LOL John! Call button comin' right up (not!) =]   Ebbie, LH, Helen -- thanks for mentioning intuition (sounds more acceptable than 'psychic'!), and pointing out that the 'block' could have been a response to a vague but powerfully negative emotional atmosphere / energy (ie distress and desperation). My house is very quiet -- there's no-one here but me, the cat, the fish and the plants. So once I'd finished preparing to do all my errands/banking and leave for the day, it became quiet enough - both inside my head and outside it - for any such 'signals' to get through to my conscious mind. Hmmmm ... sounds plausible!

Helen said It's possible that in your subconscious was a visual impression from glancing at the vase and seeing something amiss but not enough to make you walk over and look more closely.

LIkewise, robomatic said

Is it possible you had the apparently 'empty' fish bowl in your field of vision during the morning and a part of your mind registered that departure from normality, hence as it was working its way from your unconscious to your conscious brain it resulted in that queer 'block' on your actions?

Now, that makes a lot of sense! Rings a bell, too --- as a matter of fact, when I first noticed the fish was 'gone' I strained my brain for a minute trying to remember if I'd seen it when I got up. On sunny mornings, the light coming through the window turns that fish into this shining little flash of bright rainbow colours weaving through the water -- I love lying there and watching it when I have time in the morning. And I didn't remember seeing it on that bright sunny morning. But I was so busy with my plans and paperwork and stuff that it really didn't register, I guess.

And I like the idea of "working it's way from the unconscious to the conscious brain". Well put -- that's exactly how it felt! Now, I LOVE the idea of angels and all they represent, and I've develped a working relationship with the nature spirits over the years as I've practiced certain Native spiritual traditions. I know they are real! But I also know the power of 'subliminal, subconscious influence'. That's how advertisers can 'plant' an irresistable urge to pick their product off the shelves and buy it -- by flashing colorful images of the product at you so fast that you can't recognize them consciously. But the subconscious mind is aware of it, and remembers. Hmmmm ....

THanks a lot for the helpful insights and supportive comments, folks!
I'm off to check out Sorcha's thread -- oh, but before I do, thanks again, John, for the humour, and for the heads up re the safety hazard those rocks present too. I did not put the ones I removed back in the vase -- I'd gone a bit overboard with the colorful little stones etc in there (I collect rocks and crystals). There were just too many of them, too many enticing little nooks and crannies to get stuck in. Good thinking!