I was tired and thus delayed getting ready to travel to Horning for a few days and Di stayed in to see me off, missing the chance to see her parents in Cambridge for lunch and so I took her out to The Little Chef before leaving. After a congested journey, I found that Daniel had left Heronshaw a little untidy, and used my sleeping bag, but it was otherwise fine. T
he river level was up and so I cleared the vegetation around the boat dock ready for The Paxton Princess in before going in and enjoying a hot chocolate and then tired to bed.
I had to finish a few things off this morning and then prepared for a couple of days at Horning. I was sluggish and feeling the effects of a very tiring few days and only just got down in time to have breakfast with the rest of the family. I completed my domestic chores and then went to my office to finish off some paperwork. Poor Diana was hoping to go to Cambridge to shop and see her parents but my delay in leaving meant that she had to be here to see me off. By coffee time, I had finished more correspondence and cleared my desk and I opted to have my morning drink with Diana in her ironing room. I was watching the Stock Exchange this morning and the new-found fascination with the EMS did not last long as shares began to sink back again. It still took me over an hour to get ready to go but I also sorted out a lot of tools, nuts, bolts etc so as to be able to take them with me.
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I then decided to take Diana out for lunch at the Little Chef before I set off and this, she appreciated. After dropping off a number of hand-delivered and posted letters, I then dropped off Diana herself and set about the journey. It was not too bad, but there was quite a lot of slow-moving commercial traffic on the road, but I had time. I found Heronshaw much the same as when I left it and the garden did not seem too overgrown, but the old place had sunk a bit further into the bog. Inside, Daniel had left a bit of a mess, including a fair amount of washing up, but it was not too bad. He had, however, been using my sleeping bag which was a bit of a cheek! I unloaded and settled myself in and had intended to get started on the garage but the water was up a bit on the summer level and so I thought that I could get The Paxton Princess into the boat dock.
First, I had to clear the ground the other side of the dock as I could not even get round to moor the boat up. I therefore embarked upon a strenuous afternoon with shears, secateurs and rake clearing a tangle of brambles, branches and climbing plants until, by dusk, I had cleared them all away. The lady opposite came out for a chat and told me that she had seen Daniel and that the boat had been all right throughout the recent strong winds. I came in then and made myself some tea and had a rest from my efforts, before then spending an hour or two in the garage planning my attack for the morning. I came in at 9.00pm and, after writing my journal and having a hot chocolate drink, I went to bed.