The funny thing about each forecast revision today is the sunny spell, yes just one of them, keeps being the first hour of the forecast. Initially the sunny spell was for 6am, then 7am, and now, 8am. The sun has dimmed a bit now and then, but essentially the sunny spells are still happening at almost 10am ! The latest revision is sure that 10am will be dull and cloudy. Apparently there could be another sunny spells at 6pm today ! The rest of Any time that is not sunny will feature either light grey, or medium grey clouds. The afternoon should be around 11° C. Tomorrow might feature quite a few sunny spells, but a drop of rain is possible in the afternoon. The temperature should rise to about 12° C tomorrow.

   My greatest feat yesterday was one of philosophy, rather than anything physical. It arose because I realised there was stuff to do that I just couldn't get around to doing. It occurred to me that the most fundamental effect of lockdown is that time has lost it's meaning. For much of last year I was busy exploring my limited world on foot, and time almost had a meaning, but once the bad weather set in it was like one day was no different to that before, or after. It gave the impression that there was no rush to do anything, and now some things are behind schedule.

  There were two things I could and should have done yesterday, but I just couldn't be bothered to do them for assorted reasons. One was to set up my Tesco Savings Bank account so I could do stuff with it online, and the other thing was to do something to the garden. By now I should have cleared the weeds, cut the grass, seeded the bald patches in the lawn, and planted other seeds.

  I didn't think about gardening in the morning, at least not while I was writing, but maybe late morning, or perhaps very early afternoon, I suddenly realised that summer is not that far away, and by now my garden should be prepared for it. For all my good intentions I still didn't even go out in the garden for a closer look. One minor excuse is that I am reading a book (pictured a few days ago) that is an excellent form of escapism. I can enter the world of the book, and forget the real world.
  Sometimes the wheels of progress grind ever so slowly for other reasons than Covid lockdown. For instance it has taken me 38 years to finally get a table cloth for my dining room table. This was partly because it was originally in very good condition, and table mats were quite sufficient, but over the years it has accumulated scratches and even chips. For countless years it was never used as a dining table, and was just cluttered with junk. I underestimated the size when I ordered the table cloth in the picture, and it could do with an iron, but it seems to look nice.

  I should have another table cloth of the same size coming all the way from China (I think), but that is, if I recall correctly, a wipe clean, PVC table cloth. It is of the same size, but it will do for beer drinking sessions. Yesterday I ordered three more table cloths. They are all of the next size up, and two of them are linen for "special occasions" and another is a wipe clean (allegedly) plastic cloth.  The table cloth(s) and the cleanup and painting in the dining room were mostly inspired by, or for, Angela, but it will probably only be Patricia who will briefly make use of the dining room for more than just beer drinking sessions.

  The latest news is that it seems probable that Patricia may get to visit the UK as early as June. She hopes to apply for "settled status" here, and will be citing all the times she was directly employed here. It would be so she can continue to use English banks, who for some deluded reasons she thinks are more trustworthy than, for instance, Argentinian banks, and so she can work here again. Covid restrictions have really intruded into plans she made well over a year ago. Anyway, it will be lovely to see here again, and hopefully she will stay for more than a few days.

  I did do one other thing yesterday, and that was a bit of laundry. The rest of the time I was either reading my book, reading stuff on the internet, snoozing or eating. I was often feeling bored, and so I tended to eat more than I should have, but I was a lot more careful about what I ate, and this morning I saw the difference it made - not actually as big as ideal, but still useful.

  My dinner was very tasty, and apart from the fat content, it was sort of healthy. It was well cooked pork belly strips with pak choi for some greenery. I cooked those belly strips on their side with the fatty edge up so they would get the most heat from the mini oven/grill. It really droved a lot of fat off that I was able to pour off into the rubbish bin before eating the much drier, but still moist and tasty pork. I must confess I overcooked the pak choi. I did all the preparation for dinner, and precooked it around midday. I only needed to heat it up before eating it at 6pm, but the pak choi got another full cooking !

  One annoyance yesterday was the return of what is probably toothache, but which I earlier suggested might be a blocked saliva duct. It still seemed to come more from high up my cheek rather than apparently from a tooth, and the ache is different to toothache, but I have dark suspicions I might have to find a dentist in the future. I am not happy with dentists at the best of times, but a new one in the middle of a pandemic could be really unpleasant - or good if it is a really good dentist. I have encountered good and bad  - including one whose was both good and bad at the same time. She was the most painless dentist I have ever seen, but unfortunately her work was rubbish !

  I remember very little about my sleep last night. I do remember it seemed to be a rather cool night, and rather than turn the heat up, I managed to occasionally sleep under my duvet instead of shoving it aside. I am in the curious position of remembering that I had many dreams, but I can't recall what any of them were now. It seems my sleep was ages ago now - like a dim memory despite only waking up 4 hours ago.

  This morning I felt a bit less creaky than usual, but best of all was a small drop in my blood glucose. 9.1mmol/l to 8.8mmol/l is not exactly a big drop, but it is in the right direction, and I am a lot happier with reading that start with an 8 instead of a 9. I actually want to get it down to 7.5mmol/l as soon as I can, and try and keep it there. The initial weather forecast don't look too good for nice walking weather, but it can be long before I can try and get out 2 or 3 times a week, and then things can really move on.

  Today I have decided that I am definitely going to do some gardening - even if it is only 5 minutes worth. I want to bring the brown, garden waste, wheelie bin from the front garden to the back garden where it will be ready to receive a lot of weeds, and maybe even some sawn up logs if I can find the energy for that some time (probably not today). The main problem of bringing the wheelie bin through the house is that there is fox poo on one of the wheels - at least there was a week ago. Hopefully it will have dried and fallen off now. I do not want to wheel that through my house !

  Before I can get too carried away in the garden (as if !) I have a sheet to wash. That should not be too difficult - or easy compared to a thick duvet cover (which is a task for another day). I also have to keep an eye on the front door between 1.30pm and 2.30pm for another beer delivery. This one, although ordered via Amazon so I got free delivery, is being delivered by DPD couriers, and they have always seemed good at making a good prediction for delivery time, and keeping to it.