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Working on the access to my new workshop; raised above flood level, and then with Debbie to buy her riding hat and back for Daniel’s prep supervision. The Chernobyl reactor is still burning, with a belated evacuation underway and cordon sanitaire of 600 miles for EU food regulations
After an early night’s retirement yesterday, I was first awake this morning and waited for Di to wake up too. Then I read the local papers whilst Di got the morning tea. Washed, shaved and down to breakfast via the children’s bedrooms. I had to get the children to leave the breakfast table to tidy their rooms before they were allowed to eat. Then to unlock the house and go out to start work. This morning I dug out the side of Bill’s shed, drove in some oak stakes and boarded a support for the intervening path.
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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.
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Used the dry morning to complete the workshop roof, applying roof felt and tar which, together with new panes from Hunts Glass, helped it to survive the afternoon’s downpour. A tiring afternoon visit of Charlie and Chrisula before news tonight of agreement at The Tokyo Summit on terrorism, which pleases Thatcher, and nuclear emission controls but nothing on Japanese protectionism and its trade surplice despite its billing as an ‘Economic Summit’!
Slowly awake again, although last night was not so late as before. Washed, shaved and showered and down to breakfast, all in accordance with my normal routine. Out at 8.00am to get the gardener going and I mount the workshop roof and apply liquid tar adhesive to the felt overlaps. I aimed to stop up the gaps that let the roof leak yesterday, after all of my endeavours. Then, changed and into St Neots with Diana for some shopping. I do some building society transactions and then go to the Hunts Glass Co to buy some new panes for the workshop.
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Bank Holiday and Debbie’s 7th Birthday Party – A day spent trying to re-glaze my workshop but with limited success whilst also watching outsider Joe Johnson beats Steve David to become snooker World Champion as Debbie enjoys a fine 7th birthday party but the realisation grows about the seriousness of the Chernobyl reactor leak with bans on drinking rain water from Scotland, Northern England and Wales, milk from Holland and vegetables from Austria
A late night last evening, as I watched the televised snooker until midnight. Steve Davis, the world No 1, is struggling with outsider, Joe Johnson, in the final and the result is quite absorbing. Awake somewhat groggily and then some comfort in my morning tea. To the bathroom, showered and shaved, then down to another Jordan’s crunchy nut breakfast. Then out to the workshop to do some re-glazing. As the windows were previously leaking, my plan was to remove the glass, repair the frames, prime them and then re-putty them in. It was raining quite heavily this morning and so I had to work under an awning. I prepared the job well, but the ultra-thin glass defeated me and I broke three panes trying to put them in. I took Debbie out for lunch at the Little Chef, whilst Di got Debbie’s party ready and then, once back, another 11 little girls arrived at 3.00pm and the party began.