Working on The Hayling View riverside garden today
Working on The Hayling View riverside garden today

A quiet Sunday without a newspaper but lots of other reading before some time nurturing my new landscaped lawns and recording the names of my new plants before some late night love making as Gales hit the Fastnet race, Acorn loses money bigtime and trouble continues in both South Africa and Ulster

A sound night’s sleep and awake rather groggy from the experience. No Sunday paper, which made me wonder around lost for a while, but plenty of other reading material, which kept me busy thereafter. A pleasant start to the day before the windy rain spread later and so I got the sprinkler out again and kept the turves moist. A day spent between reading my papers (of which there are many unattended) and braving the cold wind to go out and catalogue the shrub garden. By the day’s end I had worked out what all of the shrubs were and painstakingly recorded their names and positions before the markings were obscured by the wind and rain. Time playing with Debbie and Daniella today as Daniel made up for lost time with his friends that he had missed all week. Tired this evening, watching a TV film with Di and the evening’s news.

More unrest in South Africa and the situation seems to be developing with the authorities on the verge of announcing concessions with respect to black rights. Another march and demonstration in Northern Ireland yesterday with American republican sympathisers joining in. Gales hit the Fastnet Yacht Race again with 57 of the 200 having to retire from the race and pop singer Simon Le Bonn’s £1M boat capsizing and trapping him and several others inside after the keel broke off. All were saved by helicopters. Acorn estimates its annual losses as at least £20M after profits of £10M last year. To bed tired, but aroused by a sex film and so played with Diana for a while before we both went soundly to sleep.