Debbie was also not keen at leaving Norfolk but had also been missing Sundance
Debbie was also not keen at leaving Norfolk but had also been missing Sundance

Our departure day, starting reluctantly with a visit to the Wroxham launderette as we enjoyed an English Breakfast at the Hotel Wroxham. We dropped into Stalham for some steel plates, dropped by Jack's house on the way back to leave them for drilling and then loaded up on a day had got very warm and humid again.

We telephoned ahead to Freda and Alf in Redgrave before visiting them and then Mum at Stanton and then made our way home to Little Paxton where the garden was in a mess and I will have to sack the gardener and get another one which is disappointing. News of a probable recall of parliament to discuss the Gulf Crisis at the request of the opposition leader, Neil Kinnock, as Ten Opec countries agree on rapid rise in oil production to fulfil Iraq/Kuwait loss. Britain win three more gold medals for a total of five so far at the European Games.

Diana was first awake on our day of departure. We were slow to get going, being reluctant to leave, really! Di had intended to get up very early and be at the Wroxham launderette to wash our sleeping bags by 7.00am but there was no chance of this. The girls were in my cabin before my drink was ready and then spent some time wrestling. The funny thing was that Della, being quite physically advanced and boisterous for a 7-year-old, was on the point of overpowering Debbie, who was somewhat restricted by being in a sleeping bag! Soon, Diana was fretting about getting off to do the washing and a peaceful bath of mine was somewhat curtailed as a result. We left after 8.00am and then found the launderette nearly empty and so there was no justification for this panic. We loaded up the machines and then went to the Hotel Wroxham for an English Breakfast.

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It was reasonable but nowhere near as good as that of The Swan in Horning. The surveyors had arrived at Heronshaw this morning and their efforts continued until we had left. We went to Stalham whilst they were there to get my steel plates from the engineers and then dropped by Jack's house on the way back to leave them for drilling and to inform him that we were leaving today. It took us some time to load up the car with all our things from Heronshaw and the Paxton Princess and by this time the day had got very warm and humid again. It was supposed to be the last of the really hot days that were to be a feature of our epic summer holiday. We eventually left Horning around 1.00pm and picked up a lunch of take-away food from the McDonalds "Drive-Thru" on the Norwich ring road. We telephoned ahead to Freda and Alf in Redgrave and then dropped in to see them on our way home. We found them well and in control of their new enterprise which is growing in turnover week-by-week.

They are also in the middle of the programme of necessary repairs and maintenance to the roof, cellar and wiring that the former owner had failed to do. We also dropped in on Mum in Stanton later and found her well enough, although she is becoming a little more forgetful than she was. She is still getting several friends to run around after her, though she also seems set to move in with Freda when the time is right. Eventually, we completed our journey and made our way home to Little Paxton. I found that the gardens were in a right mess, the swimming pool cloudy with algae again and lawns and hedges uncut and plants poorly watered. I will now have to sack the gardener and get another one which is disappointing. This evening, the rain started which was a welcome break from the hot and humid weather of late. The news is of the probable recall of parliament to discuss the Gulf Crisis at the request of the opposition leader, Neil Kinnock as Ten Opec countries agree on rapid rise in oil production to fulfil Iraq/Kuwait loss. . Britain win three more gold medals for a total of five so far at the European Games.