Letting Diana go to Cambridge on her own and to her parents, after taking the girls to the bus stop, I took Sam for a walk across the common on another cold and frosty morning.
Then struggling with the planning officer over Cambridge Street parking, I drove from Paxton to Horning where the water was still very high and heavy rain and strong winds tore at Harnser as I work inside during the evening.
The death toll has risen to over 30 in Los Angeles and the earthquake has been estimated at 6.6 on the Richter Scale. Five freeways are blocked, and hundreds are left homeless
I had rather too much to attend to this morning and so I let Diana go to Cambridge on her own and she met her parents as usual. I was first up for breakfast but was finding it really tough to wake up around 7.00am on these cold winter mornings and would really have liked to lay in bed. I got out with Sam as the girls went through their normal fuss about getting ready for school and then took a walk across the common on another cold and frosty morning.
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Though thawing, there were still patches of ice on the downwind stretches of open water but, Sam having been excused swimming these last two days, I insisted that he do a couple of retrieves across water and he obliged without too much trouble. I noticed how the water ran off his waterproof back and pledged to brush his coat more in winter as this would help this process.
The morning continuing to deal with the Cambridge Street planning issue and still did not manage to solve it completely. I get closer but now the planning officer is concerned about turning space but will talk to the tree officer himself because, with a small concession, our lives could be made much easier. Then time updating these last two days' journal before gradually getting things ready for my trip to Norfolk. Having previously packed everything up and taken my tools and accessories to Paxton, I had to be careful to have the right things to hand if I wanted to do anything.
The journey was not too bad and I stopped at my normal kiosk for a mug of tea and bacon roll. I was intrigued to hear their stories and of the time the proprietor wore a pair of his assistant Linda’s knickers to work as a dare. She told on him to two lorry drivers who chased him off in his car until he changed! Stopped off also in Wroxham for some money and food and then got to Horning as darkness fell. I was surprised to see that the water was still so high here, as it had fallen back on the Great Ouse, but the wind had been from the north and that usually backs up the water in the southern North Sea.
A walk in the dark with Sam who was quite good despite that timing and then, once he had been fed and put back into his Norfolk kennel, it was my time to eat a meal of cockles and salad which I had prepared for myself. Some time putting everything away and then three telephone calls to and from home and from Jack who had been told that my lights were on at Harnser!
The death toll has risen to over 30 in Los Angeles and the earthquake has been estimated at 6.6 on the Richter Scale. Five freeways are blocked and hundreds homeless and housing them is now the top priority. Heavy rain and strong winds tear at Harnser as I work inside this evening, but my self-built home is standing up fine to the elements.