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Concentrating on the lawns and gardening on this colder day with the north-easterly fresh breeze and removing the cover from The Lady and folding it up so that it is ready for preparing it for sale. I am now meeting Mr Amis to review Heronshaw in a week or two.
The USA/Soviet arms talks agree a new pact that will reduce further the nuclear weapons on both sides after US President Bush first hesitated about the lack of similar agreement on conventional arms reductions
I had been very late to bed last night after having had far too much to eat and drink and what with this and having worn myself out on all that raking yesterday, I felt rather fragile this morning. Nevertheless, I was keen to get on as I had so much to do and so got showered and dressed and just about got down to breakfast before the others had left the table. It was a dull day and colder again. It is getting colder each day with these winds from the north-east. At least it was dry and so I started on the games lawn with the rotary mower.
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Organising work on Heronshaw and my boat and then working outside on the games lawn on a cold but dry day before attending our Liberal Democrat Victory Party in Offord and then home late. The Tories are falling out over Ravenscraig and suffering their worst byelection defeat in Ulster. USA's James Baker and the Soviet Eduard Shevardnadze have been making progress towards getting an arms treaty ready, The two Germanies have signed a treaty as the start of the process of financial unification. A French train has broken the rail speed record for a third time
I was slow again to rise today but it was not long before I got down to making a day of it. I spent much of the morning working first in the conservatory and then at my desk, listing all of the things that were overdue to be done and then making a number of urgent telephone calls. I successfully chased my Norfolk solicitor about the information that I needed for Heronshaw road maintenance, and then also managed to get an assurance from Marine Power that they will mend the coupling on the Paxton Princess on Monday; but had more trouble with my attempts at getting a builder to undertake the raising of Heronshaw.
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Catching up with paperwork after a rather restless night due to the bedroom being very warm and stuffy. After yesterday at home, Debbie was back at school being demanding again but had to miss horse-riding later though Della still went for a tricky session after Percy had beaten Fiona’s Dad Roland Smith in the election! Once home, some work in the garden before it was time to rush off to a meeting of the Liberal Democrats in St Neots to discuss our election strategy for next year.
The UK Stock Exchange has had its biggest daily rise today for more than two years, optimistically believing that Thatcher would allow Britain into the ERM of the EMS so that inflation could be controlled without high interest rates just as the unemployment total has risen for the first time for nearly four years to 1,605,600, or 5.6%.. The Scottish Tory MP's have joined Labours call to keep Ravenscraig steel strip mill open which has bolstered Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind against hard-right colleagues. South African President F.W. de Klerk has arrived in Britain for talks with Thatcher in a bid to get sanctions lifted
I was slow to rise today after a rather restless night. The room was very warm and stuffy - even with the windows open at both ends - and I had difficulty in sleeping. I still made breakfast of cereal with the others. Yesterday, Deborah had to stay at home with a cold on top of her hay fever; but she was back at school today. She was soon on the telephone from school, having forgotten to take her bicycle that was needed for her cycling proficiency test today. Di had to rush over with it on what was supposed to be her day at home but at least she could take Debbie's glasses that she had also forgotten as well. Deborah is still not well enough to go horse riding today and so it has not really been a good day for her. I tended my conservatory, plants and animals and then spent all of this morning and most of this afternoon updating my journal but at least the job is finished, and I could get on with other work. I was also supervising the water sprinkler in the garden as the grass is gradually drying up due to this rainless spell.
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Our first HDC Full Council Day as a LibDem group to which I drove them in my Rolls Royce convertible in style. The weather was warm and sunny and the air-stream mild which made it a nice journey as others stifled in their saloons We got all of the committee places we wanted and I just had to suffer Daisy Seager ‘pinching’ my usual seat! This after being lobbied first thing about Village Hall roof maintenance.
Another IRA bomb attack, this time on a van outside an Army Recruitment Centre in Wembley when an Army sergeant Charles Chapman was mortally injured and bravely told others not to approach as he died, for fear of another bomb. The Tories are under siege with Poll Tax problems and the latest job losses are at Ravenscraig where the steel strip mill is to be closed with the loss of 770 jobs
I was wake early again on another sunny and warm day. The normal routine this morning of feeding the fish and doves and watering the plants and then I settled into my office to try to get some work done. I finished inking in my Logbook entries to make them permanent and then started to write up these last seven days' journal entries. I was making some progress when Jenny, the Village Hall Secretary, came round, ostensibly to do some photocopying, but spent a half hour or so bending my ear on the Village Hall repair programme. She was voicing the concerns of many of the ladies who feel that we should not just patch things up but get things done properly. The roof is the main concern and the issue is whether the asphalt to the front entrance hall should be left sagging and patched or re-enforced and replaced. I eventually reassured her and saw her off and then I had a little more time before Percy and Michael arrived for sandwiches and a discussion on the gravel pit plans.
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