe to escape the chill. Watched news of the royal tour on TV and joined the Bakers for Cornish pasties and beans. Frances, a little love, sat in her high chair digging at the dry food. Katie wheezed on the floor. Lynn says the poor thing has had a constant cold since she was born. Later David disappeared upstairs to draw and we had a couple of drinks with Lynn before returning home at 8. I was in short sleeves and felt 'parky'. Back at Clube St before 9. Bed at 10. Lynn leads a lonely life with David, who is increasingly buried in work. He's such a quiet little person too.

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