Diana gave me a card but unfortunately, I had forgotten a card for her, and Debbie’s Valentine gave a card to another so we were both embarrassed. As severe storms raged in Scotland, I spent the whole day on my Paxton Park Christian Science School section of my book before taking Debbie for her horse-riding lesson and doing some other horsey chores. Stephen Field visited, with his wife, and we let the large carp go free in the main pond as they seem better. Iran’s Ayatollah Komeni has issued a Fatwa calling for the death of British author Salman Rushdie who was written the book ‘the Satanic Verses’
I was tired this morning after a late night but still got showered and shaved in 15mins to make breakfast on time. Di gave me a Valentine’s Day card today, but I had forgotten and had no opportunity to go out and buy her one. Debbie took in a card for her heartthrob, Mark Clyne, today but he gave one to another girl and not her! Worse still, the whole prep school knew about it and she was very embarrassed. I spent the day on my Paxton Park Christian Science School section; finishing the editing, correction and printing of the section by mid-afternoon. Then it was time to go and get Debbie and take her horse riding. I dropped in at Brampton for Fiona and bought three half-hundredweight sacks of bran for her horses and also to the Saddlers to change Debbie’s stirrup rubbers and get some other equipment.
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I got Debbie to the school just after 4 PM and she had a half-hour private lesson with Fiona and controlled Sundance perfectly. She will do the same next week and getting some jumping tuition so that she can be ready for some Pony Club events. There was some small kerfuffle about the night that Lisa Drake could have a riding lesson but it ended up in line with our agreed routine in the end. This evening, the fish man came again, Stephen Field with his wife, and we let the large carp go free in the main pond. I had spent a few periods during the day lowering the water temperature of the isolation tank so that it would not come as too much of a shock. Their eyes are still swollen but they seemed very fit and perky after I let them go. The one that looked worse, the Kohaku, was chasing the others around either out of curiosity, relief or wanting to spawn with them and it seemed constantly on the go. I think that they may be all right. The news today is of the exposure of a Harley Street kidney surgeon who has been offering money to potential donors in defiance of medical ethics. Iran is in the news again: first the remaining captive Britain, Roger Cooper, has been ‘convicted’ of espionage and subjected to a heavy sentence; next the Ayatollah Komeni has issued an edict calling for the death of British author Salman Rushdie who was written the book ‘the Satanic Verses’ and upset the Islamic Fundamentalists. The book led to riots in India and Pakistan with six people dying. In the House of Commons question time, Margaret Thatcher has joined the debate rather ineffectively by stumbling and admitting there had been confusion over government advice. After severe storms yesterday in northern Scotland, more are forecast for tomorrow. The stock exchange recovered somewhat today but is still very volatile.