This was a mild month, if a bit wet but March marked the beginning of my political season's election efforts. I still spent time in Norfolk and progressed our Cambridge Street conversion with Nigel. This month, his wife Lyn had suffered a tragedy with the death of her Mum who was suffocated during an examination and was left to a gradual death in a coma with irreparable brain damage.
Training with gundog Sam was going well and was enhanced by my getting access to the John Osborne’s Manor Farm in Molesworth. Sam won some beginner Rosettes in trials but also suffered a tummy upset after eating too much cheese tracking.
At The Hayling View, new cleaner Susanne started work and our new handyman started work and Bill continued his endeavour, hanging some new gates, extending the concrete path and starting the process of repairing the fence to our gardens.
This was a busy month for recreation with many cinema trips, meals out galore and our first trip of the season to Pleasurebeach in Great Yarmouth. Elsewhere, there was much consternation as the IRA launched an attack on Heathrow Airport just before Her Majesty The Queen was due to land,
John Major created another rod for his own back as he first rejected the customary formula for the extension of voting rights in the enlarged European Community and then had to climb down anyway and was an aftershock in Los Angeles after their recent earthquake.
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The clocks went back as the month started with quite Spring-like mildness, but it became very windy and cooler in mid-month and then continued drizzly, but we had a sunny spell before the clouds returned and the weather ended wet and mild. This month marked the beginning of my political season's election efforts as I first chaired the first campaign meeting and made detailed plans near the end of the month for the re-election of Sally and Percy.
I spent time in Norfolk for a while in mid-month to get my Discovery serviced expensively and there gave the Wroxham Boat Auction a cursory look before going on to watch Norwich lose 3-4 to QPR in one of their last matches of a disappointing football season. There were visible signs of progress at long last at our Cambridge Street conversion. Nigel Smith was still running around and brought to us tragic news of Lynn's mother who, though ill, had her waking life brought abruptly to an end when she suffocated during an examination and was left to a gradual death in a coma with irreparable brain damage.
With my newfound shooting and dog training a priority, I also had success in getting permission from farmer John Osborne to shoot woodpigeon over his growing oilseed rape opposite and this, together with the 250 acres of fields at Manor Farm, Molesworth gave Sam much more scope to develop. I had no success shooting the pigeons there, but I tried a few times and counted over 60 geese grazing his crops for attention later in the year. I had better luck with Nigel in one of the woods on his shoot. my membership and I also joined the C.F.S.A. and attended their AGM. I could not take Sam to Crufts but attended the gun dog day to see the others.
This came during an intensive month of training to bring on the range of his abilities. The availability of the Molesworth set-aside brought on his hunting and pointing skills considerably, the obedience classes at Bury helped with his behaviour towards other dogs and people and time was also spend on waterwork as the gravel pits warmed up. Even so, he only performed in average terms at his working test which was also treated as a training exercise. He won rosettes and a first in "Special Beginners" in his first show out of a class of one!
Work with dummies and dead pigeons improved his willingness to hold retrieved objects properly and he turned into a reasonable pointer. At last, he seems steady to fur and I was grateful to have had time with Martin and Jim in private sessions. It was the tracking work, however, that seemed to give him a tummy upset as he ate a lot of cheese and was sick in the car the next day and had a tummy upset for some time afterwards. The vet prescribed a Cortisone injection and a course of antibiotics to follow but I do not think he had an infection of any sort and still enjoyed his Norfolk walks.
Diana had a good month as her new cleaner Susanne started and took over the downstairs part of The Hayling View to let her concentrate on the rest. This was also the month where she took time out to stay at Henlow Grange and during which the further tests at Hinchingbrooke revealed no necessity for further concern over her gynaecological problems which was a relief to both of us as we had been reading horrific reports of the side effects of hysterectomies. I had to sort out the family's P.E.P. investments as my other main act of financial planning.
Every month is busy for me these days and that begs the question as to what I should give up, but I won a respite with Di's help, as we successfully found and appointed Peter Brown as our handyman/decorator to work on a half-time basis. The new handyman started work and Bill continued his endeavour, hanging some new gates, extending the concrete path and starting the process of repairing the fence to our gardens. Even so, he makes a meal of these things and gradually seems to become less fit and able to do the work.
There was plenty of recreation for her both at home and in Norfolk and we went as a family to see the Kimbolton School Review which was a very musical and funny performance by the school staff. Plenty of films such as "Philadelphia", "Shadowlands" and a Seigal/Cane film in Bedford, "Pelican Brief", "Schindler’s List" and "Three Musketeers" in Peterborough and "Mrs Doubtfire" and "Beethoven II" in Cromer. Meals out galore of which those at "The Wheel" on the way back from Cromer and "The Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant" in Norwich were the most memorable.
We still saw Di's parents in Cambridge and found them all right after their trip to their villa even though they had been attacked by a dog! At least their sale appeared to have been finalised at last. Debbie managed well in her mother's absence; helping with Della and getting both of them of to school. She had Tabatha to stay and enjoyed our first trip of the season to Pleasurebeach in Great Yarmouth as much as anyone. She has now resumed her menstrual periods and may be through her main problems of adolescence at last. Della was back to eyelash plucking again in mid-month but stayed overnight with a Kettering friend and had Michelle back to stay in return. Daniel enjoyed the milestone of his 22nd birthday and got money for a new disk drive and found work more challenging and demanding as he was given some serious project work to do at last.
Elsewhere, there was much consternation as the IRA launched an attack on Heathrow Airport just before The Queen was due to land. U.S. President Bill Clinton backed the Downing Street Declaration even after allowing Gerry Adams entry to America to argue his case. John Major created another rod for his own back as he first rejected the customary formula for the extension of voting rights in the enlarged European Community and then had to climb down anyway such that three of his own Conservative M.P.'s call for his resignation as their leader.
A madman busts into a school, killing one girl pupil and seriously injuring another. A busy sporting month as England first lose another cricket test match badly to the West Indies and then win the last test well. England beat France in the last match of the five-nation Rugby Union championship but not by enough points to stop France winning the title. England beat Denmark 1-0 at football in their first match under Terry Venables as some revenge but will still not be going to the World Cup Finals in the U.S.A.. There was an aftershock in Los Angeles after their recent earthquake.