I KEEP on hoping, longing, no yearning, for some of those lovely hot summer days I enjoyed as a girl.

You know the sort of days I mean, those days when the tar at the side of the road melted and bubbled.

I think that's because I have very happy childhood memories of sitting on the kerb, where I was comfortable, doing some serious tar bubble popping which pleased me enormously - I just can't see the kids of today being so easily pleased.

My mum used to say, or should I say shout. 'out, out, you lot, I don't want to see you till tea time.' So we played out all day.

Mum's tea time was always well worth coming back to and afterwards there was always a pudding, and believe me, my mum's jam roly poly had to be tasted to be believed.

It's difficult to think now, but in those days we only had four stand chairs and one of us had to stand at the table to eat the meal.

As you can imagine, there was always a rush to get to the table first!

The women of my mother's era had things tough, dolly tubs, possers, mangles, donkey stones, clothes maidens and racks - and no disposable nappies.

It must have been a constant battle of trying to keep on top of things, and I recall my mum and grandma listening to the radio while they sat knitting socks, or re-footing them for the men.

They manipulated their four needles with great dexterity and even managed to knit those turnover top knee socks that my brothers wore at that time.

I also had hand knitted socks. Oh, how I hated them. The other kids at school laughed and said cruel things such as 'can't your mother afford the money to buy you proper socks?'

My contribution to this hive of activity was, when asked, to sit arms outstretched, holding the hanks of wool while they wound it into very neat balls.

Saturday night was my treat night. We were at my friend Edith's for tea. Now what could be better?

Do you know that famous line, which goes: 'a book of verse, a glass of wine and thou beside in the wilderness - and wilderness is paradise now?'

Well, that sums up our Saturday night.