It was possibly a little before 9am when the rain started, but so far the forecast is looking correct for today. Even the BBC (Meteogroup) forecast agrees on the general idea that today is likely to be very dull and very wet ! With the temperature not reaching 20° C until early evening it is also going to feel a slightly cool day. The BBC forecast has also had another go at predicting some lightning for near midnight. Tomorrow is currently predicted to be very different. All hours of daylight may be sunny, and the temperature may rise to 23° C.

  I felt strangely keen to go for a walk once I was ready yesterday. I wanted to test a pair of lightweight trainers rather than boots, and that meant mainly sticking to paved paths and roads. Curiously enough they seemed more comfortable than boots for walking up hills, but more uncomfortable when walking down hills !

  While I had no special place in mind to walk to, there was a short cut I wanted to try. There are some new, in the sense of new being in the last 20 to 30 years, paths that cut through from the west side of the middle section of Ladywell Fields, that come out into a new housing estate. In turn that much nearer Crofton Park/Brockley than walking via Ladywell Village.

  It was an interesting walk, and I was surprised how quickly I had arrived at the Ladywell entrance of the Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery. I think it was just a mile from home. I felt so relaxed (is that the right word ?) when I got to the base of Hilly Fields that I had no qualms about walking to the top. The cooler weather was also probably instrumental in that decision.

  I will admit that I didn't go to the top non stop, but maybe I could have done, but I wanted to stop and turn around to grab a few pictures of the sights. Now I have managed to get to the top a few times I am slowly finding viewpoints that are semi clear of trees. I can imagine that much more may be revealed when the trees lose their leaves in  winter.
  One of the sights I saw when trying the short cut was this old water tower. I had seen it from certain places for years and years, but never quite knew where it was exactly. Now I know. It has long been converted to flats, and behind it is a sypathetically built extension with even more flats in it.
  Getting to the Ladywell entrance of the Brockley & Ladywell Cemetery seemed really rather easy. I spent a bit of time in there exploring what I thought was an area I hadn't explored. I hadn't actually explored the small area I explored yesterday, but I came to realise that I almost had. The bit I missed was quite a small area of the whole place (although there are still plenty of paths still to explore in closer detail. Anyway, I found this nice pink granite tomb. Too much pink granite would be boring, but while it is a contrast to the more dull stone that is usually used, I like it.
  I don't know how many war memorials there are in the cemetery, but it must be at least 5 or 6. This is another. Being a very old, Victorian cemetery, many of the war memorials are dedicated to those who fell in the first world war. This one is.
  There is a special significance to this picture. Whe I visited the cemetery last week I got as far as the other side of this chapel. I then started looking for a way out. I had hoped not to have to use the way I came in, and after a long walk that is what I had to do. What I didn't realise is that the chapel is only a few minutes walk from the Ladywell gates ! I guess I am glad I didn't realise it or I would have missed a lot by taking the shorter way out.
  Well at least the ghosts of Gordon and Gladys Prior, and maybe other members of their family have a pot to piss in. On a more serious note, I wonder if they knew how naff their tombstone looks. It probably looked good in the showroom, but in the wilds of the cemetery is just sort of flat and unimpressive.
  It seems wherever I go I keep finding abandoned Boris bikes. This one is outside the cemetery, but less than 15 yards from the gates.
  Yesterday, looking up to the top of Hilly Fields didn't seem so terrifying. Maybe it was because I had been walking on level ground for the previous 10 to 20 minutes, and maybe it was because of the lightweight trainers I was wearing.
  I think I could have made it to the very top of Hilly Fields non stop, but only just. However I had the perfect excuse to stop for a minute to find the clearest view into the distance. I think this slightly murky view of the Croydon and Crystal Palace TV masts was possibly the best view I could find.
  While at the top I wandered over to have another brief look at the stone circle. Sadly there was no sun to cast a shadow anywhere. On this occasion I explored a new way home.
   By heading down a path that gets steeper and steeper, and that ends in very broad steps, you come out on Vicars Hill. This is the view upon exiting the park. It is a long way down to Ladywell Village, and it somehow almost seemed harder to go down than it was to climb up. I think that is because my feet were slipping forward in the trainers, and my sore toes were getting rubbed. You may not there are bus stops seen in the distance down the hill. There is a bus services that wheezes it's way up the hill, and the next stop is near the top of the hill, and just slightly higher than another entrance to the park - it seems it is possible to explore the top without having to walk up all the way.
  These are the trainers I was testing on this walk. I may have bought them as long as 10 years ago from Peacocks, and they probably cost less than £10. The good thing about them is that they are nice and wide for my broad feet. If other boots had not abraded one of my toes, and badly rubbed another, I think walking in these trainers would have been very comfortable except for one thing. It wasn't until this morning that I noticed the soles of both my feet are rather sore, The soles of the trainers are rather thin, and so my feet took a good pounding. These trainers, and a similar pair coloured grey, are probably best used for shorter walks such as for shopping or going to pubs (neither of which I do at the moment).

  After what now I regard as a fairly short walk, and one done in cooler weather, there was nothing exciting to see when I got on the scales after getting home. That was a shame, but not unexpected. It was only just lunchtime when I got home, and I fancied some sort of lunch, but my choices are not so wide after not doing any shopping for almost a month. I opted for some soup - two cans of it because one didn't feel like it was enough.

  The first can was tomato soup. It was an old can, and said best before 2018 ! It still tasted good though - particularly with a slug of Worcestershire sauce in it. The second can was chicken and mushroom soup. It too was well past its best before date. One sip convinced me that I probably should not eat it. I threw it away, and got another can. This was only just past it's best before date, and I almost threw that away too. It was the same make as the other, and tasted almost the same. I concluded that maybe that was how they were supposed to taste, and I ate it. While eating I found a complete mushroom in it, and it looked to me like a little toadstool. Maybe Covid-19 is still playing with my taste buds 3 months after a brief loss of taste, but whatever it is, I shall avoid that Aldi own brand chicken and mushroom soup.

  I was looking forward to a peaceful afternoon, and maybe a nice dinner of something or another. I did get a nice dinner, but it was very late in the day. I think it was maybe 3.30pm when Jodie phoned to ask if she could pop over and drink some of my German beers. Last Thursday I turned her down because I had been on a very long and tiring walk. Yesterday I wasn't nearly as tired, and so I said yes.

  I should have turned her down again because she didn't arrive until just after 5pm, and that was far too close to my dinner time. To give her her due, she did bring two bottles of beer with her, and one was a big, 75cl, 9% beer. I think she was here for about 3 hours, and when she left she was headed for a pub in Bromley ! I was feeling drunk enough to not want to cook, and drunk enough to order a big stupid takeaway.

  Ordering so late meant it took a fair while to arrive, and I ended up having dinner 4 hours late. I ended up eating far two much, and eating the chips that came with one of the meals. I went to bed feeling rather stuffed. It took a short while to find a comfy position, but once I got to sleep I mostly slept OK. The biggest annoyance was waking up at about 5.30am, before sunrise, and thinking it was time to get up. It took ages to force myself back to sleep, and while it seemed like I had been awake for most of it, I was very surprised to see the clock saying 8.22am when I next saw it.

  This morning I had a hangover. I am not sure it is over yet, and it is taking me ages to write this. For the last hour, or is it two, I have wanted to lay down and snooze again. I didn't think I would be able to snooze, and so I plodded on writing. It is now time to consider what I am going to do today, and I think I have known the answer for the last few hours. I am going to do nothing - probably. The sky is as dark as night, and the rain is doing an excellent job of watering the garden. I think I will soon be laying on my bed reading until I start snoozing. Maybe later this afternoon I will get bored and do something around the house, but with the last bit of my hangover still feeling not painful, but like being wrapped in smog, I don't think I care about trying to be productive at this point in time.