Today should stay dry, but it is going to be mostly grey, and cool. The latest revision to the forecast now adds sunny spells right now, but there seems little chance of that. Maybe the other period of sunny spells, 2pm, may happen, or maybe the sun might briefly break through at some other time today. In this grey light even a very brief period of 12° C, at 3pm, is still going to feel quite cool, and most of the day will be a degree or two cooler. Tomorrow may briefly peak at 15° C, but it is currently forecast to be another grey day without any sign of the sun. It will probably be dry.
   Yesterday morning was very dull, and in more ways than just the weather. I didn't really do anything of any great note except for some reading. I didn't even wash my hair, and a have a shower until gone midday. Having had my shower I made a start on doing a bit of laundry by putting in a few things to soak in detergent. I didn't do any more to that laundry for a few hours. I must admit that I spent the next hour and a bit laying on my bed reading and dozing as hot sunshine poured through my bedroom windows. In some ways that was the best part of the day.

  Before I got back to my laundry I did a bit of cooking. It was supposed to be just preparatory work for my dinner later in the evening, but it didn't turn out quite that way. I was going to precook two things - some broccoli, and a few chicken thighs and a chicken leg. I didn't cover the broccoli when I cooked it so it would be partly steamed. I seasoned the chicken quite heavily, and it smelled very tempting as it cooked in my mini oven/grill.

  I can't quite remember what time it was, but Jodie called to say she was not rushing out to get the train because it was pouring with rain, and that she hoped to get the next train that would get here closer to 4pm than the 3pm "official start" of an afternoon beer drinking session. I knew that it would mean that Jodie would be staying late, and I would miss my 6pm dinner time. Yesterday that didn't matter much because there is no Star Trek on Sundays !

  With almost an hour to kill I decided to line my stomach with the now cooked chicken. Before I started to eat it I refilled the foil container I had been cooking it in with the rest of the chicken thighs and legs that were in the "family sized" pack I had bought. Once again I gave them a good seasoning. This time I used a lot of black pepper as well as chilli sauce and stuff. The chilli sauce, and stuff, had worked really well with the first lot of chicken. It was delicious !

  Jodie arrived with 4 cans of beer to try, and I didn't really like any of them. Once upon a time I used to like the sort of sharp, grapefruit like flavour that Challenger (I think) hops impart to beer, but only when it was an occasional novelty. It seems many "craft brewers" have taken this idea to extremes with all sorts of extras added to the beer. I must admit my beer offerings were not much better. One was described as an "ordinary bitter", and indeed it was - the sort of ordinary bitter that tastes like watered down leftovers in a run down pub.

  The one beer that broke the mould was an Abbey "Dubble" beer. It was rather strong, and had a very powerful flavour. So powerful that it initially tasted unpleasant after the other beers. Jodie initially turned her nose up at it, but she knew she used to like beers like this, and took an occasional sip until she suddenly got the flavour, and ended up pronouncing it to be very good. I knew it would take a few mouthfuls to get the flavour, and the third mouthful was delicious.

  Jodie left at about 6.45pm, and I warmed up my chicken and broccoli. It was a nice dinner, and made nice by having a tub of low calorie/sugar ice cream for dessert. Having a dessert is getting to be a bad habit that I must stop....but that ice cream was very, very nice !  After dinner I settled down in front of the TV, and with 70, 80, maybe 90 channels to choose from, I selected one of about the 5 I sometimes watch, and ended up watching 3 episodes of "'Allo 'Allo". Then I went to bed.

  I read in bed for maybe 45 minutes before turning out the light. I was mindful that I wanted to be up fairly early this morning to go to Aldi for shopping. It didn't seem to take long before I was asleep. I know I got up a few times to drain off some "used beer", but I can barely remember doing so, and I can't seem to recall any dreaming at all last night. It seems like I slept better than most nights.

  That sleep was good because I didn't feel too bad going to Aldi. Before going out I checked my health measurements. I was a little surprised to see my blood glucose was 7.5mmol/l. That is the figure I hope will be the average for the month. The current average for this first half of the month is currently 8.19mmol/l. That is a bit high, but there is still this second half of the month to try and reduce the average. Maybe, if I could be really careful, which seems unlikely after what I bought today, I could get it nearer 7.5mmol/l by the last day of the month.

  All my other measurements were pretty normal. That, and the good sleep, should have meant that I felt pretty good this morning, but of course it is difficult to feel that good on a cold, grey, damp morning. It took a few minutes of walking before my knees were moving smoothly, and I guess my legs as a whole were working quite well for the short walk to and from Aldi.

  It was my left arm that was, and is sort of stiff and sore. I would usually say it is my left elbow that is sore, but it is like the end three quarters, down to my fingertips, that seems sorest of all. It all depends what I want to do with my left arm. Carrying a heavy shopping bag was fine, but an action, best described as picking up a pint glass of beer from a table, and raising it to my lips, is what can be annoyingly painful. I don't really know what is causing it beyond describing it as rheumatism for want of a better name. I don't really know when it started, but I seem to think it started off as being quite mild, and intermittent, and then grew to be painful and more consistent, and then it seemed to not get any worse, or any better.

  I don't know what I am going to do for the rest of the day now. Having experienced that cold grey light once I do not fancy any more of it. It would be no fun to go out in it again with no very good reason for it. A short shopping trip is one thing, but as much as I need exercise, I need my exercise to have some enjoyment factor. I guess I'll be staying in today. I might do some sort of housework, or I may do more video editing. I am not sure if I am in the right mood to be creative today, and so any editing would have to be something that is just a bit of tidying up rather than anything creative. On the other hand, maybe a few large whiskies in the afternoon could get the creative juices flowing. I'll think about it.