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Friday 14th
February 2020
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08:49 GMT
Yesterday was wet, sometimes very wet ! The
forecast said the last rain would fall at 4pm, but
it finished before that. I can't seem to remember
when it finally stopped, but I do know that for
the last 20 minutes the rain fell like stair rods,
and that must have drained the clouds very quickly
(sort of). I suppose with an afternoon temperature
of 10° C the day could be called mild.
By now the temperature if supposed to be 6°
C according to the forecast above, but my
thermometers agree that it is just 3° C, and the
bright sunshine is only now melting the frost.
Eventually the sunshine may give way to just sunny
spells, and if the forecast has any credence,
those sunny spells will finish before 1pm, but by
then it should be 11° C. The temperature is then
supposed to stay constant up to 9am tomorrow when
it may start to rise to 13° C. Unfortunately the
price to pay for tomorrows almost warm temperature
is more rain, and gale force winds !
There were a few sunny spells in between
showers yesterday morning, and I thought I might
have been able to rush out in one of those sunny
spells, but alas, no. I was slightly delayed by a
phone call from a friend, and without that I may
have been able to do my shopping in Poundland, and
get back before the really heavy rain started. In
reality it was drizzling as I walked to Poundland,
and the rain was much heavier as I returned home.
As I closed the front door behind me the rain
started to come down in stair rods. Had I been out
2 minutes longer I would have gone from 90%
saturated to 100% !
I wasn't specifically going to buy grass
seed when I went out, but it was something I was
keeping an eye out for. I had expected to buy it
from Poundstretcher, but it appeared in Poundland
first. It provided a good example of how time is
very variable when not tied to a job.
I didn't look at the packets properly
before thinking that all I needed was a few dry,
and hopefully mild days to prepare the ground for
planting. I thought that isn't going to happen
soon, and then I saw that this seed should be
planted from March to October. That seemed a
relief because I though March was ages away, and
later I realised that March is only a fortnight
away. Well hopefully in a few weeks we will have
some stable weather, with some occasional rain
that is just enough to water the seeds, and not so
bad that it washed them away.
That grass seed was probably my most
important buy from Poundland. I had originally
gone there to look for nuts to bribe squirrels to
pose in front of my camera, and I did buy a
selection that if I don't get out on a sunny day
soon I will probably eat myself before bribing
squirrels in the park. I also bought a few more
photo frames - big and small. I have no immediate
need of them, but I feel sure I'll be using them
sooner or later.
It was about lunchtime when I got back from
Poundland, and I fancied some lunch. I could eat
it while drying out. I wanted something very
tasty, but in keeping with my desire to try and
loose a little bit more weight. It also had to
have a very low or zero sugar content. I think a
steak and three very big mushrooms almost filled
the recipe. It was certainly a very nice lunch.
After lunch I did little more than lay on my bed
and read a few more chapters from the book I am
reading. There was other stuff I could, or maybe
should have done, but the grey skies and rain
drained any enthusiasm from me. Incidently, the
repair on my gutter got well tested yesterday, and
apart from a small, almost dribbly leak from where
it joins next doors guttering, it all held in the
heavy rain.
It was because I didn't go out for any
formal exercise yesterday that I thought I would
record my walks to and from the station when I
went for my Thursday boozing session. I set out at
15:55 to walk to the station to catch the 16:10
train. It took me 9 minutes, and so I had a 6
miinute wait on the platform before my train
arrived. It is curious that the last time I
measure this walk it was 0.55 miles long, and yet
yesterday it seems it was only 0.48 miles.
The real point of the exercise was to see
how fast I could walk to the station. I feel sure
I have walked it faster than yesterday. My walk
felt quite sluggish yesterday, and I just couldn't
seem to speed up. One strange reason was that my
ankles felt stiff. I guess that was because of
getting them wet in the morning. Nevertheless,
3.21 mph is a fraction faster to what I believe is
my sustained walking speed - I usually assume that
to be 3 mph.
On the way home I did walk closer to my
usual average speed, but I was expecting it to be
faster than it was. It seemed to feel faster, and
it felt like I had worked harder when I got home.
One possible explanation is that the fried chicken
shop was pulling at me like a magnet. I resisted
that pull, and had a more sensible dinner when I
got home. One thing not included in these figures
is that from the train to the pub must be almost a
tenth of a mile, and so my total walk was probably
close to one mile - which sounds a bit sad after
walking 3 miles on Wednesday.
Last night there was another new beer
in the pub that had to be tried. It was Five Claw
from the Dorking Brewery. At 5.1% it was a bit
strong for a long session, but three pints didn't
seem to effect me too much - if it had I would no
doubt have given into the lure of the fried
chicken shop on the way home. I think I would
describe the taste of the beer and something like
sweet and sour, but neither strongly. I found it
very nice, although maybe my enthusiasm started to
wilt sometime during the third pint. I don't think
I would have like a fourth pint, but the first two
were definitely good.
Apart from feeling like I had put more
effort into my walking than it appears I actually
did, I felt sort of bland when I got home. I
didn't feel drunk, and I didn't feel cold...well
not at first. I decided that a ham salad would do
me for dinner. I have to admit it wasn't just
being "good" but also a desire to use up some baby
spinach leaves before they started to wilt. So my
salad was baby spinach leaves, some baby plum
tomatoes, and one long bell pepper. I topped that
up with some mixed pickle before dumping a small
pack of ham on it. Oh, and I also used more
mayonnaise than was probably good for me.
I said I wasn't feel cold when I got in,
but that was the effect of the alcohol, and the
walk. I had turned the heating off much earlier in
the afternoon, and after I got home it seemed to
take some time to warm the room up. Eating a cold
salad didn't help. I decided to follow that salad
with some hot soup - quite a bit of it.
I made up a triple portion of Heinz "Tomato
with a hint of basil" cup-a-soup. I was hoping
that the last time I had it, it was just down to
me that I didn't find it enjoyable, but now, after
trying it for a second time, I am sure that it is
not nice. It's not actually repulsive, but I
cannot think of a single positive thing to say
about it. What I can say is that I will avoid
buying any more cup-a-soups made by Heinz. The
chicken soup, with a name something like, but
different to "cup-a-soup", made by (for) Tesco was
much nicer.
I should have stopped after that soup. It
filled me up a lot, but a bit later I got bored
watching TV. I wanted to have, and did have a
nibble. First of all it was a small amount of
smoked almonds, and then I had some sugar free
vanilla wafers. They were what I had been looking
for in Iceland recently, but I actually found them
in Poundland yesterday. At 8.45pm, or thereabouts,
I got so bored with TV that I turned it off and
went to bed, initially to do some reading.
While I was distracted by the book I felt
generally OK, but once I put the book down, and
turned out the lights, I became aware that I was
feeling a bit bloated. Maybe it felt worse when I
turned onto my side. I still managed to get to
sleep fairly quickly, but I didn't sleep well.
After a couple of hours I woke up feeling like a
couple of antacid tablets might be a good idea.
They seemed to work, and I was soon back to sleep,
but it felt like I was waking up almost every
hour. I wasn't, but that is what it felt like. My
sleep felt even more disturbed when I started
dreaming about it. At least I think it was a dream
where I was dreaming I was laying awake in bed
unable to sleep. It was strange waking up from
that - there were only subtle changes to indicate
I had left a dream, and was now back in reality -
at least I think I am.
I have noticed a strange thing to do with
sleep. I suffer from some pain in my right
shoulder. I don't know what it is, but I guess it
is somewhere in the realm of rheumatism or
arthritis. The peculiar thing is that if I am not
troubled by it when sleeping then I can be
troubled by it during the day. The opposite is
also true. Of course this is not an absolute rule
- to swap between night and day there have to be
some days when the pain is there night and day,
and there are also days and nights when there is
no pain. I think those no pain nights and days are
when it is warm and sunny.
This morning, apart from my shoulder being
a bit painful (but only when moved in certain ways
- showering is probably going to be quite painful
as I reach across my chest to scrub my left
armpit), I seem to be mostly OK. Relying on such
small figures is, of course, ludicrous, but I am
going to claim that I have lost 100gm in the last
24 hours (and keep very quiet if at the end of the
day that turns out to be false). My biggest
annoyance is that my blood glucose is a little
higher this morning when I hoped it may be lower.
I think I can blame the beer for that.
I have little idea what I'll be doing
today. One thing I won't be doing is going to have
a lunchtime drink with Angela. She is off work
today, and going for some beauty treatment with
daughter Miranda. I sent her a text message a
little earlier to wish her well, and to hope that
they are both happy with their treatment. I have
just got a reply that simply says "Thanks", and
was followed by "xxxxx" - five kisses, not
unprecedented, but still very nice. My day feels
better already.
There is one definite thing I will be doing
today, and I'll be doing it soon. I left a duvet
cover soaking in detergent yesterday. I had
intended to wash it yesterday, but now it is in
freezing water, and wringing it out, prior to
doing three rinses, and a conditioning in warm
water, is going to feel horrible. If it can stay
bright, which I don't think it will, I could start
to prepare the ground for my new lawn, but I
imagine it is going to be horribly muddy out
there. Maybe I could still put the edging in. I
have a feeling I might do something completely
different....or nothing at all !
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