A Shock, Sad New, Good News, and a Bit of an Oops!

there's a pair of swans nesting at the marina ... this is the male

Let's start with the shock ... I went for a walk over to the marina late yesterday afternoon but had to cut in short because, for the first time ever, it didn't feel safe to be there. All because of one man, drunk and possibly high, making a nuisance of himself. He started trying to put his arm around two young girls, both primary school age, but they were with their mum and she sent him packing so he headed towards the stone bridge and towards a young teenage girl who was on her own. He started talking to her and she looked scared stiff so we called out to her to come and stand with us and he headed off along the canal. I offered her a lift home but she insisted she'd be fine now that he had gone so she set off on her own and I carried on talking to the mother. The next thing we saw was the teenage girl running back towards us with the man close behind her. He stopped when he saw us. She said he hadn't touched her, just scared her, but she agreed to a lift home. I explained what had happened to her parents and left my contact details with them in case they wanted to report the incidence to the police, which they must have done because the police contacted me for a statement last night. According to them the man is harmless and "just makes a nuisance of himself when he's had too much to drink" but the way he was trying to speak to the children but not the adults was unsettling. 

The sad news has been expected for a while ... my friend, JDH, contacted me to say that her mum has passed away. She was nearly 87 years old and had been in poor health for a long time. 

The good news is that Amy, my personal trainer, gave birth to a healthy baby boy last week. Mum and baby are both doing well.

The 'oops' was all my fault. After the marina incidence I went home, had a shower and changed into my nightclothes before making myself something to eat. I'd just finished eating when I had a text from J asking if I was okay so I phoned her back, only to be reminded that we'd arranged to go out for a meal and I was half an hour late getting to her house! It was clearly written in my diary so I don't know how I missed it, but miss it I did! She has forgiven me and we had a good laugh about it as it's usually J who forgets, not me, and we've rescheduled for two weeks time when she gets home from her holiday. 

Today there's only one thing in the diary ... I checked! ... and that's the book group meal, celebrating the birthdays of three of the group members. I can't remember where we are going but fortunately I'm collecting E on the way and she will know!