Yesterday was a bit of an anti-climax after the day before, but it was still a pleasant day - which is rare for a Sunday. It was yesterday morning that I realised how much damage to my right foot, particularly one toe, I had done on my long walk the day before. I think it is going to take a very long time before it heals. The last time I did something comparable it took 3 or more weeks to heal. The big problem this time is that it is skin missing from one toe that is the worst damage. The top of the toe was rubbed raw, and the underside developed a blister that burst. The loose skin from that blister was rubbed off leaving a lot of raw skin top and bottom of that toe, and toes are a bugger to bandage. I have put a large sticking plaster on that should protect it, plus a toe either side from abrasion, but that toe is very sensitive.

  Going for a long walk was out of the question yesterday, but I did walk the approx 0.9 miles to Sainsbury's (the Local shop by Catford station). It was an uncomfortable walk, but not agonising (or I wouldn't have gone), and fully justified my desire to walk no further. It was a good and bad shopping trip. I didn't get the latest New Scientist - it appears they may have sold out of it. That was probably the worst thing. Buying low(ish) calorie/low(ish) sugar ice cream was not sensible, but was enjoyable. The sandwiches I bought were also not sensible, and although nice, were not enjoyable on the same level as the ice cream.

  I did buy other sensible things too. It was good how much I could cram into my new rucksack. I didn't need to take any other bag. I even crammed in 6 cans of beer when I went home via the mini supermarket on Catford Bridge. Possibly as much as half their cans of beer are Polish, with others from a variety of countries. I think most of the English beer is in bottles.

  The beer pictured on the left was one of two cans I bought of this beer. The other 4 cans were beers I had tried before. This beer, Lomza, was a fairly typical Polish beer. It was pleasant without being wonderful. I drank both cans yesterday, plus one from the other 4 cans I bought (It was a Tyskie). Three cans seemed sufficient. Had it been a lot nicer, instead of merely pleasant, I might have drunk more.

  My lunch was ice cream and sandwiches - hardly healthy - and so I thought I should do better for my dinner. I nearly had a large steak, or the beef variety, when I realised I had a pack of lamb steaks under other meat in the fridge. I had bought those lamb steaks from Sainsbury's when they had a reduced price sticker on them. That sticker showed their sell by date was very close, and the use by date probably not far from that.

  I had been looking forward to eating them, but I thought they deserved a special occasion, and not knowing what that special occasion should be, they sat in the bottom of the fridge for possibly a fortnight. Yesterday they were still fresh, but not too fresh. Meat is best when matured (except chicken - that stinks). I ate the whole pack. That did not represent a big meal because they started off smaller than a typical beef steak, and shrunk to almost half size when cooked. I cooked them with rosemary, and served them with peas. It was a delicious meal that was only spoiled by the Turkish bread I tried to eat at the same time.

  That bread came with a takeaway in the middle of last week, and it was sadly beyond redemption. I gave it 90 seconds in the microwave that usually revives slightly stale bread, but not this time. I should have wet it first before putting it in the microwave. That may have helped. Despite all that I probably ate half of that piece of stale bread. So I had bread earlier, in the form of sandwiches, and a small amount of bread with dinner. What else could I do to mess up my blood glucose ?

  The answer was to eat the slice of chocolate cake that came with the takeaway last week. It was in a sealed container, and I had kept it in the fridge. It was still in very good condition, and it was nice, but not as nice as I expected. I don't think it was the cake that was at fault, but me. I am so unused to stuff like this now that I have learned to like other things more. I can't really say it was too sweet for my taste buds, but I didn't find it enjoyable in a way that I expected. It makes saying no to such things even easier now.

  09:50 BST I took a break of almost an hour to go shopping in Aldi, but back now.

  Other "amusements" yesterday included hand washing a hand towel plus a few other things, and some gardening. Once again I spent 10 or 15 minutes doing a bit of weeding (another 38 hours and the job will be complete !). I was specifically clearing the weeds at the end of the garden where I have placed the two boxes I filled with (hopefully) sterilised soil and cornflower seeds. The end of the garden gets more sun than anywhere else, and hopefully the cornflowers will thrive there provided I keep them watered. I also weeded a small bit of adjacent lawn (or lawn to be).

  I was going to watch a bit of TV last night, but all I could find on TV was the 43rd repeat of Moonraker (James Bond film), and that only held my attention for 20 minutes. With nothing better to do I went to bed. As usual it was initially to read, but possibly even before 9pm I put the book down, and I was soon asleep.  I think I slept quite well. I can't recall any time when I was awake in the night for more than a few minutes, and while I remember dreaming, I don't think I can recall a single dream now.

  This morning I feel fairly good - except for my right foot. That is still predictably sore, but it does seem to be improving. I expected my blood glucose to be very high, but to my surprise it was only moderately high. Moderately too high is still too high, but because I know the reason, and it is less than expected, I am happy with it. After a hedonistic day my weight has gone up a bit, but that was expected, and hopefully I will get it back under control (along with my blood glucose) today. It will probably take more than one day, which is annoying, but these things change slowly.

  So far today I have washed and conditioned my hair, showered, got dressed, and I've been shopping in Aldi. I was pretty careful with what I bought, and I only bought a couple of mild indulgences - mainly a pack of hors d'oeuvres with some cubes of parsley cheddar, marinated tomatoes, and olives. It's not exactly low calorie, but it will make a nice snack in (possibly) a day or two. A few upcoming dinners will be grilled fish with salad leaves and balsamic dressing. They will be nice and healthy. One will be cod, and the other salmon. After that it might be sausage salad (!).

  My walk to Aldi started off quite uncomfortable, but the discomfort eased a bit as I walked. It was only half there when I got back home. I did contemplate the idea of a short walk this afternoon, and I still don't fully discount the idea, but I doubt I will. I checked the badly damaged toe on my right foot when I got home, and was changing the sticking plaster. It is still red raw. I probably ought to give it another day to heal before trying any walk longer than going to the shops.

  I think one of today's distractions will be gardening. I only partly prepared the ground where my boxes with cornflowers sown in them are to live. Today, if I do no more I will level that ground off, and put the boxes on bricks (I have loads of spare bricks in my back garden  - a [hidden] present from the builders who did up this house before I moved here in 1983). I will also try and sterilise enough soil for the large pot where I hope to grown a chilli plant. I will place that pot at the back of the garden too.

  If I think my back can take it, and it obviously will have to one day, I will get my shears out and hand cut my "lawn". There are patches of long grass now, and more patches of weeds. I intend to just cut the tops of the weeds off as I cut the grass down to maybe 2 inches high (very, very approximately). This will undoubtedly reveal the worst bare patches, and make it easier to try and prepare the soil a bit better for some new grass seed. This is not the "proper" way to do it, but it should work in the end - maybe for next year.

  There is one more bit of "gardening" I might do if I am feeling very masochistic. One of my purchases from Aldi was a set of three saws. One is a Tenon saw, and maybe of little use in the garden. A smaller one is a very fierce looking small saw that might be ideal to cut tree roots. The other is a big hand saw, and while it is new and sharp I may be able to cut up a few logs. It could be hot and sticky work, and cause all sorts of aches and pains tomorrow, but it could be satisfying if I achieve much today.