I must have moved 15 cubic metres of mud by nightfall and retired inside for a well-earned bath and relaxation after this
I must have moved 15 cubic metres of mud by nightfall and retired inside for a well-earned bath and relaxation after this

After waking with many gnat bites and noting some welcome rain overnight, I heard that Nigel was not yet ready for Scotland and so, after organising things at home and suffering Chrisula’s visit with her children swimming, I then returned to Norfolk and ended the day labouring at Heronshaw

A fair night, waking up with rather more gnat bites than I am used to. There had been some welcome rain overnight and, after getting up and seeing the girls off to school, I went out to chat to Bill about the gardening priorities. He seems to be a lot more deferent since I have been away and I think that he has realised that he was being a bit stroppy and regrets it. Nigel wanted another day of preparation for Scotland and so this gave me a little time in between. There had been very little mail or telephone messages and so I had decided to go back to Heronshaw to work for evening and following morning.

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The river-men were due to so some more dredging and I wanted to clear as much of the frontage of the old spoil as possible to maximise their efforts. Before I could set off, I had to arrange for the ordering of my Range Rover parts and this took some time, with faxes back and fro. Diana had invited Chrisula and her children over to swim and they were making a right noise in the pool. Funny thing is that Chrisula will not actually go in with then and so the exercise consisted of the ladies running round the pool whilst the children bobbed about in lifebelts! I telephoned Bob Howlett and asked his advice on labour rates and carpenters and decided to write to David Goodman and put some ideas to him. Then I was off, had a good trip, dropped the letter into Goodman's house near Norwich and managed to get to Wroxham by 5.00pm, where I had a snack of tea and sandwiches before going to Heronshaw to start work. I must have moved 15 cubic metres of mud by nightfall and retired inside for a well-earned bath and relaxation after this.