Considering the exchange of my Daimler for a Bentley and making a field visit with Nigel to see the Godmanchester Cow Lane meadows before putting in a bid of over £50K. Busy for the rest of the day planning our London visit and other activities and then to see Debbie ‘performing’ in her play-school play. Gorbachev and his wide Raisa are upstaging the Reagans in the US, SAS want to buy B.Cal and the BBC wins a variation of a High Court injunction that allows them to report on Parliamentary Proceedings
A restless night. I have been experiencing this ‘full’ feeling in my digestive system and was a bit too wakeful to sleep. I think I was also thinking about this business of selling my Daimler and buying a Bentley instead. Down late to breakfast again, but then so was Daniel, who is finding it equally as difficult to make the meal with the rest of the family. The cold mornings and difficulty getting enough hot water quickly for a shower does not help. I had arranged an outing this morning with Nigel and so I got myself ready in welly boots and plenty of jumpers, on a cold and frosty morning. I dropped Daniel and Debbie off to the bus stop and then Nigel and I set off for Godmanchester Cow Lane meadows. A strenuous morning walking all around the place, managing to see both halves for once. Plenty of wildfowl – geese, ducks and grouse and a few partridge and one pheasant to be seen. Also plenty of heron, as a matter of interest, though not for shooting.
Home by 10.45am, then I was quickly changed and off to the village hall to see Della ‘performing’ in the playschool play. A little problem, as I had to get the Daimler back to Pete to clean, but I did not miss anything. Off again to Huntingdon to put my cash offer for the meadows to Peter Lewis. I pitched it at £52,500, but I have the feeling it is not enough and hope that I can get a second bite at the cherry. Late back for lunch and then off to post Diana’s parcel. This afternoon, I made a number of telephone calls about the Daimler. It seems that I can get £28.5K from Jaguar dealers and £30-32K from a personal sale. Now I have to decide tomorrow whether or not the Bentley trade is the best thing, or whether I should sell separately and look round for a purchase. Arranged my next month’s itinerary with Di, which is getting most congested. We plan to go away overnight in January to London, for a night out & some shopping. Also made my arrangements with Pete for preparing and turfing our lawn. News today was of the progress on the US/USSR negotiations, which were ‘productive’, according to both sides. Reagan speaks to Gorbachev about Afghanistan, as a gesture to his right-wing colleagues, but we are still to hear of any agreement on the long range nuclear missiles. Meanwhile, Gorbachev (‘Gorby’ as the Americans have dubbed him) is adhering to a hectic round of meetings with other US parties and personalities, as well as TV and other public interviews. Meanwhile, Nancy Reagan is being upstaged by Raisa Gorbachev and doesn’t like it. Problems with England’s cricket tour in Pakistan, as England’s Captain, Gatting, and Pakistan’s Umpire, Rana, have an interchange on the field and the Umpires refuse to stand for the rest of the match. It now seems that the tour will be called off and that future tests will have to be played with neutral officials. The Scandinavian airline SAS has disclosed details of a new £110m offer for a stake in British Caledonian, which would leave them with a 23.5% stake. In an out of court offer by US drug company Eli Lilly, sufferers from the banned arthritis drug, Opren, have been offered less than £3 million and this has been greeted by the Victims Support Association as a ‘miserable offer’. The High Court injunction on the BBC has been varied today to allow the corporation to report items mentioned in Parliament and Court Proceedings. The ‘D-notice’ Committee is upset at being bypassed by the government, with its advice of the BBC and approval being reversed. The voluntary ‘D-notice’ system has been effective since 1912.