As I write this I have not seen the first sunny spell yet, but the latest revision to the forecast still promises sunny spells starting any second now (!), and even an hour or two of solid sunshine. The morning started off cool and damp after yesterday's rain, but by 3pm the temperature should rise to 24° C, but no higher according to the latest revision. Tomorrow (and maybe even the day after) is predicted to be cooler, and will feature a fair bit of rain.

  Yesterday was dull, good and bad. I didn't really do anything all morning, and nothing really happened until Jodie arrived for out afternoon beer drinking session. She was originally going to have a cider drinking session, and I chilled several cans of fruity ciders ready for her. Once she saw some of the beers I had bought she changed her mind, and had beer instead. I was going to have beer anyway because I am not really a cider drinker, and doubly so not a fruit cider drinker because too many of them have a fairly high sugar content.

  I didn't know in advance, but Jodie had arranged for Mark to pick her up, and via a pub, and/or restaurant, go on to another of their friends houses. I told Mark about the new machine heads I had ordered for my acoustic guitar, and he agreed they did sound cheap - as did the spare set of strings I bought at the same time. I can't remember the exact price I paid for the strings, but they were almost half the price that Mark spent to buy me a set.

  During the drinking session I wasn't feeling that good. I had a vague stomach ache mixed with a bit of creakiness in my chest. I do have a vague memory of doing something, possibly it was just drawing the curtains in my bedroom in the morning, and doing it at arms length when something went click in my chest. It may have been the trigger for a mild "twisted rib" bit of bother.
  It was when saying goodbye to Jodie and Mark that I noticed this snail, in full exploration mode, on my wheelie bin. It was probably enjoying the wet weather ! Meanwhile, I wasn't enjoying how I felt. I didn't feel like trying to eat the chicken stew that I had been cooking, now and then, during the day. I fancied something smaller, but tasty. I opted for the final two little pots of bean salad (although one was actually couscous and beans).

  They seemed to go down OK, and I wanted more. At this point I think I made a bad mistake. For some stupid reason I thought a bowl of instant noodles might be a good idea. Maybe the two bowls I eventually had tipped me over the edge. That hot liquid may have got those beans salads fermenting faster. By the time I wanted to go to bed I felt awful. Had I been a dog suffering from bloat I would have been rushed to a vet.

  I had to make do with some antacid tablets, and a lot of farting and burping. The thing which really didn't help was whatever I had done to my chest earlier. It was also aching in a way that was almost like the sort of pains you get from a heart attack. I just about felt confident that it was not a heart attack, but even if it was I was not going to do anything about it until I had finished burping and farting.

  I wasn't comfortable enough to get to sleep until gone 1am this morning, and that was only after several visits to the toilet. It was probably nearer 2am when I got to sleep, and I only got about 4 hours of sleep before I had to get up again so I could get ready to go to Aldi at 8am this morning. I felt pretty lousy when I got up, but it was pleasing that my blood glucose was only 8.5mmol/l. I had fears of it being a lot higher. Of course lower would have been a lot better.

  Once I was finally washed and dressed I went to Aldi. For some reason I wore a pair of boots I had bought from Aldi a few years ago. They are just a little small for my feet, but not by much. The funny thing is that while they felt a little uncomfortable, it was a different uncomfortable to other shoes/boots. I have a funny feeling that if I did wear them for a few walks they would wear in, and possibly end up very comfortable for a while.

  It was almost nice walking in the cool fresh air, and I didn't feel tired at all. I did feel some tenderness after last night's bloating, and that affected my choice of things to buy in the store. I ended up by not buying all that much food, but I did partly make up for it by buying a bottle of their posh French vodka, and four bottles of 0% alcohol lager. It was the same stuff that I used Mark as a guinea pig to try it. He declared it was actually very good, and later I tried it myself and agreed. For a 0% alcohol it did taste good. I didn't buy it for myself, but for when Mark visits. He drives and so has to go dry without it.

  Another, rather reckless, thing I bought was some sandwiches. I bought some egg and cress, and some chicken salad. I thought they may be light enough not to inflame my inflamed intestines....and they probably weren't until I added some chilli sauce to them. One thing they will definitely do is to raise my blood glucose. I now need to be very careful about what I eat for the rest of the day if I am not going to see another big spike in my blood glucose in the morning. In fact I ought to fast until dinner time, and even then be careful. I am not sure I will though.

  I have managed to have a snooze before sitting down to write this, but I still feel very tired. My stomach still feels tender, and on top of everything I have a mild, but annoying headache. It is the sort of headache you sometime get during a change in the weather, and indeed it might be just that. At the moment there is only one thing I plan to do today, and that is some laundry. If I hadn't started the process by putting some stuff into soak right after I had my morning shower I wouldn't have bothered. On the other hand, with this after being sunny (hopefully), and the next couple of days being wet, now is the best time to do that laundry....I just don't really feel like doing at the moment.