After an early start, a nice bath and some Bran Flakes, I called home and then started work restoring the garage wall when Jack arrived for a chat and I rewarded and thanked him for looking after Daniel the other day. By surprise, Dan called in today for some money, had settled in well at the UEA and helped me pull The Paxton Princess into the boat dock and mode a fridge.
Shocked at lunchtime to find a favourite shop, Excel, burnt down from an electrical fault. To Coltishall for an architect’s meeting about rebuilding Heronshaw and back to work all evening on the garage after enjoying some shrimps for tea
I was awake early and raring to go. I had put on the Heronshaw electric storage heating and it was belting out heat. I had a morning cup of tea and breakfast of Oat Bran Flakes and then enjoyed a nice deep bath before getting dressed. I could not find the power cable for my Mitsubishi cellular telephone and so I had to keep the 'phone switched off and make occasional calls home and I made just such a call before going out to work at 8.00am. I worked on restoring the rear corner wall of the garage, completing the section by 10.00am after which Jack came and I was delayed somewhat by the need to chat to him as a courtesy. It is sad to see him still being restricted by his rupture injury and I think that they should operate to improve his quality of life. He and Dolly had come down to mow Mrs Vincent's bit of lawn next door, which they did, and I gave Jack another £20 for looking after my place. In particular, I was glad that he had attended the bungalow and let Daniel in the other day and also re-moored my boat when it had evidently come slightly adrift in the wind.
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I carried on working afterwards until 1.30pm, clearing the old shelves and rubbish away from the other garage wall and removing the better stuff to my shed which was veritably packed by the time I had finished. Then I drove into Wroxham, thinking to get a couple of nice pieces of plaice for lunch but the fish shop closed at 2.00pm and I was too late. I went in to Jeckells and arranged for them to try and come to Heronshaw tomorrow about boat covers and I also bought a takeaway prawn-salad roll to eat but I was unprepared for what I was to see at Excel. This shop nearby had been my family's favourite with its wide range of quality electrical goods, its un-paralleled choice of video tapes for hire and, to cap it all, the saddlery upstairs for Debbie to look at. The tragedy was that shop had been gutted by fire and I was to see that the family were trying to start up again in an empty building nearby with a small rack of video tapes and tray of batteries. It was very upsetting and I had to go in and ask what had happened, It seems that the fire was a week ago, on Friday night, but that arson had been ruled out and nobody had been hurt. Rubbish at the rear may have been the first to catch fire rather than the more obvious cause of an electrical fault. I drove on to Coltishall for a scheduled appointment with my architect and spent a couple of hours there discussing the new Heronshaw design with him. We were in difficulty over the layout of the south-east of the building with the lift, bathroom and bedroom competing for the space and also wrestling with the problem of the kitchen being not really big enough to double up as a breakfast room, particularly important as the lounge is far away. I left him to think further on the matter and returned back to Heronshaw to resume work. Then, surprise of all surprises, Daniel dropped by to see me. He had telephoned home and, upon finding that I was in Horning and needing money for text books, he decided to come across. It was a nice visit and we were pleased to see one another. he is finding his feet at University and has made good friends on his floor at the hall of residence. I showed him my work on the garage and the plans for Heronshaw and got his help in moving the Paxton Princess into the mooring dock and the freezer across the garage before he left. Then I made myself a pot of tea and buttered bread to eat with some shrimps I had bought today and rested until 7.00pm, when I resumed my labours. I read the Eastern Daily Press, my favourite paper, and was interested in the can-can girls pictured on the front. By 10.00pm I had worked out how to tackle the other garage side and had jacks in position, ready for the morning. I sat up from then until 11.30 looking at the Heronshaw plans and drinking hot chocolate before going to bed.