Saturday 28th April 1984

Monitoring progress on The Lady, buying straw for the ducks and second-hand materials for constructing my landing stages as Diana recovers enough from her chesty cough to join me back in bed again

Up on time with a good night’s sleep but still tired from the weeks work and down to breakfast for my normal toast and fruit juice. I have put on a little weight recently and the summer should provide the means of losing it again. Yet another beautiful and sunny day but still the cold wind. A quick wash, shower, survey of the papers then, after letting out the ducks quite early and seeing Daniel off to school, off by car with the girls to Buckden Marina to enquire after The Lady. At last the boatyard have started work and disassembled the engine and will be continuing on Monday. On the way back to St Neots, we call in at the Arthur Ibbetts agricultural dealers to try to get a cable and then to the local farm for a bail of straw.

It seems that he has more pigs than normal this year and can only afford the odd bail but I take one and pay him 60p. We talk about ducks and he tells me that he is buying a new incubator to hatch a few more Aylesburys for food, sale as meat and to provide a few eggs for locals who buy them. On to St Neots to the bank, the fish shop and the newsagents where we meet Daniel and take him off with us for our Saturday Happy Eater lunch – a welcome return to our old routine. After we drop in at Comart and see Derek Catling working away at the CAD and VISTA equipment and Daniel is suitably fascinated. Home then to a welcome cup of tea and rest in front of the television and then, with Daniel, to put the roof rack on the car and, having filled up the petrol tank and pumped up the tyres, we drive to Wimpole for second hand timber and scaffold poles for a new landing stage. I always find that yard interesting. It belongs to a family who buy the materials from auctions and demolition contractors and is ideal for second-hand use being cheap and good. We buy 6 x 20foot 6”x1” planks for about £3 each and 4 old poles and a 15ft x 2”x3” post all for £25 + a £1 tip for the yardman who saws off the 7 ½ foot ends to allow us to take them with us. Slowly home for a tea of prawns, scones and strawberries which were most delicious. It is funny to see how the kids are now keen on the strawberries whereas before only Diana and I were interested. After to try to start the stage without much progress. Good to see the range of birdlife on the riverside plots. I am sure we have more pigeons than ever before and I am more conscious of the rich variety of crows, finches and tits from both their sight and sound – now that we have the balcony and opening door. After rounding up the ducks, in, and after television to bed; Diana joining me for the first night in many now that her cough is improving. News today of the police moving in closer to the Libyan Bureau and waiting for the Sunday end of Diplomatic Status to check it over for security devices and evidence of firearms.