I've had better days ..

What a grim day ..  there are plenty of low points - but the particular low lights are ..

1) As we came to the end of the morning walk I noticed Maisie about to eat a chicken bone, but couldn't get to her in time to stop her. She took one chomp on it and instantly became distressed. It was lodged in the roof of her mouth between her teeth. I couldn't remove it and the more I tried, the more distressed she became. I was half way between home and the vet - so walked her as quickly as I could to the vet. They thought they'd have to sedate her and quoted £100 - and of course I agreed. The happier ending is that the vet had a last try to remove the bone before injecting Maisie, and succeeded so I just had to pay £32.

2) I went into town, fed the parking meter and went to do a quick spot of shopping. I got back to the car to find a ticket on the windscreen and a traffic warden photographing the car. The ticket had blown over as I'd shut the door, so he couldn't read it. Apparently I can lodge a complaint and the fine will be  quashed.

3) I went out with my camera ...  pulled over to take a photo of a boring curlew - then pulled away, not noticing an iron post in the foliage and did some serious damage to the front of the cursed Nissan sandpit. So I guess I'll be keeping it then (I had planned to negotiate returning it and washing my hands of any contact with the shonky second hand car dealers)

I suppose the first two worked out OK so it's only item number three I'm left to deal with.

The wheatear must have headed off to sunnier climes - he has been replaced by this stonechat who's come to visit us for the winter.