Sunday 19th April 2020

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Sunday 19th April 2020

Lockdown day 27

10:13 BST

The worst thing about yesterday was that it didn't rain. I realise that is an unusual sentiment, but I had sown more grass seed with the idea we were going to get more rain yesterday. There was some rain in the early hours of the morning, and I hope that was enough. Although it was dry it varied from lightly overcast to heavily overcast. I am not sure if the temperature reached the forecast 15° C, but under that grey sky it felt cooler than that.

The latest revision to the forecast says that it will be non stop sunshine until sunset. It will still only reach 17° C, but that should feel fine in the sunshine. Tomorrow may be equally sunny, but the temperature may only rise to 15° C. That should still be t-shirt weather, but only if you keep moving !

I felt both bad and good yesterday. I felt physically OK, but I think I was suffering from mental ennui. I did my best to convince myself that the grey skies would all be worth it provided the forecast rain fall, and water the grass seed on what will hopefully be my lawn. It didn't rain a single drop (as far as I am aware), and that defeated the whole object of the day. It left me feeling rather gloomy, and uninspired to do much. I think the only productive thing I did, in a physical sense, was to wash a hand towel and the tea towels I had been using to dry and polish my booze glass collection.

I seemed to spend most of my day reading a book or the internet. Even TV seemed completely useless for a Saturday. There was one good programme, and that was on BBC2. It was a look back at Ronnie Barker's life. I used to find a lot of what he did was rather twee (is that the right word ?), but when he played Fletcher in Porridge he did become a hero to me. I have to admit that I hated his other big comedy series "Open All Hours".

Yesterday was another day when I tried to be careful about my sugar intake. I forgot to check my blood glucose level before my dinner, but when I checked it later it seemed very high. That depressed me because it often goes low for a while after eating. Maybe I checked it too soon after eating this time. I didn't intend it to be so, but I had a two part dinner with a gap of nearly an hour before part two.

Part one was a sort of vegetable stew flavoured with some grilled, thick cut bacon. It was nice, but less filling than I hoped, and I think it was instrumental in something that happened later (although it could have been what I ate the night before....in fact, on reflection there was a big clue that I am forgetting that strongly points toward the previous evening's dinner). I think one problem is that I skimped on the bacon, and it tasted so nice that rather than keep all the rest for today, I grilled some and enjoyed it as dinner part 2.

There was definitely one thing I had that did contain a lot of sugar, and it was some "no added sugar" apple cordial. It didn't need any added sugar because concentrated apple juice is naturally like syrup. I had a bottle that was two years past it's use by date (I have no thrown the rest away). I did make up weak pint of of it to drink, but it did taste a bit oxidised, and I did wonder if it might be the cause of some very mild (at the time) stomach discomfort. What I really wanted it for was an experiment. Having seen an advert for Jack Daniels Apple flavoured I wonder what Jack Daniels with apple would be like. My friend Sue reported that she tried JD with some CoOp apple juice, and she didn't really like it. I thought I might try it with that apple cordial/squash.

That mild stomach discomfort I mentioned happened before my dinner. As has happened many times before it was made worse by filling my stomach with the hot vegetable stew (with bacon flavouring) that I had for dinner. By 8pm there were some definite strong gurgles and stuff from my gut. I thought I knew what was coming next, and I was sort of glad that it was imminent, and wouldn't be happening at 1am or some other stupid time. My prediction turned out to be half wrong.

My problem was mostly trapped wind, although it was inevitable that there would be some "solid material" involved. (pm saw the start of as many as 4 trips to the toilet. For the last two visits I took a book so I wouldn't get bored waiting for something to happen. A rather large amount of gas was involved, and that was the main cause of the discomfort. I seemed to recover from it very quickly once it was all over, and I felt quite comfortable when I finally tried to go to sleep.

I fell asleep very quickly, and I think it was only just gone 10pm before I was in the land of Morpheus. I can't recall having any "exciting" dreams, but I have vague recollections of odd bits of dreams that I can only describe as being quite relaxed. I know I got up a couple of times for a wee, but even those times were dreamlike. I woke up quite early this morning, around 6am if I recall correctly, and I felt "good". That is not to say I didn't have a single ache, although as I try and remember, none stand out.

I did my usual morning routine, check my temperature, blood pressure, blood glucose, and weight before taking my morning pills. All were good except for my weight. I still don't fully understand how my weight can go up when my blood glucose has gone down. My blood glucose, to my great surprise, was just 6.7mmol/l, and that is about as perfect as I can get. The other weird thing regarding my weight is that I could swear my trouser belt seemed looser when I did it up this morning. Maybe my weight gain is not the traditional fat around the gut (the prime cause of Insulin insensitivity in type II diabetics). Maybe my forearms look fatter....or something equally bizzare.

It was still a bit chilly, but it looked such a lovely morning that I decided I would go out to get some shopping earlier than I have for ages, and ages now. It was very quiet out, and it must have been about 9.15am when I reached the end of the road where the Turkish supermarket is.
9% booze

When I got there I noted there was just one other person in there, and so no waiting around. It is the one simple reason I go there because I find queues outside big supermarkets, and their regimented one way systems, to be really irritating. The one way system in Tesco (and probably Aldi) really piss me off for the simple reason that I know that the psychologists have been wanting such a system since the dawn of supermarkets. They reckon that if you follow their ideal path you will be exposed to more stuff you might buy, and in consequence spend more. I just want to get in and out with what I want by the fastest possible route !

Today I bought another couple of 1.75L bottles of diet coke (and gently reminded the woman at the till that she should be charging £3 for two bottles, and not twice the individual price of each bottle). I also bought a selection of fresh vegetables, and 4 chicken fillets. The last time I bought some I didn't realise how big they were. Three made for a meal that was a bit over the top. This time I bought four. I shall have two today, and two tomorrow.

The other thing I bought were the two cans pictured on the left. I have no idea what it is except that it is Polish beer of some sort, and is 9%. I think it will make a very good bedtime drink for tonight.

One thing I couldn't find in that supermarket was any orange squash - ideally of the "no added sugar" variety. Unless I find some I will be reduced to drinking raw water to make my Diet Coke last a bit longer. I may have to do something "illegal" (or is it ?) and go out for more shopping. If I go for a walk in the sunshine, and I think I am inclined to do so, I can come home via the Sainsbury's Local shop. I feel sure they will have orange squash, and maybe other flavours too. I could also get a couple of their ready made salads too.