… the two soldiers we’d invited from Duncton searchlight post arrived for Christmas dinner … they soon thawed and started a conversation which lasted for nearly ten hours (!) with breaks for meals. Dinner was magnificent with tomato soup, two pheasants and very fine pudding. Also parsnip wine. zfl zso zad zhy zfd zcl
… tea, to which David and a bloke staying with him came, then more conversation, then supper, with an excited harangue by Margaret on Socialism, supported by rest of family. … at last they left—they’d enjoyed it all immensely, and we’d enjoyed most of it. The strain of following George’s [one of the soldiers] talk was terrific—he told hundreds of (some very funny) anecdotes with a Cockney accent through closed teeth. He was a builder. Ted was a woodworker from Dagenham—quiet and sensible and kind, and he agreed with socialism. … an exhausting but happy Christmas day. zfr zfl zpn zso zcl zgk zop
Saturday 26th
… I helped Margaret pin out rabbit skins [to make gloves] until 11 o’clock … We did the animals after tea and then were cosy and lazy … in the drawing room—we sewed or knitted while Daddy read ‘War and Peace’ [aloud]. zfl zcf zdc zpt zbn
Tuesday 29th
… I took my mattress out to my house after lunch, and spent part of the afternoon there, reading my old diary. I withstood the temptation to burn it. … zdw
Thursday 31st
Much milder, and it had rained in the night. … Daddy and I went for a short stroll—along the stream and down through the fields to the white bridge, where we played Pooh-sticks. After lunch Francis came in; he has been told to find other agricultural work on a nearby farm within ten days. A blow. zwr zfl zgn zwn zco zhk
We are going to try to prevent it, for without him we’d have to sell most of the livestock and let the garden go; Mommy would have to stay here or we’d have to let Glatting go; Francis has never worked on a zwr zco zhk zpt
