Debbie’s Birthday – A start to the day with Debbie opening her birthday presents and then to work on my new relocated workshop before spending time with the children again as residents of Kiev flee to escape the Russian reactor fall-out and a depraved Republican fanatical group attacks a couple in their bedroom and kills a Catholic man’s Protestant wife, Margaret Caulfield
Sound asleep when Di came in a little early this morning with the children and woke me so that we could all see Debbie opening her presents. A host of ‘Flower Fairies’ and accessories as her main presents and she was delighted. In fact, she was so excited; she was tearing the birthday cards in her urgency to open them. Dressed and showered rather late, after all the commotion and a session clearing up the mess of wrappings and empty envelopes. The family had already eaten by the time I was down, but I opened up the doors in time for Daniel to leave for school. Once they had all left, I went down to the workshop and set about the gardening half of my day.
I took out the window panes, primed the woodwork, after further securing it, then used new putty to make them fully weatherproof. Lunch of sausages and the architect dropped in whilst we were eating, which was a pity, as I could hardly talk to him. He is to chase the builder again to finish off the last odds and ends. I should have spoken to him about the rear balcony and the garden wall as well, had I thought. The rain had started by now and so I spent an hour or two in my office, mulling over some paperwork, but it was difficult to get down to it properly. The showers stopped and so I went out and fitted out the garden shed completely; putting all of the garden tools on tool-clips on the walls, laying a few carpet pieces, bringing in the lawn mowers and then fitting two shelves and filling them with the gardening odds and ends from the other sheds, where they had been temporarily stored. At 5.00pm I went in to have tea with Daniel, as the girls had gone on their swimming date. This evening I read a Country Companion to Debbie and then checked Daniel’s homework. Then to update my journal somewhat earlier than recently, before the TV news. News tonight was of the further details of the IRA bomb trial. It is alleged that a bomb a day was due to be set off in a whole range of English seaside resorts. The five accused were carrying forged passports when arrested and had a range of arms and 130lbs of explosives in their flat. TASS, the Soviet news agency, has reported a rush to leave Kiev, after the people had begun to suffer an increase in radiation, due to a change of wind direction. In North Belfast, a couple were attacked in their bedroom by sectarian killers, because they were a mixed Protestant/Catholic marriage. The women died and the man was critically injured. The electric power workers are threatening strike action and have rejected the Board’s offer and voted 2-1 in favour of industrial action. As the Prince and Princess of Wales finished their tour of Canada and prepared for their journey to Japan, the Princess fainted, due to the hectic schedule and hot weather. After today’s showers, tomorrow is forecast to be much the same.