Much of the day inside working on my accounts on a very wet, wild and windy day before time with Daniel on his homework and then proud to see Debbie start Brownies and to read to her in front of a log fire on her return. The death of the Mozambique President today was suspiciously helpful to South Africa and General Motors are pulling out of the country.
Awoke on a very wet morning, as rain lashed down and a rising wind dislodged more dead leaves from the riverside trees. My normal bathroom routine and then down to breakfast and to override the family, who wanted the curtains of the breakfast room closed and the lights on. I still like the riverside view, even if the prospect is quite wild. I sat in the day room after and read yesterday’s Observer and then today’s Financial Times, as Joan worked around me. The weather got windier, but the clouds were broken with flashes of sunlight between squally showers.
I went out briefly to check how the drives and games lawn were coping with the downpour. A small modification was needed for the tarmac and a few dips in the games lawn and its underlying clay patches were rather worrying. Then to the office, where I typed out a few more letters, paid outstanding bills and updated my financial accounts as the day wore on. Stopped for a salad lunch, with ice cream to follow and only finished the task as tea time came upon us. Checked Daniel’s schoolwork before tea and then had to fend off his ill-considered plan to use our old trailer to claim a wrecked boat that had been abandoned on the A45. Tonight, Debbie went to the ‘Brownies’ for the first time in her uniform and took the oath of allegiance. I was proud of her and read her another Country Companion when she got back, as we sat in front of a log fire. News today is of the death of Samora Machel, Marxist President of Mozambique, in an air crash over South Africa. The coincidental nature of this catastrophe is seen by the ANC as very suspicious and it will be difficult for the government of South Africa to escape implication. Survivors have spoken of an explosion prior to the crash. General Motors, the American giant car company, is to pull out of South Africa and to sell its subsidiary to local interests. It has expressed disappointment at the lack of progress in civil rights. A baby has been born 2 months premature, after being a month inside the womb of its ‘brain dead’ mother. It stands a fair chance of survival, as only the third such baby to be preserved in these circumstances. The Home Secretaries (or ‘Interior Ministers’) of the 12 EEC countries have met to consider common action on infiltration of terrorists and also freedom of movement for EEC citizens. The NAS/NUWT, as the second largest teacher’s union in the UK, is recommending strike action to its members over increased pay and it will take the form of a series of half-day strikes in early November. The Jaguar production lines are moving again, after work study engineers have been withdrawn and the latest Austin-Rover pay deal is recommended to its workers by the union. After China, the Queen is now moving on to Hong Kong for a two day visit.