More relaxing day, being Sunday, and some time sitting out and enjoying our riverside gardens, managing a barbecue for the family and our friends before recruiting help to move my office away from forthcoming building work as work goes on to clear up after the Brixton riots, blamed on discrimination and poverty by Lord Scarman, and outrage now focuses on the police killing of a suspect’s mother with the family refused access to the investigation. The last babies are saved from the Mexican earthquake rubble and Syrian-back militia attack Libya’s capital Tripoli with 200 dead and 1,000 injured as 5,000 demonstrate against neo-Nazism in Germany.
A good night for all the family as we are now reasonably fit and well – Dan and Di are over their sickness and my back is healing steadily. Out of bed with my morning tea and paper and I sit on my folding bedroom chair and scan the Sunday Times. Down to a cooked breakfast, my Sunday treat, but there was no mushrooms and I had to create to get the salt! Washed, showered, shaved and dressed and then out to the doves, who feed well. I put on the sprinkler on another beautiful day. There is even no fog this morning and the sun was up by 9.00am. A walk round the gardens when I noticed that the Boston Ivy was starting to climb over East Wall, which is progress. Then to see that several boulders were strewn in the vicinity of the step and so I put them in and started to sort out a few more to line the rest of our front garden where it borders the Hayling Walk.
Then the wheelbarrow and gloves to help my hands and back until I had completed the border. Out with the steamer chairs and I pester Diana to make coffee so that we could drink it on the front lawn. It is quite warm by now and I sit a while reading the paper some more. I eventually remember the ducks and Debbie helps me to feed them and collect the eggs – 5 today! More watering and then the paper until lunch. Daniel’s friends were round in force, but had to cater for themselves as I was determined to have our proper Sunday lunch. Roast chicken with three veg and apple pie and ice cream to follow. Then the washing up – me doing the heritage items and Daniel the rest. This afternoon I studied the kitchen magazines with Diana and boiled a long list down to 5 manufacturers who make oak framed and doored kitchen units. I started to plan the design, but broke off to set up the barbeque on the raised riverside lawn. The day was still warm and sunny, although there was a breeze in contrast to the last few. Hamburgers and sausages for Daniel, Paul, Jason, Gary and another; also Debbie and Amy, Diana and Della! We managed to feed them all and then cleared up outside. The boys had started to paint Aquabean red on top, but had made a rather patchy job of it. After dark, Paul and Daniel helped me move my office upstairs so as to clear the way for the builders to demolish another wall tomorrow. We had quite a game to move my desk and had to unscrew the legs in the end. Back to the lounge to relax and update my diary and then to the TV news and latest on the Brixton troubles. The people were cleaning up today, but there were further outbreaks of violence this evening. Today Michael Groce, son of the women, has been charged with possession of a firearm after giving himself up. There is general disgust over the policemen’s behaviour. The family refused entrance to an investigating senior office from another force today. Lord Scarman has repeated his judgement that these riots are caused by unemployment and the feeling of racial disadvantage that the blacks have. The unemployment statistics bear this out. In an eve-of-conference meeting, Neil Kinnock was overruled in a decision to commitment on reimbursing the miners and Arthur Scargill has refused a compromise. Two more babies are saved in Mexico; the last it is thought, now that 10 days have passed. Syrian backed militiamen have surrounded Libya’s northern part of Tripoli and already two weeks of fighting have devastated much of the city, killing more than 200 and wounding 1,000. In Germany, 5,000 people are fighting the police for the second night running after objecting to neo-fascist rallies. Seve Ballesteros beat Bernhard Langer in the final of the World Match play golf tournament. Another warm day forecast, but not for much longer.