The coldest October for nine years and a very wet one, spent in the highlands of Scotland and the exposed flat-lands of the Norfolk marshes. I purchases my first shotgun as Nigel and I enjoyed good sport at my Broubster forest and White Loch shooting geese and a duck from neighbouring Lochs Saorach and Saorach as well as grouse, snipe and hares.
I then bagged four trout from my own loch, including a 2lb 4oz one but heard that my loch been let out without my knowledge. We started stalking Deer and shot Red Stags in South Strathy and Sika Stags near Lairg with ranger Chris Ross preparing our trophies.
I brought back gifts for Diana and the girls from Caithness Glass and caught up with affairs at home as well as getting some shotgun tuition from John Buckle at the East of England Shooting Ground and studying a book on how to train pointer-retrievers. Then lone trips to Norfolk for a final two-week group work session to complete the building work on my new Harnser boathouse, fitting architrave, skirting, and lining with masterboard internally and cladding outside. T
he active month has seen me ending it in good health, though my knees are creaking somewhat at the strain of all that Caithness walking and Norfolk bending. Back at home, I laid up the swimming pool for the winter, caught up my journal and investments and helped with the girls’ homework. I looked into getting and training a young gun dog but according to Diana, it could only be done at the sacrifice of taking the family to California every year!
In Norfolk, I got a wider agreement than ever before with my neighbours on maintaining Ropes Hill Dyke Road. Della is doing very well at school, coming in the top five or so for all her subjects with no social or behavioural problems. I had a session with Debbie showing her how to do word processing on my computer as Diana went to a Brownies Swimming Gala in St Neots.
Diana attained her 45th birthday which we celebrated with Debbie serving us with breakfast in bed. We then had lunch at Bridge Hotel and a drive the following day to Letchworth, Shefford and Lower Stondon as a trip down memory lane. I also managed to get her some red roses on her birthday, and we then compounded this with my real present of a weekend in London at the Marlborough Hotel, taking the girls to the London Palladium theatre to see "Joseph".
All the family were well and I found Mum well settled back at home when I made a visit during the month, and she seemed to be coping as well as before her accident with her leg healing up slowly but steadily.
The government in industrial crisis as their ill-thought-out plans to close down much of the coal industry are opposed, unemployment spirals out of control above three million or ten percent of the working population. John Major is also set for another show-down over the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty.
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This proved to be the coldest October for around nine years and coincided with me spending quite a lot of time outside in the wilds of The Highlands and then in the exposed flat lands of the Norfolk marshes. It was also very wet and at last the water authorities have stopped talking of water shortages and of having "the wrong sort of rain". In truth they have allowed far too much water abstraction for crop irrigation and now we have vast excesses of potato crop. The month developed with the rain and the wind getting steadily stronger as I started preparing for my Scottish shooting expedition with my purchase of my first shotgun. The trip began in the pouring rain but then went very well in the company of Nigel. I managed to shoot a drake Mallard as the first kill with the new shotgun.
We were staying at Ian MacGregor's Forss Bridge Hotel and alarmingly heard of him, and friends having been paying my gamekeeper Alan ten pounds a day for the use of my White Lock boat! At least he could advise me about our fishing, and I invited him to join us. He told me we should have been using wet fly to stand a proper chance and a drogue on the drifting boat! I discussed the fishing in the White Loch with him and he could be interested in letting it from me. Then some successful stalking and my first two Red Deer stags from South Strathy falling to my only two shots with a fire-arm - a .243 telescopic-sight rifle as we were assisted by Chris Ross, the ranger after which we could learn from the process of butchering and preparation. There followed another successful sporting day that eventually delivered two more Red Deer stags for me from South Strathy & then geese from Loch Saorach.
I also shot five mountain hare from Broubster. All this plus my chance to see my tree plantation and discuss its management with Fountain Forestry. Our sport continued stalking Sika Stags near Lairg with Ranger Malcolm as weather had turned nasty, blowing a gale and pouring with rain. By this time, I was becoming aware of Nigel’s selfishness on the shooting field and unfortunately could not disguise it as I started to take offence before Chris Ross delivered our trophies. Nigel had upset me but he redeemed himself as he took the wheel for the entire journey, and we patched up our quarrels of the day before and he made good company for the long drive back.
Having been away for a week and a half, I brought back some gifts from Caithness Glass for Diana and the girls. I had bought from Caithness Glass; Debbie a sculpture of Harvest Mice, Della one of Field Mice and, for Diana, a rose bowl as a pre-birthday present. They also found my decoys and duck-calls fascinating, the former ending up in the swimming pool and the latter in use as they ran around the house pretending to be geese and duck. Once back, I then settled down to some household chores including the big job of laying up the swimming pool for the winter, planning more work with the gardener, catching up my journal and investments and helping with the girls’ homework
As another first, as I plucked, dressed and roasted the goose I had brought home which we all ate and enjoyed. It was apparent that I was in need of some tuition with my shotgun shooting technique and so I organised the first two lessons with John Buckle at the East of England Shooting Ground. I bought a leather cartridge case and some Barbour waterproofs and the subject of getting and training a young gun dog was also broached with Diana but it could only be achieved at the sacrifice of having to take the family to California every year. I bought a book on how to train pointer-retrievers which I found very interesting.
After a couple of lone trips to Norfolk , I then had a final two-week group work session to complete the building work on my new Harnser boathouse. There was good news concerning this property as I get a wider agreement than ever before with my neighbours on the road make-up and maintenance. I was finishing off Harnser; fitting masterboard to the upstairs ceiling and boat-house roof. As the weather brightened up and improved, I could then dry off the remaining cladding and get some of it stained ready for a working party. When it was cold and frosty, I worked inside Harnser fitting bathroom skirting board. When the fine and sunny weather returned, we were staining more of the cladding and then Alan and Steve clad another three bays until the rain returned.
I also completed the task of cutting and fixing the remaining ceiling panels upstairs so that we are now ready for the 'Artex'-work to be quoted for and executed. It continued with Jack visiting and Gordon next door needing help after his car broke down. I took Gordon into Wroxham to get some food shopping before repairing to our favourite pub in Horning for a few drinks. I showed Steve my new shotgun which, by coincidence, was the same make and model that he was given as a first gun when he was a farmer's son of 18! Alan and I then worked together lining the store-room cupboard, hall and bathroom and then fitting the trim, architrave and skirting.
With Alan and Steve cladding the remainder of the rear wall, I formed the architrave and skirting for the rest of the kitchen and then went up to the living area and did the skirting there. I was pleased to get a visit from Daniel and Angela one afternoon. A puncture to the Range Rover and arrival of a new Range Rover model prompted thoughts of exchanging both my Rolls and Rangie for a new long-wheel base model and this may soon come to pass if I can get the right terms.
The active month has seen me ending it in good health, though my knees are creaking somewhat at the strain of all that Caithness walking and Norfolk bending. I take this as the early signs of arthritis and note that both of my friends Nigel and Steve also have bad knees, and this is something that I must watch. Also, the meals, drinks and hospitality leave me half a stone heavier at 14st 3lbs which is something else again. With all this time away, I still tried to spend time with the family, taking Cambridge trips to see Di's parents and making time to attend Della's school parents evening. The story here was that Della is doing very well at school, coming in the top five or so for all her subjects with no social or behavioural problems. I had a session with Debbie showing her how to do word processing on my computer as Diana went to a Brownies Swimming Gala in St Neots.
Also, although I was encouraged to miss the children's school half-term holiday to get on with the work and they did not want to come up to Norfolk, I ended the month hosting a weekend of visits and fun. Diana attained her 45th birthday which we celebrated with Debbie serving us breakfast in bed and then I lunch at Bridge Hotel and a drive the following day to Letchworth, Lower Stondon and Shefford as a trip down memory lane. We visited Di’s old school St Francis in Letchworth, on its Open Day; touring the town where our old employers I.C.L. were selling off their last properties and ending their presence. On to Lower Stondon to see our first house that we rented and then to Shefford to see the first that we owned.
I also managed to buy Di some red roses on her birthday, and we then compounded this with my real present of a weekend in London at the Marlborough Hotel, taking the girls to the London Palladium theatre to see "Joseph", then to the cinema for a film each, and eating some nice meals. We also visited the very famous but very crowded Hamley’s Toy shop during this late season tourist rush and got some new jumpers at High and Mighty. We also enjoyed an historic bus tour of central London and an underground experience of the Tower Hill Pageant before the girls went to bed I treated Di and I to a fine meal of roast duck in the hotel's French Restaurant.
All the family were now well and Mum well settled back at home. I found time to visit her during the month, and she seemed to be coping as well as she was before her accident with her leg healing up slowly but steadily. The main news this month was of the government in industrial crisis as their ill-thought-out plans to close down much of the coal industry were set out in the House of Commons statement by Michael Heseltine but their plans were even rejected by many of their own back-benchers as the unemployment total spirals out of control above three million or ten percent of the working population. The month ends with John Major set for another show-down over the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty.