First Presdent of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia in Tbilisi
First Presdent of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia in Tbilisi

A day of meetings and Focus delivery organisation and trouble with Daniel with the aftermath of his unexplained absence the day before. Eddie and Stella Varley came round and helped with the distribution system for FOCUS and we got the lot out for delivery later, Nigel Smith dropped in to talk about our Scottish grouse shooting idea and then, after lunch, to Pathfinder House for an appointment with Director of Planning, David Potter and a good meeting with him.

Home to Interviews with three radio stations and then to chair a meeting of my District Council Group at Sally's house, planning for the May elections. The Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia had been flushed out of his parliament building retreat and has left the country.

I had laid in until quite late and it was after 9.00am by the time I was eating my breakfast with the others. No sign of Daniel until he put in an appearance later and then I made my peace with him having been very harsh last night. He then accidentally left the shed keys on the top of my Range Rover so that they were sliding around when I drove off but I just caught them in time! This morning, I just had time to party tidy my office and then Eddie and Stella Varley came round and I showed them the distribution system for FOCUS.

Whilst they were counting and stacking the piles into delivery rounds, Nigel Smith dropped in and I made some coffee and we chatted awhile. He had a fine time in Spain for his Christmas holiday and seemed to have had some fun with the ladies as well despite Lynne being with him which made me wonder what she was up to! He had also found a couple of people (also on holiday presumably) who were willing to join the syndicate though this was not all plain sailing... The worse for a few drinks, he had been loudly explaining the need for our game-keeper to "keep the bloody French off of our grouse" which did not go down very well with two Frenchmen also at the bar, one of which punched him on the nose! I gave him a copy of the quotation from Alan Brookes and will leave it to him to negotiate the arrangement with Alan; with my just reserving the sporting amenity for Thormaid for him as my part of the bargain.

By this time, my helpers had parcelled-up the FOCUS copies and I helped them into their car with them and they had got all of the Paxton issues into the hands of deliverers by tea-time. Lunch and then to Pathfinder House for a 2.30pm appointment with Director of Planning, David Potter and a good meeting with him, putting the management of the Council to rights. Home to find all three local radio stations had been telephoning for interviews and I covered their needs between myself and Percy.

This evening, I had a meeting of my District Council Group at Sally's house and we got our prospective candidates for next May to join us both to involve them early and secure their help in group administration. The news is full of electioneering and this will continue until May in my view. The Georgian President has been flushed out of his parliament building retreat and has left the country. Shares and sterling are edging back again after the seasonal optimism.