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After jacking up the garage and meeting my neighbours to talk about the road repairs, I bricked up most of the courses below the garage walls on all sides and had the difficult job of cleaning off the cement mixer and all of the tools in the dark and then struggled to get all of the equipment back into the car so as to be ready to pack and set off home where I found Diana still up and chatted to her about the news of Daniel and my weekend's achievements.
I must have been quite the worse for drink when retiring the night before but, after the room stopped swimming, I slept quite well and woke early on. It was a much colder day but, after getting breakfast and having a quick shave, I went out in good heart and started work. I jacked up the remaining garage corner and perched it on to a cross timber that was outside the building line. Then I mixed my first load of mortar and made a start on the bricklaying. I rested after this first load to have a coffee but then mixed two more batches and spent the rest of the day until dark without further rest. During this time, I saw Mrs Vincent next door and the Treasurer of the Ropes Hill Dyke Residents Association, but the road contractor, Mr Smith, did not come down to see them as expected. They had been critical about the standard of the road work, but I thought the contract had been completed quite reasonably.
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After struggling against the drizzle which was getting steadily heavier as the day went on, I had just jacked up the garage a little more and stabilised it when Steve Bloom and his work colleague Christine arrived to help. Together, we used the mixer bricking the sides of the garage until dark.
Daniel arrived to do his washing and, later, his friend Later, Jonathan Bloom arrived but went sailing in his catamaran. Later, I was invited over to Christine's boat where she had prepared a nice meal which we enjoyed and, having enjoyed another bottle of wine and drinks at the Hotel Wroxham afterwards, I had quite a bit to drink
I was awake a bit late after a patchy night with fitful periods of sleep. It had rained all night and was raining again this morning with the drizzle getting steadily heavier as the day went on. I had my breakfast and then got washed, dressed and out to the garage, wearing old clothes but also cursing the rain. I unloaded the cement mixer and struggled to get it up onto its pedestal and set up without getting too wet in the process and I had just jacked up the garage a little more and stabilised it when Steve Bloom and his work colleague Christine arrived to help. Together, we loaded the mixer and started work, bricking the sides of the garage until dark. We worked within the line of the garage to keep out of the rain as much as possible until the sun finally came out in the afternoon.
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A little late and tired to breakfast after late nights to follow the financial and political problems of the nation. Then out to use my "leaf blower", to gather up and dispose of ten bags of leaves, missing lunch, until Di returned and I left for Norfolk, stopping off at Cosy Corner and collected a bag of masonry cement and took a cement mixer on hire for the weekend. Upon arrival, some fried plaice, and some hot chocolate after chasing up delivery of old railway sleepers.
I was tired this morning after a couple of late nights. I was a little late to breakfast and then read the morning paper and post which was again full of the financial and political problems of the nation. I did my morning chores and then sat and spent most of the morning writing up this last few days' journal which had become neglected. Then I went out and, using my "leaf blower", I rounded up the leaves and bundled them into black plastic bags for the purposes of carrying them along to the compost heap. It was a very windy day, and I used the wind to help me but use of a wheelbarrow was out of the question. I filled eight to ten bags tightly in the end and took up all of the newly created space on the compost heap as well. I worked on and ignored lunch and then Diana returned at 2.30pm and got me my meal. It was time to load up the car and leave for Norfolk and I had left by 3.15pm and arrived a couple of hours later.
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After yesterday’s meeting, Radio Cambridgeshire came on the telephone for an early interview and then broadcast it on the news for several hours afterwards and then I had the nightmare of the ONSITE emergency board meeting at 2.00pm in Grove House which was all bad news.
A better meeting with political allies in the evening to agree more action over the Poll Tax. The Tories are tearing themselves apart nationally as Sterling drops to 2.88 pfennigs, within four points of its lower effective limit within the exchange rate mechanism and retail and financial services firms crash
After the heap of papers from yesterday and all the activity, there was much to sort out this morning. Even so, the day started with more activity still as Radio Cambridgeshire came on the telephone for an early interview and then broadcast it on the news for several hours afterwards. Breakfast listening to all this, reading the papers for the national press reaction and then to my office to start to tackle another deadline issue. It was necessary to choose and notify our topics for the forthcoming Southern Area Committee meeting and I used the fax to good effect to get them registered with Pathfinder House before the deadline.
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