A day of considerable progress of Mr Larkin in quay-heading my Hayling View moorings and for me on the port side of The Lady and then taking Diana in the Daimler to Cambridge to see ‘Star Trek 4’ on a cold and windy day that did not deter Daniel and his friends from swimming in my 81degF pool! The polls put the Tories 13% ahead of Labour for any June election, the Herald enquiry reveals more mal-practice and the papers feature MI5 allegations.
Slept well enough after a latish night and was glad of my morning tea. Nursed my hands through my showering, shaving and dressing routine. I have three small ‘hurts’ from the task of working on The Lady that are quite painful until healed. A breakfast of wheat flakes and apple juice to drink and then it was the scramble to get Daniel off to school. Dressed in my working jeans for more punishment and was soon out in the cool and wind of a fresh spring morning. Mr Larkin was on station again today at 8.00am, having lost a lot of time yesterday with his fetching and carrying of materials, and was soon piling the entire length of the upper mooring next to Chris & Russell’s plot. I turned The Lady round, so that the sun could get at yesterday’s preparation, to dry it out after the overnight dew & mist.
Then worked on the remaining jobs on the port side, offering up the rubbing metal strip to the reduced gunwale section and screwing it on with No8 x 1” screws onto a bed of mastic. Quite a difficult job, but I had achieved it by evening. Mr Larkin had also done well, completing the downstream piling to a large extent, welding on a box section at the top to straighten it up, but was yet to tie the work back with rods and welds. During the day I had broken off at 11.30am to take Di and the girls to pick up Daniel for a Happy Eater lunch. This, after I had managed to get in a coat of varnish. Daniel was in disgrace, having lied to Diana about having had a shower this morning (when he had not!) and was limited to a single burger & chips (rather than a double) and with no ‘mint surprise’ to follow. At the end of the day, we changed and, whilst Daniel looked after the girls, I took Di to Cambridge in the Daimler and we watched ‘Star Trek 4’ and quite enjoyed it. A feeling of real luxury to take this car out, which offset the inconvenience of having to bypass St Neots due to the Mill Lane closure. Bed a little late and no time to watch the news tonight, but I feel that the cold and windy weather will continue for a while. It did not put Daniel, with his friends Paul and Jason, off of swimming in the pool, which has returned to 81degF after I had cleared the filter of debris and restored the heating process. On the radio, I heard news of the latest opinion poll – putting the Conservatives 13% ahead of Labour, which only serves to indicate further a June election. More revelations from the Herald enquiry and the papers are full of more MI5 allegations & revelations.