Musical Beds

We are having a grand time with daughter Lise, here from Denmark for a month. She is getting her first COVID shot today and will be here until she gets the second one. The first morning she was here, we needed to get back for someone’s schedule and walked only half the distance we usually walk. Today we went all the way to the creek, where we took the obligatory selfie.

All of us had voiced opinions about where everyone should sleep, and we thought we had it all sorted out. John, John $, David, and I would all stay in our beds. Lise would sleep on the air mattress in the living room and be far away from us when she got up to work on Danish time. Her office would be the dining room table, the furthest distance from the bedrooms. We forgot about the chiming grandfather clock, a short distance from her head. That kept her awake, as regular as clockwork. John was preparing for a weekend at the train club with David, so he ran the washing machine and dryer. Unloading the dishwasher for the day ahead added quite a clatter. I had not realized Lise needed silence to work. The hum of daily living would be an awful intrusion on internet meetings.

We think we have it settled now. Since David and John left at 5 am, David slept in the living room. He cleaned his room so that Lise could move in to sleep and use the desk there. When David gets back, he will be in my room, because his schedule is quite different from ours. I will be in the living room, at the mercy of anyone who wants to use the kitchen in the middle of the night. I may consult a magic book to find a sleeping spell I could use at a moment’s notice.

England 40 Years Ago — April 19, 1981

Do you know what a mail truck is called here? I’ll give you time to think while reading this.

The heating system went caput in the early hours of Tuesday, and the speedy people in this country were able to get a repairman (engineer) to fix it by Thursday afternoon. Heaven forbid we have an emergency! Actually, this house is well prepared for systemic failure. We were able to use an electric immersion heater for hot water, and could have lit fires in two fireplaces. Luckily, the weather was fairly warm.

One day we went for a long walk at a nature preserve, Leith Hill, drove along back roads and on to a second visit to Silent Pool.

Kate and Lisa with azaleas at Leith Hill

The weather all week has been glorious. So lovely, in fact, that there has been no rain and we had to water our new plants by hand since there is no outside tap on this house! One day we fixed up a bucket brigade; I held down the bulb in the toilet which made it overflow into a pipe that empties just outside the front door near the plants that needed water. Lisa, Kate, and Philippa manned the pitchers and doused the flowers. We thought it was a good idea until we found a puddle on the carpet in the bathroom.

Lisa, Kate, and Philippa as bucket brigade

Penny S. has a friend whose mother has just gone blind. The lady has had failing sight for some time, and the last operations were unsuccessful. Understandably, she is very low. Penny asked me to go see her. I intended to, but got stuck at home over-seeing Clewes and waiting for the boiler to be fixed. I did call her on the phone and hope to see her soon. She said she had taught school in Pennsylvania for a year and still hears from her friends there.

Good Friday Kate invited Philippa to go with us to her church, and she did! The rector had a good sermon giving Barrabus’ view of Good Friday. I never thought of it from that perspective. Philippa came home with us and stayed from 10 to 7. I’m surprised the girls didn’t get tired of each other. She went home to get her food so they could have a picnic together.

Meanwhile Lisa invited Catherine to go to London for a service. The two girls and John went on the train to St. Paul’s for the Bach St. Matthew Passion. They left here at 4 and returned at midnight. John said it was one of the best he’s ever heard. The church was full – think of that when you watch Prince Charles’ wedding this summer – and the congregation sang the chorales. Glorious! He recognized a counter-tenor who sings at St. Mary’s. That man was in the choir. The other man he knew happened to sit right in front of him – a man John had entertained in the office because he is on the board of directors from a South African company. That man and John spent the intermission (called interval here) talking.

Mr. Wilson, owner of this house, appeared on our doorstep and handed us a basket of creme eggs for Lisa and Kate. He had another for the girls next door. Wasn’t that sweet? These creme eggs are the standard sweet for Easter. It’s a little smaller than a normal egg, has a shell of chocolate about 1/8 inch thick, white filling, and a round of yellow representing the yolk. [I found them in the States about 20 years after we first had them in England.] There are also hollow chocolate eggs in the stores, but no rabbits and chicks. I was told children color eggs, but there seem to be no kits for it. Wonder if they use food coloring. We skipped that custom this year.

Yesterday we went to the Claremont Landscape Gardens – begun in the 1700’s and recently restored. It features an ornamental amphitheater, lake, island, grotto, and camellia garden. We were glad we took advantage of the good weather because today has been rotten.

We’ve had rain, sun, and wind today with chill temperatures. We wanted to try something different, so picked out a church by the listing of music in the paper. Went to Grovenor Chapel near the American Embassy in London because they were to do a Palestrina Mass. The service was Anglo-Catholic, much like St. Mary the Virgin in New York. There were few people there, the pastor came out to give a few announcements, and I began to wonder if we were in the right church. He disappeared, but was soon back with fancy robes of gold and red accompanied by two others dressed like he was and three men in white. He admitted later while thanking various people for their work this past week that he couldn’t have done his part in the complex service without the coaching and rehearsing of someone who knew all that had to be done. This was his first Easter service there.

What a disappointment the sermon was! He picked a text from a novel and jokingly told people not to look for it in their Bibles. Good grief! He went on to say that everything had been said that needed to be said at the Easter Vigil service the night before. I thought he’d have done better to do a recap of that than talk about a novel.

The music was delightful. John wonders why churches with good music can’t come up with good sermons, too. Those with lousy music often have good preachers. John $ didn’t fare too well, so John took him for a mile walk. He cried lots at some point and instantly fell asleep as we started the trip home. We stopped for a McDonald’s hamburger to tide us over until I could get the dinner cooked. This was at Epsom – you’ve heard of Epsom Salts and Epsom Downs. This town is one of the closer big ones to Walton.

I found the traditional thing to serve on Easter is a Simnel Cake. Years ago it was served on Mothering Sunday because so many girls went into service, but were always given that day off to go home. That was the only day they went home! Now it has shifted to Easter. The cake is a fruitcake with a middle layer of marzipan baked in the cake. After it has cooled, it is topped with a thick layer of marzipan, 11 eggs of marzipan decorate the top edge, and a chicken coming out of an egg is in the center. I did all that the day we waited for the boiler to be repaired.

My homemade version of a Simnel cake. We still have the mugs.

Before I forget – a mail truck is a post van. Did you guess it?

I remarked to someone that I hadn’t seen any iris here. That must have been before they started to come up. We have clumps and clumps right under the kitchen window!! I don’t know that it is the kind of iris I’m used to; will see when they bloom.

All the trees have a greeny haze about them, while some are in full leaf. The fruit trees look like they will burst because they are so full of blooms. Daffodils are fading, tulips are out in riots of color.

We have huge hedges bordering our garden, most of them still clinging to old brown leaves. Caroline told us they are a common hedge here; when young, they keep their green leaves year round; older ones shed theirs. I wish they’d hurry up and turn green.

We rejoice with Susan that her doctor is making encouraging comments after her surgery last week.

This coming Saturday we go to Cornwall for a week. Mail will probably be delayed, so don’t get upset.

Happy Easter!

England 40 Years Ago — April 12, 1981

I thought it was really something the day we flew a kite in church, but last Sunday was the limit. There was a stripper in the pulpit! A young minister who had been at St. Mary’s a few years ago was preaching on Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet and acted out the scene. He removed his stole and used his surplice as a towel, then went on to say Jesus removed his outer garment as he unbuttoned the black part of his vestments.

One day this past week I did nothing but run! We picked up Mr. Clewes (the gardener), drove to Walton, went to Co-op on the way to coffee at Penny’s in Redhill, drove home for lunch, back to Reigate to return Clewes, and then home again. Don’t want many days like that! I started cooking dinner at 6:45.

At Penny’s we met a woman and her son coming out. At first I thought she had been invited for coffee, but it was worse than that. At 7 that morning, she, her husband, and son rang the doorbell and asked, “Weren’t you expecting us? Didn’t you get our letter?” They had written asking for breakfast after landing from an 8-hour flight from Ghana en route to Wimbledon. Penny, only 3 weeks this side of the due date for her baby, had to rustle up breakfast for 7 with no advance warning. I told her to sit down and put her feet up after the woman left, but she and her 6-year-old proceeded to make shortbread. Penny plays the clarinet and hunted up some duets for clarinet and piano. That was fun to sightread with her.

Monday our girls went to play with the girls from NJ – Nancy and Lynda M. The next day Kate, $, and I walked to the next town, Tadworth, via footpaths and met the M. family on the street there. We chatted for a few minutes, walked back to Walton, and met them walking down the street there! That afternoon the older girls were here, the younger ones floated between this house and Lynda’s, but had tea here. Wednesday all four had lunch and tea here, playing together 6.5 hours. They played well until the very end when the younger ones locked out the older ones. It was just as well they were busy getting ready to go to Holland to see the tulips in bloom; think they’d had enough of each other for a while.

Thursday we had all to ourselves. We drove to the supermarket in Banstead, the one the ladies usually go to from here. What a race track! I couldn’t stand to shop there all the time. Think I’d put it off until we were starving! We went early, found a parking place easily, but found the store full of rushing people. When we left, it took me ten minutes to maneuver out of the car park where 10 cars were lined up waiting for the next available space. Give me dear old Co-op any day!

EUREKA! We found crystal jelly!!!! Lisa was almost embarrassed at the way I carried on, but she was excited, also. We came right home and made it up. Have you guessed I’m talking of Jell-o? This is Royal brand, and it’s the first time we’ve found gelatin that is powdery – all the others are semi-solid, rubbery globs to be dissolved. This tasted better than their jelly, but not as good as real Jell-o. I’m going to make Jell-o once a week when we move back to the States!

We drove to a scenic place close to here, Box Hill, and took a short walk. It was very hazy; we must go back when we find a day that is crystal clear.

Kate, $, and I walked to Walton to do some shopping. We found a towel holder I’ve been looking for, flower seeds, a good pastry blender, and a salt pig! I asked for a cobweb brush and was told I was looking for a cornice broom. Live and learn.

Friday we shopped at Co-op, the freezer center, Boots, and a carpet store before picking Caroline up. She is the girl Lisa’s age who lived across from us in Reigate. She was here from noon Friday until afternoon Sunday. What a pleasant time we all had! Much of the time I hardly knew there was an extra girl here because all three would disappear together. Friday afternoon we again went to Box Hill for a longer ramble. The girls went down what felt like a mountain to the River Mole which has stepping stones across it. Several were out of place, they were afraid Kate would fall in, so they didn’t go all the way across. We must go there on a hot day to fall in – it’s only two feet deep and is considered a river!!! $ and I stayed toward the top of the hill for our walk.

Saturday John and Kate shopped in Epsom, a lovely town not far away with a fair-sized shopping area. He found lots of nice shops, and Lisa and Caroline were left here to enjoy themselves. Later the three from this house played outside with the three from next door. We had an impromptu tea party – six girls outside having “fizzy” drinks (soda) and biscuits (cookies) while the adults had tea inside. Jennifer and Vivien exclaimed over our new map of England. They said the counties are drawn differently on older maps and have longer names. Ours had Cambridge, Gloucester, Warwick, etc. where older maps show them with “shire” on the end.

They also told us more about this house. It was built in 1910. During the first world war, the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, lived in a house on the next street. Many of the big houses around, including this one, were rented by the cabinet members. There were private telephone lines linking them! Our neighbors haven’t found who rented this one.

After we finished tea, we asked if they would like to see the rest of the house. They jumped at the chance. They said English people don’t show their houses unless very good friends move to a new place. They were eager to see the lay-out here. We have servants’ bells, but they have the box in their kitchen. The bells still have their labels, though they no longer work. There was a day nursery and a night nursery! The girls are disappointed that they can’t use them to signal from our house to theirs!

This morning Caroline, Lisa, and I went to the earliest service at St. Mary’s. I wanted to get back to cook, and the girls to see the space shuttle take off. We’d watched the non-take-off Friday. John and Kate went to St. Peter’s where they were having communion. Kate was thrilled to see that everyone in the church went forward; she was so pleased to get a blessing when she went with John. They were also given crosses made from palms, though not nearly so elaborate as the ones Louise Koepchen makes in Setauket. I missed singing the Palm Sunday hymns.

Yesterday we invited our former neighbors to have Sunday lunch with us, since they had planned to pick Caroline up. They agreed and offered to bring the sweet. We knew we had to rush because their older daughter is singing Messiah in the same production we were involved with, but she has been going on Sundays. Everything was ready; we were just sitting down, and then we had to get up to watch the space shuttle take off. When someone mentioned THE WEDDING, Gillian said they were charged a pound extra for Caroline’s camp fee because the leaders decided to rent TV’s to put in the fields so they won’t miss the big event! When it was time for them to leave, Lisa pulled such a face that Gillian invited her to go home with them until after tea. That extended their visit by another four hours. All in all, we’ve had a very pleasant week of holiday.

England 40 Years Ago — April 5, 1981

Did I write about going to church last week? John and Lisa had gone to St. Mary’s for communion, and Kate and I to St. Peter’s for Evensong and sermon. We didn’t want to be late, so ended up being the first there. As we walked in, the man was standing in the aisle ringing the bell to call the worshipers and reached for the prayer books without missing a stroke. Kate wanted to sit in the very first pew, but I insisted that I’d rather sit halfway back so that we’d have someone to follow as to when to sit, stand, or kneel. The congregation behaved as so many do in the States – back fills up first. Wouldn’t you know no one sat in front of us? I had to keep my head turned slightly to see what to do!

Monday John, $, and I did the inventory of Tymberly with Mr. Wolters. It was a trying time. Mr. Wolters counted every fork, every doorknob, every vase. He was entirely correct to do it that way, but it took forever. The inventory for that house is a book, well filled. We did the initial inventory for Churchfield in half an hour, and it is only two pages.

Lisa came home asking about the spelling of “draft” – it is “draught” here, but pronounced draft. Can you imagine playing a game of draughts (checkers) in the same room with a draughtsman who is trying to eliminate draughts from under the door? Boggles my mind. John said they use “draught” in shipping, but it rhymes with “ought”. He’s right, it ought.

There is nothing like moving to change your view of things. In Stony Brook I mainly faced East; in Reigate, North; in Walton, South. The position referred to is that which faces the kitchen sink.

I tried the little butcher shop down the lane and found his meat to be good. He said he likes New York; spent a month with a friend in Hauppague!!! Small world!

April Fool’s Day behaved as you might expect – rain when we don’t need it. I had to use Liquid Paper on “need”. Couldn’t let you see that this typewriter first wrote it “kneed”.

I waited at Micklefield for Mr. Clewes, but because of the weather I can’t blame him for not coming. Went on to Co-op in Redhill, back to Walton to put away the groceries, to Reigate for a hair cut, to Walton, to Reigate to pick up the girls, and home. Then I fed $ and made Brownies for the girls to take to school the next day.

The last day of each term is only half a day. There is very little accomplished – they have an assembly to give out awards and at break time they have the eagerly awaited “feast”. Everyone shares all kinds of candies and cakes that they are forbidden to bring on all other days. Normally they are allowed to take only biscuits or fruit. All the children came racing out of school in high spirits, and I wonder how many mothers faced tummy aches later. Luckily, we didn’t.

The first day of freedom, Lisa slept late, and Kate went with $ and me shopping. Later the girls played in the garden with Georgina and Catherine (two of the girls next door). $ loved the freedom to chase Frizbees and taste delicious looking rocks.

Philipa, Kate, John $, and Lise in the back garden

Kate’s complaint whilst practicing her violin – “My hands are soggy!” It would be hard to play the violin with soggy hands, wouldn’t it? She and I finally decided she meant greasy.

Yesterday Jeremy (rental manager) took out one cabinet unit in the kitchen to prepare for the insertion of the dishwasher. I can hardly wait!

Today Lisa and I are going to St. Mary’s for the morning service. Kate and John will go to St. Peter’s for Evensong.

Good Friday, Behind the Scenes

I’m not normally in the choir at church for two reasons. I’ve lost half my range, and I’m a zombie when they have rehearsals in the evening. On Good Friday, John thought there were not going to be enough sopranos, so he asked if I’d be willing to sing with the choir. He knew I’d directed all the music at our last church and was familiar with it. I found it exciting to witness the action. Downstairs, all was serene and worshipful, but in the loft there was constant movement.

The organist put on shoes before going to the front of the church to accompany a cellist playing the prelude. John says she plays the pedals of the organ wearing socks and not shoes. My toes cringed at the thought. The organist’s daughter directed the choir. She normally directs music at the praise and worship service, but the music director is quarantined with his COVID-infected wife. What a time to be forced to stay home from your job! Heather was a marvelous substitute. While directing, she switched to singing alto, because there was only one other there. Grandson David does not show at the other end of the tenor section, and John was out of the picture. Perhaps you can see two people sitting before monitors as they were live-streaming the service. Another was downstairs with her phone, getting shots of the cellist and organist.

I turned to the front of the church where the young tech was videoing the people playing the prelude. The young man who does the audio had stepped away, but you can see his sound board all lit up. He plays the marimba next to the sound board. I don’t often hear that soft sound, but he usually plays when the congregation sings hymns. I was very impressed with the talents of all these people.

Despite the quiet hubbub upstairs, the service was very meaningful. As usual, we left the church in silence after the Bible was slammed shut. Requiescat in pace, dear Lord.

England 40 Years Ago — March 29, 1981

This has been a work week. I made a discovery as to the probable origin of the “sit in”. Years ago some woman was probably doing housework with a toddler helping by sitting wherever she wanted to clean. John $ helped in just that way.

Monday dawned early, but not bright. It had rained a lot; the car doesn’t take kindly to dampness, and it wouldn’t start. John walked to the station, but the girls stayed home from school. In the afternoon the rain let up so that Kate, $ and I could walk to the village to the greengrocer and to a tiny grocery down a footpath pointed out by a neighbor.

Tuesday we found an advert (they don’t say “ad” here) in the parish church magazine for car hire with driver. Had to pay $10 to get the girls driven to school! A young man came from a garage to try to start the car and succeeded, and I was able to get food and begin cleaning Tymberly (the first house we had).

Four days had roughly the same schedule (did you pronounce that right?). I dropped the girls off at school, shopped, cleaned the old house, had lunch, $ fell asleep in the car on the way to Churchfield (the name of our present house), and we went back to pick up the girls.

Gillian asked me over for a cup of coffee Thursday to get away from the grind for a few minutes. We had a lovely chat sitting in the sun in her kitchen. She served Brownies saying that since I gave her the recipe and some American baking powder, her children haven’t let her quit making them. I was able to go back across the street and work another two hours after a proper break.

Friday the door bell rang at eleven, and I opened the door to Gillian holding a tray with two cups of coffee and a square of coffee cake! Wasn’t that sweet? We sat in my sterile kitchen for that snack. A refreshing break can certainly make one attack the work with vigor afterwards.

A car pulled in front of Churchfield just as I was about to unload the last of the stuff from the other house. Dorothy M and her two daughters came to introduce themselves. They’re from New Jersey and are friends of our house mates. Her husband, John, grew up in Garden City and is the ranking officer of American Express for this area of the world. They’ve been here two years and don’t know how much longer they might stay – could be years more. The parents and younger daughter love it here, but the older one has taken longer to adjust. Nancy, almost 13, didn’t complain to me, but her mother said things had been rough with her. Lynda, 10, sounds like the British! She even eats the way they do. These two girls often play with Catherine and Philipa, so we hope to see more of them. They live down one street and through a short footpath. This village is so small that everything is within walking distance.

I got tickled at some of the stories Dorothy told. She said they often get lost, but don’t admit it to the girls. They say, “We’re practicing making u-turns.”

I gather I fared better than she did the one time I went to Sutton to try to shop. I couldn’t find anywhere to park and just turned around and came home. She said she got so turned around in all the one-way systems they have in that town that she couldn’t find her way back. After several u-turns she spotted a little old lady walking and asked her the way to highway 217, explaining that she needed to find her way back home. The lady said, “Well, dearie, if you came on the 217, take the 217 back.”

Yesterday John worked at Tymberly while the rest of us stayed home. He was scrubbing the walls and ceiling of the shower room and getting the furniture back in the right rooms.

[Below, the photo shows Kate and $ running in the back garden. Through the hedge you can see a glimpse of the modern house built by the owners of our house. They still have a nice bit of land defined by tall hedges.]

Kate, $ and I went for a walk. We checked the little Post Office store to see if they had a map of Walton, but they were out. The lady said there were never many with Walton and the best thing to do was to borrow one. I tried at the news agent with success – he had a whole pile of small maps, reached for one, opened it out to show me where Walton was, then snapped his head up to look at me and ask, “You’re not lost, are you?” That struck me as so amusing. He was simply sharing a map with me and suddenly became concerned with my welfare.

Kate wanted to stop at the greengrocer’s for fruit, but the place was mobbed. The shop is about as big as two bathrooms and with much more visibility outside looking in than when you can actually squeeze inside. My impression was that there were 20 people there, but there were more than likely only 5 or 10. We continued on to watch the swans and ducks, returned to the shop a few minutes later, and the place was empty! I’d much rather walk than queue up! We bought the fruit she was so hungry for and had some for lunch.

Lisa has given $ a new nickname which we found ourselves using more and more until Papa John heard it and banned it. Lise claimed $ made this sound, and from that she got his name. It’s “Beezoo”. Surely it’s not much worse than “Boopsie” (a name my uncle called me).

Today is Mother’s Day here. They refer to it as both Mother’s Day and Mothering Sunday. John wondered if that day was to honor all those who have mothered children, perhaps to include nannies. No answer on that as yet. Kate made paper flowers and a cutout doily at school, and Lisa did an arrangement of real spring flowers to bring me.

This morning Lisa and John went to St. Mary’s in Reigate for communion at the early service, and Kate and I plan to go to St. Peter’s around the corner for Evensong at 6:30. Lisa helped pack up the goldfish to move them and picked up a few more odds and ends at Tymberly.

The weather has been grey and dreary for weeks, it seems. Yesterday the sky was as blue as could be, and the sun shone nearly all day. We had all the windows open and ate a picnic in the garden. Today it’s back to grey. The flowers do show up well in this weather, however daffodils look brighter in dim light, I believe. There are lots of daffies in the orchard and some in the back. Jeremy, the owner’s son who is managing this place, said the greenery close to the kitchen window is honeysuckle. Flowering trees are showing color, I mean, colour. This week we should see a hint of green on trees.

John just cleaned out some of the boxes and the play pen from the upstairs hallway. The hall is narrow, but how wide it feels now with all the items scattered around the house!

Cat

We didn’t see Cat very often this winter, but she has begun coming out to walk with us again. This is the lovely animal whose owner said, “She belongs to my daughter, who named her Blake. I just call her CAT. My wife and daughter persuaded me to let the dog in the house, but this cat is never coming further than the garage.”

I tried to get a good picture of her this morning, but most of the ones I took were blurred because she was moving. She came running up her driveway and straight to me to be petted. After a good rub, I started walking, and she ran ahead. When she stopped, she looked around to make sure I would rub her again. This went on, in our usual fashion, until we were out of sight of her home. She got sidetracked by some interesting sight and rejoined me when I came back from the stop sign.

Cat has a bad habit of running in front of cars. Most of the people who live here know to watch out for her, and they creep past her. I don’t usually pick her up, because she hates it. This morning I had my hand on her, so I picked her up. It was awkward to hold her as she struggled, but I managed to wave at the driver. On the way home, I grabbed her again and waved. I know about six of the neighbors’ cars, and I didn’t recognize this one. It pulled slowly forward and paused as the window came down. A voice inside said, “You cheated.”

I laughed when I found myself looking at my son. He had heard stories of Cat, but this was the first time he saw me with her. Wouldn’t you know he’d catch me trying to protect her??

The Caesars

John opened the box from Amazon while I cleared the table after lunch. I wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing, and he suddenly said with conviction, “Lars is an excellent writer!”

We have been thrilled by his books before, so he was just underscoring something we already knew. John loves history, too, so he can compare Lars’ fresh words with the thousands of history books he has read through the years.

“Listen to this,” John said. “Unfortunately, in the bloodsport of Roman politics, money, ambition, and talent were necessary ingredients, and the elder Caesar lacked all three.”

This is one sentence from page two of The Caesars Vol. 1 by Lars Brownworth, published in 2021. When son John $pencer came in, John read aloud another sentence or so. $ put his name next on the invisible sign-up sheet to read the book. If anyone can bring dusty ancient history to life, it is Lars. I do not normally choose to read history, but my name is third on the list.

England 40 Years Ago — March 22, 1981

Just a quickie to let you know we did get moved. We had a beautiful sunny day — most unusual for this time of year. The weather and the men couldn’t have been nicer.

This past week I brought Mr. Clewes over here to see the garden. He noticed that the people behind us have a garden where not a blade of grass is out of place. Wouldn’t you know that’s where the owners of this house live?

Twice during an otherwise sunny day this past week, there was a mixture of snow and rain. After one episode I said to a sulky Kate, “Look! The sun is out again.” She grumbled, “No! I don’t want to look on the bright side.”

Kate was not sulky when she read a book to John $ in the old house. Kitchen shelf — two-thirds toys, one-third cookbooks.

Earlier in the week I came over several times to bring things to this house and do some unpacking of things already here. You should have seen me measuring a possible space for a dishwasher with John $’s help. He thinks the bendable metal is the greatest.

John $ at the old house. The bottle was empty. He still used a sippy cup to drink.

Both John and I went to school for the conference night for the older grades. All Lisa’s teachers say she is working at form level or above, but from the various things they said we don’t think she is exerting herself one little bit. She admitted the next day that she isn’t working more than she has to because she doesn’t want to. Grrrrr!

John and I have picked up a phrase that we’ve taken a fancy to. Here, instead of straightening things out or getting things settled, you sort them out. If you are muddled about something, you “sort yourself out” to remedy the problem.

The men came to pack for us on Thursday. I thought they’d do the china and crystal and thought nothing more about it. There were two who came, and they expected to put in several hours. I had to run around the house to separate rooms with them to point out what pictures and furnishings were to go and what was to stay. While they did other rooms, I organized the kitchen things by getting all the pots and utensils we’d need for the next two meals in one spot. I gave them sandwiches for lunch; they worked a little more, and then left.

Friday the same two men loaded everything into the van and pulled from the attic all the things of the owners that we’d stored. They pulled out about 12:30. We checked the house, stopped for sandwiches at the bakery, and came to this house. We waited and waited for the van and wondered what had happened to them. Finally they came with two more men they’d gone to pick up and they made short work of the unloading. We put $ in his stroller to watch the unloading and directed where everything was to go. They also unpacked! I was available when the china was done and was able to tell them where to put it. All the rest of the kitchen equipment was stuffed in drawers and cupboards. They did it in a logical manner, but not exactly where I wanted things. After they left at 5, I pulled everything out and re-stowed it. At the same time, John was re-doing all the books in the living room. We made a start on our bedroom and John’s room.

Gillian (neighbor across the street) had so kindly invited the girls to spend the night at her house and even insisted on picking them up from school!!! That left our minds completely free to concentrate on moving. I don’t know what state I’d be in now if I’d had to answer a thousand questions along with everything else. Gillian said she met some friends at Micklefield. Her daughter Caroline went there until just two years ago. We planned to get the girls Saturday morning, but Gillian insisted we come dressed in our work clothes at lunch time and have a meal with them! Nothing could have been kinder! We ate in the kitchen and had a lovely meal of beef and mushroom stew, leeks from their garden, mashed potatoes, green beans, and for dessert a choice of jelly (jello), applesauce, or fruit salad followed by coffee. It was so good to know we’d had a nourishing meal and I wouldn’t have to do more than get out sandwich materials for a later meal. Bless her!

I saw something in Gillian’s kitchen and couldn’t resist asking her about it. It was a funny ceramic thing, rather tall, but with the opening curved, rather like a curved pipe. She said it is a salt pig. It’s the only thing in which she can keep salt so that it doesn’t cake up. They are supposed to be readily available, so I’ll be looking for one. I never saw anything quite like it. [We still use the one we bought. This photo was taken in 2021.]

Shortly before the moving men left, Jennifer [neighbor who with her husband owns the other half of our rented house] came over to invite us over for a cup of tea. John said I needed a rest more than he did, so he kept $. I had a delightful time chatting with them. $ had fun climbing up and down the levels of steps in the moving van. The men left, $ went to bed, and we began to “sort things out.”

Today the girls and I walked to St. Peter’s for the 11 o’clock service advertised on their board in the front of the church. We wondered what was going on when we saw so many cars quietly parked and only four or five people waiting to go into the building. The board, we were told, was about 15 years old. The newer one had been taken down to be repainted with the new rector’s name. The hymn we were hearing was the end of the service we thought we were headed for. For years the main service has been at 10. Now we know. The man who gave us the information advised us to buy a parish magazine inside. Then he slipped in, handed us one, and refused to let us pay for it!

After dinner John went to Redhill for Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. He said it was glorious. The congregation got to sing all the chorales. There was even a tea break in the middle, and the people brought out their thermoses. He felt satisfied that he had truly worshiped.

This afternoon we cleaned up the old carriage we’ve lugged around with us and outfitted it with the stroller seat. We walked through the little village to the duck pond and down one footpath. This is going to be another facet of English life. A brisk walk of two minutes brings us within sight, sound, and smell of cows! We hear no traffic tucked back off the high street, and I doubt there is much, anyway. This may be the type of place where everyone knows everyone else. The shopping will be easy – small grocery, fruiterer, butcher, post office, two gift shops, hardware, dispensing chemist, blacksmith, luncheonette, two pubs and three or four antique shops are just around the corner. Don’t think I’ll buy anything at the blacksmith’s. This is so different from the traffic choked streets of Redhill and Reigate.

Our girls have still not met the girls we share the house with. I found out their names – Georgina, 15; Katherine, 12; and Philipa, 9. Don’t feel we can invite them in here until the entrance is free of its mountain of boxes.

The green door is ours. The red door is for the family with three girls. We have only half the house.

The house is old, don’t know how old, but the ceilings are quite high and the walls thick. We haven’t learned how things sound – I heard Kate calling me, and I had to search all over the house to find her. Turned out she was in the next room to begin with. We can’t hear $ crying if we are downstairs.

Back of the house. We have the sections on both sides of the back door.

The girls have a week and a half of school till the end of term. Then comes a month off. One week of that will be spent in Cornwall.

Nathaniel’s One Day Visit

Grandson Nathaniel came for two nights and one day to celebrate his birthday. One turns 21 only once in a lifetime, and it should be very special. I’m just going to imagine that we had a glittering party with friends and family in high spirits. The meal was an epicurean delight, ending with a luscious dessert without candles. Gifts were cute and amusing. Reality was going out for lunch and driving up to the Blue Ridge Parkway to find it socked in with heavy fog. We loved being with him, though.

David had Sunday off, giving him a chance to enjoy his brother. We walked along a paved trail with exercise equipment along the way. Some of the stations had instructions showing what could be done. David went for the high bar.

Nathaniel took a low bar.

They are very strong, and I doubt either of them ever spent much time in a gym. And to think, I have to exercise just to walk straight!