In view of the various parties I'd never had I was looking forward to having a good bash to celebrate becoming 60.

It was not to be. Despite having promised various friends that he was going to spring a surprise 'do' for the occasion, Bear found his best excuse yet and arranged his knee replacement operation for the week before my birthday.

Needless to say, he was in hospital on the day and when I went to see him that morning (it was a Sunday) he threw a card at me and deliberately avoided saying Happy Birthday. I didn't stay long.

In his defence, it should be said that the next day he was completely out of his head, talking about seeing black insects all over the wall and suffering from high blood sugar. (He has type 2 diabetes).

Of course, the nurses didn't know he was gibbering nonsense, and as he took his own sugar levels with his English meter they didn't realise there was a problem.

When I alerted them, his cache of sugary treats was whisked away and he was subjected to loads of tests and a strict diet. As he had been extremely bad about eating sensibly this came as a quite a shock.

Because of this little setback he stayed in hospital for a fortnight instead of the usual ten days so the rest of us had a pleasant 'holiday' from his bad moods.

And the birthday? Well, CC and Jay cooked a lovely meal at home and we celebrated in a relaxed and stressfree atmosphere.