Good day painting The Hayling View doors and sills with Nigel visiting for the afternoon to discuss the possible sale of his business and worries about Kimbolton School finances before I spend time with Debbie and Daniel and then hear of Reagan and Gorbechev competing for air time in Reykjavik and of Hazeltine and Howe arguing for expansion and job creation at The Tory Conference whilst Thatcher nurses her sprained ankle and hurting hand and Liberal UK leader, David Steel, who is now visiting, condemns the South African regime as being morally bankrupt as they now attack the democratic opposition in their latest repressive moves
A very poor night – suffering from my sore throat and sniffles that kept me awake. A couple of throat lozenges from the kitchen helped a bit, but not much. Tired when my morning tea came, but rose quickly for my shower and down to a natural honeycomb/toast breakfast on time. For once, both children had tidied their rooms. Quickly down to work after, with only a short look at today’s newspaper. I painted the front door in a top coat blue gloss (took 3 hours) and then started on the inner garage big door. Changed to a 3 inch brush half way through, due to lack of progress, but finished it by 12 o’clock, to leave time for the side door as well by lunchtime. More salad, but after our recent meals and drinks out, I am not losing much weight. As I sat with a mug of tea and watched the TV news after, Nigel Smith phoned and was soon over to spend the afternoon chatting. He is toying with the idea of selling his business and is also worried about a Kimbolton School idea to replace their appeals with covenants for all parents (!).
The drive-men arrived and completed their preparations for a laying on Monday. A little time later, after these pleasant distractions, to paint a couple of steps and do some more frame sealing with the mastic. Late clearing up and spent some time with Debbie knitting and eating pears together. Checked Daniel’s schoolwork and then watched TV for the rest of the evening, with Di already in bed. The news tonight is of the arrival of Reagan in Reykjavik and the expectation from his US advisers that there will be an agreement on medium range nuclear weapons (cruise and pershing). Meanwhile, the Russians are ensconced there already, conducting an unusually open press profile and outmanoeuvring the Americans, who come late and seemingly disorganised. Lawson addresses the Tory Conference and made no mention of the balance of payments, inflation or interest rate defences. His reception was warm enough there, but there were few concessions for the foreign exchanges tomorrow. Heseltine speaks at a packed fringe meeting and presses for economic balance and expansion policies for more jobs. There were new announcements from Geoffrey Howe and Lord Young, as the Tories continue to use this event as the launch of an election campaign. Thatcher herself speaks tomorrow and is nursing a sprained ankle as well as her hurting hand. The South African government has now moved against the alliance of democratic opposition – the United Democratic Front – as Liberal UK leader, David Steel, who is now visiting, condemns Pretoria as a ‘morally bankrupt regime’ and that ‘only the wilfully deaf can fail to hear the hail of the wind of change’. The Lucas Electrical Co’s union overtime ban is over and Austin Rover should soon be able to re-employ the laid off workers. In a near riot of 500 chanting protesters, Notting Hill Police Station defused the situation by explaining the death of a black man in police custody.