Thursday May 26, 1983

Ally: spectacular

 Ally fought off the vomit for the day and off we went by bus and train to Tadcaster and Samuel Smith's brewery. We waited for ages in a clammy waiting room and were seen by a 17 year-old Mr O'Brien, an area manager. We seemed to please him, but it's hard to tell, and he sent us off to the pub until 3 when we returned to see another area manager who asked us to go away and not take up any offers from other breweries. Our ordeal was over. We have to go back and see a Mr Tyne, the managed house director. In the pub next to the brewery the landlord there says we've cracked it, but we refuse to enthuse. We have witnessed Mum and Dad build up hopes only to see them dashed. Ally was a brick and must have felt awful, but she didn't show it. She looked spectacular in a white jacket (bought on Tuesday) and the blue dress she bought for Dave Reed's nuptials last August. A hot and slow journey home from Tadcaster and we fell through the door sweaty and wilting at 7pm. Ally took to her bed and I had fish and chips and watched the FA Cup replay. Manchester United beat Brighton 4-0. Watched the election stuff and retired to bed feeling confident that Sam Smith's will make us an offer. Can we accept knowing what we now know?

Ally: May 26th

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Wednesday May, 25, 1983

 Ally's sick worsens. She can keep nothing down and is a wreck. I feel quite helpless and can only stand by and she grovels around in the bathroom. I have never known Ally to be off her food and my appetite has come out in sympathy. She stayed upstairs for much of the day. Mum phoned to discuss Dad's 50th birthday party in January. I was gripped with excitement. If only they knew of the little bundle we will be presenting them with at Epiphany. Mum chatted for half an hour and was in good spirits. They had a good week at Horton and wished us the best of luck for tomorrow. Whilst we talked Ally was being sick upstairs and there I was saying 'Oh yes, Ally is very well'. Throbbing headache continues. Most odd. I suppose it's the pressure. A night tossing and turning like some guilt ridden character in Shakespeare.

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Tuesday May 24, 1983

Ally: Thatcherish

 Ally still very sick and horrid. I pace silently around the house. I went out to the shops to buy a newspaper and called at the doctor to collect a self certification form only to find the place locked and bolted. One could be dying. A drab day. 

The general election news is getting me down. It's a drawn conclusion that Mrs Thatcher will be returned to power and so all this fuss seems futile. Mrs Thatcher will be the longest serving prime minister this century. 

Sarah phoned and I had a chat with her and Eileen. It feels so good not having to go into the office.

I'm in no mood to write. Throbbing headache. Warm afternoon. Ally and I into town where she bought a white jacket costing £16. Smart. Very Thatcherish. The vomit held off and she wasn't really with it.

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Monday May 23, 1983

 Ally stayed at home today. I phoned Patricia and told her she wouldn't be in. We have a letter from Tetley's also asking us to attend an interview on Thursday. I phoned a Mr Drake and altered the appointment to Tuesday May 31. Ally stayed in bed until after 11.

(Gynaecological deletion)

It's odd that Bessie hasn't contacted us since Saturday. I know they were tied up at Windermere, but have since returned to Winchester, and I expected some contact this evening. Ally is their only daughter after all. Such odd behaviour. These Dixons are a cool lot.

We watched the general election stuff on the TV and Ally returned to bed after the nine o'clock news. The Queen has gone to Sweden. The Waleses are going to Canada from June 14 to July 1, and will be away for Prince William's birthday. He's too young to know.

I watched a Raquel Welch film and joined Ally at 11:20. I was far from sleepy and passed a restless night listening to Ally grinding her teeth. She does this often.

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Sunday May 22, 1983

 Whit Sunday

Puzzling about Auntie Hilda's birthday card to Ally. The wording on the front .... 'Just Wait ... Worry settles nothing ...Just Wait for things to mend ...Fret not over problems ... Life solves them in the end'. It's not the sort of thing she'd do in fun. Only Dave L would do something like that, but he seems to have stopped.

We didn't get up until after 10. Ally feeling sick and so I gave her biscuits and milk. A glass of milk first thing on a morning prevents morning sickness, so says Miriam Stoppard. We had scrambled eggs and toast afterwards.

At 4:30 Lynn, Dave and the girls were here quite unsuspecting. Frances, in pink trousers and woolly cardigan was in a naughty mood and was smacked. Katie, fat and red, is a miniature of Lynn. They gave Ally a Hessian waistcoat. She didn't move until bedtime. Watched a JB Priestley play and read Brideshead.

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Saturday May 21, 1983

 Alison Mary's 25th anniversary today. A peaceful, happy and contented day. Ally opened her presents and birthday cards in bed. Mum has sent her a fiver and Bessie £10. John and Janette had left her a box of chocolates, and I handed over my little bundle of gifts. She especially liked the baby book and sat reading about diet in pregnancy and morning sickness, &c. We work out on a chart that the baby is due at Epiphany as we surmised. Mum and Dad phoned with a singing telegram, and so did Lynn and Frances later. Lynn says Frances has been singing 'happy birthday to you' all day.

We had eggs and bacon and went into town at 12:30 where we went, unashamedly, into Mothercare to inspect cots and prams. To the Berni Inn at 2 for rump steak and all for £11.88 - very reasonable. We then went to the market and returned home at 4:30. Ally was done in and took to her bed for a couple of hours. I sat reading about babies. I intend to become a very good amateur gynaecologist. The evening brightened up and I sat quite alone outside admiring Miss Whincup's geraniums. She had me over to mend the flex on her kettle yesterday afternoon, and I did it too. Ally was back downstairs at 8 and we had coffee. She's had a quiet birthday but a joyful one. It's the first such anniversary we haven't celebrated with an orgy since she moved back to Yorkshire four years ago.

Watched 'Dynasty', and Ally went back to bed with profuse apologies. I watched a dismal film and went up at 1. (Bessie phoned at 11pm from Windermere, where they are staying with Barbara and Frank Makin, and I roused Ally to speak to her. They were in a jolly mood. Ally told her Mum our news and they were delighted. Frank sounded thrilled. Squeals of delight down the phone.

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Friday May 20, 1983

 Up at 6:44. Ally has back ache and sits with a poached egg looking pained. What are we going to do about bloody pubs? We have an interview with Sam Smiths at Tadcaster next Thursday. I phoned them to confirm we can attend and contacted a few estate agents for leaflets for small shops in the N Yorks area. We shall have to see.

Sue and Pete came at 5:30 with Christopher - a little peril who insisted on demolishing the bookcase. Sue has had a perm and looks well. We itch to say something but don't. Drank lager and wine. They left at 8. On arriving home Sue phoned to say John Sumpton was killed on his motorbike at the end of West End Terrace this evening. Peter had been out with him and the usual Thursday mob last night. I put the phone down and burst into tears. I knew him quite well too, but hadn't seen him since September last.

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Thursday May 19, 1983

Dexy's Midnight Runners

 A glorious, historic day of joy. We had breakfast attempting to think pessimistically so to lessen the disappointment. I spent a fretful morning chewing my finger nails and pacing the room. Steve O'Connor sends a man to do the pointing. He looks like someone who has escaped from Strangeways. Ally came in at 12 and immediately phoned the doctor before taking off her coat. The waiting seemed an eternity. I stood in the kitchen cringeing, but what a delight to hear that her urine sample is positive and Ally is well and truly pregnant. We fell onto the settee in a state of shock. Hard to believe. Ally went back to the AHA and told Patricia and Derek (who says 'this is a very special time'). I snatched up my cheque book and marched into Bradford smiling at old ladies, patting dogs, and bouncing with glee. I suppose they all thought that I am perhaps a prospective parliamentary candidate. I bought Ally a large glossy baby book for £7.95 in WH Smith's and the Dexy's Midnight Runners LP. I tore round town on a cloud. I wanted to scream my news from the rooftops. I came home on the bus and wrapped her presents in gay, floral paper, and deposited them atop the wardrobe. But first I played the Dexy's LP to ensure it was in pristine condition. I posted a birthday card to Isobel Clara Smith, who is one on Saturday, and sent invitations to Jim, Margaret, Hilda and Tony for our general election supper. Ally came in at 5:10 still stunned and we ate a large fish pie swamped in cheese sauce. We wanted to share our news. Should we phone Bessie? No, we resisted. She later sat with her feet up and with a cup of cocoa complaining about the noise made by Top of the Pops. 

We went to bed at 9:30.

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Wednesday May 18, 1983

 Had a good nights sleep and woke up feeling better. But the mornings are always better. 

Ally feeling faint. ___________. Bessie has posted an early birthday card which I have hid on top of the wardrobe. It's adressed to Mrs M Dixon. She is a case. We have received an application form from Bass. We cannot concentrate on breweries at the moment. If Ally is pregnant then I suspect we will have to do something completely different because no brewery would employ a woman heavy with child. 

Susan phoned. The Nasons will be calling upon us on Friday with Ally's birthday present. It's awful that we haven't seen them since that day last month when we sat in the garden at Thorpefields with them. 

Tonight Ally is home looking bushed again to find John and Janette here. They walked in at about 2. The boy had taken her out to lunch and they thought they would come over and entertain me.  They were not fiery or brutal and were very pleasant together. Janet (who soiled John's sheets and disappeared with them) is selling her flat and John would like to break through and add it to his. He has raised the floor giving it a disco effect. They left and we had a curry. Ally irritable and she aches everywhere. Bessie phoned. We said nothing of our forthcoming news. Andrew takes his driving test on Friday. To our beds after the nine o'clock news. I read Brideshead Revisited. The TV series stuck very much to the book.

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Tuesday May 17, 1983

 Feel hot and 'heady'. My cold worsens. I got out of bed and stood puffing and panting in the bathroom. My face is awful. I look 40. Ally feeling bilious. What a mess. She went off to the AHA looking like a rose. I am sure she is pregnant because she looks so good. I sat with a runny nose reading Brideshead Revisited. I then made some scones and Ally came in at 12 to eat them, along with bananas on toast. Like feeding time at the zoo. We then walked to the surgery on Beckside Road and she disappeared inside. I bought a loaf of bread and sat on the wall. After half an hour Ally came out. Dr Duck thinks she is pregnant but that it cannot be confirmed until the results of her urine sample come back on Thursday. You would really think that in this day and age a doctor might be able to carry out this test 'while you wait'. After all, it is 1983 the year of the Space Shuttle and the high speed train, Roy Jenkins and the £1 coin. Ally says Dr Duck is 'sweet' and seemed embarrassed. She offered Ally her congratulations and told her she holds an anti-natal class at Paternoster Lane every Thursday. We walked home hand-in-hand but refusing to enthuse. It wouldn't do to go wild with celebrations only to have a negative result the day after tomorrow.

I felt rotten and went to bed with Evelyn Waugh, paracetamols and a hot water bottle. I dropped off (to sleep) and only woke when Ally was unlocking the door three hours later. She made a chicken stew, but felt done in. The electioneering on the nine o'clock news drove her to bed. Michael Foot has borrowed Jim Callaghan's spectacles for the campaign, or so it would seem. I lasted until about 11 watching part 2 of an epic on the American Civil War. Gregory Peck was Abraham Lincoln. 

Steve Sanderson is 25 today. We have heard nothing much from Pudsey recently and have missed two birthdays. A hot night.

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Monday May 16, 1983

 Ally felt sick and was uncomfortable all day. I spent the morning doing the washing and hanging it out in the sun. All the old girls on the street are doing the same. Ally came home at 12:30 feeling nauseous and phone the doctor and made an appointment for tomorrow, with Dr Duck, at 12:50. She will go armed with a urine sample. John and his friend Ray called in. They're on the look out for a job after being laid off. He's been earning £3.25 an hour. At the YP I'm sure I only earned about 60p. I gave them a few beers and they went off at about 2. A bashful house husband I ironed for several hours with the curtains closed and then it started to rain and I was amongst the tulips taking in the washing. I roasted a chicken and fed my wilting wife at 6pm. She has been so very uncomfortable all day. She feels hungry then has no appetite once she starts to eat. Queer. 

News: Michael Foot says that if he is victorious he will have everyone back to work by Christmas.

Ally was in bed at 8:30 and I took a hot bath, watched a film, and climbed in to bed at 11:10. 

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