Yesterday was not a good day. After my shopping trip to Aldi I felt like I had done enough for the day. It was like my energy and enthusiasm had drained away. I think I may have thought that I would feel better in the afternoon, and in a limited way I did, but by then it was too late for the one thing that might have drawn me out for a walk, and that would have been to see if Mouse, and her dog Freija were in the park.

  The one thing I did expect to do, I didn't, well not much. After what seemed like a very poor sleep I expected to snooze most of the morning, but I don't think I did. To be honest I was laying on my bed reading for a fair amount of the morning, and I am sure I found myself closing my eyes a few times, but I can't seem to remember actually going to sleep. I possibly did, but I just can't remember it.


   As can be seen from the clock, I took this picture at 2.06pm. By then it was a very sticky feeling 30.3° C in my south facing bedroom, and 31° C outside. The outside thermometer is on the windowsill of the north facing second bedroom. More interesting was that inbuilt electronic barometer was telling the display that rain was expected (It doesn't actually display a barometric reading - possibly because it isn't accurate, but it can still follow a trend of rising or falling pressure). At the same time the online weather forecasts were also predicting rain, and even thunderstorms.

  Enough cloud did bubble up to block out the sun, but it was white cloud, and never really looked threatening. I thought I would call the weather's bluff by getting the garden hose out for the first time in a year or more. The (potential) flower bed at the end of the garden was really dry, and soaked up a lot of water. I also watered the lawn and potato plants. That still wasn't enough to cause any rain, and slowly the threat of a thunder storm faded away. I wonder if today will see a real thunderstorm.

  The only other thing I was doing in the afternoon, and with a little less enthusiasm in the late morning, was to continue re-ripping my CD collection to mp3 files so that I can play them (I don't have a CD player in any conventional sense). It is quite a voyage of discovery - finding, and remembering CDs bought years ago that have sat neglected in dusty corners for ages. I have even found a couple of quite listenable CDs from among the promo CDs I used to be sent during my days on the radio (most were thrash, or even death metal !).

   The one thing I did rather more of than was desirable was to eat yesterday. It was the result of being bored. Probably the worst thing was to finish off a big bag of crisps that I had actually opened on Sunday. I don't think there was anything else that was particularly bad for me, but the cumulative effect of lots of little things added up to bad. My dinner was supposed to compensate for this. It was two ready made salads - one eaten as it was, and the other with a big lump of added spam. Actually, both had extra tomatoes added. They were of a small, golden coloured variety. Those tomatoes were nice, and possibly a bit sweet.
  I didn't feel as tired as I expected to be last night. By 9pm sunset was still 7 minutes away when I took the picture above. The sky was almost free of clouds again, but it was still hot, and it was still sticky. To make things a bit more comfortable I changed the 8 inch fan I had been using to a 12 inch fan. With that playing on me it was much more comfortable when laying on my bed reading. I read until I finished the book I had been reading (Ben Bova's "Uranus").

  Having read the last few words I turned the light out, and tried to get to sleep. I did seem to get to sleep earlier than expected, thanks to the big fan, but I have no real idea when it was. I guess it was probably between 10pm and 11pm. Unfortunately that big fan, aided by the outside temperature dropping several degrees (and with the window open), left me actually feeling chilly an hour or so later. I turned the fan off, and fell asleep again. An hour or two later I woke up wet with sweat. I turned the fan back on, but rotated it so it was more centred on my legs. That seemed the best compromise, and I think I slept for far longer before waking up again.

  I think I probably slept better last night than I did the night before, but it was not quality sleep. In the last hours of the night I seemed to be dreaming a lot. I know some, perhaps all the dreams were influenced, or by the book I had been reading, but I can remember enough details to describe them. There was one dream that seemed very different, and I do remember one bit of it because it was rather unpleasant.

  I can't remember all the circumstances of the dream, and I can't remember who the couple of people who appeared in were. What I can remember is that I seemed to be on my bed, and that I had a very slight itch on my arm, near my elbow. I went to scratch it and found it was a bump. I squeezed it, and completely 100% painlessly an incredible amount of creamy pus came out of it. The last thing I remember was grabbing some tissues to try and clean myself up.

  My sins came back to haunt me this morning. All the food I ate, and I guess I can't dismiss the three bottles of beer I drank, all added up to give me a blood glucose reading in the danger zone this morning. It was a very bad 10.3mmol/l. I had hoped that maybe it was because I was dehydrated after such a sweaty night, and so I checked it again after drinking enough (I hope) to re-hydrate me, and somehow that has made my blood glucose rise a bit more. This means that no matter what I do today has to include fasting until dinner time, and then eating very carefully then.

  I think it would be more accurate to say what my aspirations are today, rather than actual plans. One aspiration is a bit more concrete because it is almost done. After drying myself after a shower I started to wash the large bath towel. As I write this it may need one more rinse before fabric conditioner, and hanging on the line. I am assuming if I can get it on the line early enough it will be able to dry before any possible rain falls. It is starting to look a bit cloudy even now !

  I really ought to go for a walk in the park today. Earlier on I imagined walking all the way to Clock House, or even Elmers End station. It was something I was getting close to do last year, but I had to shelve the idea because I wouldn't be able to get a train home again. In theory I can now, although there are conflicting reports about South Eastern Trains ideas for mask wearing. One thing is for sure, and that is the trains would be very lightly loaded in the middle of the day. I think what I may end up doing is to do the same three mile walk I did on Sunday - just as far as the bow string bridge to see if Mouse and Freija are in the park. Maybe if they aren't there, and the sky looks OK I might walk more, but I hope to leave early enough so I don't have to rush like I did on Sunday.