I thought I'd come to the end of my Derek extracts, but during a tidy-up I found a loose page that contained this entry from Saturday, 8th March 1986. The typos are Derek's:
"An excellent day at home. At its start I decided to identify the various things I did throught the day, together with the times. It has been an interesting experiment. It runs: -
6.30 Rise; put dirty dishes in soak; dress
645--7.15 Read scriptures--Leviticus--; prayed
7.15-8.5 Clean out stove; saw and chop wood; commune with Brenda about prescriptions.
8.10 Family Prayers.
8.20-9.25 Cut Richard's finger and toenails; bath and shave him. Shave and wash self. Prepare breakfast for the two of us; cheese on toast.
9.30-10.20 Prune hydrangeas and roses. Go over flower border in front garden.
10.30-11.5 Take Richard out shopping so he can get a card and book for Mother's Day. Stop on way back to say "Hello" to Eric the Barber; He shows Richard his new eye. Richard kisses him.
11.5-12.30 Tie up fruit bushes; dig over onion and bean plots.
12.30-1.30 Watch wrestling on television with Richard--Big Daddy wins again--; eat dinner: jacket potato, scrambled egg with cheese, baked beans, followed by stewed fruit and custard.
1.30-2.45 Check sewer system. Invent device for removing half a brick from main channel--12 feet down--; put tools away; brush down path.
2.45-3.15 Play with Richard's computer. Still struggling to understand it.
3.15-5.0 - Fall asleep over book in library. Back ache from gardening.
5.00-5.15 - Search DIY magazines for plan to make simple bookcase. Phone Mr Nisbet for information concerning his Modular system for building shelves.
5.20-7.0 Watch the Muppet Show on television. Have tea: crusty bread with fish and beef paste, home-made scones with butter, and apple juice.
And here I am now, just after family prayers, typing in the events of the day. It has been good."
A good day for Derek and a positive note on which to end the year.
Best wishes for 2014.
