A morning of domestic care and concern and time with my Hayling View landscapers and then lunch with the in-laws before making decisions on Scottish estates and showing the films to my parents as Daniel’s bike is broken again and they find the Air India’s Black Box flight recorder
Awake first as I heard Daniella snuffling and so I prodded Diana into life to get the morning drinks. As she had difficulty, I went down to help look after the baby, who is much improved after her recent infection. Up to catch up on yesterday’s journal and read today’s newspaper and then to get washed and dressed rather late. To the office, where plenty of mail and then out to feed the ducks and doves. I used a ladder to observe the doves and found two baby squabs had hatched. I tried to put rings on them, but found them rather small, but we shall see if they remain. I sort my papers out and then call in Mr Tee to discuss the work progress and time payments. We agree that there will be extra charges for the hire of the chainsaw, rotavator and rubbish skips, and that I will pay for some more time than that estimated in view of extra work and difficulty experienced.
The morning opening my mail, sorting it and auctioning some, then lunch with the in-laws, and the afternoon finishing the work off and organising my financial accounts. I talk to Barry Gamble, who tells me that Claise Brice has been offered elsewhere for a while and I have quite a fair amount of Broubster already. I also showed the film to my parents in law, who were impressed by the land scale. I brought the TV in to watch the test match as I worked – England scored nearly 300 for only two wickets, which was a good start to the third test against the Aussies. Tea of rolls and sausages and then an evening trying to mend the riverside fence and talk to Marilyn and Chris about the rabbit defences. We should be all right now I hope. Eventually, tired and irritable at finding Daniel’s bike broken again, I turned in. News today of a ½ % base rate cut by the Bank of England, and of the salvage of the Air India’s voice and flight recorders.