A chillier night leading to heavy dews and a day of occasional showers which started with an early meeting with other HDC political leaders to discuss much more representation on the committees and working parties of the council and then home to some DIY house jobs after which I trimmed the lawn edges until lunchtime.
To the school with Della this afternoon for her ‘mini-party’ and then to clean and store the Rolls Royce under cover before an evening HDC Planning Seminar. The IRA have used 'Human Bombs" to blow up security crossing points, killing 5/6 members of the security forces after coercing them to drive there.
The nights are getting chillier now and we are also getting heavy dews and occasional showers. With this moisture around, the garden and lawns are recovering nicely and the blue lobelia in the beds are developing and flowering at last which is much later than originally intended. I had to get going early this morning as there was a meeting arranged for 9.00am at Pathfinder House with the other political leaders on the District Council. We are rising a little later than usual with Debbie on holiday and so I had a bit of a rush to do my chores before I could get out. I then arrived at about 8.40am in Godmanchester only to find the roads blocked solid with a traffic jam and so I got to the Chief Executive's office a few minutes late.
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The meeting was called to discuss the impact of the new rules on proportionality which would give opposition parties much more representation on the committees and working parties of the council. The officers and the ruling Tory group were keen to delay the implementation of the scheme until May and it was for me and the Labour leader to secure what concessions we could in return for facilitating this. At my instigation, we obtained a few concessions and can look forward to making an even more effective contribution to the council as time goes on, particularly as we are pledged to co-operate in the forthcoming elections and will probably win more seats as a result.
I drove home afterwards to change and found the window cleaners here. They were doing this job for us for the first time and found that they had bitten off rather more that they could chew! I went out and used the shears to trim the edges of all the lawns which took me up until lunchtime. After this, I got my tools out and did a couple of overdue jobs. I secured the back-door frame to the recess as it had come adrift and then re-fixed the back gate to the wall using even stronger fixings than before.
We then had to rush over to the school to see Della's teacher whilst she had a tea party with three of her friends from school! To encourage her writing, Di had got her to send out invitations and had organised a mini-party but it unhappily coincided with the school meeting! Her teacher was pleased with her progress and she seems to be getting on very well after being slow and distracted at first. She is the centre of attraction socially and increasing in self-confidence and should cope well with her Kimbolton interviews and exams next Spring. I felt that we had to tell the school about Della aiming for the Kimbolton-7's entry.
Once home, I worked on the Rolls Royce for a while, cleaning out the battery compartment and then leathering off the bodywork and storing the car under its dust cover to keep it clean. We had a few showers this afternoon that had given it a rinse and further moistened the garden. By this time, it was dark, and I just had time for a bite to eat before rushing off to a District Council planning seminar which I attended with many other councillors. There were several there that I had not seen for a time and they seemed pleased to see me and pulled my leg about "having to get another job" (meaning my ONSITE involvement). I enjoy good relations with other councillors, regardless of which side they sit which is nice as un-necessary unpleasantness does not achieve a great deal.
I dropped in on Percy on the way home to discuss the motions etc that we should submit to the forthcoming full council meeting. To bed quite late after relaxing in front of the TV at the end of another exhausting day. The news is of Ted Heath's success in bringing back 30-odd hostages from Iraq, but disappointment and sadness at those left behind. The IRA have used 'Human Bombs" to blow up security crossing points, killing 5/6 members of the security forces. By strapping the victims into hijacked vans filled with explosives and holding their families as hostages, they were made to drive to the checkpoints where their vehicles were detonated.