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A productive day trip to Norfolk on a hot and sunny day, Diana and taking the Rolls Royce and ending up driving with the hood down. Daniel helped me work there and received £20 petrol money and some lunch and the work on the Harnser boat shed was getting on well.
We collected Della from Great Paxton and Debbie had looked after herself, making tea and doing her homework and so I played tennis and went swimming with her in thanks
It was another beautifully-sunny day which started quite warm and then got warmer still. I was sharp up at 7.00am; completing my tasks and getting ready for leaving within the hour. Diana and the girls also got a shift on so that we could leave them reading in the garden until it was time for them to catch the bus. We took the Rolls Royce which ran well apart from the air conditioning not working. To start with the air vents were sufficient but then the heat was such that we opened the windows and, finally, opened the power hood to go convertible in Norwich. We had a little time in hand and so we had stopped at the roadside snack bar for coffee and then at the Xerox Copy Centre in Norwich to get some more plan copies.
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Working outside at The Hayling View on a hot and sunny day after a cloudy start supervising the lawn cutting and composting and then starting the well pump to water the games lawn before a prawn salad lunch and then setting up the tennis net for Debbie and I to practice later.
The Rolls Royce battery was flat and unusable and so I bought a new one and then took the Range Rover in for repair to solve its smoky exhaust. The news is unrepeatable, being so full of international conflict and terrorism as I prefer to take my new post-council leisure getting away from it all and will certainly not write of it here.
I was to spend most of the day outside at The Hayling View and it was only at the end of the day that I could get into my office to return to my boat-shed planning. I was called late but made up time before breakfast and was out tending to my chores when the gardener arrived. I told him that I wanted the lawns cut again; shorter this time. Whilst he cut the lawns, I used the shredder and tackled the huge pile of foliage and twigs that he wanted to burn but which I wanted to shred and mix with the grass cuttings to make a good compost heap even better. I also started using the tine rake to lift up the tougher grass stems and weeds on the games lawn prior to getting him to cut it short with the rotary to be ready for the cylinder mower for the rest of the season.
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The day visiting Wickstead Park on a cooler day after Diana had planned the family trip, running into trouble to use the Rolls Royce as the battery was flat. Diana used to go to Wickstead Park on St Francis school Ascension Day outings and the old rides had been supplemented with newer ones.
Home for teatime to find John Brown buzzing in and out borrowing my bike to deliver recruitment leaflets and to appreciate my hot and steaming compost heaps after my attentions.
No chance to relax at home and catch up with my work today as Diana had planned a family trip to Wickstead Park. I could hardly get out of bed I was so exhausted and then slowly got showered shaved and dressed. I did my chores and tried to start the Rolls Royce, thinking that it would be nice to use it instead of the noisy Range Rover. The trouble was that the battery was flat and so I put it on charge and we went off in Diana's little car instead. We had quite an enjoyable day and a picnic as well, but six hours is quite enough for me hanging around as the girls made full use of their £7 arm bands for unlimited rides! Diana used to go to Wickstead Park on school outings (it was the regular treat on Ascension Day at her catholic convent school) and so she and the girls could stay there forever.
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A very hot day, working on the Paxton Princess rubbing strakes, sometimes from The Jolly dinghy, with Jack rowing up and giving advice and sharing anecdotes. Eventually late back driving home to Paxton to help Di as she went off late to collect Debbie from a disco, testing the Range Rover by driving fast and noticing its noisy protests
I was up fairly early and had my Norfolk routine of cereal breakfast and bath to follow. I seemed to take my time but I was still out and working by 8.00am. I concentrated on the Paxton Princess, wiping off the dew and dirt from the woodwork and then starting to remove the old varnish where it had worn and deteriorated. I became concerned at how much the varnish had weathered since last season and decided to go into Jeckells to buy some new varnish and more sandpaper as I began to doubt the value of the varnish that I had been storing these last ten years. It is so much trouble to prepare the woodwork, the last thing to do is to use unsatisfactory materials.
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