Treating Diana to morning coffee in bed and to a lunch out on Mothering Sunday and catching up on a host of reading before working outside and welcoming Daniel back home with the Tomblins as Iraq and Iran hostilities grow worse and Israel withdraw from the Lebanon but the main news is of the 100,000 Belgians demonstrating against Cruise missile deployment
Awake early enough, but Diana quite rightly layed doggo and insisted on being brought her morning drink as it was Mothering Sunday. Down to put on the kettle and to see Debbie already watching ‘Rubadubdub’ on the television. I retrieve the Mother’s Day cards, fake Daniel’s signature and get Debbie to do hers. She also had one that looked like a book-mark from school. Then the last signed by me for Daniella and I and up with the drinks. A pleasant chat together before Di up to fry the Sunday breakfast and me to sit in bed reading The Economist until finished. Up to breakfast and back to bed with The Sunday Times, which takes until 11.00am to read. I see out of the window the doves getting restless and I hope the brooding pair are not letting their eggs get cold. Up to the girl’s bath and to shave and dress and then out to take my time feeding the doves. Broken cloud and sunshine, but a bitter northerly wind chills all before it. Across to let out the ducks and feed them – 10 eggs again and this morning the usual egg customer cleared most of them out. I then stay out to empty the duck house of soiled straw and fill it up with fresh before erecting a 2 foot wire mesh fence at the edge of our plot to keep Marilyn’s ducks out. Her excess drakes are harrying our ducks and even seem to be damaging her own. I take the bow saw and trim the Hawthorne trees in our new plot so that we have a much improved view of the river from the house. I need the ladder for some of the lopping. In at lunchtime and changed into better clothes. Diana is quite rightly insisting on a Mother’s Day lunch out and I take the girls to the St Neots riverside park restaurant where we have coq au vin and Debbie gets an opportunity to play on the climbing frame to let off steam and then we drive over to Eaton Socon garden centre.
We look round, but buy nothing, and the only native saplings they have are Beech. Then a drive around west of Little Paxton at Stirtloe, but cannot see any Heronry. Home and I settle to a late afternoon’s reading and look out at the attractive scenes lit by the setting sun and the more open view from our lounge. Eventually the Tomblins arrive and bring back Daniel, who has enjoyed his weekend. They study our maps of Huntingdon and Scotland and hear of our forests. A trolley of sausage rolls and cake for us to eat and tea to drink. They see me put the ducks away. I phone Mum today and she seems all right and thinks Ivy may have our family papers. News tonight of cancelled British flights to Iran and Iraq due to an escalation of threats by Iraq and some more fighting. Israel announce a swifter withdrawal of troops from Lebanon as a further two soldiers are killed. In Brussels today thousands of demonstrators march to protest against the Belgium deployment of Cruise missiles. An estimate of 100,000 demonstrators issue a powerful warning that public opinion is against deployment. In Ireland today the celebration of St Patrick’s Day, which passes off without incident. More church criticism of the Thatcher government today with accusations of lack of compassion as the theme. The weather forecast is for dry, stable weather, with the cold northern air-stream continuing until the day after tomorrow.