Rose Croft, Brentwood - Mundane 24th April 1972

Dear Old Goatherders, Now isn't this a suprise! A red letter day from once ailing Celia and the usual note concerning B.R. from David. Thankyou. You've had your fun, now it's my turn to be ill ! I have a nasty cold from standing up to my ankles in Thames slime - on Sunday we went treasure hunting at West Tilbury, and jolly good it was too, but Dinah and Lynne wanted to go because it was cold and they didn't like the way the wind was blowing their hair about, so we didn't stay long. I would have been quite happy to "beach comb" all day! Nobody found anything fantastic, no chests of pirate gold dubloons or such but some interesting finds you'll agree. Sniff! Bleugh! Bill got some old pre-war beer bottles ( I think he wanted them for the dregs still in the bottom!) and lots of broken pots and junk to leave on the doorstep. Ed got similar stuff. Ed's friend John didn't get anything nor did L & D. This is when a permenant stoop comes in useful! I got loads ( a jam jar full ) of lovely swirly coloured glass marbles. Two stone ones! Wow - heavy man! Also found lots of china dolls heads imbedded in the mud as the tide went out. Obviously they had bodies at one time, but I could not find any trace of them. One tiny dolly is complete however and it is the best thing I found there, a real piece of treasure! Besides these, I got the usual collection of bottles ( little coloured medicine sort ) and eartheware pot. There was also some nice metal cigarette signs that said "20 for 4d" and things like that but too heavy to carry back over the two miles of council dump and bumpy fields to the van. Cough! Splutter! Sniffle! Still on the subject of latest aquisitions - at some jumble sales on Saturday I got some nice books - "The Water Gypsies" by A. P. Herbet, " A Cornish Childhood" by A. L. Rowse, "Chinese Cheesecake" by Peking Tom, "Orlando" by Virginia Woolf, "The Lurking Fear" by H. P. Lovecraft and and and a 1927 "Rainbow" annual. When are you coming over to the Hatch to visit me again eh? No time long see! We went to Weald Park last night to hear the ducks in the moonlight. Real spooky it was, what with Edwin hiding in the undergrowths and screechin' like a castrated pig and all ! The dark wood was full of shadowy shapes. When is your magnificent partridge to be? O great white wonder? In between? Twixt? Sniff! Sniffy-sniff! Drip! The Onion Shop Is still open, but not for long........Dinah hitches to Southend every day now, cos she can't afford the fare. One night last week she gave us a nasty shock when she didn't get back at her usual 7pm. and we thought she'd been dragged off by a maniacal lorry driver to suffer a fate worse than death! Anyway at 10pm as we were about to go to the police, who strolls cheerily up the garden path? Yes, old smilin' D. saying "I didn't realise it was so late, caught the slow bus to China". Of course enraged by this feeble excuse we beat her to a pulp! ( not really ) Do you watch the Marx Bros. of Fridays? Good eh? Lynne plans to go "mail order" advertising in trendy mags and trendy papers, amking dresses and stuff personal to requirements!? Ed's selling badges to Harrods and Miss Selfridge - so am I. ( Cut out on old wobbly fret work machine ) get you yacts straight! NEXT DAY. We dug a bit of garden up today to plant vegetables, seeds and "live off the land" and all that commune jazz. After about an hour and 6 square feet and 4 blisters later I collapse exhausted. Hey Dave, why don't you take a holiday whilst theose idiots are messin' about (B.R. strikes ) You'll start getting ulcers if you haven't got 'em all ready!