Best Beds

My childhood bed was made of iron.  My parents ran a Convalescent Home, and all our beds were hospital issue, high, and painted lettuce green.  I could hang upside down off the end of my bed, as though it was monkey bars.  I never worried about something being under my bed because it was so high up you could see clearly beneath it.   If a friend came to stay a mattress would be put on the floor underneath for them to sleep on.

From the age of five, when my father died, I shared a bedroom with my mother.  She used to come to bed late when I was asleep.  I don’t remember being read to at night, but I do my mother telling me stories she’d made up.  These often featured Peter Rabbit and Mr McGregor.

When Stephen and I moved to our small Christchurch cottage in 1987 we had a double bed which seemed enough for a small bedroom.  Later we got cupboards built in so we no longer needed free standing dressing tables.  After the earthquakes we decided we could fit in a queen size bed and relished the extra sleeping space.  Around this time we adopted a cat who was an earthquake refugee, and his previous owner used to joke that we’d bought a bigger bed to accommodate the cat.

We now have a different cat who has white hair with silver streaks.  When he sleeps on the pillow next to my head Stephen has been known to suggest that it’s hard to tell us apart.  I’m often awake in the wee small hours, so always have a radio beside the bed.  I listen with headphones so as not to disturb Stephen, and especially enjoy programmes from BBC World Service.

I used to think I would like to have a four-poster bed with drapes – not really practical in a small cottage.  In 2013 I finally slept in a four-poster.  This was in Bridport in the U.K.  The reality was fun, but I realised I no longer hankered for a four-poster.  The bed we have now suits us well and I don’t expect to change it.  It’s likely it will always be shared with a cat. 

I’ve sometimes thought it might be good to have a television on the bedroom wall so I could watch programmes in bed.  We once stayed in a luxurious hotel where there was a television in the bathroom, but I think that’s a bit much!  All I really need is a good bed light so I can read a book before I go to sleep.

Ruth in a four-poster bed at Bridport

I’m quite contented with my bed
a cosy place to lay my head