There were a few very cold, drizzly, breezy and rather miserable mornings this month with heavy snow falling. I still got out with Sam who had been whining at the arrival of such atrocious conditions.
The snow and ice on the ground were tricky and the wind chill, but Louise and I were well-wrapped up and wore large hats to keep warm. The Horning water levels were very high at night and remained even higher as water covered the road and the gardens and drives of many of our neighbouring properties.
I went out with a hammer and pocket full of nails and then hammered them in at high water level on every fence post, tree and other points to give a reference for the forthcoming road works.
I was often giving a good ‘seeing to’ for Louise by filling her and she contacted a heavy cough and cold, which got worse as time wore on. I then started to suffer with mine. I was still attracted to Louise in her Little Miss Naughty bra and had to be discouraged!
I snuggled up to her lovely, long, warm nude body from behind and went soundly to sleep. Once recovered from her cough, she accepted an invitation and selected a film at the Castle Mall multi-screen.
I had ‘solved’ her headache next by taking off my glasses, my dressing gown and then pulling the cover off her to give her a good seeing to.
Louise was often in a grumpy mood, particularly when our latest cleaner had called to say she did not want to work anymore and this meant that all of the washing, cleaning and ironing was down to her.
To try and break her mood, I then made love to her, satisfying myself but not inspiring any great emotion in her. I looked after myself later and, as we slept on, I thought that this was a sad way to spend time with a naked girl in my bed, but so it is and this must make us quite incompatible.
Another time, I was feeling randy and made love to Louise before we settled down and she was amenable if not enthusiastic. She seemed very compliant and was available whenever I want her.
She has said that this was the advice from Galena, who suggested she should be glad of the attention and should satisfy me whenever I needed it. If she only trusted me more and put herself in my hands, she would have lots more fun with these serious sexual encounters.
She was impressed the news that I had booked a flat in Cannes for the film festival and things seemed to be all set for my visit to Redgrave where matters were coming to a head.
Shirley had been having much more success with her daily and weekly cash reconciliation and David seemed ready for me to do the end of month accounts. I also found Shirley upstairs hoovering the shop flat with the new carpets largely fitted into position, making the shop flat look a lot better.
I completed an inventory of the condition and contents of the flat and then got Shirley to agree it and sign the space so that was another job done. She gave me my rent cheque for the month of March, which was £1,040 and included the shop flat, which was good also.
Upon looking at her computer, she had correctly completed the daily sheets and then the following weekly sheet, with the till losses being much reduced on recently. It was good to see her so up to date.
I learnt that the only loan offer that the Raines had got was £19,000 repayable over five years at a rate of 36% which was awful. I read the Raine’s Post Office Plan which was revealing.
The Raines had solved the problem of till losses but had incorrectly reset the weekly sheet and this led to problems. I had to adjust the daily sheets to exclude customer account payments and then consolidated the weekly sheet again, overcoming a second category of error.
They had not been reliably booking out the news accounts papers every day and had got in a right muddle, which caused me a headache. Later, I found both David and Shirley in good spirits and they had settled in after the trauma of moving and managing difficult aspects of the business and were over the most difficult time.
When other priorities allowed, I spent a morning working on my investment plans for the children’s estates and trusts, working out a good way of avoiding capital gains tax in the trusts and giving Daniel and Debbie some tax-free ISA savings on their own account.
I had completed my post office and building society transactions. Worst of all was the £20,000 tax demand from The Inland Revenue, which took me totally by surprise. I was evidently late and could have been surcharged £900 if they wanted to be nasty. Several calls eventually revealed that they had not sent me a statement after receiving my self-assessment tax form and so I had no way of knowing how much to pay.
A Paranoid meeting followed, and we received reports from around the table and then exchanged views. The film festival at Cannes looked interesting and would make a nice holiday as well as progressing prospects for the film. Nigel’s idea of employing a salesman and taking other films under our wing was favourably received.
The next family meeting was very good as the idea I had for Diana, though unique in the stockbroker’s history, was permissible for them and suited Diana down to the ground. The plans for the children’s trusts also went well and shares will not be transferred into their own names under ISA tax shelters which will work out very well.
I then read the financial papers further and advised Di more about pensions and ISA investments. I had much work to do on Paranoid Celluloid liaising with Steve Hicks and his solicitor to draft our legal charges and loan restructuring.
Despite all this activity, I found time for my journal, updating it for outstanding days and then starting to summarise the month of February for the archive.
These days, I often had a simple breakfast of grapefruit, kiwi fruit and then croissants and then a lunch of soup and left-over vegetables from the previous night.
I took Louise, Galena and a new guy to The Waffle House for a light meal which only came to £37 which I thought was good for four of us, including drinks.
Nigel was impressed when visiting that Louise had planned a dinner of venison and took a close interest on her use of plum and lemon sauce to accompany it. Sometimes,
Louise offered to walk Sam and took him with my bicycle for his morning run. Also, I took Sam for his morning cycle ride and controlled him quite closely, given the countryside restrictions that we are suffering now.
On our ride, we saw a dairy farm sealed off with signs and disinfected straw barrier against the foot and mouth disease.
Home to bed, tired after our day and week and glad to be snuggling up together. until Louise got bored and had a headache.
She lay down after which I took off my glasses, my dressing gown and then pulled the cover off her and gave her a good seeing to. Her headache was magickly gone and she was happy and hungry!
Once we got out, our bikes waded through road puddles and lakes, but the sun came out. Louise could keep up with me when we climb small gradients.
In view of our 23-year age difference, I asked her, “when do you think that you will catch up with my fitness and stamina” and she said she thought “never”.
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Louise was grumpy the next day, as our latest cleaner had called to say she did not want to work anymore and this meant that the washing, cleaning and ironing was down to her with Nigel coming to stay on Monday night.
I then made love to her, satisfying myself but not inspiring any great emotion in her. We started to differ over what to eat and what to do and I did not tolerate very well Louise’s tantrums and reacted accordingly, and this led to us falling out a bit.
Once she had calmed down, Louise walked Sam with me and, realising that we were both very tired, we went to bed at 10.30pm and then slept very soundly.
I looked after myself later and thought that this was a sad way to spend time with a naked girl in my bed, but so it is and this must make us quite incompatible.
There had been another call from the Sewell Barns drama director, but Louise “could not be arsed” to return it.
The next workday, I did struggle up and made her a nice breakfast of prepared melon, grapefruit, kiwi fruit and orange, with toast, cereal to follow.
She was pleased and I kissed her goodbye. Even so, I was feeling randy and made love to Louise before we settled down and she was compliant if not enthusiastic.
Louise was keen to go dancing the following night and so, after some dinner a rest, we drove out to Poo Na Na and danced freestyle to the Salsa music and practised the steps that we had learnt from Nelson the previous Friday.
Home after this and quite tired again and then to bed where I joined Louise and made love again. She seemed very compliant these days and is available whenever I want her.
She has said that this was the advice from Galena, who suggested she should be glad of the attention and satisfy me whenever I needed it. S
he was impressed by my achievements and with the news that I had booked a flat in Cannes for the film festival. There was a funny incident when the blonde Can Can girl did a few acrobatics in front of me including backward summersault and a full split after the lessons.
Louise prickled noticeably when I asked the girl to join us for a drink but then when Louise said she was coming as well, the girl started and Louise said to me, “she must have thought that she pulled”.
Later I had a very good lay in with a nice sex session. If she only trusted me more and put herself in my hands, she would have lots more fun.
I got to Redgrave one later afternoon to find Shirley upstairs hoovering the shop flat with the new carpets largely fitted into position, making the shop flat look a lot better.
She gave me my rent cheque for the month of March, which was £1,040 and included the shop flat, which was good also. Upon looking at her computer, she had correctly completed the daily sheets and then the weekly sheet, with the till losses being much reduced on recently.
It was good to see her so up to date. Later, David and Shirley had become better able to accept a compromise on the bathroom improvement.
By re-grouting and sealing, renewing the taps and putting on a new bath panel, the bathroom could become acceptable. I had received the PKF budget summary by email and the spreadsheets from Redgrave, and both of these were printed out and absorbed.
By around 6.00pm, I had finished and went back to find David struggling with his TAS Books accounts work. I got David to do a few significant transactions afterwards, such as paying his share of the legal fees, insurance and then passing Steve’s invoices through to reclaim the VAT.
Earlier, I had got them to sign all the agreements which was a previous worry, and Shirley’s mum is sending her copy signed as guarantor on to them. I was left worrying, at the end of the evening as I drove home, about their abilities to run a challenging business as they are not task oriented enough and enjoy drinking and socialising too much.
They also had a reply from Post Office Counters asking for more information for their application to be considered and they had forgotten about it two days later!
Progress in the shop had been good but there were errors arising from the implementation of customer accounts on the till on Friday and a confusion by their credit card facility being available from the middle of the week.
I called Redgrave earlier and found out that David had got up to date with the general transactions, giving the opportunity for me to go over and do some adjustments.
It had been a good session with measurable progress achieved. Between times, I chased Nigel and Adam and David and Shirley Raine, who I urged to complete a full stock check this weekend for the end of their financial year.
When other priorities allowed, I spent a morning working on my investment plans for the children’s estates and trusts, working out a good way of avoiding capital gains tax in the trusts and giving Daniel and Debbie some tax-free ISA savings on their own account.
Once the last of my very urgent action items were achieved, I continued to work on the rest of my affairs checked my share prices and email and found that the stock market was on the way up again.
I also spoke to Daniel and Charles Stanley about my tax planning measures after which I spent the whole day working at home on a variety of paperwork and investment problems.
I had completed my post office and building society transactions. Worst of all was the £20,000 tax demand from The Inland Revenue, which took me totally by surprise.
I was evidently late and could have been surcharged £900 if they wanted to be nasty. Several calls eventually revealed that they had not sent me a statement after receiving my self-assessment tax form and so I had no way of knowing how much to pay.
The next family meeting was very good as the idea I had for Diana, though unique in the stockbroker’s history, was permissible for them and suited Diana down to the ground.
The plans for the children’s trusts also went well and shares will not be transferred into their own names under ISA tax shelters which will work out very well.
I then read the financial papers further and advised her more about pensions and ISA investments. I had much work to do on Paranoid Celluloid and in liaising with Steve Hicks and his solicitor to draft our legal charges and loan restructuring.
We were planning to take a rented house or apartment in Cannes for the film festival. I spent the day drafting a letter to Ed Ramsey of Film 2000 and trying to manage the recruitment process for a sales executive.
I took Louise, Galena and a new guy to The Waffle House for a light meal which only came to £37 which I thought was good for four of us, including drinks.
Nigel was impressed when visiting that Louise had planned dinner of venison and took a close interest on her use of plum and lemon sauce to accompany it.
The next morning, we went over to the Swan Hotel for a full English breakfast which was nice. I had lunch of a prawn sandwich and pot of tea. but eventually able to get up and help with breakfast.
On our ride, we saw a dairy farm sealed off with signs and disinfected straw barrier against the foot and mouth disease.
This month, I was at The Eaton Oak to meet John Lamb. He was looking even older and greyer than last year and suffering the after-effects of his bout of flu that had put back his trip from last week. I
called Nigel, found him free, and then joined him for an afternoon tea for me and coffee for him. He was a worrying sight, had put on weight and was bursting out of his Chino trousers whilst still feeling his stiff back. Compared with these two guys, I was fit and healthy!
We arranged to go shooting together, me and Nigel, and he was typically late but once changed, we set off for Blackrow, and I gave him the option of the high seat or wandering and he chose the latter.
Responding to a call from Sharon, I poured out details of my predicament and sought and got plenty of sympathy. She had also been suffering; this time from a tummy upset which she put down to food poisoning, but I was less sure.
Later, I washed, shaved and changed and then said my farewells and packed my things into the car and set off for The Addison Centre in Bedford.
I literally felt Sharon’s presence when she arrived as she pinched my bottom from behind! It was a complicated but good routine and I managed it and then danced with lots of other girls and young women such as Danny until the end.
I saw Sharon a couple of times and danced with her but did not get a chance to chat. There followed a couple of calls from Sharon, who became braver at calling Heronshaw when I was not answering my mobile and I was also being interrupted by Sharon from time to time when working.
Sharon came down eventually and we sat and drank some wine and chatted in the lounge. The conversation went on for ever as we always have lots to say.
She has written Ian off now and sees Gavin, even though she means more to him than he does to her. She would love a holiday away but has nobody to go with.
Then I was working away when Sharon telephoned. I called her back to save money, and we were talking for well over the hour.
She had another tiring weekend, out with Gavin and Dr David whose ex-wife had been to see his ex-mistress whilst he was away, established that David was not seeing her, and they agreed that he must be seeing Sharon!
She was confused and did not know how she could keep causing problems with all these men around her. “Why don’t you come and save me!”, she said to me and then, after reminding me that she was going away to Amsterdam with three friends, “I will miss you”.
I took and collected Debbie, when she had put her car in for repair at Broadland Motors and she listened in with great interest when Nigel and I tried to put the world to rights.
Debbie got herself early to Poo Na Na for the beginners lesson, calling me several times on the way and once she was there to find the place and seek advice on parking!
I did not know how she would manage on her own! I showed her the photos which were of Cuba, London and the floods. I was going to be going away for the day when Debbie was at home to commence her studying and examinations.
She was travelling from Paxton to Birmingham to start her exams and so I sent both messages of congratulation and good luck. Soon, Della arrived home and she came into my office and chatted a while.
The display cabinets were full of our children’s art and craft achievements and artefacts and there was the relicts and Della’s car accident, where her colouring pencil set was shattered in its case by the car impact.
Della reminded me that she was off on holiday to Florida, and I would not be seeing her for a while.
I was surprised to get a call from Bettina, who had been driving a large van in the other direction along the A11 and spotted me!
They had enjoyed her honeymoon in Spain, but their move had been delayed by the illness of his mother from Cancer, from which she would be dying.
At The Hayling View, I got on with the job of clearing up my office, where Diana had taken some old papers and things out of the bookcases and invited me to sort through them and throw away the things I did not want.
This took time and then I settled down to go through the mail that awaited me and secured the papers and certificates that I had visited to pick up.
Louise and I remained keen to enjoy dancing events together, even when very tired, but there was often a shortage of me available or willing to dance with her.
Apart from dancing. Louise and I would also enjoy regular visits to the cinema to see such films as Dancing with Wolves, and Thirteen Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Whilst also doing other things, I was also very busy with personal and professional matters, writing my journal and both making and receiving telephone calls.
I then fell ill, suffering increasingly with achy arms, legs and flushed with a high temperature. I was not sniffing and coughing very much but knew I would do if I tried to exert myself or went outside without wrapping up.
I then fell even more ill, suffering more with achy arms, legs and flushed with a high temperature. These bouts, and the way that Louise reacted adversely, worried me about the future when my age could make me dependent upon her with her not relishing the experience.
It was beautiful and I looked forward to the better weather and improved health when it could be enjoyed more. I struggled and managed a visit to Paxton.
Horning Sailing Club had turned down my latest proposal over them renting space and moorings from me and I wrote to say that that was that for the time being.
I retired back to bed with the weekend newspapers and read for a long while. It had been raining hard for days in huge bursts and everywhere was saturated.
One thing that I managed to do was to order a fly screen to seal my loft hatch for the warmer days when I want ventilation without the gnats getting in!
I called Sue and found that she did want to go to Cambridge but was then reluctant to drive early and take me if she could come later as part of the group, which was better for me as it gave me more time during the day.
The journey was again rather slow and became slower as we approached Cambridge City and then came to almost a standstill as we got into the centre.
During the journey, we had talked about Nelson and Sue’s idea of regular Saturday night lessons and freestyle in Norwich. Sue told us about the girl from Cambridge that Nelson takes home each Friday and that things are over now between her and Nelson.
He had said that she would be banned from his Salsa if she did not sleep with him. What a bastard Nelson can be! Then late down to walk Sam and greet Louise. Today I was purchasing a used chain saw, brush cutter and parts to make a good start on my forestry work.
I ruled out the idea of driving over to Paxton and so I arranged my tools in the garage and got ready to do some jobs. Before and after dinner, I tackled four of the jobs, fitting handles to three windows, a coat hook on the back of the toilet door and three hat hooks in the hall.
It was a good opportunity to chat to Sue, who told me of her latest situation with Nelson with whom she is becoming friendly again.
He had come up and stayed with her overnight although “nothing happened” according to her. The evening’s lessons were quite long, involved and tiring after my earlier exertions but I just about made it through Nelson had said that he would join us for a drink after, but nobody believed him until he turned up.
He sat next to me and was quite chatty and even offered everybody a drink. He then took the young Latin girl home and Susan joined us as we went along to the freestyle evening Salsa disco organised by the DJ. We slept very well and it was Louise that was first up in the morning.
She got out of bed, coughed and then yelped and held her hand to her bottom as she ran naked to the bathroom, seeping my full load of semen from last night. That is the way to leave them!
A simple breakfast of grapefruit, kiwi fruit and then croissants. I managed to bake the croissants just right so that their texture was not too crisp or too chewy and it was the nearest I have managed to how I used to have them in France.
Sometime clearing up and then, once Louise had gone, I bumbled my way through the bathroom with the morning paper until I remembered that cleaner Diane was coming early today and I should get ready!
I was to have had to drive over to Cambridgeshire today to get my Standard Chartered share certificates but I found them in my filing tray after they had written to replace them now that they were issued in dollars nominal.
Out with Sam on a very cold, drizzly, breezy and rather miserable morning.
Just because it had become March, the weather does not seem any less wintry!
Back to my office and the morning working on my investment plans for the children’s estates and trusts, working out a good way of avoiding capital gains tax in the trusts and giving Daniel and Debbie some tax-free ISA savings on their own account.
I called Daniel and found him in London working very hard on two projects and a bit besieged by work.
I hope that he could wriggle free some time before the better weather and I would try to get down to see him in the meantime.
The last of my very urgent action items were achieved today and I will continue to work on the rest of my affairs now they are up to date.
A lunch of soup and left-over vegetables from last night and then my journal and a few telephone calls to arrange my late afternoon and early evening.
Things seemed to be all set for my visit to Redgrave where Shirley had been having much more success with her daily and weekly cash reconciliation and David seemed ready for me to do the end of month accounts.
I set off around mid-afternoon and immediately found myself in slow-moving traffic and heavy snow falling.
Although the roads were not freezing and the surface safe, sufficient drivers had been warned about the conditions and were driving exceptionally slowly and holding me up.
I got to Redgrave by 4.30pm to find Shirley upstairs hoovering the shop flat and the carpets largely fitted into position, making the shop flat look a lot better.
I stayed upstairs for some while and completed an inventory of the condition and contents of the flat and then got Shirley to agree it and sign the space so that was another job done.
She gave me my rent cheque for the month of March, which was £1,040 and included the shop flat, which was good also.
Upon looking at her computer, she had correctly completed the daily sheets and then the weekly sheet, with the till losses being much reduced on recently.
It was good to see her so up to date. Once David arrived, we drove back to their Rickinghall house and there the problems started.
David had not done any significant amount of the TAS Books accounts transactions and so we had to do those for last week, this partial week, all of the invoices and payments received and made and only then could we do the month-end transactions.
By mid-evening, it was apparent I was not going to get home for dinner and so I called Louise and arranged to have a Chinese takeaway with David & Shirley.
We then worked on again afterwards and, by the time I had completed the month-end with him, printed out all the reports and then copied and caked up the data files and started him on the current month, it was around midnight.
I left for the drive home and did not get into bed until 1.30am as the melted snow had now frozen and there was little gritting going on.
I had messaged Ros this morning to wish her happy birthday and she called me back this evening when I was with the Raines.
Together with her David and her children, they had been all set to move house around now, selling their individual houses, but the sale of his had just fallen through.
It was Ros’s main concern to ask me to lend her the money for a bridging loan, but I did not have time to talk to her them, saying that I would call back from my car later.
Then I got into this massive exercise and could not, but did not care as I thought that it was a cheek to ask me.
Also, after the Carole experience and this loan to the Raines, I did not really want to lend any more money to anyone.
I learnt today that the only loan offer that the Raines had got was £19,000 repayable over five years at a rate of 36% which is awful.
To sleep with the warm Louise who, though it was late, was very pleased to see me.
There were a few very cold, drizzly, breezy and rather miserable mornings when I found myself in slow-moving traffic with heavy snow falling.
Sufficient drivers had been warned about the conditions and were driving exceptionally slowly and holding me up until 1.30am by which time the melted snow had frozen and there was little gritting going on.
On a work morning, the ice had been joined by a fresh layer of snow and Louise spent a long while clearing all the ice and snow off her car with two hot jugs of water after scooping the snow off with a dustpan!
I got out with Sam who had been whining at the arrival of such atrocious conditions, as I came down later to find even more snow making the most yet.
Once Louise got home, I could see how bad her cold had become but we were still determined to join her work colleagues for the evening to mark the departure of Carol, one of their longer-term members.
We set off for Norwich, planning to meet the others at the new bowling alley in Riverside.
The snow and ice on the ground were tricky and the wind chill, but we were well-wrapped up and wore large hats to keep warm.
A weather system then passed across the country bringing with it a band of rain and the last of it was to be seen when we woke up.
The weather was again cold, as this month has started even more dismally than the last but at least it was dry for a change.
The water levels were very high at night and remained even higher the following morning as water covered the road and the gardens and drives of many of our neighbouring properties.
It was still an inch of two lower than my suggested level for the new road works and this persuaded me that marking the levels was by far the best thing to do.
To mark the level, I went out with a hammer and pocket full of nails and then hammered them in at high water level on every fence post, tree and other points.
This, so that May Gurney will be able to monitor the levels better when they make up the road and so that the other residents will be sure where the water got to.
I got through to Doris, who was all right with her grandson but almost totally cut off by the water.
I walked him along Letheringtons Lane as one of the few dry areas and then, once I got back, I noticed the tide was at its highest. I had to intercept the postman to get my mail.
Then, another quite bitterly cold day, but at last the water was showing some small sign of going down.
I sat and read all the papers that had built up at the newsagents since they had not been able to deliver them due to the flood. but the night was a bit milder
It had started snowing with a high bitter wind, which made time outside very unpleasant.
I was often giving a good ‘seeing to’ for Louise such that, when she got out of bed afterwards, she then coughed and then yelped and held her hand to her bottom as she ran naked to the bathroom, seeping my full load of semen from the previous night.
This made me feel very virile and very proud as that was the way to leave the lady in my life!
On another occasion, to sleep with the warm Louise who, though it was late, was very pleased to see me.
Louise was often very happy that I had accompanied her to work events as she said it would have been unbearable without me.
Her ordeal was made worse by her heavy cough and cold, which got worse as the evening wore on. Once home, she collapsed and was sobbing with discomfort, so I had to undress her and get her to bed.
We slept very well and it was Louise that was first up the following morning and I stayed in bed as Louise got through the bathroom.
Louise was laid very low that day and spent much of the day sleeping and in bed. She eventually stirred and I took her an orange juice and then, later, organised some boiled eggs for her to eat and she did manage some lunch that I made.
There followed a miserable day with Louise getting over her cold as I then started to suffer with mine. We went shopping and we were both the worse for wear once we got back.
Louise catered for us mostly with me helping a little bit, but I was less use, the later it got. Louise became grumpy as she got tired and I got more ill.
She loves being dependent upon me and getting fussed but hates me not being well and having to be concerned about me.
Our mood had not improved very much during another cold night as Louise reacted badly to me hogging the bed clothes. Then she sat up and uncovered me, and I accidentally elbowed her when trying to cover myself up and she stomped off.
I tried to make our peace ineffectively and then collapsed back into bed as she got through the bathroom and dressed.
One morning, Louise walked Sam for me, and I summoned the energy to make her a drink and sat and chatted to her as she made the dinner and told me about her day.
Her cold seemed better by then, which is good news at least, but I still had a way to go yet.
I was tired and wanted to sleep I must have been feeling better as I was attracted to Louise in her Little Miss Naughty bra and had to be discouraged!
Once recovered, we got to Delia’s Brasserie, where we went straight to our table and ordered a bottle of white wine and then our meals.
Service was slow as usual, even though we found ourselves early to begin with, and it ended up as the normal rush to get to our seats on time in Carrow Road.
Louise cheered herself up as she made a curry out of the meat, with some rice and vegetables and then we watched TV together and went to bed.
Louise had to be up and out very early as her first seminar was for breakfast in Yarmouth and so she had set her alarm but then dressed and got ready in the spare bedroom to let me rest.
I returned and then made the journey back to Louise and, after getting myself a hot, milky drink, I snuggled up to her lovely, long, warm nude body from behind and went soundly to sleep.
It was Louise’s Revo that woke us up and we cuddled for a while before she had to rise and use the bathroom. I got up with her to make a modest breakfast and then joined her to eat it and chat about the previous day’s news.
Her seminars had been successful, and I also had a good and productive day. I welcomed Louise home with drinks and tidbits and then suggested we get ready and drive off to Norwich for the evening, having a meal and then watching a film.
There was always the option of going to the Alibi for a little while afterwards. She accepted and selected a film at the Castle Mall multi-screen, and we got ready and set off.
The film was quite good and then we did try to get into the Alibi but there was a queue of beery blokes outside and we did not want to wait in the cold and so went home.
Home to bed, tired after our day and week and glad to be snuggling up together. until Louise got bored and had a headache.
She lay down after which I took off my glasses, my dressing gown and then pulled the cover off her and gave her a good seeing to.
She said that I seemed to lack practise, but the truth was that I played with her before I allowed her to have what she wanted. Her headache was magickly gone and she was happy and hungry!
Once we got out, our bikes waded through road puddles and lakes, but the sun came out. Louise could keep up with me when we climb small gradients. In view of our 23-year age difference, I asked her, “when do you think that you will catch up with my fitness and stamina” and she said she thought “never”.
On another occasion, once Louise was back from work, we had a drink and then joined Debbie for some huge bowls of noodles and chicken! After this, we all went out to Lakenham to dance the intermediate and enjoyed the exercise and the experience.
There were quite a few girls to dance with but just older dodgy blokes for the girls.
I had to leave Louise to her own devices for much of the next evening, and I do not think that she enjoyed the lack of attention.
We then arranged to go dancing one night at the jive venue to support them for once. Once back home, I took Louise just before we went off to sleep, having established that she was yet to start her period after all.
Then, I got a call from Louise to say that her course had finished early today and she would be able to join me for the football after all.
Louise was grumpy the next day, as our latest cleaner had called to say she did not want to work anymore and this meant that the washing, cleaning and ironing was down to her with Nigel coming to stay on Monday night.
Once we woke and had breakfast and I walked Sam, she did not want to come shopping with Della and me and so stayed at home to do the chores. and went back to Louise, stopping off for some dog food on the way.
It was tough going with Louise for the rest of the day I stayed up late talking with Louise and Debbie listening in with great interest as we tried to put the world to rights and then we all went to bed quite late.
Then, Louise walked Sam and we experienced a relaxed evening with her, as she cooked some nice venison with wine sauce, after we had a simple breakfast with Louise first.
I then made love to her, satisfying myself but not inspiring any great emotion in her. We started to differ over what to eat and what to do and I did not tolerate very well Louise’s tantrums and reacted accordingly, and this led to us falling out a bit.
Then, when delivering leaflets together, we got separated and I drove round for half an hour, going back and forwards to no avail and even came back to the house twice to collect her phone and see if she was there.
She had walked off out of the village to a remote delivery area I did not even know about, and I had not thought to look there. It was a classic misunderstanding that has happened before and would happen again. Louise broke down in tears and fled to the bedroom sobbing, and I followed her to try and comfort her without any early success.
Once she had calmed down, Louise walked Sam with me and, realising that we were both very tired, we went to bed at 10.30pm and then slept very soundly.
Louise was happy to stay in bed the following morning, saying that if we stayed cocooned there, we might avoid doing anything that would lead us to fall out as we both did not like rows.
She made a simple breakfast of toast and cereal, ignoring the fruit that we had, and I think she would have loved me to make boiled eggs, but I had not offered for once.
I looked after myself later and thought that this was a sad way to spend time with a naked girl in my bed, but so it is and this must make us quite incompatible. There had been another call from the Sewell Barns drama director, but Louise “could not be arsed” to return it.
The next workday, I did struggle up and made her a nice breakfast of prepared melon, grapefruit, kiwi fruit and orange, with toast, cereal to follow. She was pleased and I kissed her goodbye.
After a tea of liver and mushrooms for me and something else for her, we set off for Lakenham and then arrived in time for the lesson. It was a long and rather ponderous affair with many basic moves forming the first ones until it livened up a bit later.
An extra fifteen women outnumbered the men, and they had to continually move on. We danced on and quite tired ourselves out in the end, leaving at the end and coming home to catch some sleep.
Even so, I was feeling randy and made love to Louise before we settled down and she was compliant if not enthusiastic.
Louise and I were again very tired and reluctant to get up and going again the following day.
Then I was slow, after she left, to get ready and out with Sam I worked on all afternoon and then was still working when Louise arrived home early from work.
Louise was keen to go dancing the following night and so, after some dinner a rest, we drove out to Poo Na Na and danced freestyle to the Salsa music and practised the steps that we had learnt from Nelson the previous Friday.
Home after this and quite tired again and then to bed where I joined Louise and made love again. She seemed very compliant these days and is available whenever I want her.
She has said that this was the advice from Galena, who suggested she should be glad of the attention and satisfy me whenever I needed it.
We suffered a blow one day as the washing machine extracted the under-wiring from one of Louise’s bra’s, the jungle striped one. I was trying out the chain saw when Louise arrived home and I demonstrated it by felling another tree, cutting it up and disposing of it.
She was impressed by my achievements and with the news that I had booked a flat in Cannes for the film festival.
She came with me for a short walk with Sam and then, as she went inside to make the dinner and then Louise and I joined the others for a drink in the hotel afterwards.
There was a funny incident when the blonde Can Can girl did a few acrobatics in front of me including backward summersault and a full split after the lessons.
Louise prickled noticeably when I asked the girl to join us for a drink but then when Louise said she was coming as well, the girl started and Louise said to me, “she must have thought that she pulled”.
Then we were all the best of friends. until I had to let Louise take over as I napped, and it started well as Louise.
Later I had a very good lay in with a nice sex session. If she only trusted me more and put herself in my hands, she would have lots more fun
Things seemed to be all set for my visit to Redgrave where maters were coming to a head. Shirley had been having much more success with her daily and weekly cash reconciliation and David seemed ready for me to do the end of month accounts.
I got to Redgrave one later afternoon to find Shirley upstairs hoovering the shop flat with the new carpets largely fitted into position, making the shop flat look a lot better.
I stayed upstairs for some while and completed an inventory of the condition and contents of the flat and then got Shirley to agree it and sign the space so that was another job done.
She gave me my rent cheque for the month of March, which was £1,040 and included the shop flat, which was good also.
Upon looking at her computer, she had correctly completed the daily sheets and then the weekly sheet, with the till losses being much reduced on recently. It was good to see her so up to date.
Once David arrived, we drove back to their Rickinghall house and there the problems started. David had not done any significant amount of the TAS Books accounts transactions and so we had to do those for last week, this partial week, all the invoices and payments received and made and only then could we do the month-end transactions.
We worked on and, by the time I had completed the month-end with him, printed out all the reports and then copied and caked up the data files and started him on the current month, it was around midnight.
I learnt today that the only loan offer that the Raines had got was £19,000 repayable over five years at a rate of 36% which is awful. I read the Raine’s Post Office Plan which was revealing.
David Raine called one day with power problems in the shop but then called again to say he had fixed them. They had booked a removal van and would be moving in the following weekend.
At Redgrave, Shirley had inspected the bathroom, and she had demanded a new bathroom suite before they could move in. This was rather annoying as the room had just been painted and carpeted and the builders had left.
To do this would entail repairing the floor at the same time and could cost up to £2,000 according to Steve. I felt that business priorities should take precedence until the shop starts making money.
Later, David and Shirley had become better able to accept a compromise on the bathroom improvement. By re-grouting and sealing, renewing the taps and putting on a new bath panel, the bathroom could become acceptable.
I had received the PKF budget summary by email and the spreadsheets from Redgrave and both of these were printed out and absorbed.
I read them over breakfast and quickly saw where the Raines had been having trouble with the spreadsheets. They had solved the problem of till losses but had incorrectly reset the weekly sheet and this led to problems.
I then made calls to Shirley arranged my Redgrave visit for one Sunday and spent some time working and preparing for my visit to Redgrave.
Louise and I had some salmon sandwiches that Louise prepared which served us well for a snack lunch, as we were due to be eating with the Raines later.
Then, the journey to Rickinghall, arriving around 2.15pm, and there to find that they did not have the daily and weekly spreadsheets on disk so that I had to decide to go to the shop and work on them there on my own.
I had to adjust the daily sheets to exclude customer account payments and then consolidated the weekly sheet again, overcoming a second category of error.
They had not been reliably booking out the news accounts papers every day and had got in a right muddle, which caused me a headache.
By around 6.00pm, I had finished and went back to find David struggling with his TAS Books accounts work. I got David to do a few significant transactions afterwards, such as paying his share of the legal fees, insurance and then passing Steve’s invoices through to reclaim the VAT.
Earlier, I had got them to sign all the agreements which was a previous worry, and Shirley’s mum is sending her copy signed as guarantor on to them.
I was left worrying, at the end of the evening as I drove home, about their abilities to run a challenging business as they are not task oriented enough and enjoy drinking and socialising too much.
They also had a reply from Post Office Counters asking for more information for their application to be considered and they had forgotten about it two days later!
David is talking about giving up his job, but I will try to persuade him to wait a few months until the business makes money. Once back home, I stayed was awake worrying about Redgrave and the Raines.
For their Post Office Application, the Raines had to produce a month-by-month profit summary and cash flow forecast and it was hard work with the spreadsheet.
I then called Redgrave and established that the Raines would like my help and made plans to drive over. I took the loan car, my files and some tools and parts in case I needed to do anything urgently, but I never had time for the latter.
In a general chat, I ascertained that they were much better than before, having settled into the flat and recovered some of their composure. David was still at home off work sick and this was useful as I could go upstairs and work with him on the accounts.
Progress in the shop had been good but there were errors arising from the implementation of customer accounts on the till on Friday and a confusion by their credit card facility being available from the middle of the week.
I called Redgrave earlier and found out that David had got up to date with the general transactions, giving the opportunity for me to go over and do some adjustments.
On arrival, I found both David and Shirley in good spirits and they had settled in after the trauma of moving and managing difficult aspects of the business and are over the most difficult time.
Browsing firstly through his batch file, things seemed to be all right and then to look at the bank accounts, showing David how to reconcile them so that we could check that everything was in order.
Then to look at the cash reconciliations where I got David checking the position week by week on TAS against the weekly cash spreadsheets. I balanced the first week and then left David to carry on as I went down and helped Shirley who had some problems with her sheets for the current week.
It had been a good session with measurable progress achieved. Between times, I chased Nigel and Adam and David and Shirley Raine, who I urged to complete a full stock check this weekend for the end of their financial year.
When other priorities allowed, I spent a morning working on my investment plans for the children’s estates and trusts, working out a good way of avoiding capital gains tax in the trusts and giving Daniel and Debbie some tax-free ISA savings on their own account.
Once the last of my very urgent action items were achieved, I continued to work on the rest of my affairs checked my share prices and email and found that the stock market was on the way up again.
I also spoke to Daniel and Charles Stanley about my tax planning measures after which I spent the whole day working at home on a variety of paperwork and investment problems.
I struggled to rationalise my property accounts, which then had a realistic account of the purchase and redevelopment costs of Redgrave and St Mary’s Street. This extended into the evening, when I had to work before and after dinner and then again until 2.00am before getting to bed.
I had completed my post office and building society transactions. Worst of all was the £20,000 tax demand from The Inland Revenue, which took me totally by surprise. I was evidently late and could have been surcharged £900 if they wanted to be nasty.
Several calls eventually revealed that they had not sent me a statement after receiving my self-assessment tax form and so I had no way of knowing how much to pay.
A Paranoid meeting followed, but was not being held in the summer house, but in the conservatory and both the Masons and Roger had arrived by the time I had got there. I gathered them together and opened the meeting and we received reports from around the table and then exchanged views.
The meeting between Adam and Ed had not produced anything positive and it transpired that there had been a lack of trust as nothing had ever been signed between us.
The film festival at Cannes looked interesting and would make a nice holiday as well as progressing the film. Nigel’s idea of employing a salesman and taking other films under our wing was favourably received.
We all left the meeting with plenty of action items but there was a mood of depression at the lack of financial progress. I stayed on a little while and chatted first to Roger and then to Nigel.
The next family meeting was very good as the idea I had for Diana, though unique in the stockbroker’s history, was permissible for them and suited Diana down to the ground.
The plans for the children’s trusts also went well and shares will not be transferred into their own names under ISA tax shelters which will work out very well.
I then read the financial papers further and advised her more about pensions and ISA investments. I had much work to do on Paranoid Celluloid and in liaising with Steve Hicks and his solicitor to draft our legal charges and loan restructuring.
We were planning to take a rented house or apartment in Cannes for the film festival. I spent the day drafting a letter to Ed Ramsey of Film 2000 and trying to manage the recruitment process for a sales executive.
I spent the first part of the day on my email and telephone, updating myself with what had been happening at Paranoid and Redgrave. I tried to get the Masons to comment on my draft letter to Ed Ramsey and completed our booking for a flat at Cannes and I just about managed it by the end of the day.
I called Diana and talked her through the task of finding the trust share certificates for Unilever and then taking them into the stockbrokers.,
Despite all this activity, I found time for my journal, updating these last few days and then starting to summarise the month of February for the archive.
These days, I often had a simple breakfast of grapefruit, kiwi fruit and then croissants and then a lunch of soup and left-over vegetables from last night.
I managed to bake the croissants just right so that their texture was not too crisp or too chewy and it was the nearest I have managed to how I used to have them in France. .
By mid-evening, it was apparent I was not going to get home for dinner and so I called Louise and arranged to have a Chinese takeaway with David & Shirley.
A break for lunch, having a left-over chicken paella and a side salad and then back to carry on. a meal at Sassies’, a restaurant opposite the train station. I dragged myself up and made a very simple breakfast of fruit juice and cereal, which we ate together.
I took Louise, Galena and a new guy to The Waffle House for a light meal which only came to £37 which I thought was good for four of us, including drinks.
Nigel was impressed when visiting that Louise had planned dinner of venison and took a close interest on her use of plum and lemon sauce to accompany it.
The next morning, we went over to the Swan Hotel for a full English breakfast which was nice. I had lunch of a prawn sandwich and pot of tea. but eventually able to get up and help with breakfast.
I still found time to walk Sam along Crabbet’s marsh track. We ventured out once the sun was up and the snow was melting so that sheets of it were falling off of the thatch with a loud whoosh.
Sometimes, Louise offered to walk Sam and took him with my bicycle for his morning run.
Also I took Sam for his morning cycle ride and controlled him quite closely, given the countryside restrictions that we are suffering now.
Two walks for Sam by the river again I ventured outside and walked around a bit with Sam. I did not go far and took the chance to see how the snow was clearing.
On our ride, we saw a dairy farm sealed off with signs and disinfected straw barrier against the foot and mouth disease.
This month, I was at The Eaton Oak to meet John Lamb. He was looking even older and greyer than last year and suffering the after-effects of his bout of flu that had put back his trip from last week.
I called Nigel, found him free, and then joined him for an afternoon tea for me and coffee for him. He was a worrying sight, had put on weight and was bursting out of his Chino trousers whilst still feeling his stiff back. Compared with these two guys, I was fit and healthy!
We arranged to go shooting together, me and Nigel, and he was typically late but once changed, we set off for Blackrow, and I gave him the option of the high seat or wandering and he chose the latter.
Nigel had to trespass to retrieve the beast he had shot, which is not what I would have done. He thought it was a Roe Buck, but it was manifestly too big, and I reckoned it was a young Fallow pricket.
Nigel gralloched it and we loaded it aboard and set off home. Once back, we just about managed to hang the deer in the net and then went in for pre-dinner drinks.
Responding to a call from Sharon, I poured out details of my predicament and sought and got plenty of sympathy. She had also been suffering; this time from a tummy upset which she put down to food poisoning, but I was less sure.
Later, I washed, shaved and changed and then said my farewells and packed my things into the car and set off for The Addison Centre in Bedford. I literally felt Sharon’s presence when she arrived as she pinched my bottom from behind!
It was a complicated but good routine and I managed it and then danced with lots of other girls and young women such as Danny until the end. I saw Sharon a couple of times and danced with her but did not get a chance to chat.
There followed a couple of calls from Sharon, who became braver at calling Heronshaw when I was not answering my mobile and I was also being interrupted by Sharon from time to time when working.
I resolved to stop returning her calls as she has no financial incentive to cease any call! Sharon pestered me several times during the day, having entered some silly time-share holiday competition, which I never believed would be genuine anyway.
I even drove on to Turvey, having spoken to Sharon a lot and she had struggled at times with her problems and illnesses and so I wanted to see her for a little while before Ceroc.
I arrived to find her son Adam vacuuming the house with her missing in the bathroom and so I settled down to rest after a lot of driving and two long meetings.
Sharon came down eventually and we sat and drank some wine and chatted in the lounge. The conversation went on for ever as we always have lots to say. She has written Ian off now and sees Gavin, even though she means more to him than he does to her. She would love a holiday away but has nobody to go with.
It was then time to get ready and go and I borrowed her bathroom for a shave and to change my shirt before we went. We arrived a little late for even the intermediate lesson, but we joined in and soon got the hang of most of it.
Once the lesson was over, I danced with a range of nice dancing girls and kept busy for the evening, linking up with Sharon for the last dance.
Then I was working away when Sharon telephoned. I called her back to save money, and we were talking for well over the hour. She had another tiring weekend, out with Gavin and Dr David whose ex-wife had been to see his ex-mistress whilst he was away, established that David was not seeing her, and they agreed that he must be seeing Sharon!
She was confused and did not know how she could keep causing problems with all these men around her. “Why don’t you come and save me!”, she said to me and then, after reminding me that she was going away to Amsterdam with three friends, “I will miss you”.
I turned out loyally for Debbie, who wanted my help viewing properties in the Norwich area and she came over for breakfast and then again for lunch. She was with me for some time for her final revision, and she seemed confident with her work and passing all her final pre-registration examinations.
Many of her colleagues were leaving Boots to join private practise and I advised her to check out these opportunities but to hold out for more from Boots before agreeing to join them.
I took and collected Debbie, when she had put her car in for repair at Broadland Motors and she listened in with great interest when Nigel and I tried to put the world to rights
Debbie got herself early to Poo Na Na for the beginners lesson, calling me several times on the way and once she was there to find the place and seek advice on parking! I did not know how she would manage on her own!
I showed her the photos which were of Cuba, London and the floods. I was going to be going away for the day when Debbie was at home to commence her studying and examinations. She was travelling from Paxton to Birmingham to start her exams and so I sent both messages of congratulation and good luck
Soon, Della arrived home and she came into my office and chatted a while. The display cabinets were full of our children’s art and craft achievements and artefacts and there was the relicts and Della’s car accident, where her colouring pencil set was shattered in its case by the car impact.
When in Norwich, Della would go off with Graeme for the evening, when Louise and I went to the cinema in Riverside before I would collect Della on the way home.
Della reminded me that she was off on holiday to Florida and I would not be seeing her for a while.
I was surprised to get a call from Bettina, who had been driving a large van in the other direction along the A11 and spotted me! They had enjoyed her honeymoon in Spain, but their move had been delayed by the illness of his mother from Cancer, from which she would be dying.
At The Hayling View, I got on with the job of clearing up my office, where Diana had taken some old papers and things out of the bookcases and invited me to sort through them and throw away the things I did not want. This took time and then I settled down to go through the mail that awaited me and secured the papers and certificates that I had visited to pick up.
Louise and I remained keen to enjoy dancing events together, even when very tired, but there was often a shortage of me available or willing to dance with her.
We travelled with dancing friends to follow Nelson’s irregular lessons. He would teach up to thirteen moves very quickly which were a challenge to perform and remember afterwards so, by the end of it, I had forgotten all of them as usual.
I would drive Galena, Kerry and Louise to the venue where we danced some freestyle.
Apart from dancing. Louise and I would also enjoyed regular visits to the cinema to see such films as Dancing with Wolves, and Thirteen Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis
Whilst also doing other things, I was also very busy with personal and professional matters, writing my journal and both making and receiving telephone calls.
I was often working in my office today for ages, not seeming to achieve a great deal but tussling with a few tricky problems and then spending time filling in the forms for my forthcoming full health screen.
I then fell ill, suffering increasingly with achy arms, legs and flushed with a high temperature. I was not sniffing and coughing very much but knew I would do if I tried to exert myself or went outside without wrapping up.
Whilst also doing other things, I was also very busy with personal and professional matters, writing my journal and both making and receiving telephone calls.
I then fell even more ill, suffering more and more with achy arms, legs and flushed with a high temperature. These bouts, and the way that Louise reacted adversely, worried me about the future when my age could make me dependent upon her with her not relishing the experience.
I collapsed back into bed with the paper and there is not much else to say about this frustrating spell, which I considered to be a waste of time.
I then managed to complete my February journal summary by the afternoon and, the weather being quite bright and with me feeling a bit better, I took some light exercise as I went outside.
It was beautiful and I looked forward to the better weather and improved health when it could be enjoyed more. I struggled and managed a visit to Paxton. Horning Sailing Club had turned down my latest proposal over them renting space and moorings from me and I wrote to say that that was that for the time being.
I retired back to bed with the weekend newspapers and read for a long while. It had been raining hard for days in huge bursts and everywhere was saturated.
This poor weather also left me time to write up these last couple of day’s journal entries. I got a call back from Roger Tompkins of South Quays who had returned from holiday, and we discussed joint road repairs and efforts to contain a rat problem at the rubbish bins.
Having spent the day in my attic, I spent some time sorting out more paperwork and then a determined effort to catch up on a few action items before updating this journal of the last few days.
One thing that I managed to do was to order a fly screen to seal my loft hatch for the warmer days when I want ventilation without the gnats getting in!
I decided to do some work in the morning and then to go out and deliver some Liberal Democrat leaflets that had been lying around in my garage for some time.
Just paperwork for the rest of the afternoon before walking Sam I was slow to get going this morning and then made myself a bit late getting ready to go out.
They served us complimentary drinks and goodies, and we enjoyed the film greatly.
The rest of the evening quite quietly spent and then to bed. Della and I shopped in the Castle Mall as I put in my backlog of films for developing and she bought and card and present for Mother’s Day.
Once we had checked to see when her train was arriving and seen how much time we had, we spent some time together on a snack lunch and then I took her to the train.
Nigel slept well and enjoyed the night, calling his wife Heather both last night and again this morning.
He does all the cooking, and she had not slept for lack of his attentions which was quite sickly.
More chats and conversations about the film company and then a plan for trying to realise the potential of our films by suggesting some marketing resource.
Once he had gone and then realised that I had forgotten to take the Range Rover in for a service today!
I quickly dressed and then set off, getting there quite late and then took their loan Discovery and drove into the centre for my shopping and lunch.
I had tried Bettina and then Susan for company, but they were both elsewhere or busy and so, after collecting my developed film prints and then buying some small items, I had bought a new pair of ready-reader glasses and a new hat.
The afternoon working away, tackling more problems as the garage found major problems with the car.
It was Tim’s birthday today and she was pondering over whether to make him a cake, but I made a call and ordered an even better one for her for £5.50 that allowed her to spend more time working.
The drive back to Norwich, where I collected the Range Rover smelling very sweetly from its valet service.
It was a shame that I had to get going quite early in view of my first 11.00am meeting in Hail Weston and I just walked Sam.
It was tough to get all of my things ready for so many eventualities, but I got out by 9.15am, which gave me some chance. but I had arranged a time to see Diana and therefore drove off to the Hayling View.
The meetings over, but we were early and so we had a coffee in the café shop first.
The journey back was hard as I was very tired and had to concentrate in order not to fall asleep.
I stopped at Barton Mills for petrol and a drink for revival and then just about made it back, leaving my car outside the garage and going straight to bed.
I was so tired that I slept through the alarm and was fast asleep again. I was slow to get started today, being still quite tired from yesterday, and it was hard going to get back to my desk as I really would have liked to go back to bed!
I called Sue and found that she did want to go to Cambridge but was then reluctant to drive early and take me if she could come later as part of the group, which was better for me as it gave me more time during the day.
The journey was again rather slow and became slower as we approached Cambridge City and then came to almost a standstill as we got into the centre.
During the journey, we had talked about Nelson and Sue’s idea of regular Saturday night lessons and freestyle in Norwich.
Sue told us about the girl from Cambridge that Nelson takes home each Friday and that things are over now between her and Nelson.
He had said that she would be banned from his Salsa if she did not sleep with him. What a bastard Nelson can be!
It was a good night in the end, but we were both tired, arriving home after 2.00am and going straight to bed.
Probably because I had been up late two nights running and then up for 6.45am starts to make breakfast for I think it was also because I had seen Sharon who is always so nice and considerate that.
This was a poor start again to the day but then we retrieved it as we took Sam for a walk on our bikes, cycling around the countryside for a good outing.
My next job was to butcher the deer that Nigel had shot last Monday, and I did this in the garage.
Then I walked Sam on foot a while and came back quite hungry. Again, I did not want to get up this morning
Once dressed, I opted to go up and check my emails and the share prices I then spent a hectic afternoon on correspondence and paperwork, felling slightly guilty and annoyed that I had “wasted” so much time on the telephone in the morning.
In the end I got down to some good work writing up my film meeting and attending to some other chores.
The same tired start and slow progress but gradually getting more up to date with sleep so that it was just the physical tiredness to battle.
I did not mind so much as it allowed me to catch up with the paperwork, but I made a list of jobs today that I will start when the opportunity presents itself.
Then late down to walk Sam and greet Louise. Today I was purchasing a used chain saw, brush cutter and parts to make a good start on my forestry work
I ruled out the idea of driving over to Paxton and so I arranged my tools in the garage and got ready to do some jobs.
Before and after dinner, I tackled four of the jobs, fitting handles to three windows, a coat hook on the back of the toilet door and three hat hooks in the hall.
Once I had finished the jobs and cleared up, I went upstairs to my loft, checked for email messages and then updated my journal.
The first day of my non-red meat diet today, as I prepared to lose weight. I took the Jolly across to the riverside land and spent a full three hours cutting back scrub and felling trees with my chain saw.
It was tough and warm work, but I made good progress. As the day went on, I started planning for the evening and then left in time to rendezvous with Susan at her place just after 4.00pm.
She had agreed to give me a lift to Cambridge for Louise to come later and bring me back at the end of the evening.
It was a good opportunity to chat to Sue, who told me of her latest situation with Nelson with whom she is becoming friendly again.
He had come up and stayed with her overnight although “nothing happened” according to her.
They had looked at a new and suitable venue which Sue hope would become a regular Saturday night spot for Nelson to teach at from April 14th.
She could have driven back with him, but was happy to come with me and chat about things as we are very good friends.
We arrived in good time, and I bought her a drink in the pub before we went over for the first of two Salsa lessons.
The evening’s lessons were quite long, involved and tiring after my earlier exertions but I just about made it through Nelson had said that he would join us for a drink after but nobody believed him until he turned up.
He sat next to me and was quite chatty and even offered everybody a drink. He then took the young Latin girl home and Susan joined us as we went along to the freestyle evening Salsa disco organised by the DJ.
The journey home with me driving at first She came right home to Horning, and I had not noticed that she had not dropped me off to collect my car until it was too late.
I just hoped that Susan would not mind me leaving my car there, using her only visitors parking permit until morning.
I was not too sure about my health but soldiered on and was pleased to manage. I followed dutifully and was tired at first but still cold and then could not get to sleep as a result.
Up for some relief and a mug of warm milk until I was sufficiently tired enough to sleep.
Just time to go through the post and chat to her before we left together for Bedford and the offices of Mike Trusswell at Charles Stanley & Co.
Time for a longer chat on the way, as Diana and I talked about the children and her coming holiday to Disneyworld.
She is nervous of having a party of children as both her boyfriend Roger and Della’s boyfriend Graeme are hopeless about travel and change.
I got the impression that she would much rather have had me along and we enjoyed our conversation..
This month I caught up with John Lamb and Nigel Smith. John was looking even older and greyer than last year and suffering the after-effects of his bout of flu.
Nigel was an equally worrying sight as well. He had put on weight and was bursting out of his Chino trousers and still feeling his stiff back, but he did some to Blackrow and shot a deer.
Though I had moved on and was in a relationship with Louie again, I was still in touch with Sharon as I was concerned about her health and welfare.
I poured out details of my predicament and sought and got plenty of sympathy.
She had also been suffering; this time from a tummy upset which she put down to food poisoning, but I was less sure.
When dancing at The Addison Centre in Bedford. I literally felt Sharon’s presence when she arrived as she pinched my bottom from behind!
She has written Ian off now and sees Gavin, even though she means more to him than he does to her.
She would love a holiday away but has nobody to go with. She was confused and did not know how she could keep causing problems with all these men around her. “Why don’t you come and save me!”, she said to me and then, after reminding me that she was going away to Amsterdam with three friends, “I will miss you”.
With regard to family and friends, Debbie was viewing properties in the Norwich area and I was helping her.
She was with me for some time for her final revision, and she seemed confident with her work and passing all her final pre-registration examinations.
Many of her colleagues were leaving Boots to join private practise and I advised her to check out these opportunities but to hold out for more from Boots before agreeing to join them.
Debbie got herself early to Poo Na Na for the beginners lesson, calling me several times on the way and once she was there to find the place and seek advice on parking!
I did not know how she would manage on her own! She was travelling from Paxton to Birmingham to start her exams and so I sent both messages of good luck and congratulation.
I was still close to Della and she often came into my office and chatted for a while.
The display cabinets were full of our children’s art and craft achievements and artefacts and there was the relicts and Della’s car accident, where her colouring pencil set was shattered in its case by the car impact.
When in Norwich, Della would go off with Graeme for the evening, when Louise and I went to the cinema in Riverside before I would collect Della on the way home.
Della reminded me that she was soon off on holiday to Florida and I would not be seeing her for a while. I was surprised to get a call from Bettina, who had been driving a large van in the other direction along the A11 and spotted me!
They had enjoyed her honeymoon in Spain, but their move had been delayed by the illness of his mother from Cancer, from which she would be dying.
This month saw me very close to Louise, with plenty of lovemaking, but she was also distant and remote before taking advice and being more receptive.
Arguments and rows were all too often as she strived for her independence and was conscious of her mother’s adverse advice.
She was trying hard to do well in her new job but it was taking its toll and it was for me to make the breakfast and get things ready for her to leave and then clear up afterwards.
We remained keen to enjoy dancing events together, even when very tired, but there was often a shortage of me available or willing to dance with her. We travelled with dancing friends to follow Nelson’s irregular lessons.
He would teach up to thirteen moves very quickly which were a challenge to perform and remember afterwards so, by the end of it, I had forgotten all of them as usual. I would drive Galena, Kerry and Louise to the venue where we danced some freestyle.
Apart from dancing. Louise and I would also enjoy regular visits to the cinema to see such films as Dancing with Wolves, and Thirteen Days, about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Whilst also doing other things, I was also very busy with personal and professional matters, writing my journal and both making and receiving telephone calls.
I then fell ill, suffering more and more with achy arms, legs and flushed with a high temperature. These bouts, and the way that Louise reacted adversely, worried me about the future when my age could make me dependent upon her with her not relishing the experience.
I collapsed back into bed with the paper and there is not much else to say about this frustrating spell, which I considered to be a waste of time.
I then managed to completed my February journal summary by the afternoon and, the weather being quite bright and with me feeling a bit better, I took some light exercise as I went outside.
It was beautiful and I looked forward to the better weather and improved health when it could be enjoyed more. I struggled and managed a visit to Paxton. Horning Sailing Club had turned down my latest proposal over them renting space and moorings from me and I wrote to say that that was that for the time being.
I retired back to bed with the weekend newspapers and read for a long while. It had been raining hard for days in huge bursts and everywhere was saturated as.
This poor weather also left me time to write up these last couple of day’s journal.
I got a call back from Roger Tompkins of South Quays who had returned from holiday, and we discussed joint road repairs and efforts to contain a rat problem at the rubbish bins.
Having spent the day in my attic, I spent some time sorting out more paperwork and then a determined effort to catch up on a few action items before updating this journal of the last few days.
One thing that I managed to do was to order a fly screen to seal my loft hatch for the warmer days when I want ventilation without the gnats getting in!
I got through the bathroom and ate a bowl of cereal to keep me going. cooked some more food in the evening and then we watched two good films.
There were a spoof Sherlock Holmes film and The Thomas Crown Affair.
These took us well into the evening, before bedtime, I made us some warm drinks and then went up to write this last two days’ journal.
There was the first of the suspected Norfolk Foot & Mouth Disease cases was given the all clear today and the first movements of healthy animals was being made to abattoirs.
Norwich City
I made a flask of tea, wrapped up and set off,. In our seats in time, due to the kick off being delayed by crowd congestion. I thought that we battled quite well against an obviously talented team and did not get any luck as all the official decisions went against us. The WBA players continually harried and hassled the City players, often nudging and pushing our players just before the ball arrived and then blocking us off when we first played the ball. The referee let them get away with this all match and did not run enough to catch up with play. He then gave a penalty to them that decided the result, having ignored a blatant foul that got their player in that position. I heard from Della that she was coming over and wanted Graeme to join her for the football and then, whilst on my way, We arrived around 12 minutes late for the kick off, but little had happened. Norwich went ahead from a good early cross from Llewellyn that Roberts put away but then bad marking left their forward unmarked to head past Andy Marshall for it to be level at half time. In the second half, our goalkeeper was fooled by a long swirling lob from their captain who therefore scored from the half-way line and that knocked the stuffing out of our team and we lost the match. This day was quite a good one, really. It was not long before it was time to get ready for the football match. City had completed a series of three lost matches and today they had three new signings in the team and we had better hope. We collected my car on the way from outside Sue’s house and then dropped off Debbie’s at Tim’s house and made our way to the ground together. Tim met us there and we used all four tickets, even though Debbie was still away in Florida with Di Roger and Graeme. We just arrived in time again and then ate pies and enjoyed Bovril drinks as we settled into our seats. This was an important match as Grimsby were just below us in the table and a loss tonight would start relegation worries again. Llewellyn scored the winning goal with fifteen minutes to go! Home at quite a reasonable time and to bed after a tiring week. listening to the football on the radio as City first went a goal up at Vicarage Road and then let Watford score four goals to overrun our defence.
UK News
I watched the lunchtime TV news. as I watched the chancellor’s budget speech. The budget was a triumph of manipulation by Chancellor Gordon Brown, who had been able to repay around £50bn of the national debt, more than had been repaid in total over the previous 40 years. Amongst the new provisions were better packages for working parents, single and in couples, in what Brown called his “Budget for Families” and also £1bn each on Education and Health. The most impressive things she saw was the personal invitation by Prime Minister Thatcher requesting the honour of my company for a reception at 10 Downing Street and she was quite overcome by that. The Foot & Mouth outbreak has passed the 200-mark of confirmed cases, and the disease is in most of the country, and even in France, but not yet in Norfolk.