Complicated family day with Debbie home from school but able to look after Della and go horse-riding later as the weather turns wet again but I find Colin Howard in at last to arrange copying some of my loaned pictures and then manage to piece together the Little Paxton maps showing the post-war development and then enjoy our new sound system after getting Daniels help. Sad news that Fiji has now become a republic and no longer in The Commonwealth, more executives implicated in The Guinness scandal and both the US and UK stock exchanges slide which endangers the BP flotation.
Slept well enough and was awake with Diana for the lead up to my morning tea. Got up thus early and wondered about before starting to read the rest of yesterday’s Financial Times that I had missed. Breakfast of wheat flakes, then straight to the morning papers, as Daniel went off to school. Poor Debbie suffered from spots and puffy eyes this morning and so we felt it best to keep her at home. At 9.00am my phone alarm went off and I pressed the button on my automatic phone machine to dial Colin Howard Photography. To my surprise, I found him at home and arranged for him to collect my latest and largest batch of photos for copying. He now works selling kitchens and also aerial photography, apart from his hobby of general photographic work. I finished off reading my paper this morning and then spent much of the rest of the session preparing the photos for him to collect. I photocopied and referenced them for ease of handling and so that I could still refer to them whilst he had them in his hands.
Debbie got bored during this time and I had to interest her in a few things until Di got back from Playschool. Diana had taken Della to Playschool and, although she was only to be on standby as a helper, one of the mothers failed to turn up to supervise and she had to spend the morning there. A salad lunch, with what seemed a huge piece of pork pie. This afternoon, I finished off the photo preparations, then photocopied all of Debbie Mc Kensie’s project notes. She had done well and I really feel sorry that she cannot carry the thing through to a logical conclusion without difficulty. This afternoon, Di was at keep-fit and Debbie had to look after Daniella. As Di’s Mum was still on holiday in Menorca, this was fortunate really. I carried on working, changing to the task of piecing together partial copies of the latest Little Paxton map, which took me either side of teatime to complete. Daniel had gone on a school art trip to Bedford and quite enjoyed it. His main highlight, however, had been going to JVC Audio and seeing a Graphic Equaliser and ‘all around sound’ HiFi unit on special offer that suited our system. I agreed to get the two together for £200 and he successfully persuaded Di to take him into town again to get them. He also picked up his first pair of spectacles and it will be quite strange to see him wearing them. Di agreed to take Debbie horse riding tonight. She had recovered enough for the lesson, but I was coughing with a sore throat and so Di stepped in. Daniel put Della to bed, bathing her and telling her a story, because I said he could commission the new HiFi elements if he did it first. I worked on and, overlaying maps and referring to house estate dates, got a good idea of the houses in Little Paxton’s post war development. I also placed the former position of Paxton Park Mansion, straddling the new road and houses of Paxton Drive. Later tonight I went into the lounge and had a trial run of the new sound system and it is quite impressive. Then wrote up my journal, before listening to the news and going to bed, thinking that there is much still to do on the Little Paxton History project. The sad news today that the Fijian Governor General had tendered his resignation to the Queen, as his position had become untenable. It was, therefore, reluctantly accepted that Fiji was no longer a member of the Commonwealth. In the Queen’s own words, ‘it is sad that Fijian allegiance to the Crown should end without the people being able to give their own opinion’. This ends months of constitutional turmoil, brought on by the military coup of Colonel Rabuka. Next in line for the Guinness affair arrests is the former merchant banker, Roger Seelig. He has been charged with theft, false accounting, conspiracy to create a false share market etc etc. The US Dow Jones index on Wall Street slumps again on trade balance worries and it took with it the UK Stock Market as well. The BP share issue has been priced at 230p, 20p less than the present market price. Considering that the terms are 1/3 down and 2/3rds to pay, with a full dividend from day one, and a 1 for 10 bonus share if held for 3 years as well! This giveaway will lead to a successful after market, but is a poor thing for the country’s inheritance to be sold off cheap in this way. The weather turned wet again this afternoon and more heavy rain and wind is forecast to come tomorrow.