Today wasn’t the one I was expecting or hoped for. Oh, it started well enough in that the weather best the forecast, so we had far better temperatures than predicted and a heck of a lot more sunshine, but our lovely Moggie decided to throw a spanner in the works with a health scare. You have to remember he’s just a few weeks shy of his 20th birthday, so we’re always thinking in the backs of our minds that today could be the day we end up saying goodbye. This morning he developed a twitch which seemed to be a problem with his right ear. It affected his balance and the poor bugger practiced walking round in circles so (of course) we became concerned. We booked him in for his 6-month check-up tomorrow and decided to keep an eye on him but his behavior got worse, so Dawn decided it was a trip to the emergency vet…

They were packed, so it took a while to wangle an appointment but we managed it. Only, when we got there, the little bugger decided to be awkward. He’s a lovely disposition, but he doesn’t like being prodded and poked by vets – so they couldn’t get to the root of the problem because (in the vet’s words) Jet was being “grumpy”. In the end we came away none the wiser, just with a cat that was full of antibiotics and a purse that was £83 lighter. Once back at home Jet became decidedly less “grumpy” and also stopped having the head-shakes and tremors. It’s almost like he did it to wangle yet another trip in the car!

Our schedule ripped up, the pair of us decided ‘bugger it’ and rather than work late to catch up for lost time we went out for a stroll and enjoyed the sunshine – which is due to leave us tomorrow, being replaced by several days of rain. We also called in at our replacement ‘local’ – the Wainhouse Tavern (the ‘Big 6’ remains closed as the transfer of ownership is still in the hands of solicitors, who’re taking an age) for a couple of drinks and chat with other ‘6’ exiles.

With the weather changing I’m expecting to be based at home all week, which will allow me to sort out lots of paperwork and pictures like this one I’ve chosen for today’s image. I took this shot in May 1995 whilst Lynn and I were out for a day cycling around Essex. This is Bradwell nuclear power station framed by old wooden mooring beams in the nearby harbour.

This old Magnox power station ceased operation in 2002 but in 1995 it was very much alive…

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