Cloudy
My mother's diaries
rescues from the attic
long years after she
died
each one a Crown
Dairy diary
bought from the milkman
who left glass bottles
at our door.
There was no such thing
as semi-skimmed
or virtually fat-free
soya substitute
just gold top and blue
top
or the crown-capped
tall bottle of stera
(the only ones safe
from blue tits.)
Crown Dairy diaries had
helpful kitchen hints
like the best way to
hang pheasants
or how to make aspic
from a lamb's head
Remnants of post-war
frugality
in an alt.right Britain
where the local bobby
knew your name
and gave you back the
sixpence you handed in
to his little lost
property box.
1973 was the year I
turned ten.
I opened the pages
hoping for anecdotes
memories about the dogs
the vegetables
harvested
and building the
cedarwood greenhouse
but all she'd written
in her shaking cursive
were notes about the
weather.
Sunny. Hot. Cloudy.
Rain.
Frost again. Hail in
June.
Stormy. Sunny. Fair.
Hot.
24 degrees
minus 6
Coal.
5 comments:
Love this!
That had me reminiscing about the milk deliveries. We sometimes had 'baby orange juice' in small glass bottles. As an adult, I always bought my A5 diary from our milkman, full of recipes and helpful tips. I miss it. Sorry your birthday didn't get a mention!
Thank you kindly.
We used to have a baker, too, with a wicker basket of bread and cakes.
Love.
So often what we need isn't what we're given, and still we convince ourselves otherwise.
Truth, yes. Thank you.
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