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Ellie and Hub lived in Lagoa 10
years ago, while in their early 40's, they had a carpentry business near
Algoz.
You can reach Ellie at: Gantree1@aol.com |
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Strange Happenings
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As we
travelled into town in our old second jalopy, I stared down at the
shopping list that her ladyship had put into my hands. I was
expecting to see something like smoked salmon, fillet steak and
other luscious goodies but instead I saw smoked Haddock! 8 pieces, a
few boxes of large free range eggs, some French sticks and more
butter.
I say more butter as his lordship had butter on absolutely
everything!
So from my reckoning, the Saturday lunch had to be poached Haddock
with eggs. Don’t know why but I found this a bit strange. When my
father was alive, my childhood memories were of him having this meal
for Sunday breakfast, or sometimes my mother would make it for
supper. It seemed odd to me that his lordship was offering this as a
lunch for his guests. But I couldn’t question it. My job was simply
to cook it then serve it in the garden.
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Saturday morning Hub and I, helped by Jamie, arranged two outdoor
tables, sheltered by large sun parasols, in the small rose garden.
It was a sweltering hot day and I thought the meal they had chosen
was quite unsuitable in all that heat.
We laid up the tables with fresh tablecloths and cutlery and I
picked a few blooms to put in small vases for centre pieces. It all
looked very nice but by midday the heat was bearing down and I
noticed some bees around the rose garden and more alarming, lots of
tiny black flies!
Sir’s guests arrived and we made sure the wine was in the ice
buckets and a tray of glasses was set out in the main large sitting
room, for their pre-lunch drinks.
I was in the kitchen preparing the Haddock and getting the poacher
ready for the eggs. I had to see when they were ready to go out into
the garden, as timing was all important for this meal. Hub was
working in the garden with Jamie, so I was alone and once more
feeling nervy.
I poached the Haddock in milk until it was just soft and put the
eggs on to cook. Id taken the baskets filled with chunks of French
bread to the tables but was leaving the butter in the fridge till
the last moment. Id set out the trays to carry the food, then, when
the guests were all seated, I called to Hub to give me a hand. |
All I can say is we looked a very peculiar lot as we carried out the
food. I was in long shorts and sun top, Hub and Jamie were in
scruffy rolled up trousers, tee shirts and boots! There were the six
guests and his lord & ladyships sitting there all smiles and in
their summer finery as the three of us went round handing out plates
of Haddock with poached eggs, on top of which I had placed knobs of
butter, which was starting to melt under the fierce heat. To my
horror as we placed the dishes in front of each person, tiny black
flies started to descend and ‘float’ on the surface of the, by now,
runny oily butter!
Hub, Jamie and I made a hasty retreat back into the kitchen and sat
there having cups of tea, with me worried about the lunch and what
the guests, one of whom was a judge, thought of the meal. I moaned
at Hub saying it was a disaster and fancy them wanting such a meal
on such a hot day. I was full of woe. |
After about an hour, we went to clear the plates to make way for a
simple pudding of, from what I recall, was strawberries and cream.
To my amazement, the plates were empty, cleared of every morsel of
food and they were all sitting back chatting and laughing.
“Thank-you Ellie” her ladyship smiled “That was very good indeed”
Everyone nodded and smiled. I returned a weak smile but as I saw the
bees and black insects flying around, I almost broke into giggles.
Once again I saw the comical side of it all, with the guests sitting
there dressed very smartly, yet Hub, Jamie and I all looking casual
and quite scruffy, waiting on them and with flies and insects
buzzing around their heads, I was on the verge of laughing out loud.
Taking the dirty dishes back to the kitchen, I collapsed onto a
chair and went into hysterics. Hub stared at me, asking what was so
funny? But I couldn’t speak, howling with laughter at the
‘silliness’ of it all and at that point I started to hiccup loudly! |
I remember we had the next day off as the family went out to the
Yacht club for lunch. The weather was good so, with all the beds
made and the Manor tidy, I decided to work on our own little garden
but whilst I was digging my trowel hit a large stone and my wrist
twisted quite badly. In agony, Hub put a cold bandage on it for me
and I simply relaxed in a deckchair, my intended work over for the
day.
I must have been dozing when I heard a voice, calling for me and Hub
and as I sat up, who should I see coming round the side of the
cottage but her ladyship. I thought they were out for the day but
obviously not, as she went on to ask if we could go and give them a
hand. I couldn’t believe it. There we were having a couple of hours
break and now being asked to work again.
Following Madam round to the front of the Manor, she led the way
over to the small lake behind the stables. We were astonished to see
all the family, including Sir wading about in the water with fishing
nets. Sir asked Hub if he could put on some waders, which were in
the summerhouse and lend a hand to skim the pond weed on the lake’s
surface. Hub was rather annoyed but said okay, only not to expect
myself to do it as Id injured my wrist.
“Oh that’s fine but perhaps Ellie could go and get us some iced
drinks” her ladyship smiled at me “Ill come and give you a hand”
In the kitchen I laid out enough glasses for the family; the lady of
the house found some Lemon Barley water and proceeded to make up a
large jug of iced Lemon. Then she went outside again, leaving me to
fill the glasses using one hand. I was obviously not going to get
anymore help, so I carefully shifted the tray of drinks onto one
hand and supported it with my injured one. The tray was heavy and as
I carefully picked my way over to the lakeside, Hub, who was now
wading about in the weed-filled water, looked up and seeing me
struggling hastily left the water and hurried to rescue the tray
from me; just in time as it happens, as I was in great danger of
tripping over and spilling the lot of it! |
Once again, we sat exhausted in the cottage that night. Jamie had
gone to bed. We were both very fed up. Hub was really grumpy. He had
spent most of his life in the Fire Service and quite a few years as
an ADO officer in charge of a section in the City of London, a
position he had worked hard to attain, yet here he was doing menial
tasks. He also resented, hated the fact, that after my bringing up 3
children, I was cooking for and waiting on people.
When we thought of our business in Algarve it seemed so wrong that
we were here, in this strange environment, when we should have been
out there, enjoying the life that we had got so used to. However,
there was one bit of good news. Sir had told us that they would all
be in London the following weekend, so we would have some real time
off. But then he suddenly came out with a statement that had Hub in
almost panic!
First of all he asked if the Rolls was in good order and Hub said
that it was running perfectly.
“Jolly good show. We must have it working well and you’ll have to
give it an extra polish for the wedding”
Hub and I stared at him.
“Wedding sir?” Hub said
“Yes, you know, the one we’re hiring out the Rolls for; daughter of
a friend of the family. Didn’t you know?”
“No sir. You didn’t mention it”
“Oh I must have forgot. You’ll have to wear your best bib and tucker
and the hat”
Once more Hub stared at him.
“I’m sorry sir. Do you mean I’m hired out as well?”
“Course. The two of you go together”
“When is this wedding sir?”
“Two weeks from next Saturday”
Sitting back in the cottage, Hub couldn’t believe what he’d been
told. I recall him swearing about it, saying he felt like a horse
hired out for work; he was fuming and what made it worse, Sir hadn’t
even given us any warning. |
The following weekend seemed pure luxury; the whole family were
away. I’d called Jeff and he invited us to his place for the
weekend; he’d invited Lesley and Ray along too, so at long last we
could all meet up as a family once more.
I remember on the Saturday night, we all went along to a favourite
pub of ours, in the village of Canewdon and enjoyed a really good
family time together. The next day, we went for a drive to Leigh- on
-Sea, where all the beach fish restaurants are and once again had a
great time. But as I strolled the beach and felt the hot sun, I was
once again transported back to Algarve and my melancholy swept over
me once more.
Going back to the Manor that Sunday night, I had felt sad at saying
goodbye to Lesley and Jeff because I had no idea when we could meet
up again.
Our life at the Manor was a hard one with all the family there and
the work seemed non-stop. The day of the wedding arrived and Hub was
quite nervous. He looked very smart in his uniform and cap but said
he felt an idiot! I must admit our life was rather strange; it was
like events came upon us and we had no say in it.
Hub was to take the bride and groom to the church, then afterwards
deliver them to the reception hall in town and that was it. Jamie
and I went along to have a peek at the wedding and to chat to Hub
whilst the ceremony was going on, then we went into town where Hub
was to pick us up and we would buy fish and chips for dinner. There
was something slightly decadent in taking home fish and chips in the
back of a Rolls Royce! |
The wedding was a very posh affair but when we met up with Hub later
and we climbed into the Rolls, on asking how it went, Hub burst out
laughing. Then went on to tell us that after the wedding and on
taking the bride and groom to the reception, the bride had taken off
her tiara and slung it onto the seat next to her, kicked off her
shoes, moaning that her feet ached and said loud and clear,
“Thank God that’s all over!”
Then pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her new husbands pocket and
lit up!
We all had a good laugh at that. It had seemed such a grand affair
but that was all shattered at this, quite rough, image of the bride!
The older girl had returned to her flat in London and I wasn’t sorry
to see her go. She was never very friendly towards us and it was one
less to wait on. By the end of the following week the school
holidays would be over; Jamie would be off to school and the younger
girl back to boarding school. Then a few days later her ladyship
would be motoring back to Spain once more. I looked forward to that
time with relish. |
Meanwhile, we did get a mid -week day off when Sir and his lady took
the youngest girl out for the day to visit her grandmother. I’d had
my weekly chat with Maria and she gave me her report of the
happenings at the workshops and of life in Lagoa. It all seemed so
far away and though I enjoyed our chats, with Maria always cheering
me and making me laugh, when it ended I felt deflated and often
miserable. I thought of our carefree lifestyle in Algarve, of all
our friends there, the beautiful weather, the great beaches and
glorious coastline. I would picture us back at the workshops, in the
wonderful outdoors surrounded by the orange and lemon groves with a
hot blue sky overhead. The vision of being back there kept me going
over those difficult months.
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Hub and me standing outside workshops in the
lemon/orange groves |
I felt quite lonely at the Manor; to me it was a lonely place,
neither warm nor welcoming. Our cottage, although small had a
similar feel. I did everything to make it homely but it never felt
like home. I was still experiencing the ‘something in the dark’ at
the cottage; I never had a full nights sleep in that place and
always woke in the middle of the night with the feeling of an
invisible, yet tangible presence. Hub never woke at all and although
admitting there was something spooky about the place, he slept
soundly. But Jamie was experiencing the same in the annexe; of
‘something’ watching him and he never liked the place.
I can’t be exact but I’m pretty sure it was that day when I
experienced a rather strange happening. Being alone at the Manor,
the housework finished, Jane having gone home and Hub and Jamie gone
off out to the cinema as I recall, I decided to have a practise on
the grand piano. Music like gardening, has always been a balm to my
nerves and I’ve always found it wonderful therapy; a total
relaxation. I had found a couple of my old music books and so I sat
down ready to play and enjoy my couple of hours of freedom. |
I was absorbed in the music and in my ‘fanciful’ imagination was
‘giving a concert ‘! (it was quite easy to do that in those
sumptuous surroundings). Suddenly, there was someone standing behind
me; standing so close I thought I could hear breathing. My hands
froze on the keyboard and I was afraid to turn around, expecting any
minute for a hand to touch my shoulder. My heart pumped quicker and
I slowly turned. There was no one. I looked across at the door which
moved slightly almost closing. I had left it open; wide open. I
always did. When I was alone in the Manor, I left all doors open. It
was like having an escape route but what from I don’t know.
I went through the doorway and into the large hall. There was
nothing. All was quiet, with an almost deathly silence. But there
was that sense of someone watching; I always felt that in that huge
lonely house. I thought of the young girl, of the supposed ‘grey
shape’ she had seen going around the upper staircase; of the older
girl saying she’d sometimes seen a figure and I had goosebumps.
Looking all around at the old oak furniture in the hallway; the suit
of armour standing guard by the massive oak front door, I could have
been in another time and felt alone in the world. I tried to calm
myself, laughing at my own silliness, thinking it was all pure
imagination. Going back to the piano, determined to continue playing
but I couldn’t concentrate. A few minutes later and it was back.
Someone, something was in that room with me..
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