- Details
Outside helping Daniel sorting out Aquabean after the flood and supervising the girls playing in the riverside garden before tea on the patio all in the better weather as IRA gunman, Seamus McElwaine, was shot dead in Northern Ireland after an escape from the Maze, 20 prison officers are suspended after a dispute at Leicester and the expelled Libyans arrive in Tripoli to the sound of bomb attacks in France and Beirut
A warm night, but we slept well and I awake to my morning tea well rested. I listened to ‘On Your Farm’ on the radio, which was all about farmers diversifying out of agriculture into other activities, due to the EEC food surpluses. Showered, shaved and dressed before a nice breakfast of warm croissants and natural cereals. Outside for a couple of hours to get Daniel’s boat in some order. I used his bilge pump to empty it of water and then took off the outboard motor and tried to start it on dry land, but the fuel system was too full of water. We had intended to go to St Ives this morning to view the antique auction, but the weather was so nice, warm and sunny, that I got the steamer chairs out for morning coffee.
- Details
Some time working outside on a better day with Pete on the paving stones and lawns but Aquabean is hung up as the flood subsides. 22 Libyan students are expelled as a British businessman is killed by terrorists in France, an American is shot in The Yemen and six soldiers are killed by a car bomb in Spain
A warm night, having had all of our heating on last night. We had our new bedroom window open for the first time. I chased Di out of the en-suite as she was a bit late and this lead to same bad humour on both sides. Down to breakfast of boiled egg and apple juice and then dressed in working clothes for an hour in the garden. I helped Pete to carry a couple of paving stones down to form the new step and then leveled the timbers for the workshop base, tapping down some with a sledge hammer and packing some others up with clay. Pete arrived to cut the grass and continued to do so, even though it was rather too wet. Off then to Bedford with Di and Della, arriving for our normal routine of coffee then Peacocks, before Debenhams for lunch.
- Details
Hinchingbrooke Urinary Tract Hospital tests reveal no waterworks blockages before home for a celebratory lunch with Diana’s parents and then on with Debbie to Offord for her horse-riding lesson and then back to help Daniel with his homework as The Government drop plans for the Land Rover sale, a bomb went off in an Airlines’ Oxford Street office and King Edward VIII ‘s Wallis Simpson dies in Paris, aged 89
Awake earlier than usual and chased Di out of bed to get the drinks. A poor start to the day, with torrential rain, teaming down and saturating the surface. I read yesterday’s paper and then slowly showered and dressed, as I was not allowed breakfast this morning before my hospital tests. Once ready, and the weather having improved slightly, out to the ducks and doves. Poor Daniel’s boat had become waterlogged, the steep angle of the slipway letting the rear sink under, as the river went down then up again and there was nothing I could do, as I was late for the hospital and wearing the wrong clothes.
- Details
St George’s Day – Working with the fitter and builder getting our heating working for a while and the roof flashing being fitted, the tiler making progress on the pool and then some office work after a nice lunch before Diana took the girls for a swimming lesson and I helped Daniel with his homework later on as the weather continues wet. South Africa are reforming the Pass Laws, Reagan is threatening more bombing on Libya to respond to terrorist action and many diplomats are being expelled and the video coverage of British journalist Alec Collett being hung by Islamists.
Slept well and woke to my morning tea, with aches again after yesterday. Chased Di out of the en-suite at 7.00am and was therefore ready for breakfast at 7.30am. Ready and out before 8.00am to get things set up for a morning with Pete and the electric chain saw. We cleared all of the old large logs, moved across to the workshop and then sawed up all of the brushwood that had been cluttering the place for weeks. Interrupted a couple of times on the matter of our boiler. First, the fitter came, yet again, to fit a new pilot light assembly and then, by prior appointment, the builder, architect and gas technician arrived a couple of hours later to review the situation. Surprisingly for us all, this made the boiler work for the rest of the day, which seems like a miracle, but we shall see.