Yesterday was a good day, albeit with a few negative aspects. One strong negative aspect was the gloomy morning, and the long wait until the sun finally broke through. The other negative aspect was that I didn't feel all that great. Too many days of laying on my bed reading left lots of muscles and joints feeling rusty. When I went out it felt like it would be an almost painful walk to the pub.
  The sky was a dull grey, and it felt very chilly as I walked through the park. If it were not for the fact that I was going to meet Angela in the pub I would probably have turned back. On top of everything else I really don't like walking with a coat on. It feels restrictive. The coat I was wearing is not tight, and very easy to do up, but still feels restrictive. It's like the difference between work and play - play is easy even if it is basically what you do for work, while work is hard. Wearing a coat make a walk through the park feel like work instead of a joyful frolic (or something like that).
  One cheerful thing (sort of) was seeing so many new trees planted to replace some of the very old trees that were starting to die. Those old trees probably had years of life left in them, but I can understand the need to cut them down if they become dangerous. I saw at least 5 or 6 of these new trees, and I think there are many more. I have no idea what the new trees are. It is a little sad to think that I will probably be dead before they reach maturity.
  In one part of the park I passed through the snow bells (I think that is what they are called) were just coming into flower. If my garden ends up looking more like a garden this year, I may seek out some snow bells to plant for next year for a bit of early colour at the start of the year.

  One thing I didn't see anywhere in the park were squirrels. That meant I didn't stop to feed and photograph them. I did see 5 or 6 squirrels in St Mary's church graveyard, but every time I threw a nut it was mobbed by pigeons. In the end I just threw out handfuls of nuts in the hope that the squirrels managed to get a few. I hadn't brought enough for more than 3 very small handfuls, and so that didn't take long either.

  I arrived at the pub a full 20 minutes early, and amused myself talking to the barmaid and another customer. During that time I almost finished my first pint of Guinness. At 1pm I bought a second pint, plus Angela's drink ready for her when she arrived a few minutes later. We had a lovely hour together. Just recently these meeting have taken on a new feeling. They are obviously secret (except here where no one reads these pages) because lover boy would be most upset about our meetings. The new feeling is that they are our secret club, and we both look forward to Wednesday's.

  I had a third pint of Guinness before we left the pub. After three pints it seemed wise to visit the toilet before that walk through the cold park. One thing I like about the toilets at that pub is that they are clean, warm and dry. As we walked back to Angela's office I remarked that one reason I didn't go to Chain's gig at The Pelton Arms in Greenwich was that their toilets were absolutely disgusting the last time I was there. The single cubicle for men was awash with undefined liquid, and the toilet paper was floating in it !
  While we were in the pub the sun finally came out, and while walking home my mood, which was already really good after spending time with Angela, was lifted further by the blue sky and sunshine. It was still cold though, and I still didn't like walking with my coat on, but I felt good enough to take a slightly extended route home. I doubt it added more than a 100 yards, but at least it broke the monotony.

  There were many things I would have liked to eat for a slightly late lunch when I got home, and most of them would ultimately be bad for me. What I actually had was a couple of cans of soup (although one was actually named chicken casserole on the tin). They warmed me up nicely. I was tempted to lay down for a bit of reading and snooze once I had eaten the soup, but I selected and edited the pictures shown here.

  I then laid down and read, and I might have had a short snooze. Later on, after my dinner was cooking, I heard from Angela again. It was just a simple text message to say "Thank you for a nice lunchtime xxxx". After a reply or two she came back to say "Keeps me/us sane !!".  I sometimes get the impression that not all is well with Angela's life. I will be interested to hear her report of her weekend when she is away to either Hampshire or Wales to celebrate lover boy's sister's 70th birthday.

  My dinner was very simple. I guess you could call it a casserole of diced beef and cabbage. Apart from a couple of Oxo cubes, soy and chilli sauces, there was nothing more to it. It was nice enough, although the diced beef seemed a bit tough. It would have been better if cooked in a conventional gas oven on a low heat, and for a couple of hours. The best I could do was to give it three 10 to 12 minute sessions in the microwave. Oh well, at least by my metrics it was a healthy meal (i.e. low sugar).

  I had considered the idea of going out to Sidcup, and the MT Pockets jam night at The Iron Horse, and at least before dinner I was feeling sort of active to still consider it, but in the end I decided against it. It was still too cold to travel comfortably. I made do with a bit of TV and reading to amuse myself before bed. I probably didn't try for sleep until 10pm, or maybe it might have been later, but what I think I believe is that I fell into a deep sleep quite quickly.

  I might have even slept solidly for 3 or more hours (possibly 4). That is almost a record these days. There was only one time when I woke up feeling very uncomfortable. My left elbow was really hurting, and a few joints were mildly hurting. I suspect I had slept with my elbow crooked for hours, and cut off the blood circulation to it or something. Once straightened out it didn't take long to recover. I think that was around 4.30am, and I took advantage of that lull in my sleep to turn the heater up full.

  In the extra warmth I was able to partly kick the duvet off, and I seemed to sleep even sounder for a couple of hours. This morning was one morning when getting up at 7am seemed right. This morning my blood glucose was back down to 7.9mmol/l, and my running average for the months is a nice and low 8.24mmol/l. That is still a record low, albeit by a few tenths. The average reading for the whole of 2021 was 8.67mmol/l, and that was considered "good control" when I saw the nurse last October.

  This morning I have had a shower, and been out. It wasn't an exciting "going out", it was just to the pharmacy to collect my latest repeat prescription. Mind you, they did have it ready for me when I got there, and they hadn't forgotten any items. I guess that makes it slightly exciting. It was, and maybe still is, my intention to go out again to Poundstretcher for more bird feeding stuff, but it is now very late in the morning, and I feel like a rest next next. Later on I need to wash and polish the glasses for a Thursday beer drinking session this afternoon.