Sharing my time on a warm and muggy day between Peacock’s auction in Bedford to get some silver and working outside on my land and tending my ducks and everybody else’s before Daniel returns home with poor news about his Physics grading through poor homework as The Alliance wins the Brecon and Radnor by-election, a Liverpool fan being jailed in Brussels and the crashed airliner’s black box located one mile down in the Atlantic
Awake to my morning tea, slightly stiff after yesterday’s unaccustomed exertions. The Financial Times, but not time to finish it before called to a breakfast of cereal, milk and fruit juice. Back up and to finish the paper and relax in front of the open balcony doors. Another hot day and very humid to boot. Then to the bathroom, when finished, and washed, shaved and dressed, out to feed the doves and let the ducks out, and then ready to leave. The landscape gardeners were already at work, as was my own gardener, and Di had left for Cambridge to get her hair done. By car to Bedford, but some time parking as I lacked the change for the 50p car parks. To the Peacock auction rooms, where I looked around both the antiques auction in the Robert Room and the general auction downstairs. The six silver fiddle teaspoons turned out to be a set of SH/DC, but badly worn, which was a quandary. Another one of two table spoons was also SH/DC, but also worn.
Nothing of interest elsewhere and so off into town for a McDonalds cheeseburger, coffee and apple pie. Also to sit in the comfort of the car air conditioning and read the Investors Chronicle to pass the time. Back to the Robert Room and successfully bid for the teaspoons at £26 the set of six, including VAT. I was pleased because that was all they were worth, being worn. The tablespoons were too much. I paid for my purchase and then drove home, hearing on the radio of the recount at Brecon and Radnor. Once home, I sat watching the televised recount and cleaning my new silver. The Liberals won the seat for the Alliance, with a majority of 569. It was the worst Conservative result this parliament, as they previously had a majority of 8,000, but now came a poor third. The successful Liberal, Richard Livesey, announced the end of Thatcherism. So much for the Labour predicted victory! Out after to The Lady and the storm held off so that I could apply two coats of varnish to the rear cabin (starboard & stern) and also complete the white undercoat for the grab rails. In for tea and out after to put the outboard onto the Blue Peter and take the dinghy out to see the riverside garden from the river. A much better view of the house/s, but the riverside garden levels need adjusting. Then to find the Aylesbury’s nest, deep in the river meadow nettles and at the end of a long tunnel through the undergrowth. A clever technique, but tell-tale down feathers along the way were a sure sign. It had to go, otherwise the river would be full of drakes – and the river was much quieter after the disappearance of the existing Aylesbury drake, with peace restored. I was angry and harsh with Daniel. He brought news today that, because of poor classwork and homework during the term, he would not be in a first set for physics. I made him sort out his exam papers and file them neatly with his exercise books. I let him relax with the dinghy later as a change. After, to put the ducks away and managed to catch the three strange ducks, lock two up for the night, and clip the wings of all three. I hope to tame them for breeding. In to lock up and then look around the new house and took considerable pleasure in working out how they had used it before. In to the news and my journal. The Alliance victory widely reported, the end of another gun siege, the Brussels court jailing a Liverpool football hooligan on plainly circumstantial evidence, and they appear to have pin pointed the crashed airliner’s fuselage and black box a mile down in the Atlantic. The weather, which had brought rainstorms to Wimbledon, will be fine in East Anglia for the weekend.