My secret diary 1972 August (iii) Bored, bored, new shoes and a party

Aug 22 (Tue)
What an absolutely exciting, action-packed sensational day!! (I must say) Didn't see Julie, didn't see anyone 'cept family. Please, please let it change before the end of the hols. I want a boyfriend! Wonder what's happened with Ju and them lads? God, I've done nothing today. Norma arrived home safely last night about 10 o'clock. Her friend Stella slept.

Aug 23
Got on quite well with Becky this morning. Made her a melon-seed necklace!! Found out that her sister Cathy (remember her) doesn't like Don McLean.Ah well, we can't all have good taste I suppose. Saw Ju this afternoon. I bought some new school shoes. They're gorgeous. I'm hoping I'm allowed to wear them for school though. God, we were so bored again in town!!!
NB new shoes are black, slightly patent, one bar across, wooden heels. V. nice.

Aug 24
Did hardly anything 'cept tidy up for mum in morning. In afternoon went to Ju's wearing new shoes. We made tea for Kathy, Richard, Catherine and Alison Burns. Then we all went to the pictures to see Alice in Wonderland - which is pretty nice. Slept at Julie's. Only one trouble - I've promised Norma I'll see it with her.

Aug 25 (Fri)
Went to our house after breakfast then went selling flags for mentally handicapped children. It was fun really. Some people were nice but it upset me when stupid women went past ignoring me or pretending they haven't heard. It really does upset me. Some lads were nice though. Made £4.67. Went with Norma to Alice in Wonderland. Bit boring second time round. Some lads tried to pick us up.

Aug 26
Oh no, Rebecca here again!! Decided that I'll have to start saving hard for Norma's birthday present. Mum's paid me for odd jobs - I tidied all the kitchen out. Also I cleaned dad's car so he's giving me extra for that. Horrible stomach ache. Got postcard off Evelyn. Sandra, Audrey, Fred and Baby visited us. Sandra's had hair cut. Nice Horrid old man in park.
NB XX Olympics Munich started today. The munich Stadium is terrific*.

Aug 27
Oh what's wrong with me? All the time at the slightest thing I feel like crying. 3 times today I've cried (twice at TV). Suppose 'cos I'm on my period. God, I'm crying again now! I hate Tampax. We were supposed to take Sandra to baths tomorrow but I can't go.

Aug 28
Norma took Sandra swimming but I didn't mind. Sandra's brave in the water now. After dinner went to town with Ju, then on to Ju's Auntie Anne's. Katrina's first birthday. (Aww) Me and Ju organised food etc. Didn't get home until 11.30. Frightened about burglars at Ju's dad's works.

Aug 29 (Tue)
Would you believe I got up at 7.30 this morning? Well I did, to go to the dentist's in Manchester for 9.15am. I went by myself (I'm a big girl now). I didn't get lost or anything like that. Mr Aron says I've got to have some more teeth out. I've got to make an appointment with Cooper on Friday. I'm sick! Finished chair for Sandra nearly. Also did quite a lot of dress. I've finished one side. Got wrapping paper.

Aug 30 (Wed)
Oh! When life gets this boring I honestly wonder why I bother staying alive! Saw Ju this afternoon in town. Dead bored. Both of us were. I bought some wrapping paper for bedroom wall (exciting). I love my bedroom. It is me. Everything I like.Magic Roundabout, Norma, Chemistry, Robert Redford, Peanuts, Beatles, Bob Dylan, memories, all part of me.

Aug 31
Went to Ju's for dinner. Good Grief!! We got the shock of our lives! Evelyn phoned and asked us if we wanted to go to a party. Yes - US - the girls who lead such incredibly boring lives! Well, we were terrified of going but we went. Evelyn's fella, David. There were 6 girls and 7 lads, all fairly okay - you know. It was a bit boring really, cos no-one spoke. I got a tiny bit drunk.

Commentary
*Aug 26 - I wrote a longer note on a separate piece of paper tucked into my diary. These were the Olympics that ended up with the kidnapping and killing of 10 people. It seems unthinkable. It was unthinkable. It is.

My secret diary 1972 August (ii)

Aug 10th (Thur)
Got up early. Vacuumed, crocheted. Brushed dog etc. Phoned Ju. After dinner went into town with Julie. We were both bored stiff. Got back home and phoned CL. Arranged to go swimming and go to Cats Whiskers on Sunday. Looking forward to it. Strange thing happened. Walked Ju to bus-stop. Coming back a lad stopped to stroke Lady. I feel a bit guilty 'cos it appeared that I pulled her away from him - I didn't. He was quite nice.
Aug 11th
Did nothing hardly in the morning except for reading old 'Jackie's and vacuuming. After dinner me, Ju, C and R went swimming at Royton. Pretty good, nothing exceptional (except for that last word!). R has got a gorgeous tan - I'm dead jealous. It's great to have seen them again though! Still no word from Oxfam. Arranged to all go and sleep at Julie's on Sunday!!!
Aug 12th
Boring day. Done nothing except went to Asda with mum and dad in the morning - hated it. Had bath, helped dad wash car - isn't it all exciting? I'm looking forward to going to Ju's and the Cats Whiskers tomorrow, but I'm also feeling a wee bit scared. Lady was poorly yesterday - diahrea (can't spell it) but she's better today.
Aug 13th Sun
Went to Ju's about 6.30pm (before, had a visit, exciting (!) from Auntie May and family). C and R arrived at about 7pm. They've decided not to sleep though. I'm sick - I wanted them to! It would have been fun. We went to the Cats Whiskers. It's okay, not bad. Nothing to rave about though. Didn't see any nice looking lads or anything. OK Day.
Aug 14th (Mon)
Spent most of day doing 2 main things. 1) trying to pack Ju's mum off to Blackpool (man reason why I'm sleeping at Ju's) and 2) being bored! Eventually we decided to be creative and started making a picture of a gigantic fist with stars and things coming off it, in tin foil. BWD* so can't remember
Aug 15th (Tues)
Finished our creation - looks pretty good now! Bored most of the day. Ju's mum just won't go to Blackpool, she's fussing and faffing too much! Ju does a lot of housework. I helped her today. Sat outside trying to write a letter to JD. That lad John R kept messing about.
Aug 16th
Ju's mum at last went to Blackpool. Ju and me were in alone tonight and Kathy's friends, Andrew and Callum ran off to tell John R and friends!! So of course, John and his friends (Kevin G and, guess who - Roy D!) got in. They started eating biscuits and drinking and being rowdy. We tried to get rid of them. John tried to get off with me! Put hand on my knee! However we finally got rid of them when Ju's dad arrived home - boy did they run!! Remember Roy D? Used to go to my junior school.
Aug 17th (Thur)
Wish lads hadn't come in last night. Kevin G was quite nice. Quite. Fairly good looking. Funny laugh. Him and Roy came again before dinner and pestered us. It was then we decided we didn't want them. All three came at night but we didn't let them in. AT FIRST! John went, then we let Roy and Kev in. Just for Top of the Pops. Then they went and John came back.
Aug 18th
We told the lads yesterday that we would go watch them play football. Don't want neighbours seeing us with them, though. Roy and Kev came in morning. Got rid of them. John came after dinner, then later other two did. They were nasty to John. After difficulty got rid of them. Said we'd watch them play football. We did!! Got dead annoyed with Kev and Roy when they wouldn't go home after though. Don't worry, nothing happened. They're a bit immature, trying to impress us and each other. Came home from Ju's. Ju's mum came home too.
Aug 19 (Sat)
Nothing much. Had shower. Got sick and tired of Becky* this morning then lost temper (quietly) because mum made dinner late and I wanted to go into town before 4 o'clock. Norma keeps asking me to do odd jobs for her and it gets on my nerves. Went into town. Collected Julie and she's now staying at our house. Looked at school photos of Roy D. Norma is going to London.
Aug 20th
Ju slept last night. Today went to Auntie Emma's. Me and Ju were bored stiff!! We ate masses though. When we went back we popped in at Julie's. I tried to convince Ju's mum that we DID NOT encourage those lads. Well, not much. No, honestly. Me and Ju and her mum all had some lager and chocolate. Had a bad dream and woke up crying.
Aug 21st (Mon)
Oh God! Rebecca came again this morning. I'm getting to the stage where I can't stand the sight of her!! Ju went home at dinner and we met again after dinner in town, while Ju got her sister a birthday pressy. Found out from Julie that all her neighbours were "keeping an eye" on us while J's mum was away. They've given a BAD report to her. I'm flaming mad!!!

*Commentary
Aug 14th BWD = behind with diary
Aug 19th - mum used to child-mind Becky

Just finished reading . . .

Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende

10/10


I have taken to turning over the corners of the pages of books, when I want to go back and read an impressive or particularly meaningful sentence. Because Allende is such an eloquent, intelligent, insightful storyteller, there are lots of corners folded back in this book. I like to read second-hand books, and I so wish that the previous readers had marked their favourite passages too. That would be like receiving messages from the past. That romantic notion is obviously a result of having just read this book!
Isabel Allende is such a gifted writer and thinker. I put off reading her books because they look challenging, with their unbroken pages of text, but she pulls you through the story with ease; no hard work involved at all.
This is Aurora's story, and that of her family, stretching across from Chile to America, with nods to European and Chinese culture along the way. She is a perfect writer. No thread is left unaccounted for. Each personality is big and wondrous, so that you feel like you know them. She makes us understand people, relationships, history and politics, and how they all shape each other.
If you have never read Isabel Allende before, this book is a good place to start.
I have turned over a corner on the very last page where she says "In the end the only thing we have in abundance is the memory we have woven. Each of us chooses the tone for telling his or her own story."

Katie flynn - Just finished reading . . .

A Kiss and a Promise by Katie Flynn (audio book in the car)

5/10


Poverty and an impoverished childhood in Liverpool in the old days (can't recall what year). Then young Ginny is reunited with her long lost Irish father, with the help of stern but really kindly schoolteacher, Miss Mabel Derbyshire. They all live happily ever after on farm in Kerry, with the sun shining and the cows moo-ing and the hens laying eggs. But this can only happen after Ginny is kidnapped by some bad travelling tinkers and then escapes.

Just the kind of book I like to listen to in the car! (but it was never going to earn high marks)

My secret diary 1972 August (i) - the art of being bored

Aug 1 (Tues)
Before dinner went to see Susan Greenwood - boring - didn't know what to talk about. Her Auntie Mary was there. She said 'Are you courting?' Makes you sick!! After dinner went to E's with Ju. It was dead posh. Felt uncomfy. Her mum didn't speak to us or anything. Poor E.
Aug 2
Hell's Bells, forgot about Lorette's birthday. Never mind. Done nothing spectacular today. Made some ice-cream - coffee and chocolate - lovely. Ju came and we went to town to buy a record for her. Nice disc called 'Popcorn'. Instrumental. Decided to call at Oxfam shop tomorrow to ask if help is needed. We might join Oxfam group. Good.
Aug 3 (Thurs)
Got up abut 9.30 - had shower, washed hair, then tidied bedroom a bit. Taped Eine Kleine Nacht Music - no good though. Finished Lord of the Rings - made me cry, lovely ending. Went with Ju to Oxfam shop. Got to go back tomorrow to see the 'boss'. Dying to work there. Seems fairly busy. Julie came back. Had nice talk. I like my bedroom. MY bedroom.
Aug 4
Oh another boring old day - nothing v. spectacular. Went to 'Asda' this morning with mum. Hated nearly every minute of it - so crowded, everybody with trollies. Still no letter from Lorette - annoyed. After dinner went with Ju to Oxfam shop. She only took our names and addresses. Feel as though we haven't got anywhere. Crocheted.
Aug 5 (Sat)
Oh, I'm so bored with everything! Done nothing hardly in morning. In afternoon went to Ju's shop then to their house.Did nothing. Didn't know whether to get Shirley a birthday present or not. Can't really afford it, though. Ju's mum and dad went out. Expected some lads (JR & co) to come round. Didn't.
Aug 6 (Sun)
Boring day. Helped Ju (stayed night) to mow lawn and re-establish an old falling to bits table. Tiring work. We didn't get up till late so it was about 4 o'clock when we finished. Came home and taped some records. Wish life was more exciting - I've got to go out to life, not expect it to come in to me though.
Aug 7
What did I do today? Oh, I know. This morning I was energetic and vacuumed for mum. Also done a lot of Sandra's dress. Norma made dinner - lovely flan with bacon, egg, cheese and onions. After dinner I drew some pictures of Winnie the Pooh for E and generally tidies bedroom out. Considered re-arranging furniture in room ie turning bed round* - what else!!!?
Aug 8
Done quite a lot today - but nothing very exciting happened. Done a lot of tidying up, crocheting etc. Moved bed round. Makes bedroom look a lot different. If I like it I'll have to change all my posters and pics round (groan). Never mind. Not seen Julie today. Saw terrific film with Bob Hope called 'Cat and Canary' dead frightening.
Aug 9
Same as yesterday really - done a lot of nothing outstanding. Trying to fill all my days a bit more now though. Done nails and underarms. Had shower. Hair. Did posters on wall (swapped them over). Dad was in a funny mood. Mum might be looking after Rebecca during the day - God help us, I can't stand that child.

*Commentary
Aug 7 and 8 - of all my diary entries so far this has made me laugh the most. My bedroom was TINY. It only had a bed in it, and a kind of built-in cupboard that was about 12" deep and 3 feet wide. So pondering whether to re-arrange my furniture would have meant, probably, turning the bed round (putting the head where the foot was ) and, possibly, moving it 3 feet across to the other wall. I must have been bored if this was how I occupied myself!

Emma Wood - Just finished reading . . .

Where did the years go? by Emma Wood (2004)

10/10


This is a book that you won't be able to buy because it was written and privately published by my cousin Emma as a memoir of her life. Cousin Emma is not to be confused with Auntie Emma, who features in my secret teenage diaries. Emma was also the name of my maternal grandma, just to confuse things.
My cousin Emma is 30 years older than me. Her mother, Sarah, was my mother's sister. Sarah was second oldest in a family of 9, and my mum, Hannah, was second youngest. All of that generation are dead now, and we cousins aren't so good at keeping in touch with other. I was delighted when Emma sent me this book. It is a very readable and entertaining chronicle of cousin Emma's ancestry and her life. Some of the reasons it is good:
1)
We share common history - Emma knows well the house that I was raised in (which was also the house my mother and her siblings were raised in) and she went to the same primary school. I know some things now that I didn't know before; I know what my grandma and granddad died of, and I know that one of my mother's siblings died shortly after birth, when a drunken midwife, trying to cut the skin under the tongue (to rectify the baby being tongue-tied) cut the tongue instead.
2) I learned a lot about what it was for Emma to be a farmer's wife, first in the bleak conditions on a hill-farm near Oldham, and later farming cattle in Lincolnshire. Emma tells an impressive tale of being pregnant, having three young boys with measles, and falling down the cellar steps, resulting in having to have her leg in plaster for most of her pregnancy. Amidst all this they kept the farm going, and kept up 2 milk delivery rounds.
3) Emma and her husband, Donald, tried their hands at various things, including running a highly successful mushroom farm for 20 years, in Lincolnshire. They also travelled a lot, seeing significant chunks of the world together. She describes her encounters with new places and people with such Lancashire stoicism and open-mindedness that I am glad that she is my kin.
4) Her stoicism continues after Donald died. She continues to travel and, more impressively, to learn new skills - the book was typed n her computer, and she is now learning to play the piano. Yay! a model for me!

And - I love the title - yes, indeed, where do all the years go?

Thanks Cousin Emma

Just finished reading . . .

Stars and Bars by William Boyd (1984)

8/10

I've never read William Boyd before but my partner is a fan. This was a good yarn, which kept me turning the pages. It's an interesting tale about someone who wants to 'fit in' and be accepted into American society, but he doesn't get it right until a series of weird and unlikely events happen to him.
It's a comedy - the second one I've read recently, since Ian McEwan tried his hand at comedy with Solar. I'm not a great comedy lover - especially when the stories about adult men who are victims of unfortunate circumstances that turn their lives into a farce. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this one, and it had me galloping to the end to find out what happens - and it did make me laugh. I can't believe that this book is 8 years older than the Fay Weldon that I just read. It has less of an aged feel.

I think I am a little hard to please with books at the moment. It might be because I am reading what comes up next on my reading pile, rather than rooting down the pile to find a book that I fancy, that meets my mood. Also, I am making myself read authors that aren't my first choice.

Fay Weldon - Just finished reading . . .

Life Force by Fay Weldon (1992)

6/10


Fay Weldon has been a key feminist influence on me throughout my adulthood. She seemed to be saying just what I needed to hear, as I went through my 30s, especially. So I thought it was time I revisited her, and I had this on my pile, bought, I expect, from a charity shop, but I can't remember when or where.
I'm afraid that I found it a very slow book, which I had to force myself to plough through (but how can I tell whether that is the book or my mood / ability to concentrate?).
Life Force is about married couples, and a wild-card called Leslie Beck, who takes the women to bed, one after the other, impacting on their lives in various ways. Didn't really say much relevant to me, but maybe that's because it is nearly 20 years old.
BUT - I'll tell you what is interesting . . . Fay Weldon has a gift for hitting the nail on the head with an observant phrase or two. How is this - taken from page 25 . . .
'...it is not proper to say, 'Oh, women are like this' and 'men are like that', because the more we emphasise gender differences the more they are used against women, and to men's benefit . . .'

Whippets Away!

The Rossendale Whippets
are a group of women who try to hold back age and ailments by running together. It is hard to say whether we get the biggest therapeutic effect from running, or from the social support which results from long periods trotting side-by-side. We have been running and entering races together since about 2005. The membership of the group is variable, but with a hard core at its centre. We don't break any speed records. We don't all come from Rossendale. We laugh a lot, and we have been through a lot of ups and downs (some of which were to do with running).
On 30th-31st July 2011 we had our second Whippets Away trip, when we went to stay in York to run in the Jane Tomlinson Run-for-All 10k. (Our first Whippets Away trip was to London a couple of years ago, when we couldn't find the beginning of the race). This blog tells of our successful Yorkshire appearance.

Introducing the 7 girls
The York race team was made up of 3 original Whippets, who have been round the block a few times, and have the medals to show for it. Sprinting Whippet likes a quick sprint rather than a 10k & 2 of us (Plodder 1 and Plodder 2)are plodders who usually get there in the end. We had a fast, younger person (Fast-Whippet) with us this year, who is an inspiration to us all, and has a fancy watch-thing that tells her what her average speed and performance are. Another of our group, Teacher-Whippet, a 10k virgin, also boasts a fancy watch-thing, but we are always puzzled about what it is telling us. We had 2 other 10k virgins with us - both of them Walking-Whippets. Walking Whippet 1 walks as fast as I run, which is very disturbing. Walking Whippet 2 prefers a country ramble, it transpires.

Training Regime
We didn't really have one, although we tried to run twice round our reservoir, instead of once. We have an inner confidence that we will perform, on the day.

Pre-race prep
The day before the run we arrived in York, had lunch, had a group clothes try-on in Reiss (pronounced Rese, not Rice). We bought abut 5 trousers and 2 skirts and then the group split up,
some to do yet more shopping (Yay!! - one absent Whippet would have liked this bit best) and some to go on a boat trip. We found all this to be a good way of psyching ourselves up for some serious running. Pub-visit, shower, then we ate lots of chips and fish and chicken and bean-burgers, and drank lots of drink, while playing a game in which we decided who, in the pub, we would like to have a date with. We also dispensed a lot of helpful relationship advice to whichever Whippet felt they wanted it.

Task allocation
I won't go into all this, but Plodder Whippet 1, who is bossy, delegated tasks to all of the rest of us. E.g. Sprinting Whippet was in charge of safety pins, Walking Whippet 1 had to negotiate table-bookings in restaurants. Fast Whippet and Walking Whippet 1 were put in charge of singing an inspiring anthem, which they didn't do, in my hearing. I had to set everyone a personal performance indicator for the Race (we all work in either health care or education, where performance indicators are all the rage).

Day of race - pre-race nerves
None of us seemed to sleep well, what with York being the Hen and Stag party capital of the North. One Whippet heard a fight outside the hotel, and another heard a 'Hen' getting out of a taxi, being asked is she had got her knickers. Over breakfast we discussed anxiety and our various levels and sources. 'What if' I get lost? 'What if' I don't finish? 'What if' I get an injury? 'What if' we don't get back to the hotel in time for a shower? We ate our carbs again. Walking Whippet 2 insisted on her cooked breakfast.

Conditions
Very hot and sunny. Sometimes a breeze. Some slow long hills. As usual in these things, there were many more uphills than downhills.
It was a lovely race-route - through lots of residential back-streets and then out into the City, past the Minster and Clifford's Tower, and past all the lovely clothes shops, over the river and then back to York Race-course, where we began.

Performance
We all achieved great success, and met our PPIs. Fast Whippet brought our Whippet team average up splendidly. Minor incidents to report - 3 weak-bladdered Whippets had to find bushes to squat behind before they had been running 5 minutes! We blame the coffee and the slight delay in start time. One Whippet (the fast one) lost 50 seconds when her shoe-lace came undone. Teacher Whippet tripped and nearly splatted her nose when a big burly fellow elbowed her out of the way to get past (this is why we usually do women's runs).

Then we had a shower or two, then we had a nice lunch and another little shop (resulting in 2 nice tops, a pair of baby bootees and 3 bars of soap). The the train home. A GOOD JOB, WELL DONE. Lancashire can be proud of its represetnation that day, in York.

All in all, we were privileged to run this race, and I think I can say that York was privileged to have a visitation by the Rossendale Whippets.