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This was dominated by the Harnser building project and was of a month that started hot and humid with thunderstorms and ended with early autumn gales with the family joining me in Horning as Mum has her accident.
We just about got the roof battened in and the building dry before the weather turned into the wettest August for a few years. The roofers were tiling, I was managing supplies, materials and labour and contributing my own efforts as the kitchen and stairs were delivered and fitting commenced.
Diana and the girls spent quite some time on site with me during this month with trips to Yarmouth, Norwich, Winterton and other places s they became friends with Amy, Holly and Co from the Dunham’s at Timmerslot next door but one and Daniel was visiting and joining in. Della had her hospital check-up with Mr Vaughan-Lane, her surgeon, who now put her leg shortening at 2.5cms and thinks that the legs should be completely equal after a further year.
The big news of the month was bad as Mum had an accident with her electric wheelchair which pinned her "good" leg against the bath leading to a debilitating swelling and pain as her blood, thinned with Wolferin, collected under her skin. The trouble is that Freda's own leg still gives her bother and she was also limping about with hers weeping and bandaged. There was better news from Diana's Mum as Norma had an ear operation and regained her hearing after fearing that she would be deaf for ever.
Elsewhere, The Olympics are unremarkable for us as we gain less medals than usual, England then managed to lose the fifth test match against Pakistan, and, with it, the series. The overseas escapades in Iraq and (what was) Yugoslavia were destined for failure in my view, A big ANC rally that ends their week of protest action over lack of democracy in South Africa.
The tabloid newspapers hound the royal family, producing tape recordings and pictures invading their privacy which ends all hope of The Duchess of York being reconciled with Prince Andrew and now had Princess Diana on the rack.
This, for me, ends a depressing summer of news as the financial markets are plumbing the depths with sterling under pressure and with no sign of the end of the depression.
A remarkable month in many ways that marked, for us, the last one in a building summer. A month that started hot and humid with thunderstorms when we sought the seaside breezes and continued with showers and then ended with early autumn gales with the strongest winds for a long while that tested the new roof. The Harnser building project dominated the month and we just about got the roof battened in and the building dry before the weather turned into the wettest August for a few years - a return to the traditional British summer after the quite untypical heatwaves of 1990/1! The rest of the building work had completed its 9th week and I was trying to hurry the builders along to completion in the next week or two. The third barge loading went well, and that vessel has been a great help; not just for transporting materials but for storing them as well.
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