The day in Cambridge after waving goodbye to Dan and Debbie for school and then time with Charles and Norma with Della being naughty, Purchase of a large bag of ‘Toplawn’ and a spreading machine, some text books for Daniel and a travel kettle for California before lunch at the Copper Kettle. More garden supplies from Waresley on the way home and then Daniel has an unauthorised visit from Louise and Paul this evening. The British train manufacturer, BRE, already decimated, is to lose 3,000 more jobs, semi-automatic weapons are banned in the UK and Iran and the US clash in the UN debate over the Gulf attacks
A warm and humid night, but we had our balcony doors open and were pleased to have their use. Awoke after a sound night’s sleep to find Diana away getting our morning drink. Soon I had this refreshment and went off to see Debbie in bed. She is quite sweet when she wakes up in the morning. Daniel wakes up all grumpy as a contrast. Off to get my shower and hair wash, but no time left to dress before 7.40am. Breakfast of cereal and the goodbye routine after, with Della leading the race to Debbie’s bedroom to wave goodbye to the other two. We got ready quite quickly and then took off in the Range Rover for Cambridge. I did just stop and talk to Pete and brief him on today’s tasks – mowing the lawn and then doing some more rotavating.
I am not very happy with his custodianship of the mature lawns, as they are being invaded by weeds and so I said I was going to find out what treatments to apply. We arrived very early in Cambridge, parking in the Round Church car park and being at Eaden Lilley by 9.15am. Even so, we met Charles Jackson Snr there and had an early coffee whilst Norma arrived. Charles is under the weather from his operation, but is slowly recovering. Della was very rude and naughty at the table, not allowing us to talk and grabbing at our mouths. I then went off shopping. At Robert Sayles, I bought a ‘spreading machine’ and a large bag of autumn Toplawn. Then I took this load back to the car and went to Heffers bookshop for some text books for Daniel. He has no textbooks in biology and additional maths and I soon put that to rights, as well as getting him a new English/French dictionary. We met at the Copper Kettle for a roast chicken lunch, then went off to buy a multi-way travel jug plug, so as to be able to boil water in California. On the way home by car, we stopped at Waresley Garden Centre for a broom stick, some new posts for my drive chain, and some lawn dressing – enough to keep me & Pete busy for a while! The rest of the afternoon I spent applying the final gloss coat of white paint to my balcony railings and I am pleased to get this chore out of the way. Tea of salad, then this evening I helped supervise the children’s work. Daniel rushed his and then had a visit from Paul and Louise, despite my rules about his not having visitors during the week because of his school work. News tonight is of the mounting diplomatic conflict between Iran and the US, as first their ships clash over alleged mine laying operations and then each side walks out of a UN debate when the other is speaking. Britain also has protested to Iran over the patrol boat attack on a British tanker. British Rail Engineering, already decimated by a massive contraction in the past, is to lose a further 3,000 engineering jobs. The Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, has announced plans to tighten up the gun licensing laws and make the possession of semi-automatic weapons, such as the Kalashnikov used in the Hungerford shootings, illegal.