Filed words

Gardening 8

Here, summer is on its way, so one hour in the garden is very welcomed; the runner beans are pointing the right way; the red currants are getting bigger, and my favourite lily of the valley is divine.

The wheely bin cost me about $150 for a year’s hire, so it is worth trying to fill it each week. At the moment we are doing well as the bush with red berries has been getting obstreperous and last week I chopped it all back to the height of the fence which not only filled the bin but left enough over to do it again this week.

I said nothing was happening here but I’ve had 2 pink blooming trees in my long view and a very bright rhododendron and a large 20’-30’ mauve magnolia outside my sitting room window and I’ve put lots of plants in my new bed and far too many in another, I now know what a ‘riot of colour’ means. They’re all 3 times as large as I expected. I bought a plant of mauve chrysanthemums to replace the cyclamen that’s lasted for months – and cheaper than buying a bunch of spring flowers. Mine aren’t pickable sorts – apart from the daffodils and if I can count them there aren’t enough to pick!!

We attacked the garden. We uprooted about half the waist-high weeds and planted carrots, broccoli, potatoes and pumpkin beside the rhubarb and silverbeet we found so now we’re hoping for selective showers – to water the vegetables but not the weeds or grass!

The half row of runner beans are wonderful – I have had them every night for nearly a month! and put down enough for 5 days in the df and had some broccoli I’d grown, which was revolting!!

Earwigging

I thoroughly upset X in the middle of the evening. Actually I was talking to Y and uncharitably commenting on the bride’s dress as a bit inappropriate in the circumstances, when X [mother of the bridegroom] came up in time to hear the final part, which she took grave objection to, and found she said ‘very hurtful’. I couldn’t for the life of me see why she should be hurt, but attempts at apology were rejected, and the next day she was to begin with still cutting me dead.

An 8 year old was trying to explain, with great forbearance, to his little sister how 8 pennies were 8 pennies whether they were stretched out or not. The last word came from a small-voiced little sister ‘I’m tired of these pennies’!

House repairs & housekeeping 7

I helped her cover two divans, two full length bolsters, one made up of all her little old scatter cushions wrapped in an eiderdown, and one from an old Dunlopillow mattress, complete with ends made of tinlids covered with load of old nylons and then the same material to each end, looked very professional! Plus upholstering a small armchair and the piano stool, a door sausage, and washing and recovering some of the remaining scatter cushions.

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).