Nicholas Quirke was awake before the sun was up on 12th September and the realisation that autumn was drawing in, the days getting shorter was strangely comforting. Though he was not working he was still out early and meeting Terry for a tea. They went to the Garden Centre as Nicholas halfheartedly wanted to look and see if he could replace his savaged plant but there was nothing to inspire him and he drove Terry to his meeting and went home. Kate and Megan arrived and they had a few rounds of Casino, which he was delighted to win. It was lunch at the Marina with Harvey, Cole, Lily and Mother and they went to Bella Italia. This was not a good move. The service was absolutely appalling with them waiting ages to be served and when their lunch after a 60 minute wait was finally served, the main the ingredients of the Insalata Verde, he and Kate had ordered were not there, no avocado, peas or beans. Nicholas was not happy and when he questioned the quality of the food, the waiter/manager was unapologetic and took their bowls away to get the correct serving while Megan still had to wait for her food to arrive, the chips were cold and in short the Customer Service a disaster.  The company was wonderful and the pleasure of being with his family overrode his annoyance.  As they left he excitedly spotted a cormorant in the Marina. He arrived at home, with 5 minutes to spare before Penny arrived to record their next Podcast. As ever they had a lot of fun and both had stories to share that made them laugh. Nicholas took the bold step of stopping one of his projects that had begun to frustrate him and though he felt a certain amount of relief, he also felt sad that he could not see it through.  He was oddly tired by the day and went to bed early