Freda and Alf were staying ahead of the funeral tomorrow and we welcomed Mum for a visit and prepared the place for the funeral reception but Mum was still being vague about her future. The whole of the East German Politburo has resigned en masse and former members are arrested for misdeeds, parties in Czechoslovakia differ over the Cabinet membership and, off Malta, a storm blows up and strands President Bush on a battleship
I slept well and laid in until nearly 8am with Di until Della came in and disturbed us, wondering where her morning drink had got to. Di prepared a superb fried breakfast with good choice and quantity of goodies for all. After this, I took Freda and Alf for a look around the gardens and, as they set off for a walk to the shops for a newspaper, Derek Giles arrived and I spared him the time to chat about his first problems and ideas of the job of being the new Eaton Socon town councillor. I passed the time socially for much of the day, with another nice lunch and tea until we set up the house for the funeral reception tomorrow.
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This afternoon, I took Freda over to see Mum and collected her later. We had a most difficult time trying to get out of her a decision about going home to Stanton. She is saying that this week’s ‘trial’ is just a visit and that she must be back for a blood test on Friday. This rather defeats the object of staying if she manages to settle in and puts Alf and Freda (as well as Di and I) in the difficult position of not knowing how to proceed further. The rest of the evening was much more relaxed, and I avoided the mistake of getting too involved with Mum’s problems which would have led to an unsettled night. The news today is of more upheaval in Eastern Europe. The whole of the East German Politburo has resigned en masse and former members are arrested for misdeeds. In Czechoslovakia, the Forum opposition is unhappy about the communists having three quarters of the Cabinet seats and are threatening another national strike in protest. These superpower talks run into trouble off Malta as a storm blows up and strands President Bush on a battleship – but the talks resume today.