Spotting cuckoos and other birds this morning as Mr Larkin finishes of the quay-heading and we discuss the storm outlet and then I host a family lunch before watching Coventry City beat Spurs in the FA cup final and then spend time on The Lady. Right wing, Tory MP, Harvey Proctor, stands trial on Wednesday next, charged with homosexual indecency charges, and the Russians have tested a space rocket, capable of launching space craft similar to the US space shuttle.
Awoke early, as Di went downstairs, but had to wait about an hour until Di brought my tea up. Listened to a farming programme on the radio in the meantime, with a ‘pushy’ farmer being interviewed, who did not believe in organic farming. Up, showered, shaved and then washed my hair, before getting dressed and going down to breakfast. In the end, I was last to the table. After, I went out to the riverside gardens to feed the doves and I took my binoculars and watched the progress of a cuckoo. We have seen a lot this year, and out in the open and quite easy to observe. I also saw a goldfinch, as well as the usual birds. Mr Larkin arrived to continue the river work, and we chatted a while. Today, he finished off piling the downstream end and tie much of the work back. He is talking of going away soon to do the work at Hartford, but I am not keen on him leaving the work incomplete. He is concerned at the spring and storm outlet and how to handle it, which rather depressed me. Soon Di was ready to go to St Neots and I had to come in and lock & secure the house.
I had started charging The Lady’s batteries and also setting out the conservatory and carp pool shapes on the side lawn. We bought a few things and then collected Daniel from the school bus. Drove off to Croxton Happy Eater for lunch and Daniel & Debbie earned special mint surprise sweets by eating up all of their firsts (lettuce for Daniel and sausages for Debbie). This afternoon, I settled down to watch the cup final and saw Tottenham Hotspur beat 3-2 by Coventry City after extra time, which was even more depressing. Out then to finish my surveying of the conservatory and decided upon a course of action. Daniel had gone out on his boat with Paul, his friend, surveying another river bend and taking measurements for his geography project. This evening Di and I were going to go out, but we stayed in to do some chores. I inspected the piling and found a number of problems to bring to Mr Larkin’s attention, then went in the Blue Peter dinghy to finish cleaning one side of The Lady and the stern. I am finding more evidence of hull deterioration and I think the hull will soon need painting for the first time. I settled Debbie in bed later, as she was restless, and then wrote my journal & watched the TV news on teletext. The latest political story is the resignation of right wing, Tory MP, Harvey Proctor, who stands trial on Wednesday next, charged with homosexual indecency charges with young men. Two more polls show the Conservatives maintaining their lead, but Tebbit joins Thatcher in warning against complacency. The Alliance pledge an increase in single and married pensions and present a 10-point plan for education. Labour’s Dennis Healey accuses Thatcher of wanting nuclear weaponry at all costs. The Russians have tested a space rocket, capable of launching space craft similar to the US space shuttle. Today was fairly fine, with occasional showers and it is forecast to be fine tomorrow, after early cloud and showers.