Wednesday August 6th

I was going to go into Easterby today with Mum at ten when Dad went to work, but since I didn’t get up in time I was left in bed. The telephone ringing reawoke me at ten o’clock – it was Uncle Kenneth asking for Nanna P. I told him that she had gone home. He then surprised me by asking me to hang on because “Nicola wants to talk to you.” She’s his kid by Shirley and she’s only about eight so whether she just likes using the telephone or what I don’t know.

For the rest of the morning I read (well, looked through) Dad’s book about Charles II by Antonia Fraser, which was quite interesting. Mum came home about two I suppose, and she was wet through. It rained constantly all day – not the heavy, battering variety but gentle, watering-can rain. She’d been to put Nanna P. some new curtains up.

I was pretty peeved to discover that I could, after all, have bought the “Field Guide,” because what I thought was just ‘loose change’ actually turned out to be £2.02½p. I now have £5.06½p.

Dad was on at twelve hours so only Andrew came home at six. During the evening I watched “Doctor Who” (Part 2 of “Destiny of the Daleks”!!) before playing “Moonflower” sides two and four upstairs. Side two must surely be the best LP side ever produced, and must be the nearest thing to a musical orgasm possible. It never fails to send shivers up and down my spine.

When “Newsnight” came on at about a quarter to ten it featured a thing about Hiroshima (the Bomb was dropped there today, 35 years ago) and the CND. It also discussed the arms race but I had to go upstairs. The whole thing is too frightening to contemplate.

One day I’ll join CND. Mum, Dad and I agreed, but we even started arguing over this. Dad became really hostile – it really doesn’t take much to send him up. Mum asked him what he thought they could do about all the plutonium, uranium etc., once (if) the nuclear warheads were dismantled. He got all unreasonable about it and said what relevance had that to the argument for disarmament. I just don’t believe it. He is so bloody weird at times! He also told Mum and I we were talking rubbish.

At 11.15 I watched “Sky at Night” for 20 minutes until I came to bed. A few minutes ago I could hear Mum and Dad arguing the point out again.

One thing I’ve noticed about this diary is how many fads I seem to go through – early on it was politics, now it is insects! (Looking back at June’s entries, all that blurb about Che Guevara seems so shallow and corny now – jumping on the trendies bandwagon).