The next few weeks passed in a blur of activity: weekend visits to the building site, weekday shopping expeditions with Mary – Anna couldn"t believe how much one newborn needed – searching second-hand shops for a few pieces of furniture. Apart from the small bookcase, kitchen cupboard and television unit Joseph had made, they lacked basics such as chairs and a bed. As well as transporting her to numerous shops, practical Mary also sewed cot sheets and the oddly named “bunny rugs”, which Anna learnt were used to wrap up new babies.
They soon located a heavy, old-fashioned double bed base, but finding a decent second-hand mattress was proving difficult. Anna wrinkled her nose at the thought of sleeping on the evidence of strangers" emissions, prompting Mary to tell her not to be so sensitiv
