Today started very cold again thanks to a clear sky. A few of the shed roofs I can see from my back window looked like they had frost on top, but it might have just been dew. The sky remains blue, and the sun is shining. Some clouds might reduce the sunshine to just sunny intervals after 11am, but the temperature should continue to rise, and the latest revision reckons it should get to a warm 17° C by about 3pm. Tomorrow may be a degree or so cooler, and only feature sunny intervals, but much warmer weather should follow. Next Tuesday looks very appealing !

  I still couldn't work out how I felt yesterday, but I was determined to go out to get some shopping. As you can see from the record of my walk on the left, it was quite a short walk, and once again my phone lost the plot, and added a glitch to the trace, I think I will only claim 0.9 miles for this one.

  My first objective was to see if I could find a tap to hose adaptor in Poundstretcher, but they only had what I had already ordered from Amazon, and nothing that would fit the big nozzle of my mixer tap in the kitchen. I hope the version of what I had was better quality than what I ordered from Amazon. That was like a cheap nasty copy of a better design, but more about that later. My time in Poundstretcher was not wasted. I bought some sugar free drinks, and a few other bits and pieces.

  My next stop was the Sainsbury's Local shop by Catford station. I was not expecting to find tap adaptors in there, but I was hoping to buy some Pepsi Max. I didn't, but I did buy a bottle of sparkling raspberry and kiwi flavoured spring water. I wouldn't care to make a habit of drinking it, but it was a pleasant novelty. I also bought some salad, a few sandwiches, two cans of Beaverwood "Neck Oil" beer, and I was very happy to find the latest New Scientist magazine on the shelf, and bought a copy of it.

  I headed for home with half a rucksack full of stuff from Poundstretcher, and a weighty carrier bag with stuff from Sainsbury's in it. Maybe it was when I almost half way home I realised that despite carrying a lot, I didn't feel too bad, and that if I wasn't weighed down, and maybe if it was a bit warmer, so I could discard my coat,I could have enjoyed a much longer walk. That didn't mean I had any strong desire to go out again after I got home. On the contrary, I wanted to each my sandwiches, and then lay on my bed to read New Scientist.

  Maybe it was an hour later, maybe 2, but eventually I got the itch to do something useful. One probable trigger was the arrival of my new hose pipe while I was resting. It was one of those orders where there there was no tracking info, and no advance warning about when it might arrive. Getting the hose working was one thing I wanted to do, and the other was to get my "fox-cam" set up rather better than I had left it when I screwed it to the wall the day before. It was actually the hose that I did first.

  My big problem was attaching the hose to the mixer tap in the kitchen. One possible alternative was to plumb it into the redundant cold water feed for the washing machine, but that was under the sink, and would have needed a lot of faffing around. There was also the problem that I was not sure if I trusted my friend Lee's plumbing. When my sink support was replaced he re-did the plumbing using plastic piping and push on connectors. They seemed very precarious to me - and that was after Lee let me try and pull the pipe out of one of the push on connectors. I must admit the thing would not budge no matter how much I grunted and groaned, but even so....

   Until I can find something better I bodged together an adaptor. I used an old cable cap I aquired during my days working in the telecoms industry. It is like a super thick condom that goes on the end of a large cable to keep damp out while it is store. I was using it as a grip on a screwdriver. By cutting off the smaller end I managed to clamp it, using a jubilee clip to the plastic nozzle that is used on tubes of caulking, or other gungy stuff builder use. With the nozzle cut down I was able to force that into the end of the hose, and once again secure it with a jubilee clip. The larger end of the cable cap was a good fit onto the tap, and once again I used a jubilee clip to secure it.

  It was then time to try the hose for the first time. At the far end of the hose I had attached an adaptor that a variable nozzle pushes into. It is supposed to snap in, and needed the adaptor to be pulled back to release it. Unfortunately it was made so crappily that the nozzle just popped out as soon as I turned the water on. Luckily I had a spare from a kit that I had acquired years ago when I was trying to connect my shower hose to the tap in the bathroom. That old nozzle seemed to be the well designed version that the crappy copy was made from. It was a secure fit, and I was able to water my lawn, and flower bed properly. I could almost see the grass growing as soon as the ground got wet. This morning it really does look like I might one day have a slightly bumpy lawn.

  The next job was to get the ladder out, and go up and adjust the new CCTV camera - aka my new "Fox-Cam".  At first it didn't seem the inner assembly could be rotated 180°  so it could be pointed down instead of up. I found it had to be done in two parts. There is a sort of inner ring that can be turned a quarter turn, and an outer ring that can also be turned a quarter of a turn. I am guessing it is was done that way to avoid twisting the internal wires too much. Anyway, it worked, and once I had gone into the configuration settings to flip and mirror the picture, it gave a much better view, and this time I even got the picture very close to level (but maybe still a degree out).
  This is the view after dark when the infra red illumination comes on. At 9.30pm there was still some light in the sky, and that was enough to light up the houses in the distance - at least I presume it was that. I can't believe the built in infra red lighting can be that powerful. On the other hand, I do have a bit of video that shows a fox coming over the shed roofs on the right of the picture. The first thing you see is the reflected glare of the infra red in it's eyes. It is almost spooky ! Maybe I'll prepare that video for use on my web pages, and show it tomorrow.

  My evening was helped by a couple of cans of Beaverwood "Neck Oil". It is an IPA style beer using those hops that give a sort of hint of grapefruit taste. It is a taste I know some dislike, but I rather enjoyed it, and I wish I had bough a few more cans. A bottle of Corona lager tasted a bit thin by comparison.

  I really only did three things yesterday - shopping, the hose pipe and the CCTV camera, and each probably only used about an hour each (on average). Somehow that felt quite sufficient for the day. I didn't rush to bed, and I think it was 11pm when I turned out the light. I can't remember any time laying in bed wondering if I would get to sleep, and so I assume I fell asleep really quickly. It definitely seemed to come as a shock when I woke up to find that 3 hours had passed, and with no memory of that 3 hours.

  I thought I would be waking up more frequently after drinking 2 can, and 2 bottles of beer, but apparently no more than usual, and possibly less. This morning I feel sort of OK. Even some of the common aches and pains seem to be slightly muted. Maybe it is all because I was very surprised when I checked my blood glucose level. I ate several things that would usually give me a high reading, including two ready made Sainsbury's sandwiches, but my blood glucose was just 6.00mmol/l. I couldn't really ask for a better figure.

  Last month I thought I was fighting some sort of infection because of the high reading I was getting. There were even a few days when my temperature was higher than my average, but still below the "official" fever line. This month my temperature has probably been a little bit lower on average, and my blood glucose has been lower. Both would indicate good health, but my blood pressure has not been so good. On my first attempt I have been getting blood pressure readings that are higher than usual, and it takes "stronger relaxation" (if such a thing is possible) to bring it down to something more usual on a second reading.

  There is one health indicator that is not good, and that is that I have a tendency to an intermittent dry cough. Until this Covid-19 business I would hardly be aware of it - particularly in comparison to when I was a heavy smoker. A dry cough is one symptom of Covid-19, but I think that causes more than an intermittent cough that seems to have some definite triggers. Brushing my teeth with Wisdom Sensitive Whitening toothpaste is a trigger because it seems to dry my mouth. Just swallowing saliva can also be a trigger. I feel reasonably confident that this has nothing to do with Covid-19, and the real problem is the accusing stares (probably more imagined than real) when you cough in public these days.

  I am pretty sure I feel up to a walk in the park today. I am not sure that I will attempt to break any records today. In fact I feel I definitely won't, but on the other hand I didn't set out to walk the 4.19 miles I walked last week - it just sort of happened. I think I'll aim for 2 miles, and any more I'll just treat as a bonus.

  One final thing...Many may be familiar with the saying "lucky in cards, unlucky with love". Substitute Premium Bonds with card games, and the saying seems to still be true. It happened once before when I wasn't seeing Angela for a while, and now it has happened again. In the May draw I won £50 on the Premium Bonds. It is worth rather less than a lunchtime with Angela, but at least it is some sort of compensation. For small wins I have instructed the Premium Bonds to re-invest my winnings in more bonds - this increasing my chances of another win. Perhaps if I ever hear form Angela again, and her only message is that she doesn't want to see or hear from me ever again I will get a big win...well you gotta hope for something in this life.