I could assemble some of the Harnser kitchen units during the day.
I could assemble some of the Harnser kitchen units during the day.

A very warm and sunny day such that the kitchen packing could dry out and I could assemble some of the kitchen units during the day. We took the Paxton Princess to Ranworth for lunch at the restaurant there, but the Yorkshire Puddings were burnt and the service so painfully slow so that we went without desert and coffee.

Di then took the girls off to Wroxham Barns this afternoon which was a pity because they again missed the Dunham girls who had dropped by to see them. I had also caught some baby moorhen chicks to show them.

A huge hurricane heading for Florida where over one million people are being evacuated and The West is still making bellicose noises over Yugoslavia and Iraq but I have little interest in those matters.

Debbie came into our berth with us last night complaining of having nightmares and this made us wake up quite tired this morning. I decided to go out and assemble a few of the kitchen units that had to be unpacked for getting wet and I managed to build up the first one before the girls were ready to get moving. It started out as a very warm and sunny day and so we took the Paxton Princess via a Horning boat service point to Ranworth for lunch at the restaurant there. We had a pleasant enough meal but the Yorkshire Puddings were burnt and the service painfully slow so that we went without desert and coffee. Della behaved appallingly and must really be taken in hand for her table manners. Back again to Horning in the boat at the end of a nice boat trip that had also led to the toilet tanks being pumped out. Strange how the owner of the boat service station on the main river in Horning gives pump-outs so grudgingly if no fuel is bought at the same time. You would hardly think that the fee of £7.50 is inadequate reward and that he was doing you a favour.

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Diana took the girls off to Wroxham Barns this afternoon which was a pity because they again missed the Dunham girls from along the dyke who dropped by to see them twice more. They also missed seeing baby moorhens who were only a day old that I managed to catch and handle. The poor things had become stranded in the main dyke after they had been taken there for their first experience of the river and could not get back up the very high quay heading that I have built. The young moorhen families used to easily get up on the dinghy slip that I have removed and old habits die hard. I caught each of the five chicks by hand and set them down but one remained behind and I showed it to the three neighbouring girls before the cock parent came back for it and we could let it go again.

I then built a moorhen chick ramp to prevent the same thing happening again when I was not here. Debbie and Della were very sad when they learned that they had missed their friends and this chance to see the baby chicks. I do not think that Diana is particularly worried about them fostering that friendship and likes to keep the girls to herself when on holiday. This evening, I continued to assemble kitchen modules and managed to get most of the main base units ready including the sink and oven units and the spare dishwasher one so that the electrician and plumber will be able to see what connections need to be made. Cleared up my tools and then had a bath and hair-wash before bed. Diana did not wait up for me and I had to make my own bed-time drink.

News is of a huge hurricane heading for Florida where over one million people are being evacuated and the Foreign Office is advising British Nationals not to go there in the next two days. The Duchess of York has had to leave the traditional royal holiday in Balmoral as the second series of intimate and compromising photographs are about to be published by the tabloid newspapers. The west is still making bellicose noises over Yugoslavia and Iraq but I have little interest in those matters.