You can tell we are coming to a long bank holiday weekend - the temperature is dropping ! The weather forecast has actually improved since taking the screenshot above. The afternoon temperature will still probably be 14° C for an hour or two, but more sunny spells have been added between late morning and mid afternoon. The sun is trying to come out as I write this, but while it was very bright for a few minutes, the cloud seems too thick at the moment. Tomorrow may touch 12° C for an hour or two in the afternoon, but perhaps no more even though the afternoon is predicted to be very sunny.

  
  Some of my day was constrained by waiting for a parcel delivery yesterday. I did have an earlier idea that I might go straight to the park to see if Angela was in there at lunchtime, but two other things put paid to that before I was informed about the parcel delivery being due. My right knee was OK for walking - sort of - but it did seem wise to try and rest it. A short walk directly to and from the park would not have stressed it too much, but would still not relax it enough to heal.

  The other thing was the weather. It would have been warm and dry, but not sunny. Without actually going outside it was not obvious that it was warm outside. I had the windows open downstairs, and the breeze coming through them did not seem to suggest it was that warm outside. There was yet another reason not to waste my time walking to and from the park. I didn't know it at the time, but I think Angela may have been working from home. I didn't even know that was possible, but as her work is all computer based it wouldn't be hard if her employers allowed it.


  I did give some thought to doing some gardening yesterday. I actually came very close to doing it, but I got sidetracked. Well sort of sidetracked. What I ended up doing for a lot of the morning was just laying on my bed reading. After a lousy night's sleep, although not as bad as the night before that, I wanted to have a snooze or three - or even a very long snooze ! I couldn't quite get comfortable enough for that. I guess I wasn't that uncomfortable, but there was also the thing that I was reading a part of the book that was a real page-turner, and I didn't want to stop.

  It is at that point that I suddenly remember that there was more to my morning than I described above. Before I did any reading, and trying for a big long snooze, I went out early to get some shopping. It was a good test of my knee as well. My knee was fine while walking, but soon after getting home I noticed it was stiffer, and more painful than it had been before going out. At least I think I remember that as being the case, but things like this are very subjective.

  My early morning shopping was initially to go to savers where I completely forgot one of the more important reasons for going there. I wanted some sticking plasters. I forgot those, but I did get more cod liver oil capsules, more high strength vitamin D tablets, and one thing I have wanted for quite some time now - Arm & Hammer sensitive toothpaste. After Savers I walked up to Catford Bridge to the little supermarket where I got some Diet Coke and 5 pots of bean salad. One "bean salad" was actually couscous with vegetables, and another was bulgar wheat with kidney beans. The other three were mostly beans.

  After getting home again I ate a couple of those pots of "salad" before relaxing. Over the course of the day I would eat the other three. In moderation they are fairly safe, but 5 of them were not that good for my blood glucose, weight, and all those beans may have started taking their revenge already ! Luckily my dinner was a bit safer !

  It may not have helped in all sorts of ways, but I had a few beers in the late afternoon. One of them, as pictured on the left, was a bottle of Samuel Smiths "Nut Brown Ale". It was one of those beers that is not nice, but neither is it nasty. It sort of straddles the line between the two. I can imagine it would make a very nice shandy with some sweet lemonade, and possibly diet lemonade. I also had two 330ml (less than half a pint) cans of Founders "Golden Ale". That was a little too bitter for my personal taste, but not bad.

  I was astonished when, at about 3pm, my parcel from Amazon arrived. I would have been more astonished if it had arrived at the earliest estimated time (see picture above). It didn't leave their Dartford depot until 12:10, and to arrive here as early as 12:15 would have meant travelling at supersonic speeds ! Even 3pm was amazing based on previous experience. I was expecting it to be at least 5pm, and as late as 9pm !


   My parcel contained two camcorder batteries, and I am not sure why I ordered them.  They are the recommended batteries for my very under used video lights, although those video lights can use a variety of batteries - including AA cells. The batteries also fit my semi-pro Sony VX1000 camcorder. They are half the size of the proper batteries for that camcorder, but almost the same power capacity.

  I ought to make more use of that camcorder, but it only records in DVD quality, and 4:3 aspect ratio. Once upon a time that was great, but  now it looks dated compared to widescreen video from even cheap and cheerful mobile phones. Of course the camcorder has much better image stabilisation, and real optical zoom (and a decent lens too). The other thing about it is that it makes me look much more important ! I guess that is a silly thing in one respect, but in another way it shows a certain seriousness. It is possible I may get some use out of it, and maybe even a video light, on Monday when I hope to be going to a front garden gig in the Hither Green area.

  After spending a day mostly resting my knee I thought I noticed a small improvement, but it was and is hard to judge. Laying down is much better for it than sitting on my desk chair in front of my PC. It can be quite painful for a few seconds after standing up after sitting down for a long time. I am trying to remember to take breaks every 15 to 20 minutes as I sit here this morning.

  After eating those "salad" puts I had eaten through the day, particularly the couscous and bulgar wheat based salads, I opted for a very healthy dinner. It was venison grill steaks with cabbage cooked in stock and black pepper. (cabbage and black pepper go together so well, and it has only taken me a life time to realise it !). Venison is known to be comparatively low fat compared to other meats, but I would not be surprised if some chunks of park fat, or something, weren't tossed in the mincer as they made the grill steaks.

  One thing I had been experimenting with during the day was a spare pillow to slightly raise my right knee. I actually tried it in several places along my leg to see what was best. It sort of helped, and so I used it when I went to bed. The other thing I did was to leave the heater on low so I didn't need to worry about kicking the duvet partly or totally off in the night - whatever was most comfortable. It was actually mild enough last might to not need a heater provided I used the duvet.

  It still seemed to take a long time to find a position that was comfortable enough to fall asleep. I was probably helped getting to sleep because of my sleep deficit from the previous couple of nights. I ended up sleeping mostly uncovered. I woke up several times during the night, and each time my knee seemed to be behaving itself better and better. Sometimes I wonder if it is my knee because I have felt pain from an assortment of muscles - at least that is how it felt.

  This morning I was able to get out of bed, and walk to the toilet with almost no pain from the very first step. It seems like it was definitely worth resting yesterday, and now I have to make a decision about how much more rest would be helpful, and how helpful some exercise could be. Fortunately the decision for today is already decided. This afternoon is boozing Thursday, and so I won't be going anywhere.

  The main negative thing for today is that I have started the new month with a very high blood glucose reading. It is a very high 9.9mmol/l. At least it is still under the danger line by a hairs breadth, but it is a bad start to the month, and a bad start to a day that will feature booze. I think a few of the beers I will be drinking could have some excess sugar in them, and then there is the problem of trying to eat carefully when drunk.....