Sunday 27th June 2021

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Sunday 27th June 2021

Lockdown day 420 459

08:54 BST

Like the last few or more days, the weather was very volatile yesterday with the forecasts showing a lot of variations between revisions. The morning featured the long sunny spells that were forecast, but it was the afternoon that was unpredictable. From time to time some sunny spells were forecast, and then they weren't. In reality there were a few sunny spells, but at some time after 4pm it came over very gloomy. The latest revision to the forecast predicted rain for 5pm, but of course that was the cue for the clouds to disperse again. There was some nice early evening sunshine ! The prediction of an afternoon temperature of 21° C seemed about right.

I don't remember any drizzle at 6am, and now the forecast has been revised to show light rain at 9am. It certainly looks dull enough for rain, but it remains dry for now. The chance of rain between 10am and 4pm is still shown as just 10%, but that could change in an eyeblink. Both the BBC and Met Office agree that heavy rain could be falling from 4pm, although the BBC reckon it could start with lighter rain a few hours earlier. Just to add to the weather delights today, the BBC also predict not just heavy rain, but thunderstorms from 7pm. The temperature will probably be 21 or 22° C this afternoon. Tomorrow predicts a small-ish chance of light rain now and then through the day, and the temperature will probably be the same as today (and also the previous couple of days).

Yesterday turned out to be quite a productive day. I ended up doing two major things. The first was hand washing a rather heavy double duvet cover. It was good that I was able to hang it on the line outside, because there was no way I could wring it out enough to stop it dripping once hung up. It was also good that having played dice with the weather gods, I won ! It was warm and dry all afternoon, although I definitely can't say it was bright. When I brought the duvet cover in, about 99% dry, the sky was looking very threatening, but as I mentioned above, it stayed dry, and later on the sun came out.

The second major job was to cut the grass. I didn't make a very good job of it, but I didn't intend to. I mainly wanted to reveal all the litter and rocks that the foxes had left all over the place. I didn't get it all out, but at least I have made a start. If we ever get a dry and sunny day I will try and actually cut the grass in more of a lawn style, but I don't think I could get it actually looking like a lawn using my strimmer. If my aim is for a proper lawn in the future, as it should be, I think I might have to splash out on something better than a strimmer.

I still have not recorded any good pictures of birds at my bird table and feeders, but I did capture this bit of video during the night before last. I can't be certain, not by a long way, but I think this is one of the fox cubs. If so it is good to see that it can now scale fences. I think they were all waiting for that before they moved out of the earth in my back garden, and for good reason. I haven't seen any of the cubs actually in my garden for 4 or 5 days now, and that is one reason why I was cutting the grass - the first step in reclaiming my garden !

I had the last bit of my Thai takeaway for dinner last night. it was a bigger portion than I realised. I thought I might have something else with it, but it seemed quite big enough as it was. I just remembered I can copy from the email receipt, and actually name the dish I had - Pad Thai for Life Chicken. The "for life" bit is because the restaurant donates 10p to a charity for every Pad Thai dish they sell. It was very nice, but also not nice. The not nice was the after effect of it being sprinkled with a generous amount of caramelised onion, and that it seemed to make a rather large contribution to my blood glucose this morning. I don't know if the sugar was from the caramelised onion or not, but I know I could taste that onion long after I ate it.

Last night I made a fascinating discovery. At least I think that is one way of describing it. I woke up after maybe 2 hours of sleep, and I woke up from a series of dreams. Those dreams were heavily influenced by the book I had been read (Ben Bova's "Life On Mars"). Like most stories there were heroes and villains, as well as many other characters. Some of my dreams were like re-enactments of stuff I had read, and some seemed to contain new threads to the story. What seemed odd is the sense of detachment I had in the dreams. It was as if I wasn't there.

When I thought about I came to the conclusion that I wasn't in the dream. That I wasn't one of the heroes or villains, or one of the lesser characters. I think I was dreaming I was the author, and that what I was seeing in the dreams was my imagination of the words on the printed page. On reflection I probably do this a lot. I have thought many times in the past that some dreams are like passively watching TV, and yet it seems my imagination is powerful, and flexible enough to create these "stories". That rather goes against the idea that dreams are often said to be the brain reliving the events of the day as it moves the important bits to long term memory, and discards the rest. Oh well, it's all entertainment.

I guess I ended up sleeping quite well until the usual quandaries of when seems like a good time to get up. For instance I was wide awake just after 5am taking pictures of this moth on my shower curtain...

It was a very tenacious moth. It was also quite small. The vertical pale blue band is half an inch wide. It did move a few inches now and then, but it was still resting on inside of the shower curtain when I washed my hair and had a shower. I didn't actually see it, but I think it only flew off, probably out the open window, when I used some deodorant spray.

I did go back to bed after taking the photo above, and I did get back to sleep for an hour, or hour and a half. Once I got up properly I scrubbed my hands, to avoid contamination, and checked my blood glucose. It was very high, and into the danger zone, 10.3mmol/l. It shouldn't actually be dangerous provided I can get it below 10, and ideally below 9 by tomorrow morning. Below 9 may be asking a bit too much today.

This afternoon should be a Sunday boozing session, and controlling my blood glucose is not easy after a few pints ! I probably ought to be careful about what I drink rather than how much. Even then it is difficult when trying beers for the first time - some can be sweet, and others bitter.

As well as boozing, I have three other things I hope to do today. One is simple - check the memory card in the trail camera that has been watching my bird table, and feeders, since yesterday morning. One I am committed to doing. I have left a small load of laundry soaking. The big unknown is whether I will be hanging it outside to dry, or on a clothes horse indoors. I am hoping that I might be able to get it at least half dry outside if I time it well. The final thing is that I still want to go to Poundland, but I don't even know if they still open on Sundays. One other problem with going out is that my guts are stating to gurgle quite loudly now. I am expecting some sort of disruption in the space-time continuum soon !