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Some time in the office but no mail arrives yet and then to Stevenage for the train to London for a morning at The Silver Vaults where I make good progress in assembling my new silver collection before a taxi to pall mall and the RAC club for a business meeting and on to Westminster for a PITCOM meeting and dinner afterwards before home with no news
Awake slowly to my morning tea. My cold still prevails and the chill winds do not help. The morning paper at some length, breakfast and to get washed and dressed. No mail this morning at either address, but there is news that the dispute is ended by negotiation. Out to the birds and 12 eggs from the ducks and the doves carry on incubating without any disasters to date. To the office and messages from Barry Gamble of Fountain Forestry first of all. I return his call and agree to up our offer for Archer’s Wood to £32,000 to maintain our interest. Word also from Mrs Mason of the Belgravia Plate Co of Cambridge and I call her to discuss some old forks and dessert ware that they have and agree to visit next Tuesday when next in Cambridge. Then to get ready and set off by car to Stevenage and, after morning tea, by train to London. A morning at the London Silver Vaults in London WC2. Numerous silver dealers there, but only certain of them specialising in flat-ware and, even then, all but a few clinging on to dessert forks and spoons to make up sets for themselves. I have good success though, with Linden and Block and buy two half sets from each (SH DC dinner forks and SH DC desert spoons) and also buy a fine half set of dessert forks of a lesser known make (Charles Shipley) from another dealer. I eventually retired with a lighter bank account and heavier briefcase to a café and then a bench in Lincoln’s Inn to catalogue my purchases and take stock. These ½ sets were costing £200 each, with good condition dessert spoons for £260. Much more than my other purchases, but these ones were key. A taxi to Pall Mall and exactly on time at 4.30pm to meet Dr Tim Keen and his father at the RAC Club. A pleasant place, but briefcases banned in the smoking room, but we chatted socially about forests, silver and heraldry, before I briefed Tim on the BMMG. In his new role as MD of Nine Tiles Software, he will recommend their joining the group, which will be good. By taxi to the House of Commons and Committee Room 10 again, for a PITCOM meeting.
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Recovery after the late night and my heavy cold to start clearing the riverside plots of overgrown and dead trees before a rest and recovery and then off on a sunny afternoon to Woburn Abbey, where the family play on the amusements and I fail to find any interesting silver in their antiques cabinets. This as the postal strike ends tomorrow but 200 schools to be affected by a teachers’ strike!
Awake groggy from last night’s alcohol and late retirement and a welcome cup of morning tea as the first of a number of drinks to try to increase my body liquids to compensate. Up to write my journal and then a fried breakfast, that I still enjoy, before the bathroom for a wash and shave. The paper arrives at last and I relax in the lounge and read it briefly until it is time to tend the birds. The doves feed well and Debbie and I sit on the garden furniture to watch them for a while. As all four come down, I get the ladder and inspect the nest. Both of the two eggs are warm and intact and I am hopeful of two chicks in a week or so. To the ducks and find that I did not put them away last night and so I leave out the food tray for them to feed at will. I then take morning coffee before getting the bow-saw and trimming some of the trees on Bill’s plot. They are growing apace and concealing my view of the river and I thin them to grow upwards instead. Also to enter the Poynter plot and remove some old fallen tree trunks adjoining the boundary, which Pete will saw up for me as next winter’s fire wood. I also remove a couple of recent saplings, before they get a hold. I am pleased at this ‘gardening’ of the riverside views and am convinced that the best effects require this intervention to avoid a wilderness that obscures the view from the house altogether. In, somewhat shattered, in time for lunch of salad rolls and then collapsed in an armchair for a while to recover. The combination of exertion and a heavy cold after a late night is quite weakening, but the weather has warmed a bit and I build up a fair sweat doing the work. Eventually, Debbie comes in for a ‘tickling match’ and I stir to call everyone for an afternoon outing. We set off in the car on a sunny afternoon for Woburn Abbey and first drive through the wild animal kingdom looking at the lions, tigers, monkeys, elephants, hippos, giraffes etc. before parking at the rest area.
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More restful dull and colder day, with the postal strike, and some shopping in St Neots, visit to the library researching silver hallmarks, a Happy Eater family lunch and the afternoon walk with Debbie before a very late evening dining with Nigel and friends
All awake for morning drinks and Diana joins me in bed for a little while until the baby awakes. No mail this morning due to the postal strike, but I read the paper before and after a toast breakfast. Washed, dressed and out to the birds on a duller and colder day than yesterday, and it was quite chilly as I fed them. I adjusted the battery charger and either the ships batteries are taking a fair charge, or I have a fault somewhere, as the charging current stays well up. In to look after the baby and read a little while whilst Di gets a coffee and ready for a trip, then all out in the car and to St Neots by 11.30am to park in the market square. First, with Daniel to the Hi-Fi shop to get some miniature fuses and then to the bank (where my statement has not, of course, arrived in the strike), the fish shop for some prawns and to the library after. There, with a slightly impatient Daniel, to look up hall marks and, in particular, maker’s marks in Sir Charles Jackson’s reference work.
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My cold is worse on a fine arm and sunny day but we go shopping to Bedford despite Debbie being clingy when being dropped off at school over the School Dinner arrangements and then I work on my new video camera before an evening where Daniel plays up as well! News of redundancies in Blue Chip companies as interest rates still fall to 12 ½ % and racial conflict continues in South Africa
My cold worse again, but a sound night’s sleep. The brightness of a sunny morning woke me first, but Diana to get the morning tea, which helped my throat. Breakfast of hot toast and fruit juice and, after finishing my paper, a slow start washing my hair, shaving and getting dressed. Out to the ducks and eleven eggs today and the doves are still feeding shyly, but the brooding goes on! To the office, but no messages and a postal strike has deprived us of any incoming mail at either house today. We get readying to go out, but Diana has all sorts of trouble trying to get Debbie to leave her at school. The poor girl clings to Di and wails and eventually has to be held by her teacher as Diana leaves. Di thinks it is to do with not being able to take a packed lunch and only settles when she has written a letter to Mr Jeffs. All else off by car to Bedford and a morning drink together before going our various ways. I to the antique shops, but only find a jewellers selling second hand and antique silver.