Wednesday 20th September 2017

The day began with clear skies and the sight of the rising sun poking through a gap in the hedge, away in the east. Or south east. As the year goes on, the rises in a more southerly direction until December when it starts the return easterly trip back. For the past four months the rising sun has been hidden by the house next door, so by the time the light of the morning sun could be seen, it had been some time since dawn. But not now, the year grows ever older.

Jools was just about to leave for work, she had heard me up and about and the coffee pot was on. Once I am down, she bids me farewell and leaves me in control of the pot to make sure it doesn't boil dry.

I go outside to take a shot of the morning, the rising sun and contrails criss-crossing the sky, it looks dramatic. And it is a fine early autumn morning, not a breath of wind. But cool, so I take my fresh coffee back inside and check on the interwebs as I usually do.

The minutes I have before work are precious, I have the radio on, have a second coffee and eat breakfast.

And then there is work, a meeting, a pause, another meeting, another pause and a third meeting.

It is now one in the afternoon, and the fine day has clouded over and is now cool enough to think about putting the heating on. But I don't, as I have turned into my Dad, watching the clock waiting until the timer ticks round to half three when it switches on.

Dinner is prepared, the radio listened to and I feed the cats as they ask very nicely for their dinner. As you can tell it was a very quiet day, and continued in that manner until just after eight.

When the phone rang. A neighbour rang a friend, who rang someone else who rang a friend of mine then rang me to say that an ambulance had been seen outside of my Mum's this morning. So, I call the local hospital in Gorleston, and indeed she had been admitted. THe reception puts me through to ER who put me through to the cardiac unit. And there she is.

She felt breathless last night, did not improve, and seems that not enough oxygen is getting round her body. I am allowed to speak to Mum, and she is indeed breathless, and embarrassed, rightly so, that I found out without her calling me. She is to be transferred to Norwich tomorrow to have an operation to have more stints put in. She is sheepish, knowing that she is smoking after her last event some six years back, and so her she is again.

She will call tomorrow, at which point we will see if we are to visit over the weekend and beyond. But, she is well enough to be reading The Mirror and doing crosswords. So, the more things change, the more they stay the same.