Off to Bedford on a fine but misty day after tending to Debbie, the ducks and doves and a scare as Di loses Della for half an hour before home to complete my work on the gutters and then to take Debbie for her riding lesson. The USSR/USA spy swap deal progresses, World bourses fall, with Tokyo and London experiencing record one-day falls and inflation is down to 2.4%, a bomb attack in Paris with Lebanese terrorists the suspects and riots in the St Paul's area of Bristol are suppressed by the heavy-handed police
Slept well and awoke reluctantly to my morning tea. Deborah came in and I cut her nails, as arranged last night. Then to get showered, shaved and dressed in sports jacket and trousers, ready for our trip to Bedford this morning. Was twenty minutes late for breakfast, but it was only wheat flakes. Then I sorted out a few things from my office and went out to feed the ducks, ready for us to leave. All in to the Jaguar for once and off on another fine, if somewhat misty day. The fog combines with a blanket of smoke from stubble burning at this time of year and spoils the warmth of even good sunlight. Parked for 50p in the Lurke Street car park and went for morning coffee as usual.
On the drive over we had stopped first at the Marshalls Car Sales showrooms to arrange a test drive for a Range Rover on Monday; and then at the ‘Door Centre’, a specialist door shop, to review designs for a new front door. In the end we gave up the latter as a bad job, due to the lack of quality in materials. After coffee, I went to Peacocks to view the lots for tomorrow’s general auction, but found nothing of note. Also went to Debenhams to look at combined washing machine/driers, to see the new designs that incorporate condensers to eliminate the conventional ‘elephant trunk’ hose. Lunch at Debenhams of salad and I hear from Diana of how she lost Daniella for half an hour and only found her after a public address announcement. This left them both very shaken as a result. Drove home to find Diana’s friend, Sally, waiting and so drank a mug of tea and chatted a while, before starting my work. Then tackled the last remaining run of guttering on the house, at the rear. The normal routine interrupted by the need to take Debbie horse rising, then tea, then to check Daniel’s homework. All done by dusk, but somewhat disturbed a family of house martins nesting there, but I think they survived the disruption. At Fitzpatrick Riding Stables, it was a recovery lesson for Debbie, put off by Magpie cantering out of control last week, as she needed help to ride Patchy at the trot. It seems that Magpie has now gone from the school. Finished work by 8.00pm, then updated my journal and, after Daniel arrived back from Paul’s house, locked up and put the alarm on. News today is of the two spy-arrested-men being released from prison in a US/USSR deal. They are still confined to the opposite countries and to the care of the home country’s envoy; but the conditions are infinitely better for them. Pre-summit discussions between both sides still go on. On the international stock exchanges, prices have been falling, recovering slightly, and then falling again. Led by Wall Street, Tokyo also had a record one-day loss and so did London, before a slight recovery. But tonight, Wall Street is on the way down again. Inflation in the UK in the year to August is a low 2.4%, but it may start to rise again soon. Another bomb attack in Paris, with Lebanese terrorists suspected of instigating it. Thatcher gets an apology from the Norwegian Premier over yesterday’s violent demonstrations, which had embarrassed the Socialist Mrs Brundtland. There is little agreement, however, between the two ladies of political extremes and Thatcher answered a reporter’s question on whether the visit had in any way changed her political views as ‘No, Sir!’ After widespread criticism of the heavy-handed police intervention in St Pauls, Bristol, last night, the Home Secretary has supported their action. Violence had continued for 12 hours and large quantities of soft drugs were seized. After the dry weather of the last week, it is getting cloudier all the time, but at least it should stay dry tomorrow.