Nicholas Quirke was in a better mood when he woke on Sunday 9th September with a positive time ahead of him. He had made several vows to himself and was feeling energised and dynamic on starting his day despite breaking out into an inexplicable hot sweat as he got out of bed. A conversation with his sister compounded his high spirits so setting off for a cooking and cleaning exercise with one of clients did not bring him down. He enjoyed a pleasant drive along the South coast to Newhaven for an intimate housewarming and jigsaw at Peta’s. She had prepared a selection of vegan treats which he happily devoured. The house was looking wonderful and Peta had really made some big changes already. The day improved further with the arrival of Jo Neary, Lou, Christian and Sonny. It as so good to see them all after so long. He was sad to leave but was looking forward to an evening with Cole and Rocco. Nicholas had promised to cook supper for Cole who was helping him with a film project he was working on. There was an unexpected driving round  in circles for an hour but in his son’s company it didn’t really matter. They both shared their miseries and their joys and then watched The Fly which was way more visceral than he had remembered. After dropping Cole home he returned in a happy mood to discover that once again they had been visited by vandals. The tenor of the day swiftly changed and he wondered if he was being targeted. Several weeks previously, the plants on the steps of his back doorstep had been damaged and a garden ornament smashed. He initially thought it was vandals but this soon turned to the realisation that a rogue squirrel was the culprit, so when he discovered his plant had been damaged a second time he was irritated but thought little of the matter other than how to stop the pest from damaging his plants further. For the third time,as he stepped out to water the plants after another hot and sunny day his heart sank, and he was devastated to discover that his chili plant, bought to replace his previously savaged shrubbery, had been attacked, leaving only short shoots and the rest of the plant was nowhere to be seen. This was not the work of a mischievous rodent, this was a pre meditated act of violence and whoever was doing this was deliberately targeting his space. This was not only disturbing to his sense of safety but it meant that he could not put any plants out for fear of repeated attacks. Once again Nicholas was closing his day feeling depressed and saddened by the cruelty of mankind.