Apart from one thing, yesterday was quite a successful day. In the morning I washed a large bath towel, and got it on the line to dry by 11am (and maybe a bit earlier). I didn't bring it in again until 3 or 4pm. The sun was mostly behind some threatening looking clouds by then, but the towel still felt sun baked warm. It was probably just a bit later when I heard at least two peals of distant thunder, but nothing happened here.


  I ended up going out a bit later than intended. It was just after midday, and originally I was aiming for 11.30am or earlier. After resting the day before, it felt fairly easy to keep up a good pace as far as the bow string bridge. I wasn't much slower than I was on Sunday when I was trying to walk as fast as I could. I still got there too late to meet Mouse and her dog Freija - assuming they had been there. There might have been evidence that they were, but it was very tentative.

  One of the more interesting things about this walk, and the reason why the average speed was down to just 2.25 mph, is that I stopped to take to a man from Thames Water. On Sunday I saw they were digging holes everywhere, and trying to find the water leak that was making so much of the ground very soggy.

  It must have been as long ago as last year, although maybe it was early this year, that I noted that the compound where Thanes Water have their "water abstraction plant" was flooded. I thought it was a bad leak on their equipment there - particularly when it was cascading down the river bank, and turning the river path into a quagmire.

  Yesterday I learned where the leak actually was, and a lot about the water infrastructure there. The leak was actually from a pipe that comes all the way from a 35 metre deep borehole near Ladywell Fields (close by the orchard). The leak was 50 ft or so from the water abstraction plant, but the underlying soil there is very porous river silt and shingle. That allowed the water to travel a fair distance from the leak.

   Now the source of the leak has been found it is supposed to be fixed today. Apparently it will be a tricky operation because if they turn off the pressure too soon it could suck muddy water back into the pipe. It would be interesting to see the work as it happens, but I don't think I will be going to that park today.
  This picture shows the only evidence that maybe Mouse and Freija had been in the park. This is the exact spot where I saw them last Saturday. The large damp patch could have been where Freija came out from a paddle in the river, and the smaller from Mouse where she had been dangling her feet in the river. If it was them I would estimate I could have missed them by as little as 10 minutes. I walked as fast as I could to the exit from the park to see if I could see them walking to their car, but I saw no signs of them.
  If the clock in my camera is correct (and I think it is) I took this picture at 12:50pm. Even then the clouds seemed to be thickening, but it didn't really feel like rain was on it's way....or maybe I was thinking that some light rain might even feel good. It would definitely be one way of cooling down. It wasn't quite as hot as it was when I did the same walk on Sunday, but maybe it did feel a bit more sticky.

  The one big success I had yesterday was fasting. It was almost just habit that made me want to grab a bite to eat when I finally got home after my walk, but I resisted it, and it wasn't long before I didn't feel hungry. From then on it was no trouble to continue my fasting right up to dinner time at 6pm. Even then I didn't seem to feel desperately hungry. Just before I had my dinner I checked my blood glucose. I had made sure I was well hydrated before, and I got a very nice reading of just 6.7mmol/l. That was quite a drop considering it had been 10.3mmol/l in the morning. I think that dangerously high reading must have been the result of dehydration after a hot sweaty night.

  I tried to have a safe/healthy dinner. Part one was a grilled steak with some "golden cherry" tomatoes, and some sliced, mini bell peppers. Part 2 was Sainsbury's "Mediterranean style" ready made sald with some added "golden cherry" tomatoes. (I finished those tomatoes just in time - the very last one I took from the pack had a green and furry end !). I really ought to have stopped there, but half an hour later, while watching some TV that was not really occupying my mind, I ended up demolishing some thin sliced hot pepperoni. If only I could have held out a bit longer there was something good on TV - another repeat of Yes Minister on BBC4.

  Last night was not quite as hot as the previous night, but only by a matter of a degree or so. I still used the 12 inch fan, and kept it on low all night. Maybe I was getting used to it because I did seem to get a slightly better sleep last night. Maybe I was just so sleep deprived that I couldn't help but sleep better, although having said that, it did take a while before I managed to fall asleep the first time.  Without going to extremes like using a stop watch, it is hard to say if I woke up more or less often, and for longer and shorter times, than I usually do. It didn't seem it in the night, but on reflection I would say it wasn't that different to a typical night.

  This morning my health seems pretty average by some metrics, and maybe better or worse by others. In other words I don't really know. Maybe I have a few less aches and stiffness than bad days. One definite thing is that my blood glucose is not as low as I would hope for. I was hoping it might be closer to my target of 7.5mmol/l, but it was actually 8.2mmol/l. That is fairly typical now, but I wish it could have been lower. I guess I had better blame it on dehydration again, although I did try and take a few mouthfuls of drink every time I woke in the night.

  One very strange thing considering I was fasting until dinner time yesterday, was that this morning my bowels were very loose (as they say in medical circles). My first morning visit to the toilet was very splattery, but I thought it was all over then. I was wrong. It was maybe 20 minutes later that I was in the kitchen when I suddenly realised I had 23 seconds to get back on the toilet before I had an accident. If the laws of physics still prevail in this universe them I am sure I must be 100% empty now, but I have a funny feeling (just in my brain, and nowhere else) that maybe I might still need another visit to the toilet before going out.

  My plans for going out today are far less ambitious than yesterday. If I have time I want to go to Poundstretcher to stock up on yet more bird food (those birds are eating me out of house and home !). Then I want to go for a short walk, or probably a short walk, and end up at The Jolly Farmers to, hopefully, see Angela. I'll plan my route based on what time I have.