During the early hours of this morning some very slightly warmer, but much wetter air moved in. This morning the temperature had risen to 5° C, but maybe the air was not as wet as forecast. Instead of heavy rain there was just a light passing shower. The latest revision to the forecast just shows light rain for much of today. There is even a chance that the sun could peep out at 11am, and during the last two hours before sunset. The very early afternoon temperature may only reach 8° C. From 2pm the temperature will start to drop towards 3° C at the end of the day. Then things might get interesting ! At 2am tomorrow morning the temperature may have fallen to 2° C, and the light rain, that is predicted to fall for most of tomorrow, may fall as sleet. I would not be surprised if it fell as snow. It is not unusual for snow to fall when the temperature near the ground is only as low as 3° C. Of course it wouldn't settle unless enough snow fell to chill the ground. Tomorrow's highest temperature may only be 4° C. On such a disgustingly horrible day some bright snow flakes would actually look cheerful.

  I didn't feel all that good yesterday morning. It was nothing in particular, and much of it may have just been in the mind. I did try to overcome that bit because on such a bright sunny day I felt I had to go out and try and enjoy it. One of the first mistakes I made was eating a big breakfast. It was only fish fingers, and so from one perspective a light breakfast, but once I got moving it seemed like I could feel it swilling around in my stomach.

  My original plan was to go for a walk in the linear park. Provided I kpt my back to the bright sunshine it could have been good for some photography - assuming I could find some good targets that were actually in the sun, and not in the shade. On a day like yesterday, with sun so bright, but also so low in the sky, the contrast between light and shade could have been like night to day.

  I put on a nice thick coat and set out. The coat was the same one I had worn when I went shopping to Poundland and the Polish shop a few days ago. That day was overcast, and I felt really comfortable in that coat until I went in Poundland where I quickly over heated. I spent the rest of the shopping trip with the coat open trying to cool down.

  So I set out, walking towards the station. It soon became apparent that the coat, being a dark navy blue, was soaking up the sunshine, and I was soon feeling hot under it. Meanwhile, my face and fingers were feeling like they were turning to ice. I had my rose tinted sunglasses on, and in summer, when the sun is high in the sky, they work really well, but yesterday the sun was at about eye level, and I was being blinded.

  I was also suffering other discomforts. My right knee seemed very still and painful (although it did ease up a lot later on). I was also suffering from my bruised left little toe. It had seemed to be mostly OK later in the day before, and through the night, but my worst fears were partly confirmed when walking in my boots. If that toe had been my only complaint I would have done my best at ignoring it, and I am sure I could have done so quite effectively, but with all the other stuff I just gave up.

  I was tracking my walk, and it turned out that I walked 0.777 miles. I think in Chinese society those three sevens would be considered good luck, but I have yet to notice any good luck. Having got as far as the station I thought I may as well try and make the walk useful for something, and apart from picking up a copy of the Metro newspaper, something I haven't done probably since before Covid kicked off in 2019, I also stopped there long enough to photograph the first two trains I saw.
  I was rather hoping I would see more of the "new" class 707 trains, but the first train, which arrived after a very short wait, maybe less than 5 minutes, was a class 376 train heading towards Hayes (Kent). It was 376036, and seems to be quite a popular train around these parts. I seem to have photographed in 4 times this year.
  This is the rear unit of the train heading towards Hayes (Kent). This picture was taken towards the position of the sun, and most of the train was in the shade. I had to give the picture a good tweaking to get the rear of the train easily visible, while above the train the sky is almost completely bleached out. This was the first time I have ever seen 376009 according to my records (which are not actually complete yet).
  The next train arrived a minute or two later on the "up" or London bound platform, and so came out of the sun. As far as I am aware it was the first time I had seen 466025. It is a 2 car unit, and was coupled to two 4 car class 465 units to make a 10 car train - which would have been very lightly loaded in the middle of the day.
  With the sun now behind my back, this picture of the rear of the London bound (probably Charing Cross) train looks so much better (although the actual rear of the train looks almost over exposed. With two trains photographed I started to head back home, but not before taking one last snap.
  The last time that trains served Catford Bridge on Xmas day is lost in the mists of time. I am sure I can remember a boxing day service, but even that was ages ago. In recent years, maybe the last 5 or even 10 years, the idea of closing the whole railway line for nearly a fortnight, so engineering work can be carried out, is now ever popular. It would be nice to think that there would be a train service from Catford station over the Xmas holiday period (except Xmas day, and boxing day day), but I haven't checked, and I am not that optimistic.

  I felt much better when I got home again. My stiff and aching knee had sorted itself before I got home, but if anything, my sore little toe may have been feeling worse. The best thing was taking off my coat. Even with the front undone, and my chest/ribs/scar tissue starting to complain in the cold, the rest of my felt boiling hot. It was soon after I got home that I began to feel as if I might be going down with something. I definitely felt sort of weird, and it was reinforced by my nose getting really drippy. I think the latter was just the result of breathing in the cold air while outside.

  It is hard to explain how I felt off colour because there were so few definite symptoms. Some of it was possibly just annoyance at having to waste a sunny day. Some of it may have just been a subconscious excuse to lay on my bed, with the sun pouring through the windows, directly onto my bed, and revel in being totally lazy. Apart from preparing the pictures to show here, and logging the trains on my spreadsheet, I did very, very little for the rest of the day.

  I knew I would not be seeing Jodie for an afternoon beer session, but I would be seeing Michael. It was probably around 3.30pm when he called round to drop off the 6 bottles of Diet Coke he had kindly picked up for me in Tesco while out shopping with his car. I was going to suggest that we might go to a pub for a pint or two instead of staying in, but in the end I told him I just didn't feel like drinking beyond a few large medicinal whiskies (which I did end up having later).

  Considering some of the problem with my attempted walk was the feeling that my breakfast was swilling around in my stomach, it didn't seem sensible to have any more than the lightest lunch, or even any lunch at all, but I seemed not to pay any attention to that idea. I had some lovely slices of cheese on toast - two slices made with Warburton's wholemeal, no added sugar, loaf, which has small sized slices, and two bigger slices of the bread I bought in the Polish shop. The first two slices were good, and the latter two were excellent.

  4 or 5 hours later I was very much looking forward to dinner. It was to be a couple of small ready meals. One was a cottage pie, and the other was a shepherds pie. I couldn't decide which to eat, and both were only chilled, and had been in the fridge since Monday morning. It seemed safer to eat them both ! They were both that curious mix of sloppy muck, and totally delicious. One thing I must do in the future, beyond not actually buying them, is to be patient enough to cook them in the oven, and do it for long enough that the mashed potato on top gets brown and crispy - like mum used to make !

  I did wonder if those pies were a bit rich, and whether an antacid tablet might be a good idea before going to bed, but I was fine without. Once again I seemed to sleep well except for two minor annoyances. One was tat for some reason my PC screensaver, that shows a clock on a black background, didn't seem to kick in for some reason. After sleeping for 3 or 4 hours, I woke up to find the PC still showing a bright picture. I got up briefly for a pee and to sort the PC out, but I was probably fast asleep little more than 10 minutes later.

  The next time I woke I was expecting to be kept awake for ages. I was suffering from an affliction that happens now and then. Part of my foot (either foot) develops an unscratchable itch. It is of some concern that it might be a diabetic problem to do with poor blood flow to the foot, but maybe not because I have learned that some light massage of the affected area with some hand cream seems to work wonders. I was possibly awake for no more than 15 minutes, and maybe even less than 10 minutes after treating my foot with that hand cream.

  It seemed like I needed as much sleep as I could get last night. That possibly indicates I was, or I am, fighting some naughty little bug. I woke up around 6am, and got up long enough to have a pee, and turn the heater up full. The basic plan was that I would get up again at 7am to warm room. I was actually asleep for almost 2 extra hours. At that time it was supposed to be heavy rain, but I don't think it had even started to rain. Even when it did start it was so light as to be ignorable. I felt no worries or need for speed when I went out to top up the bird table when the forecast was telling me there was torrential rain !

  This morning my prediction that my blood glucose would have gone up, mainly as the result of eating those ready meal cottage/shepherds pies.  It was only 8.8mmol/l, and not as high as I feared. It was in that region that isn't terrible, but lower would be better. It was also in the region where it would raise my my running average for the month above the average.

  I am not sure how I feel this morning. I don't feel great, but I don't feel too bad either. As I wrote these words I am getting a bit of a boost by an unexpected period of sunshine. The latest revision to the forecast says there is still a 20& chance of rain from a mid grey sky, but doesn't actually show any rain. Light rain is now forecast for midday, and again at 4pm. Other than that, all the rain has disappeared from the forecast. Whether that means I could do anything outdoors is a decision I will probably make on the spur of the moment. If anything it is likely to be no more than a trip to Poundstretcher for more bird food, and a few other things.