Thursday 3rd June 2021

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Thursday 3rd June 2021

Lockdown day 420 435

08:14 BST

Yesterday was almost hot ! The afternoon temperature reach 25° C, but after a really nice sunny morning, it became quite dull by mid afternoon. It looked almost like a storm was brewing. The early version of the weather forecast did predict light rain from as early as 2pm, but later revisions said it would be dry. It did rain around 8pm, but it seemed to be just a passing shower.

still bright, but not as warm as
yesterday

The weather will be winding down today in advance of a cooler and wetter day tomorrow. In the latest revision to the forecast a few sunny spells have been swapped with sunshine, and vice version, but it still says it will be dull towards the end of the afternoon. It should still stay dry, but the temperature may only reach 23° C - which of course is still very pleasant. Tomorrow may see rain showers starting at 4am, and continuing until 1pm. The afternoon may be dull, but dry, and the afternoon temperature may only reach 18° C.
a very hilly walk

The big plan yesterday was to hopefully meet Angela for a drink yesterday lunchtime. For some insane reason I decided to do what I was going to do the last time I saw Angela a fortnight ago. That was to walk to the top of Hilly Fields, and down the other side. I gave myself plenty of time to do this walk, and it turned out to be rather too much time.

I'll admit I didn't make it to the top of Hilly Fields without pausing for breath (and shooting a 20 second video) halfway to the top, but I expected far worst. It seems I am getting my stamina back faster than I would have thought possible. I think it will still be some times before I feel confident to attempt some of the longer walks I did last year.

There are two extra facts about yesterday's walk. It was actually slightly longer than my walk the day before. The other thing was that I didn't do it in any of my proper walking boots. I did it wearing my fluorescent orange Converse trainers. I started off feeling I had made a mistake doing that, but while they were more uncomfortable almost from the start, they didn't seem to injure my feet, and I recovered from any soreness really fast.

I was surprised to find myself close to the pub a whole hour early. I didn't want to go in the pub and spend an hour by myself, and so I did once around Lewisham Park to pass a bit more time, and to add another half mile (maybe) to my walk. Halfway round I spotted a clean park bench in the shade of a big tree. I don't normally stop when walking (except to take pictures) but that shaded seat seemed so inviting that I spent at least 10 minutes sitting there.

I was still 20 minutes early when I got to the pub, but I decided to go in. At that point I was the only one in the pub except for the barmaid, and possibly someone sitting in the garden. My first pint of cold Guinness went down a treat ! At 1pm Angela turned up, and we had a nice warm chat, and I had another pint and a half of Guinness. Unfortunately the second Guinness was in a contaminated glass. It tasted of disinfectant. I still had my old glass and I poured it into that. It was still slightly tainted, but drinkable.

That is the second time I have had a contaminated glass in two visits, and I seem to recall it happened once or twice before lockdown almost 18 months ago now. I suspect they have a dodgy dish/glass washer. I didn't complain yesterday because I had the other glass, but I will next time. The barmaid was happy to pour another pint into a fresh glass a fortnight ago, but I doubt anyone will ever investigate the contamination problem. At least the contamination is disinfectant. It could be something far worse.

I noticed this very colourful planter at the bottom of the road leading up to the gates of Ladywell Cemetery.

I stood at the bottom of Hilly Fields and wondered if I was really going to walk all the way up to the top. It had already been slightly uphill since soon after I left Ladywell Fields, and that seemed like a bit of a struggle.

I think if I had really pushed myself I could have got to the top non stop, but I used the excuse to shoot a short video to stop and take a breather. It seemed to be all I needed, and yet when I checked the length of the first part of the video above, it was no more than 20 seconds. You can tell by my voice that I was far from breathless. I think it is my legs that complain first, but like last year they seem to be getting stronger again now I am doing more frequent exercise.

It's like buses - you see one, and then you suddenly see more and more. This shrub, mostly behind the fence of the school near the top of Hilly Fields, may, or may not be, another Californian Lilac. It is nowhere near as vivid as the big, tree-like version, I saw last Sunday, but the flowers look to be very similar, albeit much paler.

Right at the top of Hilly Fields lies the Pistachio Cafe. This is where I could have gone last Sunday to see Ceri James playing a solo acoustic gig. With hindsight it would have been a shorter walk than going all the way to Hair Deco in Lee, and it would have definitely been downhill all the way home. Although walking to and from the gig on Sunday was a lot more hard work, it was a more interesting gig.

The trees allow few good views from Hilly Fields, but this really ugly view of the Croydonisation of Lewisham is too easy to see. The council want to start on Catford next - loads of ugly 20+ story tower blocks springing up like weeds.

I never really appreciated just how red freshly sawn yew wood is. There seems to be work going on to tidy up the graveyard by St Mary's church at the moment.

This was the very pleasant view from the shaded park bench I sat on to waste a bit of time before going to the pub, and hoping that Angela would be able to met me there - she did !

I think it was as early as when I was sitting on that park bench that I began to feel like yesterday could turn out to be an unusually nice day. There were a few annoyances, but overall it was one of the best days since before the first lockdown happened in March last year. The next good thing was bumping into Michael as I neared home. I had just passed his house when I saw him approaching it after he had been to the shops. It was nice to have a gossip for 20 minutes, and it could have gone on longer, but I had told Jodie I would be home by 2.30pm

Jodie had phoned to ask if it would be OK to drop off her beers for today to save her carrying them around tomorrow. She was out and about with Mark, and apart from the annoyance of them turning up at 3.30pm, instead of the expected 2.30pm, it was nice to share just one quick beer, and have a natter with Mark for 30 minutes. After he and Jodie left I decided I really wanted to eat some sausages I had been cooking in the mini grill/oven. They were supposed to be for dinner, but the beer had made me hungry, or lowered my resistance, or both.

After the sausages I finally had what I would have had a lot earlier if I had come straight home, and not seen anyone - a short snooze. Actually it may not have been that short. If I remember correctly it could have been as long as an hour, but for some of that hour I may have been reading. Once I was awake again I made a start on "processing" my photos, and also preparing my dinner - a cheese salad (actually me second salad of the day).

I ate and did my photo, and video editing, while I kept half an eye on Star Trek. I am not sure why I kept the TV on because I was only watching it in small samples of a few minutes at a time here and there. By 8pm it seemed like I had done all my editing, and there was nothing which grabbed my attention on TV. The idea of getting any early night seemed like a good idea, but after reading for quite a while I found I couldn't get to sleep.

At first I thought it was because it was rather warm, but later on I became aware that there was a lot of gurgling coming from my gut. It didn't feel uncomfortable to any notable degree, but I knew what was coming - and it did. It may have been 11pm when I went to the toilet and sorted the matter out. I probably got to sleep quite quickly after that, but I was woken up by my phone just before midnight. It was a text message to say I had a win (probably £25) on The Premium Bonds. I was a nice positive not to end the day.

One unusual thing about last night was that I didn't wake up to wee more than once or twice, and when I did it never seemed to be much. I suspect I was a bit dehydrated by this morning, and hopefully that will explain my blood glucose going up to 9.00mmol/l this morning. It was either that or the sausages that were to blame - it could have been a bit of both. This morning I don't really feel like doing anything too energetic, but I do feel mostly OK again.

Even if I did fancy more exercise today, I can't because being a Thursday it is boozing afternoon. I feel sure Michael won't be joining us again today, and so it will probably be just another semi boring session with Jodie. Yesterday she deposited about 6 bottles or can here for today. I haven't looked at them yet, although I will when I put them in the fridge to cool them, but I have dark thoughts about them. I suspect they will be more sour and cloudy beers that I really cannot bring myself to enjoy.