Off to St Ives for the antique auction viewing after looking after Della in bed this morning and then back via Great Paxton to look at the old ferry site and then I heard from Jack Ramply today with an invitation to view his precious Scrap Book. This as The Argyle Group threatens to sue for foul play over the Guinness takeover and a whole series of knife attacks take place in Jerusalem, Wimbledon and Soho with a bomb attack killing 21 in Tehran as the Iraqis bomb Ayatollah Khomeini’s headquarters. Rumours emerge of the BBC being gagged over a secret government project
Sat up in bed with my tea this morning and called in Della to sit with me. She had taken all of her bed clothes off saying they were ‘too tight’ and was freezing. She will be taking her 2 ½ year assessment at the clinic in the coming week and I am sure she will hold her own against the other ‘totts’. To the shower and shaved then dressed for breakfast. I had checked Daniel’s room and was trying to get him to tidy it, when I found that he was already due to go out to catch his school bus – he has to go early on Saturdays. Sat reading the post in the kitchen, waiting for Di to get the girls ready for a trip to St Ives. The mail was disappointing – no cheque from Vinters, which annoyed me. I will have to wait until Monday to pay it in now. Put the burglar alarms on, fed the ducks and doves and then got ready to set off. Saw the new occupiers of 39 Gordon Road through their windows.
They seem to have a couple of small boys that were watching me feed the ducks. A steady drive to St Ives, winning 15 mins look at the auction viewings before our morning coffee at The Welcome Cafe at 10.00am. Back for 1 ¼ hrs looking at the antique viewing – saw a folding carriage table and campaign chair that interested me, but I shall have to see about coming back for the auction itself on Tuesday. Home via River Lane in Great Paxton and Eaton Socon. Di had wanted to see the Great Paxton side of the old ferry crossing and we needed the 4-wheel drive to manage the submerged and frozen road. In Eaton Socon, we had a look at the Comart factory. The blue and white paintwork of the outside is now a grey colour (which Di did not like), the ‘Daniel’ tree is rather stunted and not growing and there were a half dozen cars there and people waiting, which is interesting. To St Neots, where I bought some new folders, some dove seed, and also started to gather brochures on Little Paxton houses for sale for my archives. Collected Daniel and we all went off to the Happy Eater for a nice lunch. Watched England vs West Indies cricket highlights on the TV this afternoon – we thrashed them by 6 wickets in a 1-day game, with 6/7 overs to spare. Tea and then I lit the fire this evening and worked late in my office, analysing the new Kelly’s Directory entries that I had got from Hunts Library yesterday. Di sat up with me, as I burnt a huge log that was still going strong at midnight. Jack Ramply phoned me this evening and invited me to see him in the morning and so I prepared for then. Phoned my parents this afternoon – they are over their colds etc, have confirmed that Mum is on the surgeons urgent list, but have yet to get the call for Mum to go in – we shall try to get over in a week or two. To bed late, but together with Di. The Guinness scandal keeps on rolling and now the former rivals for the Distillers takeover – The Argyle Group – are commencing action for legal damages in compensation for their losing out in the takeover. Disasters galore, are always swallowed up and regurgitated by the media, and today’s batch include 50 Arabs attacking 2 Jews in Jerusalem with knives, a man killed and two others injured in falls on Mount Snowdonia, a young woman being stabbed in Wimbledon & her attacker then stabbing himself and a prostitute, Colleen Weller (21), being stabbed in Soho. The Iran/Iraq war progresses to yet another bloody level of civilian air raids; 21 people die in Tehran as the Iraqis bomb Ayatollah Khomeini’s headquarters. Back home, the BBC decide not to screen a programme on a secret defence project, even though the MOD have not adhered to the required consultation process with the Public Accounts Committee when the expenditure is above £200 million (they are spending £500 million). All this after pressure from Norman Tebbit – the Tory Party’s ‘bovver-boy’ for the BBC.