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Another working day on The Lady applying varnish to make her look the best ever with Paul visiting Daniel such that they both enjoyed his boat and the pool. Planning for the dredging and river work to commence as Thatcher and France’s Jacques Chirac have talks and agree that keeping their nuclear deterrent is paramount despite US/USSR disarmament and the Caterpillar factory workers near Glasgow end their plan occupation as redundancy still threatens
A long night’s sleep and Di slayed in until 8.30am and delayed the family’s start to the day. Morning tea and then showered, shaved and dressed in my work clothes for breakfast. Not ready yet and so I sat in the lounge with the week’s local papers, cutting out items for my Little Paxton scrapbook. Called to a nice fried breakfast and then went out afterwards to start work on The Lady. It had been a fine night, with very little dew, which was just as well, as I had not covered up the boat. First wiped over the superstructure to mop up the drips of condensation in the misty early morning, then used the time while it dried to scrape and sand off the sliding door panels. Then the start of the long process of using the mahogany coloured Ronseal varnish to redden up the faded woodwork and harmonise and deepen the varied colour patterns that had been making The Lady look scruffy. A task that lasted before and after coffee, lunch and afternoon tea. By then I had finished applying over a litre of varnish over the last two days, as the woodwork looked the best it had ever been.
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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.
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Working outside varnishing The Lady and playing with Della on a sunny and warm day before a family lunch at The Anchor in Tempsford before home to tend the kids and get ready to join Lynne and Nigel Smith at our favourite place, The Three Horseshoes at Maddingly. News of Labour launching their General Election campaign, another IRA killing and another ferry incident, colliding with a fishing boat with the loss of three French fishermen
Another fine and sunny & warm day and I awoke to my morning tea and was showered and shaved in time for breakfast. Boiled egg and toast fingers to eat (for all except Di) then, after Daniel had set off for school; I went out to The Lady and folded back the temporary cover. I cleaned up the area of bare wood that I had been preparing and hardening and then applied a thinned coat and a full coat of yacht varnish. Read the morning mail and crop of computer magazines and then had morning coffee, sitting out on one of my steamer chairs, viewing the river scene. Daniella joined me outside and I then took her on the tree swing and she played a game of kicking me when she swung and I bent over.
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Working on The Lady on a fine day after balancing the swimming pool chemicals and buying more sand for the girls’ sand pit whilst also selling Kode shares and swimming with the children later. Thatcher is hinting at a June election, approving a 9 ½ % nurses pay rise, whilst in Sri Lanka Tamil bases near Jaffna are bombed again and in South Africa, on the anniversary of the state of emergency and detentions without trial, there are hand grenade attacks and strikes.
A latish night watching the TV and saw Dundee Utd win a place in the final of the UEFA cup by winning 2-0. Slept well enough and was called a little late and so had a deal of sleep. Sat in bed with Debbie, reading a book on her avoiding trouble from ‘dangerous’ men, after a leading article in the local paper told of a stable girl being killed by a man who has been arrested. Down to breakfast still in my pyjamas and had a meal of cereal with the rest. Saw Daniel off to school and then checked the swimming pool, putting in more chlorine to balance the chemicals. Then, it being such a fine day, I went out to The Lady and started work on her. I jacked up the sliding roof on the port side and secured it with two oars. Most of the varnish has survived well from last year, but this was a patch that I had not had time to previously tackle. Then inside to have morning coffee and phone a selling order for Kode shares through to Pet Roz of BZW.