This month of February started fair and Scotland was still cold, but gales followed later in Eastern England with many trees down.
I visited my forest of Broubster at Caithness to discuss management issues and enjoyed a break therewith Wiggly, meeting up with her sister in Newcastle on the way back.
Still maintaining family life at home with Di and the kids, with lots of cinema trips and meals out, commissioning my new Psion 3a for mobile communications.
Also arbitrating on many LibDem squabbles, welcoming new members. Meeting up with Jim and Nigel to share relationship issues and for dog-training and shooting outings.
The Tory government still bad news and being hassled over teachers’ pay and national health failures as their anti-Europe sceptic members pull them apart.
The EEC President, Jaques Delors, introduces a draft directive to allow free passage of individuals between the fifteen member states but Britain will try to veto it. This, as we heard that Labour won the South Wales by-election.
A serious and deepening financial crisis as the City of London was hit by its oldest merchant bank, Barings, failing after losing £400m on foreign exchange dealings in Singapore.
The worse sporting news of the month was of the Ireland vs England international football match at Lansdowne Road being abandoned after violence from a hard core of English thugs.
Norwich City was losing form and doing badly, Talks between the PLO and Israel have led to hope that the present stand-off can be solved and a return to the peace process made.
February started with some fine weather and fresh air for my visit to Thormaid to review my management issues with Fountain Forestry.
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Scotland was still cold, but the rest of the country remained in a mild airstream. There were still gales with many trees down across Cambridgeshire with my fences blown down as weather developed into a mixture of squalls and finer spells
I managed my trip to Caithness and attended forestry meetings with Stuart Smith, the Area Forester from Lairg, and local forester Donald from Wick as we toured Thormaid and noted the thinning success and failures.
I had taken Wiggly to see the plantation and she looked after Sam for me when I was busy. There were more forestry meetings later to discuss management issues and I was upset about the poor supervision of the Christmas Tree cutting as the men had wrongly been taking nursery trees but there was better news of a better growth and an improved predicted financial outcome.
It was not all work and no play as we managed a visit to the Caithness Glass Factory and, after a light lunch of soup, toured the glassworks and viewed the factory shop. Once we had finished in Caithness, we made the journey to Inverness and had another night's stay at the Beaufort Hotel.
We visited the cinema to see a Dracula horror film but we both found this to be so gory that we had to walk out half way through! There followed the journey to Edinburgh and an evening of food and music at Fat Sam's.
I was very much the worse for drink after this and had a terrible night and following morning. I was only slowly recovering from my hangover until experiencing the fresh air of a brisk walk on Arthur’s seat to sober me. On to Newcastle, where I took out both of the sisters for a meal out before finishing the day with a highlight.
I then made the final drive back with refreshment and dog walking stops spending time at Eynesbury with Wiggly to get her car going. Then home with Sam for tea to successfully survive the questions of Di and Daniel but finding Di harbouring a grievance about not being asked to go to Scotland. I still managed to absent myself for a great night out with Nigel, Sue and Wiggly
I was struggling to keep family life going, despite spending more and more time with Wiggly. I was generally at home for Sunday lunch, helping Daniel with his car and Debbie with her Chemistry homework, then survived a Della's parents evening and sometimes meet up with Di's parents during our Cambridge trips.
I often took Di to the cinema to see the film, "Geronimo" at Cinema City, the two-hour glorification of the life of this Apache warrior. We also went to see "Black Beauty" at the Cromer Regal as well as to the Theatre Royal production of "Wizard of Oz".
We jointly attended Debbie's Kimbolton parents' evening and travelled as a family to stay in Norfolk when girls broke up from school when we made a family visit to Wells-next-the-Sea. There, the girls enjoyed the amusements, and we all made a long walk to the Scots Pine woods at Holkham Beach.
I successfully supervised the Shrove Tuesday pancakes. Valentines Day saw my showdown with Diana, where she tackled me about Wiggly and I frankly set out my position and financial reassurances as we made an exchange of Cards.
We made a family visit to Norwich for a visit to contact lens optician Julian Gunn, with Daniel helping me choose the Microsoft Money package. To Mann Egerton in time for my car service alarm diagnosis and service and then to Norwich for the Psion 3a Organiser modem option as I tried to commission the fax and cix services on my Psion.
Where possible during this busy period, I tried to help with the LibDem wrangles and meetings which at first the disputes and personality clashed predominated but then we welcomed many new members and potential candidates for the St Neots Town Council Election, and we had a much better LibDem social fundraising evening.
I was drafted in by Sally to help with the "bric-a-brak" LibDem jumble sale stall. It was a pleasure to see so many fresh faces and to be at such positive meetings. In the wider area,
I was called in to manage members’ disputes and contacted many of those involved in the St Ives LibDem problems, visiting Peggy Batt and Mark Rainer accordingly and then completing my St Ives LibDem Report.
I spent time healing LibDem relationship issues and then mailed my amended report to LibDem colleagues and it was then accepted and led to them overcoming their internal differences. Wiggly spent time as secretary to the LibDem District Group.
This month, matters were coming to a head with an increasingly volatile Wiggly. After a rare row, she really freaked out, started crying and just behaving impossibly until we ended up standing in the street with her not wanting to go anywhere.
Later, she cooked for us and we made another rush to get to the theatre for the evening performance of "Noises Off" which was a play about putting on a play. There were differences and then reconciliations as I got her a new organiser and we did some shopping and had lunch together, after which she was more conciliatory.
Of course, we made that trip to Scotland together and it may have been the contrast afterwards upon returning to reality and spending time apart. She then made a point about wanting to be left alone and even adopted a disappointing attitude when she ‘could not find time to talk to me’, having a date with her friend Michael and another friend from work.
A daytime reconciliation and rendezvous with followed and we kissed and cuddled and parted sweethearts again. I had the poor news from my clinic examination this month there was the flat wart-like patches were a cause for concern so that I had to have a biopsy and the trip to Addenbrookes Clinic later.
I found some time for other friends and went off to collect Jim from Wymondham for dog training and shooting and was treated to another fine dinner by his wife Julie Family Lunch. Once back home to see the family with a suspicious Diana, I was paying my latest bills, updating my accounts and testing out the PC/Psion link.
I found time to see Nigel who was experiencing complications seeing multiple women I commissioned my Psion Modem during a home day and a busy time followed for financial paperwork, and adjusting to my use of the Psion to read Cix mail and messages whilst finding cash for spending.
The following day started with my ReadCix Psion3a/3Fax electronic mail and conference system trials. I still found time to put Sam through the Mill Field set-aside and, though he ran well and under fair control.
Elsewhere, there was more bad news for the government on educational funding and privatised utilities salaries, as they were hassled over teachers’ pay and national health failures. The Tory Euro-row continued with Euro-sceptic colleagues unhappy about the Chancellor, Kenneth Clarke's, speech.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation said that the gap between Britain's rich and poor was as large as ever. The Tory Government, riven by public cabinet divisions upon Europe, was let off the hook by developments elsewhere with news of a deepening Financial crisis,
The City of London had been hit by its oldest merchant bank, Barings, losing £400m on foreign exchange dealings in Singapore. The chairman of Barings, Peter, a member of the same family that has run the bank since the 17thC, has said that "criminal conspiracy" was the cause of its demise. Barings then went into Administration despite a Bank of England team working over the weekend to attempt a rescue operation.
The EEC President, Jaques Delors, introduces a draft directive to allow free passage of individuals between the fifteen member states but Britain will try to veto it. as we heard that Labour won the South Wales by-election.
The Irish Government are pressing for Britain to end the anti-terrorist laws despite a 1lb Semtex bomb being defused in Belfast and four paratroupers have been only sentenced to community service for assaulting a man in Aldershot.
The Ulster Unionists are hostile over the question of cross-border institutions. Murder Squad detectives have detained a man in Bradford after baby Jonathan and baby-sitter Rachael were both murdered.
Stricken boxer Gerald McClenan's was now critical and Norwich Football club were running through a poor batch of results. They lost 2-1 away to Everton today and were on quite a slide down the Premier League table.
We watched Norwich draw against Southampton in the pouring rain and they won their cup replay match against Coventry as a highlight. The worse sporting news of the month was of the Ireland vs England international football match at Lansdowne Road being abandoned after violence from a hard core of English thugs.
Talks between the PLO and Israel have led to hope that the present stand-off can be solved and a return to the peace process made.