A day off from election campaigning, apart from checking my flagboards, as I valeted the Range Rover, took the children in my Reliant van to the playground and then off to St Neots Riverside Park to play crazy golf before home to mow the games lawn again. 45 Tory rebels are against replacing rhe rating system with the regressive Poll Tax unless it has an income-related element, PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, is now planning a retaliation to the Israeli killing of his deputy and a Cumbrian factory discharges sulphuric acid, polluting three rivers.
Rather late to bed, with my midnight patrol, and then the night was so warm and humid that I had trouble sleeping. Little Daniella came in to our room in the middle of the night as well and I had to be the one to settle her down. Slept in until 8.00am and then showered and shaved quite quickly, so as to have time to do a circuit of Little Paxton and inspect my flag boards. They seemed all right, apart from one in Gordon Road that had been turned round, which I turned back and hammered in. Home to a nice fried breakfast and then straight to work washing the Range Rover and vacuuming it out. After coffee, leathered it off and then had to touch up some mat black paint on the tailgate and some blue spots on the paintwork. After this, I had to get out Percy the Reliant and get it ready to take us for a run after lunch. Today was very mild, with hazy sunshine and it was quite a warm job working on the cars.
Percy’s spark plugs look a good hue of light brown and the tyres and engine oil were a bit low. Lunch of turkey pieces roast with pre-prepared vegetables and then back out to get the van running. Then all aboard for a trip to the playground, where the girls played and I glowered at a boy that I think is responsible for breaking my signs. Then off to St Neots and the Riverside Park, where we parked, had afternoon tea and then played crazy golf. Home to let the girls go swimming again, whilst I applied ‘Toplawn’ combined fertilizer and weed killer to our established lawns, in the hope of getting rid of the clover, daisies and dandelions. This went on after tea as well and took a large bag and a quarter and took some time. I now hope for a drop of rain, which is needed to water it in. I later took the opportunity of mowing the games lawn, dropping the blade lower this time to discourage the coarser grasses. Away with my things and all the cars and then in to do my journal and re-calculate my election budget. Now down to £200 and well within the limit of £220 odd. The news today is still headed by the Kuwaiti hijack saga. The hijackers have put another hostage on the radio to plead with the Kuwaiti’s to meet their demands. The government is in for a back-bench rebellion over the replacement of the rating system with a poll tax. 45 of the Tory back-benchers are said to be willing to support an amendment, calling for the addition of an income-related charge, rather than a flat-rate one. Both Labour and the SLD will also vote for the amendment and so the Tory majority is in danger. PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, is now planning a retaliation to the Israeli killing of his deputy. Back in Cumbria, a factory at Wigton has discharged thousands of gallons of sulphuric acid, polluted three rivers and killed large quantities of fish.