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Enjoyable day on The Lady, shopping in St Neots for medicine for Debbie, cruising upstream through Eaton Socon lock to The Anchor for lunch and watching the children play on the weir before upstream through Barford lock to moor and play with Daniel and the dinghy as BBC journalists strike over government censorship over not showing the IRA documentary and the High Court rules that with-holding accommodation for the unemployed is illegal and long-term unemployment is up 37% in the last year
A sound night’s sleep and awake first to put the kettle on and prepare the drinks. Time for us all to enjoy them before Daniella wakes and then Debbie and I play with her whilst Diana washes and dresses and then I take my turn. Breakfast of toast and more tea and then I feed Della hers and stand no nonsense. Diana says that she will be fully trained by the end of this boat trip! When ready, all into town where we have a good time doing our shopping nice and early from 9.00am, with few people about to get in our way. I buy a new history of Huntingdonshire by Michael Wickes, a copy of the Bedfordshire magazine, a Financial Times and some sealant for the boat windows. Debbie is still ill with a temperature and a tummy upset and we cannot get to see our doctor and so Diana gets some Kaolin and Morphine with lots of reassurance from Mr Calcutt in the market square. Morning coffee at the rendezvous and then back to The Lady as the day becomes very warm, though dull.
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Some final preparations with the gardeners and then away on The Lady upstream to St Neots for an experimental and quiet evening on her at Coneygeare with fish and chips to eat and some portable TV reception to hear news of Thatcher’s arguments with the Football authorities and the BBC backing down on an IRA documentary as a US congressional hearing also criticises their TV channels over publicising the Beirut hostage affair
A poor night’s sleep, feeling too warm and interrupted also by Della keeping Diana awake. Finally into a deep sleep and then awoken with my morning tea and paper. Breakfast and the paper as usual and I went and got the cordless telephone from the office so as to take any calls that arose – but none did. A little mail this morning including welcome news that my contacts at the British Embassy had identified a BMMG counterpart in Germany who was keen on cooperating with us. Out to the birds and to talk to the gardeners, who were all busy later after the further heavy downpour of rain early on. I get Pete to witness some documents for us and also to undertake to feed the ducks & doves whilst we are away. The landscapers complete the paving stones during the day and are ready for the turfs tomorrow. They should have finished the gardens by the time we return from our boating holiday. Before lunch I finish cleaning up my office and, after a hamburger with the family, start to load up the boat. By mid-afternoon we are ready to set off and Paul, Daniel’s friend, comes with us as far as St Neots. I decide to go upstream as we seldom see this stretch and we can then attend to some business in the morning and drop in at Little Paxton on the way back for anything we have forgotten.
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Working with, and paying, the landscape gardeners and receiving builders working on their estimates for my house building, before composing and typing a whole host of industry correspondence and proposals on a rainy day as the coal industry reports record losses due to the coal strike and The Lords defeat the government on Top peoples pay with my PITCOM friend proposing the motion whilst in Africa unrest continues
Awake to my morning tea and, the newspaper roundsman delayed by torrential rain, I was quickly up, showered and shaved before breakfast. A meal of cereal, milk and fruit juice and then to withdraw to the lounge to read the paper from cover to cover. By 8.30am the landscape gardeners had arrived and began to lay the paving slabs on the new front garden. To the office and there I made out an interim cheque for £1,300 to ‘Gransden Landscape gardeners’ and then go out to review the job with Mr Tee and provide him with his first cheque. We agree the line of the second path in our old front garden and then pace out the crossed paths that we intend for the new riverside garden. Daniel had set off with his friends, Diana with the girls to go swimming and so I spent three hours at the office working on a variety of correspondence for the BMMG, composing and typing it out on the word processor. Despite the three press statements, I also wrote to STC/ICL and ACT to invite their participation in the LAN participants, letters also to OFTEL and DTI about VAN licensing and to Prof. Carsberg of Alvey to suggest a further meeting with the BMMG.
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Sometime sorting out leaks in The Lady after torrential rains and then compiling an industry press statement and some letters before taking Daniel and his friend to see the latest James Bond film as Britons are criticised for not opposing apartheid enough and the UK police clamp down on demonstrators using new draconian powers of arrest
Awake to morning tea and no sign of the paper and so caught up on the rest of this week’s Economist instead. Down to a nice fried breakfast and then back with the paper until 10.00am. Rather annoyed by a procession of both children (with their friends) in and out of my bedroom now that they are all becoming social animals. The morning in The Lady, sorting out the latest leaks in the torrential rain. It seems to be the cracks in the cabin timbers that are causing the trouble this time and so I retrieve the new boat cushions from further damage until I can stop them. Lunch of pork, roasted, and eaten off our best china and silver and then the trouble to wash both carefully afterwards. The afternoon working on my BMMG actions, when I manage to finish the third draft press statement and the first of the two letters to ACT & ICL. The main problem is getting the right names and addresses for all of the promised contacts. Later, as promised, I took Daniel and his friends Gary and Paul to Huntingdon cinema to see the latest James Bond film – ‘Licensed to Kill’ – which we all enjoyed.