A whole month and nothing written.
The fact is I am too tired to write in the evening, and the days go by so alike with the routine of my work that there is little to write.
Last Friday I went home for the weekend, rushed off by the 7 PM train. It was lovely being home again & the weather was just perfect.
The week before Father came up here & spent the Sunday with Mary & me, Mary being off in the morning, went with him to church, and in the aft. he & I went to Exmouth where we met Bob, all gorgeous in his new uniform.
We walked along the Esplanade with him & at every step we met soldiers, who saluted him, it was quite an entertainment for us but Bob got very annoyed. We went up to see the Deedes, & had tea there.
At the hospital a very burning question has been raging. We V.A.D nurses have been asked to sign an agreement to stay at the hospital for a year, and only for very serious reasons such as illness of parents will we be released or allowed leave of absence.
Those who sign will get a pay. £27/17/6 a year. Father has given Mary & me permission to sign, which in my case is very noble of him as I know he misses me. Poor old Dorothea I feel almost for, as she must find it dull at home, but when Frank & family arrive things will be different, & they may come any day now. Father says that he quite understood that when we began this work we meant to get through with it. I am glad as it would be sad to stop now.
Those who do not sign get no pay but continue to work just the same as before, only that they can come & go as they please & get leave of absence when they like. 25 nurses are to be paid & 10 remain voluntary.
Just at present we have only 46 patients & there is very little to do. I am having in consequence a morning off duty.
Yest. Mary and I were photographed in our out door uniform, the poor photographer tried in vain to get Mary to look bright. At the end of it he told us that he was quite satisfied with the positions, but that he had no control over the expressions.
During the past fortnight I have been in the big surgical ward & have not much liked it. To begin with the work was heavy all sweeping & cleaning up, no nursing to do as there was in the medical ward.
The sister in charge is a little beast, very common with an awful voice & manner. She did nothing but fuss & nag & never taught me anything. She had no sympathy with the patients, except those who [were] very bad, & after the wounds had been dressed took very little interest in them. So different from the Sister Chiltern who is always thinking out fresh comforts & little attentions.
One evening after tea I suddenly found myself in the middle of a very serious conversation with some of the patients, all about the life beyond. They did most of the talking & it was most interesting, poor dears they had no idea of the spiritual life & could not grasp it at all, and the ordinary conventional religion has no hold on them. Something is wanted. I could feel that, but what it is, & who can get hold of it, & help all these people who want it?