It is hard to determine what came first - feeling good, or the sunshine. I think I did feel sort of good yesterday morning, although I am not sure I would have been so keen to go for a walk if the sun didn't come out, and maybe if the wind didn't feel so warm. I guess I was feeling quite positive because I even dared to wear a pair of imitation Converse trainers that I hadn't worn for years.

  I had a vague memory that I put those trainers away before I wore them out because they felt quite comfortable. They had obviously been worn a bit because I could see the wear, and the insole, particularly in one shoe was starting to curl up. I can't really describe them as comfortable or uncomfortable for the 3 and a bit mile walk I did yesterday. They felt very mildly uncomfortable when I set off, and no different when I got home.

  My walk was not very imaginative. It was just my usual route when I am not exploring - through the linear park as far as the bow string bridge, and back again. I hadn't done that walk for nearly a month, and it was interesting to see the changes as the seasons move on. I also noticed some new works done by the Friends Of The River Pool.



  It was interesting to see that while the trees are now shedding their leaves, and some are showing their autumn colours, many plants were still flowering. This was particularly so near the river which has it's own micro-climate, and can be a couple of degrees warmer than exposed parts of the park. I think this is cow parsley, but I have never seen any with a delicate pink tinge to some petals.
  Even the brambles are trying to produce a few more blackberries before winter sets in.
  I know I took a few more interesting pictures than this one of a duck and a drake, but maybe the more interesting pictures didn't do justice to the interesting scenes. Sometime I wish I could do 3D, or even holographic photography. For instance, I took a couple of pictures of some new work done by the Friends Of The River Pool (I assume), but the pictures looked very flat.

  To get better pictures I would have had to wade through the river, and take the pictures from the opposite, and inaccessible with dry feet, bank. Going up the river, almost as far as the path from the bottom of Winsford Road crosses the river, there is an area where most of the vegetation has been cut back to allow the river to be seen. There is a new seat there made from what looks like it was once a pallet screwed to a couple of tree stumps. It looks slightly precarious, but I expect it is really quite secure.

  For me the most interesting thing about that bit of river bank is that there was a previously hidden outlet carrying some sort of stream from a culvert. I am unsure if it is a historic stream that now runs in an underground pipe, or just a land drain. Cutting all the vegetation back from around it reveals a 6ft or so shear drop, and there is now a barrier around one side, and across the back of it made from woven tree branches. The Friends Of The River Pool will probably be working today because it is a Wednesday, and may well be doing more work at this spot. It even looks like they may be considering putting in some steps down the steep bank to the waters edge.

   I was in a slight rush to get home from my walk because I was expecting a delivery in the afternoon. I'm glad I didn't dawdle too much because when I got back to Catford, and was walking across the car park by Wickes, I saw a train heading for Catford Bridge station. It was one of Southeastern's "new" trains. Actually they are South West Trains cast-offs. They ordered brand new class 707 trains from Siemens, and then decided they didn't like them after all.

  Now Southeastern have them, and have dubbed them "City Beam" trains - which seems the sort of branding that an art school graduate, who took too many drugs, before becoming a marketing executive might come up with after another heavy night at a rave. They are due to replace class 465/466 "Networker" trains on routes to Hayes, Sevenoaks and the Cannon Street to Cannon Street circular trains via Slade Green, this autumn. I couldn't get to Catford Bridge station in time to see if the train stopped there, but there didn't seem to be many people waiting for a train when I did get there, and that suggests the possibility that the "new" train was in service.

  I was a little tired when I got home, but I didn't feel I was on my last legs by a long way. I think I could have possibly pushed that walk to 4 miles, but with my expected delivery, I didn't want to be out too long. Besides which, I was feeling good for actually getting out and enjoying one more bit of sunshine, and that warm wind. I was only wearing a t-shirt, but still warm enough to develop a light sweat.

  One thing I could do when I got home was to investigate the progress of my delivery, although it was being delivered by Amazon, and their progress information can be very vague. I was confident enough that I still had a few hours to wait until the earliest the delivery might arrive, and I think I might have had a snooze, but if I did it was quite a small one. I resisted the temptation to eat more than a nibble of nuts and cheese while I sorted through my photographs.

  My delivery arrived at about 5pm. It was the photographers back pack I had ordered from Amazon. It turned out to be a bit smaller than I imagined, but still bigger than the one I previously had, and only used once because it was a bit small for my back. The new one definitely fits on my back better, and I can probably get two cameras in it if I need to, although there would not be much room for extra lenses. On the other hand the idea of two cameras is to have one with a wide angle lens, and the other with a telephoto lens, and avoid having to keep changing lenses. One day, maybe not until next years Petts Wood Calling" I will find out how well that works.

  Before I prepared my dinner I checked my blood glucose to see if my walk might have made any useful improvement to it. It had dropped, but not as much as I hoped. The two fishcakes I had for breakfast probably didn't help, but it was OK-ish, and I thought I could go a little easier on what I ate for dinner. It consisted of habanero infused gammon steaks with baked beans. Having baked beans, which always seem to have too much sugar in them, was a calculated risk. What wasn't calculated was mistaking a tin of ordinary Heinz beans for Heinz reduced sugar baked beans. Even Heinz reduced sugar baked beans are almost syrup ! It was a tasty dinner, but I decided I was definitely not going to eat anything else yesterday.

  I should have been quite keen to get to bed last night - particularly after the dense cloud made it seem like sunset had come over an hour early. The funny thing is that I didn't feel the need to get to bed early, and I ended up watching a fair bit of TV until 9pm. Even after that I read in bed for some time. Maybe I fell asleep by 10pm,  or maybe it was actually later because I was determined to finish the book I was reading last night, and I even took the time to select the next one I would read.

  Once I had turned out the light I can't recall having any trouble at all getting to sleep, and once asleep I seemed to sleep quite well. I think I may have woken up once before 3am, but if I did it I wasn't awake for long. At 3am I was awake long enough to turn the heater on, although I probably didn't need it last night. It was not a very cold night. I certainly slept well enough to oversleep, or at least sleep beyond 7am. In reality there is usually no such thing as oversleeping for me. Apart from rare occasions, it wouldn't even matter if I slept through the whole day, and the next night.

  This morning my blood glucose was down to 8.6mmol/l. That's fine, but it's looking like I'll never get the average at the end of the month down to under 8.5mmol/l. I feel generally OK though, and I am looking forward to another walk today. It won't be a long one because time seems to be escaping me, and I need to be in The Jolly Farmers again at 1pm for a drink with Angela - assuming she hasn't changed her mind since last Saturday. I am confident she hasn't. After the drink I can have a nice lazy afternoon.


  I've been meaning to show this picture for a few days now...

  These are not gigs I will be going to, but I am curious about them. I have never been to The Cricketers pub in Southend before, but I have looked it up on the map, and it seems to be quite a short walk from Southend Central station (maybe no more than 10 minutes). Apart from the frustration of having to wear face masks on The Dockland Light Railway, which sort of rules it out, it is a comparatively easy journey to Southend On Sea station, and easier than some places in the middle of Kent. The other good thing about these gigs is that they start at 5pm. On a warm late spring, or summers day, with plenty of hours of daylight, I would really like to visit this pub, and see what is happening there. As I said month, maybe years ago, I have become very jaded when it comes to gigs in Bromley. There are just too many people who go to all the Bromley gigs who annoy me. That is why there is a very slim chance I might go all the way to Gravesend for a gig this coming weekend !