Yesterday was dominated by waiting for a parcel delivery that didn't arrive ! At 3pm it became obvious there had been a cockup because the robot that sends out the delivery prediction had forgotten that Monday was a bank holiday.

  On the left is the relevant bit of the email I received on Monday. I waited and waited, and waited, but I was not contacted about my delivery slot.

  There was a web link given in the email for "delivery options". I decided to check that. At first it didn't seem to give any useful information. I initially thought I may have been blocking too many scripts, but on subsequent visits that turned out not to be the case. It is actually a well behaved website, but it is a bit slow to access further information, but after waiting for maybe 30 seconds more information appeared.
  It seems that the first email was sent before the courier had even got the parcel from The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company (yes, I have ordered some exotic cheese !). It wasn't until 14:32 yesterday that the courier company actually got hold of the parcel. The latest information says that it arrived at Southwark, my local distribution point, at 5.09am this morning. I feel confident that I will have my cheese today. Of course this is the same delivery company that left my Guinness back at the depot, and the driver had to go back to the depot and finally deliver it to me 3 or 4 hours later than my predicted delivery slot. I hope that doesn't happen today ! Oops, got that wrong, but it was worth checking because I found the notification for the last delivery that came from Southwark. That was predicted to arrive between 2 and 3pm, and if I recall correctly, it was.

  I did a little more than just waiting for my parcel yesterday morning. I could not raise the enthusiasm to add the top coat of paint on the wall in my dinning room, but after giving what I had done a good hard look, I thought it didn't really need a second coat. There are a few bits that need a quick touch up, but overall it is OK. With that in mind I decided I would put up the new curtain rod, and curtains.
  It is going to take a while for the creases to fall out of the new curtains, but they still look far better than the faded, and dusty, old curtains. While purple is my favourite curtain colour I think it was not the best choice now. The dining room faces north, and so is always dull, and except in summer, it feels cool, or even cold in there. When using it for guests I can easily put some heating on, but I am now thinking a warmer colour, maybe yellow or red, might have been a better choce for the curtains.
  While I had the camera in my hand to take the picture of the new curtains I went out to the garden to take this snap. This flower bed, which is in need of a good weeding again, has my Companulas, plus some other unnamed flower in it. Of particular note is the light purple/lilac flower. Until now the Companulas have been either white or blue, but suddenly there is this new colour. These flowers are very slow to emerge, and despite planting 6 to 8 seeds, I only ever seem to have a few flowers at a time, but it is the best show I have managed this year.

  Earlier in the day I had invited Michael around to wait with me for my parcel, and to try my Mexican beers. He replied that he too was waiting for a parcel delivery, and the next idea was for whoever got their parcel fist would go to the others house. Michael got his parcel at about the same time that I found out my parcel would not be delivered yesterday. In theory I could have gone to visit him, but I had the beers, and so Michael came over to me. We had about 3 beers together, and then Michael left in good time for me to organise my dinner.

  I think I blame deluding myself that my expenditure during these weird times is actually less than when going to shops and pubs. As such I thought I could afford another takeaway last night. I have finished experimenting with the German Kebabs, and ordered from Hither Grill - a restaurant/takeaway shop I have used several time in the past. They may not be the best, but they are good, and their delivery time is usually good (except at busy weekends). As usual I ordered enough for two days. Maybe that could have been three days considering that I ordered two dishes which came with chips.

  That was a silly mistake because chips never reheat properly, and so I ended up eating almost all the chips last night. Mind you, the two combined were less than come with one small portion with fish. By the end of my meal I was feeling stuffed again, but at least I hadn't eaten much more than plain rice crackers during the day. Of course I did have quite a few beers in the afternoon too !

  I went to bed feeling full again, just like I did after my large pasta and sardine dinner the previous night. Once again I seemed to sleep fairly well. I am not so sure my dreams were so benign though. One dream must have all sorts of influences, but most of them would have come from the book I was reading, and from the current Covid-19 pandemic. The odd thing about this particular dream was that nothing actually seem to happen, but I knew a lot about the circumstances I was in. It was almost like dreaming that you are reading a book. I was soaking up a plot without actually being part of it.

  The dream was about two places, maybe two islands, or maybe highlands and lowlands. Each had a three tier class system. In one the upper class were battling to hold down the middle class. In the other the middle class were battling against the lower class because they were diseased. As I say, I never saw any action, or indeed I can't remember seeing a single person in this dream. I can't really recall a dream like it before.

  This morning I think how I feel is being distorted by the sunshine. I feel like I could enjoy a walk despite a bit of creakiness here and there, plus the odd twinge, but I guess none of these things are new any more. Most of my health readings seemed fair enough this morning. My blood glucose was up to 8.0mmol/l, but that is expected after the sweet Mexican beers, and the chips I had yesterday. As a (hopefully) one off, it is nothing that I worry about, and if I am careful it will be lower again tomorrow.

  My blood pressure seemed a bit high the first time I measured it, but an extra deep breath, and a bit more relaxation had it down to it's usual low on the second reading. My weight, which I am now recording on a spreadsheet this month, was 100gm less than yesterday. That was a bit surprising. It could have been lower still after another couple of visits to the toilet, but I left it as it was because that might give a bit of spare for tomorrow.

  My plans for today are starting to crystallise. I have just had the notification that my cheese should be delivered between 11am and midday. That should leave me free for an early afternoon walk. The latest revision to the forecast says there could be sunshine until at least 1pm now. I'm not sure how far I will be walking today. I think I will aim for a minimum of 3 miles. If it is as little as that I may allow Jodie to come over later this afternoon to swap a few beers. I just hope that she can get over early enough, by 3pm for instance, so that we can share a few beers, and then she can go home, or to a pub, before she intrudes into my dinner hour again.