A good meeting Chairing the Village Hall Management Committee
A good meeting Chairing the Village Hall Management Committee

A poor night in an unfamiliar and warm bed, as I try to acclimatise before starting a busy day. After taking Debbie horse-riding, I tackled many constituency problems, receiving calls and visits from local residents who had heard I was back home.

Dad was taken to Addenbrooke’s Hospital today where he was prescribed stronger antibiotics but was not kept in.

A good meeting Chairing the Village Hall Management Committee and preparing to chair the St Neots Museum meeting next week at the end of the day helping my family and the community.

Much violence at the South African election as the blacks are excluded, Thatcher will visit Gorbachev in Moscow and the government is attacked at the TUC conference on another fine and sunny day

A poor night and less sleep than I needed due to the unfamiliar bed and warmth of the room. Diana left the spare room saying I was too fidgety, and she was probably quite right. Staying alternately such long periods at home and on the boat gives real problems of acclimatisation. Still we had a busy day in front of us. I said that Debbie could go horse riding this morning and evening and she was dressed and ready early and called for her friend Amy to come with us so I took them both.

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The morning dealing with many aspects of the outstanding post from constituents and correspondence and also visits in person and phone calls from a good half dozen local people with their problems. They must have been waiting for my return! It was though the word had gone through the village that I was back. I also had problems of my own.

Mum phoned to tell me (though not in as many words) that she had heeded my advice and had called the doctor who would call this morning and decided Dad should be admitted to hospital. An ambulance was to take Dad to Addenbrookes this morning for urgent examination by the consultants. We were all disappointed later today to learn they did not keep him in prescribe stronger antibiotics to tackle the infection in his face and will see him again on Friday.

At least they now acknowledge that he has such an infection which they denied when we last asked. All this rather shakes my confidence in the National Health Service as they seem to be concerned to save money (and beds). It also shows just how frightening the disease of cancer is in this day and age and how fast people can progress to being dangerously ill. I hope that they can find better and more efficient ways of treating it and also its causes as well.

This evening, I was chairing the Village Hall Management Committee which went well enough and today had to get an agenda out for the fundraising subcommittee of the St Neots Museum that I am chairing next week. It seemed this evening that I spent all of today helping the people and community and family but perhaps that is no bad thing!

Meanwhile, the news from the South African election is of the accompanying protests of black citizens who are not able to vote. Thatcher has arranged to visit Gorbachev in Moscow and the TUC is again rounding on the government at its conference, but this time public opinion is on their side. Another fine and sunny day