Miles Franklin pocket diary, 1952

December 1952

Thursday 4

Temp. only 100° Got up before 8 fed bantams & gathered beans & took them in for Mrs A to cook for the 3 of us. Put my bedding in sun, changed the linen & laundered all my night clothes also set of day woollens & by that time was deadly ill again. Rang B.D. to say I cd not go in & Pixie to ask after Megan. Lay about in misery. Wrote 2 letters. Just as ill as I was under Dr Cook. In evening Mrs Scales rang up.

December 1952

Friday 5

Body Temp only 101° Arthur waked me at 8 when I was still blissfully asleep as I took a soporific pill & must have got nearly 7 hours. I contributed £1 and beans towards joint & Mrs A is going to give me dinners for the week end. A help when I am so weak & ill. Managed a bit of tidying & some letters. Finished the pasting of insertions in all 4 copies of essay. Only the final chap. now to be finished. Oh for a little strength.

December 1952

Saturday 6

Gusty day towards night. Warm in the middle. I got up at 8 but lay down again too weak for work. Mrs A brought nice dinner. I took down first of peaches & gave Mrs Coates a dipperful. Frightful cough - too racking even to write letters.

December 1952

Sunday 7

Fine day, but I found it chilly in parts & coughed horribly, frantically. Wrote long letter to Henrietta. The peaches have to be picked. I gave a dipperful to Mrs Morgan & another to Mrs Andresen. Had enough cold food left over from yesterday & not much appetite. No telephone calls or others for a week, a relief in my state. Had the first fig.

December 1952

Monday 8

Chilly day to me. I took peaches to Mrs Bennetts. They are a nuisance when I'm so ill. The coughing again so violent I was worn out and Mrs A. bought me evening meal again. I must struggle out of that. Started to read the Naked Island. ['Naked Island' underlined]. Had the second fig. The poor cicadas beginning to fall dead. They were very thick this year & almost entirely absent last.