May Day Bank Holiday – Carrying on with my work on The Lady as Diana first took the girls to Standalone Farm this morning, then Debbie to get her Kimbolton uniform before I joined her family after they arrived for tea. In South Africa a defiant P W Botha delivers his last speech prior to next Wednesday’s all-white election as police break up demonstrations, Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Rashid Karami, has resigned, The newly refitted Queen Elizabeth IInd passenger liner has finished its first voyage since the alterations but had to compensate passengers for the disruption
Slept well enough and awoke to my morning drink of tea on a bright, if windy, day. Soon up, showered, dressed and down to breakfast, but was the last person to the table and had to get some wheat flakes, as the rice krispies were all eaten. Daniel off to school, then I went out to The Lady, after wrapping up in two jumpers, hat and anorak to brace myself against the cold wind. Even then the prospect was not an attractive one, but I got started nevertheless. More of the boat-dock bank had collapsed in the night, but in the same place as before. I started by resuming the task of scraping and planing the starboard gunwale, removing another section of rubbing strake on the corner to make the gunwale easier to get to. Coffee at 10am, then Di took the girls down the A1 to Letchworth to see the animals at Standalone Farm. Debbie fed a lamb from a bottle and they all liked it there.
They came home at 1.30pm for lunch and by this time I was both hungry and exhausted. All of the work that I am doing is so low down, that it is hard on the legs and back. Applied a dilute coat of varnish to what I had done, to protect it from any showers that might chance by. It stayed dry today, if cold and windy all the time. After lunch I lay on the settee in the lounge to recover and watched the final of the world snooker championship, with Steve Davis recovering from an early setback to overtake Joe Johnson and pull ahead. My entertainment and peace was wrecked by the revelation that The Lady had unmoored and come adrift, but two neighbours had saved it from drifting away. It had warmed up a bit by now, it was the break in the match, and I had recovered, so I went out to resume work. Worked on stripping the starboard toe rails and then Di’s family arrived in force, quite unexpected, and I chatted to them for an hour whilst we waited for Di to return. She had been to Kimbolton School shop with Debbie and had bought £250-worth of all items of school uniform for her start in the Prep next September. Collecting Daniel as well, they arrived home quite late, but Di made our visitors (Norma, Charles, Charlie, Chrisula and Katherine) tea and they stayed quite a while. Just time for me to pop out and do a bit of varnishing before putting the ducks and doves away and coming in. I had checked our two baby doves today – they are fine; a blue bar & dilute indigo. Later this evening, I got Daniel to vacuum the pool and I watched Steve Davis win the TV snooker final in a nail-biting finish. The news tonight is of international news. In South Africa, a defiant P W Botha delivers his last speech prior to next Wednesday’s all-white election. There have been brutal incidents, as police break up anti-apartheid demonstrations on university campuses, using batons, whips and tear gas. President Reagan in the US keeps on speaking out for support for the Contras, but is still under pressure over Irangate, with more hearings starting tomorrow. Austrian President, Kurt Waldheim, is taking legal action over his ban on visiting the US and still denies involvement in Nazi Germany. Another mortar attack on an Ulster police station, this time in North Queen Street, but nobody was hurt. 45 British tourists have been treated in hospital following a coach crash in southern Spain. Lebanese Prime Minister, Mr Rashid Karami, has resigned amidst a continuing economic crisis. Everton beat Norwich today to become the soccer football league champions. The newly refitted Queen Elizabeth IInd passenger liner has finished its first voyage since the alterations, but problems with plumbing and air conditioning meant that the owners, Cunard, had to offer passengers a 40% refund and staff a £180 bonus for the trouble caused. The weather forecast, sunny and dry and a bit warmer tomorrow, so I should get on.