Ruth would curse Duff House at times, the size, the dusty corners she couldn’t reach and the cold, the cold that caused the pipes to burst, and the flannels to freeze ridged on the bath. How she envied others, those that lived in simple estate houses, where rooms were square, the house was small and warm and you could get the carpet sweeper around. She never asked for much. To relieve the harshness of those cold winters of the 1960s, a fire was lit in the living room, otherwise there were a couple of paraffin stoves carried from bathroom to bedroom and three hot water bottles, two rubber and the third ‘stony’, that bruised your toes. Getting Tiger, the brindle cairn, was the goal, for he would bury himself deep in the bed and getting your feet on his stomach guaranteed a warm night.
Betsy and poppies I
Watercolour & conte on paper
26 x 19.5 cm
Ref: DSC_0466.jpg