Enzo Ferrari, founder of the mark, in his prime at the wheel of a racing car
Enzo Ferrari, founder of the mark, in his prime at the wheel of a racing car

I was taking advantage of the warm and sunny weather to work on The Lady’s woodwork, as my neighbours were enjoying their riverside gardens, Daniel & Steve were hosting girlfriends in our pool and on his boat and Debbie and Della were hosting friends Amy and Katherine and swam all day. An overheating economy is worrying the markets, authorities are under the spotlight over chid abuse and pollution, postal workers have voted to strike and Enzo Ferrari dies, aged 92

Up several times during the night and to the toilet. First, too warm, and then, too cold, and so did not get a full night’s sleep. A fretful breakfast, trying to read my paper. The girls are getting very naughty these days, playing me up and being egged on by Daniel. I read a little of Saturday’s paper, in which the gurus are becoming quite nervous about the stock exchange. Out to The Lady on another fine day and first took off the tarpaulin that had been protecting her all yesterday. Then I sanded down all the varnish that had hardened in the interim and pieced back together the sliding door surround channels. I screwed them into place using Seelastic to seal them against the weather and it took all afternoon, as well as the morning, to complete this job. My Gordon Road neighbours were well in evidence again on this fine day. Now that Eddie & Stella have filled in their river frontage and turfed it, they share the amenity with not only their next door neighbour, Jenny and Jim, but also with the new owners of No 39, with whom Jenny & Jim seem to be great friends. Di and I are pleased that we sold our old house to suitable people after it was previously let to all and sundry.

I had to catch Marilyn’s old rabbit, who was loose on my games lawn this afternoon and Chris James helped me to return it to a hutch, as the rabbit run is not proof against escape. I worked on again this evening, varnishing great sections of woodwork after gluing and dowelling over the securing screws. Hoping for dry weather, I left The Lady open this evening, to let the varnish harden under the runners of the sliding roof. Just more varnishing to do now, unless I want to do more restoration work. Daniel’s girlfriend from St Neots came over this afternoon and went swimming in our pool with Debbie McKenzie. Then they both accepted a trip on Daniel’s boat, but insisted on staying inside the cabin and wearing life jackets! Steve brought a friend from his village of Abbotsley, picked up two girls from St Neots bridge and took them to Huntingdon and back. Debbie and Della were pleased to have their playmates, Amy & Katherine Law, back home and played & swam all day. Marilyn McGuiness visited today, but would not stay for a drink, though spoke to Di for a while. The news this evening is of economic boom that is worrying the stock marketeers about rising inflation and balance of payment deficits. Both London and New York stock exchanges lose 25/30 pts on the day. Authorities are under critical appraisal, as the County Councils Cleveland Child Abuse Report calls for the resignation of social service and medical personnel. Consumers of the South West Water Authority are trying to get the resignation of the Chairman and compensation, after poisonous chemicals were allowed to enter the water supply, leaving many ill as a result. Post Office workers vote for industrial action in opposition to weighting allowances for London and the South East. The HOTOL space shuttle, now starved of research funds and abandoned by the government, is rumoured to be getting £120 million of private backing for Rolls Royce to continue the programme for three years. Today Enzo Ferrari, aged 92 and proprietor of the Ferrari Motor Racing Team, died and an era came to an end. The weather forecast is for fine and sunny weather for the next few days and it seems that I will be pinned down on The Lady and away from my desk until the weather breaks.