The morning at the auction in St Ives, leaving Daniel to his own devices in St Neots after missing his school bus but then collecting him for lunch with the rest of the family. More history books from St Neots and Huntingdon libraries to aid my writing about the Roman-British period in Paxton after calling in on Nigel to accept a sherry and return his chain saw.News today of the government abandoning our Nimrod defence research in favour of the US AWACS system, of Tory MP’s combining with MI5 to try and discredit the Wilson administration and of 100 casualties, with at least 21 dead, as rival religions battle it out in Palestine refugee camps
A fair night and prompt start, being washed and dressed in good time for breakfast and well able to sort the children out before the meal. Della’s cold appears to be improving, although she sneezed all over the butter and we had to scrape the top layer off it before continuing to eat! Read the paper after and did a little in my office, before I settled in the lounge to do some reading and listen to the Handel compact disc. I particularly liked certain parts of the Water Music, a short aire and the closing and triumphant tune. It is an interesting thought, seeing the music barge of Henry IInd, with orchestra in tow, as he cruised the Thames. The peace was shattered by Daniel phoning to say that he had missed his school bus in St Neots and this rather spoilt our day. Unlike previous times, we refused to drive him to Kimbolton and left him in St Neots to his own devices.
The rest of us set off for St Ives general auction and antique viewing. A couple of things there attracted my eye, but we shall have to see if I will bid for them. Stopped off at St Neots Library on the way there to take back a Stone Age book and then again at Huntingdon Library on the way back, to pick up a few more books on Roman Cambridgeshire. Then we collected the repentant Daniel from St Neots and drove on to have lunch at the Happy Eater at Croxton. Back home quickly afterwards, expecting Nigel to call round for his chain saw, but, after lighting a log fire in the lounge and waiting a while, we had tea. Decided to drop it round anyway and drove via the ford through the River Kym. Despite the ‘road closed’ signs that cry wolf, it was quite low and the Range Rover hardly noticed it. Had a chat with Nigel for a while and he gave me a sherry, but he was due to go away with Lynne for the night and she chased me out. They leave the children to babysitters when they go and don’t worry about it. Home, and the evening writing the start of my section on the Romano-British period. Perhaps too much on the general history of the Roman Conquest, but I wanted to show the strategic significance of cattle driving for this region and how the changes affected the role of the Ouse Valley farms. Bedtime before managing to write my journal, a task left for the morning. The main news breaking has been the leaked government decision to abandon the British Nimrod airborne defence research and go instead for the American AWACS system. The government were hoping to approve it formally on Thursday as parliament was rising for the Christmas recess and thus avoid a fuss. Tory MPs are now accused of involvement with MI6 to discredit the Wilson administration with false stories and scares. At least 21 people died and 92 were wounded as rival Shia and Palestine Muslims battled around Beirut refugee camps. The third test in Australia is heading for a draw, as the batsman still predominate on an easy-going pitch. After a cool day, we were glad of our log fire, and a fair frost seems to be worst so far, with the gritting lorries out in force.