One good thing came out of Lee's annoying phone calls about his proposed garden party. I contacted Jo to tell her about it, and gave her Lee's phone number so they could discuss it. She said she would pass it on the Chris. I thought it was Jo that took care of Chain's bookings, but maybe she thought Chris could tell Lee to get lost easier than she could. The good thing is that Jo asked me if I was going to Petts Wood Calling (the new name for Petts Woodstock after the original organiser said he was taking it back under his wing).

  I told Jo that I was having a hard time trying to raise the enthusiasm after 18 months of lockdown. She quickly came back to offer me a photo pass for the day. I replied that provided she would not be cross if I only chose to go there for maybe a few bands, I would like a photo pass. She probably knows me too well - I very rarely make commitments about gigs, and often turn up unexpectedly, and frequently fade into the night before the gig is finished. Jo told me she would leave my name at the gate, and I could get my photo pass when, and if I chose to. In a curious way I am far more likely to go because I don't have to !

  I'm not sure why I was thinking I might go to Poundstretcher again yesterday morning. I didn't go there, and I think that maybe I was actually thinking of going to Poundland, but there was no strong reason for that, and I didn't go there either. In fact I was a bit too busy to go out. Lee's phone calls delayed some of my usual routine. The one thing I did do in the morning was to wash a hand towel and my favourite pair of shorts. It was because I was feeling optimistic that they would be OK drying on the washing line outside.

  Late afternoon was another drinking session with Jodie. It was a bit shorter than some sessions because Jodie was not feeling that good. She was also getting pissed off that all the lagers in the box set of lagers from each of the countries playing in the world ball footing competition were all very similar, and while perfectly drinkable, they were far from exciting. That was no great surprise when many were brewed at the Black Isle Brewery "in the style of" the countries they were supposed to represent.

  The sad thing is that it was Jodie who suggested I buy that big box of lagers ! I did wonder if Jodie was suffering from a bit of a hangover, and was after some nice strong beers as hair of the dog. She decided to leave around 6pm if I recall correctly. That was as much as an hour early. She went to The Star And Garter pub in Bromley who do some seriously strong beers (as well as much lighter beers).

 It suited me that Jodie left early because I was feeling under the weather. I'm not sure what it was, but I seemed to have a selection of aches and pains. At one point it seemed like I had glandular like pains under my ears. I thought I might be going down with something, but some food, and a couple of paracetamol tablets seemed to calm everything down a few hours later, in time for bed.

  I had a couple of "southern fried" flavoured fish burger (square fish fingers) for breakfast some time yesterday morning. During the day I snacked on a few peanuts, but generally I didn't each much until dinner time. Even my dinner could be looked upon as a bit light. It was no more than 4 "southern fried" flavoured chicken steaks. I was going to have some tomatoes with them, but in the end I just settled for a bit of mayonnaise on two of them. They weren't particularly filling, but satisfied enough to not hinder sleep.

  I don't think I slept very last night. I found it fairly easy to get to sleep after I put my book down, and turned off the light, but only about 90 minutes passed before I woke up again. I thought it was the next day, but it was still sometime between 10 and 11pm. I seemed to feel a bit cool, and I turned the heater on low before going back to sleep. It probably wasn't much more than an hour later that I woke up feeling hot, and turned the heater off again.

  I feel sure I woke up another three times to turn the heater on, and three times to turn it off again. If that is actually true then it explains why I feel like I had a lousy sleep last night. If there was anything good about it, it was that all the aches I seemed to have in the afternoon didn't return, although having said that, I may not have realised it during the night, but it turns out my right leg was confirming it was, and will be, cool and very damp !

  I was awake at 6am this morning, and that was when I should have got up this morning, but I went back to sleep. I woke again at just gone 7am. That gave me little time to wash and get ready to go to Aldi. Before all that I did my health checks, and took screenshots of the weather forecasts. The imprtant health check was my blood glucose. It was up again, but still just under 9, actually 8.9mmol/l. I think I can blame the beer for that, although if I have been fighting an infection, that would have raised it a bit.

  I eventually arrived at Aldi at about 8.30am. I needn't have worried about it because it seemed even quieter than it usually is a few minutes after they open at 8.00am. I took a couple of paracetamols before I left, and I am glad I did because my legs felt very stiff and creaky. They did ease up as I walked, and apart from the weight of the bags I was carrying, which made it all hard work, my legs felt fairly OK on the way back.

  This morning I ended up with two quite heavy bags of shopping, plus a heavy rucksack. The odd thing is that I spent less this week than last week, and still ended up with heavier bags. Some of the weight was 5 cans of soup, and a 6 pack of Dutch lager (that I am sure Jodie will turn her nose up to). I ended up buying less meat and more fish today, and I am not sure why...except in the case of the "southern fried" flavour fish burgers. For some peculiar reason the two flavours seem to go well, and I have decided I really like them.

  I had grilled breaded haddock for breakfast today. It seems to be light enough that I don't feel bloated, and yet heavy enough that it seems to hold back any hunger for hours - provided I don't get too bored. Sadly, today could be a very boring day. It is actually quite bright as I write this, but it will probably get dull again, and at 3pm we face even duller skies and rain. This does not enthuse me !

  It is possible that if I can raise the enthusiasm to get out there before the rain, I might do a bit of gardening today. I noticed, when feeding the birds, a fox has dug an even bigger hole under the back fence. I think I ought to lay down the law, and fill that hole in. I want to turn over all the soil in that back flower bed, and level it out. It is probably the completely wrong time to do it, but I may even plant some random seeds in it. Mostly I will end up doing nothing today.