A further very tiring day of chores, screwing down a toilet and floorboards alike and then tending the birds before and after feeding Della, fielding phone calls from Daniel’s friends and enjoying a family Sunday lunch. Also analyzing the news which still featured the Westland helicopter row, Spanish Basque Separatist demonstrations and harsh weather starving reindeer in Idaho!
A long lie in and then I was brought the Sunday Times with my morning tea and read a fair bit of it before being called down. A nice fried breakfast to eat in the breakfast room and the children just about behaved themselves for me to enjoy it. By this time Steve had arrived in the pouring rain to spend the day with Daniel and rain was a good test of our balconies. They were certainly weatherproof, but the contours of the rear one will need changing as the water collects in a puddle outside the ironing room door. As the day was so dingy, I left the Christmas lights on the balconies and they shone quite brightly. Showered, shaved and dressed and then to start my chores. First the upstairs bathroom, where I cleared it out and screwed down the WC firmly to the floor. Coffee time then and I played with Della and fed her a biscuit and mug of water, which is now part of our ‘ritual’.
Back to my chores and just managed to finish screwing the bathroom floorboards down by lunch. Diana was behind, however, and I helped her to serve the lunch in the dining room. She has not quite got the knack of using the heated trolley and the noise of the new extractor fan seemed to put her off, but the lunch of roast pork and three vegetables was lovely. By this time, I realised that I had not tended the birds and so I righted the dovecote (which had been over turned by yesterday’s gales) and let out the ducks. Daniel and Steve had been bailing out Aquabean, but had not heard them. Despite being busy, I made a point of getting out the video camera and taking shots of the vast improvements we have made to the house in this last week. Then, back to my chore of clearing out the nursery room of builders and, after tea, to continue the task of screwing down the floorboards there. Interrupted by constant calls from Daniel’s friends and in the end he told them not to phone any more, as they are beginning to get us much bother to him as they are to us. The job finished by 8.30pm and my chance to have a bath in the new blue bathroom for the first time. The bath is narrower than the old type, with the accent obviously on economy of water, but still very comfortable for all that. As Diana carried on working, I settled down in front of the TV to update my journal, listen to the news, and plan what jobs I have left. I am so tired, however, that I have decided tomorrow is the last day for chores and on Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing Day, I am taking it easy! News today of the black South African leader, Mrs Winnie Mandela, being arrested and detained for returning to her house in Soweto. She held a Press Conference and then awaited arrest. The Board of Westland Helicopters meets tomorrow amidst continued Cabinet discussions between Heseltine and Brittan. The Observer carried the story today that Leon Brittan had also favoured a European solution, but since changed his mind. A large fire in Naples, Italy, has claimed 4 lives and led to thousands being evacuated from their homes. In Spain, thousands of Basque Separatists are demonstrating. Sunday trading has started ahead of time in a Welsh village and will soon be the unhappy norm everywhere. Thousands of reindeer are starving to death in Idaho after a record cold spell. Sweden have retained the Davis Cup by beating the Germans 3-2. The weather was very mild today as I surveyed the gardens to see the winter heather flowering. Pete has demolished the outhouse at the back of Bill’s shed, cleared the garden and I must soon plan the position to which our workshop will be transferred. The weather is forecast to get colder by Christmas Eve, but we shall see.