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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The month’s activity started with staining facia boards which the builders used to finish off the Harnser riverside hip, the dormer cheeks, facia and soffit and then only had the valley-boards to dored very much of the work. After the District Council insisted on clay pantiles, a large delivery of roofing tiles were delivered on to our barge at Horning quay, with the lorry having a good crane for loading below and the barge coping well with the load as it was navigated into the Harnser boat dyke and tiles loaded directly. After erecting a scaffold over the dyke in front, the roofers felted and battened that end and installed the window frames. Then the roofers ridged the road-side hip and one of the dormers

I was cast squarely in the role of site manager and was constantly driving off to secure the timber, fixings and took delivery of the sewage chamber, pump and mechanism from T.W. Page & Son. Also getting more lead, bolts, fixings and other items to keep up to five men working efficiently on site at any one time and working myself as I got in most of the wiring in for the security system. There were loads of materials delivered directly from Jewson and others and it was quite a sweat checking off and putting away things from all these suppliers. I was then off to get an immediate supply of sand, cement, colouring and plasticiser for the roofers as they progressed and, with plumbing, roofing and cladding all being undertaken at the same time, there was no rest. I ordered the kitchen which became ready at MFI for collection and the stairs were soon ready for delivery. Eastern Electricity came and installed the supply to the meter box. Our kitchen arrived and I could assemble some of the kitchen units during my ‘spare time’ when I was not staining the cladding. This, whilst combining this with a trip to Jewson’s to get three more bags of sand and one of cement for the roofers, some nails for the builders and then getting quotes for more windows. During a typical further supply day, I was off to Cambridge to collect a water cylinder from Rigeons and back to Horning via Norwich to collect the remainder of the electrical fittings from Eyre Electrical. Also continually visiting the Coltishall tip to dispose of lots of building rubbish before I also fitted two of the three upstairs window sets into their frames.

Dave and Allan, assisted my Steve and I, fitted a lot of master board which stiffened the wooden frame ready for the roofers, and covered the walls with building paper for protection and finished off the soffit on the front elevations. Work proceeded with the downstairs ceilings and bathroom wall linings once under the dry of the felt and battens. Dave just had Steve for company for one day, fixed the downstairs door and window frames and then covered in the front with battens and more building paper. The stairs delivered in sections and were assembled and fitted after a necessary modification. Steve and I were endlessly staining the cladding which was being fitted to the outside including the rear dormer. This worked even better after discovering that the extra thick formulation stain being used caused difficulty. Dave and Alan got the stairs in and then fitted the kitchen worktops as I helped the hopeless Ray progress the overdue electrical wiring. Alan dug my hole for the drainage tank whilst Steve and Dave first finished off the weatherboard cladding on the dyke side and then changed ends and did more than half of the roadside. By the end of the month, the tilers were finishing the Harnser roof for what was the end of the 9th week building and I was getting pleased with the progress on the Harnser kitchen and stairs. However, our next-door neighbours, Joan and Trevor Gray were down and thought that Harnser was ‘a bit big’.

Diana and the girls spent quite some time on site with me during this month and we have mixed building with trips to Yarmouth, Norwich, Winterton and other places. The girls have also made friends with Amy, Holly and Co from the Dunham’s at Timmerslot next door but one in the dyke and they went together to the Horning Sailing Club Disco which was nice. Diana was very pleased with the results of the building work so far and, in particular, with the fitted kitchen. There were nice meals out at The Bridge Restaurant in Wroxham and elsewhere and Daniel soon recovered after accidentally banging and cutting his head we took. We took him to the Wroxham riverside cafe where he had a scrambled egg and bacon breakfast before we all spent the afternoon at the Seaside at Winterton with Daniel helping the girls to make sandcastles and bury them in the sand. Di also took the girls to the Puppet workshop in Norwich, and they were regular visitors to the Horning Leisure. I took Diana and Della over in The Jolly to the Horning Regatta Fete held on the village green by the river. We found time for family visits to Centre the Horning Tea Shoppe, Latham’s at Potter Heigham and had a walk along the riverside chalets there

Dan had visited us a couple of times and spent the rest of the weekends with Angela at The Hayling View. Angela still suffered with her sore tummy, and I think it is a duodenal ulcer but hope that I am wrong. Diana and the girls have been fine, even if Diana put on a bit of weight in Norfolk. 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. Della had another acute allergy attack after handling rabbits and Guinee pigs but seemed better afterwards. Debbie is soon to be fitted with her new brace and they are both all right about going back to school. We joined Di's Parents' for their Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration at the University of Essex

I met Ivan and Maureen Smith opposite, who have been building their house Quay West since January which has also taken longer and cost more than expected unlike my own enterprise with Harnser! The last day of Summer coincided with the last day for family in Horning, the girls playing with the neighbour's daughters and enjoyed boating, sailing and messing about until it was time for Diana to take them home, when I was able catch up with Nigel at Hail Weston House.

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. She was immobilised and had to stay at Freda's and we are very thankful about us having the room there prepared. The trouble is that Freda's own leg still gives her bother and the two of them are a right pair. Though Mum became much better with her leg swelling reduced, her lower leg was quite black and bruised and was still bed-bound with her leg swollen and Freda was also limping about with hers weeping and bandaged; giving us serious cause for thought. Freda and Alf are very worried about the money that they borrowed from me, and I have to come to some different arrangement with them for their peace of mind. 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. All because I had got them to go for a check-up at The Evelyn for which they are very grateful.

The Olympics are unremarkable for us as we gain less medals than usual There were some exceptional efforts from our rowing team and sprinters but with only one bronze medal to show for the efforts of the British national athletics team, we failed to win any more gold medals and won far fewer medals than in previous years. Elsewhere, we lose the third cricket test against Pakistan after starting badly and, with it, the series but they are accused of cheating by interfering with the ball and roughing it up on one side.. 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 are destined for failure in my view as David Owen gets involved and John Major was leading Britain into armed conflict, following US President Bush. The month ended with the UK economy still stuck in recession and the West still making bellicose noises over Yugoslavia and Iraq but I have little interest in those matters. A big ANC rally that ends their week of protest action over lack of democracy in South Africa. And a huge hurricane headed for Florida where over one million people were being evacuated. 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. In all, I listen less to the news less than ever before and am glad to have spent the summer away from it all. 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.