Even if you’ve only read a tiny bit of this blog, you’ll almost certainly know that my tics have a strange obsession with animals. Tics come and go, but there are always a handful of creatures that stick around, and get mentioned over and over again.

Over the years these’ve included just about everything from Sheepdogs to Marmosets. I’ve even been known to accurately predict the movements of Squirrels. But today I’ve been unnerved to discover my tics might’ve progressed from prediction to manifestation.

Let me explain. At work this afternoon a woman came to the gate asking a favour, she wanted a small rock for her daughter’s school project. What was the purpose of this rock? To make a hedgehog of course!

As a tic, ‘Hedgehog’s been around for a while (you’ll see it popping up here and there in my recent interview with Georgie) and I had to put in superhuman effort not to start shouting gleefully about this spiny little woodland mammal when the woman said the magic word. I didn’t want her to think I was taking the micky and knew the explanation would definitely make it sound as if I was. So if by any chance it was you asking for the rock earlier, sorry if I appeared to be acting strangely and I hope your daughter’s rocky creation was a success.

Just one animal ‘tic-into-reality’ (that’s what I’m calling it) event could probably be put down to the law of averages, but in the evening I was in for a second odds-defying surprise. When I’d got back from work Leftwing Idiot and I went swimming. I’ve been using the main pool recently but, as the lifeguard explained, people suddenly want to get fit at this time of year and as a result the pool gets packed, so we went to the hydrotherapy pool instead.

The hydro pool’s generally much more relaxed with fewer swimmers and a calm vibe. But I almost lost it before I was even in the water when I spotted a woman wearing a swimming cap in the shape of a penguin’s head! I started to shake with excitement and could only point at it by way of an explanation to Leftwing Idiot who was looking puzzled. Neither of us had seen anything like it before, and even after the initial shock wore off, it was all I could do not to stare as I swam past.

Very little is known about Tourettes but research throws up new and confusing insights all the time. I’d like to suggest that the medical professionals pay urgent attention to the tic-into-reality phenomenon outlined here, not least because my tics often talk about dinosaurs and that could create real problems for everyone!

Please feel free to share any similar experiences in the comments section below.