Day taking an interest in the gardens as Debbie digs holes with a friend and Daniel rides dinghies with his before an evening sorting out videos and being amazed by how much better our modern JVC is compared with our Canon bought for £1400 a year ago as the dead boy’s father is charged with armed robbery which prompts a retaliatory attack by youths on a police car with a woman knocked unconscious whilst more facts emerge about the doomed Manchester aircraft.
A good night’s sleep, but still a bit groggy today over the recent change of air and nightly problems with Della. Tea in bed as usual and then to get washed and dressed fairly early as no paper arrived today. Breakfast of toast and honey, feeding Della with part of it and making sure she ate it rather than throwing it on the floor. I have returned to a lighter diet again as my weight has reached 13 stone 11 lbs and I wish to get back under 13 ½ st. at least. Out to the doves, where I find the bright sunny morning is balanced by those cool s/westerly winds that sweep across the riverside garden, now it is much more open again. I move the dove feeding tray into a more central position, but they have yet to take to it. Up by ladder to the dovecote, where I note that the doves are making no new attempts to breed. Either they were put off by the past starvation of their young, or the long passing of spring. Now that the holidays are over, I will try to feed them well and regularly and try to bring them back to it. In and to the lounge to read more of shrubs and gardening and to plan some more planting. Out later to do the ducks and only four eggs today.
They are now in full moult (as are the doves) and will take a while to get back to full lay. The 13th duck is still coping with its broken foot. Lunch then of meat, carrot and potatoes, with apple pie and ice cream to follow. We call Debbie in from a fine game of digging a hole with friends further along the towpath and Daniel only just arrives back in time after a morning on the dinghy with his friends Gary and Paul. He is now getting up early to help Paul with his paper round these days, which is rather energetic for him. This afternoon I take them all to St Ives. As the boys and girls go swimming, I go to the antiques fair at the St Ivo Centre and, after a lot of searching, find two SH DC salt spoons to my liking and also a small folding mahogany chair of the upholstered variety to match the larger example that we keep in our bedroom and use on the balcony. I am too late to join them in the pool, which is a pity, but take them home for tea, where we treat them to plenty of sausage rolls, drinks and more apple pie and ice cream to follow. A mixed evening tending the birds, looking around the garden, and deciding further on the work that needs to be done. It is too late for the garden centres, which must wait for a visit until tomorrow. This evening, I try out both our videos and copy some of our small tapes onto large, although the JVC set shows up the poor performance of the Canon. We are now deciding to sell the older Canon set and get a proper domestic video to work with the specialist portable JVC. Selling the one (which cost £1400 a year ago) should more than pay for the other. We enjoyed watching the Norfolk films, but then came a brief chance to watch the news before rather late moves to go to bed. News today was of the 6 year old boy, shot by West Midlands police, and the fact that his father is now charged with two others with an armed robbery. There has been a retaliatory attack by youths on a police car and a police women rendered unconscious. More facts on the Manchester 737 air fire reveal that the firemen ran out of foam and that the engine had also failed on the last flight.