Letters from a Jersey Mother 1956-61

15 January 1961 My dear Len and Margaret Sunday 7:15pm. Although I’m taking a sheet of writing paper I will not get on with it very much. Margaret and Charles will now be here anytime. The weather has been very cold today with an easterly wind. In fact it look like if we should be having snow, but I don’t think so now, although they have given the weather as cold tomorrow. Anyway here we are just on halfway January. Once this month is out we will start looking for better weather and the days a little longer. Still we haven’t got the right to grumble when we know the bitter weather they are having in England and other places. We are well to compare with them who are shiffering (sic) with cold and snow and ice. We were later having breakfast this AM, it was 10.35 when we sat at table. Well really it’s early enough for a very cold Sunday morning. We had our toast as usual. I worked on my Canadian letters this morning. I was writing on the dining room table when Roselle decid...

8 January 1961 My dear Len and Margaret Sunday 10 to 8pm. It’s not a nice evening, so Margaret and Charles are not going to turn up. Many thanks for your nice and interesting letter saying all about your Christmas holidays [1] . You all seem to have had a very pleasant time and a nice meal,  also nice gifts. We are pleased that you liked your skirt and cardigan. Yes the cardigan was chosen to go with your skirt. We are pleased that Susan liked her basket, we all liked it too.  Your Christmas was a little spoilt by poor Roselle sickening for mumps and having ear ache. It was a pity for her really. Mumps are very nasty and as you say complications set in which made it worse. We are pleased that she is better again. The photo you sent of Roselle is very good, she certainly has grown, she still has her smile. Her outfit skirt and jumper looks very nice. You say you had been to midnight mass also Susan. It was nice to have your neighbour friends to go with you an...

3 January 1961 My dear Len and Margaret Here we are in the New Year and this is my first letter to you, first of all we all want to wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 1961. We hope you will all keep in good health.  What must I start by saying? I will start to say this, we have an addition to our home at Yaralla. It happened like this. As you know we were all at Kay’s on New Years day for lunch and supper. During the afternoon they gave us each a gift. Arthur brought Roselle’s gift near her in a big cardboard box with the top open. She looked in and thought she saw something moving. Anyway she brought out of this box a very nice cage with a lovely Budgie in it. She didn’t know what to say, naturally she was very pleased with this gift, so now we have this bird in the dining room on the radiogram. We call him “Joey”. He’s only a few weeks old. He’s full of life too. This means a toy for Roselle. It thundered a little during the night, Roselle wondered if J...

26 December 1960 My dear Len and Margaret Christmas is now far away. We spent a very nice time all together, every one in good form. They kept on singing away, going from one room to another, but they mostly kept in the kitchen where poor Roselle was busy with her cooking. I felt sorry for her, the singing you could almost have heard from Corbiere. They kept on until lunchtime, this made us forget the Queen’s message at 1pm, anyway we had a recording of it later on. It’s nearly always the same kind of message, isn’t it? It was nearly 2 o’clock when we sat at table for lunch and 3:30 when we finished. Oh before I go further I want to thank you all for the lovely gifts you sent us. My stole is really beautiful and so warm. It’s really a good wrap, many thanks indeed for such a lovely gift. Dad is also very pleased with his nice tie. He, as usual, wants me to thank you, it’s his place to do so himself. I don’t know how long you would have to wait for his thanks. Of course ...

12 December 1960 My dear Len and Margaret Mon eve. I have just finished my Canadian letters. They should have been mailed this AM as they usually are, but you know with Christmas being so near, I have been busy with other things. I think I had mentioned in my last letter to you that we had received Len’s letter but too late to answer it. Has Len got over his anxiety about his lunches and dinners.   I feel there is no sense in having so many functions in one week, neither is so much rich food good for the health, so Len in future think better of it and spread these functions, (if you must have them), far away from each other, I think it would work better. It’s nice to know that you got on well with your speeches. Fancy Len, Mr Cohen thinking of giving you a radio for your car. I’m sorry to say but I don’t approve. A radio in a car is enough to distract a person from taking enough notice to his driving, and may be the cause of causing accidents. Len, tell Mr Cohen t...

27 November 1960 My dear Len and Margaret This is Sunday AM 11.45. We were very late in getting up and of course in having breakfast, which was 10.45. Still I enjoyed my toast just the same. I don’t think I will feel very hungry for lunch. I have started a new pad of writing paper for this letter, it’s a pad that Charles made up for me from odd pieces of paper. It’s quite a thick pad too, he also made me a second one. I was in two minds which one to use, I chose this one. The other one is thicker paper and ruled, it’s a very good paper, so now I’m well fixed up with writing paper. We had a heavy shower of rain at breakfast time, I think there was hail mixed with the rain. Now the sun is coming out, the forecast yesterday was there would be showers of snow in Scotland. I hope you are not going to have snow so early. Roselle starts on her week’s holiday tomorrow. I am supposed to go to town with her in the morning. It’s going to be a busy week doing Christmas shopp...

21 November 1960 My dear Len and Margaret Monday eve. 7:15. Here I am with your letter which I would like to finish this eve while we are on our own, because it’s not often we are alone. I went to town this AM in the hopes to do some Christmas shopping. I did nothing, it’s more than difficult to know what to buy or what to give each one, therefore I went to town to do some business. I came back as I had gone. How we are going to get on with Christmas shopping I cannot say.   Next week we must send to Canada, therefore we must wake up. Roselle went back to work today, I wanted her to stay at home for at least a couple of days longer, but useless, she said this eve that her throat felt dry. I hope she has not caught cold. Tomorrow our usual weekly outing will be visiting instead of going out for a drive, though we will probably go on a little drive paying our visit. We will be going to Muriel and Bob Wood, they want us to go and see their new bungalow which is...

19 December 1960 My dear Len & Margaret Monday eve. This is really a too busy week for writing.  I have made my Canadian letters rather brief.  I went to town this A.M. I still had a few purchases to do, so took advantage of the dry weather, though there was a shower while I was in town.  I don't find it looks like Christmas in town, business is not over good. I guess the next few days will be a rush. Margaret wants me to go to town on Thursday A.M. but I doubt if I will go. My money is spent so I must stand by now.  I'm not sure if I have told you what I bought with my club books, with my tea cards & in number. I bought 7 lbs. of tea, this I will keep as a standby for some time. For my food store I bought 12 tins of salmon & of crab, 6 large tins of sliced peaches, 3 small ones, 6 large tins of apricots, 6 tins of sardines, 2 tins corned beef, 1 tin chocolate biscuits, 2 jars apricot jam, 2 tins Scottish broth soup. Then after Roselle...

30 October 1960 My dear Len & Margaret Sunday AM. This is a rainy morning but not cold. I would like the weather to clear up. Roselle and Margaret are going to ‘Sandiway’ this afternoon to put a bunch of flowers on Kay’s table in the lounge to greet them on their return home tomorrow at noon. They are also going to take a cake and some butter. Kay will do her shopping tomorrow afternoon. They will have lunch at the airport when they arrive. Kay phoned last night, they were staying with Ron (Canada) till tomorrow when they return. I think they have had a fairly good holiday but the weather was not too good. Some days it simply poured with rain, but they have been taken out to lunch and dinner a few times. This gave them some enjoyment, also Kay has been troubled with nose bleeding which she found very unpleasant. She had a similar thing a few years back. She had to see the doctor about it, he burnt some obstruction in her nose to stop the bleeding. Kay thinks this is th...

25 October 1960 My dear Len & Margaret This is now 11AM and I’m sitting down to make a start on this letter. If I don’t press on it you may not get one this week, (I guess too bad). This eve Doreen and Nick will be coming, then Wednesday Dad and I will be going to Les Augerez to lunch. We will come back at 6 o’clock in the eve. Roy Fauvel and his wife will be coming to spend the eve and this letter has to be mailed on Thursday AM so you will understand the hurry. By the time you get the letter you will know about Aunt Marie’s death which took place yesterday at 4.45. These last days her death was expected, it’s marvelous how she has lived so long. She must have been a strong person. At the same time it’s a relief that she has passed away and very peacefully. She was always in   the same position each time we went to see her, also she never complained, we don’t think she suffered pain. They kept her very tidy and clean at the hospital. The funeral will take p...