This month’s weather had regional variations as St Neots and Cambridgeshire were very dry and Caithness was fine but the Norfolk Broads were lush green after rain with Crabbet's Marsh road very soft.
The month begun in Norfolk with a family holiday as we enjoyed all of our usual pleasures, including the Pleasurebeach, Winterton, Broads walks, cinema outings and the Cromer "Seaside Special" show. Fun continued at home with The Kimbolton "Statty Fair" and many good films to watch at the cinema. Familiar trips to Brackenbury's coffee shop, meals out at Little Chef's and Tuesdays at Cambridge with Charles and Norma and it was good to see them well with Charles over his operation and Norma over the worst of her breathing problems.
Much time was spent maintaining the Paxton Princess varnishing the rails, boarding ladder and then treating the bathing platform with teak oil. Also Daniel was helping with gardening and chores for reward but he had just dented my dad's car. My friend, Nigel Smith, offered him a position as work experience and he looks as if he wants to stay on.
I had a busy month, organising my Scottish trip. The month ended with me having a good time with Sam in Caithness, when Nigel could not join me because of his court appearance, when he feared the worst outcome for his fraud case. I met my foresters and Sam flushed grouse for me to shoot. I enlisted the help of ranger Chris Ross as usual and stalked two more red deer stags and my first sika stags and was catching some of the small trout that Ian McGregor had introduced to The White Loch.
