incoming mail – Page 3

Transport 3

Forgot to tell you of X’s embarrassment last week… We left bridge very late and very dark as usual, having parked the car in a different place to usual. X backed out and with a great flourish turned the car to go down the road – unfortunately he drove down a ditch instead! He got a couple of blokes to help him ‘rock’ it out – all they did was roll the 2^nd wheel into the ditch and car was stuck, almost over. Still more blokes turned up and eventually they managed to push car out of the ditch and to date nothing seems damaged – miraculously!

Apologies

[from a pre-schooler!] I am sorry for being so naughty on Friday. It was a mistake.

Sorry about the erratic typing. This is a new machine just delivered to us and I am trying to break it in a bit as it is very dodgy about the touch and reluctant to move. For a week it just sat and mocked us, as we undid the package and assembled it and found the space bar wouldn’t move. Being a hospital we then had to go through much fuss and bother to get the mechanic to come and fiddle with it. So now we have three typewriters of varying degrees of awfulness plus one that is really round the bend and is reserved for lending to the ward for patients trying to break themselves off some drug or another. But no electric one and my old fingers find it very hard work after a weekend’s intensive weeding!

X seems to be getting into New Age stuff! … She was also fascinated with some ‘art’ by a woman which very heavy ‘magical’ overtones and strange things happened to people who bought it.

I’m not going to read this through – or I’ll miss the post – guess when it doesn’t add up.

It’s not much good saying ‘Sorry I haven’t written for ages’ (tho’ I am) ‘cos it sounds kind of hollow. I do actually start lots of letters, both on paper and in my head! but that’s not a great deal of use as I don’t get around to actually sending them.

Apologies for appalling typing – writing’s worse!

Sorry this is so late – first I didn’t have envelope, then I bought one but couldn’t find your address. I’m also sorry to say the delicious honey we ordered was only available at Christmas, so I’ve ordered an alternative which should arrive within the fortnight – SORRY! I also got some of the photographs I took back and they’re AWFUL! If it’s a ‘good view’ the colour’s wrong e.g. white sky that should be blue! or vice versa. Even those of the kids are not good enough to send.

Temper

I trust your heart rate has settled – I usually feel het up when I speak off the top of my head voicing strong views – in my old age I usually find it safer to write them – and read again in the cold light of day!! I still find people v. difficult and keep much to myself.

So, at all times of the day and night the poor managers are rushing out to fight any fires as the Fire Service is really not up to it. They came to fight one that was surrounding us on three sides and her brother suggested what they should do and in a fit of pique because they were being ‘organised’ they did quite the opposite. In the course of which they backed one of the two fire trucks into the stone stairs and broke the ladders and pumps!!! They are really rather over-officious and very ready to assert their relatively new-found authority. Another night X went to fight a fire on one of his fields and the Chief Fire Officer was supervising as he put it which meant he was in a private car behind the first truck in mufti and with a woman!!! He also was parked in a private estate road in such a manner that X could not get his own fire cart through to the fire and would not move when asked. X is a colossal man of about 20 stone and 6 ft 5 and although charming when he wishes to be (I haven’t seen it fail on any woman yet) has a temper that has I believe got him into trouble in his younger days. However, he restrained himself from actually manhandling the CFO but gave him some good solid curses instead.

She now works on a telephone exchange and at a bible study discussing patience etc X asked her if she had many difficult people on the phone and what she did about them. Evidently one man had just recently been v. abusive, so she plugged him into ‘dial a prayer’. I’d have loved to see (or hear) his reaction!!

The whole trip went so much beyond our wildest hopes of success, my only regret being my clash with X, who I admire so much when I’m not with her!

World Wars I & II (2)

While I have been writing this the post came, and brought X’s annual letter to me. We were amused to see a reference to the Armistice day discussion – but very polite. She said you ‘retired from the argument with grace but entirely undefeated’!!

Thank you for your ALC. They seem to take longer and longer in the post. It’s almost as long as the war when I was in Egypt and letters went round the Cape taking about six or seven weeks. Then they introduced an air mail, which went somewhere across the middle of Africa by flying boat – I expect from Lagos to Lake Victoria and up the Nile – and that took a fortnight, and then they introduced another thing called an air graph, I think, where one wrote on a special sheet which was photographed and reproduced about one quarter size at the other end – and that for some reason only took five days – apart from which one could occasionally send a cable which took 24 hours – we did it once a week. You can imagine what a mess one’s correspondence got in with so many alternatives – little snippets of news were compressed into the quick forms, and then turned up, in extenso, about two months later. It was all very confusing.

Where is Stamford Brook? I can’t remember but suppose it’s miles away in Essex, perhaps. Not that there’s anything wrong with a lot of Essex -apart from having to come to Liverpool Street – once you get away from Dagenham and the other industrial messes along the Thames. I seem to remember some really nice country that I used to drive round in the first few weeks of the war, looking at searchlights (looking for them to begin with, since some of our sergeants weren’t all that clever with a map – though you could always tell when you had got the right place, because there was a telephone connection waiting for you on the nearest telephone pole!)

Now it is nearly news time which means more unpleasant moves from Bosnia, all too reminiscent of the late 1930s it seems to us, and meanwhile I must lay the table.

Siblings

… feeling absolutely exhausted and unenthused for several months. I got v. worried and trotted along to my doctor, had x blood tests done and the outcome was I ought to get more exercise and move away from my sister (she is a very dominating sort of person).

School memories

Funny you should remember X and her pink and mauve sweaters because when I think back to those days that’s what I remember her wearing – must have made a big impression! I remember X and her suits and that young one that came in our last year or so with the scruffy heels and how I remember her writing ‘Silence is Golden’ on the board and not really appreciating it then. Believe me with three children I certainly do now!!

He has settled wonderfully [at school] and is eating like a horse and working hard – and has also made friends with the other newest boys, so that is good. His first letter was all about playing marbles with his friend who lost his best one down a drain, so they held a funeral service over the drain which was quite an inspired idea!

In Musicianship we spend most of the time clapping hand rhythms!

The mock courts were quite funny. In our one, one of our lecturers was the accused (5 murders to his name) and he played the part v. well. We had exhibits 1-6 each being a trophy he’d taken away – head, hand etc. (made out of potato dipped in jam) except the last which was the thing he’d done it all with – bottle opener. He was sentenced, needless to say, to a lifetime of teaching German!

Shopping 2

I lost one of my stud gold earrings down the bath plug recently and a local sold me some for $9 which was so cheap, as another man said they would cost $76. I queried as to whether they really were 9 ct gold, as if not they could infect the ear. The man was quite hurt I should question his honesty, and said if they did ‘bring them back’. I have had a cauliflower ear which took ages to clear up so when it did I put my old gold one in it, and one of his in the other ear, whereupon that ear got infected so I did take them back. He didn’t seem too put out and gave me some that cost $2 more with a ticket on them stating 9 ct gold, so I now hope for the best.

X gone v. with it – went shopping on his own and came back with emerald green tight cords and a voluminous padded bum freezer like yours.

Significant other 7

X’s wife has upped and left him – taking the girls with her. She’s evidently into women’s revolution (and has put on 300 lbs in 3 years – I can’t believe she was right but even if she’s now 300 lbs it’s more than vast).

I think the last straw was his borrowing a large amount of money at high commission without telling her. Sadly he’s a born liar and I think always has been.

Isn’t it a hoot about X remarrying – I had a lovely long letter from her last week. I have met her new husband and he’s a dear – she says, ‘he’s 70, alas, but then I’m no chicken’! She’s terribly happy and her family delighted.

I really am glad for X he didn’t have to go on lingering like that – there’s still an empty space in the house tho’.

I gave X a small bottle of Aramis Eau de Cologne for Christmas. Very expensive but the best $12 I’ve spent or ages – it’s the most seductive fabulous pong – have you smelt it?

X has told her if she doesn’t go and ‘do’ the garden at their previous home, he’ll get someone to do it and send her the bill! He’s overseas at present I think.

I can’t say too often how important it is to avoid being vindictive – there are invariably 2 sides to every argument. You can try but there will be a lot of frayed bits – SO SAD.

stocking the larder/ self-sufficiency 4

What a productive night – we’ve frozen 1/2 the self-seeded crop of broad beans, ‘done’ the ginger beer, and now I’m writing to you while he cleans the shoes – if we carry on like this we might even reach the elusive goal of ORGANISATION!!!

Did I tell you about the sheep with a head at both ends? The maternity wing of the farm was next door again for a while and one day I saw the head of a lamb arrive. Nothing else happened and the ewe went on grazing in-between pawing the ground a bit, so I phoned the farmer who came down with his dog and crook and chased the poor thing round and round with the lamb twitching its ears and apparently quite interested. Eventually he caught a leg and the ewe dragged him flat on his back, quite some way, (he’s a tidy weight and rising 70) but he couldn’t get it out, its leg was caught. Then his wife drove up the drive immaculate in white and he expected her to join in the tussle as her hand was smaller. She v. reasonably declined until she’d changed, so he drove the poor thing up to the house, where she managed to get it out just when they’d decided they’d have to kill the ewe, so all was well.

Say thank you nicely

I should have written back much sooner to thank you for your amazingly kind offering but I was so taken aback I haven’t been sure what to say!… I find this so hard because I don’t want to deny you pleasure of giving but I really would feel bad about accepting such a generous gift when we’re not desperate. I hope you understand and aren’t offended. I really appreciate it.

Then we went to X for more pressies and a lovely Christmas dinner… I made the mistake of forgetting to ring and thank her – despite thinking of it several times at inconvenient or impractical moments – and she rang saying she hadn’t slept for worrying she’d done something to upset us! Oh dear – I felt so guilty.

Disaster! In Feb. I wrote an answer to a Christmas card from the old lady with our surname whom we met. Promptly by return I had a letter with various photos of her family, the cathedral and a plate painted with the family arms. I shoved it in my writing case and forgot all about it – until last week when I had a very distant little note, more in sorrow than anger, supposing that since I ‘hadn’t bothered’ to answer it, she had ‘presumed too much’. Oh dear – we haven’t actually established any kinship, any more than with the one who lives down the road, but I felt very guilty, and a large portion of humble pie has been posted this morning!

I’ve cheated, I’ve cheated, I’ve cheated! Your exciting parcels arrived today and having seen the label – for the first time ever I just couldn’t resist opening my birthday present – I know I shouldn’t have. (‘To err is human but isn’t it divine’!) It’s a gorgeous ‘pack’ and I’ve left everything I’d planned to play with it all day – with X popping in at intervals asking humbly if he could have a cuppa or dinner early cos of choir. Thank you very much.

Thamk-you formy lovely PResent. It is very usefulto keepmy bits in I hAd A nice Birthday PARty 8 children came. It is very Hot here. 33 c to day. We Have Twoswims. A day aT SCHool to keep cool. I can swim A wHole lengtH of the pool. I Have Swollen glAnds In myneck but no sore throat I have a croaky voice and some medcine to make it better. Our doctor. and Na-rse people to play with. I have draw you a buHergly with My super. inks. Hope you are well. Lots oF love