An eventful journey home to Paxton on a damp day with the girls, leaving Diana at Horning and helping a young mother with her young baby to get to Bedford.
Joining Daniel and friends and then looking at investment properties in the Eaton’s as the time and price was now right.
Finding our garden produce, tomatoes, runner beans and particularly Victorian plumbs plentiful.
I had become quite concerned about how things were in Paxton and had a discussion with Diana about what we were doing and whether to make an overnight visit. Once it had become evident that I could make the trip, first Della and then Debbie wanted to join me and so we all got ready to go; leaving Diana to stay at Harnser on her own! She was quite happy with this as it gave her some time on her own and ended her "guest status".
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I gave Sam a good run and feed before we left but I was suffering from a sore heel. Daniel had taken over my comfortable trainers and my walking boots had taken their toll. It had been fine but the drizzle started to fall as we passed Norwich. I had promised the girls a bacon roll each at the roadside kiosk and, as we were pulling in, we noticed a young woman with a young baby in the rain, hitch-hiking and trying to get us to give her a lift. We drove passed her and pulled in to get our refreshments but felt guilty at not stopping and wanted to help her. The girls in the kiosk told us that she was trying to get to Bedford and her lift had broken down.
These days it is so dangerous for young women to hitch lifts and for drivers to offer them. Fortunately, an ATS van stopped and gave them a lift but then, when we had finished and were driving past a petrol station further up the road, there she was again! Spray from passing lorries was wetting the baby. We had to stop; particularly as our destination was close to hers. Her name was Sam, born in Malta of mixed parents, the baby was a 19-month-old boy and they were trying to get to Bedford by 1.30pm and had to return the same day as she could not leave their Great Dane alone at night.
More than that she did not say and I did not want to pry but it seemed strange that a young and attractive mother and small baby should undertake such a risky and unpleasant journey. When discussing the matter with Diana later, she suggested that they were probably visiting Bedford Prison to see the father! We took them to St Neots town centre, dropped them off at the bus stop for Bedford having checked the times and, not wanting them to start hitch-hiking again, gave her £5 for the bus fare though she had not asked for money.
I reckoned that I could not have let them hitch-hike again in the rain and, the alternative being to drive the round trip to Bedford, I would have had to spend the money in any case. All this done, we arrived for our surprise visit to see Daniel having given him all of an hour's warning of our arrival. We found him well and host to Gary Skinner and Jason Chambers. Jason had just negotiated the purchase of a speedboat in Birmingham and I let them borrow my Discovery for the afternoon to go and collect it on the trailer. I read the mail and then took the girls for my afternoon's appointments.
The housing market having stagnated this summer after the spring miniboom, I felt that the time was at last right to look at some more houses. The girls joined me in the task of looking round three houses in Eaton Socon and Eaton Ford and we drove into St Neots after and reviewed the choice over drinks and snacks. Some building society transactions and then a trip to the library before returning home. Another long and painful walk for me with Sam and the rest of the afternoon and evening reading mail, writing letters and paying bills. I had just managed to see Bill the gardener and paid him before he left for the day. I gave him the other compost bin that I had brought and found him in good heart and the gardening going well.
I could bring back some of our runner beans, the tomatoes were growing well but not ripe, but the real revelation was the Victoria Plum tree. It was so heavily laden with fruit that the branches were sagging almost down to the ground and will yield a fine crop in a couple of weeks. Daniel had re-heated the swimming pool and so Debbie invited a couple of her friends round and enjoyed a swim this evening. Della was a bit of a pain as I worked and it was after midnight before I had finished everything and turned into bed after a good day.