NOTES ON
1973, Life at 86 Buckland Rd
http://comp.uark.edu/~dsears/photos/Eileen72buckland/
In 1973 dad was struggling
with severe depression, and his health was in rapid decline. Mum was supporting him lovingly, buttressed by
Bert: gentle, soft-spoken Bert, who only ever wanted what was good for Mum and
Dad. He earned a living tiling newly
constructed houses and spent most of his free time with Mum and Dad. His wife had suddenly left him many years
ago. It was a painful incident that
made Mum and Dad very supportive. Now
it was time for him to be supportive.
Sheds and greenhouses
peppered the garden; greenhouses bulged with luscious growth, tomatoes and
cucumbers usually. Barrels collected
water, which, of course, was much better for the plants than tap water, which
was “full of chemicals”. In the summer,
there was a small field of vividly colored and rather large blooms, mostly
chrysanthemums and roses, lots of roses.
Roses were Dad’s favorite flower and every year there was bush after
bush, too beautiful to pick, of varieties too numerous to name. At one point he joined the Rose Society, I
think membership was a Christmas present from Mum, and he always wore the label
pin and often the official tie. He
would occasionally receive a book. But
in 1973 his heart was not in gardening.
Dad’s Rose
Society Tie