A leisurely cruise downstream delivering The Lady to Buckden Marina and arranging its lay-up and winter work with Marina Manager Richard Allen and then home to continue archiving my photos. Germany takes measures to avert a deep recession, coordinated central bank efforts support the dollar and the postal dispute is on the brink
Was fairly awake to my morning tea, but Di has been waking me up later than she used to and it is quite a struggle to be ready in time for breakfast. The kids off to school and then I read this morning’s paper and scanned the mail. A pile of contract notes from BZW, but I shall wait for the rest before I transfer the details to my analysis sheets. Made some telephone calls and arranged to take The Lady along to Buckden Marina sometime soon. Then I welcomed Diana home from some shopping and we had lunch. Mine was a crab salad, which made a nice change. Fruit to eat after. Today was brighter on the stock exchange, which had to rise a little after Monday’s fall. No need to take any further action there. I had prepared The Lady before lunch, moored the smaller boats on their own, removing the Blue Peter dinghy etc. So after lunch I was able to take the cruise down river and through Offord Lock to Buckden Marina.
Cold, but dry, and the journey downstream was quite nice. With the leaves off the riverside trees, much more of the surrounding countryside could be seen. I saw a Heron near home and plenty of bird life, including a Cormorant, as well as the normal pigeons and waterfowl. There is a large amount of riverside land & meadow and I wonder whether I shouldn’t avoid chasing the Godmanchester land and find some nearer access by boat. The hours cruise to the next lock has plenty of scope and ease of supervision from our landing. Moored at the marina jetty and then went in to brief Richard Allen, the manager, on what I wanted doing. They cannot start work properly until February, but can ‘lay’ it up ready for that time, so relieving me of a worry. I now have to get The Lady’s cover over there to protect it. Home and I then hung around to see if I could catch the boy that has been moving my drive chain, but without success. The ducks and doves fed again, as neither Joan nor Pete were here today. The baby dove flies well now and can survive, if it continues to get sufficient food. This evening, I spent time sticking many of the new photographs into the archive, which was a big job. Still had not finished by late evening and, becoming tired, I went and watched the second and final part of a TV documentary on the long process of a young girl trying to get back to normal after a serious head injury. Then, to quite late, writing up my journal. News today is of moves by the Germans to get their economy expanding faster, by a few new investment and spending schemes. Coordinated central bank action also helped to support the value of the US dollar. All this is to try to stop the present slump turning into a deep depression. There is a lot of brinkmanship from both sides in the postal dispute, as the unions try to get working hours reduced and management try to get working flexibility concessions in return. A government White Paper describes the plans for tighter control of automatic weapons. Cold and snowy weather is on the way, according to the TV weather forecasters – we shall see.