It has been rather grey this morning, but in advance of even the latest forecast time, the sun is just about breaking through now. Just now it was very bright for a few minutes, but still a bit hazy. According to the very latest revision, and in agreement with the BBC's forecast, this afternoon should be very sunny, and with the temperature peaking at 16° C, and even 17° C for a while, it is going to feel hot compared with what we have been enduring for the last 3 or 4 months. Tomorrow should be even better. The current prediction is that the sun will rise on a clear sky, and shine all day. The temperature is predicted to rise to a glorious 21° C !

   Yesterday was a good day. The morning was not terribly exciting, and I can't say I did anything of note, but close to midday Dylan arrived with my new tripod camera head. Like his dad, he came in and we chatted for something like 20 to 30 minutes. Like everyone, after over a year of various shades of lockdown, he too was more than happy to chat for the sake of chatting. I think he has been less isolated than many because I hear he has done some collaboration with a local guitarist, although he also says he hasn't really done any proper drumming for ages.
  This is the new tripod camera head. I am not sure why I was so stupid as to pose it with a silly little camera on it ! Swapping it for the existing head turned out to be really easy once I worked out the technique for doing it. The built in two axis spirit levels will be very useful because I am useless at keeping the camera straight, and I am always having to correct pictures when editing them. It is also essential when using a video camera - particularly when panning around. I was hoping this camera head would have a nice smooth pan action, but it is really only meant for still photography. I put some grease on the pan bearing, and for limited movements it is smooth, but it initially needs a good wiggle to get there.
  The tripod I attached the head to is a semi-pro tripod made by Gitzo - a "Gilux Reporter". Interesting enough it was made in France, and the Manfrotto head is made in Italy - enough information to get a Gammon frothing at the mouth. Even more interesting is that Rod (who gave me the Manfrotto head) tells me that Gitzo and Manfrotto have now amalgamated into one company using the Manfrotto name. Apparently they have spares for all their products going back into the mists of time.

  After playing with my tripods (I wanted to see if my lightweight, cheap and cheerful, tripod had the same head fitting - it hadn't), there wasn't too much of a wait until Jodie arrived for our boozing session. Most of the beers we drank yesterday were medium strength, and so at the end of the session I still felt mostly sober. Maybe not quite sober when it came to selecting what I would eat for dinner !

  I thought I had bought quite a lot in Aldi a week ago, but I didn't seem to have much left in the fridge to form the basis of dinner. I had thought that maybe I could have a very light dinner of little more than casseroled green vegetables. I used to eat stuff like that a lot when very serious about losing weight, but after beer it just didn't feel like what I wanted. I eventually cooked not one, but two Fray Bentos pies. The cooking technique when using a mini oven is complex, and involves using aluminium foil to stop the pastry burning for most of the cooking process.

  It could be argued (but you would have to be quite drunk to believe it) that it was a balanced meal One pie was a vegetable pie (albeit in a balti sauce - or so the label said), and the other was "All Chicken" (90% of the chicken was made from gravy as far as I could see). So it was meat and vegetables with puff pastry. The downside, if indeed it was a downside, is that I had to cook the pies one at a time. I have memories of Fray Bentos Pies of being really meaty 30 or 40 years ago. Now I find it really hard to find any meat in them. I think those two I had last night will be the last I ever buy !

  I'm not sure when it started. It was probably some time before dinner when my nose started to feel a bit itchy. For the last few hours before I went to my nose felt really peppery, and it was really running. It was like really bad hay fever. It was very similar to the morning of the 2nd day after my Covid jab. I doubt the two are related, but you never know. By the time I went to bed it seemed to be fading away, and once I was laying down I think sleep came fairly easy.

  I was expecting to get indigestion from those two pies I had for dinner, and I kept some antacid tablets by my bed, but I was fine. Once again I seemed to sleep quite well. I know I had some dreams, and I feel sure that some were quite lengthy, but I can only remember a single brief clip from one dream that lasted mere seconds. I was in a public toilet that was like a phone box. The pan was blocked, but that was OK because I didn't want to use a toilet with glass sides in the middle of a busy street !

  The main thing when I woke up was that my right knee flt ever so sore. I was limping when I went to the toilet. I had noticed it when getting up for a pee in the night, but it seemed to be worse. My right shoulder also seemed to be very stiff and painful but that was less bother provided I chose how I moved my right arm carefully. That knee didn't bode well for walking today, but maybe all it needed was a couple of paracetamol for an almost painless walk to and from Aldi. I think it was still a bit stiff when I started walking, but after a minute or so I just didn't notice it.

  Before going to Aldi I did my usual health checks, as well as having a shower. Of most interest was my blood glucose level. My blood pressure varies a bit, but is generally quite low provided I am relaxed. I knew yesterday's beer and those pies would not be ideal to keep my blood glucose down, but it was not as bad as expected. Yesterday it had come down to a reasonable 8.0mmol/l, and this morning it was up to 8.7mmol/l. That could be OK on most days, but I bought stuff in Aldi that could raise it even further if I am not careful.

  One possible way of protecting against eating too much of the wrong stuff would be to go for a long walk. Today would seem to be a day when I really have to go out and top up my tan ! I am in two minds as to whether to go for quantity or quality. For quantity I could try for a 5 mile or more walk. For quality I could load up with big camera, and big tripod, and try for some scenic shots from somewhere like the top of Blythe Hill. I am quite keen to justify being given that Manfrotto tripod head, but the idea of carrying that to the top of a hill is a bit scary. I might do it anyway !