The weather today would seem to be very hard to predict ! The BBC originally painted a very gloomy picture in their forecast for today. The Met Office were more optimistic. The first revisions are now in, and it seems like the BBC has gone all optimistic with a prediction of sunny spells for much of the day. The Met Office have actually reduced the sunny spells this morning. When I look out the window I see very thin streaky cloud that it offering very little resistance to the sunshine - just dimming it now and then instead of blocking it. I would not be surprised if this was the pattern for the whole day. Everyone agrees that the afternoon temperature will be 23° C. Tomorrow may see almost continuous sunshine, and the afternoon temperature rising to 25° C.
 
  Yesterday was not a great day, but it was also not a bad day. During the morning I was very happy to lay on my bed quietly reading, and trying to have an occasional snooze to catch up my lost sleep during the night. I'm sure that I may have only managed one brief snooze. It was one of those days when it was quiet outside until you had just dozed off, and then a car door would slam, or some other noise would happen to wake you up again (and by "you" I mean me!).

  The afternoon was supposed to feature a boozing session, and so around midday I burst into activity. I did the washing up. That included washing and polishing the glasses for the boozing session. I also did a minimum of tidying up here and there. I got all that done, and then retired to first my computer to check the trains were running (they were), and then back to my book.

  One other thing I did was to heat up a can of pea and ham soup that I ate as a buffer to what I thought was the oncoming deluge of beer. I thought that was going to happen, but it wasn't that long before Jodie phoned to say she was still under the weather, and could we try again tomorrow (today). I was quite relieved about that because I was still suffering the effects of lack of sleep.

  There was one other reason I was happy to hear that Jodie would not be visiting. I suddenly realised that I had not bothered to wash at that point. For most of the morning I was thinking that when I get to the end of the next chapter in the book I will go and have a shower. Where this failed is that I got into that stupid, but all too common thing of, "I'll just read one more chapter......".

  I did start to feel quite peckish by late afternoon, and I have admit I resorted to nibbling on a chunk of cheese, and some pecan nuts. I also decided it was late enough to open up one of the four cans of Guinness I had decided to drink. When dinner time came around I ate the last two Sainsbury's "Italian style salads".  These, and any basic salad, is good for me in one respect, but I am starting to find that my farts have a sort of barnyard smell to them, and I am sure my poo is starting to look greenish.

  I thought that I would probably go to bed extra early last night, but during and after dinner I flicked around the TV channels, and ended up watching an old repeat of QI until almost 9pm. After that I did brush my teeth, and go to bed. I think I managed to read a couple of pages before my eyelids were drooping. I put the book down, turned out the light, and I can't remember anything after that.

  Despite drinking four cans of Guinness I didn't wake up many times in the night, and on the whole I seemed to sleep well. I know I had a selection of dreams in the night, but I only remember one because as I woke up I realised it had a twist to it that didn't seem to be obvious during the dream. It was a dream where almost nothing happened. The first bit I remember was entering my house. It was bigger than my real house, and in some respects more like the house I grew up in.

   I went through into the garden, and that was bigger too, and it had some sort of shelter extending beyond the back door. I could see it was raining, but I stayed dry because of this shelter, but I have no idea how the shelter was constructed. While in the garden I could hear a Rolling Stones record playing, but I couldn't seem to locate where it was coming from (it was probably from outside, in real life, and being played on my PC).  I went back indoors, and the dream seemed to fade out at the point.

  It was as I woke up that I realised why the house was a bit familar, but also unfamiliar. It was the mirror image of my current house, and the house I grew up in. The staircase was on the right as you went in. I think in every house I have ever lived in the staircase is always on the left. I have no idea if this has some deep psychological, or metaphysical meaning, but it was sort of interesting.

  I didn't want to get up this morning....that it to say that part of my brain said I deserved extra hours of sleep, but another part said it is a fine bright morning, and that I had to get ready to go shopping in Aldi at 8am (as is my routine now on a Monday morning). Maybe it was three of four minutes after getting off my bed that I started to feel OK - another case of nit great, but not bad !

  I was further cheered when I checked my blood glucose. I expected that the Guinness might be a little less innocent than I had hoped, and there were a few other things I ate that in an ideal world I might resist. It was a most pleasant surprise to see my blood glucose was only 7.7mmol/l. That is a little higher than the previous morning's 7.3mmol/l, but still in an excellent area. I knew that keeping it down would be easier on warm sunny days, but that was mainly based on the idea that I would be doing some exercise. I am increasing thinking all those very high readings last month were caused by some sort of infection, or maybe a legacy of my Covid jabs.  Apart from one isolated day, this month has been far better.

  Several things have already happened this morning. As I got up I could hear what I presumed to be the lady next door working in the front garden. After having a shower, and getting dressed, I prepared to go shopping. When I went downstairs I could see movement outside my front door. I was pretty sure it was the lady next door, but what she had done surprised me.

  She had taken the plant pots off the window sills, dusted the sills off, and re-painted them ! What I found her doing when I went to the door was giving my door a clean, and she was just about to wash and scrub the front step and path with bleach. She explained that after she read the note I put through her door on Saturday, where I thanked her, and said she was a marvel for attending to my potted plants and clearing the front garden, she felt enthused to do even more. She is one of those people who have loads of nervous energy, and can't stand not being fully occupied (unlike lazy slobs like me). She is effectively doing this work for her own pleasure, and refuses offers to help pay for the paint and cleaning materials she uses. I think she'll definitely be getting a box of chocolates for Xmas !

  Since getting back from Aldi I have had a salad for breakfast. Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy it. That is not to say it was not nice - it just failed to excite. Much of what I bought in Aldi was salad material, and I shall be eating a lot of it this week, although I have got some meat bought last week that I ought to use before it s past it's best (I suspect the chicken probably is, but I am sure the fox cubs will enjoy it).

  Now it just remains to be seen if Jodie is definitely coming over this afternoon for a boozing session. If I knew she wasn't I would probably psyche myself up for a walk - assuming the weather holds like I think it will. In one special respect it would be good if Jodie does finally come over today - my fridge is full of bottles chilling away that we were going to drink last Saturday. I could hardly getting my shopping in the fridge this morning !