Debbie and Della ready for family weekend
Debbie and Della ready for family weekend

Suffering from my antibiotics, without sympathy as I rush to finish paperwork on a cloudy and showery day and then take the family for a London Hotel stay as police battle with miner’s  pickets in Yorkshire and the Thatcher government cuts UK aid to the worst ever famine in Africa

Up, but still tired from the last two days exertions and groggy from the long course of antibiotics I am taking. I still have my cough and it is not any better yet. The Financial Times and morning mail after my normal breakfast of melon, apple juice and toast. Up in time to listen to ‘Yesterday in Parliament’ on radio 4 as I wash and dress and get ready before over to the doves. They seem much better today – livelier, warmer and feeding as well as preening themselves. I cleaned them out and renewed their water, grit and seed for the weekend ahead. I inexplicably found pellets of meat-like substance and tomato in the ‘cage’ and can only think they regurgitated them or they were dropped in by local starlings. No sign of the ducks this morning and this made three days without sight. To the office for relaxation disturbed by Carlton Lowe and family picking up their mail. Apart from that they appear to have moved on to their own house now. Then to the complex task of form filling to finish the process of applying for Nottingham Building Society and Bank of Scotland ‘Homelink’ accounts. They provide a service via my Prestel terminal to allow payment of household bills, electronic shopping, and rapid transfers on screen between savings and bank accounts. Also statements of account can be scrutinised at any time. Phone calls with Bill Unsworth to arrange to meet Rodime at next week’s Compec and then out to find the ducks returned and I feed them as my only chance for two days past and future. I am delayed finding the pigeons and taking a phone call from Procurement newspaper; keen to hear my views on the European initiative to change the differential tariffs on semiconductors. Diana, who has been waiting for me to go shopping with, is furious and all set to leave without me before I stop her. She has much to do and her frustration somewhat spoils our Little Chef lunch with resulting arguments. Eventually I finish off and Di picks up Debbie from school. Our normal squeeze to pack belongings in the car and then, a half hour late, we drive off to Kimbolton and collect Daniel from school. A good fast drive to London, but we arrive at the Swiss Cottage Holiday Inn for 5.30pm.

I take the kids to McDonalds for tea whilst Di feeds Daniella then all together to the hotel swimming pool. My turn to play with the baby and take a Campari and soda and Di teaches Debbie to swim, in spite of a boisterous Daniel. Daniella then to bed, the kids to watch telly and we go down to the hotel restaurant, King Henry’s, for a good buffet dinner and Liebfraumilch wine. To the room after, the kids to bed and reflections on the day. I had managed to forget my video camera and so the weekend’s events will go unrecorded. News today of further police/picket battles in Yorkshire; of more US threats to Nicaragua and of an appalling government proposal to cut overseas aid in the face of worst ever famine in Africa. The weather milder but cloudy and showery. London busy in traffic but quieter now with less tourists.