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Another day of administration and statements supporting our boat damage claim after a short excursion to the garden to feed the ducks and doves in the absence of Pete on another very wet day. This did not stop the children swimming but high levels of algaecide and chlorine did for Daniel and Debbie liked my reading of the Country Companion. The good news that Terry Waite still lives but sad news of the burial of two more Hungerford massacre victims, Cory Aquino survives a further attempt to seize the Phillipino Presidency and we hear that Hickling and Beccles have suffered flooding after another very wet day today.
A sound night’s sleep after a late and lively start to the session. We lay in this morning and were not eating breakfast until 8.45am. No sign of Pete in the garden today and so I went out myself this morning and fed the ducks and doves. The doves, particularly those with young, were hungry quite early. I had to read Daniella a few stories this morning to keep her happy and then Di took the girls into town to do the week’s shopping for food and groceries. I sat in my office and scanned five weeks back copies of the Investors Chronicle and noted how the City sentiment sagged from a position of security and strength.
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Reluctantly catching up with paperwork, reconciling bank accounts and paying bills after a pleasant start to the day reading about Norwich and Norfolk. Daniel had Steve Hicks staying on his little boat for company, Debbie was inviting friends for a small party and was having riding lessons booked. West Germany is now offering to scrap the Pershing missiles, South African miners continue their strike despite intense intimidation and two more Norfolk pilots die in another Welsh low-flying accident
A good night and awake as Di was leaving to get the drinks and so sat up in bed and read a good portion of my new book on Norwich and Norfolk. I think that we did well in our time spent in this capital of East Anglia, but we obviously still left very much to see on a future occasion. I went down to breakfast in my pyjamas and then showered and dressed afterwards. I was still at the table with Della for a while and read her a couple of stories and kept her company. Reluctantly, I made my way to the office and started the process of catching up on my paperwork. I reconciled my bank accounts, then made out cheques for a large number of bills outstanding from our time away.
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A return to our Tuesday Cambridge visits with the family on a pouring wet day, meeting Charles and Norma at The Copper Kettle and treating them later to lunch at Eaden Lilley’s before ordering a dinner suit at Moss Bros and then collecting Daniel from Gary Skinner’s house on our way home. The UK government defends the unwise re-flagging of Kuwaiti oil tankers with the Red Ensign, UK Coastguard take a rare vote to commence industrial action, a Leeds toddler taken from parents in the so called ‘child abuse’ case dies of injuries with foster parents and half of the aged Devon ambulances are taken off the road due to losing wheels!
Asleep when Diana called me with my morning tea, after a late night, and, even then ,we were much later than usual. The family started their breakfast at 8.30am, but I was not down until 8.45am, though I had showered, shaved, washed my hair and dressed by that time. Today we prepared to make our first Tuesday visit to Cambridge since our holiday and we soon set off and dropped Daniel at Gary’s house in Coton whilst we were there. It poured with rain all day today and did not relent until late evening. I let the girls out near to Eaden Lilleys for coffee and parked the car in the Round Church car park, before taking the opportunity to phone the Environmental Health Officer and head off his visit to the house today.
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Our first day back at home in Horning as I take Della under my wing, who I suffering more than the rest of us from the change and disappointment. Progress with my accountant, the Broads River Inspector, the gas fitter and with visits in town to shops and building societies. The circumstance of the death of Rudolf Hess is a controversy, cat and mouse games between warships and tankers in the Gulf become dangerous and the SDP leaders are back from their holiday and active.
I slept soundly, back in my own bed again, but Diana found the bed too soft and uncomfortable after the experience of her boat bunk! Awoke to find her up and about at 6.30am and so went down to join her in the kitchen and get my cup of tea. A slow start to the day (and then an even slower continuation....!). After a month away it is difficult to drop back into a routine and many of our things were still in bags, or the wrong place. I washed and dressed, was last to breakfast, and then sat in the playroom and read today’s paper to keep Della happy, who was even more disorientated than the rest of us – in truth, the girls were disappointed at ending the holiday, which was the best they ever had.