David A Broad
A personal story
More than 40 years, told day by day
A windy but fine day to take Sam on a good training walk and then working in the garden preparing to trap the invasive moles. To Wroxham with the girls and also to buy seafood. The evening working on my computer charts and journal.
The wind had got up in the night, but the temperatures were still mild and the rain stayed away for my morning run with Sam. I had allowed myself an hour's lay in and the dog was good to wait. In fact, he was also good on the walk; quartering steadily and enthusiastically and being quite obedient, before finding a pheasant in the dyke road near home. He has the gait of a much more mature dog than he was and I hope that this will be the portent of things to come.
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A slow start to the day after a late-night and then hearing of the demise of Mrs Burton opposite.
An aborted service for the Discovery at Mann Egerton due to lack of parts and then work at Harnser and I was loaned a Mini Metro instead of a Land Rover.
The row continues as Sein Fein release more papers revealing the scope of its negotiations with the government
I was up late last night working on my computer and was therefore most reluctant to wake up this morning when my radio gave me the call. The weather was mild again and I had no trouble getting out with the dog; stopping to chat to Doris on the way. She tells me of the fate of Mrs Burton opposite; now admitted to a psychiatric hospital suffering from depression and thought not able to return to her home in Ropes Hill Dyke.
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A poignant month commemorating the birth and passing of my late Dad whilst also celebrating my own 47th Birthday. The annual Remembrance Day Service on the 11th was all the more poignant for that.
A wintry month with heavy rains, floods and then snow and ice. A made couple of trips to Horning to properly winterise boat and property and there found the flood water up very high again. Problems with Nigel over our Cambridge Street plans, as I took this all in hand myself. I was getting very good exercise, but my Cholesterol level remained far too high which puts me at serious risk of having heart disease later in life.
I spent much of the month working on the children's trust investments and trying to find the third property for the portfolio. Just a little practical work for me trimming internal doors at The Hayling View. More progress with Sam as he gets steadier whilst learning to discern and make three concurrent retrieves and a training visit to Jim in Wymondham with his dog Ben.
Watching many films and enjoying meals out with Diana and the family. Debbie managed to miss the influenza but Della, Daniel and Diana all went down very ill with it. Daniel was particularly affected by his bout of 'flu but had a good month corresponding with his girlfriends and seeing Dawn.
John Major was getting personally involved in trying to solve the problems of Northern Ireland but was also seen to be have been heavy-handed encouraging the new Child Support Agency as it attempted to squeeze more child support payments out of their middle-class supporters.
Then there was their struggle to get the Rail Privatisation Bill through the House of Lords from which it was sent back twice before being passed as a constitutional crisis loomed. The James Bulger murder trial ended today with guilty verdicts the result for the two eleven-year-old boys that had murdered the three-year-old.
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Paxton to Horning after training Sam in the water at the gravel pits, reviewing property acquisitions and investment forms. A foggy and murky journey but a fair one in time for some work before dark.
The evening running my new Amstrad computer weather forecast set-up before my journal, my bath and my bed.
The weather had turned wet and mild overnight with the wind first strong and then moderating towards dawn so that it was much more pleasant for me to walk Sam. In fact, I got him into the water over at the gravel pits as he has to learn to enter cold water willingly which will be vital when being a gun dog in earnest. This was a vindication of my decision to get Bill mowing the lawn yesterday, but he did not necessarily see it that way and was complaining about being out in the cold. I gave him some more tasks for the day and then got back to my office where I had urgent calls to make.
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Daniel at home off ill on an even chillier day for waking Sam, but he was able to help me as I upgraded the Amstrad memory to run under Windows. Della was writing a speech this evening all about Sam and will take his rosette, shield and some photographs into school.
Concerning the talks with the I.R.A., the government is being supported by the opposition parties in the interests of trying to find a solution to this intractable problem
It was another bitterly cold morning with a slight frost and much more wind chill as the breeze strengthened from the south-east and thus from central Europe. I had bathed last night and so had just a wash and shave this morning before joining the others for breakfast. Poor Daniel did not feel up to work and stayed in bed early and late; just perking up enough to be helpful to me for some of the day.
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A much colder and breezy day at home for two chilly walks with Sam outside as I worked inside on decoding weather faxes and completing paperwork.
Irish Revelations as John Major admits to negotiations with the IRA
Daniel was a bit better this morning and recovered enough to eat and use his computer a bit before slumping back onto the settee. The south-easterly breeze was picking up and temperatures dropping as the wind chill factor combined with the colder incoming continental air. Two brisk and chilly walks with Sam, during which I saw the County Council completing the installation of a new wooden pedestrian footbridge over the Paper Mill Sluice.
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