Back in England Ruth was born in St Mary’s Hospital, and Mary-Jane, 2 years later. *When Mary-Jane was 8 months old we all returned to Nepal. We were based in Kathmandu where Mum and Dad ran a hostel for the children of missionaries in Nepal,* so that they could attend school closer to their parents, instead of much further away in India. Mum used her guitar in family prayers times and the children would go out to sing to patients in hospital now and then. *She was a very creative house mother - making special cakes, and helping us to put on a nativity play in the hostel grounds.
After living in Kathmandu for nearly 5 years, we came back to England. We stayed with Mum’s parents for a few weeks, then in Southampton for a few more weeks, before moving to the Highbury Estate in Cosham.* Mum worked as a nurse for 3 months but when they asked us if we’d rather have more money or have our Mum at home, we opted for the latter. She did Tupperware parties to supplement the family income and later took a dinner lady job at a local special needs school.
Our school didn’t have a compulsory uniform and we would go in some strange outfits made or altered by Mum – trousers with smiley face knee patches covering the holes, with a dress over the top (not Andrew!). She made a lot of clothes for herself as well (maxi dresses in Tibetan style, or perhaps with skirt panels attached to the bottom of a dress,* as she wasn’t into wearing the mini skirt fashion of the time). At one point she was sewing things to sell – particularly fleecy hot water bottle covers in the shape of rabbits - Ruth still has hers. She helped us (and other children) to learn to sew and would do other crafty projects with us like making Christmas crackers or baking or sweet making. Andrew came third in a competition at Portsmouth Grammar School for some sweets that he made. She baked bread and gave us a lump of dough to make into what we wanted - Andrew always made Brian the snail from the Magic Roundabout! We’d sometimes have industrious days preparing runner beans or other bulk bought or hand-picked produce for the freezer.
While living in Cosham Mum and another lady on the Estate started up a successful monthly coffee morning, with Christian speakers. She (with Dad) also hosted Fact and Faith film evenings in our home and started a Sunday morning group for 10 – 12-year-old girls until we joined a church in Drayton, where she co-led the 12-14 year old girl covenanters group. Mum would make cinnamon doughnuts or Chelsea buns for the Young Peoples Fellowship when they came to our house after Sunday evening church. Later we started a younger teens monthly group at our home. In the summers we went to Christian holidays run by a mission organisation. Mum and Dad ran the children’s sessions, with Mum leading the music and craft.