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On a day that started dry and cold before heavy rain arrived in the evening, I tended Dad’s grave and did some general tidying work in the cemetery and then this afternoon I took Daniel and Gary to buy some brushes at Harry Kitchener and load up the Range Rover for the morning when we intended to collect the new boat.
Working on Dad’s estate administration this evening when I hear of clashes in Romania where ‘up to 2000’ are claimed killed as troops use helicopters, tanks and guns to crush protests.
I had a poor night and was then rather rudderless as I started the day. The weather was calm and dry, if a bit cold, and so I opted to go and tend Dad’s grave. I drove up to Little Paxton Cemetery and began by removing all of the flowers, adding many bucketful’s of earth from the corner of the cemetery and replacing the flowers on top. The heavy rain had settled the recent graves so that the surfaces were quite hollow, and I wanted to return the level to what it was before. Whilst there, I also emptied the communal waste bins and subsequently carried off the bags of rotten flowers etc., dumping them at the St Neots Civic Amenity Tip on the way home. In the winter, there seems to be no gardener to look after the cemetery and so I did the job myself. Lastly, as a tribute to Dad, I replaced a new oak sapling by the memorial bench – this new oak to be in memory of Dad which is nice. I shall label it sometime in the future. Home for lunch, feeling somewhat cold.
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After a lay in this morning, on a calmer and drier day, I went out to work on The Lady and laid it up for the rest of the winter and took off of her the things I would need for her replacement, The Rolyat Princess. The Brownies Carol Service with Della this evening and taking delivery of Daniel’s new computer.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has joined the ranks of those criticising Britain’s repatriation policy, the government seems to be settling on a figure of 200,000 for Hong Kong professionals who wish to return here, and dozens of people were killed in a Romanian anti-government rally against leader Nikolai Ceausescu.
I had a little lay in this morning and it was Diana that brought the morning tea. After breakfast, I noted that the weather had started calm and dry and so I decided to go out and work on The Lady. It took me just about all morning to lay the boat up most of the afternoon to offload much of the equipment and things that I needed for equipping the Rolyat Princess. I found it all quite tiring, but it was rewarding as well.
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A nice breakfast cooked by Di his morning after an unsettled night and then I worked outside first thing this morning on the boats and animals and inside on my paperwork and Christmas Cards before we joined Di’s family at Bar Hill for her Uncle John’s 70th birthday lunch buffet. Some time perusing Democrat diskettes from Roman and then some sports and nature programmes on television.
Tragic news of the death of six fishermen on fishing boat Destiny off Gourock in the Firth of Clyde in foul weather when trying to catch prawns prior to Christmas
I was awake long before Di this morning who had resorted to the spare bedroom during the night suffering from a coughing attack. I took her morning coffee after doing the outstanding washing up as the kettle boiled. She did not thank me for it saying that she would prefer to have had the lay in! Deborah had been up even earlier than me and so I gave her a drink, went and showered, shaved and dressed, then sat in my office and read until breakfast time. Diana cooked a nice fried breakfast for us. Daniel had to be pressed to go out and washed the Range Rover afterwards.
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I woke before 6am, sought relief with Diana and got the family up and out of Heronshaw by 7.30am for the trip to Brundall where we had breakfast and then a trial run on a wet day on our new boat (currently named Rolyat Princess). I completed the purchase and parted with a cheque for £52,500 as the family were bowled over with it!
A brief visit to Mum in Stanton on the way back and then the afternoon clearing gutters and securing dinghies with a flood expected. Heavy snow has affected roads over the Pennines and in Scotland and heavy rains brought flooding to Cornwall and Plymouth. Winds up to 90 miles an hour are expected.
In London, Vietnamese refugees held a rally to demand an end to repatriation with stories of force and violence being used against them.
A long and tiring day. I woke first before 6am and rolled over to see Di for 10 minutes before getting up and making the drinks. After showering and shaving, I also laid the breakfast and cleared up afterwards. All this was to help get the family ready so that we all got out and into the Range Rover to leave the house locked and alarmed by 7:30am. The journey to Brundall only took two hours as we made very good progress in lighter-than-usual traffic. We then had refreshments at the Kelly’s Kitchen family restaurant in Brundall to give the yacht agency 20 to 30 minutes to prepare for us. We arrived in the rain. The forecast had been for a very wet and windy weather, but the wind did not materialise until later.
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