Shrove Tuesday - A cold day after a cold night as I tussle to keep our central heating working each side of taking Di to Bedford shopping and then wire up security protection to my safes as the spy swap proceeds and the 100+ Mafia defendants are moved to a bunker court but the Westland row continues as mysterious shareholders emerge to thwart the European Consortium’s bid.
A good night’s sleep and then up on a morning which, though very cold, was not as cold as last night. A little time for reading the paper in bed, but soon called down, as Diana had used our last three eggs to give us boiled eggs for breakfast. As we ate them we realised it was Shrove Tuesday today and so we would have to wait for some new duck eggs before we could have pancakes.
Up, dressed and washed so as to be able to unlock for today’s workers. The carpenter was here to fit the doors to our cabinets beneath the stairs, two builders to finish off the plastering around the kitchen door and hall, and the two intrepid swimming pool workers put wire mesh to reinforce the forthcoming concrete. The No7 boiler failed to relight after going out this morning and we had to call the Gas Board and arrange for them to fix it. Off with Di then to Bedford to do some window shopping, which was more than I bargained for, as I was really intending to take them to St Neots. Home for a sandwich lunch and then lit the fire and took an hour or so to get down to some work. Then I had to play with Della for a while before running the gauntlet of the workers to my office to sort out a few more papers. Tea of a nice turkey pie, made from yesterday’s leftovers. I had to relight the boiler a few times as it kept going out, despite my attempts to service it. Time to read Debbie another story and then the evening wiring up the security cabinets to my burglar alarm. They are now protected 24 hours a day, until bypassed by pass key, which is a further line of defence. Late to bed after a rather poor football match on TV and then the late night news. News tonight of the spy swap in Berlin, as Anatoly Shcharansky and three others were exchanged for five Eastern agents. Honour was satisfied by Shcharansky being released first, before the main interchange, as Western diplomats did not want to have him treated as a spy. He goes via Frankfurt to Israel, where he meets his wife for the first time in 10 years. SOGAT’s funds are frozen by the sequestrators today, but their activities seem to be continuing. In Palermo, the hundred + Mafia defendants have been moved to the specially constructed ‘bunker’ court house and all are determined to bring them to justice, despite the string of judicial assassinations. Another twist in the Westland affair, as 6 people are found to hold another mystery 20%. Heseltine calls for an adjournment of tomorrow’s shareholder’s meeting, as it could be that the European Consortium’s offer was forestalled by these private purchases. The government has agreed to provide the Defence Select Committee with the full text of required documents in a conciliatory gesture. Despite general spending constraints, the government has yet again increased the police funding – this time by £50 million +.