Collecting The Lady from Buckden Marina but missing the horse-riding for Debbie as she was sick today. Some paperwork but then distracted to do some fishing from my moorings and then in the main river from my dinghy after Peter had been cutting the lawns on a warm and muggy day. Cory Aquino is secure as Phillipino President but only after a closely-fought fight involving air attack and artillery. The Spanish Ait Traffic dispute is settled to their advantage and British min-sweepers are deployed in the Gulf after Iran rejects ceasefire
ur night was much disturbed by Debbie coming in several times having been sick. She seems to have caught the illness from her friend Amy. Groggily awake at 7.00am and breakfast with Gary and Daniel at 7.45am, but poor Debbie is still unwell and must miss her riding day that she was very much looking forward to. She is laid in a sleeping bag in the back of the Range Rover and the rest of us take off for Buckden & Offord anyway, as I am due to collect The Lady. Gary & Daniel help me to prepare it by putting the dingy back on the davits and fitting the fenders. The inside is quite chaotic again, drawers and their contents everywhere. It seemed to work fine and we filled up with diesel at the landing stage and cruised back through Offord Lock and back to the Haylings.
Today started quite chilly, but warmed up later. Once home, I read more of the local paper backlog and then had lunch. Later this afternoon I went into town to buy some maggots and then caught a bream and eel whilst fishing from our river frontage. Pete came today and cut all of the lawns, which is becoming quite a job these days. I settled up with Joan for their work hours and it was quite expensive considering we had been away. Tonight I went off fishing in the Blue Peter and caught a half dozen small chub, dace and bleak from the downstream island swim in the main current, rowing home at dusk. Chatted to a couple of river neighbours, who were on their riverside land, then put the ducks away and came in. The weather had improved and was quite hot and close by this evening. A more relaxing day, but still I have not caught up on my paperwork. I hope that Debbie is back to normal tomorrow and can play with her friends. The attempt to overthrow Cory Aquino of the Philippines has now been completely defeated, but it was the most serious and hotly contested coup so far. The rebels took over the army and air force headquarters, two TV stations and held out for a whole day, until defeated by air attack and artillery. The US, Britain and EEC have sent messages of support to President Aquino. At the eleventh hour, Spanish air traffic controllers have called off this coming weekend’s action, after getting an improved offer on pay and conditions, including 8 years of overtime back-pay. The Iranians have told the UN that they cannot accept the proposed ceasefire. After exercises in the Mediterranean, British minesweepers are ready for their mine hunting role in the Gulf. The Metropolitan Force has followed Midlands and Warwickshire police forces in deciding not to issue any more gun licenses for semi-automatic weapons, such as the Kalashnikov used in the recent Michael Ryan killings in Hungerford. The weather forecast is for warm, sunny and fine conditions for tomorrow and the holiday weekend.