An Early start taking Debbie to her church service alone and then a day alternating by working on varnishing The Lady and watching the disgraceful Maradona get away with a blatant ‘hand-ball’ to beat England in the World Cup in the famous ‘Hand of God’ incident. Thatcher now risks nations resigning from The Commonwealth as The Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy names a Bishop who has been detained without justification
A long lay in as Di declines to get up until quite late and get the morning tea. Showered, shaved and dressed for breakfast of cereal and then out to the doves. For the first time the Blonde Qualmond chick is down to the bird table to feed and its mother seems to be incubating again. It eats both seed and green stuff readily, as it starved by its parents in their efforts to wean it. Then to the newspaper, which I read quite avidly, intending to work inside if the dull cloudy skies turn to rain.
In the event, the dampness soon clears and so I go out and sand down the old varnish to prepare for varnish coats later. I then get my own morning coffee and biscuits, as Di goes out for a walk with the girls. At 11.15am I am a bit rushed to get Debbie to church and she grazes her knee, poor thing, whilst running up the path. A coat of varnish, then back to collect her again. How strange it must seem to others in the congregation for a girl, aged 7, to go in on her own, but her friend Amy will be back next week. Soon a very nice lunch of roast beef, which the children continue to eat very well, then back out for another coat. Then, with time to myself, I take afternoon tea inside and watch the unfortunate Yorkshire cricket team sustain an injury to Arnie Sidebottom that was to lose them the match. Out to feed the doves again, as the rain began to fall and I turned off the sprinkler with relief. A poor tea, then out to tend The Lady in the showers, before settling down to the Argentina vs England World Cup quarter final. A very disappointing outcome, with England eliminated by an illegal goal and trouble on the terraces, as the fans, without segregation, fight it out. Main news today, after England being knocked out of the World Cup by a suspect goal, is still of South Africa. Terry Waite, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s envoy, defied the emergency restrictions by naming the Rt Rev Bishop Sigismund Ndwandwe as the most recent arrestee. He also denounced SA’s treatment of the black and coloured people as, ‘nothing short of disgraceful’. There is a bomb blast at Durban, ripping through an oil plant pipeline and two other explosions were reported within the reporting restrictions. Thatcher’s Cabinet will consider sending Sir Geoffrey Howe and are under pressure of Commonwealth resignations from Africans if they do not act. In the Spanish elections, Socialist Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez’s, party retained its overall majority in parliament. After a dull day, tomorrow’s weather is forecast to be brighter, after morning showers and at least the winds have moderated