Yes, that time of year has rolled around again. (Sings “Happy birthday” quietly to himself; no-one joins in.)

I had a very busy day with only one special happening. Well, two actually.

I spent most of the morning at the doctors’ surgery. Nothing to get alarmed about – just a routine check-up and all is in order. I needed new scripts for some regular medications I take. I also renewed my driver’s licence last week because the 10 years on the old one were up. To get my licence I had to declare that I had diabetes (which I was diagnosed with since my last renewal). This required a doctor’s consultation and a 4 page questionnaire for her to fill in after she had run me through quite a few tests, most relating to my eyesight. No problems there.

In the afternoon I helped my wife packing up my mother in law’s unit. Last Monday she was admitted to a local aged care home with advancing dementia. It is sad to see her deteriorating on a daily basis, but she is now receiving the professional care we tried to provide but it was beyond our skills. I admire people who dedicate their working lives to helping people in need like this.

A highlight for my birthday was that I bought myself some new binoculars. My old pair has been good, but I bought some lightweight, compact binoculars which are much better. Can’t wait to get out in the field and try them out doing some birding.

In the evening I took my wife to one of the local hotels for a birthday dinner. We had a lovely time, good food and a great view over the River Murray. It was definitely the highlight of the day. Later we each had separate meetings to attend. Mine proved to long and, at times, difficult and challenging, having to deal with a serious issue.

Now back to writing.