Another wet, miserable day. Brushed twigs up off the drive. Cleared drain from ladies’ outside toilet. Mrs’ birthday today*. Little Jane came with Dot. She’s a lovely little girl.
(*My grandma, Nell’s, birthday)
My granddad died in 1983. For the previous 20 years, he kept a diary, recording his day as a farm worker and then through his retirement. We are lucky enough to have his notebooks, all the entries in block capitals, often in pencil. He always tells us about the weather, sometimes about what is going well at the allotment. We get updates of how Liverpool are doing and the occasional political thought. He suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, was always in pain, but you would never know from these entries. My mum once described him as a contented man. Who knows, really, but certainly, there is something soothing about these entries. So I thought I would share them with you. We have a few years to cover so buckle up.

Another wet, miserable day. Brushed twigs up off the drive. Cleared drain from ladies’ outside toilet. Mrs’ birthday today*. Little Jane came with Dot. She’s a lovely little girl.
(*My grandma, Nell’s, birthday)
Wind dropped today but cool. Some hail stones. Brushed up round the bins. Cleaned the jets again. Load of oil came. Lot of birds to burn from Hanns Hall again. Did all the Ts.
Cooler today and blowing a gale. 1 ton of coke came. Cleaned flues no 2 boiler. Cleared out the silage lab. Lots of birds to burn from Hanns Hall again. Went to Tom Jellicoe’s for saw dust.
A cloudy day with some showers but mild. A lot of fowl to burn from Hanns Hall. Car washing again. Only one, Mc. making 202 to date. Did all the Ts. Nothing important happened.
A miserable wet day. Went to Dot’s for dinner and tea. Ron took us to Chester to see Frank. Came home on the 7.30 bus. Little Jane was lovely.
Day on today. A frost first thing but lovely later. Pulled flowers out of front garden. Went to P in the afternoon. Did drive. Mr H brought two lots of stuff to burn.
Another mild day with some showers. Car washing again. H.K.A.G. making 201 to date. A big pig to burn and a lot of birds from Hanns Hall. Got anti-freeze for Ron. Jane at home today.
Another lovely mild day again. Raked leaves from under apple trees and burnt them. A calf in to burn. Cleared out the silage lab. Cleared drains in the metab section. Did all the Ts again.
Another mild day again. Fog at first. A bad head and a bilious attack yesterday. Much better today. Did both jets this morning. Swilled out boiler room. Did all the Ts.
Another nice mild day again. No 1 burner on red this morning. Raked the leaves off the grass outside drive. Swilled round the bins. Some stuff out of glass room.