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Mediating with Daniella over breakfast on another rainy day and then welcoming my former Comart partner John Lamb who still owns 2% of Kode shares and should sell them soon, in my view. We had a chat and then lunch together and I walked back over the Traps as the river was still flooded at Samuel Jones Paper Mill and then I met The Rev Peter Lewis whose remit coincides with my forthcoming Paxton electoral ward before supervising the children’s’ homework and music practise. The Cleveland Child Abuse nonsense is at last being dealt with, Thatcher is playing games with the Nurses Dispute and Ulster politicians are in trouble over attending illegal marches
Slept well enough and was up and showering when little Daniella came up and dragged me down to breakfast in my dressing gown. She had refused to eat her ‘teddy bear’ children’s multi-vitamin sweet and I was called in as a mediator. In the end I made her eat it with her cereal and she dropped it in the bowl! After a plain cereal breakfast, seeing the children off, and finishing dressing and shaving, I sat in my office and read today’s newspaper. I had dressed in some smarter (but still casual) clothes today, as I was expecting John Lamb to visit. I still had time to kill and so I worked on at my computer and started the editing of the updated passage on ‘The Nook and Shepherd’s Cottage’. Soon John arrived and we first sat and drank a tray of coffee in my office and exchanged news.
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Not much for gardener Pete to do as the riverside gardens were still flooded but I worked hard on my manuscript and then walked up to the lock to see the cars no longer trying to pass through the flooded road. A major strike is planned for Ford on Monday, Independent journalist Jeremy Warner was fined 320k for not revealing his sources and Leeds lorry driver Paul Guest, was cleared of murdering PC John Speed due to ‘lack of evidence’
Awoke with a start today, having been up and down a bit in the night and quite tired as a result. Got showered and dressed more quickly than usual and actually made the breakfast table with the children, if a little late. Read the morning paper, but not much of interest. Pete turned up this morning, even though the river is still in full flood and the rain was falling again. I went out to show him some jobs to do in the garage – cleaning off our lawn mowers and sweeping up – and he managed to make a 3 hour job out of that. Worked hard at my manuscript, noting down the major information from each source, under each building/heading. The work continued all day, but I broke off at lunchtime to make myself the customary egg and pork pie salad. By tea time I had just about had enough and so went out to feed the ducks and doves and then took a walk up to the lock and watched the floodwater rushing by.
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The river very high and receding slowly in foggy and frosty overnight weather as I worked steadily editing my Little Paxton History, Daniel and Debbie were at school and Della now happily at Play School and then Di to Slimming Club, Debbie practising her recorder and Daniel doing a lot better with his sinus condition but doing as little homework as he can. Uproar in the Commons over the Stalker enquiry into the Northern Ireland forces ‘shoot-to’kill’ policy as two explosions take place in the Falls area of Belfast.
A restless night, feeling warm and also looking out of the window as I made each of several visits to the toilet. Still, woke up reasonably OK and got through my bathroom routine, which included a shampoo for my hair, but took it rather too casually and came down to breakfast on my own. Quickly made out some financial transactions for Diana to do in town and then I settled down to read the newspaper in my office. Not much there of interest, but a bearish tone pervaded throughout the FT. Out to feed the ducks and doves. No chance of the ducks going into their sodden hutch overnight, but they needed feeding anyway. The water was gradually receding, but very slowly. Morning coffee and then the start of a daylong session on my history book.
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Lifting wood out of the way of the rising floodwater and then valeting the Range Rover before catching up on reading and office tidying. A climber dies in North Wales and two potholers are also missing in Wales in poor weather and Arthur Scargill survives a leadership challenge from Jack Walsh
Another active retirement and then slept soundly until about 8.00am, when I got myself up and looked out at the rising floodwater. The ducks were still quacking about in excitement at this expanded area and the echoing of their calls against the house and trees make a distinctive sound that it can only be a flood. Got shaved, washed and dressed and down to breakfast, this time before the rest of the family. A nice fried breakfast, which I accepted in view of my weight being under control. Out immediately afterwards to the riverside and spent a couple of hours lifting up wood out of the way of the rising water and also took all of the spare hay out of the rear duck house and packed it within plastic bags in the garage. I then got the Range Rover out and started to clean it.