Another day working on The Lady as Diana hosts a party for Della and friends and we are grateful for the news that Linda had decided against the abortion and me that the Church had deferred a divisive debate on the appointment of women priests
Awake to a dull morning, as the hot weather of late broke a little. Breakfast of wheat flakes with the children, then showered and shaved, before dressing for more work on the boat. I had decided against a trip to Cambridge today and, anyway, Di had arranged a party for Della and friends. I left The Lady covered through most of the showers and removed a section of the rear channel on the port side, clearing out the filler and other debris from behind, which was quite damp again.
Morning coffee, the post, and notice that I had succeeded with a couple of the commission bids in Peacock’s auction and so I left in the Jaguar to pick them up. A small, old, table top, toy croquet set for £3 and a box of tools (old ones) for £6. I was particularly pleased at the latter, as it is a useful box, with three saws, joint clamp, spokeshave, and other items that had been well looked after by some old boy. Then across to Harry Kitchener Marine, where I picked up a variety of paint, filler, sealer and other things for my work, before home before lunch. I had been listening to the last day of the Indian Test Match on the radio. Our last wicket fell without loss and soon the Indians had rallied up 40 quick runs towards the target of 231. I carried on watching it on TV, then after lunch until 1.00pm. The weather had dried out, so a coat of varnish for the starboard side. So on until Di’s guests had left. She had 5 mums and 5 little toddlers to a lunch garden party. The mums had a buffet salad and cake/strawberry lunch, whilst the kids played in the garden. Linda joined the party with Holly, as she had made the good decision to have her baby after all. She had driven half way to Cambridge this morning, before turning back and deciding against an abortion. She does not want the baby and inconvenience that it brings, but could not justify an abortion to her conscience and friends. Some frustration for me after tea, as the rain fell again and it was only in mid-evening that I could get my second coat of varnish on. This meant that The Lady had to be left uncovered all night, but the forecast was fine. The English cricket team hit back today, taking 5 Indian wickets with the score at 101, but rain there also made the game a draw. Daniel heard today that he is to move up a set in mathematics at school, which is good news. Debbie had Briana round to play after school, but they were both bad enough to be ticked off strongly. News today was of the African National Congress adopting the Bishop Tutu line and refusing to meet Geoffrey Howe. He is now flying to meet only Premier Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia tomorrow. The Church of England, torn apart over the issue of whether to have women priests, has decided to defer a debate and await a report from the House of Bishops. Pop singer Boy George is wanted for questioning over use of Heroin, after his male pop singer friend ‘Marilyn’ was arrested with others (including George’s brother Kevin O’Dowd). After the US stock exchange has fallen 80 points (several percent) in two days, the UK indexes were well down today in what was a record fall for a day. The weather is forecast brighter for tomorrow morning, though likely to cloud over later.