Creating The Hayling View
Creating The Hayling View

Organising my office in 7 Willow Close as the landscape gardeners clear the new riverside garden extension whilst Daniel does better at his exams and revision and Thatcher combats IRA terrorism and the High Court rejects the FA’s appeal against the Euro-ban

A slightly wakeful night and drowsy to wake to my morning tea. The Financial Times until breakfast of toast and fruit juice and then quickly washed and dressed. By this time the workmen had arrived and stoked up the fire and it was too smoky to feed the doves, but I fed the ducks and collected 8 eggs. To the office then and time taking all my things across to 7 Willow Close. Later in the morning Pete, the gardener, helped me as well and I installed my desk, furniture and computer before lunch. Poor Di wanted to go out to lunch, but I insisted on working on with a sandwich and an ice cream. More transfer of goods in the afternoon and I also took all my telephone equipment across as well. I typed a friendly letter to my old neighbours, briefing them on the new tenant and apologising for the smoke these last two days as the workmen burnt the undergrowth. By the end of the day they had cleared the riverside garden in total and the view was an amazing transition from before. Such good views of the river from all parts of the house and I almost suffered from agoraphobia at the wide open spaces. The gardens were bigger than I thought. Then tea with the children and I started Daniel on his revision of physics and biology. He said he had done quite well in today’s English literature and very well in the mathematics.

Out to the land and, with Chris’s sons, piled the last of the branches and leaves on the bonfire and saw it all go up in smoke and the view improved even more. I put everything away and locked up three houses and came in to give Daniel an hours grilling on his work until he knew it well. Today England closed their innings in the second test for 290 and had four Australian wickets down for 180 by close, but bad light stopped much of today’s play. Detectives have found an arms cache in a tenement block in Glasgow. Another woman was detained, making nine in all in Glasgow as the armalite rifles and bomb making equipment were taken into custody. There is much talk of the Americans considering a hostage exchange with President Assad of Syria. Another EEC summit meeting today and distractions in the form of a Thatcher call for anti-terrorist measures. Less talk of progress on any fundamental constitutional reform made vital by the enlargement of the community. In the High Court, the football clubs appeal against the UEFA ban has been lost. In the Atlantic, they may have detected weak signals from a flight recorder, but it is 6000ft down, well below the continental shelf. Weather is forecast cloudy with occasional rain and our gardens have been lucky today in the weather.