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Continuing my work on the storm drain sump before it was time for Della’s birthday party later, for which Norma had come to help and then to resume work until dusk, having collected six more bags of cement for the concreting tomorrow. Mounting tension as East/West arms talks come to a head, the by-now usual bomb attack in Ulster and immigration falls after the curbing of the 1952 Commonwealth Citizen Agreement
A fair night and awoke early to shave and dress. Out to feed the doves and have a look round before breakfast on a fine, warm morning. Out to get started on the sump and used Pete’s help to dig out more of the debris at the bottom. I bailed out the water and shovelled mud into buckets and he emptied them for me. Being so low down we were below the new concrete block and so I dug out a trench alongside it and then excavated partially under it as well, before constructing the shuttering that was used to cast another block under and in front of the other. Then started the job of constructing two concentric squares of shuttering for the upper section. The concreting made me late for lunch with Di, Della and Di’s Mum and then I had to leap into the pool and shower, as I was all dusty and sweaty. Eventually ate and chatted to Di, whilst Di’s Mum took Della for a walk to keep her happy. Today was the day of Della’s party and Norma had come to help.
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Starting to build the new storm drain sump after a poor night from my sun burn of yesterday, managing the front concrete slab and then to excavate and find the true depth and scope of the requirement before swimming with Della and then taking Debbie for her horse-riding lesson and tending the pool, doves and ducks. The government approves the takeover of the ‘Today’ newspaper by Murdoch, which an outrage, is cutting back the NEDO committees without consent, London Policing is falling short of public expectations and Prince Charles is appalled by the run down slums in Tower Hamlets
An appalling night, hardly sleeping a wink. A combination of sunburn on my back, making me uncomfortable, and the worry over the shuttering for my sewer concrete job kept me wide awake and uncomfortably so. In the end I had enough by 5.30am and got up to shower and shave to make an early start. Spoke to Di in the kitchen during her early ‘alone time’, which she resented, then did some new-month bill-paying in my office until breakfast. Wheat flakes as usual, then set off for the Tool Hire shop and returned with a cement mixer and got Pete to help unload it and set it up. A hard morning’s work using it a half dozen times to lay the front concrete slab for the sump and was finished by lunchtime.