Mostly at home today working but visiting dentist and the garden centre in Eaton Socon later and noting that my old Comart building still displays that name despite the news that it is being merged under the Kode Computers name. Also taking Debbie for her horse-riding lesson on Rumpold and then listening to the Queen’s Speech for the opening of parliament with the worrying rumour about schools charging for extra-curricular lessons.
Awoke to my morning tea and was too slow to escape Daniella, who played in my bed a while pretending to be a ‘baby lion’. Eventually ready for breakfast. We had a rather overdone boiled egg each, which meant that the yokes were rather too hard to dip the toast fingers in. Rather cross at breakfast because Diana and Daniel were against my plans to stop the illegal cycling on the footpath past our house and so I decided that it was not worth bothering if they were going to cycle in defiance! Read the morning paper in the lounge, reviewed the morning mail as well. A press release from Kode – Comart is to be no more as they are merging it with Kode Ltd to be Kode Computers Ltd. Ian Nickson becomes Technical Director, Murray Dolan Service Director and Bob King of Kode becomes the Managing Director. It had to happen one day, but it is sad nevertheless.
Then all off to St Neots to see Mr Osborne, our dentist for the 6-monthly check up. On the way we dropped the duck eggs off at Shaws Auctions and posted my mail. I passed inspection with flying colours, but Di has to come back in a week’s time to see the hygienist and be ‘de-scaled’, which serves her right. Coffee at Tooks, then to Waitrose supermarket for the week’s shopping. On the way home I filled up with petrol in Eaton Socon and visited the garden centre. I bought 4 post steel end caps (driving posts) with cross pins, to use on the mooring posts as a new idea. We drove along Little End Road and saw that the ‘Comart’ sign on the factory had not yet been changed and the ‘Daniel’ tree was still growing. Home to Little Paxton, where we visited Little Paxton Nurseries and bought 5 flower baskets to hang under our balconies. Whilst unloading our purchases from today and the other day, I managed to split a bag of layer pellets and had a merry time scooping up the pellets and then hoovering the inside of the Range Rover clean, which made me late for lunch. A rather dull shepherd’s pie to eat with garden peas, which were unfortunately undercooked. This afternoon I sat in my office and, looking out the Little Paxton School slides and notes, prepared my comments for tomorrow’s lectures to the pupils on the village history. Then I walked to the school, collected Debbie, and gave the slides back. Home for some ham salad rolls for an early tea, then took Debbie horse riding. She had Rumpold and managed him reasonably well, even though he kept trying to nudge and nibble her when she was on the ground leading him. I hear that poor Emma, the 15/16 year old pony, has now to be put out to grass, as she is too old and weak for the school. Home again and then I went out to the riverside for the rest of the evening, alternately doing a little fishing and putting the four post caps on. A warm, dry, day today and the river land mud is already beginning to dry out. News this evening is of uncertainty and stress in the courts as parents claim to be wrongly accused of sexual child abuse and the evidence of ‘experts’ is doubted. In the Queen’s speech for the opening of parliament, there is talk of an Education Bill making extracurricular activities of children’s education chargeable, which is an appalling development. The SDP MPs are grumpily against a merger with the Liberals and call for a membership ballot, where the questions are weighted against such a ‘fusion’.