I met a posse of concerned residents about the peacock but did not rise to the bait, joking that it was "not a District Council matter"
I met a posse of concerned residents about the peacock but did not rise to the bait, joking that it was "not a District Council matter"

Back Home to reality and a troublesome peacock as Di drives me to Cambridge so that I could catch up on calls, importantly my Mum on the eve of her birthday about getting her a pond pump replacement.

Our normal haunts for morning coffee and lunch and a new high-quality pair of shoes for me. Home to organise my Paxton Focus delivery and avoid commenting on the Tony Carmedy affair.

The peacock woke me up very early this morning and its presence in Willow Close is getting to be of some concern to the neighbours. I was soon showered and dressed and then out to tend the fish and conservatory and put out the money for the gardener. I met a posse of concerned residents about the peacock but did not rise to the bait, joking that it was "not a District Council matter". I agreed to go with Diana to Cambridge today and she drove whilst I made some telephone calls. In truth, I was very weary this morning and was so stiff and achy, I could hardly get about for a while. The double portion of late night plaice was sitting heavily on my stomach as well, giving me a stomach ache.

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I had to telephone my mother most of all with her birthday coming on Thursday. I had got the pond net that she wanted but could not find an Otter pump and was hoping that she would make do with a replacement. In the end, I got her to telephone her favourite aquatic centre and they have the one she wants if I would pick it up.  In Cambridge, Di and I had coffee in Eaden Lilley's more from force of habit than anything else as her parents were not there today; her mother being ill with an ear infection. Di went off shopping on her own, leaving me at a bit of a loose end and so I went to the library first and found a copy of my History of Little Paxton on the Local Studies shelves. It was interesting to see how often it had been taken out, which was much more than Tebbutt's History of St Neots. I then went off and bought myself a pair of new shoes that I had been promising myself. I chose a pair of Barker Pitchley size 11 shoes in a black Hi-Shine finish from the Jones shoe shop who claim being bootmakers since 1857. The shoes were hand-lasted of leather in upper and sole by Barker of Earls Barton and were good if costly at £86.95 the pair.

I met Diana at The Copper Kettle for lunch and then we came home to Little Paxton via Avenue Fisheries of Tempsford where I sought advice on my Koi Carp Pond. Worked at my desk for the rest of this afternoon, objecting to the latest Horning planning applications that threatens Heronshaw. This evening, I wrote up this last couple of days' journal and then got Diana's help to count and prepare the FOCUS's for delivery.  They had been printed and were awaiting distribution to Little Paxton and Southoe which is always the problem with the FOCUS cycle - I get the layout and print order out of the way, only to be left with the task of delivering my own copies! Of greater disappointment, was the fact that our retired council candidate, Tony Carmedy, had felt it necessary to go to the press with a letter "explaining his position" which only served to make things worse just when the fuss was dying down. During a couple of hurried phone calls with Derek Giles and Percy Meyer, we decided that the best course was to maintain our position of making no comment on his personal affairs and letting the matter rest there.