I think my first bus ride since lockdown emboldened me to jump on a train to take me to a walk in the countryside which I hoped, and was, much, much, much less crowded than Greenwich was. I opted for one of my favourite walks - Eynsford to Shoreham - not because it is terribly exciting, but the journey to and from it are easy, and walk itself is almost easy. I say almost easy, but it does incorporate two hill climbs that are a bit taxing if taken at modest speed.

  This walk seemed to be exactly 3.666 miles from getting off the train at Eynsford, to arriving on the London bound platform of Shoreham (Kent) station. I did wonder if it was wise to go on another long walk so soon after my long walk the previous day, but it seems it probably was. My greatest error was assuming my old, very worn, hiking boots may have been more comfortable than my new boots. To a certain extent that was true, but I stupidly didn't stick a padded plaster over what I think is a bunion (I really should check before using names I am not sure of). That bit of my foot has healed since I last rubbed all the skin off it, but is still very tender, and was definitely playing up after a mile or two.

  One thing I noticed on this walk was similar to what I noticed on some of my other hilly walks - I seemed to get up those hills easier than how I once remembered them. I can't say it was effortless, but I can say that I was not left gasping for air. I guess it is only habit that makes me want to stop for a few seconds now and then, instead of going up non stop. Fortunately stopping to take a picture is an excellent excuse to stop, and that 10 to 20 seconds is all I need to feel sort refreshed.


  The first bit of my walk from the station is along a main road with a large hedge alongside it that spoils any view. Once I turned off the main road, down a farm track/public footpath my first view was rather idyllic. The sunshine was lighting up the view of the farm buildings in the distance, while above the sky was a mixture of blue and high cirrus clouds. It was those fine wispy clouds that would occasionally dim the sun, but never block it.
  Unsurprisingly the Lullingstone Roman Villa site was closed. One day in the future I will go in and see if it is anything like I very vaguely remember from 50 years ago when I passed it on a school geology field trip. In those days it was still being excavated, and was open for all to see as the passed by on the road. It was only later that the site was roofed over, but how later I have no idea.
  It was no surprise that Castle Farm, aka The Hop Shop, was closed. It was also closed when I did this walk last December on a rather gloomy day. That was a first for me ! Although the shop is closed there is a sign saying they are still selling via their website.
  The Hop shop on Castle Farm does sell hops, although I think it is more for decoration than brewing, but they do grow their own hops, and some probably end up for brewing. Maybe they do sell in small quantities for home brewers, but I have never bothered to find out because it has been many years since I last did any home brewing.

  The worst bit of this walk is the last bit. Yesterday it was worse than ever. On previous visits I have called into the pub at the bottom of the hill that leads up to the station. A quick pint, and the use of their toilet has been useful in the past, but yesterday the pub was closed (as are all pubs during the Covid-19 pandemic), and while I didn't need the toilet, a nice pin of beer would have made the slog up the hill to the station easier, or at least more pleasant.

  My timing was really bad - not that I was paying attention to the time, or the times of the trains. I arrived at the bridge over the road to see a train pulling into the station. If I could run faster than a record breaking sprinter, under the bridge, up the staircase to the station entrance, and then over the footbridge to the correct platform....I would probably still have missed the train ! I had no choice but to wait half an hour for the next train, but at least I didn't have to rush up the stairs, and then across the footbridge - which is just as well because I couldn't manage more than a sedate climb.

  The station was deserted when I got there, and remained that way while I waited. I opted to stand in the shade under the footbridge. I basically stood still for about 20 minutes. When I saw my train coming I started to walk a bit further down the platform. Those first steps were very painful. It was like my feet had siezed up, and every tender bit was doubly sensitive. My feet remained rather tender until I got home.

  When I arrived back in Catford I called into the Sainsbury's Local store to buy a few things before finally heading for home where I could get my boots off, and examine my feet. There was no actual damage, as in broken or raw skin, but my bunion was definitely looking an angry red ! While I was in Sainsbury's I made a point of not buying anything contentious. One thing I did buy was a reduced price of "Skinny burgers", beef burgers containing less that 3% fat. I had them, with some low sugar baked beans for my lunch 0 a rather late lunch at about 3pm. I have to say those burgers were horrible - sort of tough and tasteless. Good beef needs good fat for a good taste, and be damned for the health concerns !

  After my lunch I laid down for a snooze. I think I probably only snoozed for a short while because before I new it, it was 4pm and time for my 4pm blood pressure, etc, pills. I still felt tired, or maybe it was just lazy, and it was some time later that I "processed" the pictures and video I took on my walk. I did edit up a 6 minute video featuring short clips of bits of my walk, but it took so long to do it, made worse by some stupid errors that meant I had to re-do it 3 times, that I didn't do a web sized version to show here.

  One of the things that I wanted to do when I got home was to try and not get carried away eating too much. This was made a bit easier when I weighed myself very soon after I got home. I was dehydrated again, and my weight was looking exceptionally good. I wondered if I could avoid disturbing it too much, except by drinking, and if I could still see an improvement this morning.

  Somehow I managed to not even think about any temptations beyond having a cheese salad for dinner, and somehow it worked. I didn't even feel hungry when I went to bed. I would have been in bed earlier if I hadn't realised I had neglected to water the garden, and so I did it at 9pm last night. All this watering is working. There is now a lot of grass growing on what should be my lawn. Unfortunately there are many bare areas being rapidly filled in by weeds. If weeds can grow there, why not grass seeds ?

  When I finally got to bed I read for a while before falling asleep before I had even finished wondering if I would ever fall asleep. Apart from another occasion where I woke up to find it was light outside, but still stupidly early, I seemed to sleep well again. Once again it was a funny sort of sleep, the type where time seems to speed up, after I got back to bed at 4.30am, or thereabouts. I lay in my bed wondering if I would ever get to sleep again. I seemed to be awake all the time, where all the time seemed to be about 10 minutes, but back in the real world about 90 minutes had passed !

  My "eating carefully" did and didn't work. My weight was the lowest I have seen it for years for first thing in the morning - and that was without even emptying my bowels (as the say in medical circles). My blood glucose level was a disappointment. I was think it would probably be below 7.0mmol/l, but it was 7.2mmol/l. That is lower than the day before, and a pretty good figure, but still a slight disappointment.

  I think I will have a rest today - a rest from long walks - but I have plenty of little things to do. Tomorrow is dustbin day, and I have a lot of space in the wheelie bin I could use to dispose of something beyond just normal rubbish - if only I could think of what it might be. I also have a couple of short videos on my digital camera that I copied over the weekend. Both are sort of creative things I did in the late 1980s that deserve to be preserved in digital form. I could also get the hoover out, or do some tidying up in the garden. I'll probably end up spending half the day reading, but we shall see....