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To Cambridge on quite a cold and overcast day to collect the artwork for our focuses from Bill Walston before depositing them with our printer and then dropping off 50 little Paxton history photos for transparencies to be made. To the city centre to shop for a briefcase for Daniel and a slide projector and screen for me. Home for lunch to find Chrisula with a baby Catherine visiting day and then on to Huntingdon for an appointment with Mr Alexander of potential about local woodlands, collecting my Council mail from Pathfinder House and home to discover that Linda is interested in joining the parish council. The postal strike settlement is coming apart at the seams, the Pope has been diverted from Lesotho to South Africa after hijacking of pilgrims in a bus there as Hurricane Gilbert get stronger as it approaches Mexico with winds up to 200 miles an hour, the worst Caribbean storm this century.
Awoke and arose quite a bit earlier this morning and arrived in time for breakfast for once. I had arranged to go to Cambridge this morning but still had time to read the papers and look at the little post that had arrived for the first time in days. Also tended the ducks and doves as Pete does not come to help me on Wednesdays. It was quite cold and overcast today as I set off in the car for Cambridge. first to the workplace of Bill Walston, where I picked up the artwork for our FOCUS’s and then drove across town to deposit them with our friendly printer to get plates prepared. I also stopped off at the photographic finishers and put in 50 of my Little Paxton history photos to have 85 mm transparencies/slides made from them for my forthcoming history lectures. Then I parked in the city centre and did some shopping – took a book back to the library, bought a new briefcase for Daniel and a slide projector and screen for me. Home a little late to lunch and found Chrisula arriving with her baby Catherine and she had come to see Di and Della.
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Another slow start to the day as I worked on my Council priorities before organising my newsletters for delivery this weekend and selecting some history photographs for processing into transparencies for my forthcoming talks. I also bought five large bales of peat to add to the sharp sand from yesterday as top dressing for my games lawn. A Cuban ambassador was expelled today for shooting an MI5 agent in the embassy incident yesterday, the SAS admit killing the IRA men but claimed they had to, the Ulster civil service head had his house demolished by bomb yesterday and the government is still at loggerheads with nurses. Hurricane Gilbert is bringing devastation the Cayman Islands with gusts up to 200 mph
After a late night, I was tired again this morning. For the second day running, I had breakfast in my dressing gown and had trouble getting down in time. This morning, with the children at school and Della at Rising Five’s, Diana cleared out Daniel’s room and I worked on at my Council work. Phone calls left right and sideways to pursue matters of the moment to organise my FOCUS Newsletters which are needed for delivery at the weekend. Later, after lunch, I also drove across to Willington and brought back five 200 L bales of peat to help with the top dressing of my games lawn. This afternoon, I sorted out photographs from my history of Little Paxton album for taking to the photographic processors tomorrow – they are to be turned into transparencies for the forthcoming history talks. More phone calls trying to get 1 or 2 ladies to serve on the Parish Council, lobbying Mrs Pearson to improve the Ernulf Pool booking system for children’s swimming lessons and then an interview with Julie Silverman, the Town Crier journalist who seemed short of copy.
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A very busy day for me meeting with my builders and communicating with Charles Frost about the construction of my forthcoming conservatory and Koi carp pond, arranging the delivery of half a ton of sharp sand for my games lawn top dressing and then working all day at home before sharing my time this evening between two very important meetings concerning Little Paxton concerning planning threats and the organisation of the Village Hall. There was a shooting incident in London today concerning Cuban diplomats.
A busy day today tackling a range of Council business and getting letters ready to take across to Pathfinder House. I also wrote a parish paper on public relations and dealt with that as well. The builders, Gadsby and Faye, came around this morning and I went through the building work specification with them to make sure there was nothing forgotten. Following phone calls to Charles Frost afterwards, we agreed a start date of four weeks hence for the building work and six weeks’ time for the conservatory erection. After working all day, this evening I was faced with the need to attend two meetings – one HDC planning committee and another ‘Village Hall Crisis meeting’ in Little Paxton. I first drove to Pathfinder House, delivered my letters and a note for the Planning Chairman containing my comments for the meeting, and then I drove back to Little Paxton Village Hall, delivering letters to Parish Council officers on the way. At the Hall, the attendance was disappointing for me. Only one of the four trustees and representatives of about six organisations with there, though total people present amounted to about 20. Trustee and acting Chairman, Des Carter, spoke at length about the history and background of the village hall trust and management committee. They require a Secretary, Treasurer and Chairman and much more active committee. Helen Young volunteered to be secretary, no treasurer was to be found and I was hinted at for the Chairman’s position.
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I was struggling with too much to do today after a succession of late nights but I did manage to wipe over the Rolls-Royce but then had to rest this afternoon before sorting out my office files this evening. A nice lunch after which Di took the girls to her brother’s house for Catherine’s Greek style birthday but they were too late back to go swimming with Amy and Katherine, which was a shame. News of a gunmen on the rampage in Walsall, a huge ‘race against time’ for Sport Aid as we hear the Bangladesh is still underwater
A succession of late nights, and the weight of outstanding work I must do, acted as rather depressing influences for me today. I was down rather late for my fried breakfast and then had to have my shower after. Along the way, I read the rest of yesterday’s FT and Investors Chronicle which both take a gloomy view of the economy and concur with me that the best place to have savings is in the building society. After this, I went out and vacuumed and washed/wiped over the Rolls-Royce that had become quite dirty from use. Indeed, it had still confetti inside from Linda’s wedding! This took the whole morning which gradually warmed up and became quite sunny. I was exhausted by lunchtime and, after a nice meal of roast chicken, I could only sit and watch the TV motor racing most of the afternoon.