The forecast has been revised since taking the screenshot above. It now correctly shows that it is sunny now and sunny spells may continue at 9am. From then on the revised forecast says there will be light cloud, and not the dark cloud shown above. The sunny spell at 1pm is still predicted, but the first rain may now fall at 3pm. From then on the forecast above will probably be about right. Quite what the strength of the rain will be at various times through the rest of the afternoon, evening, and into the night, is probably unpredictable, but one thing can be said, it is going to be dull and wet ! Today's temperature may reach just 11° C. Incidently, the BBC's weather prediction substitutes hail for some of the showers toward the end of the afternoon. Tomorrow may be relentlessly cloudy. Only light clouds, but enough to block the sun unless you are in BBC land when you may see a lot of sunny spells. The temperature will probably peak at 11° C according to both forecasts.
  

  With my blood glucose so high yesterday morning I really had to get some exercise. Fortunately it seemed like a good time to go for a walk. I was very curious about how much damage the storm the night before may have done. Particularly to the trees in the Linear Park. It was also slightly warmer, and a lot sunnier than the weather forecast suggested. The sunshine was just sunny spells, but it didn't take long for the sun to come out again after being caught behind one of the fast moving clouds.

  It wasn't obvious that the clouds were moving that fast because the eye was distracted by how fast the treetops were moving during the stronger gusts of wind. The wind had almost blown itself out, and there were quiet periods, but every now and then a powerful gust would come and rattle the trees. There were still small twigs, brand new leaves, and all sorts of tree flowers and pollen shaken out of the trees while I was in the park. I didn't see any heavy bits of tree on the ground though.

  I expected to see a lot of debris from the previous night's storm when it seemed like the whole house moved in some of the stronger gusts, but there was very little to be seen. Maybe it was just the heavy rain being blown against my window that made it seem so violent the night before.




  What was very obvious when I entered the park was not and storm debris, but how green the tress are now. Not all trees are fully covered with leaves yet, but some most be very close to it. Also note the sky - mostly white with some darker cloud, but also a few blue patches visible.
  What I really should have done was to video these ducklings. A still picture somehow doesn't capture the cuteness that the eye can see when they are moving around. I didn't realise it when I took this picture, but most of the ducklings hid from the camera by ducking their heads under the water.
  I haven't really seen any herons on the river for ages, but this one is back, and is perched on a really inaccessible rock by the river bank. I could get this shot by using full zoom from by the "bridge of doom", but there was no way to get closer for a better picture. It is a well protected spot, and I almost wonder if it is guarding a nest. I really ought to look up about the nesting habits of herons.
  It was relatively quiet in the park yesterday, and I was able to get down to the river near the bridge that takes the path from Winsford Road to the footbridge across the railway. Usually the area is full of kids, and best avoided. I keep hoping that one day I'll be able to cross onto this shingle island, and declare myself "king of the castle", but not yesterday. The river is slightly higher after the recent rain and the channel nearest the bank was rather deep. It isn't obvious in this picture, but the edge is very steep, very muddy, and about a foot high. Leaping onto the shingle might not have been too difficult, but trying to get back onto land could have been messy !
There is one bit of the river bank where it looks like it has been snowing. It is not snow, but fluffy stuff, presumably seeds, from a species of tree that I can't name.
  There are a lot of isolated stands of bluebells, but none of the huge patches that can make some woodland areas looks so good.
  I noticed that the signpost in the park has been re-painted. I'm not sure I have even noticed that these signposts are specifically part of the London Cycling Routes (or networks). They were paid for by The Royal Bank Of Scotland, and so next time a thousand million cyclist go roaring past while you are taking a quiet walk in the park (this one or many others) you know who to blame.

  I didn't feel all that good while on my walk, and I had to push myself to walk as far as I did. It wasn't one specific problem, but a selection of them. One silly thing is that my high blood glucose was making me sweat a bit when it should have been warm enough to sweat. Once I was sweating I felt cold. In this respect the sweat was doing it's job, but if I was cold the sweat wasn't needed.

  Feeling cold and hot, when I should have felt just mild, and which was the case when I left home, was one annoyance. I was getting a few complaints from my feet. Mostly it was my left foot when a sticking plaster that was supposed to protecting a bunion (at least I think it is a bunion) came loose and started rubbing where it should have been protecting. My legs were aching, and my right knee in particular started to complain.

  The interesting thing about the pain in and around my right knee is that I know exactly when it started. With the river banks being dry, despite the previous night's rain, I was happy going up and down a few steep bits, and I did them with no trouble - except the last. I think I had to make a very small twisting motion to put my foot down in a better position as I made my way up a short, but steep bit of river bank. It was as I lifted my foot again that I felt the first pain. Fortunately it was never a strong pain, but it was still annoying.

  I was very happy to step through my front door again after my walk. I definitely felt very tired. I think that one of the problems was that I wasn't enjoying the walk as much as I might have, and just wanted to get it over and done with. I don't think I was actually rushing to complete it, but I wasn't hanging around to savour any of it either. I am at a loss to explain why this was any different to any of my much longer walks in the summer. On most of those I was trying to cover as much ground in as short a time as possible, but somehow it felt relaxing as well as tiring. I think the thing is that I am seriously out of condition, and have put on a lot of weight over winter.

  The most satisfying thing about my walk was how I cheated the rain. Several times it looked like it would rain while I was walking, but the first rain actually fell just a few minutes after I got home. That was good news, and there was other good news. On my way to the park I stopped at the cash machine outside the Sainsbury's Local store by Catford station. I drew some money out of my Tesco savings bank account, and noted the current balance of the account when it was displayed on the screen (but to my annoyance was not printed on my receipt). That savings account is slowly evaporating, but it is still about 70% of the size it was when I quit work 3 years ago (approx). I also checked my main bank account, and that is looking far healthier than I imagined. It seems that apart from months where I have bought expensive stuff (usually computer stuff) from Amazon, I have been spending less than my BT Pension pays me. At the end of June my income will almost double when I get my state pension. The combined income might allow me to save a little money if I try to avoid too many little luxuries (I definitely can't afford any big luxuries).

  Ideally I would have fasted until dinner time after my walk, but I seemed to have lodged in my head that I would have a bowl of Gravola (Granola) for a late lunch. That may not have been a good idea. I also decided I would have a large whisky. The two combined sent me to sleep for probably a full hour or more. It was fortunate that I started cooking my dinner before I had that lunch and booze. Dinnertime, 6pm, was not long after I woke up again.

  My dinner was well roasted pork belly slices and tinned peas. The peas were of the re-hydrated variety, and they weren't that nice when compared to frozen peas, or tinned garden peas. The whole dinner was nice though - particularly with some Dijon mustard on the pork. I think English mustard might have been a bit overpowering this time. I think I had something to nibble on a bit later in the evening, but I can't remember what it was.

  I was still feeling tired in the evening, and I was in bed reading before it was even dark. I am very sure I brushed my teeth before going to bed, but it seems I forgot to close the kitchen and dining room doors - something I have been doing since rehabilitating the dining room. I have a stupid idea that the closed doors might hinder the movement of any mice that might still lurk there - not that I have seen any more evidence since a trap caught a mouse a couple of months ago now. In all probability a mouse could still squeeze through and gap around or under those doors no matter how small they look to us.

  I don't know when I put my book down, and turned out the light, but I do know it was earlier than intended, and I do know that once I turned out the light I was suddenly no longer tired, It felt like I got very little sleep last night. The best sleep seemed to be the last two hours before I got up nearer 7am than 6am. It still feels like I am going to do a lot of snoozing today.

  The really bad news is that even after that walk, and avoiding some stuff known to raise my blood glucose, my blood glucose is still up at 10.5mmol/l this morning. I feel like I want to distrust the reading, but a re-test shows it is correct. I feel I can only blame this on that alleged sugar free Granola I have been eating. It is the only major departure from what I usually eat. I shall use the remainder as bird feed.

  There is one possible other explanation, and that is that I am suffering from some sort of illness. Even the common cold can raise blood glucose while the body fights the infection. It is possible I might have a throat infection. Swallowing my pills seemed harder than usual this morning, and my throat did feel sore a few paragraphs back. it is less sore now, but still feels a bit odd.

  There is one other, somewhat unpleasant, thing that might have some bearing on my blood glucose - a disturbance in the digestive continuum. For a few days when my blood glucose was nice and low it was a bit like I was constipated. I wasn't actually constipated, but it was like I wasn't able to "produce the normal amount". The morning of the day before yesterday, and very much so yesterday morning, that "constipation" came to an end, and I needed several visit to the toilet in the morning, and I was concerned that I might need to go again while out walking. I didn't, but I did an hour or so after getting home, and than at about 1am this morning. I think I feel reasonably empty now, and it will be interesting to see what my blood glucose is tomorrow morning.

  I don't think I feel like going for a walk today, although it would probably be good for me, and while the weather may not be good, it probably wouldn't be bad enough to stop me if I was in the right mood. I don't think I am in the right mood at the moment, and I see myself having a quiet day with some snoozing, and I ought to get on designing and printing the covers for the DVDs I made of the band Sue video recorded in The Rutland Arms in 1997. It could be a reasonably productive day.