I didn’t sleep well last night. That’s a really unusual happening here, because normally, I’m the one who can sleep anywhere - as my Mum would have said “she can sleep on a washing line”.

Even though I was already awake when the TV came on at 6, it was still a bit of an effort to get up and go swimming. My Mum must have been on my mind today though, because I could hear her saying “you’ll be glad when you get there” - and she was right. I was pleased I’d gone because it was one of those mornings when there were just the three of us swimming our lengths; the three of us who swim at more or less the same speed and who accommodate one another with a smile. I was thankful for that.

On the way home, I hit a pothole however. It was a humdinger of a hole and one I couldn’t avoid. I felt the shock and continued home, hoping for the best. But as I parked my car in the garage, I spotted the tyre pressure light had come on. Again.

It had come on the other day and I’ll admit, I wasn’t too sure what that yellow sign meant at first. It was a cold day and my car had been parked outside for some time and actually, it had gone off before I arrived home, I assume because the tyres had warmed up a bit on the journey and the pressure had gone up as a result. But my Hero was there with the pump in no time at all to check and sort it out for me.

With everything tickety-boo, I was miffed that yet again, that pesky yellow light had come on and said as much as I came indoors muttering about blooming potholes in the road.

But on his way out to the dentist half an hour later, my Hero had bad news to share. My tyre was flat. The pothole had caused a puncture in my front, nearside tyre on this, the first of two busy days.

Hrrrmph.

I decided to call the County Council to report the pothole and at least share my grump with someone. Dawn answered the phone, though, and her manner was so sympathetic it was hard to be cross as I described what happened. She asked for my email address and within minutes of putting the phone down I had an information sheet about making a claim and the form to complete, together with acknowledgement of my report, all accurately recorded exactly as I had said. Bravo Dawn.

My Hero comes to my rescue once again then, as he fishes the spare wheel out of the boot and fits it, ready to take down to our local tyre shop at the bottom of the hill.

What would I do without him?