Auction viewing day in St Ives and then back to re-proof The Lady’s winter cover after a meeting with the JCB driver and lunch with the family as the Reagan/Gorbachev mini-summit is well underway and thousands are trapped in the El Salvador earthquake but Mother Theresa escapes a plane crash in Tanzania as 6 others are killed and HM The Queen visits China
Slept soundly, but still woke with a cold for my trouble – the whole family is sniffing. Showered and washed my hair to the background of the BBC World Service news and Radio 4 features and came down to a breakfast of toast and honeycomb and apple juice to drink. Unlocked and then read the paper and the morning post and was struggling to get down to some paperwork, when Di came and reminded me that it was St Ives auction viewing today. Before we left, I managed to phone the JCB contractors house and ascertain his movements today and then just tended the doves and ducks and put the house alarms on, prior to pulling away in the Escort Estate.
To St Ives and first a coffee in the tea shop and further looked after the girls, whilst Di went shopping in a nearby supermarket. An hour or two viewing the antiques for Tuesday’s auction, but nothing there I could not live without. Rendezvoused in the car park and then set off for St Neots. Found Daniel at Readwells and all went off to the Croxton Happy Eater for an enjoyable lunch. Arrived back in early afternoon and got Daniel to help me lay out The Lady’s cover for reproofing, above a carpet of other covers (to keep the earth’s dampness from it) on the lawn. Ready to start applying the re-proofing liquid, but interrupted, first by a party who wanted to view 39 Gordon Road privately and the seemed ready to buy it, and then by the JCB driver, who dropped by (complete with digger!) to view the prospective work. I had chanced on him working at Great Paxton as we drove to St Ives and he was working at Little Paxton Lakes this afternoon and dropped by afterwards. He agrees the job is reasonable for 1-2 days and will start Wednesday or Thursday of next week. Started the reproofing, but soon time for a sardine tea. Pressganged Daniel into helping me and we just managed to finish the job before dusk. Then to the TV for some light entertainment with Daniel and update my journal. The main news today is of the East/West mini-summit, where Reagan and Gorbachev have completed the first two of three two/hour sessions. Overnight, two working groups will consider separately the questions of arms control and human rights and will try to get some outline agreements to be discussed at tomorrow’s summit session. In San Salvador, the number of earthquake dead may be in the thousands and rescue teams are converging with aid from many nations to try to find more survivors. A children’s hospital is a major site of tragedy, after the building collapsed. The two 9 and 10 year old schoolgirls, strangled in Brighton, had been sexually assaulted and police are hunting a callous and disturbed person. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was in a plane crash in Tanzania, but survived unhurt, even though 6 spectators (including two nuns) were killed. The Queen has left England for the historically significant visit to China and TV news items are full of pictures of The Great Wall and tombs full of the Manchurian soldiers. A fine sunny day, after the mist cleared, and we hope for the same tomorrow.