Working on The Lady using some ½ litre of varnish in one go, receiving a river maintenance contractor and tending Daniel all on a very hot day as 75-year-old Lord Chief Justice Maurice Gibson and his wife are murdered in a car bomb attack, South Africa attack neighbouring Zambia and on the first anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, there was a rally of 10’s of thousands in Hyde Park to mark the event and protest at the government’s approval of a new reactor for Sizewell B whereas Russia have scrapped plans for two of their own.
A warm night and felt quite hot when I was awoken to my morning tea. Got out of bed to cool down and then rather groggily showered and dressed for breakfast. I think I was also warm because of the food from yesterday evening, not to mention the wine. Last to the breakfast table and sent Daniel scuttling off to his walk to St Neots, as he had forgotten the lack of a Little Paxton bus on a Saturday. Scanned the post and daily paper, though I did not read the latter. We received Debbie’s joining instructions for Kimbolton Preparatory School today, which made interesting and reassuring reading. Out to The Lady and took off the cover entirely and swept off the cabin roofs. Then the long task of wiping and sanding down the rest of the woodwork. I set myself the task of additionally varnishing all of the areas varnished last year in one go, to underpin their protection, but it was a big preparation job.
Was not finished by lunchtime of 12.30pm, when I changed and we set off to collect Daniel from St Neots on our way to have lunch at the Happy Eater. For this morning’s coffee, I had got Di to sit out with me in the back garden and we admired the many plants and shrubs, now that this garden is becoming quite settled. A nice lunch and home to continue the slog. Was just changing to start work when the dredger/piler rolled up the river and moored at our bank. We went out to help and then had a mug of tea and sat on the bank chatting a while – about the job and river generally. Then drove the chap back to his car in Huntingdon and got to know him very well. A straightforward chap, who I think will do a good, but cheap, job for us. Back to complete my sanding, which was rather delayed by the above event and it was 5pm before the work was in a state satisfactory for me to varnish. Delayed tea until 7pm and applied some ½ litre of varnish in one go, which was the largest area I had ever done at one time. Then had my tea of prawn salad, before going back out to clear up until dark. Then locked and alarmed the house, opened as many windows as possible, and chose my office as the coolest room to write my journal. It had been a hot and sticky day and the children ended it in the pool, but alas, I was too busy to join them! The news is of the condemnation of the latest IRA killing of a 75 year old Judge and his wife by a bomb. The Judge, Lord Justice Maurice Gibson, had been prominent in taking several IRA trials. South Africa attack targets in Zambia, claiming them as ‘terrorist targets’ and are condemned by the Zambian leader and also by European nations. Thatcher addressed the Tory election candidates today in a rally, but still claims that the June decision for an election is not yet made. The latest opinion poll gives her party 42%, with Labour 31% and the Alliance 25%, which is better than a month ago, but not as good as some recent results. After Neil Kinnock had attacked the concept of tactical voting yesterday, Dr David Owen has replied that ‘thoughtful voters’ should not be disparaged. Later tonight, I watched an amazingly exciting world flyweight title fight, where Dave McAuley of Northern Ireland nearly beat the world champion, Fidel Bassa of Columbia, but was stopped by exhaustion and the strength of his opponent. The operation to float the Herald of Free Enterprise had a setback, when the ship listed 15deg yet again and floatation attempts have been called off until Monday. On the first anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion, there was a rally of 10s of thousands in Hyde Park to mark the event and protest at the government’s approval of a new reactor for Sizewell B. The Russians have scrapped plans to build two additional reactors at Chernobyl and they are to switch to water moderated reactors.