The collapsed Ashland tank in a pool of diesel fuel
The collapsed Ashland tank in a pool of diesel fuel

After a leisurely start on a calmer day than forecast (as the storms hit the West and North )I used the ladders to clean out all of the Hayling View’s gutters from leaves and pigeon droppings before Chas and Chrisula visited to collect my spare video camera on loan before more interview tape transcribing. A giant 4.5million gallon fuel spill on a river, 16 miles long in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh has  forced 1000 people to evacuate their homes  and at least 19 people have been killed by Israeli warplanes, in the Lebanon.

Was rather late to bed again and then laid in a long while. We had to lock the girls out of our room for a while, as we needed the privacy. Then Di brought me some cereal and tea in bed, instead of a fried breakfast. This was much more sensible, as I am desperately trying to lose some weight. I read the last of yesterday’s Financial Times, then eventually got showered and dressed. I sat in my office for a little while reading The Observer, but it was soon 11.30am and so I had to let the ducks out and feed the doves. The day was bright, sunny and quite pleasant, with none of the gale force winds that we had been warned against. I think we must be out of the main weather system, as the news told us of gales in the North of England. As the weather was nice, I just had to do the gutters on the house. Each winter, after the leaves have left the nearby trees, I need to clean out the gutters and down pipes, as the leaves congeal with pigeon droppings to block them too much for the winter rains.

I need to use the aluminium ladder (with stand-off) to the rear of the house and then access upstairs back and front from the four balconies. Then the pipes under the balconies have to be done next and, lastly, the two garages. I worked until lunchtime and was called down for a nice meal of roast chicken with brussel sprouts and roast potatoes and then multi-flavour ice cream to follow. It then took most of the afternoon to finish my job and tend the birds again, but I was inside in time to have a mug of afternoon tea and watched the middle third of a televised football match. Then Di’s brother and wife came by to collect our spare video camera & case to have on loan and I showed him how to use it, whilst Diana cooed over the new baby and showed Chrisula many of our recent photographs. They soon left and Di went off to collect Debbie. She had been invited to Holly’s party this afternoon (Emma Nagle’s sister) and had been to the St Neots Evangelical Church with Emma Law’s family this morning. We had a sit-round tea in the lounge and continued to watch the TV for the early evening, but I managed to spend a couple of hours back in my office later, transcribing the first half of Tape II, but the task was slow and difficult. Prime Minister Thatcher continues to dominate the news. For her, her time in office has gone quickly and she sees more to do. For me, her time has been of painful duration and I cannot wait to see the end of her, but there seems no way of moving her now she has become so dominant. The storms have hit mainly the west side of the country, with more wet and windy weather forecast. It did get windier here later on today. More tragedies as three sisters die in another house fire, this time in Leigh, and an elderly woman is also killed by fire in Gwent, but murder is detected as the cause there. More trouble in Gaza, as a woman is the latest victim shot dead. In Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, there has been a giant 4.5million gallon fuel spill on a river, 16 miles long, and 1000 people have been forced to evacuate their homes in case of health hazards. In the Lebanon, at least 19 people have been killed by Israeli warplanes, as they avenged the recent incident where 8 Israelis died. A squadron of jets protected the attacking helicopter gunships.