The latest revision to the forecast says it is raining right now, but in reality the sun keeps trying to shine. For a few minutes it was bright enough to cast good shadows, but as I write these words the shadows are now very feint. That may not be the case on the north side of the house. My view through my house only shows a small bit of window, but it looks very bright in that direction. To the south the cloud seems to be quite thin with some small blue bits. It does not make me think of rain, and yet the latest revision to the forecast still insists there will be heavy rain from 1pm for 4 hours, and then lighter rain from 6pm (it's not much different to the early version of the forecast in the screenshot above apart from the rain being upgraded to heavy at 1pm). Tomorrow may start bright, but lots of rain, and maybe a thunderstorm could happen in the afternoon. Like today, the maximum temperature may be no more than 19° C, and 18° C more typical.

  After only getting about 4 hours sleep the night before, I wasn't really interested in doing much yesterday morning. I was still feeling the after effects of the digestive upset from the previous day, although it was fading out during the morning - perhaps helped by the sandwiches I bought in Aldi sort of soaking it up (but what was it soaking up ? - I have no idea, but I couldn't think of a better description on the spur of the moment).

  I managed to have one snooze in the morning, but I don't recall it being all that good. Eventually I managed to convince myself that I ought to do the washing I had left soaking after my morning shower. I was feeling rough in a creaky sort of way, and my stomach still felt a bit tender. I wasn't looking forward to bending over the bath to do that laundry in my big builders buckets, and yet it turned out the best thing I could have done. I have noticed in the past that some forms of exercise, like doing laundry by hand, can sort of free up stiff joints, and other maladies.

  I didn't really intend to do all the washing in one go. I was expecting to do a couple of stages, and then take a rest, but in the end I did it all non stop. It felt good to get it all on the line to dry in whatever sunshine the weather could manage. I think there were a few sunny spells, but mostly it was very slightly grey. Although I was feeling....well, maybe not exactly good, but perhaps close it it, after doing that laundry, I didn't feel inspired to do anything else of any great note after doing that laundry.

  One reason for not wanting to do much was because I was expecting a parcel from Amazon. Initially I had hopes it might arrived mid afternoon, but eventually the estimated time of delivery was shown as between 6pm and 10pm - YES, 10pm !!!! I thought that was taking the piss. Fortunately it wasn't quite that late, but I still regard 7pm, when it did arrive, as being quite late enough.
  Part of the delivery was a new pair of boots. These are identical to the boots I probably wore out doing all my very long walks last year. I seem to recall that they were uncomfortable for a week or two before I wore them in, or they wore my feet in. I must remember to give them some time when I start to use them.
  The second part of the delivery was bits for my acoustic guitar. Most importantly were the new machine heads (the silvery things on the right). As I explained the other day (at least I think I did), the machine head that tightens, and thus tunes the G string is faulty. Maybe some wear, or maybe something else, means that right at the critical point of being in tune it slips it's cogs, and goes well out of tune again. I didn't even realise that new machine heads were readily available, but they are. These ones were quite cheap, just £11.95 for the set of six, and I have big doubts about their quality. Ideally they would be made of brass, but I think these are made of "Chinesium" - a poor quality alloy based on zinc. Time will tell, but I would not be surprised if I end up ordering another set in a few years time. The set of strings were an Amazon suggestion, and they too were cheap, just £5.99, but I believe Ernie Ball is a well regarded manufacturer.

  There were several things I could have had for dinner last night, but I went for the lightest option - grilled white fish in breadcrumbs. It was probably a mistake to have two large, vine ripened tomatoes with the fish. Those tomatoes seem to contain a lot of sugar - it is why they are sweet and delicious ! In theory I had a double portion of fish because I don't like to put fish back in the fridge after opening the packet. I had quite a filling dinner, but unlike the night before I didn't feel bloated with gases escaping from any and all orifices !

  There was one trouble with last night. The temperature slightly too warm in my bedroom, but falling outside. If I had opened the window it would end up chilly after midnight. At first I had the fan on low, but that felt a bit too cool. I then changed the fan to sweep from side to side, and that felt a bit better. I think I got an hours sleep like that. maybe it was more than an hour, but I woke up feeling a bit cool. I turned the fan off, and it then felt a bit stuffy, but obviously bearable because I managed to fall asleep again. I woke up once or two more for just a wee, and then just before 6am feeling cold. I wrapped the duvet cover around me, and managed to sleep until 7am.

  I managed to get many hours of sleep last night, but I would have liked to get quite a few more. I felt a bit stiff and creaky when I first got up, but now, several hours later, I don't seem to feel too bad. That is not to say I feel I have a lot of that fabled "get up and go" feeling. In some respects I feel sort of glad that rain is due, probably heavy rain if the forecast is correct. I just re-checked, and the forecast now says light rain from midday changing to heavy rain at 1pm. The prediction of a thunderstorm seems to have been removed from the forecast.

  The only truly negative thing about this morning is my blood glucose. I knew that the sandwiches I ate yesterday morning would come back to bite me, and those big sweet tomatoes I had for dinner paid their part in raising my blood glucose to 9.0mmol/l. It was a shock seeing the 9, but at least it is 9.0, and that is only a gnats whisker over 8 point something. Until I just rechecked and saw it was nine point zero I was convinced I ought to try and and get out for a walk.

  I had been thinking along the lines that I wanted to get out and test my new boots, and now that I can use trains again I had many fanciful ideas for a walk, but I really don't fancy walking today. Maybe it is because of the weather, or.... well, the weather seems to be quite sufficient as an excuse today. I don't know what I will end up doing today, although when I think about it, a rainy afternoon might be the perfect time to change that machine head on my guitar. In fact I think I will change all six so they all match.