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.)
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.

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.
A lovely day with plenty of sunshine. Got some wood from black shed. Saw first swallows. Hoeing up the drive. Started to clean the house windows again. W.
(Re Sunday 22nd April, this is the ABC Granddad made from sticks. Now on my mum’s wall.)

Got up at 9.30. Started creosoting outside fence. Did the mowing. Spuds are through now. Ron and Dot came for tea. Dot’s birthday. Mrs won a nice table at housey.

My mum, Dot (but some years earlier)
A day on today. Got done early. Finished creosoting new fence. Went to P in the afternoon. Cleaned the drive up. Heard the cuckoo for the first time.
Colder first thing but warmer with sun in the afternoon. Car cleaning again. H.B.S.Mc. making 105 to date. Won £1 in Neston Council sweep. Brushed up around the bins.
A fine warm sunny morning but changed to cloud and drizzle later. Hoeing up the drive. Got some creosote for my fence. Let Mr Shac see the A.B.C. Thought it v.g.