After spending the night at Great Yarmouth, and watching the fishing boats make their way out to see this morning, we made our way back to Horning, stopping off at Stokesby on the way. Once leaving the boat, we made our way home, calling in at Mum’s caravan in Stanton for a chat about the future plans for her and eventually arrived back in Paxton and were all pleased to be home.
News whilst we were away revealed the likely 24% pay rise for top civil servants which is further bad publicity for the government's fight with the ambulance drivers. All 14 A320 Airbus aircraft in India have been grounded following safety fears when one crashed, killing 90 passengers. The Channel Tunnel project is beset with cost escalation and the banks are freezing payments unless the management problems can be sorted out whilst over in reactionary South Africa, now 10,000 fascist whites march in protest over the release of Nelson Mandela.
Scientific information has been released to link the incidence of childhood leukamia to their fathers' exposure to nuclear radiation at Sellafield re-processing plant
We woke up quite late and had a slow start to the day. There were many sea fishing boats passing us and going out to sea with complements of anglers on board ready for their Sunday recreation. When we set off, it was against the ebbing tide but our twin engines still made good way against the flow. We cruised on and stopped at Stokesby, where the girls had a fun time on the childrens' playground before we walked around the village and did some shopping. We would have had lunch at the pub, but they were being re-decorated and were not serving food and so, because it was getting late, I cooked a meal of tomato soup and sweet to follow and then did the washing up. Diana had wanted us to cruise on to Horning for lunch, but it would have been too late.
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We then completed the last leg of our journey, stopping at the Horning boat-yard to fill up with water. We would have had fuel as well, but there was nobody there - presumably they were having lunch. During this trip, I realised what was showing up our plotter. There were some extraneous marks plotted which, once cleared, no longer slowed up the set's operation. Lastly, we moored-up at Heronshaw and unloaded our things before setting off in the Range Rover. This trip had been quite active and enjoyable and I am understanding even more about the boat. It was a pity that the family have not yet settled into a regular routine and that my crew are prone to argue all the time and question the skipper's judgement!
After leaving the boat, we dropped off our rubbish at the Horning disposal point and then drove to Stanton to see my mother. We had telephoned ahead on the cellular 'phone to warn her of our arrival and asked her to order some sandwiches from the estate shop but it had been closed for Sunday afternoon and so she had made us some sandwiches from her own supplies. It was a pleasant visit. Mum was pleased to see the girls and Daniel and we had tea and chatted away. The girls then played actively afterwards, and Diana did the washing up as I talked to Mum about the final aspects of Dad's estate and then these plans that Freda and Alf have for moving up this way and buying a Post Office/General Stores. Mum is warming to the idea of going to stay with them and it may all come off after all. We left her bungalow straight after a couple of hours and bid farewell to undertake the rest of our journey.
We got home at 9.00pm in the end, unloaded the car and I started to return the phone calls as Di got the most urgent things straight. To bed and, even after just a few days, the change of bed feels strange. Daniel was pleased to be back with his computer and Della to her videos. The news today is of the likely 24% pay rise for top civil servants which is further bad publicity for the government's fight with the ambulance drivers. Chris Patten, the Environment Minister, is to seek further funding for local authorities to underwrite the Poll Tax for next year but that will not help people this year. All 14 A320 Airbus aircraft in India have been grounded following safety fears when one crashed, killing 90 passengers. It may be the standard of servicing which is to blame. The Channel Tunnel brinkmanship goes on. Over the last few days, the news that we had been missing was of further reform proposed in the Soviet Union where they may soon be allowing the private ownership of property and business.
Back home, Chancellor Major is warning of the continued future for high interest rates and of the halving of the budget surplus. With the January inflation level at 7.7%, this all means that there is little chance of further tax cuts for the time being. The Channel Tunnel project is beset with cost escalation and the banks are freezing payments unless the management problems can be sorted out. In the United states, the "Junk-Bond" participants are folding fast with 5000 employees of Drexel being thrown onto the Wall Street jobs market.
Over in reactionary South Africa, now 10,000 fascist whites march in protest over the release of Nelson Mandela, but in the South Atlantic full diplomatic relations are restored between Britain and Argentina for the first time since the Falklands War. There is now firm scientific information to link the incidence of childhood leukamia to their fathers' exposure to nuclear radiation at Sellafield re-processing plant and the claims for compensation will follow.