not a care
i am back in leicester after spending three nights elsewhere.
thursday night i had dinner out with mum and we talked about old times and new times and whether i was eating all right at university. when i got back i had a phone call from one mr. admiral_trouser and we talked on flying sharks and films we wanted to see (and the possibility of seeing one together! blessed be the day when we are both so organised) it was enlightening to speak with him again. friday morning we set off for carlisle, where the rest of the family live (save my brothers- who were making their own way there), for my grandad’s 80th birthday party- to be held saturday.
i’ll tell you about my nanna’s house, i love my nanna’s house. there are little boxes everywhere with buttons, bits of string, keys for mysterious doors, coins with pictures of people from bible stories engraved on them and tiny light bulbs inside them. she gave me a corsage she didn’t want anymore and some old ‘reader’s digests’ that she was just going to throw away! throwing books away! what bizarre things old people do! cross-stitches of every kind hang on the walls of every room. my favourite is one in the dining room of ‘the last supper’ because jesus looks really shifty.
my grandad's memory is as bad as ever. he used to call me 'hazel' (my mum's name) because he couldn't remember mine, but now he can't even remember my mum's so we all just get called 'may' (my nanna's name).
my auntie barbara is well and happy despite her chlostrophobia when she is in shops and her agraphobia when she is at home. there's always something wrong with barbaba, she seems to be able to get down the pub all right mind. she has her obsession with tropical fish to keep her going though. i looked at her book about marine life, there was a fish who looked like a bottle of milk- coolness. my uncle derek is still a nobhead. he started telling my mum how much she didn't apreciate her dad. he was really drunk though because then he started shouting at me like 'don't you start a fight with me in my own home'. christ. my family, folks.
my cousin james seems to have settled into high school after a somewhat rocky start. besides throwing someone down a hill it's all pretty smooth. it's funny, he acts all hard and yet barbara was telling me how he got al upset about seeing a cat get run over. kids...
my nanna let me see her autograph book from when she was at school, there were some pretty interesting poems by some of her classmates, as well as herself (she's 'may stobbart') i wrote some of them down for you all to see:
‘you may fall from a house top,
you may fall from above,
but for goodness sake, may,
don’t fall in love.’
-d. field, 4 march 1935.
‘a little dab of powder,
a little dab of paint,
make’s a girl’s complexion,
look what it aint.
-m. Bristow, 4 march 1938.
‘you told me to write something original,
something right out of my head,
but as there is nothing in it,
here’s something from the outside instead.’
(a lock of hair has been stuck on the page- how red my nanna’s hair was!)
-m. stobbart, 4/3/38.
‘my heart is like a cabbage,
divided into two,
the leaves I gave to others,
the heart i gave to you.’
-n. sanders, 13/9/38.
‘may for now,
may forever,
stobbart for now,
but not forever.’
-r.h. sumner, 9/2/41.
‘don’t make love in the corn fields because the corn’s got ears.’
-robert Chilton, june 23rd 1941.
‘true friends are like diamonds- precious and rare,
false friends are like autumn leaves- found everywhere.’
-june hubbert, 10/8/41.
‘yy’s you are,
yy’s you be,
I know you are,
Yy’s for me.’
-nora Norman, nov 2nd 1941.
‘the owner of this book,
has asked a word from me,
but feeling in a generous mood,
I’ve written twenty-three.’
-june hubbert, 10/8/41.
‘the wind the wind,
the naughty wind,
that blows girl’s clothes so high.
But god is just,
And sends the dust,
To blind the bad man’s eye.’
-may stobbart, 10/8/41.
‘I dreamt I did die,
to heaven I did go,
the place I did come from,
they wanted to know,
and when I said ‘Carlisle’,
st. peter he did stare,
and said ‘come in quickly,
you’re the first one from there.’’
-n. Norman, 6/11/42.
‘may stobbart is your name,
single is your station,
pity help the poor man,
who makes the alteration.’
-eileen sewell, 2/2/43.
‘how happy is he born or taught,
that seveth not another’s will,
whose armour is his honest thought,
and simple truth his utmost skill.’
-j. houre, 20/8/43.
‘what can I do for England,
that does so much for me,
one of her faithful children,
I can and I will be.’
-miss j. houre, 20/8/43.
‘make new friends,
but keep the old,
one is silver,
the other gold. xxxxx’
-amy Maxwell, 18-2-44.
‘love many, trust few,
always paddle your own canoe.’
-m. little, 19/2/44.
‘when stormy seas are fast and gone,
shall gentle calm succeed,
I mean to ease a troubled mind,
Sleep is the thing you need.
With these few lines I pen to you,
With neither fear or doubt,
My senses lie within these lines,
Dear, try and find them out. xxx’
-m.h.m. forbes, 28/5/44.
‘yield not to flirtation,
for yielding is sin,
each sister will help you,
her brother to win,
fight manfully onward,
loves passions subdue,
keep in with a mother-in-law,
she’ll help you through. Xxx’
-m.h.m. forbes, 28/5/44.
there were some rather un-pc ones too but i won't copy them down for fear of offending people (more so than i usually do).
nanna bought me a little bug brooch from 'past times', he's so cute! i have named him 'smokey'.
the afternoon before we all went out, grandad knew there was something going to happen, but he kept forgetting every time someone told him it was his birthday. he was so restless. he kept opening and closing the curtains and laughing at me because i was sat on my own reading a book. he laughs at a lot of things now.
the night out was really nice and over the meal my brother jon made a speech, mainly to stop derek from making one and offending someone, but it was really sweet- he made mum cry though. sigh.
i ate too much. i need to be really good this week. everyone thought i looked well good in my dress though and mum thinks i've lost weight since she last saw me- woohoo!
i didn't hear from my dad while i was home.
on my way back i was so tired. i did everything i could (like any decent person would) to keep myself awake. on the bus i sang bits of joan baez and cat stevens songs and looked dreamily at nothing inparticullar. on the first train i recorded a girl having a fight with her boyfriend on the phone. on the second train i read 'play it as it lays' until it was dark enough to see my reflection in the window. i watched my eyes and thought about derek telling me i look like my dad and how mum had forgotton to cut my fringe.
thursday night i had dinner out with mum and we talked about old times and new times and whether i was eating all right at university. when i got back i had a phone call from one mr. admiral_trouser and we talked on flying sharks and films we wanted to see (and the possibility of seeing one together! blessed be the day when we are both so organised) it was enlightening to speak with him again. friday morning we set off for carlisle, where the rest of the family live (save my brothers- who were making their own way there), for my grandad’s 80th birthday party- to be held saturday.
i’ll tell you about my nanna’s house, i love my nanna’s house. there are little boxes everywhere with buttons, bits of string, keys for mysterious doors, coins with pictures of people from bible stories engraved on them and tiny light bulbs inside them. she gave me a corsage she didn’t want anymore and some old ‘reader’s digests’ that she was just going to throw away! throwing books away! what bizarre things old people do! cross-stitches of every kind hang on the walls of every room. my favourite is one in the dining room of ‘the last supper’ because jesus looks really shifty.
my grandad's memory is as bad as ever. he used to call me 'hazel' (my mum's name) because he couldn't remember mine, but now he can't even remember my mum's so we all just get called 'may' (my nanna's name).
my auntie barbara is well and happy despite her chlostrophobia when she is in shops and her agraphobia when she is at home. there's always something wrong with barbaba, she seems to be able to get down the pub all right mind. she has her obsession with tropical fish to keep her going though. i looked at her book about marine life, there was a fish who looked like a bottle of milk- coolness. my uncle derek is still a nobhead. he started telling my mum how much she didn't apreciate her dad. he was really drunk though because then he started shouting at me like 'don't you start a fight with me in my own home'. christ. my family, folks.
my cousin james seems to have settled into high school after a somewhat rocky start. besides throwing someone down a hill it's all pretty smooth. it's funny, he acts all hard and yet barbara was telling me how he got al upset about seeing a cat get run over. kids...
my nanna let me see her autograph book from when she was at school, there were some pretty interesting poems by some of her classmates, as well as herself (she's 'may stobbart') i wrote some of them down for you all to see:
‘you may fall from a house top,
you may fall from above,
but for goodness sake, may,
don’t fall in love.’
-d. field, 4 march 1935.
‘a little dab of powder,
a little dab of paint,
make’s a girl’s complexion,
look what it aint.
-m. Bristow, 4 march 1938.
‘you told me to write something original,
something right out of my head,
but as there is nothing in it,
here’s something from the outside instead.’
(a lock of hair has been stuck on the page- how red my nanna’s hair was!)
-m. stobbart, 4/3/38.
‘my heart is like a cabbage,
divided into two,
the leaves I gave to others,
the heart i gave to you.’
-n. sanders, 13/9/38.
‘may for now,
may forever,
stobbart for now,
but not forever.’
-r.h. sumner, 9/2/41.
‘don’t make love in the corn fields because the corn’s got ears.’
-robert Chilton, june 23rd 1941.
‘true friends are like diamonds- precious and rare,
false friends are like autumn leaves- found everywhere.’
-june hubbert, 10/8/41.
‘yy’s you are,
yy’s you be,
I know you are,
Yy’s for me.’
-nora Norman, nov 2nd 1941.
‘the owner of this book,
has asked a word from me,
but feeling in a generous mood,
I’ve written twenty-three.’
-june hubbert, 10/8/41.
‘the wind the wind,
the naughty wind,
that blows girl’s clothes so high.
But god is just,
And sends the dust,
To blind the bad man’s eye.’
-may stobbart, 10/8/41.
‘I dreamt I did die,
to heaven I did go,
the place I did come from,
they wanted to know,
and when I said ‘Carlisle’,
st. peter he did stare,
and said ‘come in quickly,
you’re the first one from there.’’
-n. Norman, 6/11/42.
‘may stobbart is your name,
single is your station,
pity help the poor man,
who makes the alteration.’
-eileen sewell, 2/2/43.
‘how happy is he born or taught,
that seveth not another’s will,
whose armour is his honest thought,
and simple truth his utmost skill.’
-j. houre, 20/8/43.
‘what can I do for England,
that does so much for me,
one of her faithful children,
I can and I will be.’
-miss j. houre, 20/8/43.
‘make new friends,
but keep the old,
one is silver,
the other gold. xxxxx’
-amy Maxwell, 18-2-44.
‘love many, trust few,
always paddle your own canoe.’
-m. little, 19/2/44.
‘when stormy seas are fast and gone,
shall gentle calm succeed,
I mean to ease a troubled mind,
Sleep is the thing you need.
With these few lines I pen to you,
With neither fear or doubt,
My senses lie within these lines,
Dear, try and find them out. xxx’
-m.h.m. forbes, 28/5/44.
‘yield not to flirtation,
for yielding is sin,
each sister will help you,
her brother to win,
fight manfully onward,
loves passions subdue,
keep in with a mother-in-law,
she’ll help you through. Xxx’
-m.h.m. forbes, 28/5/44.
there were some rather un-pc ones too but i won't copy them down for fear of offending people (more so than i usually do).
nanna bought me a little bug brooch from 'past times', he's so cute! i have named him 'smokey'.
the afternoon before we all went out, grandad knew there was something going to happen, but he kept forgetting every time someone told him it was his birthday. he was so restless. he kept opening and closing the curtains and laughing at me because i was sat on my own reading a book. he laughs at a lot of things now.
the night out was really nice and over the meal my brother jon made a speech, mainly to stop derek from making one and offending someone, but it was really sweet- he made mum cry though. sigh.
i ate too much. i need to be really good this week. everyone thought i looked well good in my dress though and mum thinks i've lost weight since she last saw me- woohoo!
i didn't hear from my dad while i was home.
on my way back i was so tired. i did everything i could (like any decent person would) to keep myself awake. on the bus i sang bits of joan baez and cat stevens songs and looked dreamily at nothing inparticullar. on the first train i recorded a girl having a fight with her boyfriend on the phone. on the second train i read 'play it as it lays' until it was dark enough to see my reflection in the window. i watched my eyes and thought about derek telling me i look like my dad and how mum had forgotton to cut my fringe.