Filed words

Emigration/moving 3

Harare doesn’t sound much fun. X has just come back from France and like so many other English is thinking in terms of buying a house over there. Y still to-ing and fro-ing the world and going to Mongolia for 10 days in March – after that he has to go back to Jo’burg which he doesn’t enjoy. I do wish you would all stay in England – perhaps you will?

[They] were much as I expected – pleasant and homely – lived for 30 years in X and mean to stay there – I’m sometimes quite jealous of people with roots, I never seemed to grow any.

Royalty

Did you hear Prince Philip’s opening remark on arrival by air – ‘What a scruffy little airport this is – you’ve not done much in the last 5 years’! However, it’s obviously had effect and everybody is blaming everybody for not getting on with it.

Well, the highlight of the week was, of course, the Queen’s visit. No, I didn’t join the throng and stand 2 1/2 hours for a ‘close-up’. I was about 7 years old when the last Royal Visit took place but I remember it VERY well. My sister did a lovely scrap book of articles and pictures from magazines and papers… Although the rain was most welcome it could have waited 2 days. We had floods!!

We have been having a good nostalgic wallow this week via the TV coverage of your Jubilee. We enjoyed seeing the procession to St. Paul’s and back from Guildhall: and the Lord Mayor’s toast and the Queen’s reply at Guildhall I found moving – apart from admiring the technical excellence of both the speech-making and the TV. To be able to get near close-ups from the full length of the Guildhall calls for a pretty fantastic standard in the manufacture of this lenses for the cameras – and I can’t think how they manage to keep the cameras steady enough. Last night they showed us the bonfire lighting from Windsor and we enjoyed that too – the Queen looked so delighted with the whole proceedings.

Making money 2

Perhaps if they manage to pay off the present bills for the alterations, they’ll try harder not to run them up again. It’d be so much easier to pay it for them, but I fear they’ll only learn the hard way.

I’ve just got a job! It’s waitressing two evenings a week from 6 p.m. to close down about 11 or 12 p.m. It’s not as simple as I’d imagined. Each waitress has between 4 and 7 tables. And we have to do the wine and be able to recommend good ones. Then with the serving the waitresses have do all the garnishing of entrees, cocktails, soups, sweets, fish, meat, side salads etc. Which means knowing which of about 15 unlabelled sauces to put on what and/or whether to put lemon, toast, cream, parsley butter etc. on them! The outfit we wear is blue and white gingham skirts about 18” long! and voluminous short sleeved blouses with a broad black belt, regulation thick pants, lots of leg (regulation pantyhose). I’ll have to smile lots and wiggle my bottom (according to friendly advice from smooth Greek manager and mother-in-law) to get lots of tips!

Our landlord and family are incredible people. He’s a freezing worker and has 4 houses and is building a new one in a posh area – ‘but we’re not toffee-nosed, you know’ says she.

I don’t think I wrote last year, I was feeling really down. The family in the flat would not pay proper rent nor move out! I had to get X to get them out, so they did not pay rent for the last 4 months at all!

Outings 5

We were all supposed to tell a joke – horrors – I’d picked on one I gave X as I didn’t go:

The Thunder God went for a ride upon his favourite filly.

‘I’m Thor,’ he cried.

The horse replied, ‘You forgot your thaddle, thilly!’

He was compere-ing the concert and his wife sang 3 songs. He’s always cracked her up and she does teach singing but I had previously only heard her in the choir and didn’t like her fruity and melodramatic mezzo-soprano at all. However it wasn’t too difficult when we met her afterwards since we only had to say ‘At last we’ve heard you’ as though it was the climax of years of anticipation.

There was an excellent film on Tasmania too, which interested me as the crowd we went round with pre-war came mainly from there – it’s far bigger than I’d imagined.

Music/theatre/art 3

We went a week or two ago to a most disappointing exhibition of photographs in the National Academy. It would really be difficult to convey how bad it was. Many of the exhibits were only about 5”x4” or postcard size on rather tatty mounts and many with an apparently perverse desire to be disenchanting. One of the more memorable large pictures consisted of the back view of a lady squatting on her heels and bending forward – taken from the level of said heels so that the general impression was of a rather blemished mushroom. By contrast we went to a rival exhibition mounted by a man who resigned in protest from the selection committee of the Nat. Gall. show. He had written around and got together about 300 superb exhibits – including a large number rejected from the Nat. Gall. which were emphasised by large red stickers! … Almost all worth looking at including what I think was the newspaper picture of the year – a little crippled boy on crutches and a clown laughing at each other – the boy with his hand over his mouth as though he wasn’t quite sure that it was polite to laugh at a clown.

I didn’t – or won’t be – taking part in the ‘drama’ – the first time I opened my mouth I was told it sounded like a stock report – then remarks were made about the people he’d wanted couldn’t do it and the line he couldn’t teach an OAP new tricks!

Spelling 2

This holiday I will be going to my firends Tracys. From santa I got a grate big torch which will be very useful. and mummy and Daddy gave me a digital waitch.

thank-you for the lovly look and learn binder its very isefull and now wev got are nearly The hole set in one look and learn binder in one Book I’ve got lots of other yummy presents but I think your one is one of the best. Thank you very much on the families behalf. We all enjoyed seeing that board new look and learn folder. We’ve just been to the G.S and it was realy good because it was the pirates of pensants: Im afraid those have to be my last words Good-buy.

Thankyou very much for the cute little coke money box it really usefull seeing that I have just been broken getting out all the money so I can put it in the bank the dominoes a spewcialy good too the very nice presents. Iam just going tyoo sea this new film raiders of the losty ark it sounds exciting now its holidays Iam being realy lucky becase my freind has just invited me to go too on the ferrie with them and go to the Sounds. I have just got this realy cool gun man from father christmas it fires rubber band and boy is it fast. I also got the game conect four have you heard of it if you havent it realy cool and fun and I had bee wanting for a realy long time have a vere happy new year your sincearly love X

Also children were alowed to be in the Mikado (a play by Gilbert and Sulivan) this year so I orditioned and got in seeings mummy and daddy were in it to and I’ve had a wonderful time hope you’r having one too.

thank you for The Gint Blowing Boble! I mean Bubbel Fing and the Sliy putty and clouring book I can slretch the putty 20 ins. We have deen to star treck and it was very exciting

He wrote a letter about a model aeroplane kit that had somehow got warped, it was so full of exuberance: ‘Yoy shud hav seen it, its wins wos all wigly’

Loneliness

Anyway, the two weeks was a welcome break with different things to do in comparison with just staying home most of the time. I can understand how non-working housewives go barmy – sometimes I have to into the city and walk around just to feel people around me. It is one of the worse things about being unemployed.

I hope she will be able to face her future life without him – it has to go on, but it’s never the same again. At least she has family near her, which is something. It’s awful having no one to chat to – that’s what I have never got used to.

It was sad to hear of X’s eventual death although I’m sure for her it’s a pleasant release. It must be hard for X being the last remaining. A very lonely feeling I should think.

I found I am alone at home in the flat too much, although I don’t mind being alone, but I’m getting lazier! I seem to have made a lot of mistakes in my life and I’m not actually good at making friends.

The postman will think I’m a desolate body the way I’m out waiting for him daily, as soon as I hear his whistle in the distance. (They whistle as they leave mail at the gate, such a good idea, saves endless trips to have a look in the box).

Nuisances of life 7

I thought it was exceedingly unjust: the only person there who didn’t drink because he was driving home had his car crashed into the next morning – makes you sick doesn’t it.

We have been having an unadulterated diet of BSE and CJD on the radio, at every time we hear the news (and how often we do seem to hear the same items during the day). I hope that it doesn’t worry you too much. I must say I have been surprised how many mad cows there are. … Our government here seems to vary in their opinions from day to day, first one day banning all semen from Britain, and then issuing statements that we can’t possibly have any trouble because we have never had a case of BSE, and then the next day demanding that supermarkets remove from their shelves all products which contain any beef product from UK, and so on… It’s a gloomy subject to discuss, anyway, especially when I know so little about it, really!

I had forgotten that we had such heavy rain as to be separately memorable on the day we went to lunch with X, who I agree behaved very badly that day. I think he must have had a couple of quick ones while waiting for us, or something. Anyway, nil nisi bonum… he died a couple of years or so ago.

Last Sunday we had the Annual meeting and this week another issue of the monthly mag is due to the printer (and hasn’t been started at lunchtime Wednesday) so there is still no peace for the wicked! And at the moment my attention is slightly divided because I’m illegally taping bits of the Messiah from some records which are due back to the library with a horrifying penalty if they are kept overtime… PS The tape ran out just before the last chorus!

You’ll never believe what our batty son-in-law has done now, pulling a nail out of the wall with a hammer it came away suddenly and he’s concussed himself; evidently he wasn’t too bad the next day but they went to a party in the evening and ‘had a few drinks’ and the next day he doctor sent him off to have x-rays: all clear there but he had to stay in bed two days. Some mothers do have ‘em!

She got home the day before and found a police car outside, evidently someone had broken into the [student] house and pulled al the drawers out and helped himself to a glass of wine and gone off without anything. I hope they don’t miss things later. The police were very impressed with all their chains on doors and things but made a lovely parting remark which didn’t sink in until after they’d left – one of them said looking at their rather odd collection of house plants – ‘you can get out the rest of your pot plants when we’ve gone’!!

Keeping fit 2

I stopped doing yoga for a while there in the summer, but I started it again just recently. My body really appreciates this. Apart from anything else, I really find my body needs exercise in the winter, because all during the rest of the year I am outside about 90% of the time, and I really feel sedentary when I have to stay inside during the winter so much. I work away at the meditation. X said once, ‘It’s so hard to stop the barrel of chattering monkey inside my head.’ My sentiments precisely!

X went jogging with the dog before breakfast (believe it or not Y and the children have started too, all on Y’s idea after a big ad pushing the benefits).

For the umpteenth time this year he’s home – this time believe it or not because he’s tired and can’t stop sleeping. He slept 19 hours a day for 5 days and was much better for the weekend! and borrowed the car to go and see a house with 1.5 acres miles away on Monday – and now Wednesday is still in bed as he has to go and see the Dr. today to find out the results of all the blood tests he had last week.

Have I written since we went bowling in the hall? Apart from one 17 year old boy who comes with his father I was the youngest. One woman – about 4’ nothing – was 80 and frightfully good – she plays 3 times a week!

My golf (my 4^th round in 5 years) was the expected disaster – 6 holes in 39! The first hole went okay. We bypassed the 2^nd at the suggestion of the people in front, who obviously feared for their life (quite unjustified as I seldom manage to raise the ball above ankle level). The 3^rd and 4^th holes followed my usual pattern of 2 to the green and 5 more to putt. On the 5^th I struck 2 triumphant blows to get to the green before I found myself suddenly surrounded by whizzing balls and irate golfers – I was approaching the wrong green at 90 degrees to the fairway! I beat a hasty retreat to the 7^th hole and completed the next 3 with more speed than skill, anxious to keep well ahead of the vengeance of the indignant ruffled golfers behind me.

Grandchildren 2

I’m having X – I think I’ll be flattened at the end – he’s at the all-go stage – quite adorable tho’ – just like Harpo Marx!

Last week was mostly devoted to maintaining life and sanity through a five day visit by X – well, perhaps that’s overstating the case a bit – but he is a very loud little boy – though equable: his ‘OK’ when bidden not to do something is reason itself and nothing to do with the fact that he will be back doing whatever it was 15 seconds after your back is turned.

We did eventually get an enormous letter from X saying (outlined in three colours) how angry she had been feeling about some remarks Y had made way back last October.

X has been in to see me twice – he’s cut his hair 2” long and had it dyed bright orange – it’s different!

The boys had been warned not to waken me, and their mother heard one get up at 6.30 a.m. so she investigated and found X sitting by the door watching me. About 7 I heard them and kept quiet and hoped they might go away; all went quiet so I opened my eyes and found all 3 of them about 2 feet away watching me!!

X is reported to have another boyfriend – about whom her father did not sound altogether excited on the phone. We only hope that she is not sleeping with them all but don’t suppose we are going to find out.

Our visit to the circus went off well. I only hope they don’t try some of the balancing tricks; they’ve already climbed a tree with the rope I gave them and then tried to hack it down with X’s chopper whilst up the tree!

They were there too and X, with another enormous bruise on her forehead, which has at least produced one new word in her vocabulary: ‘door’, which she apparently ran into.