Got up at 10 a.m. Did the mowing. Planted some sweet peas. Made a fence to keep Bunts* off border. Dot and Ron came for tea. Saw Bert Harris in the Wheat.
(*Bunty, his dog.)
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.

Got up at 10 a.m. Did the mowing. Planted some sweet peas. Made a fence to keep Bunts* off border. Dot and Ron came for tea. Saw Bert Harris in the Wheat.
(*Bunty, his dog.)
Day on today. Got done early. Very cold wind. Some showers. Went to P. Planted D. Cleaned the car. Planted flowers in wood. Old Bert Shaw knocked off his bike.
Dull skies again and showers heavy at times. Coldish winds. Car cleaning again. H.S.B. making 114 to date. Mason Bibby here. Two killed Thurstaston X roads.
A day full of showers and dull skies. Weeding round the tennis courts. Cleaned both the boilers and took fronts off for the summer. Digging the borders at night.
A dull cloudy day with slight showers at times. Had a very big sow to burn. Car cleaning. A.K.D. Shack’s new one. First time. Making 111 to date. Perry away on holiday.
Not a bad sort of day. Did the mowing and hoed the spuds. Les Cottrell brought bird book down. Went to see Cyril in the afternoon. Ron and Dot came.
(Cyril was one of Granddad’s brothers.)
Day off today. Quite a nice day. Went to P. Knocked off 3p.m. to watch the Cup Final. Burnley lost 3-1. Ron went to the final. Dot came and stayed the night.
(Spurs beat Burnley. Not sure why my dad went to the final, given he was/is a Liverpool fan.)
Change today. Cloud with some rain. Car cleaning. H.B.S.A. making 107 to date. Shack gone for new car. Got a saw for cutting up animals. Painters finished. Got all the windows done. W.
Another lovely sunny day. Hoed the patch by the tennis court and gravel path round the house. Starting lab windows tonight. Cordon using new mower first time. 3wks canteen last night.
Another lovely warm sunny day. Hoed the herbaceous borders. Cordon got a new Atco mowing machine. Finished the house windows. Nothing much to burn today.