21 January 1959
My Dear Len & Margaret,
Wednesday evening.
Dad is fixed on T.V. Roselle is having another busy evening with her stock sheets. I am longing for her to be through with them. It will be a few more evenings before she is finished with them. She finds these stock sheets very trying.

I want to thank Margaret for the nice letter we received from her last week. We are very pleased that she likes the tray we sent her for Christmas. We all liked it too. It was kind of out of the ordinary + very interesting & useful looking through the calories, some of them giving useful tips. But I will say again Margaret had better ignore the ones for slimming, they are certainly not for her. We notice that your friends were also interested in this tray. Oh yes Margaret I’m very much taken up with that beautiful plate you sent, but disappointed to have to say that it’s not put up yet, though we may have the pleasure to see it up on Friday if Arthur comes. He is to borrow the electric drill from De Gruchy’s, truly I am longing to see it up. It should then look most dignified.

We are very pleased that you all liked your Jersey gifts & also that that Len liked his hair brush. It may make his hair get a little thicker because if I remember rightly I think he is getting a little bald. I am wondering if it is that his brain is oversized or worry.
Margaret says Paul likes saving his money, I am wondering if he takes after his Granda Du Feu as regards saving. If so I glory in him & hope he will continue to do so.

We are sorry to hear about Susan’s eyes having got a little worse then they were. But taking them in time this may be the means that they won’t get worse any more. It must be awful in Scotland to be having such icy roads as you are having. Does Len take his car every day? If he does, I strongly hope he is very careful in driving, though according the conditions of the roads would it not be better for him not to take the car?

Have the children trouble to get to school? Do they complain of the cold weather? It’s useless asking how is Len getting along with his work. As for the time being there is no advancement, I do hope he has resigned himself to the present conditions + that he is not worrying himself unduly. He would not gain anything by doing so.

We went to Les Augerez this afternoon. On our way out Kay asked if we wanted to go as far as Corbiere, we didn’t say ‘no’. We went as far and stopped there for about 10 minutes. We could not stay longer it would have put us too late to get to St Peters. Uncle John was not downstairs yet when we got there. He gets up about 5 or 6 ‘o clock. In a way it’s not good for him to remain in bed for so long, the thing is that he can’t walk, he falls down quite often. There’s always a fear that he might hurt himself according how he would fall. All this is a worry to Aunty. When we left there it was blowing a gale & lashing with rain. It was awful on our way back. Not very enjoyable for Kay to drive. We didn’t expect such bad weather. The sun was out on our way there, this gale came all of a sudden. Roselle got very wet on going for her bus on leaving work.

On Sunday Roselle phoned to Barbara to see how Aunty Flo was. She’s now bedridden, she rambles a lot & is going back to her childhood days. She is being sick all the time, also she is turning quite black. She also has congestion of the lung, so you see all this is turning towards the end. She is not taking any food. Barbara said it is terrible to see her & that she’s nothing like her mother now. It’s awful for the girls to see her lingering for so long. Barbara also said that in the state her mother is now they would be pleased to see her die now. It really would be a blessing if she was taken. She has fought hard to try to get better, the time is here now that she can’t fight any longer. It would be a blessing if she could pass away in her sleep. She has been a good mother & the girls have been good to her.

Wed eve
I didn’t think I would be writing this eve. I had finished your letter yesterday except that it was not signed for in case something would crop up. Well something has cropped up, we have had the pleasure to have a nice newsy letter from you today. We are so sorry to know that you are all freezing up with cold. This must be terrible, i think of you all such a lot, enduring such awful weather. I’m wondering if Len still thinks so much of Scotland as he did, probably he had never realised it could ever be such cold weather out there and poor Margaret who hasn’t got much fat to keep her warm must feel miserable at times. Do the children complain of the cold?

Len says he is interesting himself in another job that is with the Unicorn Trust of which you have sent a cutting. You also say that you were going to see them today in London, on the reply to your letter you had written to them and telling you they would be very pleased to meet you. According to the paper cutting, this Unicorn Trust seems to be quite reliable, well my boy as you know we don’t know or understand anything concerning this business, you would know more about it than we do. Naturally it’s up to you to do what you think best whatever you decide to do.

Len, think well before you do anything. Weigh up everything, maybe the salary with this new business would not come to what you are having with the Alliance. Then again there would be the selling of your house, the moving, the buying of another house, etc. etc. You would have to face all these expenses by yourself, no Alliance to help you this time. Of course you must know all the details thoroughly before you commit yourself to do anything. You know we thought you were fixed with the Alliance for always, but of course you could not forecast this unfortunate happening. I do feel very sorry for you because you were doing so well. It seems as if these building societies work their people to the bone & then when they have achieved their target they kind of let their people down. This is not good enough is it?
What does Margaret say to all this, would she like you to change your job? I’m sure she doesn’t know what to tell you.
Well Len this is all I can tell you about your interest for the Unicorn Trust Investment. Whatever you do I hope it will be the right thing. We will be looking forward to your next letter to know how things are going. Don’t worry too much Len.

We have also received the photo’s of the two boys & a nice little letter from Paul. We are wondering if John had also written a letter, because the envelope was rather broken up & a little letter could have easily have dropped out. The boys don’t seem to have changed one bit, nothing like Susan has done, these two youngsters still have their smiling faces & look very happy. Please thank them, John has still two dimples & Paul his lovely big eyes.

Len I notice you are using Margaret’s tray to do your writing, do you think this is quite right? You must be careful not to spoil it. What do you find more in Margaret’s tray than the one you had from Oxford? Is it because it come from Jersey or because it is a nice shade of red. Anyway don’t scratch it with your pen.

I notice that Margaret is still alone doing her work, it seems to me she’s working all day and must feel tired at night. We hope that Paul will be lucky to pass his exam for entering the college. I see Len is again giving them homework. Be careful how you do it Len, don’t overtax their brains. To do so would be harmful.
Well all the best Len in whatever you do, whether you remain where you are or move, but be careful.
It has been another wet + miserable day, with strong wind. Hope you are all well despite the cold. Lots of love from we 3, love ma xxx