Still lovely weather. Cut my garden hedge. Dot, Ron and Jane came. We went to Delamere Forest. Quite nice. The Pope died*. I’ve got a bit of a chill on my tummy.
*Pope John XXIII

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.

Still lovely weather. Cut my garden hedge. Dot, Ron and Jane came. We went to Delamere Forest. Quite nice. The Pope died*. I’ve got a bit of a chill on my tummy.
*Pope John XXIII

Another lovely day. Wind still cool. Got up 9 a.m. Did the mowing and some weeding. Dot, Ron and Jane came. Jane grows lovelier. Got some plants off Ted Gray.
Day off today. A lovely sunny day but wind rather cold. Cleaned the rose beds. Went to P in the afternoon. Did some hoeing drive and new rose beds. Mrs P still away.
A lovely warm sunny day all day. Only washed one car. H. making 105 to date. Did all the toilets. Brushed down boiler room and round the bins. Ted Evans not been in since Monday.
Not so nice today. Cooler with some rain. Little sunshine. Finished cleaning the boilers. Emptied the box of paper. Did all the toilets. Hoovered down the boiler room. No luck on the Derby yesterday.
Another lovely day with lots of sunshine. Still working on the boilers, cleaning down for summer. Loaded the trailer up with rubbish. Refused to do a burner at Lydiate. Derby day.
(Won by Relko)
A lovely day again today, with plenty of sunshine. Took the fronts off the boilers and started to clean them out a lot inside. Did all the toilets. Eric on holiday. Mick got arm in a sling.
Another lovely sunny day. Car washing. K.Mc.B.S. making 104 to date. Ted Evans from Pud started to work here today. Only time to do two toilets.
Got up at 9.30. A lovely, warm day. Put a row of scarlet runners in. Dot, Ron and Jane came in car. Ron passed test Friday. Went for a bit of a spin with Ron.
Day on today. Got done just after 10. Planted annuals in the borders at home. Went to P for a couple of hrs. Started on drive. Mrs P not there. Watched the Cup Final. Manchester U won 3.1.
(Man U v. Leicester)