Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine

Letter from Ursula Valentine to her husband John Valentine

Discusses baby's christening plans. Mentions she was pleased to receive his letters and other domestic matters. Catches up with family member doings. Reports that her daily help is leaving and she will try advertising for a new one. Continues with news and gossip of family, baby and activities.

1941-09-08

Four page handwritten letter

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[underlined] No. 23 [/underlined]
Lido
Monday 8th Sept.
[inserted] [underlined] PS [/underlined] Have sent photo to Miss Seaton. [/inserted]
My darling Johnnie,
Two letters arrived from you today, dated Thursday & Friday. I think it’s a sound idea to get in touch with Roy about the christening & I have sent on your letter to him straight away. I suppose, if he accepts, that we have the ceremony here in the house, since you surely can’t borrow a church from under another parson’s nose? In which case I shall have to rig up an altar. The airraid [sic] shelter would make a topical one. However I am asking Roy for hints in that direction in case he will undertake the job. We should doubtless only ask the near relations, so it wouldn’t be a large party, or were you thinking of having sundry friends as well? It is a definite advantage for the baby to stage the affair at home, because its far less tiring & upsetting for her. I do very much hope that your people will be able to come on the day that
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is convenient to Roy, if any. Perhaps Irene could honour us too. Peter will have gone back then of course.
I invented the expression “Ferry Command”, but evidently you knew what I meant.
Your second letter No 28 (which by the way was postmarked 6 a.m 6 Sept 41 at Ramsey) was a great comfort to me. You are a darling & I love you tremendously.
I’m sorry the tie as renovated by Mrs Stenzel isn’t a success. I’ll try to buy you a new one here if you can’t get a second one from the store, but of course it costs coupons so I’ll wait & see if you are successful first. I hadn’t the heart to stop her, she was so keen to make it nice for you. Peter brought down some trousers with frayed turn-ups, and she had darned them most elaborately with her own hair which matched the grey exactly. I should have cut the turn-ups off & put them on inside out, but she insisted on this elaborate & pelican-ish method.
Peter is as full of beans as ever. I prepared a list of things that wanted mending &
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seeing to, and he is ploughing steadily through it. He thinks he can solder your silver pencil satisfactorily too, up at the works. Tho’ it will mean that you won’t be able to keep spare leads in it because of course he can’t solder it outside as that would spoil the thread. He is longing to put up the shelter but we can’t do that till Mrs Stenzel leaves as there’d be no where to put Dorothy unless I took Frances into my room for a bit. However Mrs S. expects her permit from day to day & will have to leave in a hurry when it does come.
Woe! woe! Mrs Davidson is deserting me! She & her family are going to live out at Dunstable nearer her husband’s work, so I am back where I started from. It really is tragic, she is much the best woman we’ve ever had in the house. I shall try advertising again. If only Mrs Stenzel weren’t leaving soon as well the outlook wouldn’t be quite so black. Just when you are coming on leave too. I should
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have liked to have been immediately free from housework then. However, there’s nothing to be done about it.
Dorothy is terribly thrilled because she went up for her first flip yesterday, in a Dragonfly as far as I could make out. She knows nothing about aircraft yet. She now works in the hangars cleaning out the larger planes & likes the work much better.
Yesterday Mrs Hillman & Chris came to tea to inspect Frances. Mrs H. is a very nice motherly woman, we got on very well together & she was enchanted with Frances. [deleted] Afterwards [/deleted] [inserted] In the evening [/inserted] Chris came back & we all played rowdy games of cards, including Dorothy, even descending to Newmarket in the end. It was great fun. Yesterday morning Peter & Ba went blackberrying on the motor bike but there were none ripe & they only got some elderberries which Mrs S is making into jam. It’s lucky for us she’s been here during the jam making season, miserable tho’ it is this year, because she’s very good at it & I shouldn’t have had much time.
Frances has redeemed her poor effort last week & put on 7 oz this time, bringing her up to 17 lbs. I am giving her raw carrot juice now as there are no oranges.
Just one more thing that would be most acceptable if you can get it there – [deleted] Bom [/deleted] Bay Rum – large bottles.
We’re having a lovely second crop of roses just now, hurry up & come & enjoy them too. All my love to my dearest one
Ursula.