Dialling 999

Dipper, Cinclus cinclus

I had to dial 999 for the first, and I hope the last,  time in my life as we drove up to see Julia  on Friday. We saw a column of black smoke on the motorway, and it was rising from an Eddie Stobart truck. A fierce fire was blazing between the driver's seat and the body of the lorry behind, which I hope was not carrying anything terrifically flammable.  The driver was racing back to his cab, presumably having got out to phone for help. We can only hope he did not get back in.

There was nothing we could so, sweeping past on the other side of the motorway, but it looked serious. We said to each other it will already have been phoned in, but realised we would have to call it in, just in case.  So I dialled 999, said "Fire", and was put through to the Fire Service. And, yes, they did know about it so, hopefully, fire engines were already on the way.

I hope the driver was alright. But what a start to his holidays!

Anyway, it was lovely to see Julia and the furry ones again (4 dogs, 2 cats,all rescued, all having a wonderful life). Her house is great too - she has been having work done all year on both house and garden and its finally finished.  Like us she is finding retirement very busy, and notices that her Expat years are already fading into the background, she is so busy with new things.

Captain B got some great Dipper shots on Saturday, one of which will almost certainly be appearing in his 2018 calendar, IF we are all still around by then.   Age is taking a heavy toll on our generation.