A couple of my radio controlled/linked thermometers also have a barometric sensor, and they are predicting rain today. Both forecasters (BBC and Met Office) say no rain, but do show some heavy clouds for parts of today. They are the result of warmer and wetter air meeting cold air. Today the temperature should rise to 11° C, and the current temperature is almost 7° C now.  Tomorrow should see a similar temperature range, but rain is forecast from just after sunset. It could continue for the rest of the night. Xmas day looks like it will be wet too.

  The highlight of yesterday was seeing Angela at lunchtime. It was a wonderful hour where we exchanged Xmas gifts. By tradition, mainly because something more personal might be tricky if lover boy saw it, I gave Angela a bottle of vodka, some cigarettes, and a Clementine. Angela gave me a bottle of whisky. I was expecting Michael to join us, but he left it too late to get to the pub.

  I am sort of glad that Michael didn't join us because it was one of those times when Angela and I were really close. Possibly about as close as you can be without officially being in love - or so my warped imagination thinks. After two drinks I walked Angela back to work, and left her after a warm hug, and just a kiss on the cheek. We won't be seeing each other until next Wednesday - that is assuming the pubs are allowed to open then. If we can meet, Angela is already thinking along the lines of an extended session in the pub, but it will depend on her work on the day.

  When I walked to the pub I had my coat zipped up, but I didn't do that for the walk home. I now regret it because I seemed to have chilled my chest - ribs and operation scar. The most annoying thing is that it could take many days, even occasionally weeks for the discomfort to fade away. At the moment there are an assortments I can make, and usually can't easily avoid making, where I can feel like my ribs crunching together, plus other strange, hard to describe sensations.

  Soon after I got home I had a can of soup with a big chunk of dry bread. It made the soup seem bigger, but it wasn't as nice as undiluted soup. It didn't seem to warm me up as much as hoped either. It is possible that I was suffering from more than just a chilled chest because I seemed to feel cold for the rest of the day, and through the night. On the other hand, it was probably one of the sustained coldest days we have had since last winter.

  I spent a fair bit of the afternoon just being lazy. I read and I think I snoozed. The problem with that is that when I woke up I was feeling even colder, and I had to turn the heater up full. I guess that the soup probably did warm me up enough to turn the heater down while I did a bit of work. That "work" just being preparing a few photos. I should have turned the heater up when I switched to extreme lazy mode.
  One of the picture I took while walking through the park to the pub. I thought most fungi had had their season, and if nothing else, would have been killed off by the frost. Apparently not. This fungus looks to be an edible variety to some creatures - rats or foxes.
  I was slightly annoyed that I had forgotten to take any almonds with me to feed the squirrels. I had left home in plenty of time to stop and feed a few squirrels on the way. Most of the squirrels I saw seemed to be expecting to be fed.
  I expect that Lewisham Hospital might have some Xmas trees inside it, but the only one I saw outside it was round the back where few patients go, but it is where some staff go to eat their lunch on a warm afternoon. It was a big tree, with lights, but it seemed to be a little lost in such a big area.

  As afternoon turned into evening I began to feel a different sort of discomfort. It was the discomfort of constipation. I had gone to the toilet twice in the morning, but the quantity produced was less than expected. That was like the day before. I guess piling on dinner of well roasted pork belly strips was the straw that broke the camels back. The two Clementines I had for dessert probably didn't help either (and maybe they didn't help my blood glucose having them late in the day).

  When I went to bed, initially just to read, I was feeling quite uncomfortable. Many movements I did while in bed, even just holding the book up that I was reading, could trigger some discomfort from my chest, and going out to the cold bathroom would make my chest ache in a subtly different way. I did wonder if it was something more than just aching scar tissue, but I survived the night, and so that is probably all it was.

  As well as the aches from my chest, my knees and elbows seemed to ache in certain positions. I guess all these things could be interpreted as "'flu like symptoms", and that could suggest Covid, but if that is all Covid can offer then it is hardly anything to get excited about. The final ache was not so much an ache, but just an unpleasant bloated sort of feeling. I did try to go to the toilet a couple of times before I turned out the light, but nothing was moving.

  It felt like I slept very badly last night, but maybe it wasn't so bad a asleep after all. It did seem to take a long time to get comfortable every time I needed to get to sleep, but it probably wasn't very long at all. Once asleep I seemed to sleep for at least a couple of hours before waking up again. I'm sure I had a selection of dreams, but I can't seem to remember anything of them now.

  This morning I don't feel that good. I have suspicions it was the result of extended, but mild constipation, that my blood glucose was rather high this morning, 9.2mmol/l, but maybe I can blame the two Clementines I had last night. It is not a terrible reading, but I probably need to be a bit more careful today to get it lower tomorrow morning. The good news is that I have already made two very productive visits to the toilet this morning. I am not sure if I am empty yet, but it was an excellent start.

  One of the first things I have to do this morning is going to start off unpleasant, and may kill or cure my complaining chest/operation scar. Yesterday, after my shower, I left a hand towel, and a small bath towel soaking in detergent. I stupidly thought I would finish off the job sometime yesterday, but I just didn't feel like it. This morning I have already started the process of completing this bit of laundry. The soapy water was cold and horrid, but I pulled the towels from their soak, and with only some very light attempts at wringing out the excess soap water, I have plunged them into another big bucket of hot water. I don't think that small bit of effort did anything good or bad to my chest. Now I have to finish washing those towel so I can use the bath for a shower.

  If today was like tomorrow, I could probably get away with not bothering to wash (or maybe just have a strip wash with a wet flannel), but today I should have visitors for the final Thursday afternoon beer session before Xmas. I am sure Jodie is coming, but I don't know if she will be bringing Alan this time. I think Michael will probably pop in as well. Before all that can happen I have to clear the dining room table of my old PC and VHS player, and I need to wash and polish the glasses.

P.S. One thing I have been meaning to say for a couple of days is that after a spillage I had to move the microwave to clean behind it. The great significance of this is that I was worried I might find mouse dropping behind it. I have not seen any signs of mice for a long time now, but it is hard to believe every single one has fled or died off, but if there are still any in my house, they don't appear to be in the kitchen. There was no sign of any droppings behind the microwave, or the mini oven/grill - the source of the spill of gravy everywhere !