13th April
Spencer has a couple of extra days off work this week and the task I have
set him is to sort the garage and the stables out, because it is getting to
the stage where the Bentley almost won’t fit in there due to all the rubbish
that has accumulated. Of course in Spencer’s case this task requires
meticulous planning (and not much actual getting on with the job, in my
opinion), but spurred on by the fact that a neighbour has had a skip
delivered and has offered us some space in it, Spencer has been galvanised
into action.
I commented drily that he might find Shergar and Lord Lucan in there when he
got down to the job, but after a few hours, when I went back to check, all
he had found were 40 Biggles books which needed reviewing from cover to
cover, before a decision could be made as to where they should go.
Obviously I had my own opinions on that but I kept them to myself.
14th April
I am pleased to report that much more progress seems to have taken place in the “great garage clearout”. When I came to check up during the afternoon, you could actually see part of the floor area. Spencer was looking very pleased with himself, as he pointed to the boarding that he had installed in the roof rafters. It all then became very clear, everything had just been moved up a layer and nothing much had been thrown away at all.
15th April
Took Violet Elizabeth to The Topiary in Old Basing to have her hair cut. Violet Elizabeth is now 12 and has very definite ideas about how she wants her hair to look. I rather favour the pony tail and fringe look myself- but I understand that this is no longer the look required by modern young girls. After much discussion involving technical terms such as layering and feathering that I wasn’t aware of, the hairdresser set to work on Violet Elizabeth’s hair. She looked a completely different child at the end of it and there was a lot of sweeping up to be done from the floor, but everyone was very happy with the result including myself.
Next we moved on to Oliver’s Bakehouse to make the final arrangements for my Silver Wedding catering. After much discussion on the merits of the various menus we made our final decision with help of the very friendly staff and, with much swishing of the remaining hair, we made our way back to the Manor.
16th April
Marcus has been away for a week now and I haven’t received so much as a postcard from him. I did notice however that Spencer seemed to be very active on the texting front, and did wonder whether he had heard anything from him. You will remember that Marcus has gone on an “A level” cramming session organised by Spencer, somewhere near London. I thought this was a jolly good idea, although I must admit that I hadn’t realised that it lasted 10 days. Not so much as cramming but gently stuffing I would say. All enquiries to Spencer about Marcus met with a certain non committal response, but I was too busy worrying about the state of my roses, which have developed a rather annoying attack of black spot, to pursue the matter further.
Spencer announced that he would be going to pick up Marcus from his cramming course. I said that I quite fancied a ride in the Bentley, as I hadn’t been able to go on the outward trip (on account of being offered an alternative trip to M&S at Camberley). This was met with a rather red face and stony silence from Spencer. I smelt a rat immediately, and after a few minutes of awkward conversation, it transpires that I have been misled. Marcus hasn’t been on a course for his A Levels at all, instead he has been on a training course with the RAF to gain his glider pilots license. The only cramming he has been doing this last week is the five meals a day that has been provided by the RAF which by all accounts has been excellent.