David A Broad
A personal story
More than 40 years, told day by day
Walking Sam in the snow and then rolling up large balls and trying to make a snowman, but it melted fairly quickly Debbie's school parents evening revealed her struggling and needing to speak up more and ask for help when needed.
I laid in for a long while this morning and Sam was very patient until I got out after 8.00am. A thin carpet of fine snow greeted us and this made for a bracing walk with Sam but at least I could get him quartering properly as most doggy scents were covered up. Lots of small children were out playing in the snow before breakfast but our family ate first upon my return and then the girls went out. They used plenty of the wide-open spaces in our garden to roll up large balls of snow and tried to make a snowman, but it melted fairly quickly.
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An early start on a cold day to go for a training visit to Jim in Wymondham with Sam. He was quite out of control for much of the time and ended up chasing three hares but did some very good retrieves as ever.
Once back home, the family had gone over to the village hall for "The November Fayre" This evening to Bedford with Diana to see the moving film "The Man Without a Face".
I had gone to bed with a hot water bottle and still woke up with the cold just before my radio called me at 6.30am. Up in the dark, washed, shaved, dressed and breakfasted in short order. It took longer to pack and get Sam walked and ready, but I was still away all right and got to Jim Bird's place in Wymondham at 8.30am. He had some pigeon decoying in mind, but we had to feed his dad's doves on the way first.
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A working visit to Ropes Hill Dyke, fearful of the reported floods and cold weather forecast for the weekend, but it was some three inches short of the earlier level.
I called in at Shepherds Grove Park, Stanton, to find none of the mobile homes selling at the moment.
I started up The Paxton Princess, airing it out. Some good training with Sam and practise downloading facsimile weather charts.
Fearful of the reported floods and cold weather forecast for the weekend, I had decided to take an overnight trip to Horning; opting to arrive in the light of morning rather than last night after dark. Did not compete too badly with the girls when getting out and made good time on my journey; arriving in Shepherds Grove Park, Stanton, just after the park office opened. A chat to Sue Buss, the manageress, about the transfer of the park home to Freda and the chances of selling it. She has around 28 up for sale and is selling none at present.
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Long walks with Sam on a cold and frosty day with frozen puddles and gravel pits, focussing on some launcher dummy training and obedience work.
Then to my office to progress planning matters and to catch up with Freda on the phone. The evening with Daniel trying to update software on my portable computer
The weather continued to get colder and more frosty so that the puddles and some of the open water on the gravel pits was frozen this morning. The forecast was for a large mass of evenly cold continental air to come across the region over the weekend. Thankfully, no disturbances in the night again and so we were even more rested. I took the opportunity of a long walk with Sam in the crisp sunshine and we were able to cross many of the fields that were frozen rather than soggy as of late.
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Horning was flooding again as it got colder according to Jack and Doris, as I carried on training Sam at home and working on my financial planning.
Football sadness as all of the national football teams in the United Kingdom were knocked out of The World Cup. Daniel was still popular with his girlfriends.
It was a cold and clear night as the thermometer dropped day by day. The forecast was for even colder weather to arrive over the weekend which made me feel that I should drop into Horning before that. Telephone calls to Jack and Doris told me that the river levels had been right up again on The Broads and all of the properties that had been flooded in Horning a couple of weeks ago were under again yesterday. At least the night had passed peacefully as both Sam and Della were settled.
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No chance to catch up with lost sleep as Della had become very ill but Dr Newby of Little Paxton was the duty doctor for St Neots Surgery and he visited and then diagnosed a throat infection but no asthma.
My health screening at The Evelyn Hospital followed and looked good. The evening in looking after Della and helping Debbie with her Biology for a testing examination the next day
Instead of Diana and I getting a chance to catch up on the sleep that Sam had cost us, we were to get even more disturbance in the next night. Della was having soreness and breathing difficulties and became so anxious during the night that she ended up with something that had all the symptoms of an all-out asthma attack. Several times she came in for attention and, in the end, Diana had to sit with her and then woke me up worried again in the early hours wanting to know if she should take Della to the hospital casualty department as she could hardly breathe.
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