Frost again last night (not so hard as before). All today raining almost continuously. Impossible to do anything out of doors. One double egg today.
6 eggs. Total this week 41.
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Orwell Diaries 1938-1942 
Hmmm. He must be eating some of the eggs, then. Rained all day yesterday, and is raining still.
OH..MY..GOD….
DOUBLE EGG!!
Impressive how disciplined he is with writing this journal: it is only about his outdoors work. Anything that happens outdoors is suitable material; but if for example it is raining so hard that nothing can happen outdoors, then the journal is silent. No alternative entries are permitted, such as : spent the day indoors reading the Manchester Guardian and cleaning shelves in pantry.
It does seem that he set out simply to write a log of the weather and his activities in the garden and to a keep a record of eggs laid and crops produced. When war broke out he included some newspaper cuttings and related comments but all that seems to have stopped now. Yes it is intriguing that he doesn’t tell us what he was doing when it was too wet to work in the garden. It would be interesting to have his thoughts about what he was writing at the time.
Sunday, the 29th:
In Paris…..An official French communique reports all quiet generally during the day.
On the Western Front…..An increasing number of British heavy artillery is moved into position.
From Berlin…..German warships and U-boats are given permission to attack passenger ships in convoys.
30October1939
In the North Atlantic…..U-56 hits the British battleship HMS Nelson, the flagship of the Home Fleet, west of the Orkneys but the two torpedoes fail to explode.
~~~~~
Conversation overheard on deck of the HMS Nelson the next day:
“I’ll never forget the terrifying CLANG!s of those duds.”
“Duh.”
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It was cold bright day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Farmer Blair, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the doors of the henhouse, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him.
The henhouse smelt of wet sacks and rotting potatoes. At one end of it a screen had been fixed to the wall. It showed simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide: the face of a person of indeterminate sex with what might have been handsome features. Finding only one small egg, Farmer Blair turned to leave the henhouse. The door creaked and threatened to fall off its hinges. It needed replacement but no such work was permitted. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. Blair winced. The varicose ulcer above his right ankle was throbbing. As he closed the rickety door of the dilapidated henhouse he turned. Affixed to the wall of the cottage was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when they move. BIG BLOGGER IS WATCHING YOU the caption below it read.
Today, the Royal Navy begins a world-wide hunt for the German pocket-battleship Graf Spee. Four battleships, 14 cruisers and 5 aircraft carriers are engaged in the effort.
Meanwhile, the death penalty is ordered for all Poles disobeying German authority, with the accused to be tried in SS courts.
Thank you, Max. Well done. Nice imagery.
You have captured a fine example of the Reciprocating Wormhole Effect, wherein the past and the future move back and forth among the more imaginative synapses slightly slower than the speed of light, weaving a colorful residue into the optic nerves.
Full Disclosure: I often notice that I am in two or more places simultaneously. I sometimes find myself in the same place several times simultaneously. And, for some reason, I keep hearing John Carpenter’s masterpiece soundtrack from Halloween playing in the background.
Thursday, November 2, 1939
King George decorates 5 RAF pilots, leaders of a raid on the Kiel Canal.
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