Mr and Mrs James and Bernice Dunham, visited and they have just bought a Broom Ocean 42
Mr and Mrs James and Bernice Dunham, visited and they have just bought a Broom Ocean 42

Mrs Vincent visited on a bitterly cold day in another panic as another neighbour’s house, The Tree House, had also been broken into and contents rifled.

Some breakfast before our guests, Mr and Mrs James and Bernice Dunham, arrived, who had bought an Ocean 42 and were planning to retire to Ropes Hill Dyke. Lunch out with my family and an evening in playing Cluedo and watching an Agatha Christie film on TV

I had exercised Sam as usual this morning when Mrs Vincent came to me in another panic and showed me how the Lawrence's house in Ropes Hill Dyke had also been broken into. Some telephone calls later, we met up with their builder and key-holder Arthur Edmunds and the police at this building (called "The Tree House") and it transpired that the TV had been stolen, drinks cabinet rifled and house ransacked which came as a shock to Mr Lawrence who was shortly due to go into hospital for an operation. Some breakfast before our guests, Mr and Mrs James and Bernice Dunham, arrived. James is looking more frail and badly affected by his rheumatism but they have just bought a new boat (an "Ocean 42") and are planning for a redevelopment of the property here to become their main home.

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We wondered if his health will hold out and whether he will last to see the finished result as so many people die here in retirement! A quick outing for lunch at "The Old Tea Shoppe" and then Diana and the girls went out whilst I looked after Sam and did a few things at Harnser. I took him for the first time into some carr and brambles and he hunted around and got used to it, though it did make him a bit too excited for close control. Later on I got Della to do the washing up and Debbie to make the tea and then we all played Cluedo before watching an Agatha Christie film on TV. My journal and some paperwork completed my day. The weather continues bitterly cold with no sign of a break in the weather and I, for one, could do with a respite from the freezing air and ground that greets me every time I go out to tend the dog.