My 42nd birthday - A bit of an anti-climax for my 42nd birthday, having celebrated it last Sunday with Fred, my father, with his on the second.. Early this morning, collecting our FOCUS newsletter texts with Mike Pope for a couple of hours and then off to Thriplow farm office to collect the discs that Bill Walston had prepared. After lunch, sorting disk files onto my computer and then taking Debbie horse riding in Offord. On to the little Paxton Parish meeting at the village hall which was constructive but frustrating, but my ideas were agreed and three new sympathetic Parish Councillors appointed in a good meeting overall. Thatcher has spoken on human rights when visiting Poland, completely ignoring her own curtailment’s of such rights at home. I completed the Games Lawn top dressing today and heard that my conservatory and insurance claims should progress.
I was quite late to bed last night, in the end, watching the boxing match in which the South African champion overcome the spirited challenge of a British boxer. A bit tired when Di woke me with my tea on this, my birthday morning. In fact, we had celebrated my birthday on Sunday with my dad and his, received our cards and opened our presents, and today was just like any other day. At 9am, Mike Pope arrived, and we went through the necessary corrections to the text of our next FOCUS newsletter, which took a couple of hours. We also agreed which items would be best placed in which sections. At 11am, I shot off to the Thriplow Farm Office to collect the discs that Bill Walston had been kindly preparing for me. Back in time for lunch and then all afternoon sorting the new disk files onto my computer and then numbering and preparing the constituent articles that are to make up our new FOCUS newsletters online. Soon, it was teatime and then time to take Debbie for her horse riding in Offord. I had to leave her there for Di to pick up later and I went on to the Little Paxton Parish meeting at the Village Hall.
It was a good meeting, rather spoilt by four outspoken residents close to the Gordon Road bus shelter who insisted on raising their problems in an unstructured manner, but they knew no better. Earlier, the Parish had agreed my bylaws for the playing field, voted up to £2,000 in next year’s budget for putting foam protective tiles under the climbing frame and slide, adopting my idea of a quarterly newsletter and several other good things. We lastly elected Mr Young, Linda (Richardson) and Joy Standen to be our three new Parish Councillors and they will all be very good in my view. Mike Pope gave me a left home and I then recovered from my tension by writing up my journal. I find the Parish meetings by far the most draining – whether it is the stress of trying to change their attitudes; or because it is relationships with my friends and neighbours – or not, I do not know. I also seem to shoulder more of the responsibility as it is ‘my’ village. Thatcher’s visit to Poland is top of the list of news items tonight. She made a strong speech on human rights and ‘inspired thousands of Poles to demonstrate for freedom’. Her own curtailment of UK liberties was conveniently forgotten by her publicists. Today was fine enough to get the Games Lawn top dressing complete. I also had confirmatory calls that my conservatory should be move ahead next week, that my insurance claim should also be paid too.