For some reason the latest revision to the forecast says that there should be a few hours of sunny spells this morning. The prediction is that they will end after 11am. The reality, as I write this, is that the sky to the north is all grey, and that to the south (maybe more towards the south east) looks as black as thunder ! Maybe today will be one of those upside down days, and the dark grey clouds predicted for 1 to 4pm will actually be blue sky and bright sunshine ! I think all I agree on is that the afternoon temperature may hit 19° C. The rest of the forecast is looking like fantasy from where I sit. If tomorrow's forecast actually means anything it will be a cloudy day (white clouds), and the afternoon temperature may reach 20° C.

   Yesterday was another in a series of days when little happened. The most exciting thing I did was to go to Poundland in the morning. Some of their shelves looked a little thin, and they didn't have the large size foil containers I wanted (great for cooking stuff in using my mini oven/grill). They seemed to have everything else I wanted, and everything I didn't know I wanted until I bought it - such is the way with Poundland. It is my philosophy that it is better to buy stuff you might want while they have it because they probably won't when you need it.

  I had my last two rolls for breakfast yesterday. The original wholemeal rolls from Tesco were sugar free, and made very little difference to my blood glucose, but they don't seem to have had them available the last few time I've been in there. The last two rolls I had yesterday were "ancient grains" rolls. I suspect that had a lot of sugar in them for some completely stupid reason. When I say the "last" rolls I mean more than from the last packet. I want to avoid anything but the genuine sugar free wholemeal rolls, and probably want to even avoid them for breakfast. They seem to slow me down.

  The rest of my day was filled in with reading, snoozing, cataloguing train photos, watching another three old episodes of Blake's Seven, and little else. The rest of my food was two cans of soup for lunch, and two cans for dinner. I also ate a packet of salt and black pepper cashew nuts. The latter didn't seem to be as nice as anticipated. Maybe my tastes are changing. Cashews are not the best healthiest things for me to eat, and to eat them and not enjoy them at the level expected is a sort of annoyance.

  I was starting to think about bed a bit early last night, but that was all interrupted by a phone call from Lee. If I read between the line correctly, and it would be hard not to, he has dropped himself in it again. Despite telling him no it seems that he had told someone "my mate will do your special gig photography". In fact I'm sure he promised I would before he even mentioned it to me !  I refused doubly so when I found that it was to be a ska and reggae band. That is just not my music (although individual tracks can be good when part of a far more diverse selection of music).

  Apparently Lee tried to get Sue interested in doing some photography despite her best being barely facebook quality. She also refused. Lee was very upset that she turned down the chance to earn some money. He was obviously upset with me, but ranted about it far less. The trouble with Lee (or one of them) is that when he couldn't hold down a lucrative job, and became little more than a poor quality handyman, he has had to grasp at any small paying job he can get, and assumes everyone else does the same. We don't, and now he has to explain to the (so called) "famous" man why all that will happen is that Lee will probably turn up with his semi-crappy camcorder, put it on a tripod, and just let it record. He is incapable of any artistic input, and I doubt the man will be fully happy with his work.

  Last night was one of those nights where it is hard to describe if it was good or bad. I did seem to dream a lot, and that suggests my sleep was not very deep. On the other hand, chunks of hours passed by with no recollection of them. That should be a good sign. I did have several short periods of insomnia. It was one of those nights where random bits of me seemed to ache, and that made getting comfortable hard. Adding up the pros and cons, I guess it was an average night...or in other words, "it could have been worse".

  Apart from the two rolls I had for breakfast, I don't think there was anything else I ate that was particularly contentious. I wonder about this because this morning my blood glucose went up instead of down. It was 8.8mmol/l, and while that is just about OK, it helps to ruin my chances of this months average readings being a bit lower than the previous few months. Today I have to do better, but it won't be easy - particularly if it doesn't brighten up soon. There is no hint of those sunny spells forecast, but there is a hint of torrential in those very dark grey clouds pressing down from above.

  This morning I have been to Aldi for the first time in weeks now. It wasn't that bad. I only had to stare at the staff for about 5 minutes before they opened up a checkout for me. As soon as I was waiting, with my shopping on the conveyor, I was joined by another who also put her shopping on the conveyor. I think another person joined the queue as I was being served. Like in Poundland yesterday morning, I did not that the stuff on the shelves was mostly all there, but it did look quite thin in places. Thank you Brexit for destabilising the country.
  I had taken a picture yesterday that I was going to show, but this pictures, taken this morning is far more definite at showing my first giant sunflower flower starting to open. Overnight the top of the stem has bent over so the bud now looks over the garden instead of the sky. The colour rendition of this photo is not as acute as the human eye, but the yellow petals can be seen without having to use imagination. If only we had some sunshine today it might even open enough to show the whole flower.

  Three things control my day today. The weather is always a very controlling influence. I just feel depressed, and lacking in energy and enthusiasm under a dark grey sky (like it is as I write this). On a more positive note I am expecting two deliveries today, although neither has been confirmed yet (although the tracking information strongly suggests it will happen). Maybe the first to arrive is coming via Hermes (with their bad reputation !). It is the new lens for my Nikon D80 camera. The other item is a delayed Amazon order for a camera bag for the Nikon D80 camera. It was part of an order made on the 7th of this month. The other items arrived 4 or so days after ordering.

  Once the lens and camera bag are here I am going to be itching to try the two lenses (one I have had for 5 +/- years ago, and the other hopefully arriving today), and the D80 camera in some sort of real test. My ideal would be an outdoor gig, but I'll probably have to wait until next year for one of those. It will probably have to be some scenic shots on a walk, but that will mean a wait too for some more friendly weather.