I finished yesterday by saying I had this insane idea of going for another long walk, and thinking I might even make it to Blackheath. I did have a optimistic idea that if I could make it I could visit all four ponds on Blackheath (I may have mentioned 5 ponds once, but there are just 4 ponds. The problem with this plan is that the final part of the walk to Blackheath is uphill, and some of those hills were bloody steep !
  It could be said that my adventures began in Lewisham when I walked some places I had never walked before (although I had been passed many places when on a bus). There is an underpass below the railway that connects the Waterlink Way to the back of the shopping centre. I found this slightly strange message on a wall at the end of the underpass.
  I had been past this oblisque many times on a bus, and thought it might have been a disused war memorial. That seemed unlikely, and yesterday I finally found out that it was once a very ornate public drinking fountain. There is still a steel manhole/stopcock cover at it's base that says "Drinking Fountain".
  This was the first pond I came to - Golfers Road Pond - unfortunately all that is left in the middle of this summer is a muddy patch of ground. I guess I will have to try and visit it again in the winter or spring to see it with water in it. Maybe buses won't be off limits then, and make the journey easier - if a bit less healthy !
  It seems I didn't take a picture of what I think is called Folly Pond, although there is some visible in the video. Folly Pond, if I have the name right, is surrounded by trees, and between the very busy Shooters Hill Road, and Charlton Road. The shade of the trees may be why the pond is full of water. It also seems to have it's very own wildlife - like these two rats !
  Once again I didn't seem to take any pictures of the Prince Of Wales Pond, but I did shoot some video of it. This drinking fountain is next to the pond. The inscription on it seems weird to my 21st century atheist ears - "The ear of the lord is a fountain of life. March 1885, R.M.A.".
  The last pond on my visit to Blackheath - Hare And Billet Pond - named after the pub on the other side of the road. It is probably the most photogenic pond on Blackheath. It is actually marked as a wildlife pond, and seems to attract smaller birds than the other ponds - except Golfers Road pond which, being dry, attracts no birds at all.

  After my last pond I had a long and weary walk home. I knew it was going to be a long walk, and indeed it was - 6.143 miles. The last mile was unsurprisingly the hardest part, but I had started tiring as I made my way back down to Lewisham. The odd thing was that I did not feel exhausted when I got home, and my feet seemed to be in unusually good shape, although I had put a nice thick plaster over the toes on my right foot. It is those that get the most sore, and the middle toe still has a patch of raw skin where the surface was rubbed off on a previous walk.

  As usual, the first thing I did when I got home, and stripped off my slightly sweaty outdoor clothes, was to get on the scales. This time the improvement was instantly noticeable. I was only 400 grams heavier than my lowest weight in at least the last 8 years. That even lower reading was after a long hot walk on 2nd June. Most of the weightloss, but not all was because I was dehydrated. I would soon learn one other significance of that.

  After weighing myself I thought I would see how low my blood glucose had dipped. It hadn't dipped at all, and was higher than the morning ! That was a bit of a shock, and got me thinking. I reasoned that if I was dehydrated then the amount of glucose in my blood would be concentrated. A quick and simple Google search proved my theory was correct, and I have no modified how I check my blood glucose. I think it was no more than an hour later, after I had eaten a tub of low calorie ice cream, and had drunk maybe half a pint of Diet Coke, I checked my blood glucose again and it had dropped 2 points !

  I have been trying to make a 5 mile walk "normal" and so a 6 miles walk was only a bit more than normal. While I didn't feel I was on my last legs, I did fancy a lie down for a few hours to recover after I had eaten my ice cream, and partly re-hydrated myself. I read while laying on my bed, but I don't think I fell asleep. In an hour or two I was editing video, and later on editing photos.

  I did feel too tired to prepare dinner.....or maybe I just felt that a 6 mile walk earned a treat (evidently a treat more than a tub of ice cream) and I decided to order a takeaway. I ordered what I know doesn't negatively effect me (apart from my wallet) - kebabs ! Specifically shish kebabs - grilled meat with salad. On this occasion I reprised an order I had made a week or so ago, and also ordered a donner meat burger. It arrived sooner than the estimate again, and was just as delicious.

  TV seemed a poor substitute to exploring in real life, and I found my attention to Star Trek wandering. I can't seem to account for at least one more hour, but I ended up in bed, and fast asleep, around sunset. I seemed to sleep well, but made a tragic mistake in the night. It must have been around 4am when I woke up for a pee, and the room seemed a bit stuffy. I had originally closed the window before going to sleep because I thought it might get quite cool in the night - it did get cool, but maybe not that cool.

  So at 4am, or thereabouts, I open the window, and went back to bed. I was soon asleep. What I hadn't reckoned on was this morning, being a Thursday morning, it was dustmen day. Those buggers start work early ! I think it was something like 5am when I was woken up by the clatter of the dustbin lorry, and the men working on it. It seemed impossible to get back to sleep properly after that. I think I did manage to sleep, but I seemed to be tossing and turning. By 6am I gave up.

  I changed my routine this morning. I still weighed myself after having another pee, and the results were good. It seems that over the last couple of days I really have managed to shift some weight. I would have to keep this up for weeks to make a really big difference, but at least it is (yet another) start. I left checking my blood glucose until I had drunk at least half a pint, and this time the results were far better. 8.1mmol/l is still too high, but not too bad, and it may be even lower now I have drunk a bit more. I don't think I am going to worry about it.

  I have a very vague plan for today. This afternoon I am expecting Jodie to pop over to have a tasting session of some of the German beers I bought in my last beer order. We were due to go and sit in Michaels garden according to loose plans we made last week, but I think it better if Jodie comes here because she is a pest ! She will want to wash her glass out after each beer she has tried, and will want to attempt to soak the labels off the beer bottles. Maybe we will just have a few bottles of German beers, and then go to Michaels with more conventional beer after that.

  I won't see Jodie until about 3pm - unless she misses the train again ! That leaves me with plenty of time to do something. There are a few things I need to do such as clean up the kitchen (there are several things still in the sink that need washing up), and to give a bit of sparkle to the toilet. Despite it being as dull as ditchwater outside as I write this, I had better give the garden a good water. I might wash a few t-shirts, and maybe, just maybe, I may go for a short walk. Two or three miles should be really easy after all the practice I've had recently, or maybe I might want to rest after all that practice !