Back at home, editing videos and catching up on my journal before taking Debbie for her riding lesson and agreeing the sale of 39 Gordon Road as a mass exodus of countries from the Commonwealth Games mutes Thatcher’s rhetoric but she still holds out against all sides as the US is now turning. This as her massaging of unemployment figures causes outrage in The Commons and we prepare to leave on a holiday on The Lady
Awake to my morning tea on a much fresher morning and, Di having opened all the doors and windows early, it seemed cool, in spite of the sun. Breakfast of croissants and then, setting Daniel up to wash my car in the back garden, I went to my office to update my journal. I had to stick in the notes from my days away and it is quite a relief to have my journal proper back. Then to complete my toilet, feed the doves and settle to the long process of editing and cataloguing my video films.
All morning at this task, getting quite frustrated at not being able to get a perfect copy between one and the other. Broke off for lunch when Di’s mother and two of Daniel’s friends joined us for a salad and cake to follow. Back to it this afternoon and managed to edit and copy my Forestry tapes and then do the same with the pictures of the Hayling View. In fact, I shot a final sequence for the latter, so as to complete the story. Then copied and edited my tape of last May’s boat trip and recharged the video batteries ready for our new holiday starting tomorrow. As I sat watching the Forestry tape with Di’s mother, it came time to take Debbie for her riding lesson and so I broke off to go in a hurry. Arrived in good time, paid the £4.00 for a group lesson for today, and then advised them that we would not be coming for 2/3 weeks. I asked about more time thereafter and we will phone on our return to see whether she will go for 1 x 1 hour period or 2 x ½ hour periods for the rest of the school holiday. I met Mr Nokes, the Estate Agent, this afternoon and commissioned him to sell 39 Gordon Road for £43 to 44,000. The ducks and doves tonight and then the long chore of clearing and locking up. The news today is of a mass pull-out planned by all African and West Indian countries from the Commonwealth, with India and others still to decide. The Commonwealth President, Sonny Ramphal, appeals to Thatcher to save the games by changing her political stance on South African sanctions. In the Commons, she did sound more willing to consider a change of position, but though her tone was muted, her posture is not changed. There is also to be an appeal against the banning of Budd and Cowley to be considered by a Commonwealth panel on Sunday. Howe is in Washington for 24 hours to deliver a message from the USSR, but also to talk about the next steps to take on South Africa. It is notable that pro-sanctions sentiment is rising over there. In the UK, 18 men convicted on the evidence of an unreliable ‘Supergrass’ were released in a review of the convictions. The latest unemployment figures show reduced numbers, but an increased trend. Thatcher was criticised in the Commons for producing ‘fraudulent’ figures, because of yet more changes in the reporting methods. The US Senate has approved a new IRA extradition treaty and pleased the British authorities. The forecast is for dry and sunny weather tomorrow and we shall set off in The Lady for 2/3 weeks holiday.