My first year in South Africa - October 1952

October
Brian took us out for a drive round to see the jacaranda trees in bloom. They were apparently planted about 40 years ago. Such a pretty colour lilac and quite a sight.

There always has to be a problem when dealing with Mrs B. We are expected to go over to Yeovil every Saturday for dinner after which we play Canasta. Ann had an upset stomach last week. She has been on semi solids for about a month now and had been  doing so well so think it must be an gastric infection.
I tried to put off going over to Yeovil on the second evening of this upset having seen the doctor about it in the morning. He advised no solid food and only boiled water for a day and the following day mashed banana which has been allowed to go brown. This would starve the bacteria in her stomach.
While we were playing Canasta Ann grizzled a little every now and then and Mrs B asked what medicine I was giving Ann and I told her the doctor had not prescribed any but had advised me on what I should do. She said I was starving Ann and should use some medicine she used when John was a baby. John said nothing all this time. Eventually she was saying I had no idea of how to after a baby and I should be taking her advice.
After trying to dry nappies for several days because of the bad weather plus having been up for the last two nights several times I was in no mood to be told how to do things. I told her I would stick to the doctors advice because he was the expert. She said I was being cheeky so, having had enough, I picked up Ann and walked out to the car asking John to bring the carrycot and Walter to take us home. W came out to persuade me to go back in saying that she had a bad heart and was having palpitations and virtually blaming me for them. Then John came out to tell me his mother was having a heart attack. She has called wolf on so many other occasions to get her own way that I didn’t believe a word of it. For once I was not prepared to give in and we went home.
The following lunch-time, there was a knock at the door and she and W stood there. She looked at me as though I was about to hit her and put on an act of such contriteness and humility, hanging her head and then looked at me with pleading eyes, asking if they could see Ann. I found her manner totally unbelievable and had to prevent myself laughing but  gave in. I doubt it is the end of our disputes over Ann though.
Recently I confided to Pat, who lives on the top floor, that if Mrs B has the opportunity she will take Ann away from me for she treats her as though she were hers not mine.

November

It has been extremely difficult to keep food cool especially since September when it really starts to get hot. Milk goes off very quickly as do cooked foods and butter melts in the heat meaning we have to finish everything off on a daily basis or throw it away.  We needed a refrigerator especially in view of Ann’s recent tummy upset.
I was not allowed to go along to choose one and Mrs B bought one at the Bothner’s shop in Jhb because they get a discount. I was expecting something quite small, table top height but when it was delivered I found it was a six foot high Kelvinator which holds 8 cubic feet of food. It’s massive.

Madge’s husband Doug went missing for over a week and she didn’t know where he was. He  turned up and she refused to let him in. His mother lives in the flat above and went up to see her.  Madge sent her maid down to ask me to come up to be with her because she decided she’d had enough and she was going to tell him she didn’t wanted a divorce and she was worried about how he would react. Dolly, her mother in law, arrived with Doug and they talked for a while but Madge was quite determined. Dolly begged her to take him back and he, of course,  vowed undying love and that he never to be unfaithful again. I could see that Madge was unwilling for this to happen but Dolly practically forced her physically into Doug’s arms saying ‘Go on, kiss and make up’ until eventually Madge gave in. I feel so sorry for her.

 November 27

John was out at his fencing club and I was in bed with flu when someone rang the doorbell. I checked first to make sure I knew who was there and found it was Madge’s husband, Doug. I thought something had happened to Madge or one of the children. He asked if John was in. I told him he was expected back soon.  ‘Quickly,’ he said ‘let me in’. I thought someone was after him but it turned out he didn’t want to see John at all. Then he started telling me about the troubles in his marriage. Next thing I knew he had his arms around me and was trying to kiss me. He stank of drink and whilst he was not being violent he was being insistent and I had to fight him off and told him to leave. When he refused I told him that if he didn’t I would start to scream and this changed his mind but he didn’t want to go out of the front door in case Dolly saw him and left via the stoep. Poor Madge.

November 30

Madge said Doug had left again and had gone down to Durban to work.

December

I had been told that in summer it rained in Johannesburg at about the same time each evening, between 5 and 5.30. It was hard to believe that rain could be so regular. It’s perfectly true though. The weather throughout the day will be hot with a clear blue sky until shortly before 5 and then the heavens just open up and the rain pelts down for about ten or fifteen minutes and then stops abruptly and the sky clears. It’s most amazing. Sometimes there is a hail storm and the hailstones can be as big as golf balls. It is extremely dangerous to be out in a hail storm here and if anyone is caught out in the street people are willing to take them in even though they are complete strangers. People have been knocked out or killed from the size and force of them.
The sound of the stones hitting the corrugated iron rooves on the houses nearby is quite unbelievable. One has to shout to make ones self heard by the person standing right next to you and sometimes not even then. I’m told that no South African insurance company will insure against hail damage and I can quite understand why. When some London companies opened up for business here they offered the same terms as British motor policies and this included hail damage cover. They paid out a fortune one year when hail was particularly bad and were forced to withdraw their hail cover.

Visited several places with the Bretters recently. Sterkfontein near Krugersdorp, where the skull of a million-year old ape-man was found a few years ago. Hartbeespoort Dam at in the Magaliesbergs is about an hour’s drive. People go out there to camp, picnic, fish, ski and sail. Took a picnic with us and ate beside and in the car.