Nicholas Quirke was celebrating his birthday in ways that only he could and  therefore, it didn’t surprise him to find himself at 7pm on a dark and cold night standing in the middle of nowhere waiting for a roadside repair rather than sitting in a warm restaurant in the company of his sons Harvey and Cole and Grace. His celebrations had really started the night before, with an afternoon tea with Rory and supper with Peta. Though it had been a day not without his challenges as he had locked himself out of his home twice, once in the morning, and did exactly the same as he left for Newhaven in the evening. This then involved hiring a Brighton Bike, cycling to Cole’s who had some keys and back again before getting on his way. However none of this stress was carried into his ‘Special’ day. He had a great start, with Birthday greetings pouring in from across the globe and by the time he had got up his mood was one of ebullience and joy. He visited his mother and was given some lovely presents, a desired book and a needed Joseph Joseph item, as well as a surprising print of painting he had housed for his brother for over 20 years and being reunited with the image, despite its diminutive size, was a great relief. H was lunching in Godlming, in what was becoming a birthday tradition, with his sister and Katherine Stocks and on this occasion his Brother in Law. Much laughter, great home made food and a delicious Vegan Lemon cheesecake, of which he greedily consumed. Despite setting off with plenty of time to get home and changed, Nicholas was not surprised to have plans go awry when his tyre burst, somewhere between Bucks Green and Horsham, and he had to call the AA to relieve him in his distress. He was astonishingly calm about the incident which took 2 hours to resolve and even being £158 ponds lighter in the pocket than when his day had started, he allowed nothing to disturb his state of satisfaction. Yes, he was going to be late for supper with his family; yes, it might have to be cancelled, yes, it was cold and dark and a long wait but he chose to take a philosophical stance and accepted that it had happened, he couldn’t change anything and he would, no matter the inconvenience and cost, have more enjoyment from the day, whatever the outcome. He in fact, made it to Brighton and Indian Summer restaurant for just after 8pm and was able to enjoy a wonderful meal and conversation with Harvey and Cole and Grace, which they kindly treated him to. Nicholas ended the day thankful for all the love he had been shown and felt lucky to have all the pleasures and gifts that his day had held.