Another fine and warm day after a late night when I would rather be outside but had to start the day organising my office and desk. Lunch with Diana and then out to see the new Koi carp arrivals at the Needingworth fish farm but was not impressed upon. Collecting Debbie from Kimbolton and taking her to the very sad and deserted stables. Diana had some new lounge furniture delivered and I took Daniel for a driving lesson. The Chinese government is under pressure for constitutional reforms, an Ethiopian coup is thwarted and a car bomb kills 22 in the Lebanon as Thatcher fails to prevent new European cigarette packet warnings and suffers a Lords defeat on electricity privatisation and the ‘Rose’ Shakespeare theatre remains have a short stay of execution but no permanent protection.
I could only get to bed at 11pm last night, which was a pity as I had wanted even more sleep. In the event, I slept well for the rest of the night and Di had to try quite hard to awaken me. It was another fine and warm day, which reminded me again that I must get these paperwork chores out of the way to get some outside work done. This morning, I tried yet again to tidy my desk sufficiently to organise my affairs, but it proves very difficult with so many things outstanding.
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I made several chasing phone calls as well and, in this day and age, nothing seems to happen unless people are chased! I had lunch with Diana and then did some work on Michael Pope’s election ‘thank-you’ letters before it was time to go out. I drove to the Needingworth Fish Farm to look at the new consignment of Koi carp from Japan, but I was not impressed by the varieties at £25 each. On to Kimbolton, where I collected Debbie and took her horse-riding. Fiona Naylor was in her normal form, upsetting the few remaining livery owners and I fear that ours will be the only horse there soon as every other owner has left or intending to leave. It is strange and sad to see the rows of stables so empty and so few people about. It could still be a thriving enterprise. Once home, the furniture manufacturers were delivering the new lounge suite that Diana had ordered, then (after tea) I took Daniel for a driving lesson as the girls swam in the pool. Later I composed and printed out Michael’s thank you letters and then updated my Journal. Statistics from Moira Biggins show the Democrats in front of Labour with 20% of the votes in the Huntingdonshire area in the Cambridgeshire County Council elections. The news today is of the Chinese government giving a pledge on constitutional reforms. An attempted coup in Ethiopian is thwarted. In the Lebanon, a car bomb killed 22 people and more West Germans are in the hands of kidnappers. The government won its battle to keep publishing its poll tax leaflet but has lost out in Europe. Thatcher was alone amongst European leaders in opposing new health warnings for cigarette packets. In the House of Lords, the government suffered the second defeat in two days on electricity privatisation this time. At the 11th hour, the ancient site of the ‘Rose’ Shakespeare theatre remains have been saved for one short month, but the government will not schedule the site as a monument to save it once and for all.