I was going to say that it was another very dull start, but that was before I realised the sun had barely risen. It is currently just starting to show over the rooftops to the east. Now I can see it properly, the sky is looking very clear. The most recent revision to the weather forecast shows a bit more sunshine than in the early version screenshot above, but there will still be several hours that only see sunny spells. Today should reach 23° C, but tomorrow is forecast to be much cooler, maybe just 17° C, and it will be very dull with some rain. It would seem that today is the last fling of summer.

  Unlike the day before, I was definitely active yesterday. Ignoring any potential pains from my feet, I pulled my boots on, and went for what turned out to be a longer walk than I had anticipated. The amazing thing was that my feet hardly complained at all.

  I had stuck a big sticking plaster over the blister on the ball of my right foot, and that seemed to work better than I could have imagined. I had also protected the usual pressure points, and they all behaved with no problems. The final safety thing was to wear my old boots.

  It wasn't really intended, but with hindsight I probably made a good decision to occasionally use the replacement boots for the boots that are getting very worn now. Maybe the transition to the new boots will be painless if I can do an occasional short walk in the new boots first. It was probably a bit too brave to try a 5.3 mile walk in the new boots without making sure they were comfortable.

  I did have one annoyance during the walk. It is something that happens on many walks, and it has been going on for as much as a couple of months now. I have tried, and failed to really explain what it is. It is like a wheezy feeling without actually being wheezy. I could breath easily, even when going up hills, but there was still this sensation that my breathing was "different". I would blame it on Covid-19, it is the sort of thing it does, but intermittently for a month or two. It is probably something simpler like lung cancer or something.

  The aim of my walk was to try and get some snaps of the "Bridge Of Doom" over the river in The River Pool Linear Park. It was looking really tatty for ages, and then, a couple of months back, there was a fire that caused some damage to it. The main part of the repair, as far as I could see, is new decking - possibly metal instead of wood this time. Other parts may be replaced or repaired, and I expect it will get a new lick of paint.
  I had a sort of plan that I would approach the bridge by walking to Bellingham, cross over the railway by the footbridge, and then double back to see the south side of the bridge first. (That is the side that is furthest from home). Just over the bridge was this sign warning the bridge was closed, but not stopping anyone going further towards it. The bridge was approx half a mile from this sign.
  While walking down to the bridge I noted these acorns are looking very ripe. In some places it looks like the squirrels (but it could be birds) have tested all the acorns, and just scattered any not ripe, or not to their liking, but these are still on the tree, and turning from green to brown.
   It is rare to see the path absolutely empty on - even on a Monday. Usually there would be a steady, but light stream of walkers and cyclists. I did see the occasional person, and warned them the bridge was closed if heading towards it, or they would warn me if they had had to turn back, and were coming away from the bridge.
  The bridge is just around the corner by the lime green van seen in the distance. It looked like I would not even be able to see the bridge, but I wondered if they had blocked the little mud path along the river. They hadn't !
  After going down the bank to the river, and walking towards the bridge I got my first sight of it, but it was very obscured by trees. I went up the bank again by what is the last little footpath through the vegetation, and came out on the main path on the other side of the barrier across the path.
  I then got bold and walked towards the bridge. I expected to be challenged at any moment, but the man in the green shirt ignored me. I had my big Canon camera with a big lens on it. I have a theory that I was mistaken for someone official. This picture shows the new decking. It looks like steel sheet, but I didn't want to push my luck and get too close to the bridge to examine it closely. On the right of the picture is a pile of the old decking. It was all wood, and was quite rotten in places.
  I went down the ramp to almost stand in the water to get this shot. There were two problems. The first is that I should have changed to a wide angle lens. The second, and more important, was that I was shooting into the sun, and I had do a lot of processing to get any detail in the picture. As originally taken it was little more than a silhouette against a dazzling sky.
  A lot of the long distance I walked was because I had to walk back to where I had entered the park, and then I looped around the outside via Perry Hill. The warning posters, on the path towards the bridge, were only attached to a lamp post, and I noted many just walked past them without noticing them.
  This was the best view I could get of the bridge from the north side. Actually the last picture I took when I had walked to the south side was of this side of the bridge. I had walked down the slop seen on the left of the picture. I think the river was only 4 or 5 inches deep at this point, and if I had been wearing wellys I could have waded out mid stream and got a far better picture - except it would be shooting into the sun again.

   This was the barrier across the path on the north side of the bridge. It was more annoying than he one on the other side for two reasons. From this one you can almost see the bridge. I could have taken a snap through the wire from the far right of the barrier, and it would have shown about the first foot of the bridge, but it would have been a crappy and pointless picture.

  The second annoyance was that there was no way around the barrier. It was pushed into thick nettles and vicious brambles both on the left, and on the right. In addition, the left hand side was precariously close to a very steep bit of overgrown river bank. The only option was the one I mentioned earlier - welly boots and a wade in the river from about 30 yards back.

  I took this selfie while near the barrier above. Originally I was going to send it to Patricia who had sent me an audio message while I was walking along Perry Hill. I didn't send it in the end, and so I thought I would show it here. I don't know why though. It is not a picture I am proud of in any way. I guess it was a case of "well it exists, and I might as well use it instead of wasting it". Seems like a poor excuse !

  This walk was only roughly one mile less than the walk I made on Saturday, and that made all the difference. (The there was also the difference that this one only had one tiring hill climb). I almost felt still fresh when I got home...where "almost" translates to "not really, but closer than at the end of most walks. I have to admit that my feet were hardly aching at all.For all that positivity, I was still happy to get home and put my feet up.

  I actually felt sort of elated when I got home. Some of it was because I had walked at least a mile more than I had expected to walk, and some of it was being able to get a few snaps of the work in progress. I'll admit the snaps are not great, but I didn't want to push my luck and ask the workman to smile at the camera when I had no right to be on the work site.

  The best thing of all was when I first got home, stripped off my outdoor clothes to my underwear, and got on the scales. Once again I have broken another record for the lowest weight seen in something quite probably 30 years. Of course it was mostly the result of dehydration, and I treated myself to a few beers to help rehydrate myself. Seeing a positive change in weight in the desired direction made/makes me want to eat less.

  By 4pm, and with dinner still 2 hours away, my stomach was starting to rumble, and I aided by the beer, I gave in and had a very late lunch. Once again it was a couple of bowls of soup. It seemed safe, and satisfied me enough until dinner time. Dinner came close to being yet another takeaway because I fancied a reward for my long walk, and I didn't think I had anything exciting in the cupboard.

  My supplies are now getting a bit short after two months of not doing any shopping (apart for a few essentials [like beer] ordered online). On the spur of the moment I invented a crazy dish of chopped ham and pork* and butter beans with a few sliced jalapeños and some olives. It was not exactly a gourmet meal, and I have to admit it was a bit weird, but it wasn't nasty, and filled a need. I don't think I ate anything else after it.

* "Chopped Ham and Pork" - it sounds like it should be Spam, but this was cheap stuff with a consistency more like squidgy cat food. If I had more time I would have chilled the can so it would have been more solid, and then given slices of it a good grilling.

  I was still feeling good when I went to bed. The only thing that spoiled it was that I started reading in bed, and the book I am reading is another Robert Heinlien book that starts of a bit slow and tedious. All the best action happens in the second half if I recall correctly - although I have to admit I can't actually recall the plot on the second or more reading. I put the book down quite early, but it took a fair time to fall asleep. I think it was still some time before 9pm when I fell asleep.

  Once again I slept perfectly OK for over 4 hours, and then woke up. It was hard getting back to sleep, and would wake up every 20 minute or so. At 3pm I needed a wee, and while I was in the bathroom I thought that maybe I might need a poo too. It seems I did, although there appeared to be no urgency about it. It was a very strange time for that. Maybe that was the cause of my poor sleep, although I can't remember any discomfort, by 4am I slept soundly for about 90 minutes. It was still dark outside, but I decided I may as well get up.

  This morning I feel about as well as yesterday. It is that feeling OK by today's standards, but wishing it could be a lot better. I guess that means I am probably fit for another walk. I must admit I don't feel that keen about it, but it may well happen because I'd like the scales to drop another 100gm or so. This morning I seem to have lost another 100gm compared to yesterday. There is good news about my blood glucose too. It was down to a very satisfactory 7.0mmol/l this morning !

  My chief plan for today is to wait for a delivery - a delivery of a lot of cheese ! To this end I have already showered and dress because I've had a notification that my delivery should arrive roughly between 9 and 10am. Once it is here I will obviously test some of it, and then will be free to decide what I will do. I don't want to push myself too far while all the sore bits of my (mostly) right foot seem to be healing well. I might try for about 3 miles, but go up some hills. I am thinking of another visit to Hilly Fields. Quite what will actually happen is anyone's guess.