I was going to the Webb Deep Sky Society AGM this weekend, as there are some really good talks scheduled and, also, my friend Larry Mitchell, of Houston TX, is doing a talk and I was hoping to catch up with him. However, some dire personal circumstances have intervened and I’ll have to give it a miss.  My mum is critically ill in intensive care with a sepsis infection, pneumonia and a suspected pulmonary embolism and her chances of recovery, we were told today, are extremely slim because her organs are shutting down.

What with one of the dogs dying, a family friend dying and now my mum looking as if she will not make it to the end of this week, this is a crummy year so far and we’re only half way through it. If someone tries to tell me that thirteen isn’t really an unlucky number I’m not going to believe them…!