My Mum Grace at her Stanton home
My Mum Grace at her Stanton home

A day with the family, culminating with visiting my Mum, Grace Broad, in a Bury St Edmunds hospital awaiting heart surgery as a Polish Solidarity rally is dispersed with tear gas and Gorbachev meets Thatcher to talk arms control

A lay in and morning tea after 8.00am when the Sunday Times arrives. Down to a splendid breakfast of fried eggs, bread, bacon and mushrooms and then Debbie escorts me up and makes sure we wash, clean our teeth and quickly dress. Out to a mornings work with Debbie to help me, first to clean and feed the doves. She climbed the ladder ahead of me, but the doves sat on the roof opposite and would not fly back to feed with both of us there. Then on to the ducks and we feed them and let them on to the river. After to wash the Jaguar. Debbie tended the wheels and I the body of it, Daniel coming to help me as well. Eventually Debbie gets bored and Daniel’s friends arrive and he retreats to his bedroom to play with the computer. I finish the shampoo and rinse and then make off to the riverside to prune the pear and apple trees. They have now completed three tiers of an espalier pattern and should fruit well again next season. Also to muck out the ducks and replace the straw with fresh. A morning coffee at the house and then out to leather the car, wiping the door jams inside and the underside of the boot and bonnet lids. Time to re-pile most of the outside overspill log pile inside, now that we have used a deal of them. In to a roast chicken lunch, accompanied by peas, broccoli and roast potatoes and followed by Diana’s orange and chocolate cake specialty. Out to put away the ducks and feed the pigeons rather early. The anglers opposite were loudly muttering about the noise of our flock of ducks and were glad to see the last of them. The doves were not very hungry and I think the milder weather is the reason as they seem to need food in relation to their efforts to keep warm. In to change ready for our afternoon trip and, when the family was ready, we loaded up and left for Bury St Edmunds. The journey was to the West Suffolk Hospital and purpose to see Mum, Dad and Freda at visiting time.

Touching 100 mph on the motorway we get there in some 40/45 minutes and went up in the lift to the first floor and room F8. Because of our number, Freda brought a wheelchair and wheeled Mum into the day room and Dad, Freda, Me, Diana, Daniel, Debbie and Daniella formed a circle and we chatted and kept mum company. Mum had been a bit down over worries with a nurse, but our collective visit cheered her up and she seemed OK. We exchanged presents afterwards and wished everyone goodbye. Back again by fast car, stopping at Caxton Little Chef for a meal as tea. I had haddock, Di a diet burger, the children roll, butter and chips. All round ice cream to follow except Dan had an American pancake. As the children waited they sang ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’, which embarrassed Diana and amused other waiting guests of the restaurant. Home in the darkness and to put the car away and lock up, Debbie to bed with a story and then we watched a recorded episode of ‘The Prisoners of Zenda’. The fire gradually warming the room up, we sat reading, ironing and writing until later. News today in Poland of a Solidarity rally being ended by use of gas in Gdansk. The visiting Soviet leader, Mr Gorbachev, met Thatcher for 3 hours of talks and other senior ministers joined them for lunch for a total of 5 hours ‘business-like’ and ‘very friendly’ talks. In Rotherham, the schools will stay closed following the Sheffield warehouse blaze which scattered asbestos debris all over the area.