USA's James Baker and the Soviet Eduard Shevardnadze making progress on an arms treaty
USA's James Baker and the Soviet Eduard Shevardnadze making progress on an arms treaty

Organising work on Heronshaw and my boat and then working outside on the games lawn on a cold but dry day before attending our Liberal Democrat Victory Party in Offord and then home late. The Tories are falling out over Ravenscraig and suffering their worst byelection defeat in Ulster. USA's James Baker and the Soviet Eduard Shevardnadze have been making progress towards getting an arms treaty ready, The two Germanies have signed a treaty as the start of the process of financial unification. A French train has broken the rail speed record for a third time    

I was slow again to rise today but it was not long before I got down to making a day of it. I spent much of the morning working first in the conservatory and then at my desk, listing all of the things that were overdue to be done and then making a number of urgent telephone calls. I successfully chased my Norfolk solicitor about the information that I needed for Heronshaw road maintenance, and then also managed to get an assurance from Marine Power that they will mend the coupling on the Paxton Princess on Monday; but had more trouble with my attempts at getting a builder to undertake the raising of Heronshaw.

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I had set my hopes on Coopers, but I found out that they had decided that the task of raising the old building was too much for them. They in turn put me on to Amis (with whom I am already in contact) and then a major construction company who would do the job on a very secure but involved basis but charge a lot of money. Having really got no option, I telephoned that company and arranged to see them on Tuesday week to see how much it would be. This afternoon, I tackled the games lawn with a sharp rake, standing up the coarser grasses, pulling out the clover roots and hand-weeding all the other lawn weeds that have been invading it recently. This was a back-breaking job that Pete had never done, and it is very effort-intensive and time consuming, but it had the desired effect. This took all afternoon and much of the evening and in the end, I was shattered, and my back was aching badly. I then had to get showered, shaved and dressed ready for a Liberal Democrat Victory Party which was held in Offord. We had quite a good turnout of activists and helpers and quite enjoyed ourselves, but the supplies of food and drink were overwhelming which led me to eat and drink too much. I was home at 11.30pm, but it was 12.30pm before I could unwind with a milky drink and get to bed. Even then I did not feel too good. Talks between USA's James Baker and the Soviet Eduard Shevardnadze have been making progress towards getting an arms treaty ready for signature at a forthcoming superpower summit. The two Germanies have signed a treaty which will introduce the D-mark and the writ of the Bundesbank into East Germany from the beginning of July as the start of the process of unification. The rows in the Tory party go on about Ravenscraig which is proving a distinct embarrassment to them. In Northern Ireland, they suffered a harsh defeat, the worst since they had fought an election there in 70 years. They lost their deposit and came 7th behind Sein Fein in 3rd place! A second cat is being examined that has been said to have developed symptoms of the "Mad Cow" disease. A French train has broken the rail speed record for a third time and has reached 515.3 kilometres/hour (320.3mph) in speed trials in the Loire valley. The stock exchange turned down again today after a large gain was turned round on speculation that there had not been a change of policy on the EMS after all. Today was quite cold really, but still dry and so good for working outside.