Again I was cared for and was quite happy. I enjoyed the freedom, exploring the lanes, playing in the fields and getting to know which plants and berries could be eaten and which were poisonous.

I did help around the house, but it was no way a drudge. I did the washing up and sometimes helped with the dusting. There was only room for a sideboard a table and a couch in their tiny living room. Sometimes I prepared the vegetables for cooking.

One day I peeled Uncle Fred's seed potatoes for his dinner by mistake. I dreaded him coming home, he was also a miner, and always came home covered in coal dust. Although he was not pleased with what I had done he was kind about it.