Letters from a Jersey Mother 1956-61

19 October 1959 My dear Len and Margaret Monday Evening. We are now having more winter weather. Saturday evening was dreadful, it blew to gale force, with heavy rain, trees were blown down in the country, and telephone lines were brought down. We have not had such an evening since last winter. It blew quite hard yet yesterday, but nothing to what it was on Sat. our chrysanthemums that were in full bud are all nipped off. There are no buds left, I can just cut down the stalks now. The geraniums have suffered quite a lot. I’m not the only one to which this has happened. Although there was such a gale outside we had an enjoyable evening. Roselle treated the family to a little dinner at the Grand Hotel. The reason for this was that Roselle had received one of her insurances so on the strength of this she decided to give a little dinner. We had a very nice meal, but there was a disappointment, Charles was not there with us, he is not well at the moment. He is laid up for some ...

1 September 1959 Dear Len  + Margaret Tuesday A.M. Not that I have really the time to write this A.M. It's just to give me a few minutes rest. I have extra work to do now that is helping Dad to dress etc. Also he used to do quite a bit of little things which fall on me now. His arthritis does not seem to be improving very much, in fact this A.M. he told me he thought I would have to wash him & help him to get ready to go to town. He is going for treatment at 12 'o clock noon. He has a long way to walk there & back, this fellow is in St. Marks Rd. He's properly fagged out when he gets home at lunch time. I make him rest on the couch after dinner, with trouble of course. Still he does. I wish he would start to improve. I've told Roselle to tell Kay that we will not go for our usual drive this afternoon. Dad does not want to but knowing Kay she may insist that we can go. I want to thank you both for the nice tin of biscuits you gave Roselle to bring us....

18 August 1959 My dear Len and Margaret Tuesday AM Here I am sitting to do a bit of writing, just make a little start on this letter. First of all will you please thank Mrs Booth (Mum’s mum) for the nice picture card I received from her yesterday, this will be another addition for my album. Please tell her I will be writing to her one of these days, how long is Mrs B going to be with you? I guess the two ladies are enjoying themselves and that they can manage to have some good weather. I have an idea that your summer has not been over good, which is a pity. Roselle started on her holidays yesterday. She is starting with good warm weather. I hope for her sake it will continue to be so. She needs some fresh air before she goes back to work. Kay took her and Margaret out yesterday for the afternoon. They went to La Pulente. In the morning Rose went to the hairdressers, after that she took the twins out to coffee, then made a few errands and came home. She has gone to town ...

14 August 1957 My Dear Len and Margaret This is Wednesday evening. The Washing up is just over. Doreen is ironing, Roselle is pottering around doing different little things. We are still having very unsettled weather, the last weekend was very stormy blowing half a gale at times and rain. Today has been a rainy day. No doubt the St Aubin’s people are getting rather anxious for tomorrow, they are holding their annual fete, I must say they are not very lucky as a rule. They always have this fete the week after the Battle of Flowers,. Kay and Arthur will be helping, not that they wanted to, but they have been told now that they are living in the parish of St Brelades it’s their duty to help. I think Kay will be helping with the teas. I also think Arthur will help in the beauty competition to choose Miss Jersey. He will be all right there don’t you think? Kay told the two girls here (Roselle and Doreen) that if they were very short of helpers, she might ask them to help. I do...

10 August 1959 My dear Len & Margare t Monday 3.30 My Canadian letters are about through. I may just add a little extra news tomorrow on them.  Today is a kind of special day at home. This is our 56th "Wedding anniversary"'. Dad & I had a bit of a surprise when we came downstairs.  There had been no talk about our W. Anniversary, in fact I had not thought of it until this A.M. when I woke up. I happened to wonder what was the date of the month for today, I found out it was the 10th. Still this date had no meaning for me at all. Somehow or other I thought of it again, then I did suddenly find that it was our W.A. I told dad about it & that was all. Then before breakfast congratulations for us arrived. I asked Roselle what did all this mean. She said first just look at some of the cards & you will know, but she said just listen to this. I will tell you that we are taking you out to dinner this eve, which means all the family is taking us out. She wou...

13/7/1959 My Dear Len and Margaret This is Monday eve. I will start by saying especially for Len’s benefit that his Mother is again at her writing desk and still using his unloved paper, [1] with it all he may be pleased to read the letter, though there is no news of importance. Now then what can I find to say? I’m sure I don’t know what to say. Oh yes, I’m sure I do. It’s that there hasn’t been a letter from him this last fortnight, maybe the heat has upset him. In that case I will forgive him because I also feel very miserable in the heat. One thing I will say which is unusual for me is that I am wearing a nice red carnation while I am writing. Dad and Rose looked at me in astonishment when I came in, they were very surprised that I had picked one. The reason I picked it was because the petals were beginning to fall, so I thought it was of no use leaving it pull on the root, and also it was too nice to throw in the dustbin. I thought it wiser to wear it, those who pass the ...

16.6.59 My Dear Len and Margaret This is Tuesday AM and I’m sitting down to my writing. This is a fine morning, though there’s a fresh wind. Thanks for nice letter received on Saturday AM. We notice how Len is interested reading about the stock markets. I don’t blame him, this is a man’s reading, especially for a man who is in the kind of business as Len is. It keeps him in touch with these things (a person like Mother would not understand anything about it). I’m not sure Dad is up to it either. Len is the one who understands. I guess Margaret is not very interested but then this is not the kind of reading that appeals to her. We see you are still in Scotland, no further news from Manchester.  Len is wise to make sure before changing his present job, these days everyone has to be careful not to take a wrong step. Ah Len, what an untrustworthy man that Mr Bayley is, fancy stuffing you with the tale that he had left home that A.M. in a hurry and had left without mo...

08.6.59 My Dear Len + Margaret This is only Monday evening. I will make a little start on this letter. First of all & before I forget I want to thank Len for the nice picture card I received from him while he was in the 'Isle of Skye'. Very nice of him to have sent us one. One more for my album. I must admit though maybe it sounds rather rude, but I was expecting one from there. I would have been disappointed if he had forgotten to send one, many thanks. Roselle + I are a bit disturbed this evening. Dad is not disturbed, as you know he wants a lot to make him worry. Anyway this is the story. While we were still at the tea table two fire engines passed going St. Aubins way. We imagined there was a fire somewhere. Then a number of ambulances started to pass, also going St. Aubin's way. After a while they passed back towards town, but came back again. We are now imagining that it might be a plane that has come down at the airport. Mrs. Falle told me she heard a pl...