Yesterday was a day that started fair, was good in the middle, and ended badly. I described the start of my day yesterday. To recap, I had a shower, and tested my new mini oven/grill by cooking some fish fingers for breakfast. After I finished writing about it, I did some laundry. There seemed to be quite a lot of it, but in reality it was just 3 t-shirts, 4 pairs of underpants, and a face flannel. The good thing was that I was able to dry it on the washing line. My only error was bringing it in a bit early when it got very cloudy for a while. One t-shirt has one slightly damp arm, but everything else seemed bone dry.

  The afternoon was another Thursday afternoon boozing session with Jodie. Apart from when I felt bored while Jodie spent spent most of her concentration on her mobile phone, it was a good session. What made it good was the beers we were drinking. I don't think we had anything I could get excited about, but by the same token there wasn't one that was horrible. Many were just like a typical session ale in a pub.

  Jodie arrived late, and it was only half her fault. There were some delays on the trains because of (allegedly) a fallen tree on a line somewhere (not on the line here, but perhaps somewhere near the Slade Green Depot). She then made her self later by going to Lidl to do a bit of shopping. The consequence of this is that I was judging the time by the amount of beer we were drinking. When I checked the time so I could look up the next train for Jodie I realised it was a lot later than usual.

  I think it was getting on for 8pm by the time I was eating my dinner. Fortunately I started cooking it before Jodie had even finished her last drink. It was a couple of "Southern fried flavour" chicken steaks (like I had sometime last week). This time I didn't over cook them, and that made them a bit, but not much nicer. I also found my new mini oven/grill is a little bit smaller, and I could only cook two of the steaks in one go. I did cook the other two while eating the first with a load of salad, and sliced red jalapeños.

  I had more of those sliced red jalapeños on the other two steaks, but no salad. I think I can safely blame those  jalapeños for bringing me out in quite a sweat a bit later. Some of that sweat could have come from manual labour, and some from something else. The manual labour was not particularly arduous. It was just taking out some old chair frames, and the stand from an ironing board, and naughtily dumping it into the large skip that is just up the road for someone's house clearance. This morning I noticed my next door neighbour taking advantage of it too. I don't feel particularly guilty about it because I know that the scavengers have taken a fair bit out of it, and so the net load has probably changed very little.

  I didn't feel comfortable when I went to bed. It initially just seemed to be because I was feeling hot and sweaty. I managed to fall into a very light sleep a couple of times. The second time I was woken up by a noise. I had a feeling it was a mouse, but then I thought that it was probably just some noises my guts were starting to make. I went to the toilet, and sat down. Before anything could happen a bloody mouse ran into the bathroom, and quickly ran out again.

  Before I could do any more I had to have a look for it. There was no sign of it - which was worrying. Better news is that I feel sure I know where it came from, and where it was heading back to. Using a powerful torch I noticed a gap between the floorboards and skirting board almost behind the toilet bowl. One of my jobs today is to fill it with some sealant, but last night I used a heavy transformer that was handy to block the hole. At this point I don't know if I have trapped the mouse above or below the floor.

  Eventually I went back to the toilet, and I exploded ! 10 to 20 minutes later I had to go back again for another smaller explosion. I can't think what could have brought on this latest stomach upset, but once again I had been almost constipated in the morning. I say almost, but in reality it was just a thought that I should have done a lot more. Well, 14 or 15 hours later I did - much more !

  I felt really edgy when I went to bed again, and I couldn't help but listen out for signs of rodent activity. In the end I put in ear plugs so I wouldn't be disturbed. It was only a partial solution because I still found it very difficult to get to sleep. At 3 or 4am I turned on the heater, just on low, and maybe it being a bit warmer helped. I think I eventually got up at 7am, but I felt pretty lousy.

  The other bad news this morning is that my blood glucose has gone far too high again. It was 10.1mmol/l, and into the danger zone. It is interesting that a pattern seems to be emerging. I a sure the last couple of times I have seen these high peaks it has been after a stomach upset like last night (although maybe not the very last time). The annoying thing is that I really ought to be fasting for most of today, but my stomach is growling with hunger as I write this. At least I think it is hunger - it should be empty enough after last night !

  Any plans I might have had for today are complicated by expected parcel deliveries. I was originally think that maybe the weather would be nice enough for a walk early this afternoon. The latest update to the weather forecast hardly fills me with joy, but it would be just about Ok for a walk, but a recent text message says my first parcel delivery will be between 11.30am and 12.30. The second parcel is coming via Amazon's own people, and those lazy bastards rarely leave the depot until later morning, or even early afternoon. As yet I have not been informed my parcel will arrive today, but it did arrive at the local depot in the very early hours of this morning. That usually means it will be delivered later today.

  I don't feel as lousy as I did when I first got up, but I still feel attracted to the idea of a snooze or two today. That would probably suite me fine because I have little else to do if I don't, or can't go for a walk. On the other hand, with it being dry and warm, it might be a good idea to strim the lawn again. If I finally rake out all the rubble the foxes have left, and identify the bald patches, I might even sow some grass seed. I really must block off the entrance the foxes earth. It will just be a soft block of balled up newspaper at first, but if that is undisturbed I will use some rubble and stuff to make a more permanent block. As much as I love the fox cubs, I want my garden back for next year.