It is currently a bit dull, but not as dull as those dark grey clouds suggest in the weather forecast. Maybe today might turn out like yesterday ? The latest revision to the forecast predicts the other way - the sunny spells for 2pm have been replaced with white cloud. Rain is still predicted from 6pm onwards. The mid afternoon temperature will be 21° C. Tomorrow could start with a few sunny spells, but the rest of the day is predicted to be rather dull, but possibly warmer than today at 22° C.

  Before I forget for the second, or third day running.... It was 4 or 5 days ago that I seemed to be suffering from toothache. I was desperately hoping that it was the result of over eager poking at stuff wedged between some of my teeth. It has happened many times before that when using a toothpick to try and free stuff between my teeth that I have punctured the gum, or something like that. For a few days it can feel like toothache, or sensitivity to some things. That was the case until maybe Tuesday morning when I woke up with no pain after the gum had healed. It is easy to ignore a lack of pain, but this morning, for some reason, I realised I hadn't had any pain for 24 or 48 hours.

  It was about 11am, when it was supposed to rain yesterday, that I decided it didn't look completely awful outside, and that maybe it might stay dry. It also didn't seem to be that cold, and that maybe I could go out after all. I will admit that I didn't really want to go, and that I had to force myself to do so.  A little earlier I had reviewed my options for trains to Maze Hill station, it it seemed that going all the way to Cannon Street, and then changing was the best option. It was still a 44 minute journey to Maze Hill, but with the need to change buses in Greenwich, it wasn't a lot longer than going by bus.
  I arrived at Maze Hill at 11:50am, and I think I had already seen a bit of sunshine. Maze Hill station is the closest station to The Pelton Arms pub. According to Google maps it is only 0.4 miles away, or not that much different to the walk from home to Catford Bridge station where I caught the train to Cannon Street station. Of course an unfamiliar walk always seems longer until it become familiar. The station is probably only a tenth of a mile further away that the nearest bus stop.
  By the time I got to the pub the sun was shining brightly through a small patch of blue sky. Unfortunately it was shining in the wrong direction, and for this picture it mainly made the clouds very bright. The pub looked quite dull until I cranked the brightness of the picture enough for the sky to be completely bleached out. You may notice that on one side of the pub it is called The Nags Head. This was a permanent fixture for the filming of pub scenes in the comedy series "Only Fools And Horses".
  There are many roads near the pub that would be a film makers delight for films depicting London 100 years ago. If you got rid of the cars, and the double yellow lines, this view could look like it was taken in the 1800s...probably.
  I couldn't resist walking just a little bit further to see what was happening on The River Thames. I decided not to brighten this picture so all the dark clouds were visible. I remember it seeming to be quite bright to my eyes, but I could be mistaken because the sun was going in and out quite quickly at this point. This view is looking downstream with the Millennium Dome just right of centre.

  After taking in the riverside views I walked back to Maze Hill station. It was definitely sunny for a lot of that walk. I reached the station with just a minute to spare before the next train back towards Cannon Street, but I decided I only wanted to go as far as Deptford Station. As well as a gig at The Pelton Arms on Saturday night, there is a 4 day music festival at The Birds Nest Pub in Deptford. I would like to take in a few of the afternoons there, and maybe an early evening too if I get in the right mood. Deptford is the nearest station, but it is not that near.

  From Deptford station there is what seems like a long walk down a road crowded with market stalls. If I felt more relaxed I could have done a lot more photography there, but I stuck to my priority of finding The Birds Nest. After 5 to 10 minutes walk I turned left of the market road into a side road with flats either side. It was a most seedy road with probably a couple of drug deals taking place with a few lookouts/heavies who gave my camera some serious hard stares !
  It was very nice to get to the end of that road. It came out right opposite The Birds Nest pub. Once again I had to turn the brightness right up to stop the place looking really dull. As can be seen, it is quite a big building, and the people who run it make good use of it. I have no idea how many it can accommodate but the upper floors are run as a guest house. Their web site shows pictures of room with bunk beds in them. They call it a guest house, but it is more like a sort of youth hostel for tourists on a tight budget, although I expect it is also used by students from the nearby college.

  There is more about The Birds Nest here - http://www.thebirdsnestpub.co.uk/ - but I think any promotion for Nestival 2021 is only on their facebook pages. Fortunately I have found a picture that seems to have been on an Indian website, and says it is in Ilford, and not Deptford ! It most definitely is in Deptford, and for those who like wearing masks on buses it is about a minute away from Deptford Bridge bus stop, and 3 or 4 minutes from Deptford Bridge DLR stop. If you click on the image you can see a double sized, easier to read version in a new tab.
  I took a more pleasant walk back to Deptford station using a different route, and possibly the route I will use on the days I go to The Birds Nest for Nestival 2021 (assuming our Mayor doesn't stop making face masks mandatory on Transport For London services - if he does I will go by bus). Along the way I passed The Villages brewery tap room. That might have to be investigated one day.

  As I approached Deptford station I checked the train times, and found there was a Thameslink service due. I hadn't considered Thameslink service on this line because the Thameslink services to Rainham (Kent) are sort of new (although they had started well before that black hole in time that was lockdown). The National Rail Journey Planner didn't seem to consider them either. That might be because the train I got, by the skin of my teeth, arrived at London Bridge 3 minutes before the Hayes service to Catford Bridge.

  As I travelled on the Thameslink train I was mentally urging it to go faster and faster. Of course it didn't, but it did arrive on time - which fortunately is about a minute before it's departure time. That allowed me to rush down the stairs, hopefully overtaking people on the long escalator, and then rush up the escalator to platform 2 where my Hayes train was due any minute ! When I say I rushed up the escalator I meant it quite literally. I have no idea where I got the energy form apart from pure adrenaline, but I did it until my progress was blocked by a man with a huge suitcase seven eighths of the way to the top.

  I felt pretty knackered after that. I broke out into a sweat, but oddly enough I was not short of breath. I did that change of platform in about 2 minutes, and I had just about a full minute to wait until my train arrived. I think the doors were open on the train for nearly a whole minute after that. In some ways it felt a bit like going home after work - good ! Sadly it was not quite the same because the train had come from Cannon Street, and it stopped at every station all the way to Catford Bridge. my trains home from work were fast from London Bridge to Ladywell (the station before Catford Bridge).

  It was only an estimate, but by the time I got home I had probably walked about three miles. There is even a possibility that it was a tiny bit more. It definitely felt like I had been out for a long walk, and I was looking forward to a rest, but before I had a rest I had some lunch - two cans of soup - and processed all the photos I had taken (I also did a bit of trainspotting !). I then laid down on my bed, read for maybe 15 minutes, before snoozing for 30 to 60 minutes.

  I was looking forward to some more substantial food for dinner, and I had that in the form of some "firecracker" (basically chillies) flavoured sausages with some onion and tomato cooked under the sausages in the grill. I followed that by some rice crackers with a rather extravagant amount of some of the French cheese with a soft white rind, and a gooey interiors - a bit like Camembert, but not stinky, and less flavourful.

  There is not much to say about my night. Sometimes I didn't seem to sleep that well, and sometimes I seemed to sleep like a log for 3 or more hours. One interruption to my sleep was quite early in the night. I felt a stinging sensation on the back of my right leg, and upon scratching it I felt a little lump. I suspect it was some sort of insect bite, but I am not sure what it could have been. The stinging faded after 15 minutes or so after I gave the area a good scratch. This morning the little lump is still there, but smaller, and with a scab on top.

  I guess it was the exercise, but it was more likely it was being away from sources of food for several hours. Whatever it was it obviously worked because this morning my blood glucose was down to below my monthly average. It was a pleasing 8.0mmol/l. That was much better than the 9.4mmol/l yesterday morning. It is hard to tell because these days there is always a background of stiffness and aches to some degree, but I don't seem to feel any worse for me exercise, and maybe I might even feel a bit better than usual.

  Today I doubt I will be doing any exercise, but if I have time I may go to Tesco, and I might wash a small towel and face flannel. The latter depends on having some sort of confidence that the afternoon will be dry and bright - maybe like yesterday turned out to be despite the gloomy weather forecast. Funnily enough, as I wrote those words the sun came out. It is fading now, and the sky looks awfully dark in some directions. The main feature today is another afternoon beer drinking session with Jodie, and maybe Michael as well.