22 September 1958
 
My dear Len and Aile[1]Margaret,
 
This is Monday eve. The weather is getting like autumn. We are looking forward to seeing Kay and Arthur tomorrow. They are at Alençon today and I think sleep there this night, tomorrow they get to St Malo then home. I hope they have a good crossing tomorrow eve. The Brittany arrives back at about 10 o’clock PM. Kay wrote to Roselle asking her if she would see about asking the men at De Gruchy’s to fetch their car at Sandiway during the day tomorrow and take it to the pier so that Arthur can come back in their own car and call at home. 
Roselle has just left, she has gone to Sandiway to see that everything is alright and put some flowers on the tables to welcome them home.
 
The Constable of St Helier passed away in the early hours of this A.M., he has been very ill for many months. The funeral takes place on Thursday at noon at St James Church. They don’t give time to the poor man to get cold that they are already wondering who is going to take his place.
 
Our little pantry is quite smart looking. I may have told you that Roselle has put new colourful covering in the shelves. On Wednesday a new lino was laid down. It’s a nice one, that is red, black, grey, green and off-white squares. There was a piece left over from this lino, by patching it up Roselle has managed to fix it in the toilet. It took her the whole evening of Saturday to fix it. She made a good job of it. She has also put new covering on the cupboard shelves in the kitchen. The ones that were there were quite good but Rose wanted more brightness, the same with the pantry, the lino there was quite good, but more brightness was wanted.
 
Tomorrow being Roselle’s birthday she has asked Margaret and Charles, Doreen and Nick in to tea. It is also Arthur’s birthday tomorrow.
 
Dad and I went to see Aunt Marie on Friday eve. Uncle Frank fetched us. Aunty is just about the same, she can’t do anything for herself. She can just move her arm a little and also her leg. Before Uncle goes back to work after lunch he helps her from her bed to her chair and she remains there until he gets back at 6 o’clock. You know it’s a job to move her, she is such a weight. Uncle has bought her a TV so that she has something to interest her and help to pass away the time, you see she can’t do anything, she has only the use of one hand, the other one she can just manage to move her finger. If only she could knit, she used to knit such a lot but she can’t do it now. 

She has a woman go there every morning to do the work, and another one in the afternoon to do little jobs and to be with her. This woman she doesn’t care about. When Aunty has friends to visit her this woman sits there also. Rev Quarrie visited her one afternoon last week, again this woman sat there while he was there. Poor Aunty gets angry, but she can’t tell her anything. I will admit this sort of thing is annoying.
 
Roselle came back safely from London[2]on Thursday, got home at 8:15. She had a fairly good trip back, but it was misty. She said it was time for her to get off the plane when it landed, she was beginning not to feel too good, but I think it may have been a bit her own fault, she hadn’t had a meal since her breakfast that morning. She finished her work, or business I should have said, on the Wednesday, so that she had nothing to do on the Thursday, it was lovely weather so she decided to go and sit in Hyde Park and did not move to go and have some lunch. She only moved when it was time to go to the airport. Anyway when she got home she enjoyed a good meal, salmon, tomatoes, cucumber and lettuce. She didn’t want any cake. She felt more fit after this meal.
 
While she was away she went to tea at Aunty Flo (in Bournemouth) on the Monday. She found a great change in Aunty, she is only skin and bones, weighs 6 stones 9 lbs, eats very little and whatever she eats she takes a very long time to eat it. She does not sit with the others at the meal table, she sits on the couch and has her food on a tray. Roselle says she tries very hard to get well, she has a very strong ‘Will Power’. This is what is keeping her alive. She manages to walk from one room to the other, also when she feels like it she dries the dishes for Barbara.
 
Doreen finds it pretty hard to have to put up with having Nick’s mother and sister living with them. Unfortunately the sister is not right, she’s simple, has more or less the mind of a child. Doreen finds her very trying, she follows her everywhere she is, even when Doreen goes to dress she finds her there. They are going to try to find some rooms for them, but this is not easy. When you write to them don’t mention that I have said anything, but all the same I’m sorry Doreen has such a crowd in starting her married life.
 
Oh, you might wonder the reason that Mrs Nichols and her daughter have come to live with them. They were living in England with another daughter, this daughter is married but I understand she and her husband don’t get on together, in fact I think they are going to part. Anyway they have either sold their house or going to sell, so that the old lady and her daughter had to move. They decided to come to Jersey and without more or less they came to Nick, but they thought it was just for the time being, but it doesn’t seem so, they seem to have settled themselves there for good. I have said Nick and Doreen want to find lodgings for them. I hope for their sakes they are lucky to fix up Mother and Daughter, but this is a difficult matter.
 
Wed AM 11:25
 
I must get on with the finish of this letter. I’m wondering if Len is not quite well yet. The letter he was going to write last Wednesday when Dad phoned you has not arrived yet. I’m hoping it turns up at lunchtime and that news will be good.
 
Well our folks came back last evening. They are both looking remarkably well, have a lovely suntan. They have enjoyed their holiday very much, in fact they found it too warm some days. They had very good food, we think they have put on weight especially Kay who looks the picture of health. They brought us a German sausage. I had never seen one, we will have some of it for tea today. It smells very good, it doesn’t need any cooking, it is thoroughly smoked. We are looking forward to tasting it. They also brought us a French loaf, it is nearly a yard long. This we will also have for tea, so our meal will be a mixture of French and German.
 
We had the two couples in to tea yesterday, that is M, C, D & N. They all went to the boat to see K & A come back, they didn’t come back home again, only K & A. It was midnight when they went, they had such a lot to say. They were pleased to have a cup of tea. They brought Dad a very nice walking stick so the dear boy has gone to town with it this A.M. as pleased as punch. You may depend all his friends will have to know all about it. It’s a very nice thick one of a light colour, with a nice handle that he can hook on his arm. They brought me a very nice little shopping basket, it seems to be hand-made. I’m very pleased with it. They brought Roselle a very pretty little clock, this was for her birthday. As a present they gave a nice bracelet with different kinds of stones, so you see we were spoilt last evening. We are pleased to have them back.
 
Roselle spent a very nice birthday. She was a lucky girl too, she came back with a huge bouquet of flowers. She was so loaded she took a taxi to come back. This huge bouquet of flowers had been given to her by some of her girls at work. She was tickled pink, because she had five white under-slips with lovely lace, given to her by different people. She is delighted with them.
 
Now I must see about setting the table for lunch. No letter at lunchtime, maybe tomorrow, we hope Len is perfectly well again, and not fussing. The weather is now getting cooler, yesterday afternoon got quite cold. Dad is already speaking about some heating, one dreads to burn coal at the awful price it is, we will have to use the paraffin stove for some time when we do need heating.
 
Why does Susan come back from school earlier than the boys? Is it that she hasn’t got too far to go? Are they doing well at school? Now my dears I hope you are all well and happy
 
Lots of love from us three,
Lovingly, Mother xxxx

 


[1] Think she meant to write ‘Aileen’. Aileen was Snowdon’s wife in Canada
[2]Roselle went on buying trips to London. She was the Haberdashery and Fancy Goods buyer in De Gruchys for many years.