This was a sunny and dry day to take down our Christmas decorations which started with the normal panic of organising the children's first day back at Kimbolton School as I suffered from a head cold with a temperature which was rather uncomfortable. After suffering from bouts of depression and disorganisation at the moment, Di has at last booked herself on to a health check and beauty programme.
Later, a meeting of the Little Paxton Village Hall Committee, which went well, and then to see the rest of the St Neots Town Council meeting afterwards which was awful. The news today is of the TUC and CBI joining forces to appeal to the Chancellor to reduce interest rates and join the EMS despite Thatcher's opposition to both. China has ended Martial Law and so the process of resuming international relations begins, despite the atrocities of Tiananmen Square.
I completed my series of telephone calls last night, getting into bed with Diana when she was still awake at 11.00pm. A sound night’s sleep that seemed milder than of late and then awake at 7.00am this morning for the children's first day back at Kimbolton School. The usual panic to get them ready and out and then, after Diana had taken Della to Little Paxton School, I wrote cheques for all our outstanding bills and she took the envelopes into St Neots to post for me. I worked on at more paperwork and booked Daniel and I onto a Sunday course in February on marine VHF radio operation. The sun was shining today which made me wish I was in Norfolk on our new boat. I have a head cold with a temperature which is rather uncomfortable.
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My main project for the rest of the morning was correspondence but I became side-tracked into writing a long letter on tactical electioneering to the Chairman of the Huntingdon SLD. I also dealt with my outstanding book administration and then made an effort to boost sales by first writing to the key masters of the local secondary schools and then creating card bookmarks advertising the book for inserting into the locally-delivered copies of FOCUS. It remains to be seen whether that prompts anyone into an acute buying frame of mind! I was thwarted in my quest to get the Heritage Trust Deed signed by the fact that when Joan (as a witness) was here, Diana (as a signatory) was not and so now we will have to wait until Friday. This afternoon, Di was interviewed by Helen Cranston's Mother and given free samples of blackcurrant drink for the childrens' comments. This was nice, but she lost time and is suffering from bouts of depression and disorganisation at the moment (as seem to be I). She has at last booked herself on to a health check and beauty programme. I chatted to Russel James, my next-door neighbour, today and raised with him the question of getting his Oak tree lopped so as not to be such a threat to my conservatory in the next gales. He consented to me organising something. He has taken an early retirement and is at home and looking to buy a business with some work colleagues and I advised him on the pitfalls and opportunities. He is an electrical engineering manager and was also able to advise me on boat electronics which I shall well take advantage of. This evening, I attended a meeting of the Little Paxton Village Hall Committee which was not clashing with other meetings for a change. It was a good co-operative meeting that went well, and I did not have to get any more action items as a result. I went along to see the rest of the St Neots Town Council meeting afterwards and I wish that I had not bothered. The meeting was very confused and unruly with the mayor absent and the rest disorganised. I did not think that Michael and Derek did themselves justice either, being far too quiet in general discussions and then introducing their motions with some disarray. In the melee, Derek actually got one of his motions passed but they could have done better with the others. The news today is of the TUC and CBI joining forces to appeal to the Chancellor to reduce interest rates and join the EMS despite Thatcher's opposition to both. Douglas Hurd is sticking to the policy of issuing entrance permits to 50,000 Hong Kong families despite the widespread opposition from China, Hong Kong and Britain alike. It is a strange policy that satisfies nobody. Danny Morrison, a top Sein Fein man in Ulster, is arrested and held in custody charged with terrorist offences as the government get tough on the IRA connections. Let us hope they are fair as well as tough. The experiment of tagging defendants released on bail is to continue even though 21 of the 39 tagged so far have either absconded or committed further offences! China has ended Martial Law and so the process of resuming international relations begins, despite the atrocities of Tiananmen Square. Today was quite sunny and dry and we took down our Christmas decorations.