Lizzie Higgs-Boson writes: I must say, Mary, I'm getting a little bit concerned about the way Stanley and Jay come back from your house on a Saturday evening with dirt all over their clothes. Last week they came back smelling of wood and tobacco smoke, and the week before they smelled of manure!
I can't get a straight answer about where they have been. Stanley claims that he, Jay and James went to the allotments and were talking to a man who was spreading muck on his fruit bushes, while tending a bonfire and smoking his pipe. Honestly, Mary, do you think it's a good idea letting three eleven-year-old boys roam at will around Dusty Mouldings? The allotments are not a safe place for children, especially not if they start talking to strangers. And to be exposed to the dangers of passive smoking and manure! I only hope Jay keeps quiet about where he has been, because if Kay Bee hears they have been to the allotments she will have a fit. You know how she worries about Jay's safety. Stanley admits he hasn't written a single word of his project yet, and it's due in on December 1st! What on earth have they been doing at your house all this time??? I think it would be sensible if the boys came round to our house to work on their project from now on. They can use Stanley's laptop to look up facts on the internet and write their project up. We can give them proper adult supervision.
It is Hallowe'en tomorrow and we are taking Stanley and Olivia out Trick-or-Treating after tea. We will be calling for Jay Bee on the way, and James and Minnie can come too if they behave. Please ask Minnie to tone her costume down a bit this year - her Bloody Zombie outfit last year was really very disturbing. The Vicar had a word with me at church the Sunday after. Several elderly parishioners had complained and one had asked for an exorcism.
