Car cleaning until Di's Mum and Dad arrived when took them to the Bernie Inn at Wyboston. . I took Di's parents in the Rolls and Di brought the children behind in the Range Rover. Later this afternoon, I went to Buckden Marina and collected The Lady’ got through the lock and home OK. The Reverend Peter Lewis dropped round with his church leaflet questionnaire and we had a chat for a while about the village issues. The National Union of Teachers has voted to avoid strike action and adopt a more moderate course, but the British P&O sailors are continuing their action.
Awoke very early this morning in the way that I have been doing lately. Went and got yesterday’s Financial Times and read it in bed, having to come down in my pyjamas for my fried breakfast. Soon shaved, showered and dressed afterwards and then out to start washing and cleaning the Range Rover. I was just in time to get the nearby parking space for the car and then a succession of plot dwellers arrived as I worked on. The games lawn had dried out quite a lot and so I had to set up a sprinkler that ended up playing all over the lawn for most of the day. Vacuumed the Range Rover, then sponged it off with soapy water, before I managed to persuade Di to fetch me a mug of coffee. Then hosed it off and pushed it back in our drive for the final leathering. Got out the Corniche next and had only just wiped off the marks when Di's Mum and Dad arrived. We locked up the house and took them to the Bernie Inn at Wyboston. Today was a gloriously warm and sunny day and I could take the Corniche and have the power hood down. We arrived in style and turned quite a few heads.
I took Di's parents in the Rolls and Di brought the children behind in the Range Rover. A good meal, but the service was only adequate. I took Daniel and his friend Gary back in the Rolls for a treat. Later this afternoon, I went to Buckden Marina and collected The Lady. They are in a right mess there, with heaps of earth and unattached mooring pontoons everywhere. I collected The Lady and got through the lock and home OK, but there seems to be a fair amount of water in the bilges. The engine ran well. Tea together and then I went out to tend the sprinkler and secure the boat. The Reverend Peter Lewis dropped round with his church leaflet questionnaire and we had a chat for a while about the village issues. Later tonight I read the local newspaper and extracted the relevant cuttings and then wrote up my journal. Also phoned Mum & Dad to see how they are and invited them over tomorrow, but they may not come. The news stories today are about domestic political issues. There are salvos back and forth between the Bishop of Durham and Mrs Thatcher & her Lieutenants over the ‘wickedness’ of the government’s policies for the poor. The National Union of Teachers has voted to avoid strike action and adopt a more moderate course at their conference today. Although the French ferry men are back at work, the British P&O sailors are continuing their action.