I'm Staying

  CHAPTER 26   ENGLAND   NEW ADVENTURES IN THE REAL WORLD Verrrrry cold!!!!! In our last week at the estate, we managed to find a holiday home in the village where my sister lives in Gloucestershire.   The owner, being a dog lover was happy for us to bring Paddy and we were able to rent on a monthly basis during the winter months. The Man with a Van transported our furniture to a storage depot in Gloucester and we settled in for the winter in our little country cottage. We decided to register for benefits and visited the nearest Job Centre where we were interviewed and approved for what is known as Job Seekers’ Benefits.   This meant that as long as we were actively seeking work the Government would pay us a small amount to assist with living expenses until such time as we were once again gainfully employed.   At this stage we were still confident that we’d find work quickly.   We had our earnings from our previous jobs and our benefits...

  CHAPTER 22   ENGLAND   A BOTTLE OR TWO   John was in charge of sorting the rubbish and taking the various bins to the road for collection once a week.   All the bins were kept in a garage and were colour coded for glass, plastic or paper. Each day he would empty the large paper basket in the house and the compost from the kitchen which went to the compost heap. But he never once had to remove any empty bottles from the house. Each morning the bin for glass bottles would fill mysteriously before we got to work, with six or seven various empty wine bottles. A creature of habit, Lady Felicity would take the dogs for their first walk of the day at 7.30am.   Always dressed in her country green outfit of tweed and custom designed wellington boots, together with her hat, stick and whistle, she’d have the dogs on their leads in one hand and a large cloth carrier bag in the other.   One day we watched as she sneaked around the corner of th...

  CHAPTER 20   ENGLAND   MEETINGS Planting hyacinth bulbs for Christmas in priceless bowls   From the day we started working we were called in for a daily meeting with Sir Duncan. Lady Felicity would be in attendance, sitting very importantly with her notebook and pen poised, now in her role of “secretary”.   And so the tedious discussions would begin. When I say discussions they were mostly very one-sided with us making a comment now and then merely to show that we were still awake. Oh how we dreaded those meetings! We soon understood that this was Sir Duncan's “business” and not actually a garden as we had been led to believe. Every single item in the garden, forests, glasshouse, conservatory, and propagator had to be labeled and listed in various books with reference numbers, dates, and botanical names and in some cases where it had been obtained from. Each plant was then closely analysed at these meeting; “Is there a leaf at the top of that...

  CHAPTER 21   ENGLAND   THE MICE In our early days at the estate when we were bombarded with information, advice, and orders, we were instructed to set mice traps in the glass house to catch any mice who might dare to take a nibble out of Sir Duncan’s figs. We were to bait these traps with cheese and check first thing each morning to collect dead bodies and reset traps. At first I absolutely refused to have anything to do with this cruelty but I could see we were fighting a losing battle with people who like nothing better than to kill anything that dares to trespass on their property, be it moles, voles, squirrels, mice, rats, flies, wasps etc etc. John was too busy and needed my help and so I ended up with this unenviable task. Each little body I removed from a trap, I silently apologised to.   Meanwhile the figs were ripening faster than the Lord and Lady could ever eat them or the cook could turn them into jam and I felt so guilty killing these little ...

  CHAPTER 19   ENGLAND   THE GLASS HOUSE   On arrival at the estate we were very impressed with the size and possibilities of the large glass house.   Not so with the contents though. Along one side grew tomato plants with dead and mouldy leaves, in the centre were pots containing cucumber plants also looking very weak and diseased.   Opposite the tomato plants were seedling trays containing green pepper plants having long outgrown their little containers.   There were other dead and dying plants in various pots and the whole area was thickly infested with white fly.   So much so that when we brushed a plant we were immediately enveloped in a white cloud and in danger of inhaling them. The other end of the glass house contained a grape vine, two peach trees, and a fig tree.   All of these plants were also full of pests and disease although the fig tree was at least bearing some fruit. My instructions were to ensure one end s...