BOOKS, TV, AND HOMELY PURSUITS
The sitting room with the white Braun gramophone
W E D N E S D A Y, 6 S E P T
There’s nothing nicer than sitting on the terrace in the hot sun, reading. I read the first six stories of ‘The Garden Party,’ all good. My favourite is ‘Miss Brill’.
Did lots of flower arrangements I’m very pleased about. A big one in pinks and mauves for the dining-room; pinks, mauves and whites for Daddy in the study; a dainty one on the table in the sitting-room in oranges, yellows and whites; and one on the sitting-room desk of white and red dahlias.
Chump and me looked through all my 'Salut les Copains' to find a picture of Polnareff wearing white plimsols with yellow laces (which Chump wears a lot only she hasn’t got the yellow laces yet) but we could only find him in black plimsols with yellow laces.
I tried on all my winter dresses and I can’t get over how lengths have changed - even since APRIL!
“Really it is staggering. ”
My pale blue dress is distinctly long and my orange one is quite unwearable; I’ve turned it up 3" with pins and it’s a huge improvement. My bloomy dress is a perfect length. I turned it up seven months ago and Ma and Pa thought it was too short, now I’m glad I took the plunge. I’ve also put poppers on the sleeves so they’re tight, not belled - it makes a huge difference.
Saw on TV this marvellous competition (called 'It’s A Knockout') held between England, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland. In one race each team was a Loch Ness monster – ten men crawled along in a Loch Ness monster suit which had to climb up slopes, down steps and all over the place! Chump and me were in stitches. Germany won in the end, huge cheers from the audience. Not surprising since it was held in Germany.
"Although this short story spans only a few pages, Katherine Mansfield has managed to capture in them so much of life’s sorrow, longing, pathos, failure, hope, desire and disappointment, all of which echo through the mournful music of Miss Brill’s unsung song." - Jessica Whyte on 'Miss Brill'
