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Tuesday 17th March 2020
08:12 GMT
 
  Yesterday was every bit as good as the forecast said it would be. The forecast was downgraded a bit compared to the early forecast I showed yesterday, but it seemed like the original forecast had been closer to reality. There was sunshine - lots of it ! Perhaps "sunny intervals", as shown in the later forecast includes times when a stray cloud might block the sun for a minute or two, but 90% of the time the sun is blazing away. That probably describes much of yesterday afternoon. The afternoon temperature was probably about 12° C, but there may have been a brief time when it hot 13° C. It felt lovely and warm in the sunshine !
similar temperatures to yesterday, but
                            no sun

  The forecast temperature spread for today is very similar to yesterday, but plus 1°. This morning I reckon it was 1° less than the forecast, and so it will be interesting to see if the temperature reaches 13° C this afternoon. Another small departure from reality is that the sunny periods shown for only 7am, and not shown at all on the revised forecast, are possibly only finishing about now - an hour late. However, there is still quite a few patches of blue sky to be seen, and maybe the sun will come out again. I doubt it will still be appearing this afternoon, but we live in hope. Without any sun that 13° C may feel much cooler than yesterday's 12° C. Until recently tomorrow was forecast to be a bright and quite warm day. Temperatures were predicted to rise to as much as 16° C, but the current prediction for tomorrow is that it will be overcast, and only 14° C. 14° could still be OK, but with sunshine it might have almost felt like summer was just around the corner.

  My visit to the pharmacy was a success yesterday morning. They had ordered, and had ready the prescribed drug I wanted. Going there was the start of a longer walk than intended. I had planned to go around the corner from the pharmacy, and then go into Aldi. That was precisely what I did, but upon entering the store I turned around and walked out again. The place was heaving with customers. On first arrival I judged it to be almost empty when judged by the amount of trolleys parked outside. I can only conclude that with most customers buying stuff in bulk, everyone had come by car, and had used the trolleys that are stored in the car park.

  There were still things I wanted to buy, and so I walked all the way down the high street before cutting into Catford Mews, and then onto Tesco. Tesco was busy, but it didn't seem manic in there, and the checkout queues were not that long, although curiously the queues for the self service tills were very busy. I can only imagine that people were trying to avoid the restrictions on the quantity of some items being bought. I doubt that worked because the till scanner would probably refuse excess amounts. On the other hand I guess it would be easier to put a second load of stuff through the self service till, and split the bulk items in two.

  I heard that toilet paper sold out 10 minutes after the store opened, but everything I wanted, which was all fresh food, was all available. I bought two packs of sausages, and two pack of bacon plus some green vegetable. I also bought some booze - there was a big selection to choose from. I bought two bottles of Cherry beer, and two bottles of a very strong Belgium beer plus two bottles of Diet Coke.

  I didn't bother to measure that circular walk, but I feel sure it was over half a mile - probably nearer 0.75 of a mile. I wasn't carrying a lot compared to some of my bigger shops from Aldi, but that extra weight still meant extra effort on the last leg back to home. I was doing all this around mid morning, and it was still warming up then, but the sunshine still felt warm, and the effort put into the walk warmed me up enough to want to cool down for a bit before doing anything else. Fortunately I had well over an hour (in fact I think it was getting on for two) before I set out on quite a long walk.
not actually 3 miles
  I deliberately chose the long way round for this walk. I wasn't sure if I felt up to walking a long distance yesterday. I did have a few twinges, but by pushing myself to the point where I had no choice but to carry on, worked well. When the trace on the map is closely examined there are a few glitches that could have added a tenth of a mile, perhaps a little more, to the total, but I think I shall still claim it was a 3 mile walk by "borrowing" the missing distance from my morning shopping trip.

  The glitches on the track were caused by using the phone to send messages while walking. It seems rather bad that this should interrupt the GPS signal (or the processing of it), and I may go back to using a spare phone to track my walking if I feel I will be sending messages when out. Alternatively I could pause the tracker while I use SMS or Whatsapp. I probably should anyway because I tend to stop when trying to type on my phone.

  The object of my walk was obviously health, but wanting to see Angela was a bigger potential reward. In yesterday's case it was only potential, and not reality. My messages were to and from Angela. I found out she was at home caring for her daughter who would appear to have contracted Coronavirus. In practice this means the two of them have to go into self isolation for a fortnight, and possibly longer if Miranda has a confirmed case of Coronavirus. Sad to say that Miranda is one who has underlying health problems, and might end up hospitalised. Quite how that will affect Angela (with reference to isolation) is unknown, but it is going to be a very stressful time for Angela. I'll do all I can to help cheer her up, but it can only be from the other end of a telephone.

  I decided I would continue with my walk, and even go into the pub to "re-hydrate" myself - because this is apparently very important when doing exercise !!  At a guess I would say that three quarters of my walk was done before I went into the pub, and up to that point it seemed very easy going. Even things like going up and over the curly-wurly bridge over the railway seemed easy going - I was easily pacing a jogger until I got to within a few steps from the top, and got distracted by the sight of an approaching train coming from Ladywell station.
Train approaching
                          from Ladywell
  I stopped to take a photo. If there is one thing wrong with this photo it is that it seems to be quite overcast. Maybe at that instant it was, but generally a lot of the sky was a brilliant blue.
a placid scene with
                          train
  This picture shows a bit more blue sky. It looks very tranquil even with the train going over the bridge. The river looks very lazy and placid with hardly a ripple on top (but only at this scale). With some leaves on the trees it could almost look like summer.
blue sky and fluffy
                          clouds
  This picture is more representative of how blue the sky was most of the time.
really bright
                          flowers
  Everywhere I looked there were signs of spring, but none shouted it so brightly than the flowers on this bush/shrub. I have no idea what it is, but to the naked eye, but sadly not to the camera, the bush stood out like someone wearing high visibility clothing at dusk. I'm sure the bees couldn't miss it, and yet I can't recall seeing any buzzing around it. By the way, that spiky bramble shoot has nothing to do with the bush.
tree over river
  I'm not sure what has changed, but I don't recall being able to get such a clear shot of this tree that has fallen over the river. It fell during a storm last Autumn. I am surprised it has been left there. The top of it has been trimmed off to clear a footpath, but it is laying there untouched, and it must be acting as a magnet for adventurous kids. I would have thought that "'elth & safety" would have been terrified of kids falling in the river. Yesterday the flow was gentle, and the water is probably less than a foot deep, but after a storm it can be almost a raging torrent.

  My last bit of major effort on my walk was the incline up the slope towards the Ladywell Road entrance. I could have cut that out, but I decided to go for it anyway because it does feel good to be able to go up it without slowing, and without having to breathe too heavily when I got to the top. Yesterday I pushed myself a bit harder by overtaking a couple of people by going on the grass. The soft, and in places slippery grass, increases the effort needed, and I think if I did it anywhere, I proved to myself that I was free of any respiratory infection at this point.
cheers
  After that incline I opted to go almost straight to the pub rather than looping around via the hospital, and Angela's office. I did take a slightly less direct route by popping into the St Mary's Church Therapeutic garden where I snapped a picture of a load of bright daffodils to send to Patricia. and then I walked through the old graveyard next to the church itself. Once inside the pub I ordered a pint of Guinness, and sent a picture of it to Angela (and via Angela, to Miranda) to say "cheers" and more importantly "good health". I've shown it so small here because once seen on a bigger screen it was obvious it was very blurred as a result of it being so dim in the pub, and the exposer time very long - which would have been fine if I had held my phone steady while it was taking the picture. I just had the one pint before continuing my walk towards home again.

  Maybe it was the Guinness, but I was starting to feel tired as I approached home, but not enough not to deliberately walk past my house until until the tracker said I had walked exactly 3 miles. The 0.01 miles was the distance back to home after the tracker hit exactly 3 miles. I was home about an hour earlier than usual, and although tired, it was more fatigue than sleepy. Before I did much else I put some sausages in the oven for a late lunch. I then started to sort out what pictures I had taken.

  It was much later before I got the rest I usually get after one of these long walks. Eating sausages was obviously a distraction, but dotted through the afternoon were a few message exchanges with Angela. The first started after a message from Angela that I suspect was meant for someone else. It mostly said the situation was serious. Later on Angela confirmed that both she and Miranda were in Catford. I made a naughty offer when I heard that. Maybe next week, if Angela is getting fed up with staying in, in self isolation mode, I would be happy for a secret meeting in the park near where she lives - assuming we are both well next week. I would bring some drink, and we could have a drink in a secluded spot without spreading or catching the disease to/from others.

  It was interesting to hear one particular part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's speech on TV last night. Among the few reasons to break what is really a loose curfew dressed up as "self isolation" is for buying esssential food, going to work in essential services, and for exercise. It seems my walks in the park are protected, but it is all getting a bit scarily close to martial law....elections cancelled until after the crisis - which never seems to end - one party government, and a dictator instead of prime minister. I seem to recall George Orwell writing a book about something similar, and that book sometimes seems to be used by many in the current government as a text book rather than a warning.

  I was also in contact with Patricia yesterday evening. She had planned, and I think had even booked tickets to come to London in April, but her plans have now come to naught. Her flight would have been via the USA, and they have closed their borders (apparently to all countries except those that have a Trump gold course - or so some say, and they are probably right). Even getting into the UK could be difficult, and maybe undesirable for her while the world is in turmoil with Covid-19, the coronavirus. She is much better off staying where she is in a lightly populated area of Argentina, and a long way from Buenos Aires where most of their confirmed cases of Coronavirus are. It will be sad not to see her this year (unless things change back to normal very quickly - unlikely !), but it will be best for her.

  I felt uncomfortable in not easy to explain ways when I went to bed last night. At least one ache made me wonder if I was in for a relapse to the strong 'flu like muscle, bone and joint pains I had a fortnight ago - all symptoms of Coronavirus except for any respiratory infection. I even wonder if I was starting that when I woke in the night with a dry mouth, and throat, and a very tickly cough. The actual discomfort turned out to be no more than a stomach upset, but that was only obvious, and actually more uncomfortable, when I went to the toilet. I was not expecting it, but it was quite a violent vist that required two follow ups (although the third was very minor). I have no idea what upset my stomach, but once again I do have some suspicions about the raw white cabbage and  raw onion I had as a sort of side salad.

  After my third and final visit to the toilet I got back into bed, but could not sleep. There seemed to be a lot on my mind. One such recurring thought was whether I really had finished with running to the toilet. Another thought was actually a hangover. Earlier on I had drunk the two 5.8% Cherry beers, and the two 8.5% Belgium ales. At 2am I had just reached the hangover stage that is best slept through. Last night I had to endure it while laying bed awake. I think it was about 4am when I started getting some decent periods of sleep, but they were punctuated with dreams.

  One such dream concerned being at a seaside resort with a couple of friends. We were there to almost discretely spy on another friend who had arranged a date via a dating app. As we observed him from across the other side of a big room  that was more like a dining room than a bar, more and more people came in, and many were getting drunk. I then realised that there were familiar faces among them, and they were all actors. The only one I can still identify is the late Charles Hawtry - famous from the Carry On films amongst others. We ended up talking to him and a few others, and found out they had all just finished being on stage for a pantomime. For some reason we were all sworn to secrecy, and forbidden to mention they were there - a bit strange considering their names were probably on posters throughout the town.

  This morning I can't say I feel very wonderful. For one thing I feel a bit sleep deprived. I have had another brief session of my mouth and throat going dry, and coughing, but I don't think it is anything to worry about because one swig of drink cures it. I do feel a bit unsure about how well my legs will work today, but I am going to work on the idea that they will be fine once I start moving around. I am slightly put off a long walk with no Angela in the middle, and under a grey sky, but at the moment it is still bright, and the sun is still managing to peep through the clouds - although the time it stays out seems to be getting briefer and briefer.

  I have yet to decide whether to go on one of the variants of my normal walk, and stop by the pub, or to go for a practice walk in the park near Angela. I am pretty certain I won't hear anything from Angela this morning, and I won't be telling her I am there if I do choose that, but I will try and contact her later for any news. I think I probably ought to go via the pub. They need all the custom they can get - particularly as a future stage of the governments pans for this pandemic could be to force the pubs to stay shut. I expect I'll make a decision when I first step out my front door, but I do have to take this in mind.......
Don't lose your
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