Today is forecast to be exactly the same as yesterday - sunshine all day, and the temperature reaching 25° C. Tomorrow will be rather different. It could be very dull in the morning with a 10% chance of rain. The afternoon will be brighter, and the sun should finally shine again after 5pm. It should still be warm at 24° C.
 
  I never did get around to carrying out my first task of the morning. That was to repair the leak where the bath waste pipe joined the main stack to the sewer. I am not really sure why I couldn't be bothered, but not liking working on a ladder was one thing that held me back. The other thing is that the warm sunshine was more a distraction than being nice to work in (although the back of the house is in almost permanent shadow.

  I rested for some of the morning just quietly reading, but then I decided I would wash my hair, and have a shower. After doing that I checked outside and it was hard to see there had been any leakage at all from that waste pipe. I concluded it is probably only significant when I am doing laundry, and tipping big buckets of used water down the bath plughole. I will now try and fix that leak before I do some more laundry.

  The real call yesterday morning was to get out into the sunshine. I had a route in mind. It was the same route I was contemplating when I didn't go out on Monday (or was it Sunday ?) because of a potential visit from Jodie. I had a masochistice idea that I would walk over the top of Hilly Fields in a straight line instead of curving around and coming out the side like I have in the past. If I survived that, and felt fairly OK I would go home across the top of Blythe Hill.

 That is exactly what I did, and it didn't kill me ! It was a struggle to get to the top of Hilly Fields, and I think I stopped twice to take a few seconds breather, although it was my legs that seemed to need the rest, and not my lungs. It does feel that my stamina is slowly coming back though, and when the going was downhill, or on the level, I seemed to be fine. My only regret was that my walk was a few hundred yards short of a full 4 miles !
  Every now and then I make reference to the "curly wurly" bridge. I thought that yesterday I ought to take a picture of it. As can almost be seen where the trees aren't in the way, there is a slow circular ramp to the top to make it pram, wheelchairs, and cycle friendly. The other side is the same.
  Stopping to take a picture of the view is always a good excuse for a breather. This is the view to the south from over halfway up Hilly Fields. On reflection it is possibly 3/4 of the way to the top. The actual view from the very top is marred by all the trees in many directions.
  Until yesterday I had never seen the north side of Hilly Fields. This is the view from close to the top looking down onto the lower field where it seems that it could be cricket pitches being prepared. It looks like it is an easier side to walk up because apart from one very steep bit, the slope is more gentle.
  It may seem that I have showed this picture before, but this is the other side of the road. It is identical to that on the other side of the road, and both are on the walls of the road bridge where it crosses the railway.
 It is probably irrational, but this annoys me a lot. These signs are on the door of the London Beer Dispensary, and one reason why I would not want to go in. The place being shut when I passed it is almost incidental. I can't see why wearing a mask for the 15 seconds it take to walk in, and sit at the table is going to make any difference when you could be sitting at the table for an hour or more without a mask !
  I had no intention of going in this establishment, The Brockley Jack, and I am not sure it was even open. My annoyance about this is that I had to take the picture at an oblique angle because of a street lamp, and other roadside clutter stopped a face on view. If the road had been a lot less busy I might have taken the picture from in the road.


  The views across London are far better from the top of Blythe Hill, and of course a picture has to be taken even though it is the same view as the previous 24 times I was there ! There is one thing you can see in this picture that is not obvious, and that is the cloud build up over the "heat island" of inner London. Most of the sky in the picture I took on this walk show a clear blue sky with the occasional streak of thin or fluffy cloud. It all looks a bit murky above, and behind those skyscrapers.

  If I had used a proper camera, instead of my mobile phone, this picture of me at the very highest spot (I think) of Blythe Hill might have contained more information. I forgot that the "selfie" camera on my mobile phone has some sort of depth sensor, and defocusses the background. If the background was sharp, and the viewing angle a lot wider, you would see some of the skyscrapers in the distance.

  The surprising thing about this picture is that I don't look to be too sweaty. There were bits of the walk where I seemed to feel very damp, and my forehead was almost pouring. The worst of it was when I got home, and out of any cooling breeze. I have to confess I got very soggy then !

  According to my radio linked, outside thermometer, the temperature had not quite hit 25° C when I got home at 2.42pm. The later versions of yesterday's weather forecast did say the temperature would peak at 23° C, but it was obviously higher than that, and I think the temperature may still have been slowly rising even at 2.42pm. Maybe it might have even hit 26° C !

  I felt like I had worked hard when I got home, but I didn't think I felt that shattered, and I had the energy to select and edit most of the pictures before I lay on my bed to rest. There was one indulgence I did have after that walk. It was a tub of low(ish) calorie, and (very slightly) low sugar ice cream. It was the first ice cream I have had in ages, and it was really delicious. The only problem is that I dared to check my blood glucose 90 to 120 minutes after eating it. I have never had a higher reading ! It scared me a bit.

  As a result of that scare I limited myself to a very light salad. It ended up as a fairly big salad by the time I had added all the ingredients, but apart from a sprinkling of Parmesan flakes, and some vinaigrette dressing, it was all green vegetable matter (except for the pointy bell pepper which was yellow, and the tomatoes that were red). I ate that salad just over half an hour later than my usual dinner time. I did have a flick around the TV channels for some entertainment while eating it, but nothing grabbed my attention.

  There were a few things I could have watched later, but I opted to read instead. It is after reading that things got a bit hazy. I remember feeling quite weary, and putting the book down, and then the next thing I knew was that it was dark outside, and the clock was saying it was almost midnight. I was really surprised to wake up seeing it dark outside when I couldn't even remember trying to fall asleep. I couldn't even remember if I had brushed my teeth, although I usually do before laying on my bed to read. To be on the safe side I brushed them again at midnight.

  It seemed like I was in for a really good sleep last might, but after going back to sleep for another 2, or two and half hours, I woke up, and couldn't get back to sleep again. After a while I gave up trying, and got up for an hour and a bit before trying again. It was light by the time I finally got to sleep again. I then managed a couple of one hour sleeps, maybe a little more, but the last hour or so was that strange state when it feels like you are awake, but your not really, or maybe not for more than a couple of seconds.

  It was with great trepidation that I checked my blood glucose level this morning. It was 8.1mmol/l. I was expecting a lot higher after I saw the early effect of that ice cream. I will have to be careful what I eat today, but it is probably going to e mostly salad, and no ice cream ! One other check I did this morning was my weight. I have checked it a couple of times over the last week, but those were the first time since last August ! I knew it went up a lot during winter, and through that cold wet spring, but in the last week I seem to have lost at least a kilogram, and maybe a little more. If I keep this up, and reduce my belly fat, my blood glucose control should be a lot easier, and maybe the occasional treat of ice cream will be safer - but not for another month or two.

  This morning has started out with some complications. I was just about to take a shower when there was a knock at my front door. I had to rush to put some trousers on before opening it. I knew it was the lady from next door. She had started to paint my front door. As I mentioned a day or two ago, my neighbour is full of nervous energy, and has to do stuff all the time. Her kind offer of painting my front door is the latest thing to keep her amused. The only trouble for me is that I have had to leave the door ajar for an hour or so until the paint dries. Fortunately it is quick drying paint. Until I can close the front door I feel reluctant to wander around naked while I have my morning shower !

  My plan for today is to go for another walk, and the route I have in mind does involve one, and possibly two hills. I want to go up and over Mountsfield Park, and then on to Lee where I can take a snap or two of the River Quaggy. The longer term idea is that if I time it right I could be in The Jolly Farmer at 1pm, and maybe Angela would like to join me.