A cold, icy month with cruel storms and high tides threatening the Norfolk coast. Often, the days started frosty with cars covered in ice and we struggled with flood water in Horning and then experienced more snow and ice in Scotland.
This trip to Broubster with Wiggly came at a cost of my dog Sam injuring his foot but was enjoyed. Back home, he did well in training and field trials, learning all the while.
My relationship with Wiggly was accelerating and endangering my marriage as we went to parties, events and trips to London together. I made the effort to keep family life together with shopping trips, pantomime evenings and cinema outings and Debbie was trying hard to do well with her GCSE Mock Exams.
Nigel and I had a reverse over our Cambridge Street planning application and I had a difficult time with Freda and Alf, after they let the Redgrave property deteriorate in absolute squalor.
Norwich City were struggling in the Premier League but I continued to support them. Elsewhere, I sensed acute problems with the UK Prison's Service as one inmate dies through lack of supervision and many more escape from Parkhurst as officer's morale is at rock bottom.
The Tory government was struggling with NHS problems and their former allies were calling for changes to dogma.
Major Parker-Bowles, husband of the Prince of Wales’s former mistress Camilla, has announced their plans for divorce after a two-year separation leading to speculation that Prince Charles will divorce Lady Diana and marry Camilla.
A powerful 7.2 earthquake killed and injured thousands in Japan. Russian forces take over the rebel Chechen town of Grozny after 10’s of thousands die on both sides.
Twenty world leaders will attend the Polish commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Auschwitz.
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Often an icy, cold month with flooding from the Great Ouse at home and cruel storms and high tides threatening the Norfolk coast where a barge building the new reef off Sea Pauling was driven onto the rocks.
The weather soon turned from being mild to very cold, and I had to trudge through the crunchy ice of Crabbet’s Marsh Road on a much brighter and milder weather walking Sam.
Local residents could therefore have done without the voltage surge doubling power to a neighbourhood in Norwich and causing electrical appliances to burst into flames and thirty people had to evacuate their homes.
Often, the days started frosty with cars covered in ice; but once a storm came through it brought severe gale force winds and driving rain. When visiting Norfolk, I was often struggling with flood water and sometimes a gale blew and the rain bucketed down accompanied with hail, sleet and snow.
When water flooded Ropes Hill Dyke, I had to meet Di at the top of the road to escort her car down. At this time, when snow was blocking roads in Northern England and Scotland, but I still made the journey to the snowy Forss House Hotel for a romantic stay with Wiggly and on to Thormaid where we found The White Lock frozen and 6-8inches of crisp virgin snow all around.
I still took Sam with us to Scotland, even though he was recovering from a foot injury, sustained after many training days and a reasonable event day at the place of my birth, Brocket Park for a field trial. I had to stop on the way to Scotland in Newcastle to find the vets open for Sam's paw examination.
He had his rapidly swelling cyst between the toes lanced and we were surprised by the large amount of prurient blood and pus that came out. Subsequently, he soon lost his bandage and made footprints of blood in the fresh snow.
It had been poor sporting times in the snow and wild, windy and cold outside out with Sam when I had run Max across the rape in Molesworth to good effect, and had been talking Sam for long quartering, training runs with more retrieving training.
I also made good use of John Osborne’s field and had been on interesting marsh shoots with Jim on Halvergate Marshes and even an evening rabbit shooting with Derek. Jim had a torrid time with Ben, but I was doing better. I had prepared the car with new tyres and Nigel had leant me his 10-bore Goose gun and some cartridges to go with it for my trip to Scotland.
Once on the way, Wiggly and I stopped off at Retford for a successful night and at least the snow kept Sam’s paw clean, and the discharge was manageable. His foot swelling had gone down by then but was still healing.
On arrival and, after an early call, Sam ran well with his sore paw, but nothing found for me to shoot but, during some successful shopping, we found boots and breeks for Wiggly.
A single grouse shot for our following morning’s efforts at Thormaid and then we enjoyed a recreational trip to John O'Groats to watch the harbour before we consumed too much whisky later.
My relationship with Wiggly was accelerating and endangering my marriage but I did not seem to care. The month started with a relaxing day at Hail Weston House and, after parting with Nigel and his family, there followed time at Montague Street with Wiggly, making love before eating and writing after which we were both tired and went to bed with no enthusiasm for anything but sleep.
I often had to bid farewell to Wiggly for a while due to other priorities, but I still won minutes to phone her whenever I could. After one evening LibDem meeting, I went back with Wiggly and we kissed and cuddled and I comforted her over the bad time she had been having at work.
I also had sex with her having put on a condom first. There was a bowling evening with Wiggly and some one-sided sex afterwards before sleeping at hers. We found time to go off for a weekend away in London for the London Boat Show and a 606 Club Jazz Club visit, making love before and afterwards to our mutual satisfaction.
This trip ended up with a long lovemaking session before a full English breakfast. Back home, there was a late meal out to Michelle's Brasserie, with Wiggly to mark our six-month anniversary and back home with her but too tired for a satisfactory sex session.
There always followed a good reconciliation with Wiggly a nice lunch and attended her pantomime performance and helped Nigel host a great after show party. I had to hear of Nigel’s latest litany of relationship disasters during an evening's snooker with him as a very troubled friend.
Wiggly was also reporting conflict at work and within the St Neots LibDem group. After all these outings, I would arrive back at The Hayling View in time for lunch of roast lamb and vegetables which I enjoyed and then also worked in my office and outside with Sam on some training.
I was still making efforts to keep family life going, even if it was becoming more difficult to combine this with my affair. We went January Sales Shopping at Latham's in Potter Heigham, before an evening pantomime of The Theatre Royal's production of the "Alladin".
We had days in Norwich with family to spend Christmas vouchers, having lunch in Oliver’s before going home to take down the Hayling View Xmas decorations on 12th night.
I went off with Di and Della to the Peterborough multi-screen cinema to see "The Pagemaster" film and joined Diana, Della and her friend Michelle for a Cambridge visit to see Charles and Norma and we also enjoyed a Happy Eater meal on the way home.
Debbie was nervous about her GCSE Mock Exams but she seemed to do all right. Della was still ill but came back from her pantomime outing feeling better.
For my part, I had bad news as our Cambridge Street planning application had been recommended for refusal and also of needing difficult treatment at my Kimbolton dental appointment, surviving a long moulding session, but did reasonably at an eye test.
I had a difficult call from Alf, after insisting that Redgrave is to be sold, and visiting Redgrave to see Freda letting the property deteriorate in absolute squalor. I ended up putting the agent Mike Smith straight about having to deal with Freda and my Redgrave loan.
There was always lots of deskwork to do at The Hayling View chronicling my finances and a whole catalogue of news stories today with my Psion. I had another meeting with Irena who was off to Poland and found a replacement for my Psion after it was broken.
Norwich City were struggling in the Premier League losing 4-0 to Liverpool in a televised match but drawing 2-2 away to Coventry but I was still buying more Canary tickets and continuing to support them.
Preoccupied with my own relationship issues, I was not paying much attention to outside events but I sensed acute problems with the UK Prison's Service as one inmate dies through lack of supervision and many more escape from Parkhurst as officer's morale is at rock bottom.
The Tory government was struggling with NHS problems and Dr Lee Potter, who rebuilt relationships between the government and the NHS between 1990 and 1993, has now spoken out against government dogma in health matters and called for a Labour Government.
In one crisis, a baby was left with a hypodermic syringe inside her! Labour and SNP step up campaigns for Scottish devolution and independence respectively as John Major sticks to the purity of the Union. Norwich Union volunteers clear up beaches as a highlight.
British Gas mismanagement was a recognised issue with the government planning an intervention. The Child Support Agency being reorganised.
Friends of the Earth Director Andrew Lees died weighed down with heavy equipment in intense heat in the Madagascan jungle and satirist and "Private Eye" proprietor Peter Cook died aged 57 of liver disease. He was one of society's rebels and a long-time partner of Dudley Moore.
Major Parker-Bowles, husband of the Prince of Wales’s former mistress Camilla, has announced their plans for divorce after a two-year separation and this had led to speculation that Prince Charles will divorce Lady Diana and marry Camilla.
Elsewhere, we were heating news of the growing Japanese earthquake death count after that powerful 7.2 earthquake killed and injured thousands in Japan.
Russian forces continue the pounding of the remining rebel Chechen town of Grozny and finally takes it after the Chechnyan war with Russia killed 10’s of thousands on both sides
There is news of a growing crisis in South African crisis and twenty world leaders will attend the Polish commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Auschwitz.