August Bank Holiday Monday – Productive but windy and rainy day to be out after a difficult start with Diana unresponsive and unwell but Daniel made progress in restoring his computer programs and backing them up and I did some work on the house and garden nevertheless before some poor pancakes for tea but at least it was not sandwiches again. A horror unfolding in Cameroon as 1,200 people die from a volcano spewing toxic gas on to them and another in France as 24,000 acres are alight with 5,000 workers trying to put out the forest fire. 150 scooterists are arrested on the Isle of Wight and the Birmingham Formula 3000 road race is abandoned due to cars crashing in the rain
Another poor night and we seem to oscillate between good and bad nights rather alarmingly. Diana troubled with her problem* and decamped to the spare bedroom and I had trouble sleeping. Awoken by her poorly set alarm radio, which, once it woke me with its loud music, meant that I was chasing Di around the house for morning drinks, whilst she was refusing to get them. At last she did, but banished me from the kitchen to the cold lounge because she, ‘couldn’t stand me for five minutes in the morning and needed to be alone.’ At last got my cuppa, somewhat disheveled, and then breakfast was called whilst I was still in the middle of my wash and shave. A poor meal of wheat flakes and then I went out to the doves.
The weather started fine, but the forecast was ominous and so I took advantage of the good weather whilst it lasted. Also went to the inner garage after and eliminated the large outside loop of power cable and started rewiring the internal power, swimming pool, and lighting circuits. Time to feed and let the ducks out and then in to watch the cricket on the TV. Gower soon out, then Botham joined Gatting at the crease. A glorious hour that saw 100+ added to the score, Gatting getting his score up to 120 odd before being out, and Botham scoring 50 in 32 balls. Then the rain came down and it was to continue all day and quite spoil the match. Lunch and then at least the rain meant I could get on and finish the garage. It also curtailed the St Neots Carnival and, though Di made a short sortie with the girls, there were no ‘horsey rides’ and attendance (and no doubt funds raised) were well down on normal. Daniel enjoyed his solitude today and concentrated on his computer and getting all of his programmes recovered, stored and copied onto two diskettes, which he bid me to put away in the fireproof safe for security. I got Di to cook pancakes for tea to avoid yet more sandwiches, but was somewhat upset to find she only did two for me and left me hungry. After, I varnished the inside door strips left bare by the builders and put another coat on the cupboard doors that they had left hopelessly unprotected. Was alarmed to find woodworm holes in them and examined closely the dressing table for recurrence, but eventually assumed that they were old ones in the wood at time of manufacture, which makes me even less happy at the builder’s performance. This evening I gazed out as the rain and wind soaked the scenery and a biplane waggled its wings as it flew over. I donned my coat and boots and braved the weather to feed/put away the ducks and lock up the garages. The doves had to go hungry, as there is no way to feed them in this weather. Watched a fascinating hours TV documentary on Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, that traced her life and their marriage and showed how they lived at Osborne House, IOW, and how Albert had coordinated the design of there and the Palace of Westminster and Great Exhibition in 1851. The Queens own collections of wooden dolls, marble likenesses of the children’s hands/feet etc, and her journals were also fascinating. I only regret that my family did not watch it with me. The news today is of the unfolding horror in Cameroon as 1,200 people die after a natural escape of toxic gas from a volcano. A huge cloud of Hydrogen Sulphide bubbled up through a lake, filling a crater of an old volcano and engulfed the habitations nearby in a river valley. The forest fires in France, fanned by the mistral wind, are still running out of control, spreading inland from the Cote d’Azur and now accounting for 24,000 acres. Five thousand workers are fighting the conflagration and arsonists are, in part, thought to be responsible. In Vienna, Anatoly Sharansky was united with his family, as the Russians kept their promise and released them. The IRA have denied threatening the Newry Firemen and they have returned to work. 150 scooterists were arrested in the Isle of Wight after a mini riot. Off to bed as the wind grew steadily stronger. The Birmingham Formula 3000 road race had to be abandoned in the rain, with crashed cars littering the track and many Bank Holiday events were ruined. *piles