It's looking like the weather will follow the forecast all day today. There was a bit of open sky at sun rise, but it was quickly filled in with light grey cloud, and it seem it will stay like this all day. One change in the latest revision to the forecast is that the afternoon temperature is now predicted to be just 10° C. Tomorrow will see the return to more winter like temperatures. There could be some rain in the morning, but once that has passed the temperature will drop to about 4° C in the afternoon, but there could be an hour or two of sunshine in the middle of the afternoon. Wednesday could start with a frost, and if it doesn't then Thursday will have a go.


  Yesterday was a far more productive day after a very lazy day the day before. It started with the high blood glucose reading I got yesterday morning (10.4mmol/l). I had to do something about that. The first thing was to try and set my mind on the idea of fasting until dinner time.

  The next thing was to stupidly believe the weather forecast. It was really optimistic with sunshine and sunny spells from mid morning until about 1pm. There were showers predicted for 2pm (it was actually after 3pm if I recall correctly), and so anything I did outside had to be completed by 1pm.

  I was not really in the mood for it, and I didn't even feel up to it, but I thought I could go for a short walk. I was stupidly optimistic that all the billowing grey clouds would suddenly disperse, and the promised sunshine would shine forth. I have never felt so stupid in all my life !

  When I went out I hadn't realised that the wind was really cold. The temperature was around 12° C, and I have a feeling it was 13° C for a short while, but it didn't feel much warmer than something like 7 or 8° C. However, the sun did come out while walking, and it shone brightly for at least 74 seconds ! There is more to this bit of the story later.

   The first thing I came across was Catford Bridge station. It was closed until today (3rd) because of engineering work, and I had known this since before Xmas. Of course it didn't bother me because now they have made masks compulsory on trains, I won't be using any trains, buses, Overground, Underground, DLR, Trams or cabs.
  This was the view to the east when I got to the main road. You'll note how dull it looks, the pillows of grey clouds, and the total absence of even the merest hint that the sun was still alight and burning.
  This was the view to the north. It does seem brighter on the northern horizon, and maybe that is where the fabled sunshine was hiding.
  This was the view to slightly south of west, and it looks very grim. I hadn't even walked half a mile to get to this pint, and my knees, and maybe my ankles were already gently complaining (my ankles were definitely complaining at the end of my walk). You may note the bright area in the top left of the picture. That is where the sun should be. It was trying hard to break through, but never made it until much later in my walk.
If you keep your eyes open there is always something odd to see, and this dolls house, dumped 5 yards off the path was one of the oddest things to see. Maybe seeing this inspired me to go further. I wasn't really enjoying this walk, and I kept thinking that once I had walked a mile I might turn back and call it a 2 mile walk.
  For a long time this point marked a point on the river path where you had to divert around the tree. That still is the case, but there are hints that the Friends Of The River Pool may be slowly working to clear this fallen tree. They are certainly using the long thin branches for weaving into fences and berms. Mostly they work with hand tools, and try and reuse any trees cut down. I think that they might have access to a man with a chainsaw now and then, and I predict that one day I will find this tree cut up, and the path will be clear.

  After walking another 300 or 400 yards from where I took the picture above I had a choice. I could have walked across the muddy field (probably very muddy after recent rain), or I could choose a more novelty route home via Perry Hill. I chose the latter, and while I was walking up the hill towards Perry Hill, and where Angela lives, the sun came out. It stayed out until I turned off that road, and went down a road that bypassed the top of the hill. If I believed in sky fairies I would be tempted to think there was a reason for the sun doing that, and I have to admit it is a very tempting idea.

  Unfortunately I just didn't feel like trying to walk to the brow of the hill. I was feeling the strain after having walked just 1.5 miles. It was not a very exciting walk along residential roads, but it was another road I had never walked along before to tick off on my non existent list of roads walked. Of course once I came out halfway down Perry Hill it was all very familiar.

  I kept an eye on the tracker on my phone as I approached home. My knees, and ankles were feeling sore as I approached home, but I still made a very small detour so that I could make it a 3 mile walk. It was good to get home, out of cold, and to put my feet up - except it was some time before I actually put my feet up, although it wasn't long before I was sitting down at my PC, selecting and editing the pictures used here. Apart from aching ankles and knees, I didn't seem to feel that tired - which seems a bit unusual.

  Once I had taken care of the pictures I did lay down and rest my legs, but it wasn't for long. I read a few pages from the book I am reading, and then thought I deserved a snooze, but nothing happened. 10 minutes later I was off my bed and hand washing some clothes. There was a fair amount to do, but I did the whole lot in one sitting, and hung it all on the clothes horse to dry with a fan heater going full blast at the bottom of the clothes horse.

  In all this time, and it was about 3 or 4pm when I finished with the washing, I had not eaten a thing all day. I tried to relax, laying on my bed reading, but I was getting some annoying hunger pains that were distracting me. I gave in, and had some salted peanuts. They kept me going until dinner time. My dinner was sprouts and bacon, but it was almost only a half portion using up the last of the sprouts and an open packet of bacon. I thought it would OK if I added a steak to my dinner. That steak was both nice, and disappointing. Ideally I need a hotter grill, or something to cook that outside more while leaving the inside slightly pink.

  I was lucky in that I caught a bit of watchable TV last night. It was about the last half of Carry On Henry, and that was enough to entertain me. I went to bed with my book after that. I think I read until about 9pm, and if I recall correctly I was asleep not too long after that. On the whole it was a good sleep, although I did have a bit of trouble with the temperature at one time, but generally I slept well.

  I did have a few dreams that I partly remember. There was one that I can't remember enough about it for it to make an sense, but it was potentially a nightmare - but only potentially. As far as I can recall I was quite calm in the dream depsite being pursued by some villainous, or evil character. I think it was a dream inspired by bits of the book I am reading at the moment (Isaac Asimov's "Forward The Foundation").

  There was also a series of dreamlets on the common theme of supermarket checkouts. Only one brief bit of dream is of interest for it's novelty ideas. It concerned an unknown young man who had access to time travel (although with hindsight it might have been travel through other dimensions). He would suddenly appear out of thin air, already running, and run through the checkout, stealing something on the way, and then disappear while still running. I think I saw this happen twice in the dream, but it is all very vague now.

  I was awake at 7am, and one of the first things I did was to check my blood glucose. This morning it was almost exactly where I wanted it to be, 7.7mmol/l. I even dare to check my weight this morning, and yesterday's hard work and fasting meant that I had lost a few hundred grammes ! It would get even better. Before going shopping in Aldi I had a wash, and then got dressed ready to go out.

  I thought I was going to be constipated today, or if not technically constipated, I wasn't expecting much to happen considering I had been fasting until much of yesterday was over. I was almost on my way out when I thought I would just make sure, and was rewarded with a satisfying poo. When I got back for Aldi, feeling a bit sweaty after carrying a heavy load, I stripped off my outdoor clothes, and weighed myself again, just in my underpants. I had lost a few more hundred grammes, and the best thing was that was just enough for the kilogramme digit going down a one.

  it won't be easy controlling my food intake, and controlling my blood glucose will remain my priority, but maybe I can try now and then. Of course it wasn't easy after shopping in Aldi. I tried to be very careful about what I bough, but I did buy a 30% off cod in beer batter - and I had it for breakfast ! I will try not to eat anything more until dinner time now. I have a couple of things to do before dinner time comes around, and the second will make eating carefully a bit difficult.

  The first thing I have to do is another lot of laundry. It includes a hand towel, two t-shirts and a few pairs of underpants. Once again I'll have to dry them all indoors. Later on this afternoon Jodie is coming round for a late Sunday beer session. The trains are running now.....err, they aren't yet. There is still a replacement bus service. That will piss Jodie off ! I guess she will have to get the bus. Later in the afternoon she should be joined by Alan who will be driving over. He has a Blue Badge because of his disabilities, and so is exempt from the congestion charge and low emission zone charges. The idea is that he will take Jodie home with the pile of cardboard boxes I have been saving for her which she needs as she clears out her parents old home.