I'm not actually superstitious (can't even spell it) but just when I thought I'd got away with it being a pretty normal day....

I let the dog into the garden for pre-bed loo stop, about 11 pm... Did a bit of washing up, filled my hot water bottle. Then I realised it was very quiet outside. Can usually here the chap snuffling around, so I wonder out of the back door and round the side of my house and....... my gate is wide open.

Talk about a panic moment . This was in two respects, 1. My dog has wondered off to god knows where and 2. Some one (and I suspect next doord unruley grown up kids) has climbed over my fence and unbolted my gate, because I certainly didn't.

Anyway I wondered off lead in one hand, best dogs treats in the other and tried to find him and not to wake my neighbours up. Luckily he was only a few houses down the street looking for a cat no doubt and he did come to me when he spotted the treats, so he got home safe. No run ins with cars etc.

But anyway it really upset me. Someone opened my gate and left it open and it bolts from the inside only. I now don't know if they thought it would be funny, or came in to get something that had gone over the fence and just didn't think. Needless to say today I padlocked the gate after living here for 8 years.

Am I just winding myself up, is this really not a big deal? After all Ramsay is fine.

Anything happen to you guys yesterday?

Know what this feels like! Our first lab went out through our gate that the stupid window cleaners had left open. Some bright spark came along and thought it owuld be really fun to take her to the local High School. She ended up running round inside barking. She was only months old at the time and there was I pregnant and frantic trying to find her. It's not a nice experience!

Prior to that she disappeared out of the garden and I couldn't find her anywhere. When I started to call she answered with a bark. It took me a while to realise that she'd gone through the fence and was in nextdoor with the elderly neighbour and her old dog. The neighbour had suffered a stroke so wasn't able to tell me she was there.

We don't have a window cleaner, and the fence is solid, so our current pup should be reasonably safe especially as we've blocked off the side of the house.

Glad you had a happy ending and don't blame you for the padlock.

Have a read of Why do Buses Come in Threes - it'll reassure you that it's just been one of those days . Apparently we're statistically more likely to have the 13th of the month fall on a Friday than on any other weekday, though I have not got the mathematical ability to test that one out - it's something to do with the structure of our calendar. We also tend to remember runs of things, and co-incidences, more easily than things which happen totally sporadically, or non-coincidences, so a day like that can feel as if there must be some significance to it when there isn't.

My day? I was duty doc for the day, went to work, found that one of my colleagues had very kindly signed all the repeat prescriptions for me, had an average number of straightforward housecalls to sort out, saw three emergencies in the surgery which were also readily managed, didn't get time for a coffee, and saw an extra patient for a doctor who had taken ill. Went home, grabbed lunch, got lost finding the clinic I needed to attend for my sore knee, found it a bit late but was still seen, did the supermarket shop, returned home, delegated cooking to my husband and started trying to sort out travel to Exeter. A busy day, with ups and downs, but no concatenation of disasters .

Snow melted (.....--> sulky kids)

Kids missed bus (--> sulkier kids)

Brake warning light came on on family car (sulky mum)

Brake caliper frozen as well as needing new brake pads (SULKY HUSBAND....)


And all that before 10 in the morning :-( )

I woke up so early in the dawn (around 3.30 a.m.)
then started to learn biology

At school, there were three exams! (biology, chemistry and physics)

My GP told me I was going to die young if I carry on taking the medication that I need to take. Turns out he's entirely wrong, but was rather a kick in the teeth and ruined my day somewhat.

I had rather a good day.

But the jacket I fell in love with in town was out of my size Oh, and the windscreen washers in my car had frozen (but did defrost later on).

So it wasn't a bad day. (Apart from the guilt trip in the evening because I didn't do any studying )

Three really good lessons!